billsfan89

This a competition move, building up a highly competitive and deep camp is worth it. Low risk high reward for us, Gaines getting one last crack at making the team again.

The biggest sin of 2018 was the lack of a competent plan at QB. Allen was rushed in because they did not have a coherent plan after trading AJ. But the team carrying 40 million (I don't remember the in dead cap, 18 million on aging declining players in Clay and Shady, and the trading of a lot of draft capital to trade up for Edumonds and Allen were all going to be hard to manage. They spent about 24 million on new contracts that off-season (Vonta, AJ, Star (whose deal was backloaded and only cost 6 million year one), Murphy, and Bodine) and while 24 million isn't chump change it is hard to fill a roster filled with holes with that kind of money. I will not hold 2018 against McBeane, they effectively had 40 plus million dead due to necessary trades and another nearly 20 million in cap tied up to lesser effective players and a retirement of a key O-line player right before the season started (which I think pushed up their dead cap another 6 million.) 2018 was the necessary completion of a rebuild whereas 2017 was a 7 win team overachieving a bit while getting lucky to break the playoffs.

Love it, just a kick the tires low risk high reward move.

I think the Bengals are looking to hold onto Dalton for one more year, I think they draft Joe B and try and sit him for a year or at least until their bye week. The Bengals still don't have a good O-line and their receiving core is mediocre even if AJ Green has a decent season. There is no reason to subject a rookie to that at least not for a full season. I think they are keeping Dalton for one more year unless he explicitly asks for a trade. I don't think a 4th rounder is enough for the Bengals to part with him and if the cost is a 3rd rounder or higher I think I would rather have Jamis on a 2 year 10.5 million dollar deal. Between Jamis and Dalton I think their talent levels are similar but Dalton is the better fit for the Pats*. However I think Jamis might be the kind of reclamation project at QB the Pats* would take advantage of. His corrected vision I think is going to help him see the field better and cut down on a lot of turnovers. I also think being in a stable environment like New England could help him. Jamis in Tampa was always asked to be a dynamic playmaker which led him to forcing a lot of the action. In NE he would be more of a game manager which is a role better suited for him to learn the game.

The Patriots defense is usually 2-3 Pro-Bowl caliber players and 2-3 solid starters and then the rest is role players piecing together production in a limited role they are good at. They don't rely on needing a lot of talent but rather having a few key pieces around interchangeable parts.

I agree they need a QB badly but their cap is just horrid. I think Billy B could sign Winston as a stop gap project for cheap. Dalton is expensive and costs a pick or two. They could restructure a deal or two and sign Tuney to a long term deal that is backloaded to free up some space but they won't have much more than 15ish million to work with. But the Pat's will be more competitive than people think.

The Patriots are well coached all around. But I do agree Scarnecchia was a big part of their system but their O-line has good players. Tuney was an All-Pro Guard, Marcus Cannon a Pro-Bowl Caliber tackle, and Shaq Mason who is a quality guard. That O-line will still be a solid unit if fairly healthy. Their front 7 almost always looks meh but Billy B always manufactures quality play out of them. I also think the Pats having 4 picks in the top 100 in the draft is going to be key for them. I see them drafting a TE at pick 23 and then using their next 3 picks to add another WR and then a couple of front 7 players.

That O-line in 2018 was excellent in run blocking. They are a good solid well coached unit. Even in 2019 when they were extremely banged up they still graded out better than average. I agree Brady does call the right protections but I think overall they are a good unit esp when healthy. Their biggest weaknesses are the receiving options (esp if Sanu is shot and they can't get Harry going) and their QB. But the rest of the team is good to solid.

The Texans would be stupid to trade the most valuable asset type in football (a franchise QB on a rookie contract.) But hypothetically if Watson wants out and they have to trade him I would think there are so many teams that could present a better offer. The Patriots best offer would be picks 23, 87, 98, 100, and 125 in the 2020 draft along with their 2021 and 2022 first round picks. Which is a solid offer of picks but I would much rather take picks 5, 18, and 26 and a first in 2021 from Miami in exchange for Watson. The imitate impact of those three first along with still pocketing a future first is far greater than one late first and a few third round picks. I also think that other teams like Jacksonville could offer picks 9, 42, and 73 along with their first and second round picks in 2021 and a second in 2022. The Patriots just don't have the ammo to really win a bidding war even if they were willing to include 2 future first round picks in such a deal.

As another poster mentioned Knox made a lot of great catches that only someone with great hand eye coordination and hands could make. But then he made a lot of boneheaded drops with no defenders relatively close to him. l think it is a mental approach and a lack of experience gameplay wise that leads to that lack of consistency rather than outright bad hands. I hope that's the case as I think reps and playing time are things that can improve his play.

To be fair they were digging themselves out of a lot of dead cap due to bad contracts. Glenn was hurt and traded for good value, Clay and Shady were far from productive and on big contracts, the team was eating a big part of that Dareus bonus that year, Eric Wood and InCog retired with significant cap penalties, and Tyrod also was carried some cap charge too. The 2018 purge was needed. They didn't have much cap space going into that year and I think InCog retiring when he did torpedoed the O-line what little chance it had. Overall I think McBeane saw through the mirage that 2017 was and just kept going forward with the necessary rebuild.

I love Knox but he might be a year away from being a truly good complete TE. I think he is more consistent and has less bone headed drops in year two. But I still think his play is very up and down in year 2. He is a good athlete and worth the snaps and playing time to develop. But I think anyone expecting him to look like a top elite TE or anywhere close to a pro-bowl caliber TE is diluting themselves. Knox as good of an athlete as he is, was also super raw coming out of college. I think that it was always going to be year 3 for him if he is going to blossom. I wish they had found a way to get a vet TE in there to split the snaps year one, I guess they have faith in Kroft.

Decent kind of desperation signing for the Jets. But they should have kept Robby Anderson.

I agree, but my point is that you pick up the 5th year option and let Tre play out his 4th year (unless he really wants to extend early but that comes at a discount due to having 2 year remaining, which I am fine with) and worry about negotiating a long term deal with Tre next spring. You should be focusing your attention on extending Dawkins or Milano who aren't players likely to be good enough to be franchised but are good enough to warrant wanting to keep long term. I don't think you have to lock down both but getting one locked in long term is a smart play. For one you don't want to enter into next off-season negotiating for 3 critical players (White, Dawkins, and Milano) that's a lot for any organization to handle. I also think that the Bills need to keep sending a positive message to players in the locker room that if they perform they will get paid. Shaq and Phillips leaving left a bad message, but extending Poyer, Spain and either Dawkins and Milano would set that tone again.

They have a top 10 defense and a top 5 special teams unit. Their O-line was banged up a lot last season, when healthy (and they retained their All-Pro guard) they are one of the top 5 or 10 O-lines in the league, they have a stable of quality RB's and a good receiving option in Eddleman. They also have Mo Sanu and their 1st round pick from 2019 as reclamation projects at WR. They are also one of the best coached teams in the league and they have 4 selections in the top 100 in the draft. I wouldn't write them off from being a competitive team. A good defense alone can win you 5 or 6 games. Their QB situation is ass but they might have a better system in place to foster good play out of a ***** QB. Overall I think the Pats* aren't dead until I see the steak through their heart. Secretly I hope they win 5 games so that they are bad but not Trevor Lawrence bad.

The Bills need to stop doing a lot of designed runs with Josh. QB sneaks fine, scramble if nothing is there? Yeah, nothing wrong with that. But on 3rd and 2 you don't run your QB unless it is the playoffs or a game you need to get into the playoffs. The Panthers got lazy with Cam because on any third and short Cam was able to get you 3 or 4 yards with ease. I feel like last season Daboll was getting a bit lazy with Josh Allen when it came to third and short situations. Josh has to develop as a passer and only use his legs when needed. Cam should be a cautionary tale for Josh and the Bills need to understand that easy yards can come at a high cost.

They didn't have a lot of cap space in 2018, they had some but not a lot. Star and Murphy who totaled 15 million (Star's contract was back loaded to years 2 and 3 his initial cap hit was 6 million) were their only major signings. Could they have spent that money on offense? Yes but would 15 million in contracts been the difference, I doubt it? Who were their major offensive free agents that year? Bodine? Semantics aside, McBeane had a long term vision of a proper rebuild. The team offensively in 2016 before McBeane arrived was a mid-level offense. Nothing special. Tyrod was a lower tier QB who was decent but nothing special, the right side of the O-line was a mess and Glenn a good tackle was starting to be injury prone, Clay was a decent but overpaid TE, and Shady was good but towards the back end of his productive run. They did have a good receiving core but Sammy was a injury prone Malcontent and they got good value for him. I think that they have made a lot of mistakes on offensive personnel in 2017 and 2018. But this narrative the team had a good offense in 2016 just before McD arrived is non-sense.The offense in 2015 was the best rushing attack in the league and a lower mid-level passing attack that gave them a top 10 offense. However by 2017 that offense was 2 years older and coming off of a season where they were middle of the pack. The best receiving option was a injury prone diva and their star running back was knocking on 30. The offense was going to decline in 2017 and beyond, McD tore it down justifiably. Did they make mistakes? Yes, but their philosophy got them to a younger 10 win team that has their draft assets and in a very good cap situation going forward the next 2 seasons. When they had to put in the most resources they found guards out of nothing, drafting a young tackle with potential, found great depth and a starting caliber RT, while finding 2 good professional caliber WR's and drafted two very tantalizing prospects in Knox and Singletary. I trust their judgement on offense because of how well they did in 2019, is that a bit of recency bias? Yes but I think that as Ford, Knox, Allen, and Singletary emerge in this offense they will only look more competent as an organization for offensive talent.

I thought Cam on the field was a dam good player most years. He really for years the most dynamic player in the NFL. I get being put off by his antics and persona but on the field Cam was electrifying to watch for most of his career. He has a winning record (68-55-1) so it isn't a case of a player putting up a lot of empty stats with limited success. I just think that the Panthers ran him into the ground and his mental makeup wasn't always there. I kind of hope he sits out 2020 (due to personal choice not because of the pandemic) to get his body healthy and allow him to assess his mental state of mind. I think he can still be a good starting caliber QB if given some time to heal his body and adjust his mental approach to the game.

They completely rebuilt the O-line with one FA signing over 6.5 million aav and only a 2nd round pick in terms of draft resources. They got WR1 and WR3 production from two contracts well under 10 million aav. They drafted Singletary in round 3 and he was super productive in his rookie year, Knox a late 3rd round pick flashed a lot of ability. It wasn't all perfect in the 2019 off-season (Kroft was a bust) but they rebuilt the O-line from a horrid unit into a solid one without major resources and found 2 quality receivers without getting locked into long term deals. I know a lot of people really knocked McBeane rightfully in the 2017 and 2018 off-seasons (my biggest knock was their horrid handling of the QB situation in 2018) but what cap space and resources did they have to improve the offense? They accrued draft capital and spent it on a QB, they were cap strapped in 2018 and couldn't make any other major moves on the offensive side of the ball. They did swing and miss on KB and Zay Jones but also drafted Dawkins and got rid of Sammy for good capital. Overall I think they proved their offensive talent acquisition ability in 2019 and again with a quality trade for Diggs.

The offense was a lower mid-level unit (most had them ranked around 20) Diggs certainly raises them a few notches. I also think O-line continuity, Josh having more experience, and Singletary taking over at RB also could be positive factors. But I agree they need to find a WR in round 2 or 3 and a RB in round 4 or 5. They need a big early down RB and a young WR behind Diggs, Brown, and Beasley (Both for immediate depth and long term they need to get younger.) The offense doesn't need to be a top 10 unit to get this team to 11+ wins. I think they upgraded the special teams with 2 good role players there and kept the talent level of the defense as one of the best in the league. They need the offense to be better and more consistent, but if they can get the offense from a below average offense ranked around 18-22 to an offense ranked around 12-14 I think they can be a very successful football team.

To be fair it was a different regime here when Ebron was drafted. Still I get what you are saying McBeane deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to talent evaluation.

Panthers needed someone to help out Moore and CMC in the passing game. Anderson is that solid WR2 that will give them somewhere else to go besides Moore and CMC. The Okung trade was a blunder but they at least got some help at WR for a pretty fair price.

I think Gase is a big impediment to their progress as a team but I like Darnold and I think that if you have a good QB it could take a mid-level roster and make it competitive. Although I think Robby Anderson leaving hurts they have been making more prudent moves this off-season than last off-season. They added a lot of depth and versatility along the O-line and added some pieces to their defense. I think they are a year away as outside of an aging Lev Bell their offensive skill positions are trash and their defense is lower mid-level. But a good draft filling a few hold and some improvement from Darnold could get them to 8 wins.

The Bills WR core is locked at the top 3 and locked with Roberts as WR5/6 (Depending on how many WR's they carry) but there is a wide open landscape at WR4 and possibly WR5 (If they carry 6.) I like Mac as a WR5, good gadget player and quality depth. Good to see him there. I would like to see the team carry 6 WR's. The top 3, a WR4 drafted in round 2 or 3 (need depth and youth), then have Mac, Duke or Foster at WR5 and Roberts as WR6 as a returner.

Winning the Division and a playoff game is the bare minimum for this season. The Patriots still have a formidable defense and special teams but without a QB they are a beatable team. The Jets are a mid-level team that might be a year away. The Fins are greatly improved but still lack a vision at QB and aren't that improved from a 5 win team. The Bills have a top 5 NFL defense, added to a decent ST unit, and added a dynamic weapon to a decent offense. All this with a draft still to go and some cap space if needed.