Thurman#1

You have to go for it. But not at the expense of the next years. They have made clear their goal is sustained, consistent competitiveness. We're already down to $33M on next year's assumed cap. It was only a short time ago we were in the $50s. And not all the moves have hit Spotrac yet. That number will go down as they learn what the contract details will be on some of these moves. They're likely to make a few more moves. But don't expect them to kick every can they can find down the road. Beane hasn't showed an interest in being that kind of GM. And thank goodness for that.

No reason to think it's a meltdown. We'll see that as we watch things play out. And no reason to think it's the Bills creating it. More likely it's simply how bad the Pats have been. This is a knee-jerk reaction and there's nothing specific that proves any of it. There's every reason to think that the reason they are jumping in early is first that they don't have the talent they used to, second that they have far more money than they usually do. They were expected to do a lot more than they usually do. They appear to be looking at their problems very realistically. Their drafting has been bad for the last four years or so. They're further away than they've been in a long time. They have a lot of needs and a lot of money.

A lack of realism.

Not going to happen. $$

Well, that's you. In 2019 he was close to the league lead in YPA. If you don't find that as evidence he's at the very least decent, that says more about you than it does about Motor.

The o-line did a poor job last year on run-blocking. But this team is going to be built mostly around passing. And they did a great job last year at that. In the same press conference you're referring to he said, "The blocking has to be better." You're taking that to mean that the guys weren't good enough ... but it could easily mean that they need another year under their new line coach, or that they have to further prioritize run blocking this year, even with the same guys. More, Cody Ford missed most of the year. Just getting him back is likely to be a good improvement in run blocking. Ford is a people-mover. And no, you're right, he wouldn't keep things status quo because he drafted two 3rds. But he's made it clear he's reasonably happy with those 3rds, and that's a different kettle of fish. Not that he's thrilled with them, I would guess. But reasonably happy. And I don't think there are many saying he's going to stand pat at RB. Many or most - me too - think it's fairly likely he goes RB on day three sometime or maybe bring in a cheaper FA, or at least strongly consider these options.

Oh, assuming you're not trolling, you're clueless. Fair enough. Not worth answering, though.

This is simply a poor take. Milano is a very good pass rusher when asked to do it. He's good against the run too, extremely instinctual. Milano has a very strong all around game. The comparison doesn't make any sense, as they play different positions and have entirely different responsibilities. For what they each do, Milano's better. But what Lawson was signed to do ... rush the passer on every pass play ... is better paid. Lawson appears to be a good young player on the upswing, who gets to the QB but hasn't gotten a lot of sacks. These two moves have nothing to do with each other and there's no reason to compare them beyond an interest in irritating people. Another dissimilarity is that Lawson (not the 9th best DE in the league) got paid the 9th highest salary. He's overpaid (common for 1st tier FAs, but still overpaid) whereas Milano gave a very signficant hometown discount.

Thank you, friend. It's much appreciated. Picking him up is an interesting move, IMO. The default mode here (me too) is to throw shade on any Pats move. I try to resist the impulse and think carefully. Seems like Bourne is a hard worker and a good locker room guy. For his production they overpaid but his catch % is high and he seems to be getting better. I assume that like most contracts this year, they'll backload it so he doesn't cost too much this year, and also allowing him to be cut before the end if he doesn't work out. Seems like a decent get to me, not terrific or anything. They've improved the team, I think. An awful lot will depend on their QB, whoever that may be.

Would have loved him, but it seemed unlikely with our first few signings. And the question was always how much he would cost. At that #, I don't think we'd have touched him even if we easily had the money. Haaa! Nice one. Yes!!!

Guys, not games, right? I don't think we want to. To get $30 mill it would have to be more than a few. And Beane doesn't seem to work that way. While we did those re-structures we've already done, I've been watching the cap for next year go down. Spotrac guesses our adjusted cap for next year to be $216M, and our cap space to be about $33.8M. If you create more space this year, you take it away from next year. I can see one or two more. Possibly even three. I doubt more, though. It's not how Beane likes to operate. We'll see.

It was illegal play. We will see flags thrown. And the fact that Brown was injured and couldn't separate the way he normally can and Beasley was playing on a broken leg had a large part in the offense's problems. And a competent receiving TE may well be on the roster. Knox is developing. It's not a necessity to bring one in. I'd like it, myself. But there are other priorities. I hope we manage it, but I don't see them spending a lot of cash on it. Belichick knew about TEs before Kelce was out of high school.

You're supposed to be clear with your titles. Light-hearted is fine. Clear is required. This is very unclear, and ought to be changed.

The word "horrid," is nowhere in the article. That's entirely yours, and really isn't supported in the article. The only adjective used about the bonus in the article is, "additional," as in, "incurring an additional cap hit." "The Bills would incur an additional cap charge of $4.7 million in 2021 if Lotulelei were to retire, which could inhibit some of their offseason moves or lead to another player release," is what Joe said, and is a very reasonable way of putting it. It certainly does happen that teams go after signing bonus money from retirement. But it's not very common, particularly if the team likes the guy and thinks that he intended when he signed it to fulfill the contract. It also sends a message to players that they don't like to hear. Right now people talk about the great culture and the happiness in the locker room. Moves like that affect that. Now, going after a guy like Vontae Davis (though Vontae very quickly voluntarily returned his bonus) is understood by the players if they go after that money. Star gave them two years of his absolute best. There's no indication that he had any fraudulent intent when he signed the contract. It sends a message that can be read as anti-player. They still could do it but they don't have a history of it at all. No particular reason to think Star will retire, though as Joe says, he certainly could.

Is this a reading problem, Scott? He didn't mention just Star. He mentioned Epenesa, that he might easily improve a lot. And he left out Oliver, who when not injured has improved consistently and who they are clearly hoping, reasonably, will also take a major step forward this year. It's not all that doubtful at all. Against the run, Lotulelei's impact was huge, and his absence caused a chain reaction, affecting others. Without Star, we were a small DL, easily overpowered. With an extremely large space-eating dude at 1-tech, they look different in total. Epenesa got a lot better late in the year and there's every chance he also can play better yet next year. He also left out the fact that ... hold for it ... it's March. Chances are they will make a few changes before the season. Depending on how things go they might even have a more normal offseason and a chance to work together and unite better than they were able to do till halfway through the season last year. This defense was right on the edge of elite, maybe even there, in 2019 with Star there. They clearly took a major step back. Star was a large part of the reason why. But there is a good chance there will be improvements elsewhere as well on that DL.

Yeah, as your team wins more games and your draft position drops, you tend to get less instant impact.

Yeah, great point. It's so easy to replace a QB who completed 70.5% of his passes, threw 24 TDs and 6 INTs, had 8.1 yards per attempt and a passer rating of 106.4. Not for his career. Those were his stats last year. He wasn't what he had been but he was still very very good.

Yeah, I think many aren't thinking about how continued development of some of our youngest guys could really have a bigger impact on this year's results than whoever we draft. That is a possibility on every team but it gets more likely when most of your core guys are younger and when you have scheme continuity as we do.

It's really your point maybe but it's sure not the point. The Bills were obviously, visibly better when Milano was playing. It was there to see but the stats back it up. I thought it was clear that he was a top two player on that defense last year. They would not have been fine without him. It's far more legit to say that about Feliciano, but anyone thinking they know more than the Bills do about Feliciano's impact is only showing a drastic overestimation of his understanding of the situation. I'll totally line up on your side on the last line there, we just don't know what's coming next. I didn't think there was any way they could bring back all three. I mean I knew it was possible but thought it was wildly unlikely, especially with Milano seeming to be giving signals that he wanted to test his worth. I'm looking forward to see what happens. They're going to have to shave some more money over the next few days and weeks, and I look forward to seeing how they do that.

Boettger is still un-signed, last I knew anyway, though it seems that it would be easy enough to bring him back. Now that we've got all that done ... OL, pass rusher, CB, TE, WR and also maybe 1-tech and RB, probably in the later rounds. Pretty much the same as it has been, really, but less concern with OT and more with G/C. Beane's way has been to find guys in FA so we're not forced to go any particular direction in the draft if we don't want to, and then he drafts BPA at the same positions that seemed to be weaknesses before FA. Not that this guarantees he'll do the same this year, but that's probably the way to bet.

I'm not going to disagree with you that Allen is a freak and that without that they don't make plays. It's correct. But if the DLs get there a half a second earlier, which they do if the OL isn't as good at pass protection as they were, it's a different story.

The reason we beat them with Josh Allen is that he was healthy and upright. That's largely due to the OL. The OL, once you have a real QB, really pretty much is the be and the end all. How many good young QBs have been beaten into timid PTSD cases because the GM refused to prioritize the OL? Luckily, Beane has showed he's not one of those.

$$

Great logic. And no, we absolutely did NOT go less power last year. Just the opposite. Less pulling. More power. That's why the guys they've brought in have been big strong and not especially athletic. They haven't brought in a nifty interior guy since Morse, and they've switched OL coaches since then. How's this for a comeback with equal argumentative logic and power: "Our backs don't suck. Just face it." Convincing, right? Thank you. I got it from you. Credit where credit is due. Thing is, Beane agrees with me and disagrees with you. And yes, he's bringing back most of the OL, they were really good at pass protection, and that's what this team values most in an OL. Which will not help any new RB any more than it helped Moss and Singletary. And I'm sure they want a game breaker in the backfield just like you. It's just not likely to be as high a priority on a team that has one of the highest pass:run ratios in the league as it appears to be for you. But they're clear that the OL was most of the problem last year, even if you're not.

They're not just JAGs, they're solid, good backs. No, not breakaway threats, but good players. Their YPAs speak to that. And it wasn't the RBs who were the problem, it was the line and the system. How many times do we need Brandon Beane to say this before we know that they are indeed the answer. The Bills have been going towards a power scheme since they switched OL coaches last offseason. The RBs aren't the reason they're not doing sophisticated running schemes. This team wants to throw the ball most of the time. As well they should. And for a team that wants to do that, spending a 3rd, a 3rd and then a 1st on an RB just is not smart resource management. I expect that they might well go RB on day 3. That could be an upgrade. But I think they feel that the upgrade will come from the development of some of our younger OLs, some more OL continuity and more offseason work time together, maybe drafting another OL earlyish, Cody Ford staying healthy, etc.