Utah John

That's what SHE asked.

I understand his parents had to be a little careful about choosing his first name. They're on thin ice with the choice they made, but at least they didn't go with Richard. Dick Clapp would have been unbearable. Well, we got a draft pick for Bates and Clapp came for free (wrt the draft). Also it was pretty clear that Bates wanted a chance to start somewhere, so the Bills tried to help him out by trading him. In the long run, we might miss Bates, but by this point we already knew what Bates is and isn't. For sure he's not Wyatt Teller.

Huge tackles are great if they're attacking you. Quick edge rushers can beat them by not getting attacked.

I have assumed since the Morse release that this is what Beane's plan is. I think (actually I hope) that Beane was just throwing a little shade on his plans with the McGovern talk. A great center is a solid investment for a decade. WRs come and go much more quickly.

During the video they showed the season records for all the AFL teams. The Bills had the best followed by Boston. San Diego did not have an outstanding record, and should not have been a threat to the Bills. But the Chargers scored on four plays on their first possession and could have possibly won, if Stratton hadn't broken Lincoln's ribs with an absolutely perfect tackie. The muddy field, the red striped shirts for the refs, the goal posts on the goal line, and none of the formations or disguised defenses we have today. It was really a different game. Also the Bills defense was incredible. The front four all were great, Maguire and Tracy at LB, and ball-hawking DBs. What a team. I don't think anyone tracked red zone proficiency back then, but the Bills sure didn't capitalize when they had the ball down close. Cookie was a monster. It's a shame they traded him after this game, but the Bills still won in 65 without him.

Reminds me of Thurman Thomas signing with the Dolphins for a season after he (and Bruce and Andre) were all cut on the same day. A little of it was spite and wounded pride, and more of it was a desire to show the league he still Had It (but he didn't). In Poyer's case, I think it's likely that his wife talked him into taking the Miami gig so she could work on her tan more months of the year. Plus the club scene. Both players were outstanding Bills and should be thanked for their years of service. It will seem strange to see Poyer lining up in those party costume uniforms but I won't hold it against him.

So Singletary and Moss are both getting paid. Good for them. I like Cook better but we have had some talent working for us.

First of all Bowers won't be available when we pick, so no. Second, there are too many other positions of need, so no. Third, it would not be fair to DK1 or DK2 to make either of them sit and watch a rookie playing their position. Both DKs are really good, DK2 having the edge over DK1. So no.

Tomlin has the remarkable achievement of never having a losing season which also means the Steelers never have a draft position to pick a great QB. Wilson is the wrong guy. He'll help the Steelers win enough games to avoid a great draft slot, but not to win enough games or be good enough overall to win in the playoffs. Also this move will cause a QB controversy in Pittsburgh, never a good thing for team unity. Since Denver is on the hook for all of Wilson's salary minus whatever he gets from his new team, it would have been great for some team with a clear #1 to sign Wilson to a backup contract. But Wilson doesn't want to be a backup. If he signed in Pittsburgh he must feel pretty sure he can beat out Pickett.

He's worth it.

I'm not convinced at all that the Bills will go with a guard playing center. They might draft one but I think it's more likely they'll sign a FA. Or that Morse comes back for a lower salary.

Seems like a lot of teams are just tossing their safeties into a bucket, and then they'll grab a different one out of the bucket and pay him less than they were paying the guy they had before. League-wide collusion to drive down prices. You might THINK they're just hanging out, but just try running to your back fence and see how that goes. I suspect you're wrong about that. Having a bad HR department can get your company sued. And I think we're gonna find out next year just how valuable Hyde and Poyer were to the overall structure of the defense.

A somewhat obsolete term for a man who seduces multiple women, is a "rake". Maybe he's just confused about the tools in the shed.

Denver is crashing. They gave up a ton for Wilson and can't return to success for a year or two. I think the reason for the release is that Wilson was still good enough for them to steal a couple of wins, and ruin their draft position in the years ahead.

He didn't fall off. He was sitting on it, not moving, and some doofus crashed into him.

The Moss for Hines trade was a good one for both players and both teams. Moss is a good RB who never fit into Buffalo's schemes. The Colts use him in line with his skill set. So the trade isn't what was bad, it was drafting him in the first place without evaluating accurately whether he'd fit. Hines looked great as a kick returner and showed flashes of quickness and power as an RB. I don't think the Bills need him very badly as a backup but if Cook goes down, Hines' speed could be very important until Cook returns.

This is simply not the year to overspend on WRs. Some FAs will get big contracts but when it comes to FAs vs promising rookies, a lot of teams that need WR help will go with cheap rookies. There are too many good options in the draft.

Still could happen. Teams looking to upgrade at WR have to balance the cost of signing an experienced, productive, yet expensive FA, vs drafting one or two of this class's good-looking but cheap rookies. Considering the cap situation, I think the Bills have no choice but to go with the rookies, and maybe an overlooked and less-expensive veteran, and hope for the best. As for Davis, does it really help the Bills if he signs an expensive FA contract elsewhere compared to him signing a less-expensive FA contract elsewhere? I thought the comp pick formula was based on the original draft position of the player. Is that incorrect?

Well, the fact is that for decades there's only been a very weak pretense that most college players are students at all. Some rare exceptions are out there, guys who really do want an education and work hard to get it while still meeting the demanding schedule that players accept. Most coast through, assisted illegally but acceptably, by the institution that wants to make money from letting them play. Look at the schedule for fall semesters. When are the players even going to be in class to take final exams? Players who opt for the portal change schools before final exams, and no one thinks that's a problem. These men are semi-pro athletes, given room and board and now some NIL cash, and most will never play in the NFL. The NIL money they get won't last long once they're out of school and unprepared for a job.

The first time some excellent college player decides to remain in college to reap his NIL money, and is injured while playing an unnecessary year in college and loses his career, this nonsense will stop. The players all want the NIL money of course but they grew up dreaming of playing in the NFL. A player who never makes it to the pros in the first place, is quickly forgotten.

I think the Jets destroyed Zach Wilson with their ridiculously bad O line and their non-genius OC, can't hackett. Or maybe they just damaged him and he remains fixable. I think he has talent but is shell-shocked. A season as a backup here or elsewhere, with professional coaches and a good O line, might be what he needs to resurrect his career. I wouldn't give up a thing to trade for him, nor would I accept him with his current salary. But if he's cut and becomes a FA, and is willing to play for what a backup QB gets (around $1M), I think he'd be an upgrade over our current backup, who gets the same salary but is nowhere near as good.

What they have is a very strong defense, a top-tier RB, and one of the best WRs in the game. It's really their O line that's held them back. Also the QB although I still don't know if Zach Wilson could be a legitimate starter since he's been completely mis-handled his entire career.

Salary cap games are like a drug addiction. You get hooked and you can't get off the cycle. The only way for the Saints to meet the NFL's required numbers before the middle of March -- just two or three weeks away -- is to buy more drugs. They have to restructure some of their contracts to have them count less now, but they're not going to get clean. They can't even quit cold turkey because the existing obligations won't go away even if the player is cut. In fact cold turkey makes the immediate problem worse. The Bills are skirting this desperate situation, largely due to Beane breaking his own financial prudence rules and signing Von Miller to that silly contract. The Biils were prime drug candidates after the 13 second debacle, feeling depressed, and more to the point, letting McDermott blame the lack of a pass rush for the huge team and coaching failure. So Beane tried going all-in to fix it by popping a few cap pills. And now the Bills are on the edge of a total addiction collapse in the near future, Josh Allen or no Josh Allen. The Dawson Knox contract will also be a burden soon, with no good solution in sight. Joe Buscaglia had a good article in the Atlantic a couple of weeks ago about how the Bills could get by for the coming season. Part of the cure involved buying more drugs. But it would let the team attempt to continue its success by retaining just enough good players, hoping the draft yields 5 or more starters, or good reserves now who become starters when current players age out, and praying for no more significant injuries. If there's any good news, it's that Miami is in about the same situation, but debating whether to pay Tua with cap drugs, or try to replace him with a cheap rookie. Tough choice since Tua has never shown he's a championship QB, just a system guy who can beat up on weak teams. So the Bills and Dolphins are both vulnerable. You know who's not? The Jets. Watch out. If they get a QB (and can avoid cap death for the Rodgers contract) and can fix their O line, they could win the division.

Not drafting Mahomes when we (and nine other teams) had the chance to, was a logical choice. No one knew how good he'd be, except the Chiefs, and then they handled him absolutely perfectly. Kudos to them. And the Bills did well with their draft picks, getting White, Allen, and Edmunds. Where the Bills really dropped the ball was not hiring McDermott's former boss, Reid, when he was unemployed. McD is just not in Reid's league. He's a good coach but not good enough.

His decline is underway and is getting steeper the longer he's around. No shame in that. He's been an excellent player for several years, but everyone slows down as time passes. But restructuring means keeping a fading star on the roster, and who knows what kind of negative impact that would bring. It's the Jets that have me most concerned, possibly not in 2024 while the sort out the QB situation and rebuild their O line, but after that, they'll be really tough. I think the Bills tore the hearts out of the Dolphins in 2023. The fish had so much confidence in their "juggernaut" as the creamed weaker teams, but they realized as time went on they weren't competitive with the good teams. Predicting the AFCE in 2024: Bills, Jets, Dolphins, ......... , Patriots