Hapless Bills Fan

Overheard: "That's Some ***** when the morally upright starting QB on the Browns roster is the married guy who met a random chick for a #### ### in a parking lot." It could tell us that the NFL will hold back from any disciplinary action until 2023

Ugh. Our "value" FA CB have not given us ROI

Peoples all freaked that we didn't offer the man a $3.9M 2nd round tender instead of a "first refusal" $2.4M Me, I think it's very possible Bates will get an offer sheet, but I also think Beane is a Man with a Plan.

https://www.twincities.com/2022/03/18/bills-restricted-free-agent-ryan-bates-to-visit-patriots-bears-after-vikings-stop/ Says Bates visit to Vikes went well and they could end up extending an offer sheet. They're looking for a RG, however. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bears/ct-chicago-bears-ryan-bates-buffalo-bills-20220319-p3ru2ot55zcllb4ktb6en5f47i-story.html Bears and Patriots still to come. Bears also looking for a RG. Beane did not sound perturbed about these visits. 🤔 If Rick signs with the Patriots, he's Dead to me.

That last is true, but it depends some on how they list Gilliam and whether they keep him. Last season some of our (2,1) packages were actually (1,2) with Gilliam as a blocking TE. I think the Bills hope is that somewhere between the Saffold signing, a potential G draft pick, and Kromer as OL coach, the Bills can block more successfully with 5 OL instead of bringing in Doyle (who counted as a (1,2) set) The bread-and-butter of the entire league these days is (1,1) personnel - it was the highest percentage grouping for all but 7 or 8 teams, I believe https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/personnel-grouping-frequency.html But you have to remember those packages featured Beasley in the slot. Beasley is gone. It seems entirely possible that the three-headed monster of Dorsey, Brady, and Shula envisage replacing some of those plays with 2 TE sets, especially if we turn out to have another reliable pass catching TE who can run some routes

Dude. He had that job last season, and lost it. He might be on the roster into training camp as a backup. No. Rehabbing torn Achilles as UFA.

Ha! I guessed cap hit of $3-4M, so depending upon how they re-worked it, could be right in that line.

And, he's got this spiffy new logo on his insta page that looks like a "new brand" thing. Very cool actually.

They've been linked to Mariota, FWIW. Though if they have to defeat a bunch of QB who can turn on the afterburners and play out of this world like Mahomes and Allen and yes, don't like to say it but Watson can - it's hard to see Mariota as able to keep up with the "arms race" Reich has tried his hand at two previous QB reclamation projects so there's that - they have $40M in cap $$ and could easily go for Matty Ice, yes.

Keenum's salary is still $6.1M. Cabot said that the Browns reworked it before the trade. My guess would be he's actually got a cap hit of $3-4M now, so about $2-3M Also keep in mind that as the final 3 contracts go on the books, the 3 lowest contracts bump off the bottom, saving $2.3M So Current OTC number $2M 3 lowest contracts $2.3M Keenum renegotiation $2M (guess) ------------------------------- $6.3M Marquel Lee at VSB? ($0.9M) [I think he is eligible, and this is the way Eli Ankou is signed] That would leave $5.4M to split between Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips (and Barkley, if it is true we are bringing him back) I really don't think either of them come here for vet minimum, and I'm not even sure $2.7M each is enough. But if there's another restructure or extension we don't know about yet, I can see it as feasible. We don't have money to sign draft picks, but I expect Beane has an extension in mind for that. Beane commented in his presser that they were right at the cap with all the signings AND the backup QB situation, and that there were some internal salary cap moves that might not be "on the public books" yet.

I think we carried an unusual number of DLmen last season because we signed Obada and then drafted 2 DE, then we wanted to keep Zimmer as well as the rotation of 4 guys. We had 6 DE and 5 DT on the roster most of the season. 5 and 5 would be more usual, so with Miller and Lawson added to Rousseau, Basham and Epenesa I think you’re right that the roster at DE is pretty full. DT with Oliver, Phillips, Settle, and Jones I think we might want 1 more unless they really like one of the developmental guys. It’s possible they’ll want to bring Zimmer into training camp if he doesn’t sign elsewhere.

Isn’t Tretter a C?

$3.58M Spotrac has also adjusted Case Keenum to take the signing bonus off of his deal After these adjustments and bumping the lowest contract off of the “top 51”, per Spotrac the Bills have $2M cap left Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson are still not accounted for nor Marquel Lee (which is likely a Vet Salary Benefit contract). There must be some internal re-working of contracts that hasn’t made its way to the press yet.

I think some of us are just trying to triage the large number of pinned threads, and when we didn’t have the numbers this and Jordan Phillips seemed like the best candidates. But now we have the numbers so….

Beane said there had not been discussion and he didn’t sound like he was enthused about pursuing Hughes. If we do have the cap space to make another signing, our most pressing need is really CB, followed perhaps by OL especially if we might lose Bates.

I think Beane is far too professional and values his reputation too much to "screw" the Commanders. On the other hand, if Washington wants to work a deal based on trust with Buffalo, Beane may or may not pick up the phone when they call, and if he does pick up the phone, he's gonna have Hardball Mode enabled.

Did you actually listen to Beane's presser? And did you read the excerpt you quoted? Beane said "his agent did a great job, Doug Hendrickson and CJ Laboy did a great job" Right after the part you bolded, Beane said "And this agent did that. And this agent told the other club it's over." He's not mad at the agents at all and they won't have any problems in future deals. The WFT on the other hand.....

Note that per Mary Kay Cabot, Spotrac numbers after Keenum are incorrect. Spotrac shows Keenum's $1M roster bonus as paid by the Bills. Per Cabot, Browns paid it. Spotrac shows Keenum's $6.1M salary. Per Cabot, "Browns reworked Keenum's contract to make it more palatable to the Bills". So at least $3.5M left, and probably more - which is good, as we still need to account for Jones, Lawson, Phillips, and Lee. Also, in his presser yesterday, Beane indicated that there might be internal Bills contract moves that hadn't made it into the public yet. So there's that.

spotrac just added Keenum, but with his Roster bonus due and no contract rework, showing him as a $7.1M cap hit. But again, per Mary Kay Cabot who does have her Cleveland sources, that is incorrect.

Beane was specifically asked about Edmunds in his presser yesterday and said they would leave it "as it is". He was more positive about possibly extending Diggs, saying it has to work for both sides but they would look at it "when the time is right". But he also sounded like he was in no hurry. It surprises me because when I looked at the Bills salary cap in February those were the two big tickets that struck me as where to get room, but that just shows why Beane is Beane and I don't work in a football FO

I actually disagree. I think if Allen gets hurt but can return, it's important to have a guy who can win at least half the games for you. Trubisky could do it - career 29-21 and good enough QB stats to correlate with winning in the presence of a decent D and some run game. Keenum can too. I don't think Barkley or Fromm or Webb could. I see what you did there!

Late to the fair!

Mary Kay Cabot presented some additional info on the Keenum contract https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/03/browns-trade-case-keenum-to-the-bills-for-a-7th-round-pick.html No word I've found yet on what the restructure looks like, but the Browns did pick up his roster bonus so the maximum the Bills owe is $6.1M, and said to be less

I mean, I guess if McDaniel gets a 2nd chance, why shouldn't Whaley? But on behalf of the Steelers fan neighbor I try to torture by teaching her parrots to sing the Shout! song, The Shout! song is a prank, Whaley as the GM of her fan team would be just Too Cruel

That's you. No Thanks. Oh, My. I'll ask because you've explained that you know something about OL play, WTH do you see that leads you to think that?