billsfan89

That would only widen the advantage and gap between teams with great QB's and teams without one effectively you would be gifting KC 20 plus million in cap space annually when they already have Mahomes who is a large advantage. The large QB cap numbers are part of the competitive balance of the league. It is still an advantage to have a good QB even on a big contract but at least when you have to cut deep into your cap to keep them it gives other teams a chance.

I like Star to help get Ed Oliver back to playing a more pass rushing position. I think Star could move the needle. Ford will compete with Ike to start at guard but given how well Ike played I don't think he makes much more of an impact but Ford at worst adds depth to the O-line. Whomever isn't starting at LG goes to the bench and gives the O-line starting guard play off the bench unless Mongo walks and they have to play both guys at the guard position.

The better solution is to borrow from future cap increases to smooth out the cap to keep it at around 195 to 205 which would give teams 20-30 million more to work with. Or do what the NBA did and keep the cap as it normally would have been but have the players keep a percentage of their pay in escrow and then at the end of the season the escrow gets either paid back to the players or the owners depending on how the league does revenue wise. It would be the most sensible mechanism.

For once my main hope is that the team simply retains its players and then uses the draft to add the 1-2 pieces and depth needed to get the team over the top. I hope the cap can be set at 205 million which would hopefully allow for them to resign Milano, D.Williams, Mongo, Levi, Ty (I don't know why everyone is so willing to let him go he is a great depth swing tackle), Roberts, and T.Jones. I assume a few cuts will take place (V.Butler and Lee Smith would be 9 million saved) but I hope they mostly keep the roster intact free up space by restructuring guys like Klein, Brown, Hughes, Addison, Mitch and Jefferson. I would love to bring back Mac and Barkley but I think you have replacements in Fromm and Hodgins on the roster, although if the Bills get priced out of Roberts, maybe bring back Mac to field kicks. Then use the 30th overall pick to find an edge rusher and the 62nd overall pick to fill another possible need. Use the rest of your picks to fill out depth and get young players at positions where you are older. It will be interesting to see if the Bills try to run it back or if larger scales cuts are done. I think it is likely we see a surprise cut or two but hopefully they can keep the core intact and add those few pieces needed.

The WR corps was really banged up and going against a good but not great secondary. Beasley was playing on a semi-broken leg and John Brown had been banged up all season. Then Davis gets banged up against the Ravens and Diggs gets seemingly dinged up against KC. The Chiefs were then able to bring pressure due to the good coverage and make the Bills offense one dimensional (due to KC's offense putting up so many points.) The Bills O-line was going to be under a lot of stress even without the blitzing due to Jones and Clark so once the blitzing commenced the team was just not going to be able to protect Josh enough. The WR corps not being 100% is the domino that collapsed the chance of winning. Yes the bad defensive game plan didn't help but you need to put up 30 against KC. This team got unlucky in a lot of ways but still even if the Bills came out and had all 4 of their top receivers healthy it likely wasn't going to be their day. I think in the end the Bills are going to have to hope for a cap of 195-205 million and try and run it back and get help via the draft. Resign Mongo, D.Williams, Milano, Levi, Ty, Roberts, T.Jones, Barkley and possibly Mac and then use picks 30 and 62 to try and get a edge rusher and another TE to platoon with Knox, use the rest of the draft picks to sure up depth and get younger in areas where the team is older. It is unlikely the Bills won't lose someone of value via free agency. But if they can keep the core 4 free agents of D.Williams, Mongo, Levi and Milano and retain some of the depth players I think they can shoot their shot in the draft to get those last pieces needed and replace the depth. Run it back with 1-2 pieces added and things could pan out.

Knox to me developed into a starting caliber TE. But I am not sure if he will ever be a dynamic top 5TE like a Kelce, Kittle or Waller. And it sucks that a dynamic TE might be the last piece missing on offense. It also is unfortunate that a dynamic edge rusher might also be the last piece missing to the defense. Both of those pieces are hard to find.

I don't think vastly different changes in on field talent are needed. If they can keep Mongo and D.Williams on the line and have Ford compete with Ike for the LG spot I think the team will have the talent needed on the o-line. Whereas the RB situation I don't think needs to change much. Moss and Singletary are a capable combo, I particularly like Moss as the primary back and Singletary as a good back to take 35% of the work. But what needs to change is the balance in the coaching staffs approach to the ground game esp in worsening conditions. I don't think this team is suddenly going to get more balanced and be a highly impactful rush offense. But I can see this team running just a bit more to have a rushing attack that is primed and ready for a deep playoff run. It is more so on the coaching to scheme better runs and develop that power game when needed.

Wallace should hopefully be brought back, but I do feel that they will give Dane a chance to start and be on the depth chart. Gaines is another guy they will give a chance on the depth chart. I also think they will sign another veteran reclamation project like Norman and another late round pick. Which would leave the Bills with Tre, T.Johnson, Wallace, Dane, EJ, vet project and a late round pick on the roster for 2021. Seems solid.

I agree 13-3 (a 3 game improvement from the previous year), division title, a sweep of the division, 24 year old QB who had a runner up to the MVP season and two playoff victories at home is a great season in almost any context. Yes this team will be up against the cap with many pending free agents and the team still needs to add two critical components to the team (a dominant edge rusher and a pass catcher). But this team will be back with a strong team next year and if McBeane can pull off some cap magic and a solid draft the Bills might come back with an even stronger team. The future is bright now let's all become cap nerds.

If he does ask for a new deal I think they will structure the hit to come in 2022. They have too much of a cap crunch to give Diggs a huge raise in his cap number.

Mahomes contract will crunch the cap for KC and likely they are going to have to make cuts to the defense. They feature two massive contracts along the D-line with Clark and Jones and another big contract in the secondary in the Honey Badger. They aren't going to be able to field an offense that pays their QB 40ish million and Tyreke Hill, Travis Kelce and Fisher 45 million and still have enough cap to pay Jones, Clark and Mathieu 66 million. Between those 7 contracts you have nearly 155 million in cap commitments to those players going forward. KC will likely make the sacrifices on defense as you have to keep Mahomes happy with his weapons and protection. So you have to make the cuts to depth and defense in order to keep your franchise QB happy. Which means teams will force KC to win shootouts consistently and that's super hard to do in the playoffs.

The Bills have to find a way to have an offense that can win in a shoot out against KC. The big issue I see with the Bills is that the pieces the Bills need to get in order to over the hump are going to be hard to find. On offense finding a second dynamic receiving option (preferably a tight end) along with retaining Mongo and Williams is not going to be easy without losing Milano, Wallace and other role players like Ty and Roberts. On defense the Bills need to retain Milano and Wallace while getting a prime time edge rusher. Retaining those players on both sides of the ball while getting a prime time edge rusher and offensive weapon is not going to be easy. This draft and free agency period is going to be critical. Can McBeane find a way to retain Mongo, D.Williams, Milano, Levi, and other key depth and specialist players like Roberts and Ty? Can McBeane then at picks 30 and 62 find a way to add a couple of more pieces to add the punch needed on offense and on the pass rush? It is going to be a tall order, even if the cap is optimistically set at 205 million the Bills will only have about 32 million to work with and while there is some fat on the roster to be cut and restructured to free up an additional 20ish million that only leaves the Bills with about 52 million to work with in a best case scenario. It is a tall task for McBeane let's see if they are up to it.

I think no matter what 2018 was a doomed year, even if the team had Tyrod or a better QB option in front of Josh it is most likely Josh would have gotten 6 to 10 starts that year. That season would have been lost half way in or just about and then you have to put the rookie in to see what you got.

I don't see the Bills loading any of Allen's extension onto 2021, I think they load some money onto the 2022 fifth year option year to spread out the hit. But 2021 is a crunch and the team should take advantage of the window to win and try to retain as many key players as possible.

I have no idea. 175 is the minimum which if the cap is 175 the Bills will only be about 2.5 million under.

The Bills in 2017 traded down for future capital and still got three high end starting caliber players including an All-Pro in Tre and good players in Dawkins and Milano, in 2018 they found a franchise QB and two defensive starters (Edumonds and T.Johnson) and Phillips still has a chance to pan out as he was looking good before his injury (Neal also has been solid depth.) And Teller and Ray Ray have caught on with other teams meaning that literally almost every pick in 2018 was a talented player. 2019 featured Ed who is a quality starter and possible starters/role players in Ford, Knox and Singletary. How much better could these drafts realistically be? Constantly getting 3+ starters and role players is nothing to sneeze at.

I think they run back Hyde and Poyer. I think they will draft a safety for depth and to get younger behind them but I think McD like those guys and wants them back for one more year so that he can prepare younger guys behind them. I see the following players as candidates for restructuring or cuts. 1- Vernon Butler 2- Quinton Jefferson 3- Mario Addision 4- Jerry Hughes 5- Mitch 6- John Brown 7- Lee Smith I think Smith and either Butler or Jefferson are outright cut, that should free up about 10 million in space. The rest will be asked to restructure or be cut which depending on how much they are willing to give will result in 10-20 million in space. I really hope they set the cap at 205 million. That would give the Bills 30 million to start with and then they could free up 20-25 million with these cuts and restructurings which would give the Bills a chance to retain all or most of their key free agents.

I doubt they clean house at D-line. I think they cut Jefferson or Butler (more likely Butler) and restructure multiple players along that line. Star comes back which should help them get Ed Oliver back to a more pure pass rushing role, I also am hoping that H. Phillips comes back to the form he flashed in 2019 which will help the interior rotation. The interior rotation will be Star, Ed, H.Phillips and either Jefferson or Butler to rotate in. I am comfortable with that. DE is another story. I think they have to ask Hughes and Addision to take paycuts, AJ will have to step up and fill a role as a rotational player they need to let Murphy walk and find a way to get another prime time DE. I likely see the defense spending the 30th pick on an edge rusher or trading that pick for a proven edge rusher. This team can't win with Hughes and Addision anchoring the edge rush. So the D-line needs a front line edge rusher and some reshuffling along the interior to make room for Star. But other than that the core of the D-line will be similar.

I think both are good above average starting caliber players. I think we are doing Oliver no favors this season because they had to play him at the nose tackle position where he isn't able to pass rush. I think in 2021 when Star gets back and hopefully H.Phillips comes back to form after a year removed from a major injury (he was a beast in the first 5 games in 2019 hoping he gets back to that) they won't need to play Ed at NT and he can be more of a pure pass rusher and really pull up the sack and pass rush numbers. Ed Oliver was in my opinion a big reason as to why the run defense improved, Milano returning helped but I certainly think Ed improving his play was a factor in that (Butler was also improved in that capacity too). So I am very high on Oliver being a foundational piece to this team. I think if he has a proper NT next to him and better DE play outside he can be an 8 sack a year type DT who is very disruptive. Edumonds is entering into year 4 and I think his option will be picked up. I don't think Edumonds will get much better than he is. This was year 3 for him but even if he doesn't get that much better he still is a quality LB. But overall he is a solid point on the defense even if his play is going to likely not improve dramatically. Still both guys are key parts of the defense going forward.

I don't know if nerves is an issue or was it just a bad set of circumstances against KC. KC's secondary was playing lights out against a banged up WR corps and KC was getting pressure consistently due to being able to blitz due to said secondary play. Then you add in KC's offense putting up 38 and forcing the Bills to be one dimensional it was a bad situation all around regardless of whatever his nerves were. Nerves to me were more of an issue in my opinion against the Colts, the Bills were playing tight against the Colts and it showed despite Josh playing a good game. But I felt like once they broke the seal and got that first playoff win as a group I don't think nerves were a big issue.

KC's D-line features Clark and Jones two prime time pass rushers and their secondary is anchored by the Honey Badger who is one of the best in the game among other quality players. They are far from the bums many here are portraying them to be.

Josh played great against the Colts, the defense couldn't shut the door. Josh played good enough against the Ravens, horrid wind against a great defense not sure what else I would expect in that situation. Against KC Josh was not very good, KC played great and the coaching didn't adjust to help him. I think simply the Bills and Josh needed this deep playoff run to set themselves up to get over that hump. They played 3 playoff games and won 2 of them. They know they can win and they know what it is like to play on a big stage. I think Josh and this team will grow from this experience. Nerves will be calmer next year because they have been there before.

I am torn on John Brown, he was so good in 2019 and he at times in 2020 was effective but in the playoffs he wasn't impactful in 2 out of 3 games. Before the Bills signed him health was always the issue with Brown. In 2019 he stayed healthy but in 2020 he was back to being banged up. Considering the Bills cap crunch saving 8 million in cutting Brown might make sense. But I think the more hopeful situation is to restructure Brown's deal to save 3ish million. That would keep him in the fold for one more season and get the Bills some cap relief.

Almost every team saw a limited impact from their 2020 draft class. These kids had no pre-season and no off-season training program due to Covid-19. That is going to stunt the development of a lot of players. Yes some rookies had good impact however more did not. Even given the nature of the 2020 off-season the Bills got some pop from their rookie class. Bass and Davis were significant contributors while Moss also was a good role player (Averaged 4.3 ypc and 4 TD's despite the short yardage use). That's 3 players who were contributors without a first round pick that's solid. AJ is a long term play, while he didn't have much of an impact in his limited snaps he did get into the rotation to end the season which is progress. AJ was and is a project. Hopefully he comes into the off-season with a full gameplan from the coaching staff as to how to improve. They need AJ to at least be a good DE in early down situations. I see him in the vein of Shaq Lawson in 2019, stout against the run but can pass rush effectively just not consistently. There is some potential with Jackson and Hodgins to develop into contributors too. Overall the 2020 draft class without a 1st round pick to me gets a B-, three players with solid to good impact and long term potential to turn out 4 or more starters. Not too much to complain about outside of AJ's limited impact.

The lack of what looked to me to be significant adjustments at halftime made Reid's job easier. How they continued to give Kelce a free release is insanely frustrating.