Buffalo is cleaning house. They released multiple starters on Wednesday.
Kyle’s update, Wednesday, March 6: The Buffalo Bills are making wholesale changes. They’ve released the following players:
CB Tre’Davious White
S Jordan Poyer
C Mitch Morse
WR Deonte Harty
RB Nyheim Hines
That’s three former All-Pro players. Harty may be the most intriguing to the 49ers. Ray-Ray McCloud is an unrestricted free agent. Harty was fifth in the NFL in punt return yardage and took one to the house in January:
DEONTE HARTY PUNT RETURN TD pic.twitter.com/cKYXnGLY4m
— Trainwreck Sports (@TrainwreckSprts) January 8, 2024
The Niners have gone over a decade without a punt return for a touchdown. As extreme of an example as that may be to prove a point, Harty is 26 and had three returns for touchdowns in 2021 with the New Orleans Saints. McCloud averaged 8.5 yards per return compared to Harty’s 12.4 this past season.
Taking a flyer on another cornerback a year removed from an Achilles injury won’t be as enticing this year for the 49ers after the Isaiah Oliver experiment at Nickel didn’t pan out. White was playing brilliant football before these recent injuries. It’s unfortunate that we won’t get to see him play at his peak.
Morse started every game for the Bills at center. He turns 32 in April.
Free agency is underway as teams are making moves already. We’ve seen the franchise tag applied to the following players:
Chicago Bears CB Jaylon Johnson
Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Josh Allen
Tampa Bay Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield Jr.
Baltimore Ravens DT Justin Madubuike
Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns
Kansas City Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed
Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins
Indianapolis Colts WR Michael Pittman
The New York Giants did not place the franchise tag on running back Saquon Barkley. The Miami Dolphins aren’t placing the franchise tag on defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
The New England Patriots placed the transition tag on safety Kyle Dugger. That means offensive lineman Mike Onwenu will be a free agent. Onwenu started at right guard and right tackle for the Patriots this past season. Last year, he started every game at right guard. He may be out of the 49ers price range, but he’s an intriguing option.
The big news of the day comes in the NFC West, as the Seattle Seahawks are releasing both starting safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams.
Assuming the Seahawks are using a post-June 1 designation, they’ll save $16.5 million and $17.5 million during the next two seasons but also have a total of $20.8 million in dead money during that span. Seattle also released Will Dissley, which saves $7 million in cash and cap space.
Diggs is an interesting one, as he’s entering the final year of his contract. Seattle saves about $800,000 by releasing Diggs. With a new regime, they were likely looking to get younger at the position. Adams and Diggs are on the wrong side or approaching 30.
The Houston Texans agreed to an extension with tight end Dalton Schultz. He signed a 3-year, $36-million contract with $23.5 million fully guaranteed.
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