billsfan89

Winners: Jets (They got a haul of picks for very good but not great players on big contracts) Eagles (Phillips is a possible difference maker for a defense that needed some pop and all it cost was a 3rd) Bengals (Flacco Deal looms large for them and it was such a relatively cheap deal, their season may not work out but Flacco's giving them a chance) NOLA and Seattle (such a sensible trade between both teams) Losers: Colts and Cowboys (Overpaid for very good but not great players on big contracts) Titans and other rebuilding teams that didn't make trades (I think you lose a big opportunity to get better value for players in season)

I would have swapped a 3rd for a 5th maybe a 6th which is equal to about a 4th or late 3rd rounder. But I think what NOLA was clearly looking for in a trade was volume of picks. NOLA is going to be in a really bad cap situation next season. They need to hit on a lot of draft picks in short order. Getting 2 more picks in the mid-rounds helps them a lot more than swapping up a later pick into the back of the 3rd round. I think the Bills were more interested in swapping a pick to keep their pick volume the same but lower the quality of the picks. Whereas NOLA probably wanted more pick volume. Seattle clearly wants to give Darnold the tools he needs and got him a weapon. The Bills just didn't get it done for a WR at the deadline. I think that could prove costly but also means they like what they have enough to not overpay for a WR. I think D-line they could have added a back end rotational piece but they only lost two D-line longer term and one in Oliver is coming back possibly end of December to mid-January range and they were already very deep along the D-line. I doubt the teams fortunes are won and lost by not adding a Harrison Phillips to the D-line to eat some snaps on the back end of the rotation. But WR to me was a big need, we will see if that happens to hurt them in bigger spots.

I love Lamp

I think KC splits those games somehow. But if they go 0-2 that’s gonna put them at 5-6 and likely out on their division most likely. And if they go 5-6 that’s gonna put them in danger of missing out on a wildcard. But they still have some “softies” on their schedule with games against the Cowboys, Raiders, Titans, and Texans. Win those games and 1 other game and you hit on 10-7 at worst

Wilson after a really bad rookie year turned into at least a decent rotational player. He's just not at all living up to being the 7th overall pick. But he's not a bad player. Given that he's very versatile and is decent if the Bills wanted to "kick the tire" on a guy that can soak up some snaps and provide versatility I wouldn't hate it. Olave or Shaeed would help the offense against better defenses.

Could they do it cap wise with Garrett’s new deal?

Bills gotta "get fat" on the Dolphins this week. Fins off a mini-bye away won't be easy most likely. Getting to 7-2 taking off an away divisional game is critical if the Bills want to win the division. Gotta just handle things one week at a time. Hopefully the trade deadline brings a piece or two and the Fins sell off some more pieces. But it should still not be an easy game.

If the Vikes are moving Addison then there's something seriously wrong with Addison off field. Harrison Phillips would be a solid DT to add just to sort of eat snaps in rotation until Ed hopefully comes back and maybe Sanders.

2023 the Rasul Douglas trade came out of nowhere right at the deadline and in 2022 the Hines trade was also right before the deadline. Last years Cooper trade was semi-out of nowhere because while the Bills were very actively in on Devante Adams no one knew Cooper was on the block. So it is likely that the Bills will make some sort of minor move at the very least.

He was the 7th overall pick in 2023 for the Raiders, obviously not drafted by the current HC/GM seems like as a rookie he was bad and then he managed to prove to be a rotational piece but nothing special in 2024 and 2025. He seems to have a lot of versatility and still with a year left on his rookie deal after this season so there's plenty of time to continue to develop him at age 25 into hopefully a higher end rotation guy. I wouldn't hate it provided his cap hit for 2026 isn't too bad.

Clearly at least opening up the possibility for a trade

The Bills brought in a lot of "physical freaks" on the D-line. Bosa is of course a monster and they took a chance on health there smart gamble. Both Walker and Jackson were monster build guys out the draft, Sanders not so much but Sanders wasn't a smaller guy either. Hoecht was also a "freak" guy with a lot of versatility and he looked to be the part before getting hurt. Larry Ogunjobi while not a freak was a stout plug up the middle vet DT. The Bills front office made it a priority to get bigger and nastier along the D-line both in their 3 major free agent additions and 3 out of their first 4 draft picks. I think they need another body up front with the loss of Hohect from the season and the major injury to Ed and Sanders. I would look to Arizona if they want to swap a 5th for a 7th or something along those lines for Calais Cambell. Campbell is playing fairly well and while he doesn't offer the full DT/DE/LB versatility Hoecht did he still could line up almost anywhere along the D-line and that would help with that loss and just add another competent body along the D-line. I still want a WR as the teams top trade deadline need but I'm not gonna act like they don't need a competent vet body either along the D-line.

KC's defense has been playing fairly well all season minus the Jags game. So for the Bills to out physical their D-line was a good sign.

Po splitting reps at safety with Handcock is actually really a smart coaching decision. Po is a vet who knows the system better than anyone on the planet. Po has 107 starts at safety in the McD system from 2017-2023. I think Po's presence has helped Cole develop and he has helped Handcock get eased into a role. He's not the athlete he once was but he's not playing 90%+ of the defensive snaps. He played 74% against the Panthers but that got reduced to just 54% against the Chiefs and I think that's going to go down slowly but surely. Tre's also now in a more natural role for his career which is a dime back playing ideally 40% or less defensive snaps. Tre played 67% of snaps against Carolina and got reduced to 50% against KC. I think that that should also continue to go down to 30-40% as they get more comfortable with Hairston. Overall I think Po and Tre can be positive contributors to the season if they continue to be in reduced roles as they mentor the young guys and play in smaller roles where their lack of athleticism is more limited (I think it is easier for an older player to gear it up shifting in and out as opposed to playing 80% + of snaps and getting grinded out).

Benford has looked good since the bye, back to back games where he looked solid. Even prior to the bye in Atlanta Benford when the team just switched to man coverage at the half looked better. I think you are right it is probably some sort of week to week injury that needed some rest but the team was just super thin at corner and he gutted it out. I think he's now looking a lot closer to the corner we all expected him to look like.

I think what impressed me most about Cole against KC wasn't the "splash" plays he made in a few big moments but also for back to back games he made all the plays he "should have made". What made Po and Hyde so good in their primes was that they were mostly steady players who would make the plays that they needed to make and then they would have some splashy plays mixed in here or there. Neither Hyde nor Po were tremendous athletes they were at best above average athletes who played super smart and disciplined. Po and Hyde's RAS scores were in the 5's and 4's (although their play in their primes looked to have better than average but far from elite). Cole (whose still a ways away from those guys in their primes) is a much better athlete than Po and Hyde were. Cole's RAS was a 9.8 and he plays with a lot of that athleticism. If Cole can continue to learn from Po and from his continued playing time while Po platoons with Handcock (who I also hope learns more and can overtake Po by end of season) then I think the sky's the limit for Cole if he can really continue to make the fundamentally sound plays and then be opportunistic and rangy on bigger plays.

I would love to see the Bills still go out there and get a WR. They need more production at WR. Palmer coming back should help but he's a lower end WR2 at best, teams won't really respect him esp if they can just put a good corner on him. The Bills adding Shaheed or another solid to good boundary WR (ideally with some speed) would future proof the offenses against better defenses that the team will have to beat in the regular season and playoffs. I also think the D-line needs a body desperately. If this team could extend Connor McGovern to lower his cap hit this season and get him locked in for 3-4 more seasons I think the Bills could make two additions. Swap a 3rd for a 5th or 6th to the Saints for Rasheed Shaheed. Gets some special teams pop and a boundary WR that teams will respect more. Complements Palmer well on the outside and allows the team to move Keon to the slot more. Add Calais Campbell as a durable D-line body with some maneuverability. Trade a 5th for a 7th to make that happen. Would help ease the loss of Hoecht as while Campbell doesn't have the same flexibility he brings some of that. Plan B for Campbell would be to trade a 7th for Harrison Phillips, durable vet DT just to get another body there.

They have 400 million in void years from 2026-2033. They have borrowed from Peter to pay Paul so to speak. And they keep adding to it too. It’s counting on future cap increases to ease that burden

I think the Eagles have like 400+ million in void money spread out from 2026 to 2033. It’s like the Saints situation but more spread out. They are banking on Several things. One is ***** it win now while you have the talent and two the increase in the cap will make it less of a hit. It also unlike the Saints situation is very hard to get out from under in just a year or two (like you can’t take massive dead cap hits over 1-2 years to get out from under void years). So the bill will come due but how much of an impact is unknown? Most teams have about 20-100 million in future void years for reference. So it’s not something teams do the same degree as the Eagles

This was hopefully Cole's "I've arrived" game because he had not only big play after big play in big spots but Cole also seemed to make most of the plays he should have made. Po being next to him seems to have helped his development as has simply just playing. Bills fans were bitching about Cole in the opening weeks but also complain how KC always has their rookies gaining experience in the regular season so they can be good for the playoffs. But the Bills have a 2nd round pick second year player whose a little up and down and the Bills have to bench him or trade for a safety... This isn't all fans, probably a more vocal minority but an annoying one.

This game was a tipping point for both teams in terms of winning their divisions. KC is now 2 games behind the Broncos and 1 game behind the Chargers who hold the tie breaker over them. KC would have to sweep Denver and beat the Chargers home to have a shot at the division. I think they could easily beat the Chargers but two wins over Denver is hard. Assuming KC splits Denver and beat the Chargers that puts them at 7 wins against 5 losses. To win the division after a split with Denver they would have to beat the Colts and at home (tough but possible) and win out against the lesser teams (Titans, Raiders, Texans, and Dallas) and even then that would put them at 12-5 with no margin for error 11-6 likely doesn't get you there. KC still has a pretty good shot at the wildcard. If you assume there's only 1 team coming out of the AFC North and the 5 seed is the loser of the AFC East. Then there's 2 slots for 3 teams. IF Denver wins the AFC West you then have KC/Chargers/Jags currently setting up for 2 wildcard spots. I think KC can comfortably get to a wildcard with 11 wins. Which allows them to split with Denver and lose an additional game and they just have to take care of the 4 softies on their schedule, split with Denver, and split the Colts/Chargers games at home. If KC gets to 10 wins by dropping a softie or losing to both the Colts and Chargers then I still think they have a good shot against the Jags or Chargers to take the 6/7 seed. There's still so much football left to play but I think this game was much bigger margin of error wise for both teams in terms of winning their respective divisions. Had the Bills lost and been 5-3 they would have put themselves in a tough position to win the division and be a wildcard too.

As much as it frustrates me that this team spends so much money and draft picks along the D-line it is part of their strategy to be able to survive injuries to the unit. And right now the Bills depth along the D-line is being tested but also they have depth to plug into. KC had injuries but injuries are a part of the game and both sides have injuries it just so happened the Bills had depth to sustain a good D-line despite some front line guys being hurt.

Campbell as the Lorax/Hoecht flex in and out player would be a shot in the arm for the defense. I would also say Harrison Phillips could be a competent innings eater DT

It was a missed opportunity 4 and 17 you can’t do that against Mahomes and expect to win most games. This team did that and still came up with the big plays to get Mahomes off the field on the next drive and put this game dam near away

Likely at best gonna start on the PUP List or IR to start next season. It seems like a year long injury