WhitewalkerInPhilly

Yeah, but they'd still need to work out a contract in three weeks

Oof. Just saw his contract hit. We can't afford that without working out a new contract first.

Look, I know Bleacher Report isn't really serious, but their package for Aiyuk to the Bills is our 1st and a 5th. I just did a thing about how the Bills look like an excellent fit make a variation on what Shanahan is doing with the Niners. I would make that trade in a heartbeat.

This is probably going to sound heretical but...go light on the WRs. Hear me out: A lot of Brady's wrinkles were off of what Shanahan was running in San Fran. And ho boy, does Shanahan love his 21, 22 and 13 personnel. I mean, if I am going to look at the skill position players the Bills have right now that differentiate them (explosive or what is different from most NFL teams), this is what I come up with: James Cook (Use analogous to CMC) Curtis Samuel (a poor man's Deebo Samuel) Khalil Shakir (great hands, great separation, great YAC) Kincaid (great ability to get open, one of the more surehanded tight ends in the league) Gilliam (one of the better FBs in the league) The more I look, the more the remaining pieces look like what Shanahan has been doing. Maybe the skill pieces are not quite as good, but with Allen to make plays, I think the Bills could mow down the increasingly lighter defenses of the league. So, how would I construct the room, based on what the team has now and what I think they are likely to acquire? Curtis Samuel: starting Y receiver, can be used as moveable chess piece in slot of backfield Shakir: starting slot receiver, Y receiver on plays when Samuel is in the backfield Justin Shorter: starting X (weakside) receiver, pending a rookie fighting him for the job [Yet to be drafted high round rookie]: Competition for X receiver, ideally taking the job from Shorter [Yet to be drafted mid round rookie]/Isabella/Hollins/Thompson: fight out for depth and ST roles for 2 spots That would get the Bills 6 WR, with my ideal groupings of [high impact rookie], Samuel, Shakir, Kincaid, Cook as a base set, modified with swapping out Cook for Knox on obvious pass downs, and Kincaid for heavy run sets.

While I agree about needing another wideout, Brady does seem to be pulling from Shanahan and the man loves his multi-TE sets. The big knock I heard about the 12 and 21 personnel last year was "yeah, but it's not getting Shakir on the field" Diggs and Davis were your outside guys. Now? No Diggs and Davis. The big selling point on Curtis Samuel is that you can play him inside or outside or in the backfield on any given play. While I don't think that Kincaid is a true boundary CB he can do it in stretches. I am imagining something like this: do you remember that stupid little pop handoff in Week 18 that Miami was doing with Mostert and Achane in the backfield that was incredibly annoying until McDaniel forgot that it worked? Imagine Cook and Samuel in the backfield. Kincaid or Knox are in at TE, with Shakir overloading the strong side the slot. Presumably our freshly drafted X WR on the weakside. From that formation you can: A & B: Option handoff to whichever RB you think has the best matchup. (Cook or Samuel) C : Have Josh run it himself. D&E: play action pass to Cook or Samuel, with the other running their route F: Bootleg for Shakir and TE with Cook and Samuel as blockers G: Test their CB if our rookie WR gets a favorable 1 on 1 I am sure there are others, but that's a lot you can do with the same personnel matchups.

As best I can tell, that's accurate and is my biggest silver lining to this. I didn't want the move. I do not like the compensation. But it does put the team firmly in the black for 2025. I've talked about the window closing. I stand by that, at least for this year, but even if unpleasant I can stand by a year with lowered expectations. In the (I think reasonable) hypothetical that the Bills focus their 2nd-5th round picks this year on players who they think can be rotated in and will winnow out 2-4 starters a la Bernard in 2025 the team would have $27 M in cap space without restructuring Allen or cutting Von. They'd lose $13.4 for Groot's 5th year option, that I expect them to take, but that could be lowered with an extension. They'd have Shakir, Cook, Kincaid and presumably at least one more WR on rookie contracts, along with Samuel on a very reasonable one and the only potential loss on the O-line being Spencer Brown (who I think can be had for cheap unless he has a monster year). Most of the aging vets would be off the books by 2026 meaning that Beane would have the space to reinvest in Cook, Bernard, Shakir and Benford. (As an aside, apart from Elam that 2022 draft class is looking impressive right now) So while I am not thrilled at the move, I can see the plan.

I'll come out and say it: at the moment the WR room is worse than what is was in 2019. That's not to doom and gloom. There is still the draft. The Lions and Niners did amazing things with multi right end sets and Kincaid, Shakir and Samuel seem like ideal fits and the Bills have committed to Knox so we might as well use him.

Ooof. I mean it's the right thing to do. I'm all for a trade up but I think we need to face that the Bills leverage is not great. If the boathouse is stripped bare, we shouldn't go and get the 10th best receiver when the team can go back to the 33-38th range and get the 12th best receiver the youth movement can begin

Fine. Taking him at 28 would have been a wince and a nod for me while we had Diggs. Dude looks like a potential good WR2. I ain't putting him out as a starting #1

I would have been fine with that until Diggs was shipped off. If they get him in the third round as a double up, that's fine.

Ehh, only if you count 2025 because the team loses 3 million this year. Which, if you want to make a case for 2024 being a hard rebuild I could have swallowed it, but if that was the case Beane should not have bothered bringing in street free agents. Why gobble up more cap room if the point is to purge the old guard and draft fresh? The only thing I can imagine is Diggs did something Antonio Brown crazy that somehow was out of the news, and Beane had to ship him out for pennies on the dollar.

Yeah, I don't think I need to wait on this one to make a call. While some of the Diggs criticism was legit, the man had four consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons. That's every year we has with us. Was he on the downside of his career? Decent odds. But you cannot tell me that he didn't have some gas left in the tank and couldn't be used in 2024 and 2025. I was dumbfounded when I heard "a second round pick". I was floored when I found out it was for 2025 AND gave up a 5th and 6th this year. Beane gave up picks. To take on cap space. To see no benefit until 2025. And in doing so created a massive hole on the roster and make everyone and their mother know the Bills need a WR1 and strangling our leverage. If this move would be done, at least wait until draft day. F. F-

This aged like milk on a hot summer day

Well not it definitely has. Don't worry, I made it through the drought, I can survive a year or two of retooling. Midseason 2023 I was seriously considering a controlled demolition. I'm ok with giving Brady a year to show what he can do, trying out some young guys and then hitting the accelerator in 2025. But we better accept that.

Welp, not anymore. I would have loved him, but Beane just gutted the WR position.

I'm not a cap expert, but I am pretty sure that a $3M cap hit is the MINIMUM the Bills would be taking. To my knowledge, no trade can account for monies already paid out as part of signing bonuses or restructures.

I mean is this is real, I don't see how the hell Beane waits until 28. Either he is 100% confident that he can get a guy in the 1st round, or the Bills window just closed.

Are we sure that this isn't a very good hoax? Because that is such a massively bad deal and it's very uncharacteristic of Beane, especially after guarantees kicked in.

For the love of god, how thin skinned are some of you? Yeah, Diggs is a drama llama and a bit of a ***** stirrer. I don't care. I don't remember him ever slagging off the team in public. The closest was his visible frustration on the sideline at how poor the game planning and execution for the offense was for the Bengals game which...same. Remember when he posted a heart emoji, and then "Ready for Whatever" and people assumed he was trying to force his way off the team? Some people got an idea fixed in their head and are going to interpret all evidence to that end, regardless of context.

Rumors were that Reddick was unhappy because he wanted a big extension and the Eagles weren't giving him because his best year was 4 years ago and while productive was seeing diminished returns So hey Banner, load up on aging players on the decline

I mean I don't disagree. But if there is a run on WR and there is just no one they like and there is a guy who should have been top 15, I'll take that and pick WR in the 2nd round.

At the least, I think it puts Beane in position to truly take BPA. I may not *love* all of our starters, but seemingly everyone is at bridge-starter level. I might prefer a WR or DB, but if a game wrecker falls and they're a D-line or O-line piece, I can live with that.

I was literally thinking "Hey, a guy with a bit of production probably on a vet minimum contract. Won't affect the salary cap due to the rules. Worst case scenario he's a camp body. We'd have to really try to be upset about that" And then some of us did.

Especially wth WR, I was critical of McConkey, but he's looking to fit the mold Beane wants

In my mind, it is. Not because I expect Diggs to go anywhere anytime soon but for the following: I don't expect the Bills play/state of the AFC to drop off/surge enough that the Bills will be picking in the teens to low 20s anytime soon. This particular draft looks like one where it might be the only one for the next few years where the Bills are in position to draft someone who projects as one. Diggs' greatest strengths have never been elite measurables so much as above average one married to excellent route running and technique. He's been so good at it that he is a true WR1, but teams have devoted gameplan to doing their best to shut him down. He's not Tyreek Hill, where by pure speed he can get outside, or work in the backfield and get 30 yards. The best thing for him is to take pressure off so teams can't shift coverage to his side. I did not expect Diggs to go anywhere this offseason, and don't think it's likely that he goes anywhere in 2025, if I am looking down the road in 2026 he will be 33 and costing the Bills $28.5 million in cap space. While the top $'s for WRs is about to explode around then, that's a decent chunk of change to invest in a player on the downside of their career. I'd much prefer an insurance policy in the works.