No holdup this time... the Buffalo Bills and free-agent wide receiver Andre Holmes have agreed to a three-year contract worth a total $6.5 million total, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chroncile, who routinely gets contract details has reported the deal as three-years, $5.15 million.
On Wednesday, news surfaced that Holmes had signed with Buffalo, yet it’s thought the NFLPA incorrectly reported the offer as a done deal.
The 6’4 3/8”, 210-pound wideout will be 29 in June and has been with the Raiders for the past four seasons after going undrafted in 2011 out of Hillsdale. Holmes spent time with the Vikings that year and Cowboys in 2012.
In his NFL career, he has 102 catches for 1,462 yards, and 12 touchdowns. In 2014, in Derek Carr’s rookie campaign, and before Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree were in Oakland, Holmes had four touchdowns and 693 yards on 47 receptions. He played on nearly 70% of the offensive snaps that year.
In 2016, he was on the field for just over 23% of the Raiders offensive plays and had 14 grabs for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Each of his scores in 2016 came inside the red zone.
Holmes’ size will be a welcomed addition to Buffalo’s wideout group, which lacked size last season — and has for many years. The similarly sized Justin Hunter tied for the team lead with four receiving touchdowns.
More specifically, Holmes isn’t just tall, he’s uniquely long. He has 34” arms, nearly an inch longer than Hunter’s, which lead to a huge catch radius. Strangely though, Holmes has tiny 8 5/8” hands, which are the same size as Marquise Goodwin’s.
In 2016, Holmes didn’t have a drop on targets. The year before, he dropped three of his 33 targets. In the season in which he saw the highest usage, 2014, he dropped six of 98 passes thrown his way, according to SportingCharts.com.
Athletically, Holmes is super intriguing. If you don’t know by now, I’m a big believer in combine-type testing — especially the three-cone drill — being an indicator of an NFL player’s capabilities and potential.
At 6’4” and 210 pounds, Holmes had a 6.69 three-cone drill, precisely the same time had at Odell Beckham Jr. at 5’11” and 198 pounds.
Buffalo’s newest receiver ran 4.51 in the 40. Here are his MockDraftable figures and comparable wideouts.
Holmes’ APY of $2.16M makes him the 71st-highest paid receiver in the NFL.
For the time being, he can be penciled in as the Bills No. 2 or No. 3 wideout behind Sammy Watkins.