billsfan89

I don't think Maronne is the type of guy that will rest players for no reason. I suspect anyone even remotely banged up will be rested however.

It's subjective to what you define a "Big Splash" to be of course. But even if both Matthews and Gaines are resigned to significant deals they should still find a way to sign a top DT to a deal in the range of what they paid Hyde last year. If the big move is to pick up a QB using a lot of draft capital than it is even more pertinent to fill a hole or two in free agency with the decent amount of cap space you have since you likely won't have much draft capital to fill other aspects of the roster. I hear you saying that the Bills could possibly spend a 2nd round pick on a DT and then spend that 5-7 million on a guard. But you also have to read the market in free agency. The market is flushed with DT's and O-line even the interior positions are getting paid a lot and there aren't a lot of great O-line players available. You can spend 5-7 million on a DT and get one of the top DT's in the market or you can spend 5-7 million on a RG and get at best a middle of the market guy. I think if you are wise with where you are investing you pay a upper middle market price for a high end deal as opposed to paying an upper middle market price for a middle of the road at best player.

I think it would be stupid to not attempt to resign Gaines and Matthews and not to find a good DT. DT is one of your biggest needs, you have a lot of cap space, and there are a lot of good DT's out on the market. I think you could snag a top DT for 6-7 million per-year easily, doesn't have to be Star, there are plenty of big guys to be had. You only have so many draft picks to spend, why trade Dareus only to spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a DT? This would be Jauron levels of incompetence.

Hyde was given the 14th highest safety contract in the league, I can't see why they wouldn't offer a good DT that kind of money. In a market where you have cap space and there are a lot of DT's out there, it would be foolish not to at least take 1 need off your draft board. I am fine with him coming into camp. But if he doesn't perform well then he should be cut. A third year player that hasn't flashed much should be given one last go in the pre-season. I doubt a team would be willing to give you anything for him, so you might as well see what you have one more time.

I would be very happy going into the draft if the Bills managed to somehow sign Kirk Cousins, Star Lotuelelei, and resign Gaines and Matthews to reasonable deals. Although the Bills might have the cap space if Tyrod is traded or cut I doubt they could fit all that with their current cap space. With a better QB, a big run stuffing DT, and Matthews and Gaines retained the Bills could do a lot of improving to their roster through the draft.

The Bills would be idiotic to not pick up a good run stuffing DT in free agency. There is a big need on the roster for a big 'DT. The Panthers defense always struggled until they plugged Star into the middle. In 2011 McD's first year as the D-Coordinator the Panthers were 6-10 and ranked 25th against the rush. In 2012 they were ranked 14th in rush defense (Helped by Dwan Edwards.) Star's rookie year they were ranked 2nd in rush defense. Big run stuffing DT's are important to the success of a 4-3 defense. The Bills have enough cap space, there are a lot of good DT's out on the market, and the Bills have so many other needs on the roster that their draft picks could be used to address. Why on Earth would they waste a draft pick or try and go cheap at DT?

I think they need to find a pass rusher early in the draft. Hughes, Lawson, and Davis should come back but the 4th player should be a rookie, Hughes is older, Lawson more of an edge controller and Davis is a good backup, but they need some youth off the edge. Unless the team makes a big play for a QB in the draft they need to upgrade. I also don't see Ngata being a fit. He is an older player and he is coming off of an injury. I would rather they save that roster spot for a younger player. But Star and Lowell Lotulelei with Adolphus would be a nice trio at the position.

I think Kyle is done. He is still a decent player but another season of NFL football on his older body and I think he is better off just retiring. The Bills are better off getting some cap space and Kyle is best off leaving while he is still decent.

Star would be a great anchor, fits a lot of what they need.

The Bills training staff has to be the biggest factor. Injuries happen but it seems like a good year for the Bills injury wise is a somewhat bad year for most teams. I hope McD guts the trainers completely and hires a new staff. Sammy is also on a contract year and went into the season 8 months removed from surgery. I think the circumstances just lined up. EJ Gaines had issues staying healthy in LA and he has been banged up this season. I think you have to look at the totality of the team's injury history the past 10 years and I think the Bills don't look favorably.

The Browns would likely want both our 1st round picks, one of our 2nd rounders, and the teams 1st next year. Tyrod's value to the Browns adds something but it's not enough to compensate for a large trade up like that for a top QB. I think the Jets would offer their higher draft pick plus both their 2nds and their 1st next year to move up to 1. Maybe if the Browns like Tyrod they only take a 3rd plus a 1st next year on top of our 2 firsts. But no way they don't get another fairly modest pick plus the Bills 1st next year.

I could see a Eli Manning scenario with the Browns. Eli was the consensus top pick but he didn't want to go to the Chargers. So the Chargers drafted him and then traded him to the Giants for Phillip Rivers and 2 draft choices. I think the Browns could make that kind of move, trade down and grab even more picks, they might be able to add an extra 1st rounder and still pick high enough to grab a QB.

His defense is soft at times and plays bend don't break. But other than the 2 times they played the Pats* (Which considering the Pats* offense isn't the worst strategy) I don't think the defense was aggressively bend don't break. They played aggressively and executed well a lot of games, and the games they played poorly stemmed from the team just playing bad, not necessarily a bad strategy Game management is one thing I honestly think he can improve upon with more experience and a full evaluation of his season. There are coaches like Andy Reid that never improved but it seems like there are some that do improve. Management is one thing I honestly think he can improve upon with more experience and a full evaluation of his season. I also think dumping the Offensive Coordinator is a must. The play calling and design of the offense is terrible. Tyrod might not be a franchise guy but he honestly can perform better than he has. Overall I am more optimistic about McD than I have any Bills coach in recent memory. If he learns from his rookie year and they make the right personnel moves in the off-season I don't think 10 or more wins is unrealistic esp given the load of draft choices they are working with.

Bills have several needs in the front 7 and they could maybe use another corner. They also have a few needs on offense but I think 3 out of the 4 top 4 picks get spent on the defense. The mid-round picks and 3rd round picks to address the older positions on the offensive side of the ball (Guard, RB, etc.)

Blame Belicheck and Pacells, they abused the player timeout for injury. That's why they had to institute that rule.

It would have been one thing if the call on the field was incomplete and they just let it stand. I still would have thought it was a bad call but it would have been more understandable. But to reverse a call like that is incomprehensible.

What a terrible !@#$ing call. Every single call that is even remotely borderline goes to the Pats*, seriously I can't remember the last time a call went against the Pats*.

I think people are intrigued by the possibility of a spring football league. The USFL was pretty damn successful so it seems like there could be a market for it. The XFL was pretty funny for what it was trying to be but it was clear that the people running the league had no idea what they were doing.

Spring football could actually work. The XFL's issues weren't the general concept of a minor league football league starting the week after the Super Bowl. The XFL's issues were the general quality of football was low out of the gate (Although it did get better as the season went on), the teams were only given 6 weeks to practice with each other before opening day, the sleazy promotional nature McMahon stooped to, and the heavy promotion at first pulled in big numbers but it also exposed a big audience to low-quality games. Some of the football-related issues (Teams needing more time and a pre-season and more sensible rules) and even some of the presentational issues could be fixed (Less WWE style late 90s sleaze, less gimmicks, and less "Extreme" marketing which even by early 2001 "Extreme" was starting to become passe.) But the public's perception of football run by McMahon won't be easy to overcome. I hope minor league spring football works. It would give a lot of players an opportunity to continue their careers.

I hope the Bills sign Cousins or another viable QB before trading Tyrod. I like Tyrod, I think you can win with him, getting rid of him speculatively would be stupid. You could do worse at QB and just getting rid of him to just get rid of him is moronic.

Not a good rookie year for such a high pick. But I wouldn't give up on him. He is getting open and based off of what he did in college I wouldn't count him out. I think he might have been forced to shoulder too much of the receiving load too soon. With Matthews, Clay, and now Benjamin being banged up at various points in the season they clearly were counting on Zay a lot and that might have given him a case of the yips. Hopefully, with a season under his belt and another off-season to immerse himself in the system and with his teammates Zay will get back on track in year 2. While there is a lot of reason to be pessimistic there certainly is a reason to think he has a shot to turn it around.

Although I can't deny the stats of the average age of the team, I think that if you look at key positions and starters it is kind of hard to think of this team as an old team. They aren't a young team but they don't scream old. InCog, Wood and Shady are the only starters 29 or older. Glenn, Tyrod, and Clay are the only offensive starters that are 28. The rest of the offense is fairly young. Defensively they are young in the secondary but a bit older in the front 7 where Kyle, Lorax, and Hughes are all well into their 30's, but they have some young pieces and certainly have enough cap space to plug some holes before the draft. I don't see the doom and gloom of next season. They have 4 picks in the first two rounds and a decent amount of cap space, plus a team that is halfway decent. I am not predicting they will turn it around but I also don't think that there isn't a reason you can't be optimistic either.

This team isn't that old, offensively InCog, Wood, and Shady are their only starting players 29 or older. Defensively Kyle, Hughes, and Humber are older but the secondary is very young and there are some young players in the front 7. I honestly think that McD and company had to be selling ownership on a 3 year plan. And given the firesale they did in the off-season and the Dareus trade, I think they weren't selling this season as a huge win now priority. Next season they have 4 premium draft picks to work with and some cap space to retain talent and add some players. I think the team even if they finish 8-8 or 9-7 and miss the playoffs has a lot of reason to be optimistic for 2018. A good draft class and a couple of key pieces added and retained in free agency and you are looking at a team that could easily take a step up.

I suspect that they restructure his deal to free up some cap space. The Bills know that Glenn when out there is the anchor to the offensive line and Glenn has to know that coming off multiple injuries and a surgery his value out on the open market won't be tremendous. I would think that it is the best outcome for both parties. The Bills retain talent and free up some cap space, Glenn still gets a good deal out of it.

If they did want to change the name Redhawks actually would be a good name for them.