AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Bills

New Bills WR Corey Coleman posted on his Instagram account that he’s “got some s— to prove.”

Regarding the trade that sent him to Buffalo, Coleman says “it feels good to be wanted.”

“It feels good to be wanted,” Coleman said, via ESPN.com. “But I don’t want to let them down. They have their trust in me. I really don’t want to let them down and make them right. I’m gonna work my tail off to come here and do everything I need to do to help some of the young guys out. … Everyday I wake up I feel like I got something to prove. It’s a huge opportunity for me and I’m blessed to be here. I’m ready to rock with Buffalo Bills.”

• Adam Schefter reports that Coleman “pondered his options” before reporting to the Bills following the trade, which implies he considered possibly retiring. Schefter posted an update after speaking to multiple sources who denied that Coleman “pondered his options.“
• Mike Rodak believes it’s more realistic for the Bills to make former first-round DE Shaq Lawson available for trade than try to use him as a situational pass-rusher.

Dolphins

New Dolphins RB Frank Gore said that after watching Kenyan Drake, he can see why they elected to trade Jay Ajayi away last year.

“I was like, ‘Man, I kinda see why they traded Jay Ajayi,’” Gore said, via the Palm Beach Post. “He’s very talented. Jay Ajayi was a great back, too, but Kenyan is a very talented guy. He’s smart. He can do everything on the field. I think that me and him can really help this team be successful this year.”

• Mike Rodak tosses out DE Andre Branch as a potential trade candidate for the Dolphins, seeing as he could be the odd-man-out.
• The main issue with trading Branch is his $7.9 million fully guaranteed base salary in 2018. However, Rodak notes that a team interested in acquiring Branch wouldn’t owe him anything in 2019.

Jets

According to Jets HC Todd Bowles, it’s likely they will wait until after the fourth preseason game to name a starting quarterback.

“You got to play preseason games,” Bowles said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m not into hypotheticals and nothing that hasn’t happened yet but we are going to let him play, then after the fourth preseason [game], some time that week I’ll make my decision and go from there.”

“I’m not pinpointing any decision [when] the guy runs out on the field [Monday night] in Week One, you’ll see who the starter is.”

• Depending on how things play at quarterback for the Jets, Rich Cimini says that Teddy Bridgewater could be made available for trade.
• Cimini adds that it doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Jets to pay $16 million for two veterans as backups, assuming Sam Darnold wins the job outright.

Patriots

Patriots HC Bill Belichick said that Eric Decker‘s prior experience working with Josh McDaniels should help him get up to speed in terms of their offense.

“Yeah, I’m sure it will,” Belichick said, via Pro Football Talk. “Well, he’s a smart guy. I know he has recall from some of the things that we do that Josh did at Denver that are carryover. There’s a lot of differences, but there’s certainly a lot of carryover.”

• Mike Reiss believes the Patriots could make RB Mike Gillislee available for trade in the coming weeks, due to their overall depth at running back.
• Another potential trade candidate for the Patriots, according to Reiss, is TE Will Tye.