A breakdown of the first week of free agency for the Buffalo Bills.
Most significant signing: The Bills have yet to sign a free agent from another team, and they have yet to re-sign any free agents since the start of free agency last Wednesday, so there are no candidates for this honor. However, looking at it from a broader scope, three re-signings in earlier weeks and months prevented the Bills from losing any key unrestricted free agents this offseason: tackle Cordy Glenn (franchise tag), guard Richie Incognito and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus.
Most significant loss: The Bills have lost two starters from their defense last season: defensive end Mario Williams (who was released) and linebacker Nigel Bradham. Even though Williams has more name recognition, I lean toward Bradham for this category. At 26, he is younger than Williams and showed promise during his four-year career in Buffalo. The Bills are left without a starting linebacker next to Preston Brown because of Philadelphia's deal with Bradham. The Bills likely can fill the hole left by Williams in the first round of the draft, but finding a replacement for Bradham might be more difficult.
Player they should have signed or still could sign: The Bills have a need at wide receiver after losing Chris Hogan as a restricted free agent to the Patriots. One option is to enter training camp with a wide-open competition for the No. 3 receiver job among Marquise Goodwin, Greg Salas, Greg Little, Jarrett Boykin and potentially a draft pick. Another option, if they can afford it and both sides agree to a deal, would be re-signing Percy Harvin. Although his lengthy injury history makes it far from a guarantee that the Bills would get a full season from Harvin, they could use him back in the offense.
What’s next: The Bills were planning on sitting out the first week of free agency. Now that the initial burst of spending has passed, the team will look for bargains who remain on the market. Harvin could be one. Former Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley could be another -- he visited Buffalo on Tuesday. The Bills have $5.82 million in cap space, which is enough to make a low-cost signing or two.
Overall grade: B-plus. Ideally I would assign an "incomplete" here because the Bills have not been active in adding free agents, nor have they suffered any significant losses in free agency. They've remained on the sidelines largely because of their decisions to lock up Dareus, Incognito and Glenn before the free-agent signing period opened, as well as their limited cap space. It's tough to assign an "A" grade when there are no free-agent additions to evaluate, but the Bills have made logical decisions so far this spring.