AFC Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Jets

Bills

• Per ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques, Bills GM Brandon Beane said the team will face some “tough decisions” this offseason due to the salary cap pinch: “I would not anticipate any blockbuster moves.”
• Beane said one of those decisions involves Bills LB Matt Milano. They’ve expressed their interest in keeping him but added he’s earned the right to test the market. (Louis-Jacques)
• The Bills run game struggled this past year and HC Sean McDermott pinpointed it as an area for improvement. But Beane said that could come in a few different ways: “I’m not looking at Devin Singletary and Zack Moss and thinking those guys came up short.” (Matthew Fairburn)
• Beane also thinks the Bills’ tight ends never really were seen as a threat by opposing defenses. (Sal Capaccio)
• Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds hit a rough patch to start the season but Beane expressed confidence in the former first-round pick, citing a shoulder injury he had to play through: “Tremaine is 22 years old, he’s a young player. We still have a lot of confidence in him and what he’ll grow to.” (Capaccio)
• Beane also thinks DT Ed Oliver is on a promising trajectory: “The sacks will come.” (Joe Buscaglia)
• Beane mentions seventh-round CB Dane Jackson, who spent most of the season on the practice squad, will compete for a starting job in 2021. (Louis-Jacques)

Dolphins

The Dolphins are coaching one of the teams at this year’s Senior Bowl, but they are doing so shorthanded as they have yet to name an offensive coordinator. Dolphins HC Brian Flores says the team is still going through the process and in the meantime, the two internal candidates for the job, RB coach Eric Studesville and QB coach George Godsey, are running the show in Mobile. 

“We’re going through our process with the coordinator position,” Flores said via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “Look, we’ve got very capable guys in Eric and George and a good young staff. Putting together a plan is really not much of an issue. Those guys are doing a good job and we’ll go through the process. But really the focus is on the players here at the Senior Bowl, the evaluations of the players here at the Senior Bowl, and hopefully we’ll get as much information to help us make good decisions come draft time.”

• Per ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe, Studesville was taking a significant role calling plays during Senior Bowl practices for the second straight day. 
• Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald writes the buzz at the Senior Bowl from NFL sources is that the Dolphins are the front runners for Texans QB Deshaun Watson should Houston decide to trade him. 
• However, Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline writes he’s hearing at the Senior Bowl that the smart money is on the Jets to land Watson in a trade. 
• Pauline says the Steelers and Dolphins have shown a lot of early interest in Alabama RB Najee Harris at the Senior Bowl.

Jets

• Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline implies the Jets should once again be considered major players for Patriots G Joe Thuney in free agency. 
• He adds the buzz at the Senior Bowl has the smart money on the Jets to land QB Deshaun Watson if Houston decides to trade him. 
• Former Tennessee HC Jeremy Pruitt is joining the Jets coaching staff in an unspecified role. (Bruce Feldman)
• However, Connor Hughes says the Jets will not be hiring Pruitt in any capacity, despite the report.