New England Patriots: Eye on the AFC East — Buffalo Bills
By Hal Bent
BUFFALO BILLS:
The Sean McDermott era started with a surprise trip to the playoffs in 2017, as quarterback Tyrod Taylor did just enough to get the team to nine wins. The Bills were also memorably helped when the Baltimore Ravens choked in a Week 17 home loss to Cincinnati. Buffalo went on to fall to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round by a final score of 10-3.
The Bills chose to move on from Tyrod Taylor and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison after last season, turning over the offense to rookie quarterback Josh Allen and coordinator duties to Brian Daboll (long-time assistant coach in New England).
Unfortunately, the Bills took a big step back, dropping from a 9-7 record down to 6-10.
However, the Bills still improved incrementally and cleared some bad contracts off the books, setting themselves up with over $85 million in salary cap space this offseason (per OvertheCap.com). The investment thus far has been on the defense, with top players Star Lotulelei, Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, and Micah Hyde four of their top six contracts.
The other two big contracts–LeSean McCoy and Charles Clay–can be cleared if necessary, and would get the team to over $90 million in cap space.