BADOLBILZ

Did Buckner have 2 "bad" years? I think he had 2 modest seasons but he was available and making a ton of tackles for a DL. I think bad is an overstatement. He was a higher ceiling prospect than Shaq but I think Shaq was considered closer to his ceiling on arrival. And that's the way it appears to be playing out for Buckner at least.

I never said those picks have "no value" straw man......... but there are zero proven difference makers on that list of 10 second round picks...........it's a who's who of guys who you can get cheap in free agency to fill a need and usually at a position of lesser value. If you think your team can be competitive you don't pass on even one season of a difference making pass rusher to save 4 seasons of Preston Brown or Zay Jones. Edit ONE difference maker in Bob Woods...........out of 10 years.

D+ is more than fair for Shaq to this point. I don't know about using "standard production" as a basis.........in no world has Shaq's production not been VERY disappointing. I think you need to use the first round to draft studs and even if that means getting some busts you don't take the average when grading as much as you pick the studs who end up in pro bowls and all pro lists and base the comparison there. The Pro Bowl is basically a who's who of early round picks for a reason. In a matchup league the difference between extraordinary and average is a chasm. By comparison A for Buckner is reasonable. Shaq's career totals for tackles and QB hits are just an average season for Buckner and he's evolved into a legit star now. I mean a guy that big with 70 tackles and 10+ sacks? That's what you want. And Buckner has been durable.

Clowney is not holding out for more money. He is holding out for a long term contract. Houston has no intention of giving him an extension. He has to report by week 11 to accrue an NFL season but he can withhold his services up until then so that gives him leverage to get him traded to a team that he and his agent can get a handshake agreement with to give him an extension.

I'm saying I'm not afraid of the Bills making moves with modest future draft capital to try to become a SB contender now. On paper the 2019 Bills may seem light versus the incumbent SB favorites but anyone who thinks that the 1990-1991 Bills went in SB XXV as the biggest SB favorite ever after 12 months of expectations of them dominating as they did are wrong. The organization was considered a dysfunctional mess and an afterthought heading into that season. The 1989 Niners were considered possibly the greatest team in NFL history at the time and were overwhelming favorites heading into that season. It was supposed to be them and 29 also-rans. Things can change. A first round pick for Clowney is too rich for me but take a look at the Bills history of 2nd and 3rd round picks. There are more Zay Jones and Reggie Ragnuts and more John Millers and Preston Browns than there are difference makers.

They think that their GM did an amazing job hiring the top young HC in the NFL and not half stepping in free agency and trades and creating an astounding franchise turnaround in just one season. That's how it's done now. But some Bills fans want a tepid, slow build because they are afraid of making mistakes and perhaps even afraid of success and the disappointment of losing in the playoffs.

Yeah great fit but I just can't see them paying a DE $20M per season............at least not until Brady retires and they have to start catering to star talent like every other team. Now if he were coming off 5 marijuana suspensions and playing for league minimum BB would be all over that. Man likes his bargains. I can't see the Texans and O'Brien trading him to NE. They'd sooner let him walk after the season, IMO. No question the Texans think they have a SB team and that the Patriots are their biggest hurdle.

Yes that really caught Nelson by surprise........once he left his feet Nelson gave him a good shove and relaxed assuming the play was over.

My guess has been that the Texans are just putting him out there to see if anyone is willing to give up something decent but will otherwise hold him to his tag. He has a lot of say where he goes but at worst the Texans should have him for the second half of the season...........he's not sitting out the year like LeVeon Bell.

I think the more concerning recommendation would be Stephon Gilmore. They are close and from same HS and hometown. But I don't necessarily think Gilmore would give a bad recommendation............he was pretty well treated in Buffalo...........and it's not like Clowney will just get to choose who pays him $20M. Most teams will not offer that it will just be a handful of needy ones. Thinking the LA teams and Dallas are out so the big towns without the scorn of the NY/Philly/Washington markets are out. Bears are set. Arizona and Denver already have their own $20M pass rushers. Colts are in same division as Houston. Bills seem like a decent fit.

Yeah this is where the relationship with Gaine and Clowney/agent comes into play. We've talked a lot about Clowney in other threads here but I think he'd fit in here too. He's from a very small town and is kinda' low key off the field.

Yeah he brings a physical element they otherwise lack at DE and even though he's not been a good one-on-one rusher he has always been an opportunistic vulture if others can force the chaos. On paper Shaq loses snaps to Clowney but since Clowney can be moved all over I think Shaq gets more opportunity to make plays in a defense with Clowney.

In his year and half in Buffalo Kelvin Benjamin cost them almost exactly what the Watkins 5th year option cost and was nearly worthless..........he might as well have had a broken foot. And they gave up a pick that was less than a full round later than what the Rams gave the Bills for Watkins. Their culture somehow survived KB I think they might have gotten by with Ol' Sammy. Whether some people want to admit it or not the decisions to not pick up his option and then to trade him were both poor ones.

I don't think anything starting with a 4th gets it done..........that's Reggie Ragnuts level compensation. After watching Ford struggle a bit to get his feet moving in pass pro at guard against the Colts I don't want to give up Nsekhe and have Ford at tackle without a net........... and I don't know that the Texans would even value Nsekhe for a draft pick. Did they bid on him in UFA?

Yeah I'd definitely part with either but I'd rather give up the 5th round pick and go for it this year.........Clowney is a DE but I would move him around so I would like Murphy and Shaq in the rotation. Johnson looks like he might be a Shaq replacement option next year but Shaq looks primed to have a good year.

I agree. The big change in the NBA in recent years is the idea of "position-less" basketball...........and the Bills would have the potential to do something similar on defense adding a player like Clowney to a defense that includes unusual specimens like Edmunds and Oliver and even a guy like Lorenzo Alexander. Clowney a tremendous run defender and a very sudden inside pressure guy too which is nice with the Patriots being a team that can run the football and having a QB who is most vulnerable to inside pressure. Ideally you get a more efficient QB hitter for $20M per year but Clowney is a potentially great fit for how they play defense and those sure-thing-sack-a-game Khalil Mack's aren't falling out of the sky and definitely not for reasonable compensation in trade.

What about a 3rd and a 5th? I'm serious. I think he kinda' has to go for another player if traded now for the Texans to not end up with egg on their face. Agree that teams not trading much in draft pick compensation for a guy who is a UFA after season and holding out. Gaine would give the Bills a huge edge though if he was trying to get Clowney extended though. Clowney has a lot of say where he goes.........he can just show up mid-season and still get his year of service if he doesn't like where he is traded.

Don't complain...........if Big Stein wasn't complicit in collusion in the 80's then early 90''s Blue Jays never win a WS. Broadly, not bidding on coveted pitchers cost the Yankees a lot of top pitching options. Specifically the Yankees refusing to bid on Jack Morris multiple times is what fueled the investigation into collusion and the 1992 Jays don't win without Jack.

Not picking up his option was just dumb.............all that did was de-value the player in trade. For some reason people can't understand that they weren't going to be obligated to give Watkins a multi-year deal for several years.

Yeah but it was also like a precursor to "analytics" in that they were ahead of the curve in the on-base phenomenon. The Yankees current string of consecutive winning seasons is by far the longest in the big 4 north american pro sports teams and is soon to be a ridiculous 27 straight........and is second only in MLB history to their own 39 straight winning seasons from 1926-1964. Being a Bills and Yankees fan is about as big of a contrast as you can have.

He prefers "Dropzone" Jones. Says the hands and eyes are good.

1) Don't even go down the suspension path: On Tuesday, anyone who didn’t already know of Pegula’s interest in the athlete representation business learned about it after he announced he had acquired Atlanta-based France AllPro Athlete Management, the agency of prominent NFL player agent Todd France. Guess who the agent who negotiated that unprecedented contract without language protecting the team against suspension was.? Dareus not playing well is on him..........but he had earned the contract with first team All Pro play.........the extraordinary language or lack thereof is on a couple of long time business pals. 2) Gilmore had quit in him as a Bill.........most of his big plays allowed were at the end of plays that he had otherwise well covered but let up on....... and he wouldn't wrap up a ball carrier to save his life. Woods was a walking tantrum for the first couple years as a Bill. Own worst enemy. That's really where the "Bob Woods is F'in crazy" stuff began.

I understand how the salary cap works bud. But here is something you apparently can't get your head around...................because you can roll forward all unused cap dollars at the end of a league year...............cap room spent on a player who is not playing that year is NOT "cap room saved" by waiting to cut them next year. You spend $10M of cap space this year that's $10M you can't roll forward. Understand? It's ultimately very simple........they are on the hook for AT LEAST Morse's guaranteed money.......$26.125M. I mean do you or do you NOT understand what "guaranteed" means? A minimum of $26.125M in cap space is allotted to Mitch Morse over the next two or three cap years depending on how the choose to account for it. That's just the way it is. Whether you call it "dead" money or not is just semantics if the player doesn't play. You don't get "salary cap credits" back for a player not being on the roster(aka "dead") as opposed to him being on IR or inactive on gamedays. It's cap room spent for no play either way. Now before anyone assumes I am writing Morse off for 2019 that is not the case.............I am just trying to explain how the salary cap ACTUALLY works to someone who clearly does not.

Yeah I get taking the risk on Morse.........huge wad of found money in pocket.......immediate need......talented player........... but you are ultimately judged by your results. I mean people pan Whaley on here for Watkins but if Watkins had remained healthy and was handled properly he's a top 5 WR in the NFL. If if's and buts were Lombardi's and Hunt's.........know what I'm sayin'?

That's not always true either. Sometimes a lower bid is accepted for other reasons and sometimes the team has a franchise tag option and doesn't use it. I can't recall if the Chiefs had the tag at their disposal on Morse but they let him walk because they had already played a good portion of the season with success without Morse. Not the first very good center the Chiefs have let leave in FA under Reid. I think he is comfortable evaluating and replacing them. McBeane's OL choices hadn't been sharp so they probably felt compelled to take more risk for a guy they KNEW could play if healthy. That emoji looks like it should be in concussion protocol.