BillsDaily.com is the place to follow the Bills all off season long! We will have continous coverage off all the comings and goings heading towards the 2008 season! You can catch all the latest draft news all over our site including our newly launched 2008 draft page!
Front Office Report (Last Updated on July 2, 2008)
Welcome to our 2008 edition of our exclusive Front Office Section! This page will keep you updated on all the moves by the front office! Included is a look at the 2008 free agents and what we think the team will do with them. This will be the one page to look at all roster and front office moves made during the calendar year. We will also have a list of all 2008 player contract signings, restructurings, & extensions as well as the details behind them as they become available! Check out our 2008 salary cap page. It has the latest cap figures of key players. It also gives you a ballpark figure of the Bills cap shape as well as the cash to the cap values. We will update this page constantly throughout the off season. You can also take a look back at all the 2007 moves and contract details as well.
Here is a look at the 2008 free agents and what we predict will happened to them. There were no starters on the list this year but a few big role and special teams players. The team may use money to lock up Lee Evans who will be a free agent in 2009:
Unrestricted Free Agents
These free agents are free to sign with any team they want in the off season with no compensation to the Bills. (They may be given compensatory draft picks for players lost in next year's draft.) DE Anthony Hargrove - The one year suspension means his days in Buffalo are over. WR Sam Aiken - Signed with Patriots 3/2. TE Ryan Neufeld - Deactivated down the stretch. Likely won't be re-signed. OL Matt Murphy - Re-signed with team 3/4. TE Michael Gaines - Signed with Detroit 3/2. OL Jason Whittle - Re-signed with team 3/7. DE Al Wallace - With injured players back next year, Wallace won't be. LB Mario Haggan - Has role in goal line defense, so likely will be retained. LB Josh Stamer - Signed with Titans 3/26. CB Jason Webster - Signed with Patriots 3/4. S Bryan Scott - Re-signed with team 3/18.
Restricted Free Agents
The Bills have the right to match any offer any of these free agents get or receive compensation in the form of draft picks for each player lost. The round of the pick depends on where the player was drafted and/or the price of the qualifying offer given by the Bills.
S Jim Leonhard - Not tendered an offer; Signed with Ravens 4/28. DT Jason Jefferson - Signed tender 3/26. RB Shaud Williams - Not tendered an offer and won't be back.
Exclusive Rights Free Agents
These players have no bargaining power and will remain with the Bills if they want them.
CB Dustin Fox - Signed tender 3/26. DE Corey Mace - Signed tender 4/3. TE Tim Massaquoi - Signed tender 4/3. WR Scott Mayle - Signed tender 3/26.
Drafted Players CB Leodis McKelvin - 1st Round Pick WR James Hardy - 2nd Round Pick DE Chris Ellis - 3rd Round Pick CB Reggie Corner - 4th Round Pick; Signed 6/12 TE Derek Fine - 4th Round Pick; Signed 6/25 OLB Alvin Bowen - 5th Round Pick RB Xavier Omon - 6th Round Pick OT Demetrius Bell - 7th Round Pick; Signed 7/2 WR Steve Johnson - 7th Round Pick CB Kennard Cox - 7th Round Pick; Signed 5/30
Undrafted Free Agents LB Marcus Buggs- Signed 5/2 RB Bruce Hall - Signed 5/2 LB Jon Banks - Signed 5/2 WR Jason Jones - Signed 5/2 OG Robert Felton - Signed 5/2 DT Teraz McCray - Signed 5/2
Acquired By Trade DT Marcus Stroud - Acquired from Jacksonville - 3/1 for 3rd and 5th round picks
NFL Free Agent Players QB Matt Baker - Signed off of waivers - 5/1 CB William James - Signed - 3/18 TE Courtney Anderson - Signed - 3/10 DT Spencer Johnson - Signed - 3/1 LB Kawika Mitchell - Signed - 2/29 P D.J. Fitzpatrick - Signed - 2/26 FB Darian Barnes - Signed to future's contract - 1/17 FB Jonathan Evans - Signed to future's contract - 1/3 WR Felton Huggins - Signed to future's contract - 1/3 OL Nevin McCaskill - Signed to future's contract - 1/3 DE Shaun Nua - Signed to future's contract - 1/3 S Jon Corto - Signed to future's contract - 1/3
Coaching Staff/Administration Defensive Quality Control Coach Adrian White - Hired 2/11 Offensive Quality Control Coach Nathaniel Hackett - Hired 1/28 Offensive Coordinator Turk Schonert - Promoted 1/16 QB Coach Alex Van Pelt - Promoted 1/16 OL Coach Sean Kugler - Promoted 1/16 Running Game Coordinator Eric Studesville - Promoted 1/16 Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon - Promoted 1/12 VP of Pro Personnel John Guy - Promoted 1/12 VP of College Scouting Tom Modrak - Promoted 1/12
Players FB Mike Viti - Signed 4/29; Released 7/2 TE Teyo Johnson - Released - 6/12 QB Luke Drone - Released - 6/12 TE Kevin Everett - Placed on Waived/Failed Physical list 5/12 WR Chris Denney - Placed on Waived/Failed Physical list 5/12 LB Joe Brockington - Signed 5/2; Released 5/6 CB Jason Webster - Signed with New England - 3/4 LB Leon Joe - Signed with Tampa - 3/4 WR Sam Aiken - Signed with New England - 3/3 TE Michael Gaines - Signed with Detroit - 3/3 DT Larry Tripplett - Released - 2/29; Signed with Seattle 4/30 CB Kiwaukee Thomas - Released - 2/28 RB Anthony Thomas - Released - 2/27 LB Coy Wire - Released - 2/27 DB Jerametrius Butler - Released - 2/27 G Aaron Merz - Released - 2/27 WR Peerless Price - Released - 2/14 DB E.J. Underwood - Released - 2/14 LB Kevin Harrison - Released - 2/14
Coaching Staff/Administration OL Coach Jim McNally - Retired 1/8 Offensive Coordinator Steve Fairchild - Took HC job at Colorado St. 1/1
Here is where we will list contract details that we obtained through various media outlets. It is an approximation since the Bills do not release contract details. We will list all new contracts, restructured deals and extensions that happen in the 2008 calendar year. Some players may be asked to restructure their contracts which would convert base salaries into signing bonuses to save cap money. This practice usually puts teams in a bad cap situation in future years so it isn't likely this off season since the team is in good cap shape.
OG Brad Butler - 3 yr. extension worth $8.8M of new money. Base $945,000 (2008); $1M (2009); $1.55M (2010-12). DT Spencer Johnson- 5 yrs. $17.5M. $6M guaranteed. LB Kawika Mitchell - 5 yrs. $17.5M. $5M guaranteed.
DE Anthony Hargrove - The one year suspension means his days in Buffalo are over. 