Thurman#1

This is utter nonsense. We certainly got a full explanation of what happened. We didn't get it from the coaching staff, but we got it from Levi Wallace. And anyone who tells you that every coaching staff (or corporate leadership team) always give full explanations of major problems is as full of crap as a sewage barge on the way out. There's plenty of accountability here. The fans just aren't privy to it in this (and many many many cases on other teams and companies) particular instance. We aren't kidding ourselves about Coach McD taking over during 13 seconds. You are. We don't know. Again, pretending you do know only means your stance again resembles the sewage barge.

Well, yeah, I guess you can say that it's "on 'cap jail' nonsense." But he's not saying that cap jail is nonsense if you pay a QB a boatload of money. He's NOT saying that. Here's what he's saying specifically: "[The myth] is this: NFL teams paying market contracts for top quarterbacks either cannot, or have a very hard time trying to build a Super Bowl–contending team. My unequivocal answer to this is: wrong!" So, he's not saying there's no such thing as getting in cap jail from from paying a huge QB contract. Many here seem to want to pretend that's what's being said. The headline for this thread seems to say that, and that's NOT what Brandt is saying. He's just saying that it's very possible to field a championship-competitive team while paying a huge QB contract. That should already be obvious, what with most Super Bowl-winning teams recently being among the group that has given a big QB contract to a top ten QB. However you can also find teams that paid top ten QBs big contracts and ended up being screwed by resulting harmful cap consequences. The Rams, most recently. In the article, Brandt says, "Paying a top quarterback (cash) is not the issue; dealing with the leftover (cap) accounting in the future is much more the problem." Well, yeah. There is a problem. That problem can to some extent be pushed on down the road, but not forever.

#2s are indeed replaceable. But will probably cost on the order of $10M a year or more. And then you have to worry about how they fit on each team and in each offense. Not all of them do. But you're kidding yourself if you think they'll let Gabe walk. You're stuck with him for another year at the very least. Cutting him now would save us $2.9M cap hit minus $174K dead money, or around $2.7M, and $2.7M for (assuming zero improvement) 836 yards and 7 TDs is a value that few if any GMs would give up, particularly in a year when the cap is tight. IMO they'll be bringing in another FA, though probably not a $10M a year guy. And hopefully drafting one somewhat early. Hopefully that will make you happier.

Everyone's skill set limits the offense. Everyone could be better.

You don't "use somebody as your #2." That's just nonsense. You don't play a #3 as a #2. That doesn't even make sense as a concept. Those numbers refer to how good the guy is. Play a #4 as a #2? What does that even mean? Nothing. Being on the other side from your #1 doesn't make a guy a #2 and it doesn't mean you're treating him as one. You've got to have someone over there. But that guy might be a #2, a #3 or even a #4 depending how good he is. What he is is an x, a z, a slot, a flanker, a split end; there's a lot of verbiage for where they play and what they do. But anyone who uses #2 as a position is just being lazy. The reason Davis is a #2 is that he's a #2. Everything about how he plays and produces says this. He's 30th in yards among WRs. I mean, theoretically, that's a #1. In reality of course, there aren't really 32 true #1s, but it is without the slightest question production at the level of a #2. So is his TDs (T-12th). So is his yards per catch. He's 27th at catches of 20+ yards He simply produces at the level of a #2. The reason for that is real real simple ... it's because he's a #2. One of the better #2s in the league? No, probably not, I'd say. But he's a #2, whether you like it or not. Does that mean he doesn't need to get better, working on eliminating drops for one thing? Hell, no. He's got to fight to keep improving And he knows that. Every player does, really. But looking at him specifically, sure, he's got some things to work on. Does it mean that since we've got him we're OK at WR? Well, we could get by, but no, they should try to bring in more and better.

Nobody "needs" a 1b. There are like five at most teams that have one. It'd be lovely to have one, it really would. But if you needed two #1s, only like three or four teams would have a passing offense. KC doesn't even have one #1 WR, much less two, and they did pretty well this season. And Davis is a legitimate #2. Not a great one, but he's a #2. I do expect them to try to upgrade at receiver, though.

He couldn't wait to get out because LA gave him the best contract. The Bills couldn't give him a good one at the time. Should not be blamed for this in the least, that second contract is where players make most of their career money. Not to mention the Bills had been crappy for a long long time when he left. As for whether we should sign him now, it should of course depend on what kind of performance it'd be reasonable to expect vs. salary. But surrounding a QB with a bunch of non-spectacular but capable guys all of whom can make a play if they have to worked just fine for KC this year and would likely be a smart way to start moving in Buffalo. I loved Woods when he was here. Smart, classy, did the small things well. Might be one of those guys you want to see work out before you sign at this point, though.

The Chiefs didn't find a much better #2. They got rid of their #1 and brought in a bunch of "easily upgradeable" #2s and #3s. They got Smith-Schuster for about $3M.

Not buying that. "You just don't see any contested catch with Gabe Davis"? Simply not true. He had that terrific contested catch on the 2nd TD against Pittsburgh, the 62 yard TD. Fitzpatrick was in great position and actually pins Davis' arm to his side. Davis has a step and a half on the CB but Fitz is running straight vertical while Davis has to go a bit sideways. Minkah pins his arm to his side so Davis catches it one-handed and then Fitzpatrick gets two hands on it and starts to rip it away ... and Davis will have absolutely none of it and simply muscles it away from him. That was as contested as *****. A beautiful TD. Or the TD with 0:23 left in the second quarter in the 2021 Pittsburgh game. The guy is leaning right on him, but Allen throws it to him anyway, and Davis just muscles his way to the ball for the TD. Or the one at 6:20 in the 3rd quarter of the first Jets game in 2021. Or the 2021 Monday night game against the Pats at 2:03 in the first quarter. Just a slant over the middle and a sweet pass from Allen, the CB gets a hand in and almost knocks it out, contesting it, and Davis just holds on and brings it in. He will not let it be ripped out. I'm just going through a highlights film and finding them, ah, another one with a guy right on him and Davis coming back to the ball, reaching out and just using his length to get to it and hold it as the guy tries to rake it out against the Panthers at 7:58 in the 1st. Oh, yeah, that Chargers catch in 2020 at 10:10 in the 4th. Just simply out-leaps the CB. Last game of the season in his rookie year, against the Fins, at 14:26 in the 4th. Davis has like four yards on the CB, but Allen's throw forces him to slow way up, the CB catches up to him but Davis simply gets in his way out-reaches him. Look, it simply isn't true, and I didn't even get halfway through that 2021 highlights film. If anything it says more about what you're choosing to remember. You're right that he's open a lot. But that's not a bad thing. It's quite good, in fact.

If so, that says more about the expectations than about performance. That game against the Chiefs in 2021 got people's expectations unreasonably high. Me too. He had a good year.

Nah, his hips are stiff and he's not as good laterally as vertically. And guys who are consistently thrown so many longer routes do have lower catch percentages. Long passes are simply harder to connect on, for QBs and receivers both. It's a big risk / big reward deal.

They didn't spend $120M on Von. The 6th year of that contract, has him getting a salary of $29.645M. Anyone think he's getting that in 2027 at 38 years old? That contract is a 3 year deal ($17.47M AAV) with reasonable ways to make it a 4 year ($17.475M) or 5 year deal ($17.982) if he's still producing at a high level. Still not cheap. But Von's loss was a huge blow to our title hopes. Beane has shown no tendencies to do big FA deals every year. But once every four or five years is a reasonably common blueprint and fits what he did with Miller.

Those teams that got scored on in the playoffs all have one thing in common. None of them had Von Miller in the lineup. That was a key factor in how the game went this last year. We don't need more at WR,, though I think they will bring in some, and it would make sense. Not a need, but a logical place for improvement, IMO. We need OL improvement. And safety. And if we create any holes as the OL posited, we'll have new needs there too.

No RB in the 3rd, please. Wouldn't mind later, though. We've already gone 3rd, 3rd and 2nd the last three years. Don't need to spend more there, especially if they can get Hines to agree to take a bit less, which seems a reasonable ask. I expect them to bring in a cheap FA instead. If they really see a major BPA RB at some point, they might indeed take it, but trading back would make better sense that early..

Yes, this. And in fairness, receivers who mostly are targeted for long passes are going to have a lower catch rate. Nature of the beast. But still, Gabe could work on his hands a bit more.

Very true. Of course, back then most teams were not using nickel as their base defense. AJ Klein was a 5th rounder. And he played the third LB spot, next to Davis and Kuechly. And in fairness, they used a first round pick on Shaq Thompson when Davis was 32. See any LBs who are 32 on this Bills team?

Yeah, did he get abused by Mahomes this year? When we had a bit of a pass rush hurrying him? You know who gets abused by Mahomes's eyes in the middle of the field in zone coverage when he has time to throw? Absolutely everyone. And he doesn't get driven back all that much. He gets driven back 7 - 10 yards? Fine, name 10 plays where that happened. Should be easy since it happens so often. In the run defense, Milano is the guy given the go-ahead to go forward and freelance a bit at times. They have different roles. Tremaine is the guy who's generally supposed to stay back, fill the hole and get him if he turns the corner if necessary. This decision will be made by money, as the Bills are really tightly strictured right now, but they'll do their best to get him back. This Bills D has shown that they're a ton worse without him than with him.

Dude, please. This says more about you than about Edmunds. On the first play he was covering for in-cuts and on the second he was on the other side of the field. I see that, but the fact is that's their scheme and their habit. They sunk a ton of cap dollars into those exact two spots in Carolina with Kuechly and Davis.

It doesn't sound like that at all, Hap. "I'm gonna let the process take shape," sounds to you like we've seen the end of his career as a Bill? He's not saying anything like that there. It only means he's not willing to commit to a return as of now. Which only makes sense, even if he'd rather return than not. Sorry to bring back what I now see is an old post, though. It was new to me.

Dude, this is flat-out ridiculous. It's just dumb. You're talking about a 3-loss team that starts more draftees than guys who got there other ways. They draft well. Far from perfectly, but well. The established pattern here is to have a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations for several years in a row now, and it'll likely be so next year as well.

His first round picks have been plenty good. Two bad 2nd round picks and the rest are OK or not sure yet. I get that this was a feeble attempt at humor, but keep your mitts off the first round. It doesn't make sense. Out of six first round picks, two have been terrific, Allen and Tre, Edmunds has been good, Rousseau is still a bit early but looks like a good deal. Oliver is a very good player, though not a great bargain where we drafted him. Elam started to look really good in the playoffs, he show every sign of starting to really get it. Not to mention getting Diggs for his other pick. And their latest 2nd, Cook, also looks like he was really picking things up near the end. I don't blame you for not wanting to put money on winning the division this coming year. I mean, who wants to win money? It's such filthy corrupting stuff.

Great post. Careful and thorough. Gave me a lot to think about. Good luck on that. 😄 I don't think our GM ranks it a high enough priority to put that many resources into it. I'd like to see significantly above average. Allen runs and moves well enough to make that kind of a line really really effective.

The OL wasn't good. It also wasn't as bad as you're implying. Dawkins and Morse played very well. Bates played well the last half of the season after taking a while switching left to right, a really hard switch since it reverses your footwork. After that, things get questionable. Spencer Brown was recovering from back surgery. That often takes a long time to recover from. A longer time than people want to deal with. He could easily be much better next year. Or not. Some back injuries never really get better. They should bring in someone, probably an FA, to compete in case he doesn't get back to his 2021 form and beyond. Saffold needs to be replaced, obviously. Very much worth remembering. Doesn't look like Morse will let what has happened so far stop him. But he does need to strongly consider his future and we need to do something in case he ends up with another serious concussion at some point. Everyone's all over this, but a guard who can play center should be a high draft priority, if nothing else to provide competition for Bates at center and possibly keep him at guard down the road.

That's deeply wrong. The problem wasn't thinking a closer would make the difference. It did. The D with a healthy Von was terrific. Including strangling the life out of the Chiefs this year by holding them to 20 points. "Nobody is stopping Mahomes"? We did this year. The problem was Von's injury, along with the many others on the defense, of course. That, Josh's arm injury and Saffold not being the right guy.

Not true. KC is in fact always looking around to see what they can learn from other teams. Always. As has been reported elsewhere, that play that - I believe - they scored two touchdowns on with the outside WR motioning in and then reversing behind the other WR, the one that totally confused the Bengals, Reid said he got that from the Bills, who ran it in 2020 or 2021. The Chiefs are always trying to learn from good teams. So should we. Yeah, absolutely. Take any ideas that would fit us. Find things about them that you can model successfully. Allen wasn't saying copy them in every facet.