The Buffalo Bills are working on a deal to sign back pass rusher Jerry Hughes and after making the trades for LeSean McCoy and Matt Cassel, the team may look at names like Mike Iupati, Darrelle Revis, Bilal Powell, Charles Clay and Cecil Shorts on the free agent market, while CJ Spiller is likely gone with teams like the Jets, Dolphins and 49ers interested in him.
The Buffalo Bills have a new head coach in Rex Ryan and now he has Matt Cassel coming in to take over and he will start over EJ Manuel. The team reportedly considered a Sam Bradford or Jay Cutler trade as a potential move and also the free agent market with names like Josh McCown, Mark Sanchez and Brian Hoyer, but they opted for Cassel.
Ryan came in and put on his usual swagger in his first press conference and now he will try and turn around a franchise that hasn't been to playoffs in years. Doug Marrone opted out of his deal and left the Bills without a coach and now Ryan comes in after working with the Jets for six seasons. The Jets and Bills are in similar situations, as they have a young quarterback that has struggled along with a top defense. Ryan knows how to handle those situations and while things did not go well with the Jets the past few years, he said that this team can be in the playoffs.
The Bills defense was one of the best in the league last season and Ryan thinks they can be even better this year. Ryan was asked about the possibility of reuniting with Sanchez in Buffalo and clearly that s not happening with Cassel in the fold. Sanchez helped Ryan get to two AFC championship games with the Jets, while Hoyer comes in after an up and down season with the Browns that saw him start off the year with a 7-4 record before faltering down the stretch, but both aren't options in Buffalo.
CJ Spiller is one of the main free agent players for the Bills and he will not return after the LeSean McCoy trade and the Jets could be an option. The Bills have Fred Jackson and Spiller is coming off of a down season after dealing with injuries and that could lead him elsewhere. Spiller is getting up there in age now and with the running back position getting devalued, he could be allowed to leave without much of an effort. Spiller had 300 yards rushing this season and he comes in after putting up 927 yards last season with four touchdowns. Spiller had his best year in 2012 when he had 1244 yards and 43 catches for 459 yards and eight combined TDs.
The Bills return with Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods on offense and that gives whoever is QB some targets to work with. The Bills ranked 18th in passing last season and 25th in rushing under Doug Marrone and he never turned the team into an offensive power despite that being his specialty. The team had Kyle Orton as QB over Manuel for most of the season and now Ryan will have to figure out who comes in next.