hondo in seattle

I'm hoping there's one more WR joining the WR room - someone who can at least push Davis for #2. And, yep, that means McK isn't coming back to the Bills.

I'd be willing to sign Motor to a minimal deal as a hedge against not finding a better back. He's got some moderate skills and he's a great teammate. And, at the moment, he's best RB we have. Ideally, though, I'd love to have more speed in the RB position. Then again, a power back would be a great compliment to Josh. It's hard to shut down a power back and a strong armed QB both at the same time.

I'm sad McKenzie is leaving. He's such a great guy and it was so much to watch him in that Pats games a couple seasons ago. But this past season, he wasn't able to shine in a bigger role. Maybe the talent wasn't quite there. Maybe Dorsey misused him. I'm not sure. But we all know it didn't work out the way anyone had hoped.

Dave, I'm not a Singletary hater. But not a lover either, and I don't get the Gore comparison. Gore was a shell of his former self when he played for the Bills. Of course Singletary was better. If you want to make a comparison, let's try this one: * In 1973, OJ averaged 6.0 ypc against defenses that lined up with one singular purpose: stop OJ. * In 2022, Singletary averaged 4.6 ypc against defenses that lined up with one singular purpose: stop Josh Allen. Opponents don't scheme up ways to stop Singletary. They don't load up the box. They don't put a spy on him like they used to do with OJ or sometimes do for Josh. Singletary is an offensive afterthought. I like Singletary. He lives up to his nickname - he's a high motor guy and, by all accounts, a good teammate. But he's not in the same league as the better backs that have blessed the Bills backfield over the years: OJ, Thurman, Shady, Cookie, Freddy, Cribbs, Marshawn... Could we do worse? Of course. But we can do better and have in the past.

Good interview…. and all that.

Singletary gets yards against teams playing the pass.

Restructuring contracts means less money against the cap this year but more money against the cap in future years. Financially, it's no big deal to Terry. It comes out about the same for him either way. But Beane now has more cap space this year at the cost of less cap space over the next five years. So why is he giving up future cap space? Who is he signing - or resigning - this year? Seems like he's after someone and I'm guessing David.

We've heard players say that the grades they get from their position coaches are often different than the grades they get from PFF. Teams may have subscriptions to Sports Illustrated, that doesn't mean they agree with every opinion it puts out. Same with PFF. I really doubt that Beans trusts PFF more than his own pro scouts. I think the main reason the Bills use PFF is for negotiations when the PFF grade might suggest a lower market price.

I hear you but... we don't have enough draft picks to fill all our needs. And just because we draft a guard, it doesn't mean they'll be any good. There's more certainty in free agent acquisitions who have already proven themselves at the NFL level.

Poyer and Hyde are a perfect example of Aristotle's, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." They played really well together. Both could capably play free or strong safety, allowing them to disguise coverages easily. And they communicated well and instinctively understood each other. I'm afraid that if Poyer leaves, Hyde won't be as good with a different partner.

No offensive linemen???

Given how often Schefter is wrong, does it really matter if he said it or not?

You're right. But who knows, if EJ persevered, he might have ended up in Geno's position. EJ seemed to give up on his NFL career easily. He was signed by the Chiefs in the 2019 offseason to be a backup but retired just a couple months later to work for the ACC Network as an analyst.

I'm with you in prioritizing the offense - particularly the OL. But if they pick the Second Coming of Bruce Smith in the 1st round, I'm leaving my pitchfork in the closet. If Beane thinks he has a shot at a generational talent, he's gotta take his shot regardless of need.

Maybe Beane just doesn't draft guys who are good enough to contribute as rookies.

People said Tony Dungy couldn't win big games, and then he won a Lombardi. People said Andy Reid couldn't win big games, and then he won a Lombardi. People said Sean McDermott couldn't win big games...

I guess we all choose our data points. I'll remember him more like this...

Frazier was a contributor but this was McD's defense. And, schematically, it's not going to change much with Frazier gone. But let's give Frazier credit where credit is due. Frazier executed McD's defense well. From 2017 to 2022, the Bills led D led the league in yards allowed and were top five in a bunch of other categories. I'm not sure we've ever had such a sustained period of excellence before. Frazier was part of that. And, yes, I know there were breakdowns. All teams had breakdowns these past 5 seasons. That's why our stats are better. And, yes, each season ended in disappointment. But all good (i.e. playoff) teams end their seasons in disappointment - save one. And from where I sit, I don't think Beane has yet given McD and Frazier a Super Bowl quality roster. We were never very likely to win it all. Frazier isn't the villain. But he's not the savior either. If the Bills D is much different (either better or worse) this upcoming season, it'll be because the guys suiting up are better or worse.

I'm not sure I completely agree with your between-the-lines interpretation but neither Beane nor McD's is making anything particularly obvious. Ask McD about any player and he'll tell you how well they're doing.

McD: "... but there were also some times when our quarterback got effected a little too early..." Coach-speak, I think, for: the OL sucked and we desperately need to address it.

There's always a blend between BPA and need. For example, even if Beane is a BPA guy, if there's a great QB on the board when we pick, why bother? It would be a waste of a pick. On the other hand, a team needs playmakers. The best way to get playmakers is to not reach for need and instead go BPA. And then fill the rest of your roster with FAs - even if all you can afford are JAGs. I remember hearing a GM talk once - Ron Wolf maybe. He said the goal is to draft All-Pros - one or two each draft. It didn't matter, he said, if your 1st round draft pick was a bust if you found a couple All-Pros in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Every team has JAGs. Championship teams have enough elite players to set them apart. He also said you don't draft to plug roster holes. You draft for All-Pros. That's it.

Chad says he still has 80-83% of his football money. Remarkable if true!

Brandt, formerly VP of the Packers, knows far more about football than I ever will. That said, there's a giant hole in his logic. He says that teams with big-salaried QBs are not challenged to build contending teams. He goes on to explain how rookies on rookie-contracts (more than half the roster) only take up about $30 million of cap space and any money a team doesn't spend in one year is rolled over to the next, and so on. With so much money to spend on a comparative few number of vets, there's plenty of money to build a roster. Here's the problem. A team with a QB on a rookie contract might be spending about $1 million on their starting QB. The Packers, for instance, are spending over $50 million. Teams helmed by youngsters have roughly $40-50 million more to spend on free agents than teams with veteran star QBs. That buys you a lot of talent. It's easy to build up a roster when you have a rookie-contract QB. It's much harder if you don't.

That's just a silly thing to say. They have varying degrees of expertise and there's little doubt some are very knowledgeable. For example, Mike Brown (owner of the Bengals) was the son of the legendary Paul Brown and grew up with football. He was the assistant general manager of the team for 22 years before becoming the owner. Art Rooney II is another guy who's been immersed in football his entire life.

In the 1970's, football was about running backs. The best athletes became RBs. RBs were far more likely to win the Heisman or get picked #1 in the draft than QBs. Offenses were built around great running backs. Defenses - unlike now - were built to stop them. In that bygone golden era, one back stood out like no other, like a man among boys, like a god among men. In the 1973, OJ had 75% more yards than the next best back. Not even Jim Brown did that. Certainly not Emmit Smith, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, or the many other pretenders for the title of RB GOAT. Incidentally, OJ rushing total in 1975 was 46% ahead of the best of his peers. His dominance was insane. Only Jim Brown ever did better, comparatively, than OJ's 2nd best year. I'm not a hockey fan but I get the love for Hasek. But did he ever outperform his peers by 75%? OJ is a horrible, horrible human being, but he was a preternatural football player.