billsfan89

I think a team would 100% claim him. There's not many teams with 4 safeties better than him and the fact that he's a willing special teams player means that teams won't be burning a roster spot on a pure backup. He's well worth a roster spot in my opinion. Ideally the team has Bishop displace him but having a steady backup who at worst flexes into a ST role is still good injuries happen and this team could do a lot worse than having Hamlin plug in for a few games.

That's my read on Hamlin too, I think Cover 1 and some more detailed film junkies on Youtube have said similar things. That Hamlin is very fundamentally sound in knowing where to be in the system while also being a willing tackler he just lacks the speed to close like an elite safety.

The minimum salary starts at 860k and tops out at 1.2 million. A stable high quality backup who plays capable special teams for 2 million seems like a good use of a roster spot. The extra stability of good depth at safety with some special teams ability is worth about a million extra dollars over a minimum player. The Bills brought in plenty of competition via a mid round pick and a young vet in Forrest. At worst you have an over abundance of depth at safety and overpaid for a competent special teams player. At best they made sure they have a stable capable backup option who they know can play at a competent level within their system.

The idea that Hamlin isn’t at least a quality backup well worth a roster spot (bolstered by the fact that he’s a willing and decent ST player) is just insane to me.

it would be interesting if Joe Brady had formations with Alec Anderson and Hawes out there.

Camp body nothing more nothing less

Tim Duncan said it best it takes a lot of luck to win a championship. I'm confident this team has the talent level it just comes down to in the playoffs where the margin for error is slim can they execute against the elite teams? I think they can and will just have to get some luck with health (like every team) and hope positive player development continues to occur.

KC are the Brady era Pats every year they lose some players (since Mahomes hasn't been on his rookie deal) and every year they chug along and get at least 11-12 wins. They are the top dogs in the Conference and their division until proven otherwise (hopefully by the Bills). That's not to say that I don't think the division isn't stronger and that this could be a "vulnerable" year for KC. But dam it's just so hard to bet against them. In 2022 after they traded Hill I figured maybe their offense would struggle but they chugged along. 2023 they were a lower seed and had to go two weeks on the road and still got it done. So even in years where I think KC is maybe a little down they still find ways to be a high end team. My hope is that the Chargers and Broncos become a consistently good team in the next 3-4 years. Broncos got a rookie QB contract so they have that window and The Chargers have Herbert on a good deal and both teams are coming off good seasons with added talent due to their cap space being much cleaner and another draft class.

Tyrod also keeps the running component of Josh intact. Toss in that he can play in a way that complements McD's defense (as seen in 2017) and I think he by far makes the best backup.

Honestly if he can just be a capable run stuffer it would be a big positive for a defense that has struggled to consistently have that type of player. D.Jones was that at times (with pocket pressure upside) but after his 2023 injury he's just not that guy he's at best a solid rotational player. Hoping the Bills can really hit on at least one of the two DT's they drafted this year.

Fair concerns about Palmer but I do think that he will be a contributor. I think he's gonna slot in and make a contribution of 500-700 yards 4-6 TD's and 50ish receptions on Ok to good target efficiency. What would have made me more excited about Palmer is that he's not a WR that can claim to be a good player trapped with a bad QB. But by all accounts Palmer is the type of outside WR the team needed so there's a lot of different ways you can look at him

I think ESPN will be taking over the NFLN so sadly that upcoming take over means that ESPN/NFL are going to gut NFLN so ESPN can take it over. Sad because NFLN was probably the best of the "Big 4" sports own TV networks now it is probably the worst.

Who would win the Pope or Ditka? But the Pope's name is Ditka?

He's 32 older but not ancient, he's coming off a season where he had 5.5 sacks in 14 games in what I imagine was a more limited role and he's known to be an effective edge setter. I am sure there's a team out there similar to the Bills in 2023 who missed out on DE's in the draft and signed Leonard Floyd to get some pass rush pop for a year rental. I am sure there is a team that needs a boost at the DE spot. Not only is Clowney not coming off a bad season in 2024 but he's just a year removed from a 9.5 sack season in 2023. He's gonna get a modest sized one year deal unless there's a medical I am unaware of.

Get R Done... In all seriousness the Bills have a very crowded D-line room and they don't need a mercenary. Bosa is the front line pass rush mercenary Hoecht is on a 3 year deal and is that moveable chess piece, Groot and AJE are there, and they have Jackson drafted fairly high this year and Solomon as a back end prospect. That's 6 DE's and no need for a back end veteran depth. Simply put the Bills have 6 solid DE's there.

Steelers don't tank, even if it seems like they should sometimes. Kind of surprised to see that their drafting in recently has not been very good as usually their drafting is what keeps them afloat even if they are very conservative in free agency.

Problem is the Bills in order to accommodate signing DK would have not only had to have given up a 2nd plus a late pick at minimum would also likely not have been able to sign many if any significant defensive free agents. I get that the Bills wouldn't have signed Palmer but he's only accounting for about 27.5% of what DK is making, probably wouldn't have been able to manage the Bosa or Hoecht signings as an example.

Been talked about to death in the Gabe thread. Many fans (like myself) don't mind kicking the tires on a vet minimum in camp, but he's not likely to be a difference maker as he wasn't capable of being a WR2 when he was here. Some fans just don't think he has anything and isn't even worth a 90 man roster spot. Personally given that I don't think a 90 man roster spot is that valuable why not kick the tires?

Steelers if I had to guess probably had this trade locked in prior to the draft but were either negotiating the fine lines (do you swap a 5th for a 6th or a 6th for a 7th) or simply held off on announcing the trade because both teams wanted to keep it a secret from the other 30 teams during the draft process in case the Steelers wanted to draft a WR and the Cowboys were probably fine with letting teams think they might want to draft one. Probably some level of gamesmenship. Also the cap situation after the draft may have been a bit murky so maybe sort out what you have cap wise and then make the trade official.

DK would have been an amazing addition but cap wise I just don't think that would have been possible or prudent. It also would have cost significant draft capital. I think the Bills plan at WR is going to be to roll with what they have (maybe kick the tires on Gabe in camp too) and then if the offense like in 2024 is a bit sputtering due to lack of talent at WR then make a trade in season where cap numbers are much more manageable due to teams having already paid out bonuses and part of the seasons salary. It's a smart plan to make a few mid-level to lower mid-level acquisitions at WR (Palmer and Moore) who fit what the Bills need and bank on a bounce back from Kincaid who will hopefully be healthy (Samuel might also produce more as he is likely healthier) and continued development from Keon in year two coming off a nice rookie year. Then if that doesn't work 5-6 weeks in you can look at the trade market where teams off to 1-2 win starts after 5-6 weeks will be more willing to sell WR's.

The Steelers franchise since 1972 has only had 7 seasons were they weren't .500 or better. In fact their worst record since 1972 was a 5-11 season in 1988 of their other losing seasons they were 6-7 wins bad but far from tragic. As far as Tomlin he has been .500 or better every season since 2007 when he took over. He has had three 8-8 seasons but never a losing season. I don't think the Steelers will tank ever, but could they be setting themselves up to have a 6-8 win season (by trading away a few key pieces after a slower start or by just not having a viable QB) and be higher up in the top half of the draft? I can see that. A 7 win season gets them in the pick 8-10 range which makes a trade up a lot easier than going from pick 16-20 all the way to the top 5.

I think another underrated aspect of this offense is that all 3 RB's are capable of catching the ball out the back field and even the Full Back Gilliam is a solid pass catcher. Meaning that the Bills unlike a lot of teams always have good pass catchers out of the backfield.

Steelers don't ever seem to tank but if there ever was a point where they have reached an impasse and should somewhat soft reset and not be afraid of a bottom 10 record it would be this season. They have attempted to be somewhat competitive despite not having a QB since Big Ben (and Big Ben's last few years were rough) and while it is admirable they squeak out .500 or better seasons they won't ever get past a 10ish win round one exit team leaning on defense and cobbling together offense. Steelers had a 6-10 record in 2003 and it led to them getting Big Ben in the 2004 draft. Probably would be better for them if they get a top 10 pick in this years draft and have some extra premium picks to trade up.

I think Cole Bishop is gonna give this team really good quality safety play and I think Forrest is also a dark horse to start but I think Cole is gonna make a big impact in year two. My reasoning is that in addition to Cole being a high draft pick who most pundits thought got draft right around where he should have, Cole also got 4 regular season starts and played heavily in two playoff games and I think he generally got better with more snaps. I think his biggest issue his rookie year was getting a feel for his role in the system. The more snaps he gets the more he will get a better feel for the game. With 6 games of experience under his belt and an entire off-season to work on his game and watch his tape I think he's gonna come into year 2 in the McD system and excel into a quality starting safety. Hamlin was decent last year and I like having him back as depth (helps he is a willing and capable ST player) but I think if the Bills defense has aspirations to go from a average to slightly above average defense to pushing to be a top 5 defense in the league again Cole is gonna have to step up and lock down the SS spot. And I think he's gonna do that and play well.

No not at all. Shakir is a top slot WR in the league, Kincaid/Knox are a top 10 TE combo in the league, All 3 RB's catch the ball well out of the backfield ensuring that the Bills always have a pass catcher out the backfield (Ty is one of the best third down backs in the league), Palmer and Samuel are quality veteran complementary WR's, Keon is coming off a solid but uneven rookie season and looks to grow more into a true consistent "WR2", and they brought in Moore as some additional veteran depth at WR who could be a nice complementary piece. The talent at WR/TE/RB is probably above league "average" but how it blends together to complement Josh and a beast of an offensive line is what makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.