BADOLBILZ

Ehhh........the injury of note came before the extension. We can't just write it off as "since". It looked like a car-accident level concussion event he suffered. I don't remember the last time I saw a player look like that being taken off after a concussion and we knew it was the second one in 2 weeks. You definitely can't extend a small man position with a year left on his deal sight-unseen after that, IMO. And while he played very well at times prior to that series of events....... IMO I am not sure that it was as high of a level as some think. He gave up 8 TD passes in 2023-2024. It's not like you are getting into the redzone and he was going to smother a Jamar Chase or Tee Higgins with his athleticism. And you could also make the argument that we'd seen very high level play from Rousseau with his tremendous run defense and excellent pressure rates or when Bernard had the most splash plays in a season by an NFL LB since Brian Urlacher 20 seasons prior. Truth is, none of them should have been extended IMO. Just Beane doing his best Art Modell impersonation trying to make everyone like him at the eventual expense of the team as a whole and it's fan base.

I'm not sure what stat you are referencing but if it's a bulk stat he typically plays about 25% less of his teams snaps than Myles Garrett does( 60% v 80% over career). And even so Rousseau tied for the NFL lead in run stops by a DL as a rookie with 32. He's legit ELITE against the run. Let's not try to downplay it as "10 best sure". One of the funnier attempts to discredit Rousseau I saw was that his poor play meant Joey Bosa had to play more snaps. Do they not play two DE's simultaneously anymore? I must have missed that.😂

He's the best edge run defender in the NFL. I don't think he needs to bulk up. I'd like to see more wider alignments in the Bills front. I think we've seen that their tighter spacing hurts their individual sack numbers. For Rousseau it doesn't allow him to use that huge first stride and find open lanes to make plays horizontally. But when you have a couple limited, undersized LB's you can't really roll wide 9. Regardless, he needs an edge bender opposite him. Instead the Bills have drafted guys like Boogie, Epenesa and Landon Jackson who lack that ability.

Yeah I think you and @HappyDays are kinda' holding onto your opinion from when they signed him. I was against the extension after the horrific concussion in the AFCCG. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze. The reality is that he is playing like a guy who was going to get low-balled in free agency this winter and would be signing a one year deal after the compensation formula period in May. Zero picks, Zero passes defensed and a 110 passer rating when targeted is not getting you paid.

Well we will see what Rousseau looks like when his extension and those $20M hits actually begin next year. With the cap around $300M this offseason and very few producing DE's available I bet he would still have gotten at least the same deal in UFA. Benford coming off this season might be looking at a one year prove it deal and if Strong and Hairston finished well the Bills might have let him walk. Rousseau's career so far is very comparable to Calais Campbell.........who didn't start his run of All Pro years until age 28........and is IMO a future HoF'er.

Fortunately all concussions aren't the same. Benfords concussion in the AFCCG was one of the most concerning I've ever seen in an NFL game. Extending him a month after seeing THAT was just Beane being Beane. He is far too concerned about his perception. He's got some Art Modell in him that way. He wants everyone to love him and eventually that does a lot more harm than good.

Yeah I was thinking he might be an NFLDPOY candidate after that opener. But then he gets mysteriously injured in the next practice on a play nobody associated with the team seems to be able to remember.

I think the disconnect here is your opinion is about your "feels" about whether they should have extended him. That's irrelevant at this point. I was OK with extending him too and loved the timing because I knew he had already prepared his body for a contract run. But he was a big disappointment last year. He got pushed around and was one of the worst starting DT's against the run in the entire NFL in 2024. Hence the criticism. This year he looked like he had responded to that bad first year of his extension........but ultimately he's probably only going to play around 8% of the Bills defensive snaps this season. So, thus far his extension consists of a bad year and a lost year. Thus far it has objectively NOT been a good contract.

I haven't re-watched the debacle but Coleman did appear to be in Adam Henry's ear on the sideline after one of many failed attempts to feed Shakir. Henry appeared less than pleased with his input. Shakir ended up piling up some yards but he's been a net negative the last couple weeks.

That could be but he's been simply awful overall. Like I said, the way he is playing and Strong was trending Strong might have been playing instead by now. He's not played like a starting NFL CB this year let alone a good one. In some ways it was like the Tre extension because neither had a lot of room for physical decline before it was going to knock them far down the list.

Benford played excellent when healthy the past couple seasons. But that double concussion situation should have ended any extension talk. He literally has not defended a single pass all season. He's been the worst of any of them by A LOT.

I don't know if I'd call him "great" this year. But PFF would.........he is their 9th rated DE/edge in the NFL this season. There are still so many people on TSW who are utterly clueless about football. Benford, on the other hand, has been shite. The light is out in his eyes. He looks like he is just trying to survive the headache. That play where Bishop had to shoe-string tackle Collins last night.......2024 Benford helps tackle that guy. He doesn't want it and when he has to make a tackle he gets up looking like he's just seen a ghost. Scairt.

I'd flip the NE and Cinci results. Otherwise looks about like I see it unfolding. The wins won't come easy with this tired, fragile roster but they should get to 10 wins.

Why run at Rousseau when you can bulldoze Jordan Phillips out of the way or toy with Venus de Bosa? Even before the wrist injury they were gashing the Bills on Bosa's side. Hard to get those TFL's when they are running left or center. Last year Rousseau was 9th in the NFL in TFL's. The line aside from Rousseau is just getting blown up on the regular. Kelsy was actually terrible against the run his entire career. The board was much stupider then so there were a lot of people who thought he was a "base DE". He was a high motor pass rusher and not a good one.

The common thread is that they all signed their deals in summer after preparing all offseason like this was their walk year. The hay was in the barn. The following year when the extension began Oliver's play dropped off dramatically and he will barely play at all this season. So far his extension has been a large financial failure. I suspect the Cook extension won't end well either. It begins next season. People act like this year was the beginning. 'Twas not. Spencer has been the good extension. Hopefully he can return soon after this shoulder setback.