BADOLBILZ

The quality of play will have to be good. Something like McD's 7 blowout losses and a -105 point differential in year 2 will get Flores fired, IMO. You hire a Patriots assistant because you want a coach who does more with less.

So I take it you are against spending $70M on 18 free agents again next offseason? Btw people might not want to pen Tre White in as a career-long Bill...........when McBeane were with the Panthers they shocked the league but pulling the franchise tag off of Josh Norman late in the FA season and let him walk. They then plugged in some scrubs and after a rough month or so McD had them coached up and playing well. Knowing that...... I am not sure I can see them spending $20M per year to retain Tre in a couple years.

Careful JW........SJ13 has a fanatical fan base. Not a big group........they convene monthly at the dog park in Varysburg.........but they are a very vocal minority.

In reality re-builds typically happen fast or fail. I don't think Flores expects to get a 3rd season to get into contention.

Much too soon.

I think there is an obvious, very-real fear of success in Bills fandom. Success inevitably ends and having something and losing it hurts.

This excellent post illustrates how untenable the Bills salary cap situation is getting. How does this keep happening???? Welp Beane got us out of salary cap hell once........good thing he plays a mean fiddle!

Do not forget that they will have their 2020 and 2021 first round picks to extend in the next 7 years too! Oh no! The cap ceiling is the floor again! ?

Barring someone stepping up and becoming a pass rushing force for the Bills the Clowney discussion is likely to continue until he signs a long term contract next spring. I get that some hopeless click-aholics can't even function amidst ongoing speculation but that's not actually an everyone problem........it probably just feels like it to them.

Didn't John Wawrow claim there was nothing to the AB rumors(when there clearly was) at the time? When is the last time anyone in the local media has scooped anything like that? Not blaming the local media for that........obviously a lot of what comes out is from other teams or agents........but the Bills choose to shut the locals out because the people in the front office have nothing to gain by giving them info. They *might* have need for a national guy like Shefter later down the line in their careers.

Bruce Smith 1991(the lost season of his prime) and again in 1998 (played 6 more years).

I think you make good points but the Bills offense and special teams were so bad last year that I believe that there is a subsequent false read on just how good the defense was. The 2018 Bills were blown out 7 times. They were an uncompetitive team. They allowed the best starting field position in the league and turned the ball over a lot. When I think of their defense in relation to the rest of the NFL it reminds me of 1984 MLB where the 3 teams with the lowest ERA's all had losing records. It doesn't usually work anything like that. But sometimes punchless, uncompetitive offenses can create a lack of urgency from opposing offenses. Obviously red zone is a different story. When teams get down there the focus increases regardless of the score and it becomes a man-to-man battle. That's where they really proved they weren't elite defensively. They can try to scheme better all they want but quick pressure/penetration is the game changer in the redzone. And that's why they need a matchup winner like Clowney.

Some people just assume all risky moves will back fire. These Bills......like the rosters Rex had.........are close enough to be real contenders with a strong move or two for an impact player. Slow builds whither and die in the NFL. Compare the 2011 Broncos and Bills. Bills had the better roster and totally manhandled the Broncos when Denver was fighting for a wildcard spot. One team took the risk on Peyton Manning that offseason the other one stayed on the sideline and it's very likely that their fortunes were reversed by that one bold move. I'm not directly comparing the impact of a DE to a great QB but the point is that the Bills have been in positions where their fortune would have been altered by one available player.

???

It's just the vague byproduct of McBeane crying wolf about "salary cap hell" when they really just wanted to re-set the roster. Now fans will be wringing their hands about paying a true stud player at premium position the market rate of $20M per year when they shouldn't.

Agree with all except Shaq didn't play particularly well, IMO. He got a sack against the Lions reserve RT playing LT Donnal.....but prior to that he was pretty much stuck to blocks as usual. The one good pass rush he had against Stafford he took very wide to beat the LT(something Shaq basically never succeeds at) but it was a quick throw to the other side of field and dropped......so it's 2nd and 10......next play they pretend to chip Shaq with a TE but instead leave him unblocked and he runs upfield and the RB trots thru his vacated position for an 11 yard gain. It was like the OC had set Shaq up for that play with the play before by giving him the edge on a pass play where he couldn't impact the QB. IMO no plus grades for any of the DL. The Lions blocked them up well. Back 7 saved the DL.

"Only" rushing 4 isn't holding back.........you gotta' get pressure with just 4.........and they didn't.........and the Lions had a lot of time to throw the ball. Where that lack of pressure really shows up is in the red zone........that's why their red zone defense struggled last season.

Very efficient but the lack of pass rush is frustrating.

Thompson's versatility might push the Morax or even Stanford off the roster. Lacy been playing with his dome on fire in the games.

Yeah he went from the worst starting CB in the league to an outstanding safety over night. Just too bad he didn't enter the league in this era of "no leading with the helmet" his career could have been much different.

The seemingly innocuous Edelman tackle was when it first became news but he busted his neck up the season before on a spearing tackle. It was initially reported vaguely as a "head injury". He came back and finished the schedule but his uncontrolled aggression(and a lot of his impact) was tamped as he nursed the injury thru the season. I know he has a different version of the story but he has his reasons. He should have had a long career but unfortunately he was a knucklehead early in his career and the NFL hadn't legislated the spearing out of the game. I don't like Landry but at worst this was just a case of living and dying by the sword.

I look at it this way...........Aaron Williams was a dirty, out of control player for most of his Bills career. He had more than his share of dirty AF hits until he finally busted up his neck by spearing opponents. The Landry hit is technically illegal but it was hardly the kill shot people make it out to be..........Williams was just duct taped together at that point.........if it wasn't that week his career would have been ended soon after.

He was a big Eagles fan that's why he signed there so I am guessing he ends up on Eagles PS.

Not the most talent but potentially the best combination of talent and secondary specific coaching/scheme. McD is basically a secondary coach...........this situation is a lot like the special teams when Marv was HC.

McD was the de facto GM in his first offseason. It wasn't only the first 4 top draft picks that were used to build this team from the periphery inward.........safeties Hyde and Poyer were McD's first UFA's. Doesn't fit the axiom most associated with success but for better or worse they began their roster re-tool from the outside in.