MOBILE, AL – There are a lot of decisions to be made every offseason by Buffalo's front office. Which players do they re-sign? Which players do they target in free agency? Which prospects do they draft when they're on the clock? But now in their third full offseason together of making Buffalo's roster a solid one, do head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have to alter their approach?
Buffalo's roster has fewer holes than it's had in quite some time. Earning a role as a player has come with a greater degree of difficulty with each passing year. The Bills have the look of a perennial playoff contender.
Does that mean Buffalo's front office has to make a few different considerations when deciding what kinds of players to add to the roster and how many?
For example, many believe the Bills need to add a big target at wide receiver to make their receiving corps more complete. Being a playoff contender now, do they put just a bit more value on a receiver prospect who they grade as more NFL ready that can help right away as a rookie to push the team forward in 2020, or the one with the higher ceiling long term?
"Obviously you do take that into consideration and maybe it's by the position," said Beane while taking in Senior Bowl practices in Mobile. "Do you have leadership enough to grow a guy, or do you need a guy ready to come and play right off the draft board or sign one who could?"
At this point in the pre-draft process Beane and his personnel staff are just trying to evaluate prospects in terms of whether they're draftable, if so where, and if they fit the schemes they're running on offense or defense.
But armed with nine draft picks, it seems unlikely that if they make use of all nine that much more than five or six would make the 53-man roster. And if the Bills determine that to be the case are they better served shifting those assets into a different kind of commodity that can best help them now and down the line?
"It's a good question," said Beane. "I remember in Carolina as our roster got better towards some of those better years we had it was a question of are we going to spend the sixth-round pick on a guy that's really going to make our roster? And so you do weigh that and part of that will be as we get through this process in March and April, how deep is the draft?
"Some of that will come down to medical as well. There will be guys that that we have good grades on that we would like to take and our medical guys have major concerns on them. So you do want to see how deep the draft is before you decide how far you can probably go before you're drafting guys that may never be more than a practice squad guy."
Scroll through to view the top images from the 2019 Bills season as chosen by Bills Team Photographer Bill Wippert and Bills Contributing Photographers Sara Schmidle, Craig Melvin and Jeffrey T. Barnes.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) touchdown catch at the Wild card game of Buffalo Bills vs Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on January 4, 2020. Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Duke Williams (82) Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets at New Era Field, December 29, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
T.J. Yeldon - Buffalo Bills vs New York Jets, December 29, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Dawson Knox (88) vs Cinciinnati. Sept. 22, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) with his second interception at Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on December 15, 2019. Photo by Craig Melvin
Defense celebrates another interception - Buffalo Bills vs Pittsburgh Steelers, December 15, 2019 at Heinz Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Bills vs Denver | Nov. 24, 2019
Ed Oliver hits Lamar Jackson - Buffalo Bills vs Baltimore Ravens, December 8, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Star Lotulelei and friends - Buffalo Bills vs Dallas Cowboys, November 28, 2019 at AT&T Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Cody Ford (70) at New York Jets. Sept. 9, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets at New Era Field, December 29, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Defensive backs pregame prayer huddle - Buffalo Bills vs Dallas Cowboys, November 28, 2019 at AT&T Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley (10) Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos at New Era Field on November 24, 2019. Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills Josh Allen (17) vs Baltimore. Dec. 8, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Jordan Phillips gives Josh Allen a touchdown celebration lift - Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos, November 24, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills vs Cleveland Browns at First Energy Stadium on November 10, 2019. Buffalo Bills middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (49) sack and safety of Mayfield. Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins at New Era Field on October 20, 2019. Buffalo Bills strong safety Micah Hyde (23) onside kick return for a touchdown. Photo by Craig Melvin
Touchdown Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary (26)Buffalo Bills vs. Washington Redskins at New Era Field, November 3, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills vs. Washington Redskins at New Era Field, November 3, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Josh Allen player introductions - Buffalo Bills vs Philadelphia Eagles, October 27, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills strong safety Micah Hyde (23) Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins, October 20, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson (90). Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Star Lotulelei (98). Buffalo Bills vs Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 6, 2019 . Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills depart for Cleveland, November 9, 2019 to face the Cleveland Browns. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills T.J. Yeldon (22) vs Cincinnati. Sept. 22, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills Training Camp, July 28, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox (88) holds on after being flipped at Buffalo Bills vs Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 6, 2019 . Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills Josh Allen (17) vs Phildelphia. Oct. 27, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Matt Milano (58) and Lorenzo Alexander after a tackle Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots September 29, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown (15) Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets at New Era Field, December 29, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills Cody Ford (70) vs Cincinnati. Sept. 22, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown (15) holds onto a one handed catch Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots September 29, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Craig Melvin
Buffalo Bills Josh Allen (17) vs Indianapolis. Aug. 8, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore (20) touchdown Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals at New Era Field, September 22, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Buffalo Bills Lorenzo Alexander (57) at New York Jets. Sept. 8, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Josh Allen, postgame smiles - Buffalo Bills vs Dallas Cowboys, November 28, 2019 at AT&T Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Ed Oliver (91) at New York Giants. Sept. 15, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Buffalo Bills Tre'Davious White (27) with his first of two interceptions at the Buffalo Bills vs Cincinnati Bengals, September 22, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Craig Melvin
Harrison Phillips honors Pancho Billa - Buffalo Bills vs Cincinnati Bengals, September 22, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Micah Hyde prepares to play the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, August 23, 2019. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Rookie Community Day 2019 Buffalo, NY June 19, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Kevin Johnson hits Adam Humphries - Buffalo Bills vs Tennessee Titans, October 6, 2019 at Nissan Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Josh Allen (17) vs New England. Sept. 29, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Sean McDermott and Dion Dawkins - pregame, Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins, November 17, 2019 at Hard Rock Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills Trent Murphy (93) vs Denver. Nov. 24, 2019. Photo by Jeffrey T. Barnes
Leaping Josh Allen - Buffalo Bills vs Houston Texans - AFC Wild Card playoff, January 4, 2020 at NRG Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Kevin Johnson upends N'Keal Harry - Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots, December 21, 2019 at Gillette Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals at New Era Field, September 22, 2019. Photo by Sara Schmidle
Josh Allen introduced on Salute To Service Day - Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos, November 24, 2019 at New Era Field. Photo by Bill Wippert
Cole Beasley, hero's welcome - Buffalo Bills vs Dallas Cowboys, November 28, 2019 at AT&T Stadium. Photo by Bill Wippert
Team Defense - Buffalo Bills vs Indianapolis Colts at New Era Field, August 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Wippert
Many Hands, One Glove - Buffalo Bills vs Indianapolis Colts at New Era Field, August 8, 2019. Photo by Bill Wippert
Making that determination is still a ways off as the Bills personnel department performs their due diligence on every prospect and every free agent out there. But there will come a time where they'll decide how to use draft choices that can't serve the team now and perhaps make a move to land a prospect they feel can make the difference needed to advance in the postseason.
"Ideally you don't want to just draft a guy who the day you draft him you know looking at your depth chart that, barring injury, there's no way that guy is making it, but you do want to add depth," Beane said. "So maybe we use a later asset for a future pick or trade up in this year's draft."
Perhaps the best news is the Bills have a host of assets and options to continue to strengthen their roster. And it'll be up to Beane and McDermott to determine how.
