• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Buffalo Sports News

Buffalo Sports News

  • Bills
  • Sabres
  • Colleges
    • Canisius
    • Syracuse
    • University at Buffalo

2019 Worst Bang for the Dollar Bills: WR/KR Andre Roberts

July 14, 2020 by Buffalo Rumblings Leave a Comment

NFL: Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

An overpaid Pro Bowler?

Every team overpays for free agents. It’s the nature of the business that you can’t always predict future results, and even if you do, you sometimes end up overpaying for them. The Buffalo Bills are no exception and during the 2019 season they had a group of underwhelming players.

Number four on our list is wide receiver and return specialist Andre Roberts. Roberts certainly had value to the team and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2019 as an alternate, but the cost of that value isn’t exactly in line with what he did on the field. He played on just 10% of the offensive snaps and 29% of the special teams snaps as the returner. He only returned 53 combined punts and kicks, the fewest in his last four seasons, and represents a return on fewer than half of his total special teams snaps (121). Full-time starters Jordan Poyer and Lorenzo Alexander played more special teams snaps than Roberts. All told, the Bills were 14th in average yards per punt return and fifth in average yards per kickoff return. He also added three catches for 20 yards and one rushing attempt for seven yards.

Roberts’s cap hit of $2.6 million was 61st among NFL wide receivers, which should theoretically put him in “starter” territory there among the top 64 cap hits. Even with the added value of his returning ability, he was overpaid. Chicago Bears WR Cordarrelle Patterson was the All-Pro kick returner, and he made $4.25 million. He added 186 yards of offense along with his 825 yards of kickoff returns with one TD. New Orleans Saints rookie punt returner Deonte Harris made less than $500,000 as the All-Pro at that position. While never touching the ball on offense, he topped 1000 yards on combined returns with a punt return TD and had higher return averages on punts and kickoffs. Mecole Hardman ($908,191) and Diontae Johnson ($778,357) were the second-team All-Pros at significantly lower cap hits, as well.

It’s a bit tricky, as peace of mind is valuable, but Roberts’s contribution to the team just didn’t match his salary cap figure in 2019. In 2020, his cap hit of $2 million is more reasonable. Still, he could find himself as a cut at the end of August due to roster limitations.

Bottom Ten Bang for the Dollar Bills, 2019

10. K Stephen Hasuchka ($5.025 million)
9. DE Jerry Hughes ($12.95 million)
8. FB Patrick DiMarco ($2.15 million)
7. DT Star Lotulelei ($11.5 million)
6. DE Trent Murphy ($8.8 million)
5. TE Lee Smith ($3.5 million)
4. WR/KR/PR Andre Roberts ($2.6 million)

Filed Under: Bills

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • AFC/NFC championship game times, picks
  • Eagles vs. 49ers open game thread
  • Chiefs vs. Bengals open game thread
  • Super Bowl LVII matchup: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles
  • Bills 2023 salary cap breakdown, Part 1: Mount Rushmore

Categories

Archives

Our Partners

All Sports

  • WIVB 4
  • WGR 550 SportsRadio
  • 247 Sports
  • Bleacher Report
  • ESPN Rochester
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today

Football

  • Buffalo Bills
  • Bills Gab
  • Buffalo Rumblings
  • Bills Wire
  • Buffa Low Down
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Football Talk
  • Total Buffalo Bills

Hockey

  • Die By The Blade
  • Elite Prospects
  • Last Word On Hockey
  • Sabre Noise
  • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Talk
  • The Hockey Writers

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • College Sports Madness
  • Forgotten 5
  • Hustle Belt
  • Inside The Loud House
  • Orange Fizz
  • Saturday Blitz
  • UB Bull Run
  • The Daily Orange
  • Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in