billsfan89

No, this isn't it. Lee Smith is an easy cut or he might retire, either way that's 2.25 million saved. I also think Jerry Hughes will rework his deal to save some money I could see the Bills getting an additional 2-3 million from Hughes deal. I also think they have to ask about Addision either reworking his deal or getting cut. I also think they will be retooling the Dawkins, Diggs, White and Poyer contracts to save money. None of those guys are taking a pay cut but this team can convert base salary into signing bonuses and free up a lot of cap space.

Pretty much my train of thought. Assuming you get Josh signed to an extension you can just franchise Edumonds. Might as well work on an extension for Edumonds rather than pick up his option if you really like him.

I would have preferred to keep Jefferson as a rotational pass rusher if he was willing to take a pay cut but Butler as a rotational player as a pass rusher at a reduced salary is fine.

Given his connection with Josh I suspect the Bills offered him a chance to restructure and either he didn't want to or he didn't want to take enough of a pay cut to where it made sense from the Bills perspective. It is unfortunate as I would have loved to have kept him but only at a cap number that made sense. I like Ford to compete with Ike for the LG spot. Hoping Ford taps into his potential as he has flashed good play at times. O-line play sometimes takes guys a year or two or even three before they get going in the NFL. But they can't be considering Ford for RT. They have to make a good play to keep D.Williams here. Let Milano walk and even let Mongo walk but don't let Williams go unless it is for stupid money.

Not shocking but disappointed Brown didn't stay for one more season at a reduced rate. Guess the Bills either like Gabe Davis a lot more or Brown didn't want to come off his pay that much to make it work. Not shocking they released Q.Jefferson either and got Butler to restructure. One of those two was leaving and the other was also leaving or taking a pay cut. With Ed and Phillips there and Star coming back there just was only so much room on the roster. Between Butler and Jefferson I would have rather taken Jefferson at a reduced rate but once again who knows what they were willing to take pay cut wise. 14.1 million freed up in addition to the 2 million from Mitch leaves them with 16 million in additional space. I suspect Butler will add 2-3 million in that and they will likely release Lee Smith to free up another 2.25 million. Hoping that they do something to lower Hughes and Addisions cap numbers too. I know they can also do some cap magic with Diggs, White, Dawkins and Poyer's salaries too.

I wonder how well the NFL/AFL archives are kept? I worked on a sports documentary and our team had worked with the NBA's archive and a lot of games from the 50's through the 70's and even a bit into the 80's are just outright missing. I know football has a lot less games so I wonder if they were more willing to have those games taped.

I hope so, McD is going to be here the next 3 seasons at a minimum. Hopefully Josh can get those last levels of polish needed and McBeane can get the rest of the pieces needed.

AJ is a key player, if he can develop into a quality edge rusher the future of the D-line is a lot brighter. I still think a pick in the first two rounds gets put into the D-line but AJ developing sets things up for the D-line nicely.

I wouldn't say he is an average center. He is one of the best pass blocking centers in the league. He also does all the leadership and communication things you need a center to do. Mitch's run blocking is average to below average but he isn't tragic there. I think Mitch at the time of signing was a top 5 center in the league and in his time in Buffalo he has certainly been at worst in the top 10 at his position. However when you pay a guy the top at his position simply being good isn't going to cut it and his pay cut makes him more in line with his actual level of production. Glad not to have another hole to fill, I feel Mitch is a bit underrated around here.

To be fair as much as I loved the signing and as much as many loved adding Mitch there were a lot of people concerned about the fact that the team overpaid for him and that he had concussion issues. But I thought this team would have at least had a high quality solution at center for the next 4-5 years. Hopefully he can hold up a few more years.

Wasn’t he drafted in 2018? Wouldn’t that put him on the last year of his deal? Not sure if Teller would have gotten the playing time needed here to make it work and the Browns have excellent Oline coaching. Sometimes a player just isn’t the right fit at that time.

More interested in seeing if the Browns extend Teller. He has been really good for them.

I think they keep Roberts, I can't see him being super expensive in a cap crunch and one botched return can easily cost you a game. Roberts also was a really good punt returner last season. Each game he would have one or two returns that while not game breaking would get you 10-15 yards extra in a smart safe way that add up in the field position game. As a kick returner he wasn't great but he was far from bad. If he is willing to come back on the cheap I could easily see him being back. Brown I think they will ask to stay if he is willing to take a pay cut. If not then I think they make the hard choice and take the space to use elsewhere. So it will come down to can he be willing to take a reduction in pay? Mac is another one where I think they simply name their price and he sees if that is better than what he can get on the open market. I think at the very least one of them is gone so there will be a spot for Hodgins. If I had to guess it would be Brown and Roberts stay and Mac is gone. As I think they can duplicate Mac's production with Hodgins more easily.

If they keep John Brown, I feel they are comfortable with Hodgins taking over the WR5 gadget role Mac did. You then can bring back Roberts one more year to anchor the return game and draft a WR in round 6 or 7 to wait in the wings on the PS and add some depth. Or they let Roberts walk and resign Mac to take the return duties and have Hodgins take the WR6 spot .

Mitch is one of the best pass blocking centers in the league, he also is great at doing the leadership things and communication you need a center to do and he isn’t a tragic run blocker either. Overall he is a good player and at a reduced rate and cap number he makes even more sense to keep. Hoping to see John Brown, Hughes and a few others take this route. Isn’t Jefferson coming with 1.5 million in dead cap? I would see if he wants to restructure and take a lower number before cutting him as I like him as a good rotational pass rusher. But if he is unwilling to come down to a more reasonable cap number I cut him and spend that space elsewhere.

I think they Hodgins fate will come down to John Brown, Mac and Roberts. If Brown is retained (which I hope he is just at a reduced rate) and they resign Mac as the gadget WR5 and Roberts as the return man it is hard to see where Hodgins fits. But if one of those three WR’s is not brought back it opens things up for Hodgins to take a back and WR spot.

I think Billy B is trying to recreate his 2018 team. Strong defense, big physical running game, and a solid game manager QB. I think adding Brown back to the Oline is a nice move along with getting back Cannon via opt out. I think he tries to get Jimmy G as well to be his game manager plus QB. It isn’t the worst strategy but I think he won’t be able to do more than 10 wins with that type of team. And they won’t be a serious threat in the playoffs. You just need a more dynamic QB.

The injury might have helped his value in a perverse way. The Cowboys offense completely fell apart once he left. They won't be able to field a defense worth a dam now but hey that's the game.

If the aav is 40 million then what the hell was Dak asking for? These QB deals are absurd. I think this sets the market for Josh as he isn't taking a penny less.

I don't think you can win with Dak occupying 40 million on your cap. He is however much better than I though he was. They plugged in Dalton who was a good backup option and that team became rather bad on offense rather quickly. Dak got what he wanted and the Cowboys get to see if he can be their answer longer term.

I wonder who caved on the years?

In terms of length and total value of production you can argue Hyde and Poyer especially if they can give you 2 more years of quality production which is possible. To run down your list Spikes - Loved him but he was great for just 2 years before getting hurt and being gone after 3 seasons. Peak value goes to Spikes but hard to argue that total value wouldn’t go to Hyde/Poyer. Lorax - Had one great year and then 3 solid ones but fell far from his pro bowl level into a nice role player. Peak performance I would give a slight edge to Lorax but a huge edge in total value to Hyde/Poyer. Bryce Paup- Was only here for 3 years but had an amazing 1995 although his sack totals went drastically down the next 2 years he still made the Pro Bowl all 3 years he played. He is a little before my time so I would defer to a more veteran fan so to how good he was in 96 and 97 as that would hinge total value. James Lofton - 3 really good seasons out of 4 years he was here. Definitely debatable. Mario Williams - Mario had 1 great year (2014) and 1 good year (2013) and 1 Ok year (2012) before flaming out. I would give total value to Hyde and Poyer. Ted Washington- This has to be my pick for the best free agency acquisition of all time for the Bills. 6 seasons with great peak value. Would easily have to see Hyde and Poyer play 3 more seasons at their current levels to get into the total value conversation with Ted. Flutie ~ Never an elite Qb when here I would take Hyde/Poyer. London - Started 5 seasons several years as a really good player. I would put this as a push for total value and a slight edge in peak value for Hyde and Poyer. I would say the Hyde Poyer signings fall right up there with best all time signings. Behind Ted who is the only one head and shoulders above

Before the Pegulas stated to improve the facilities and invest in the football operations it was hard to pitch Buffalo. It has two strikes against it being a cold weather not so glamorous city stuck with high state taxes. But then you add in the lackluster cheap ownership (sorry Ralph) and what is the pitch besides money or playing time? So now the team actually has state of the art facilities, an ownership group willing to spend on bonuses and to the cap, and a well respected coach and young dynamic QB. It is a lot easier to sell Buffalo. Also Hyde might be one of the best if not the best free agency signing of all time for the Bills. 4 years so far of Pro Bowl or near Pro Bowl production and reasonable to think he can provide 1 to 3 more years at that level. Hard to find total value better than that.

Mahomes sat almost all his first year and then became transcendently great in his second year his first year starting. The offense had the pieces around him from the get go. He then followed that up with a brilliant pair of seasons where he seemingly improved in aspects of his game both years. Allen was forced into action a lot his rookie year and looked raw but dynamic at times. He then took a step up in 2019 but still had a lot to work on to become elite. Then in 2020 it all just clicked and he got to that elite level. Both guys have had their own paths. Mahomes is a little bit ahead having been drafted a year earlier and having a better offensive cast out the box. Allen has the physical tools to get there. He just needed another season of polish and playoffs to get to that Super Bowl level in my opinion. The fact that the Bills have one of the best young QB’s in the game is amazing as a fan.

Mahomes is currently better than Allen but I do think that Allen physically is as dynamic as Mahomes and I think it is possible given Allen's arc of progress that he can get to the same performance level of Mahomes from an in game decision making and reaction perspective.