Buffalo Bills 2011: Bills Tender Three Free Agents Before CBA Expires

As the NFL proceeds towards the expiration of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association, the Buffalo Bills took some active measures to protect their investments by placing tender offers on three of their many free agents.

The Bills placed a tender on Paul Posluszny, Donte Whitner and Scott Chandler. There was no immediate announcement as to what level of tender was placed on each player (first round, second round, etc.)

In addition, the Bills chose not to put tenders on any of their other free agents, which is a longer list.

Those players are Keith Ellison, John McCargo, Ashton Youboty, Brian Brohm, Quinton Ganther and Jonathan Stupar. While the Bills could potentially bring these players back later, it is also conceivable that they will not be back with the team either.

In case you missed it, the Bills have either signed or made qualifying offers to these previous free agents, so have secured their services. They are: George Wilson, Felton Huggins, Mansfield Wrotto and Garrison Sanborn.

What else are the Bills up to now?

Bills Visit with NFL Free Agents Before CBA Expires

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ORCHARD PARK, NY - NOVEMBER 23: Pat Williams #93 of the Buffalo Bills celebrates a defensive play against the Indianapolis Colts on November 23, 2003 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. The Colts defeated the Bills 17-14. (Photo by Rick St

The Bills brought in free agent safety Bob Sanders last week, and they were due to bring in one other free agent safety this week, O.J. Atogwe.

Sanders will be meeting with the Jets this week, so he continues to weigh his options. If the Bills are seriously considering Atogwe, they need to put an offer on the table prior to the CBA expiring, so they don't have much time.

Around the NFL, recent news shows that two ex-Bills players are now free agents. They are nose tackle Pat Williams and guard Richie Incognito. Williams still would like to play for at least one more year.

Editor's Note: The Washington Redskins signed O.J. Atogwe to a five year deal on the brink of the CBA expiring. Following the large contracts the Redskins took on in Donovan McNabb and Albert Haynesworth, it is amazing that Daniel Snyder found room to do this deal. Is it Monopoly money?

In developments around the AFC East:

Patriots - It didn't take long, but the Patriots signed ex-Bills defensive end Marcus Stroud to a two-year deal. Guard Stephen Neal retired and the team placed a tender on Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis.

Jets - Released TE Ben Hartsock, DL Vernon Gholston (the Jets version of Aaron Maybin), T Damien Woody, nose tackle Kris Jenkins and DL Jason Taylor. They signed David Harris to a one year deal and placed tenders on Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie.

Dolphins - Tendered QB Taylor Thigpen, signed nose tackle Paul Soliai and re-worked a deal with Will Allen. Both running backs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown are now free agents.

Bills Current Roster (Offense)

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 05: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Buffalo Bills stands at the line against the Minnesota Vikings at the Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on December 5, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Nick Laha

Assuming that the Bills do not bring back any of the free agents they did not tender, here is what the current roster looks like on offense: 

QB - Ryan Fitzpatrick and Levi Brown.

RB - Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller, Jehuu Caulcrick, Corey McIntyre.

WR - Marcus Easley, Lee Evans, Paul Hubbard, Felton Huggins, Steve Johnson, Donald Jones, David Nelson, Roscoe Parrish and Naaman Roosevelt.

OL - Demetrius Bell, Colin Brown, Geoff Hangartner, Cordaro Howard, Andy Levitre, Erik Pears, Chad Reinhart, Kraig Ubrik, Ed Wang, Jason Watkins, Eric Wood and Mansfield Wrotto.

TE - Mike Caussin, Scott Chandler and David Martin.

Note - The Bills do not have Scott Chandler signed to a contract, just have him tendered for now.

Bills Current Roster (Defense)

Assuming that the Bills do not bring back any of the free agents they did not tender, here is what the current roster looks like on defense:

Defensive Line - Alex Carrington, Dwan Edwards, Kellen Heard, Spencer Johnson, Torell Troup and Kyle Williams.

Linebackers - Danny Batten, Antonio Coleman, Andra Davis, Chris Kelsay, Jammie Kirlew, Aaron Maybin, Shawne Merriman, Arthur Moats, Paul Posluszny and Reggie Torbor.

Secondary - Jairus Byrd, Reggie Corner, Jon Corto, Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin, Bryan Scott, Donte Whitner and George Wilson.

Note - The Bills do not have Paul Posluszny or Donter Whitner signed to a contract. Both have been made a tender offer as of now. Linebacker Akin Ayodele is expected to be a free agent.

Now That the Combines Are Done

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 1: Defensive back Patrick Peterson #37 of LSU stretches before working out during the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 28, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

This week the Bills focus on the free agent situation due to the CBA deadline. In addition, they are organizing all of their notes from the player interviews at the Scouting Combines in Indianapolis.

After they have done all that, they can re-visit their big board and see if any of their previous big board names need to be moved up or down the list. After all of that, they have to make a priority list of which players they want to still see more of, by making arrangements to see their Pro Days at the various college campuses.

There were some important names that the Bills didn't get a chance to see in extended action at the Combines. Some of those visits for defensive players would include: Cam Heyward, Stephen Paea, Adrian Taylor, Greg Romeus, Pierre Allen, Bruce Carter, Casey Matthews, Derrell Smith, Deunta Williams, Chris Rucker, Brandon Hogan and Ras-I Dowling, 

On offense, the Bills need to visit with Blaine Gabbert, Tyron Smith, Kyle Rudolph, Ryan Mallet, Armando Allen, Noel Devine, Stanley Havili, Taiwan Jones, Bilal Powell, Daniel Thomas, Titus Young, Weslye Saunders, Joseph Smith, Daniel Hardy, Marcus Gilbert, Ben Ijalama and Richard Lapham.

The Bills may not draft a running back or a wide receiver, but there is nothing wrong with bringing in some undrafted rookie free agents that you bring in to create some greater level of competition at camp. We all saw the benefits of how that plan worked out to the Bills' advantage last season.

So Where Do the Bills Stand Now?

Out of all of the Bills' activity in the past week, the move that I am most surprised at is the tender offer to Donte Whitner.

It appeared that when the Bills exchanged contract numbers with Donte's agent, they were so far apart that it forced Whitner to immediately clean out his locker and leave the Bills facility.

But, the Bills must think that Whitner will either eventually come back down in his salary demands and be more reasonable. Or, they are hopeful that in the new CBA deal, they will be awarded with some sort of draft pick compensation if Whitner signs on with another team. Those are the only explanations that I can come up with.

The other option that the Bills fear with the lack of a true free agent window is that they might not be able to find a suitable replacement that can come in and play at Whitner's level. If that is the case, then they would have to meet his demands, so I place this as the lowest scenario.

It is an interesting time period due to all of the CBA negotiations and uncertainty in the league. The excitement and prospects of an exciting draft only cloud over the bigger issues. There will be more news to come in the near term, but for now the Bills appear to be doing whatever they can to improve the roster.

What do Bills fans think?