AFC Notes: Bills, Browns, Jets

March 11, 2018

Bills

Mike Rodak mentions that the Bills have around $32 million of cap room to work with following the Tyrod Taylor trade.
With this in mind, Rodak believes the Bills should have a better shot at re-signing MLB Preston Brown and tosses out Christian Kirskey ($9.5M) and Kiko Alonso ($8.3M) as recent comparisons for Brown in terms of annual salary.
Bills GM Brandon Beane has said that they haven’t ruled out re-signing CB E.J. Gaines even after signing Vontae Davis, but Rodak says it’s hard to see the money working for Buffalo.
Rodak points out that the range of salaries for cornerback could go anywhere from the $10M Logan Ryan got from the Titans to the $5.3M Marcus Cooper received from the Bears.

Browns

Browns LT Joe Thomas tells Pat McManamon of ESPN that his decision whether to return for the 2018 season or retire will be based purely on his health. Thomas did add that he’s excited about the recent trades the new front office pulled off last week.

“My decision will be based purely on my health,” Thomas said. “But I’m excited by the moves John made.”

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the trades made by the Browns last week stunned other teams who had been in negotiations with them.
Florio mentions that there’s obviously not a requirement for the Browns to call other teams and tell them that they’re taking another offer. However, Florio points out that this is “the kind of thing that can leave people a little miffed about the way things went down.”

Jets

Brian Costello of the New York Post writes that the Jets are expected to be one of the most active teams at the start of free agency, which should come as no surprise considering that they have a staggering $90 million in cap space to work with.
Costello says that the Jets are ready to make a “strong recruiting pitch” to QB Kirk Cousins in the coming days.
Should the Jets lose out to another team for Cousins, Costello expects them to try to re-sign Josh McCown.
Some potential free agent targets for the Jets, according to Costello, could include RB Isaiah Crowell, RB Dion Lewis, C Weston Richburg, C Ryan Jensen, WR Allen Robinson, WR Sammy Watkins, CB Trumaine Johnson, and CB Malcolm Butler.
According to Costello, the Jets are trying to re-sign ILB Demario Davis, CB Morris Claiborne and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins.