AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

• According to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, the Bills are not pursuing former Panthers QB Cam Newton. 
• Lenoir-Rhyne S Kyle Dugger says the Bills, Browns and Panthers have shown the most interest in him during the pre-draft process. (Jonathan Jones)

Dolphins

• Nebraska DL Darrion Daniels had a private workout for the Dolphins before the shutdown. (Justin Melo)
• Dolphins re-signed RFA LB Vince Biegel. (NFLTR)

Jets

Jets GM Joe Douglas made a promise to QB Sam Darnold‘s parents last year. He told them he would do everything in his power to protect his young quarterback by building the offensive line and receivers around him. So far this offseason, that’s been a mixed bag. Douglas has brought in a cadre of offensive linemen and added WR Breshad Perriman but it remains to be seen if the new faces are upgrades or how much else Douglas can do in the draft. 

“I think we still have a lot to do in both those regards moving forward,” Douglas said via NJ.com’s Darryl Slater. “I think we’ve done our best to attack some of the issues that we had in the past. . . . That’s our focus, doing everything we can to help Sam succeed. The one thing that we didn’t want, we didn’t want a situation where Sam was just going to have to be under fire all the time with protection issues.”

Patriots

• The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia writes if New England indeed used the franchise tag on G Joe Thuney with the intention of trading him, sending him to the Lions for their third-round pick makes a lot of sense given the familiarity between the two staffs. 
• The Patriots need all the picks they can get as they look to retool, while Thuney would fill a major need at guard for the Lions as HC Matt Patricia faces a win-now ultimatum for 2020 by ownership in his third year in charge. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes it’s worth keeping an eye on Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore as a trade candidate.
• Gilmore has cap hits of just under $20 million each of the next two seasons but base salaries of $11 and $12 million. New England might have to give him a raise on an extension to lower his cap hit and at that point trading the soon-to-be-30 corner might be more appealing. 
• NESN’s Doug Kyed points out the Patriots are particularly squirrelly about their interest in quarterbacks being leaked, which leads to agents not being willing to reveal if New England has talked with their clients.