billsfan89

NFL trades in general (let alone in season trades) went from uncommon to fairly common the past 4 years or so. It was actually Beane who kind of started getting big time trades going in the NFL when he traded Sammy and Darby just before the season and also traded for KB and traded away Dareus at the deadline. I think the deadline being pushed back and the teams being less willing to lose players for nothing is opening up the trade market. Overall I would say that I hope the Bills just add a true one tech. It's a fairly easy low cost add that fills a huge need.

Wages adjusted for inflation grew in 2018 by 1% for the average American family (median numbers are misleading as me and Jeff Bezos have a median wealth of 80 billion.) Now that's nothing to sneeze at but the promise of the tax cuts was a 4k increase in wages to your average family which considering the average American makes about 54k a year 1% growth is about 540 dollars nothing to write home about. Even under Obama's last few years wage growth after inflation was in the .6 to.8% range meaning that the tax cuts only really increased wages by about .3 to .5% a fairly marginal increase. Unemployment had been trending down for 7 years before Trump who called those numbers phony until he got into office and suddenly they were credible. The real impact tax cuts have is on earnings and the income of the wealthy. The stock market grew a lot but that growth went into stock buybacks and dividends. Considering that about 40% of US stocks are owned internationally the Trump tax cuts represented a massive transfer of wealth outside of the country. Also these stock market gains are short lived as since they don't really come from any sustainable demand growth they kind of fizzle once earnings normalize to the new tax burden. If the US were to take the hundreds of billions in tax cuts and spend it on massive infrastructure programs that would have both a more positive impact to wages (hundreds of thousands of jobs and economic activity around the projects) and sustain growth longer term since infrastructure can be used for decades to help facilitate the movement of people, goods and ideas (internet infrastructure.) Heck if you really wanted to juice the economy short term student debt forgiveness is a better way to do so. Putting houndreds to possibly thousands of dollars a month into the hands of tens of millions of people in their 20's and 30's would grow demand far better than tax cuts that mostly go to the wealthy and corporations.

The Jets have just been so disjointed in their rebuilding efforts. They need to have a complete fresh start, new coach, new Gm and build to a singular vision

Honestly due to Covid and the shrinking cap it might be the best solution for him to just stay another year. I don't think the Jets are that much worse than any other team that would typically be drafting 1st overall (Are this year's Jets that much worse than the Bengals in 2019?) The Jets have a stud LT and a decent center. They also have an extra first round pick the next 2 years, flexible cap space, some pieces on defense like Williams and could probably fetch additional picks for Darnold who I think at worst fetch a 2nd and mid round pick if not a late 1st. So I don't see how the Jets are that historically bad that someone would stay an extra year or avoid the team. BUT why join a team you aren't enthusiastic about when the salary cap and rookie deal will be lower? The Jets are bad but so is any team with the number one pick 90% of the time.

I doubt Biden will do most of this but a "New" New Deal for America's 21st century is desperately needed. The cut taxes and deregulation scheme of the past 40 years have failed. It is time for the federal government to actually rebuild the nation and invest in its people and not its corporations. I would put these as just a few things that would make America a much better place. I would also pack the Supreme Court, if the GOP can play hardball ruthless politics then why not have an actual opposition party instead of GOP lite. 1- Universal Healthcare - Healthcare costs too much in the US and I see no reason why the US couldn't do what all other industrialized countries do and simply pay for healthcare via taxes like we already do for police, fire, military and various other services. The private system costs too much due to an insane billing bureaucracy where healthcare providers have to negotiate rates with insurance companies year after year and providers having to bill 10 different companies about all the different plans and coverages. It's a useless mess that makes the American people less able to go into business for themselves (So many can't start a business because they don't want to lose their healthcare coverage.) You would likely pay less in taxes for coverage you know isn't going away and isn't filled with deductibles and co-insurance than you would in private taxes to large corporations taking some off the top for a service that adds no value (how does a private health financing system add to innovation?) 2- Infrastructure - Trump's grand infrastructure plan was to give massive tax breaks and privatize infrastructure. The US needs to spend trillions on green and new infrastructure. It is estimated that over the lifetime of an infrastructures use for every dollar that was spent on that infrastructure the project will generate 7 dollars worth of economic activity. Simply put stuff built during the New Deal is helping to move commerce and generating economic activity. These projects have a long lasting positive impact. 3- Forgive Student Debt- Forgiving student debt and giving some rebate to those who have paid back in the last 5 years, is probably one of the most impactful things you can do to stimulate the economy. You wouldn't give an 18 year old with no collateral a 100k business or personal loan yet we are OK with them getting saddled with student loans? Sorry, this is just non-sense, a simple wall street speculation tax would easily pay for this type of program in a decade. 4- No cost at point of use trade school and public college - If the US wants to be competitive with countries like Germany we need an educated and skilled workforce. If the US wants to drive down the cost of college offer students a high quality free alternative. 5- End public student loans and have limited bankruptcy protections on private student loans- Assuming you have done number 4, you return student loans to the private sector. Private schools will not only face downward pressure from public no cost schools but they will be tasked with reducing tuition for students who no longer have access to tax supported student loans. 6- End the drug war - Treat drugs as a public health issue. Legalize and tax marijuana at the state level and decriminalize all other drugs. 7- End the overseas wars - It's about time we bring our military home and stop being the world's policemen. Trump made this promise and all he did was yo-yo troop levels like Obama, veto the stop arming terrorists act so he can keep selling arms to the Saudi's, and continue to bomb 7 nations 400% more. We no longer have the money or the appetite for a failed and expensive foreign policy. Take the money we spend there and spend it on taking care of the troops and deploying the military to fix the water systems and other vital infrastructure.

Tax cuts a deregulation are a proven failure. It failed under George W Bush and it failed under Trump. Trump initiated tax cuts and deregulation during a red hot economy, he promised 3% or high GDP growth would occur year after year. The highest it got to was 2.9% and 2.2% (2018 and 2019 respectively) which were similar to Obama's numbers (2015 2.9% and 2021 2.2% many other years in the 2% range.) AKA despite all the tax cuts and deregulation you say helps the economy by the simplest metrics couldn't get the US economy to 3% growth when the tax cuts and deregulation occurred during an uptime for the economy (by those metrics.) Perhaps a better economic approach would be to invest in infrastructure? Instead of massive tax giveaway perhaps massive infrastructure spending is a better idea? Infrastructure has a longer lasting and more sustained impact on economic growth. From a common sense perspective infrastructure built during the New Deal is still being used today to help move people and commerce, the interstate highway system built from the late 50's to early 90's is still helping move commerce. Are the George W Bush tax cuts still jumping any economic activity?

Winters will still be playing Sunday. I expect them to ease Mongo back into the rotation and have him on a snap count. Which means Winters will be playing RG at least 50% of the time. That being said I don't mind Winters as a backup but its clear he is a below average NFL guard, not a bad guy to plug in when a starter is hurt for a few games but not very good either.

Mongo should hopefully help improve the guard play. Ford got hurt, Spain was decent (in my opinion) but is now cut, Ike was decent in a pinch against a bad team and Winters is a high end backup. Mongo and John Brown could be the reinforcements the offense needs. I would also like to see the team get Ford back at LG too, I think that could be his long term position.

I think an injury like that can make you weary of contact. I think they might be better off giving him a week off to see if his injury can at least get better. It's just so odd to see him regress like this. I think the injury is a factor.

Record wise you are correct the only teams within 1 game of being .500 are the Dolphins sitting at 3-3 and The Raiders sitting at 3-3. In the NFC you have the Panthers at 3-4, the Lions at 3-3 and The 49ers at 4-3. That's only 5 teams in the entire league that are in that range. Most of the league is either 2 games over or under. It is odd but I think things will normalize.

He has one more year remaining on the rookie year, it would be foolish to not at least bring him into camp in 2021 to see if he can make a rotation.

He is regularly dropping 300 yards games. And doing so well above 60% completion. And the team is 5-2 with their two losses coming against two teams with a combined record of 10-2. There are concerns for the roster, but in the end Josh is a huge bright spot.

The tackle play and center play has been good, it is the guard play that has been suspect esp in the ground game. Hopefully Mongo comes back he can help with that.

I think they should IR Phillips for the season. He just hasn't looked the same coming back from the ACL. Let him heal up the rest of the season and come back in 2021.

The "borrowed" cash comes from the cap not going up as much in later years. I think 175 cap would be a complete mess. They have to at least get to 190. But in the end if I can figure this out I am sure high paid football executives can too

Looking at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 cap numbers and its actually very easy for the NFL to keep the cap at 195 for 2021, by 2024 the cap is supposed to be 256 million. I think they could easily borrow money from each of those caps to make the 2021 cap stay flat at 200 million or simply be a small cut. I don't see why it makes sense from the players perspective and the NFL's competitive perspective to have the cap go from 175 million in 2021 to 227 million in 2022. Why not just keep the 2021 cap at 195 and the 2022 at 207? The cap still goes up 12 million in 2022 and then the 2023 and 2024 increases still occur unobstructed.

Butler played well in the second half at the one tech against the Jets but he struggled in the first half. And even playing well against the Jets isn't that much to write home about. While their center is actually decent, he isn't a mauler in the ground game and their guards aren't that great, at best Lewis and Van Rotten are mid-level backup caliber players. This team desperately needs to trade for a true one tech. I think Butler can rotate at the one tech in more passing oriented situations like a 2nd and long but they have to have someone like a Devin Tomlinson who can clog the middle on first down and running situations.

I think you are correct but I also don't think the NFL cap will be 175 next season. I know 175 is the worst case scenario but neither the owners nor the players want that scenario. For one the owners don't want to be completely up against the cap. Secondly the players don't want to risk being pressured to restructure, get cut or take lesser more risky one year deals. I think they will smooth out the cap for 2021, by that I mean they will borrow from the 2022 and 2023 projected increases from the 17th game and other deals going up. So I think they would be willing to try and get the cap to 195 million in 2021 even if it means the 2022 cap (Which was initially projected to be 227 million) has to stay at 207 million. The cap would effectively stay relatively flat in 2021 avoiding the traumatic consequences of a 175 million dollar cap and then moderately increase in 2022 and then ramp back up in 2023 and 2024 as expected. As for the Bills cap situation in 2021 if the cap is 175 they can make some cuts (Hughes, Butler, and Lee Smith being cut get you to 21.1 million dollars in space) and restructure some deals (Easily could restructure Mitch and either Klein or Addision to make some additional space) and probably get to 25-30 million in space which would be enough for rookie deals, resigning Milano and maybe a mid-level addition. But if they can find a way to get the cap to 195 that would open up a lot of interesting possibilities. They would open with about 23 million in space and then free up another 20-25 million rather easily. The team would be then have 37 players under contract with about 45 million in cap space if you cut Hughes, Lee Smith and Butler. That would leave you with enough space to resign Milano, sign your rookies, have emergency money and either make a big addition or several mid-level additions. You basically would have about 15-18 million (depending on what type of deal Milano wants and what the rookie slots are) to add to a solid roster.

The Pats IR players all the time who don't have obvious injuries. I am sure you can sit down with him and tell him they are doing to IR him so he can get back on track in 2021. The doctors can simply say he has a setback with his Acl

The Broncos won with a busted Manning at QB and the Seahawks won with a second year Russell Wilson often times managing games and making more plays with his legs. Brady and the Pats won in 2018 mostly having Brady game manage and leaning on the ground game. In the end an elite QB wins more often than not but there are other times where teams have had other methods of building a successful team.

I think they trade for a true one tech and they IR Phillips. It won't be a super splashy move but I think they could get a nice player that can fill the one tech hole. The LB corps and secondary is going to be helped by Levi and Milano coming back. The offense will be helped by the return of Mongo and John Brown. So the only logical move to make is for a one tech which is desperately needed and isn't an expensive add.

Yes it would be, right now the Bills need to put NE away and get some confidence. Also schedule wise they need to get fat and go to 6-2 going into a tough Seattle and Cardinals stretch. If the Bills lose to NE and can't beat either Seattle or Arizona they are looking at 5-5. Whereas if they can go into those 2 games at 6-2 even if they drop both they are still at 6-4 with a very winnable Chargers game. Ideally the Bills take care of the Pats and split the next two games to get to 7-3 and then get fat against the Chargers and 49ers and get to 9-3 and then a tough game against the Steelers before finishing up a stretch against the Broncos, Fins and Pats where they should be able to at worst win 2 out of 3. That's a successful path to 11 or 12 wins. This team honestly needs to go 5-1 in the division and get this early game against the Pats before they hit a harder stretch in the schedule.

Just put him on IR and trade for a true one tech. I think rather than trade him for a bag of peanuts it is probably better to IR him and allow him to fully recover from his 2019 injury. Then bring him back to 2021 camp and see how he performs. He was a stud the first five games of 2019 before his injury. I think he clearly hasn't recovered from that injury. Give him the rest of the season and offseason to fully get back before dumping him.

Billy B is a great coach but even he can only do so much. I did think after the Pats were 2-1 with a close loss to Seattle maybe Cam and some smoke and mirrors could get them to 9+ wins. But they are just too depleted. They don't have the weapons on offense to make it and the defense is depleted.

The NCAA format is gimmicky, the NFL format is much better even if it isn't perfect.