The Bills have signed 27-year old WR Brad Smith to a 3-year, $15 million dollar deal.  Smith played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Jets last year and he caught 4 passes for 44 yards (11.0 avg).  Smith also carried the ball 38 times for 299 yards (7.9 ypc) with 1 TD as the Jets’ Wildcat Formation QB.  He also completed 2 of 3 passes (66.7%) for 6 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (109.7 QB Rating).  Smith is also a great kickoff returner as he returned 50 kickoffs for 1,432 yards (28.6 avg) with 2 TD returns.  Smith has now played in 76 games (17 starts) in his first five years in the NFL in which he has carried the ball 98 times for 767 yards (7.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has also caught 64 passes for 557 yards (8.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Smith has completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) in his NFL career good for 51 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (119.6 QB Rating).  Smith has also returned 2 punts for 27 yards (13.5 avg) and 74 kickoffs for 1,968 yards (26.6 avg) with 3 TD returns in his NFL career.  I like this move for a lot of reasons for the Bills.  The trick play will be in the offense now as Brad Smith can run, catch and throw the ball.  Smith.  Finally, grabbing Smith from a division rival (the Jets) hurts them.

The Buffalo Bills have signed 27-year old QB Tyler Thigpen to a 3-year contract.  Thigpen played in 3 games (1 start) for the Dolphins last year and he completed 33 of 62 passes (53.2%) for 435 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs (73.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 13 times for 73 yards (5.6 ypc) last year.  Thigpen has now played in 22 games (12 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has completed 269 of 496 passes (54.2%) for 3,167 yards with 21 TD passes and 17 INTs (73.7 QB Rating).  Thipen also carried the ball 77 times for 462 yards (6.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his NFL career.  Thigpen is only 1-11 (8.3%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  Thigpen will be the Bills’ new #2 QB behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, and that’s not much to get excited about in Buffalo.

The Buffalo Bills loaded up on defense in the NFL Draft but they still have some holes to fill when free agency opens….hopefully soon.  Here’s a look at what they still need:

QB: The Bills need a competent backup QB for the 2011 season.  Marc Bulger, Billy Volek or Rex Grossman would be a good fit behind Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2011.

WR:  The Bills could use a solid veteran to be the #3 or #4 WR in 2011.  I don’t think they will aim high and go after someone along the lines of a Brandon Stokley or Laveranues Coles.

TE:  The Bills could spend a lot of cash here and try to steal restricted free agent Zach Miller from the Raiders.  He would be a game changer in the passing game for the Bills.  Kevin Boss of the Giants is also a restricted free agent who could be a target of the Bills.  Mercedes Lewis of the Jaguars is another restricted free agent the Bills could throw money at.  Bo Scaife and Desmond Clark are unrestricted free agents that would cost a lot less but they wouldn’t be game changers for the Bills.

OT:  The Bills need help on the outside of the O-Line.  I could see them going for unrestricted free agents like Jammal Brown, Tyson Clabo, Barry Sims or Matt Light.  If they decided to go the restricted route, Willie Colon (Pittsburgh), Jeremy Trueblood (Tampa Bay) and Jermon Bushrod (New Orleans) would be the likely targets.

S:  Safety is the only real need on defense after the solid draft the Bills had.  Restricted free agents like thumpers Abram Elam (Browns), Bernard Pollard (Texans) and Melvin Bullitt (Colts) will likely be the targets.

I look for the Bills to be spending a lot in free agency to improve the roster for 2011 and beyond.

Thurman Thomas was one of the best all-around running backs in NFL history.  He was with the Bills in their glory years when they went to 4 straight Super Bowls (losing all of them).  Thomas played in 173 games in his 12 years with the Bills and he carried the ball 2,849 times for 11,938 yards (4.2 ypc) with 65 TD runs.  He also caught 456 passes for 4,341 yards (9.5 avg) with 22 TD runs with the Bills.  Thomas is the Bills’ all-time leader in both rushing yards and rushing TDs.  He is also #3 in receptions, #6 in receiving yards and he’s tied for 10th in receiving TDs in Bills’ history.  Thomas was very consistent for the Bills as he rushed for over 1,000 yards 8 times with them and he also caught at least 50 passes in a season four times.  Thomas made it to 5 Pro Bowls with the Bills and he was elected to Pro Football’s Hall of Fame in 2007.