Patriots sign Mike Gillislee to offer sheet
The New England Patriots are trying to poach restricted free agent Mike Gillislee from division rival Buffalo Bills.
Here we go: #Patriots extended an RFA offer sheet to #Bills RB Mike Gillislee. It’s for 2 years, $6.4M, source said. $4M in the 1st year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 18, 2017
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots haven’t had their fill of exciting moves this offseason thus far. Wheeling and dealing Belichick is looking to add another running back and special teams ace to a crowded Patriots backfield, but what makes this move interesting is that Mike Gillislee comes from a division rival.
As @RapSheet reported, Patriots extend offer sheet to Bills restricted FA RB Mike Gillislee. If Bills don't match, Pats give up 5th-rounder.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) April 18, 2017
Restricted free agent offers are tricky because teams do have the opportunity to match the offer sheet. However, if teams don’t match the sheet they have an opportunity to acquire a draft pick. In the case of the Bills they would be subject to a fifth round pick which is the original round in which Gillislee was drafted.
To the naked eye most will see Gillislee as simply a second-string running back and special teams player, but last year he led the NFL in several statistics at the running back position. He carried the ball only 101 times, yet he led the league in yards per carry, first downs per rush attempt, rush to touchdown ratio, and third down conversions by a running back.
It will be interesting to see how the Bills value Gillislee especially with the potential of him falling into the hands of a division rival. My expectation is that the Bills match the offer sheet. Gillislee is too valuable in their run-first offense with oft-injured Shady McCoy as the current lead running back.
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To Patriots fans this move should come as no surprise. Belichick has a history of trading fifth round picks. It appears that during Belichick’s tenure he has found more value in trading fifth-round picks and acquiring veteran players as opposed to drafting players in the fifth round and developing them.