billsfan89

The contract is obviously a gamble but it's one that you almost kind of have to take. It's a QB driven league and if you think Tyrod is the guy then you have to take that chance. The deal is also fairly reasonable if the Bills have to swallow it similar to the Fitz deal. 15 million per year is fairly lower mid level for a starting QB and still allows the team to build the rest of the team fairly well around him (Most upper level starters make well over 20 million, that 5 plus million saved is a huge advantage). Overall it's a deal that can backfire but if it does pay off it could be hitting a jackpot. Fortune favors the bold so I would rather make mistakes being aggressive with talent than being too cautious.

Goodwin always showed flashes hopefully he stays healthy and gets to contribute on the field.

Ragland's injury was just a fluke and Lawson was known before the organization pulled the trigger. I find it hard to believe that this is a credible report.

I am glad RGIII will get a shot to resurrect his career. He was so good and dynamic his rookie year but he just seemed to get !@#$ed over by the Redskins handling of his initial major injury that it just ruined the next 3 years of his career. With the Browns RGIII will actually have a chance to make a comeback esp if Josh Gordon comes back anywhere close to the way he was. I am not saying RGIII will ever be the player he was but he at least will have a chance to. It's a win win. You scratch the lottery ticket on RGIII, take a shot that he maybe regains his rookie year form (He is only 26). If he is good you have a franchise QB, if he gets hurt or is just ineffective you get the tank you wanted and get a shot at a good QB coming out of the draft.

Spikes got snapped up by the Pats* last year and he probably would have gotten a contract this season if it wasn't for his off-season issue last year. I think that what made Ragland stand out from your typical MLB "Thumper" was his ability to play in coverage and his blitzing ability. Ragland's coverage ability isn't great but he showed flashes to be able to do decently in coverage and he was an effective blitzer which means there were a lot of ways to keep him on the field on third down. Spikes who is a good run defender isn't valued because he is susceptible to no huddle offenses and one third of the time he isn't effective. Ragland has a lot of ability to stay on the field.

I think a fully healthy Ragland would have been better than Spikes since Ragland would be better on third down. But Spikes if healthy and able to grasp the system of Rex Spikes should be as good if not better than Ragland on the first two downs. A good move to make in the wake of an injury. They also have Zack Brown to be a capable third down coverage LB.

I am pessimistic about the defense. Ragland's and Lawson's injuries along with the aging and recent injuries to Kyle Williams as well as the injury concerns about Aaron Williams are not good signs (Although I do like the Brandon Spikes signing). Offensively a lot rests on Sammy the Bills defense won't be great in my opinion but it could be a decent group so offensively the Bills will need to be a top 10 unit. Tyrod's development and Sammy's health are the key factors. If Sammy is injured long term then the offense won't have the room to operate and even if Tyrod is the real deal he won't have the weapons. But if Sammy is healthy then the offense will depend on how good Tyrod can be. If Tyrod is a legit top 10 QB then the offense which with Sammy has enough talent to give Tyrod the tools can be a top 10 unit. If the Bills defense can be in the 14-18 range or better and Tyrod is the real deal with a healthy Sammy, consider the playoffs likely. But I think that the defense will be a lot like last seasons and I am not sure Tyrod is good enough to carry an offense (And there is the ticking time bomb of Sammy). I hope I am wrong but I see this as being another 7-9 season.

Let's say the price is next years first and third round picks, I honestly would pass. I don't think Bosa will ever be an elite pass rusher, I think he will be solid 7-10 sacks a year player as a 3-4 OLB who is effective but not dominant against the run. I wouldn't sell next years draft to bring him in, I think Lawson if healthy can do approximately what Bosa does and then the Bills can find a more true 3-4 OLB prospect in next years draft if needed. Bosa kind of reminds me of AJ Hawk out of college (Draft stock wise) a player who was drafted so high because of low bust potential but was never thought to have that elite ceiling.

Should have never let Spikes go after he played well in 2014. As a two down thumper who was pretty affordable he helped bring a physicality and strong run defense to the team. He also seemed to gel in the locker room if I remember correctly. I honestly believe that Preston's Brown's regression in part could be attributed to not having Spikes be that thumper on early downs. Brown's specialty wasn't thumping the run on early downs that was done by Spikes (Of course Rex's system change didn't help Brown either). I like this signing, Spikes will bring to the thin linebacker core someone that can thump and stuff the run early on downs, in part that was what Ragland was brought in to do. I really like this singing, I think the defense would have been better having Spikes last year so having him this year will help lessen the loss of Ragland. And if Ragland only misses 2-4 games Spikes then slides into a depth rose at a position where some nice depth could be used.

The best owners are the ones that spend and know enough to know they don't know anything. Owners meddling in significant team operations hardly if ever works out.

I think some team will kick the tires on him next season bringing him into camp, but dam this really could be the last we see of Stevie as a somewhat relevant player in the league. Stevie had a decent year last year and he could have rebounded this year with another solid season. But injuries just caught up to him. Missing all or even most of this season will just be too much for him to recover from.

Foles will bounce around as a backup, I think his starting days are over though.

Whiffing on Kujo hurts big time. Had Kujo been that stud RT he was reported to be out of Alabama then the Bills fortunes would be so much better regarding the O-line. Hopefully he puts it together this year, he seems to be a very hard worker by most reports. Maybe he just needed adjust his game? I doubt he finds a way to start let alone do well. Mills will be competent to below average Cyrus won't likely be able to outshine him.

Kick the tires on the guy couldn't hurt with the suspensions and injuries hitting the backfield hard he could be a good rental to open the season with.

Bold prediction. Bills should be helped by returns from injury, draft additions, and familiarity with scheme in year 2. But being the number 1 scoring defense in the NFL is a lot. I would take the defense vaulting into the top 10. If the Bills defense is number 1 then I think they most likely will make the playoffs this year, the offense would just need to be below average if the Bills defense is the best in the league. I think the Bills defense will need to be top 10 at the very least if they hope to make the playoffs. The offense was 12th last year and even with some regression they should still be a top half of the league unit.

I think the Jets give Fitz a decent deal, they have such a ****ty situation at QB without him. But Fitz doesn't have the best options. They will shell out a decent price for him but not overpay either.

They seemed to get rid of him right as his production fell off. 2013 the last year he was here he didn't the best year. 597 yards in 12 games with 3 TDs. Even had he played the last 4 games it is likely that he would have fallen well below 1000 yards. They got a 4th rounder which is a decent return. In 2014 was the 49ers he had 35 receptions for 435 yards and 3 TD's in 13 games. His production picked up a bit in San Diego with 45 receptions and 497 yards with 3 TD's in 10 games. But he hasn't regained that 1000 yard a season form he had from 2010 to 2012. I do think that the Bills certainly could have used him as a slot receiver. Certainly think he would have preformed well as a slot player esp last season with Tyrod who could have used a shifty receiver like Stevie. No matter what though I think injury caught up with Stevie and his play would have declined. Still I think had the team had him last year Stevie would have give them 55-65 receptions 600-700 yards and 4-5 TD's out of the slot. Which is certainly more than they got out of Hogan last year.

It's not been a good off-season injury/luck wise. But hopefully things shake out positively. I am not uber optimistic but I am not ready to throw in the towel on the season yet either. A lot of these set backs are more so going to be guys missing training camp time which isn't a huge deal.

Franchise Snapper.

Part 5 was by far the most interesting. Tons of stuff on OJ's playing days and on the whole trial. But the post trail OJ era doesn't get the same amount of press and isn't covered much. It is a very interesting to see how a man who everyone thought publicly was a murder carried on with his life after the trial and the civil conviction.

The league salary cap was 143.28 million so payroll at most (If you factor in let's say 20 million over that in signing bonuses and the like just to be generous) is 163.28 million. So that's 59.32 after paying the players. Of course coaches salaries, training and support staff salaries, front office salaries, and team maintenance costs (Travel, equipment, facilities, Misc costs) are going to take up a huge chunk of that. But even if all those additional costs soak up that revenue you still have your ticket sales and local revenue. And most teams don't spend to the cap let alone go well over it. Each NFL teams in terms of real profit probably is making 50+ million in raw profit per year. Good time to be in that business.

I get what you are saying, Monroe at LT is a slight step down from Glenn at LT but then moving Glen over to RT would be a huge upgrade over what was there. But I think that overall that even if the Bills offered that (And Glenn was cool with it for some reason) Monroe still wouldn't accept. I think Seattle and Carolina offer him better locations in terms of there being a pure positional fit and a better overall opportunity for him. To sum up, 1- Glenn isn't going to want to move for a player he knows he is better then, even after getting paid. 2- The Bills wouldn't have the money to lure Monroe away from top teams like Seattle and Carolina who could offer at least as much if not more than the Bills to play his desired position without displacing a very good player at that position.

When you set up a league with non-guaranteed and limited guaranteed deals and players with short lifespans you end up with these types of holdouts. Just a part of doing business. Players aren't going to subject themselves to the wear and tear of another NFL season unless they get taken care of for the high quality years they played under a fairly low paying rookie deal. At 26-28 when most of these hold outs occur the players know they are leveraging the last 2-3 prime years they have for a new big pay day. To burn one of those years on a well paying franchise tag is a risk (Risk of injury, risk of under performance ect). A risk these players just aren't willing to take. I don't blame them but it sucks for the fans, the teams, and the players that these things just don't work themselves out for all parties.

Plenty of reasons to think the team will be better, plenty of reasons to think there could be regression. Both optimism and pessimism are equally valid.

He definitely had CTE but if he wasn't a sociopath he was at best a sever narcissist. I think that the CTE was definitely the source of his anger issues and highly aggressive behavior. But his choices regarding his career stemmed from being either a sociopath or simply a narcissist (Which most highly successful people are).