Five free agents the Buffalo Bills should sign and why

This is the last in a three-part series previewing the start of free agency. Today, which outside free agents would be good fits for the Bills.

Last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane repeated almost verbatim what he said at the 2022 Combine regarding the team’s impending approach to free agency.

Buffalo went into the week before the start of 2022 free agency about $6.6 million over the salary cap and Beane warned that no one should be expecting a big splash when the market opened. And then what happened?

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The Bills cut several players and did a few contract alterations which initiated a spending spree that brought in guard Rodger Saffold, defensive linemen DaQuan Jones, Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips, and Tim Settle, wide receiver Jamison Crowder, and of course, one of the biggest and most expensive free agents available, edge rusher Von Miller.

So, listening to Beane in Indianapolis, I took it with a grain of salt when he said, “I wouldn’t expect the Von Miller-type moves, but we’ll definitely restructure some guys and do what we need to do to get under the cap and then give us the opportunity to operate and fill some holes on both sides of the ball.”

With the two-day negotiating window set to open Monday, the Bills are about $17.7 million over the cap, obviously a much worse position than 2022. But tinkering with Josh Allen’s massive contract alone will get them back into the black, and there are other levers Beane can pull to create enough space for him to sign either his own free agents - Tremaine Edmunds? - or those from other teams.

Perhaps we can take him at his word that there won’t be a $120 million Von Miller contract, but there will be new members of the team at some point next week. Here are five players I think we be good fits.

Bills salary cap situation: What contracts can be restructured, which players could be cut

1. T.J. Edwards, Eagles linebacker

If the Bills lose Edmunds, a very real possibility, there will be a gaping hole in the middle of the defense. And for a team in its Super Bowl window, drafting a player to fill this vital role, or turning it over to undersized second-year-man Terrel Bernard, seems like a mistake.

The Bills would need a veteran to come right in and the 27-year-old Edwards, on the heels of a great season when he played 94% of Philadelphia’s snaps and was in on 159 tackles which was tied for seventh-most in the NFL would be a great idea.

Pro Football Focus graded Edmunds as the ninth-best linebacker in the league last season, and it had Edwards at No. 10. The 6-1, 242-pounder had one more pressure than Edmunds (11-10), 12 more stops (54-42, defined as tackles that constitute a failure for the offense), and an almost identical completion percentage against (Edwards was at 67.9, Edmunds 68.7).

The fit is ideal because like the Bills, the Eagles played the vast majority of their defensive snaps with two linebackers on the field. Sports contract website Spotrac.com estimates Edwards’ market value at about $11.9 million per year and Edmunds at around $11 million, but there’s a sense that Edmunds will be much higher than that, somewhere in the $15 to $17 million range.

2. Taylor Rapp, Rams safety

Jordan Poyer is almost certainly gone, so just like linebacker, the Bills need to plug in a ready-to-play veteran because it would be highly unusual for a drafted rookie to step in and give the Bills comparable play to Poyer.

The 25-year-old Rapp was a second-round pick of the Rams in 2019 and has been a starter almost all of his four years - he missed seven games in 2020 with an injury. For the Rams Super Bowl team in 2021, he started all 17 regular-season games but got hurt and missed the first three playoff games before returning to play part-time duty in the championship victory over the Bengals.

He was back as the full-time starter in 2022 and PFF graded him as the 20th-best safety in the league. The 6-foot, 208-pounder was on the field for 95% of the defensive snaps, made two interceptions, 92 tackles, and allowed a completion percentage of 72.7. His 7.5-yards per catch allowed average was tied for second-best among all safeties. For comparison, Poyer ranked 11th at 8.9 yards and gave up a 72.9 completion percentage.

Rapp played primarily free safety, but he was down in the box as well, and even saw snaps in the slot, so the versatility is there, and he has excellent size for run support. Spotrac has his market value at around $10 million per year which is close to Poyer’s $11 million, but he’s seven years younger. The Bills could sign him to a three- or four-year deal and spread the cap hit out pretty efficiently.

More:Buffalo Bills roster includes 23 free agents: Here's who they should keep, who to let go

3. Nate Davis, Titans guard

Rodger Saffold will be gone, but the Bills did re-sign Ike Boettger so technically, they could go into the season with Boettger at right guard and Ryan Bates back over at left guard which may be his better side. But let’s face it, the line needs to be better and running it back with these two as starters doesn’t really accomplish that.

The Bills have piecemealed their guard positions for several years with the likes of Boettger, Bates, Saffold, Daryl Williams, Brian Winters, Jon Feliciano, Quinton Spain and Vlad Ducasse. Enough is enough. It’s time to invest in a guard who can be a long-term starter and the 26-year-old Davis has been a solid four-year starter in Tennessee helping to pave the way for thousands and thousands of rushing yards by Derrick Henry.

The 6-3, 316-pounder plays the right side and he graded out as the 14th-best guard by PFF, 10th-best in run blocking. And that was on a Titans line that struggled mightily last season. With a projection of $7.4 million per year, Davis isn’t in the same bracket in terms of market value as fellow 26-year-olds Ben Powers of the Ravens and Evan Brown of the Lions (26), or 29-year-olds Isaac Seumalo of the Eagles and Wes Schweitzer of the Commanders who are all north of $10 million.

4. Sheldon Rankins, Jets defensive tackle

The Bills extended DT Tim Settle's contract by a season on Saturday which freed up a little cap space, but the interior defensive line could be in flux after 2023. Unless they extend DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver, they’re both eligible for free agency after 2023; Jordan Phillips is already a free agent; and Settle, who was a bit of a disappointment last year, might not be with the team beyond 2023 despite his extension.

There is room for improvement and the soon-to-be 29-year-old Rankins, going into his eighth NFL season, could provide it. He was originally a first-round pick of the Saints in 2016 and after five years moved on to the Jets where he’s been the last two. Playing next to star DT Quinnen Williams sure helped, but Rankins has been a solid run defender at 6-foot-2, 305 pounds, part of a Jets defense that ranked tied for ninth in fewest yards allowed per rush (4.2).

He can also go out to the edge, much like Phillips has done for Buffalo. Last season he played 218 snaps inside and 257 outside and despite missing three games he totaled three sacks, 25 pressures, and a career-high 43 tackles. PFF graded him as the 19th-best defensive tackle. Spotrac has his value at $7.3 million per year, well under the top tier of available players.

5. Jamaal Williams, Lions running back

Several mock drafters think the Bills will use their first-round pick on a RB, but I doubt that will be the case. They may pick one in the middle rounds, but the Bills already have a second-year player in James Cook ready to step in and be a starter, and Nyheim Hines might be back (if he agrees to a pay cut).

What they need is a proven NFL downhill runner who can not only be the full-time RB if Cook were to get hurt, but also be a go-to player in short yardage and goal line situations. Originally a fourth-round pick by the Packers in 2017, the 224-pound Williams went to the Lions in 2021 and then broke out last season by gaining 1,066 yards and scoring a league-leading 17 rushing touchdowns, one of those came against the Bills on Thanksgiving Day.

Under offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, the Bills used more gap blocking schemes than zone schemes last year, but there wasn’t a wide disparity, which is similar to what the Lions did last year. Spotrac has his market value at $4.1 million, far less than Devin Singletary’s projection of $5.4 million.

Miles Sanders of the Eagles would be a great fit as well, but his price tag will probably be in the $7 million range and that wouldn’t be good for the budget given the other more pressing needs.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills: 5 NFL free agents they should sign and why