Alphadawg7

Oh by the way...I agree it is most often a lie...but its also not always a lie, just look at all the Bills players taking less money to stay here and contend with Allen, including Allen himself. Shakir, Groot, Bernard, Allen, etc could have all gotten more money than they did, especially the ones who would have hit FA soon. Coldest team in the league, never won a SB...but they are prioritizing winning and culture over money to stay here. Just saying

But DK never said he would only play for a contender, and never said "top" contender, if he ever said any of it all. And as a player who is 27, its not just about this one season. He isn't a 33 year old player chasing one last shot at a ring. He is looking at a team that is A) Coming off a playoff season. B) Spending money on him to improve the already playoff roster. C) Aggressively trying to improve already at QB. D) Is one of the most well run and winningest franchises in the NFL. So the definition of a "contender" to a player in his prime looking for a long term home is about more than just this one season, its about a team he feels can contend during his tenure there. It is more about going to a team that is consistently winning, consistently trying to improve, and a team he feels that during his contract can contend for a SB. So...while I don't disagree with your definition of a contender, I do disagree that the term "contender" is interpreted the same way by a player in his prime that is looking for a long term home. Now add in the short list of teams willing to give up both a 2nd and a big contract to a WR not in the top 10 at his position...and Steelers are probably the team with the best chance to contend on that list.

Of course man, always all good, its not that serious by any means. I wasn't so much saying you either...lots of people on the board were making a big deal out of the whole "he didn't go to a contender" thing, and I just think Steelers could be tougher than people think this year. I don't disagree about ignoring that statement, money often talks lol. I will say this though, he allegedly said he "prefers" warm weather and "prefers" a contender (didn't say a "top" contender) if I am not mistaken...which if true, is probably true for every WR in the league in terms of what they prefer, but a preference isn't the same as saying they won't play in the cold or will only play for a top contender. That is the only reason I was just saying I don't think DK should be getting any flak for being ok to go the Steelers, especially since the number of teams willing to both give up a 2nd and then do a $150M deal on a WR who isn't even top 10 in the league probably was not a very long list to begin with.

A playoff team is a contender by definition though. Was it the best contender he could have chosen? No, but this isn't close to the same category as Myles reupping with the inept Browns who have no shot to contend until Myles is approaching his twilight seasons. DK sees a playoff team looking to even further improve its offense by adding him and pursuing another upgrade at QB, and an organization that is one of the most respected and well run in the league. But people acting like he chose to go to the Jets or something. And lets also keep in mind what was said he "allegedly" wanted...he "preferred" a contender or warm weather...which lets be honest, every WR in the league prefers better weather and playing for a winner. But only so many teams can offer you $150M, so you don't always get to pick from the best situations in the league that meet every preference. He never said (if he even said any of that) he would not go to a cold city or play for anyone but a top contender. Just something I feel like is getting made to be a bigger deal of than it should be. All good though

Lol...it aint that serious...and I didn't say that. But this outrage of "I thought he wanted to go to a contender" is just a bit silly, because he did.

But they are not going into the season with no QB. They will either bring back Wilson/Fields or add an upgrade. So worst case they are about the same as last year, when they were a playoff team before adding a WR like DK to fill one of their biggest needs. DK also doesn't likely agree to go there unless he knew the plan at QB already.

Not sure why people keep saying otherwise...but the Steelers were a playoff team and are a contender this year. Are they as strong as contender as the Bills...no, not yet. But if they can land an upgrade at QB, they could legit challenge for their division. If they bring back one of the QB's they had, they are still a probable playoff team.

I didn't love the idea of bringing in Mack at his age, but at the right price I would have been fine. At $18M though...nah I am good.

I’d like to see some secondary help in FA. Holland or Reed would be nice.

LFG!!!!!

They averaged 28 in the post season this year against two potent defenses, including what had been the best defense in the NFL the second half of the season. It was enough to win one and should have been enough to win the other had we not been the only team to surrender 30+ points to KC the only time the whole season…you know a week before KC was down 34-0 in the SB in the first 3 quarters.

No, what hasn’t gotten us over the hump is our defenses. Every single metric, statistic, and fact proves that.

$150M x 5 years for a WR who isn’t even in the top 10 in the league at his position? Gross…and I like DK, but man that is some serious coin for a good but not really elite WR - IMHO.

Im still in on DK, but I am just skeptical how realistic it will be if what’s reported is accurate is all. So just bracing for the fact that neither him or Hendrickson may be really possible for us to land. I have no doubt Beane is looking into both, but it takes more than just our interest to make it happen.

Diggs I assure you will have no impact on his decision to trade for DK or not…neither will the 2nd round alleged current asking price. But the $30M a year and the dislike for cold weather might though. $30M for a WR not even in the top 10 of his position is pretty high, and one who doesn’t like to play in the cold isn’t helping his case. Im all for landing DK, but looking at the probability of it (assuming what is being reported is accurate) seems less and less likely. I would love to land him or Hendrickson (although Hendrickson is my first choice), but there are things working against us in both those trades that go beyond just whether Beane is going to attempt to. I mean with Hendrickson it’s a big question if they even trade him, let alone would they trade him to a perennial top 3 AFC team directly in their path to a SB. Especially since Burrow wants to keep him…I mean how badly would they piss of Burrow by not only trading him, but helping a major AFC opponent get even better? So starting to look around the landscape and think that big trade may just not be there to be made with several already signing extensions and the last 2 big ones have aspects that make it seem less probable said players would come here. So my focus is now starting to look more heavily at FA and the draft with a small hope we can figure out how to pry away one of these big targets.

This was always going to be the case since the day we signed him. It was always essentially a 3 year deal, and hats off to Von who took a pay cut instead of having to do a restructure last year that made this move still possible. I think there is a better than 50% chance he resigns here for less as a situational player. He wants a 3rd ring with a 3rd team and wants to be here and I think the FO is open to him coming back on a deal more representative of his role. Low cost vet depth.

He knows this because he still incorrectly believes we should have drafted Worthy. That’s his proof lol

Coolio…good chat and I’m confident we are adding a vertical threat somewhere (FA, Trade, or Draft) Cheers and GoBills!

Dont get me wrong, if I had to choose between Garrett and Groot, I am all in on Garrett too and then looking to the draft. So no disagreement from me. But, I also don't think Groot's deal prevents us making a run at either Garrett or Hendrickson. Whether or not either gets traded or either would trade them to a perennial top 3 team in their own conference is another story. And I also think Groot is worth a lot more than $10M a year, and at $20M in todays market, thats a bargain IMHO. I think Groot is going to be even better once we improve elsewhere on the DL too. I mean as much as everyone wants Hendrickson, he didn't break out as a sack machine until he was in the league a little while.

I do agree with you that the target should have been BTJ...but outside of him, there really wasn't a player like him remaining on the board. And lets keep in mind, despite missing time, Keon still put up over 500 yards and averaged like 20 ypc as a rookie. Imagine what Keon can be if there is another guy on the field making his job easier. So all I was trying to say, and again meant no disrespect by it, but this notion that Cooper was some "admission" (and a lot of people use that term, so its more to TSW as a whole than just you) midseason is just not at all reflective to what was really going on. Can't expect to replace 4 WR's in one offseason when you are cap strapped and fielding $31M to the position in dead cap already. But when Beane saw the chance midseason to add to the group and not kill our cap then or now, he pulled the trigger. People should be looking at that as a positive, not a negative as if he is admitting he screwed something up (which it also wasnt). We should want a GM who is managing the cap in a way to keep us being a contender year after year and keeping young talent coming in while still aggressive at making moves to try and get us over the top when the opportunities are there midseason too. It was always going to be a multi year rebuild at that position given the amount of turnover in one offseason and our cap situation. I mean who was taken after Keon that resembles anything close to BTJ? So the only move was to trade up for BTJ...nothing else was there to be done. And we may have tried, we may not have tried, we don't really know. But make no mistake about it...I do think it is a mistake if we didn't try given I felt BTJ was worth the move heading into the draft, and actually expected it. But, again, maybe we did...there is no info confirming either way, but I do suspect we didn't.

Well when we need to get by teams like the Ravens for example or could face teams like the Eagles in the SB...stopping the run is pretty important given everyone else on our team sucks at it. You want to win in the postseason...being able to run the ball and win in the trenches is important. Which also means you need to be able to defend against that as well. And I do think he will be even better once we fix the guys around him, and I expect us to make moves on the DL this offseason via FA, trade, or draft or some combo of that.

I mean no disprespect...but...This statement that keeps getting repeated needs to stop, its kind of ridiculous to be honest. At no point was our WR room ever considered done, complete, good enough, or whatever else someone wants to infer Beane thought of it. We only had 1...just 1...WR on the roster that could play after Diggs and Davis departure. Diggs trade cost us $31M in dead cap. Our cap was already tight. It was a mini transition year moving on from age and bloated contracts to get our cap healthier and our roster younger going into this season and beyond. For anyone to even imply Beane felt the WR room entering the season was done, good enough, etc is just silly. He put together some low cost vets, drafted a guy, and went into the season hoping that both Shakir and Kincaid, their young holdovers, would also continue to develop. And why...because we didn't have the cap space to be aggressive for a high priced vet, and we also had a lot of roster turnover of some key positions and needed to stock pile draft picks to try and get some new starters and some new depth at various positions. So no, its not at all accurate to label the Cooper trade as some admission of anything. Beane is always looking to help this team, and at the beginning of the season we couldn't afford a Cooper, nor was he available. He wasn't even available when we initially inquired as Browns first rebuffed our interest. Beane saw a team who could contend and a player that could help us now that was cheap and on his last year of his deal, so he didn't hurt the cap this past year and wouldn't be a cap issue this offseason. All this other noise that people label the trade is just rubbish...it wasn't an admission Keon was a mistake either (as others label the move)...it wasn't an admission of anything. It was Beane being aggressive as a GM and seeing a move he could make in season that upped our chances to compete that didn't thwart our future plans. He was ALWAYS going to keep adding to the WR room after we signed and drafted the guys we did. Now can we say it was a mistake to not go get BTJ...well if he didn't attempt to, I would say yes given his fit for what we needed and the fact he was almost as good a prospect as the big 3 who all went top 10. But...we also do NOT know if he attempted to or not, so its kind of hard to even hold that against him without knowing if he tried or not. Although I think he was looking to move down, not up, so I do think its more likely a missed opportunity.

At this price...this is a win. I was leary about paying him what I thought he could command, was worried it might hit the $25M+ range after Crosby's deal upped the market. This is a great move IMHO by Beane, and can't wait to see him with some help added on the DL this year which IMHO is a given that is coming in some fashion...FA, Trade, Draft or some combo of those.

I think Beane takes more slack than he should on drafting, in fact, I would argue he has been one of the better GMs in the league, and the stats support that. However, I thought for sure BTJ would be our guy if he got to 20 last year or lower. Now, I don't know that Beane didn't try, I mean he could have and gotten rebuffed. But, I don't think he did because in all his talk before the draft, during the draft, and after the draft it seemed pretty clear they entered that draft with the mindset to pick at 28 or trade back, with trading back probably the preferred choice given who they expected to be on the board and for the purpose or recouping the 3rd rounder we used on Rasul. And Beane said as much in terms of wanting to get that 3rd back. And look, I get it, it was a major turnover year getting rid of a lot of age while we had $31M in dead cap alone from Diggs. Trying to get as many picks as he can while trying to restock with youth isn't necessarily a wrong choice. And it was considered a deep draft at WR, so also get that. However, I do feel like BTJ was almost as good as the top 3 who all went top 10. He was right there, and I feel like getting him when he got that close should have trumped getting another late 3rd. Again, he could have called and got rebuffed...we may never know unless he publicly says he didn't attempt to move up or did. But, I don't think he did to be honest, and I do think not trying was a mistake because BTJ was just too good a prospect. I had BTJ and Ladd as the 4 and 5 guys in the draft at WR, but Ladd didn't make a lot of sense in terms of type we needed heading into the draft, so for me BTJ was a no brainer. I felt the same way when DK was in the draft too, like he should be our guy in the first...then in the 2nd...then in a trade up when he was still on the board. So for me, if he really didn't try to get BTJ in a draft where we lost Diggs and Davis, then I think I can mark that one down as a mistake in my book by Beane even though I really do think Beane is a great GM.

I guarantee Beane has looked into Hendrickson, especially given the reported interest in Myles. I say that because he would be just as good a get as Myles, but would be cheaper to acquire and a more absorbable cap hit upon extension. But, it’s a big question mark whether or not Bengals would send him to an AFC contender though. So not sure how “gettable” he is for us specifically. My thought is make sure we make the best offer and put Cincy in position to have to decide on taking a lesser offer or our best offer.