billsfan89

I know plenty of Steelers fans in their 30's and 40's so it isn't quite as dying off a fanbase as you mentioned. But I do agree that under 30 Steelers fans aren't as common as they used to be. The 2000's and early 2010's era built off the "mystique" of the 1970's era. The Steelers played in 3 Super Bowls from 2005-2010 and won 2 of them. So I don't think the fanbase is running on fumes from the 1970's. I will say that the Steelers "mystique" that was built during the 70's and further cemented with the Big Ben era is starting to dwindle since Big Ben's decline and retirement. The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016 and they were last really a threat in 2017 when they got a bye but got bounced by the Sacksonville Jags. Then in 2020 they had a good record but faded down the stretch and were never really a threat. Since 2018 they have been relevant for one year in 2020 and even that year they faded down the stretch and got bounced early. So it's getting late early for the Steelers so to speak as larger non-local fan bases will eventually age out if you just don't have a competitive sphere. Even Dallas despite a marketing machine and back to back "Good" QB's in Romo and Dak still have declined nationwide because they haven't made any deep playoff runs since the 90's.

Martin was a stable reliable punter. He didn't have many booming kicks but he also didn't have many shanks either. He also was solid at pinning teams in deep when punting from beyond the Bills 40. Bills just need one of these guys to come in and not screw things up. I thought the Bills would have spent a late round pick on a punter but they clearly liked what they had.

I do think given how Brady values not only a traditional running game but also running backs that can catch the ball well I think Beane is going to be willing to pay a good price for Cook but he's not gonna overpay for him either. 12-12.5 seems like a fair we are willing to pay you but not over pay you type number.

I think the "sweet spot" for the CFBP is 6 teams. It allows for the top 2 ranked teams to really have a good incentive to get a bye and a home playoff game to get into the National Championship while still having a wide enough field where you don't feel like no enough teams make it.

Dumervil had 105.5 career sacks, 2 time first team All-Pro, 5 time Pro-Bowler, he was the NFL sacks leader in 2009, and played for 13 years. Dumervil was a borderline hall of famer (not quite at that level but his resume wasn't far off compared to a lot of Hall of Fame Players). If Solomon is that kind of find in the mid-rounds that's a pick that could win this team a Super Bowl.

Interesting enough I also like Hoecht in that flex role across the defense. Solomon I don't know too much about as far as a fit in that way but I think he's got some pass rush upside and is less of a power rusher than some of the other DE's on the roster.

Jackson is a 3rd round rookie, he's gonna be in line to get those Smoot snaps but if Solomon proves to be having a better camp/pre-season he could jump him.

With Hoecht suspended there's gonna by some time for Jackson or Solomon to slot into that "Dwyane Smoot" back end DE rotation role.

Wouldn't draft picks be exactly what you need? Cheap cost controlled talent? This is your first round pick too, your best asset in the draft a player that if you do need some pass rush help might be able to make a big difference or at least provide something positive for a desperate defense and develop into a key player? Why spend the 17th overall pick on a player to just not invest in them?

If other teams don’t do this then why are the Bengals hell bent on it?

Josh deserved the win but dam what a great MVP race this was in hindsight. Lamar and Josh put together seasons that in most years would be MVP's by a mile but credit to Lamar he put up an amazing season to put the thing in doubt also Barkley had an amazing RB year that got him into the conversation and Burrow's stats were also incredible.

Didn't Davis have to sell a minority stake in the team to be able to afford to keep up more? I'm sure the move to Vegas helped but I do think they got some liquidity by selling 15-20% of the team at a good evaluation.

The depth at LB is not great. He is gonna compete for those last two LB’s spot with Ulo and Buffalo Joe neither of whom are great backup LB’s. The Bills needed a good vet LB for back end Competition

I like it, Bills needed some depth at LB they didn’t draft anyone there so after the top 3 it’s Spector whose a decent backup and then Ulo a 5th rounder from last year who didn’t have an impressive rookie campaign. Adding in a vet to the back end depth mix is smart business.

I give Burrow if he's somewhat healthy and not damaged goods two years before he asks out of Cincy similar to Carson Palmer. The Bengals owner is one of the most broke and notoriously cheap in the NFL. If they can't put together a good coaching staff, good offensive line, and decent defense around him and he's stuck for the next two seasons playing behind a bad O-line and a defense that can't stop anyone with a lackluster coaching staff Burrow's gonna get 31 after 2026 I can't see him wanting to spend the rest of his prime in that situation. If I were a team looking for a QB in the 2026 NFL draft I would be very interested in trading down to acquire picks for 2027 to make a play for Burrow. Any extra picks esp a first would be insanely helpful to facilitating a trade.

Bills could use some depth at LB. They didn’t spend a pick there and the Bills run through LB’s so having a vet in there won’t hurt if he fits the scheme.

Get R Done Beane. In all seriousness I wouldn't mind seeing Alexander if he's a scheme fit come here. But I think the Bills likely view themselves as "good" at corner. They swapped Douglas with Tre as the "veteran" option and drafted two players at corner and for insurance brought back Dane for backend competition. Adding Alexander while I would like it as I think he's got a better chance than Tre at producing starting quality play I just don't think the Bills staff is gonna move around or have the money to pay Alexander more than a team that's got the cap space and is a little more thirsty at corner. Tre/Dane were the Bills vet/depth additions while adding two picks including pick 30 also solidified the spot. While I think Alexander would be better than Tre it just isn't a move I would see the Bills making.

I think he's a ST player whose gonna get some snaps as a situational pass rusher. My hope is that he can play some more meaningful defensive snaps as he secures a situational pass rush rotational role. Ideally getting 2-4 sacks in a limited role and continuing to play solid on special teams would be a good year 2 for him. Getting him on the field for a more limited role consistently would be a big win and it would put a lot on tape for him to work with going into year 3. I think with AJE on the final year of his contract there's room for Solomon to push himself into that role in 2026.

A lot of sports piracy comes from people just now knowing where the games are on.

These memes are always so heavily inflated. For one you don't need YT TV at all. You can get Sunday Ticket by its self early bird for $399 and the rest of what you need YT TV for can be obtained for free via a broadcast TV receiver that will let you watch all the local FOX/ABC/NBC/CBS affiliates. Secondly you also don't need a year of Amazon or ESPN+. 6 months is all you need. The real cost to watch all the games is around $600 for a season which is still vastly too much but also nowhere near 1500 dollars.

It's funny because you can "lawyer" things in so many ways but that sack on Mahomes to force a field goal was about as clutch a play you could get by Phillips. I actually love the idea of Phillips being "on retainer" for a late season vet PS spot because he showed he's still gonna pop in a few "splash" plays over the course of 2-3 games before getting hurt likely doing something stupid haha. If you can get him to come in and have 1-2 splash plays while being a solid back end rotation DT late in season when a fresh body might be needed I think that's a good idea.

That 2022 season was the "Season from hell" for this team. Even beyond the Hamlin situation. They had a lot go wrong off the field and a bad injury situation on the field combined with the Hamlin situation. Overall the fact that they somehow went 13-3 that season and won a playoff game despite all the injuries let alone the bad off field stuff let alone the Hamlin situation tacked on top of all that is a testament to that team not a detraction. 2023 was another odd one, but that was more so boneheaded self inflicted stuff as opposed to 2022 that was largely outside of a handful of roster decisions (lackluster offensive line and WR2) out of their control.

Bishop and Rapp will likely be the starters, Forrest and Hamlin are quality depth both of whom will compete to start and while I'm not sure about Forrest Hamlin plays special teams decently so Hamlin adds value there. Then you have a mid round pick in Hancock added to the mix. Likely it will take an outstanding camp performance and pre-season for Owens to "force" the Bills to make room for him or it will take an injury there to open up an opportunity. Plenty of room to make the PS however...

Offensively I think they want to use screens and gadget plays more while taking shots downfield slightly more while retaining the "ball control" ground and pound offense. I would love to see the data on the screen game the Bills incorporated in 2024 as while it seemed to be there a bit more than in the past it was also still not that much of a staple of the offense. I think Brady will make that more prominent. Defensively I wonder if the system is gonna be stress tested early in the season. See how the new look secondary plays and how good the pass rush is and adjust accordingly. First 4-5 games of the season do they kind of do the more bland disciplined McD zone coverage rush 4 defense to see how good their D-line is and how good the secondary and LB's cover. Then if LB's and secondary are crushing it they can blitz more knowing there's solid coverage back there or will they adjust the philosophy if there's some growing pains there to have more in coverage consistently? What I would like to see from both sides of the ball is to see if they can "reserve" 10% of the playbook for the playoffs. It always seems like KC in particular almost has a small portion of their playbook they leave off film but practice behind closed doors for the playoffs. Like they save their best plays and concepts for big games in particular ones with the Bills. It would be one interesting to see if that's the case and two can the Bills do something similar?

I wouldn't be shocked if he does the old "hold in" where he shows up but claims some sort of ankle sprain to avoid the fines for missing mini-camp but still not be an active participant.