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21	September 2019

The Buffalo Bills are in a unique situation this off-season.

They have plenty of salary-cap space Authentic Devin Singletary Jersey , with at last $80 million in funds to spend on improving the team. They can increase that number by releasing some highly priced veterans who have under-performed over the years. Charles Clay, their soon-to-be-30-year-old tight end, is one such player.The Bills can save $4.5 million by cutting ties with Clay, who signed with Buffalo prior to the 2015 season. Thanks to that contract, a five-year pact worth $38 million, many fans have viewed Clay�s time with the team as a failure. While calling it that might be a bit of a stretch, it is clear that he has not been worth the money spent. Even with that said, Clay has been one of the more productive tight ends in franchise history. He is currently 18th in franchise history in receptions, hauling in 178 passes over his four seasons with the team. That total is fourth among all Bills tight ends, trailing only Pete Metzelaars, Jay Riemersma, and Scott Chandler. Could the Bills try to pick up another tight end in the free-agent market to replace Clay? If so, the market is full of talented players, but they all come with some sort of catch, no pun intended. If the Bills are willing to eat the $4.5 million in dead cap in order to save the same amount by cutting Clay, they will need to find a replacement. If they choose to go for a free agent, here are some of the top targets the team could look to acquire.Jared CookThis will be the hot name, as the veteran is coming off the best year of his career last season. Playing for the 4-12 Oakland Raiders, Cook led the team in targets (101), receptions (68), receiving yards (896), and receiving touchdowns (6). Zay Jones had one more target and one more touchdown than Cook did, but other than that, no player on Buffalo�s roster was close to Cook in any receiving category. The problem isn�t that Cook had a great year, however. The problem is that Cook had his best season in a walk year where he turned 32. He will probably command a huge contract on the open market, one that will almost certainly be similar to Clay�s in terms of return-on-investment. Excluding 2018, Cook�s average season over his NFL career included totals of 43 catches Devin Singletary Jersey Boys , 550 yards, and two touchdowns�numbers that are very similar to Clay�s averages (53/540/3) during his time with Buffalo. Even with Cook�s career year added in, his career average �slash line� is 46/587/3. Add in the fact that Spotrac speculates that Cook�s value is $7.1 million per annum on the open market, and it�s a hard pass for me.C.J. UzomahThe first of two Cincinnati Bengals to discuss, Uzomah stepped up in place of a pair of injured Tylers this season, breaking through for a career year. He caught 43 passes for 439 yards and three touchdowns; coming into the season, he had totaled only 36 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons. The former fifth-round draft choice picked a good time to post a career-high stat line, although he was not highly regarded by analytics outlet Pro Football Focus. They graded Uzomah at a 57.4, the 50th-ranked tight end in the league in 2018. He is only 26, so his best years are probably in front of him; however, it would take a leap of faith to sign him and expect production that even equals Clay�s averages.Jesse JamesAnother young player from the AFC North, this Pittsburgh Steelers bruiser was drafted three picks after Uzomah in 2015. He has managed a solid career in the Steel City, averaging 34 catches for 340 yards and three touchdowns per year over his career, He is a solid blocker with a big frame at 6�7� and 261 pounds. PFF graded James a 66.4, 30th among all tight ends last season. While he certainly has room to improve, especially as it relates to consistency, leaving a passing attack dominated by Antonio Brown could benefit him overall. Buffalo would benefit from having a gargantuan extra blocker with solid hands on the roster.Tyler EifertFeeling lucky? Roll the dice on Eifert, easily the most gifted of all the available tight ends, but he is also the least likely to stay healthy. The former first-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2013 has only played in 43 games over his six-year career, as he has been sidelined by a stinger, an elbow dislocation, another stinger, an ankle injury (suffered in the Pro Bowl, no less), back surgery, a knee cyst, and a broken ankle. Yikes. A one-year deal loaded with incentives could make sense Youth LeSean McCoy Jerseys , but Eifert may be too damaged at this point to be worth considering. Maxx WilliamsThe Baltimore Ravens used a second-round pick on Williams in 2015, and he has largely been a disappointment over his career. Williams caught 32 passes for 238 yards and one touchdown as a rookie, but he suffered a knee injury in his second year that has sapped much of his already-limited athleticism. Since the injury, Williams has made 31 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons. He is a tenacious worker and a solid blocker and, at 25 years old, he definitely has some growth potential�especially if he is able to regain some of his quickness from before the injury. Counting on him to be much more than a solid ancillary player, however, would be foolish. A short, incentive-laden contract would be the way to go if the Bills decide to pursue Williams. Maybe the Ravens should have drafted another quarterback long ago.While Lamar Jackson is still playing a very small role in their offense, his addition appears to have made a big difference in the way the incumbent quarterback�s playing.Veteran Joe Flacco threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ravens played their traditional kind of timely defense to beat the Steelers 26-14 on the road.Flacco is throwing the ball downfield more, and hitting more of those plays. That�s what the Ravens offense has wanted to be based on through a number of versions. His yards per attempt and yards per completion numbers last year (5.7 and 8.9, respectively) were grotesque, but now he has a bit more confidence downfield (8.6 and 13.0 against the Steelers).Meanwhile, Jackson had four carries for 17 yards and didn�t throw a pass. At some point, the Ravens will want to diversify his role (if he doesn�t throw a pass, the element of surprise is lessened), but it�s hard to take the ball out of Flacco�s hands right now.Especially with the Ravens creating turnovers on defense, it�s a formula that�s working, and it starts at the top.Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football.1. The Steelers can spin it however they like, but there�s no denying the fact they�re not remotely the same offense without running back Le'Veon Bell.Bell still hasn�t shown up because of his contract unhappiness, and coach Mike Tomlin has declared he didn�t want to talk about him. Any efforts to trade him haven�t gotten anywhere, which makes it reasonable to wonder if he�s movable considering the contract limitations (anyone who trades for him can�t renegotiate his deal).But without him, there�s no balance to the Steelers offense, no matter how much they try to force James Conner into a lead role. Conner had nine carries for 19 yards Sunday, as the Steelers threw 47 passes and had 11 rush attempts as a team.Bell coming back, if he comes back LeSean McCoy Jerseys Stitched , will help get that back to where it needs to be. But at the moment, the debate is about the balance between receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown, and that�s not to the benefit of anyone there.Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 224 yards in the first half. He finished with 274. As good as he is, relying on him to be the entire offense isn�t sustainable.2. John Brown has always shown hints of being an explosive receiver.He just hasn�t been able to keep it going.The Ravens wideout finished with three catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, with a 33-yard touchdown reception and another 71-yarder.In a perfect world, he�d provide the Ravens with the consistent deep threat they need to take full advantage of Flacco�s skills. But he hasn�t been consistent over the course of his career.He caught 65 passes for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns in 2015 for the Cardinals, but fell off sharply after that, and they seemed willing to walk away from him.Brown can make big plays, he just needs to make them more often.3. Steelers fans have a visceral reaction to tight end Vance McDonald, and rightfully so.But he brings out big reactions from people who aren�t even in the stadium as well.McDonald got the home fans lathered up in the second quarter by rolling attempted Ravens tacklers backward during their touchdown drive before the half. It wasn�t as violent as his stiff-arm of Bucs safety Chris Conte last week, but honestly, what is?But Conte seemed to enjoy an earlier play, when McDonald had the ball taken away from him by safety Tony Jefferson, and then was blasted out of the frame by Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley.�A wise man once said��What goes around comes around.'� Conte replied to a Twitter commenter who forwarded video of the play to him.Conte�s on injured reserve now, after he tried to play with a torn knee ligament, and it didn�t work.4. As the Steelers continue to try to improve on defense, they�ve taken to rotating cornerbacks聽Coty Sensabaugh and Artie Burns, opposite veteran Joe Haden.While it might be hard to discern any advantage without a close look at tape (do they make me an honorary coach for saying that?) Sensabaugh made some of the visible plays that could keep him on the field.He and safety Sean Davis were responsible for the Alex Collins fumble near the goal line, stopping a play that would have given the Ravens a 21-3 lead in the first half.Haden is so solid on the other side that the other Steelers corner is going to see a lot of traffic, so finding the right mix will be crucial.5. The Ravens secondary played an incredible game.They�re about to get their best cover player back.Cornerback Jimmy Smith will return from his four-game suspension for violating the personal conduct policy next week, giving them another playmaker in the back seven.Brandon Carr will be the odd man out when Smith returns, as 2017 first-rounder Marlon Humphrey isn�t going anywhere. But that gives them depth at a position where many teams are looking for two qualified starters.