hondo in seattle

I think the potency of the 2024 Bills depends more on Brady than it does on Diggs' replacement. I don't think this receiving corps is great, but I don't think it's impotent either. Shakir's okay - not elite. Samuel is a multipurpose tool with some speed. Kincaid and Knox are an excellent TE duo. Cook can be a good threat out of the backfield if learns to hang on to the ball. Somewhere I saw a chart that showed that both Davis and Diggs were below average in separation last year. I wondered how much of that was their fault and how much was the fault of the OC (i.e. scheme and play-calling). I think both were to blame. So I'm going to be very interested to what Brady does this year with an offseason to implement his own offense. I expect he'll follow KC's lead. With so many teams playing 2-high against strong-armed QBs (and with Cheetah gone), the Chiefs started throwing more quick-hitting, underneath stuff. I get the impression that Brady is the kind of OC who wants to take what the D gives him. Hopefully, he does a better job scheming guys open than Dorsey did. I still think we need another quality wideout. But as Beane said more than once in his presser, it's not September yet.

At the presser, Beane said, "Certain things need to be kept in-house." That leads me to believe Brooke Kromer (Aaron's daughter) knows what she's talking about when she tweets: "Good riddance. There's always a reason & always a plan." There's some behind-the-scenes drama with Diggs we may never learn about.

"Certain things need to be kept in-house."

I'm hoping Beane already has a deal in place to move up and get a good wideout who we can enjoy on a rookie contract for a while.

I'm surprised by how binary this conversation is. Most folks are either applauding the move or criticizing it. Pro or Con. I'm ambivalent. I don't like the cap ramifications. And I want Josh to have better weapons this year than last, not worse. With both Gabe and Diggs departing - whatever their shortcomings - we've lost a lot of receptions & yards. I'm sure Beane has a plan to replace the lost production with Samuels being part of that plan but we can't see the whole plan yet which makes me wonder how solid it is. On the other hand, Diggs had attitude problems, wasn't much of a deep threat anymore, didn't thrive under Brady, and, given his age, the clock was ticking on his Buffalo career anyway. Neither happy nor sad, I'm just curious. What's Beane going to do with limited resources to get Josh the targets he deserves?

How many have Josh Allen throwing to them?

Weird career trajectory. Played mostly soccer in college. Scored 4 goals in his career. Played some football too but as a kickoff specialist. Obviously has a strong leg. Tried out for the Texans last year but didn't make the cut.

Shaw, you're probably right. Reid probably did become incrementally better with experience. But I stand by my point. I think commentators are too quick to judge that a coach or player can't win the big one just because they haven't yet. An average team has a 3% chance of winning the Super Bowl. A very talented coach or player might elevate the chances to 10% or so. That's it. No matter how talented a coach or player might be, they might not reach the SB. Too many other variables are at play. I thought the Eagles were crazy when they sent Reid packing. No rings - at the time - but the skill was undeniable. I don't think Allen's lack of trophies means anything other than all the necessary conditions haven't fallen in place yet.

Not complicated. Just saying that the narrative that a coach or player can't win the big game just because they haven't yet is wrong-minded. All the conditions have to be right. For coaches, QB is one of the conditions.

I was at Camp Casey in Tong-du-chon (aka Dongducheon), about an hour north of Seoul. I visited Yongsan a few times. It was where the 8th Army was headquartered. In 1988, before credit cards were commonly accepted in Korea, you had to carry cash. One time - long story - I found myself broke in Seoul on a Sunday evening with no way to get back to Camp Casey. So I went to Yongsan, where there was a cashier's booth where I could maybe cash a check, hoping and praying it would be open late on a Sunday. From what I understand, the U.S. garrison that was once there is now gone. I loved serving in Korea and still love Korean food. That was one of the best years of my life. What was it like to live there as a kid?

I think you have to standardize it so you can perfect it. Do thousands of reps at 7 yards: snap, hold, kick... snap, hold, kick...

Andy Reid coached for twenty years before reaching the Super Bowl. The book on him during that stretch was that he was a good regular-season coach but didn't have what it takes to succeed in the playoffs. Now he practically owns the Lombardi. Reid didn't suddenly become a better coach. He's the same coach he was when he supposedly wasn't good enough in the playoffs. Making a playoff off run culminating in a Super Bowl win is hard and the stars need to align: good coaching staff, good roster, good health heading into the playoffs, maybe some luck with calls and bounces... Allen will be the guy who can't win big games until he does. It's not his fault and it's not factual. It's just how sports commentary works.

In the army I hated calling cadence, the call-and-response songs we sing to keep soldiers in step when marching or running. So once when I was stationed in Korea, I learned some Korean cadences from the Korean soldiers serving with us. Korean cadences sound odd and unrhythmic to an American audience. And that's what I sang when the commanding officer called on me to sing cadence. He never called on me again.

If we're going to do anything revolutionary on special teams, let's get rid of our punter, bet on our offense, and never punt the ball. Our scoring would go up. So would our opponent's scoring - we'd just have to outpace them. We could use the extra roster spot on DL - McD loves to rotate there and keep guys fresh.

It's not like we went on a big spending spree. We lost some players Beane probably wanted to retain and signed mostly marginal starters and depth players. The challenges of managing the cap are real. Of course, Beane doesn't publicly telegraph his offseason strategy. But he never said we wouldn't make any moves. He just acknowledged there were limitations to what we could do. Signing a big-name WR, RB, DE, or CB wasn't in the budget.

As a war veteran myself, I have a huge soft spot for those who served, especially those who served and paid the price. I think about Kelso every Memorial Day. He could have gotten a deferment and didn't. Wanted to serve and truly cared about his men. I'm proud he was a Bill. I'm so happy to see he's got a statue. Kalsu is exactly the kind of person that ought to be honored with a statue. I never liked seeing statues dedicated to Confederate, slave-holding traitors. And I'm not happy with some of the people we lionize and valorize these days. As a country, we need the right heroes - selfless, caring, honor and duty-bound guys like Bob Kalsu. Btw, I love BBFL's idea about a special section at Canton for players who served.

Most expensive sports stadiums in the world... 1. SoFi, $5.5 billion 2. Allegiant, $1.9 billion 3. MetLife, $1.7 billion Tied for #4 at $1.5 billion are Wembley, Mercedes Benz, AT&T, and Yankee stadiums. And, of course, the new Bills stadium when complete. Even when you adjust for inflation, the Bills stadium will be in the top twelve or so. I think it's pretty cool that the Bills will have such a nice home in a city that doesn't even rank in the top 100 in the world in population or GDP.

When you have a great QB, you ought to supply him with dynamic weapons (i.e. receivers) and mauling bodyguards (i.e. OL). I'm happy with either.

The average NFL career is 3.3 years. An average NFL player, during his short tenure in the league, will play for 2.4 teams. Roughly 1 in 7 players will sign with Carolina at some point. There are 32 teams each with a 53-man roster. 1,696 players start the season on a 53-man roster. But those rosters change and evolve over the course of the long season. Let's estimate that 2,100 different players are on NFL rosters at some point during a season. Roughly 300 will have Carolina somewhere on their resumes. When Beane goes shopping, there are a lot of ex-Panthers to choose from. Additionally, a vet with more than 3 years of NFL experience will rotate typically rotate through more than 2.4 teams. Williams, for example, has been on 6 professional football rosters including a short stint with the Stampeders. Our old friend, Fitz, played on 9 different teams before hanging up the cleats. The chances of an experienced vet having been at Carolina at some point are fairly good.

That's her uncle. Big fitness guy.

It's bad for players. And it's bad for my family. On Xmas, I'm totally devoted to the wife and kids and whoever else shows up. But if the Bills play, my attention will be divided.

I'm a traditionalist. I don't like rule changes. Except when they promote player safety like this one (hopefully) does.

Sure. But when you tackle, do you think, "This is a hip drop" as opposed to "This is a swivel hip drop"? I understand the risk of injury and the need for a rule. But I also think most defenders are just trying to get the guy down, not trying to hurt anybody. And the NFL rulebook keeps getting longer and more complicated.

Shaw66 is a knowledgeable and respected poster. Calling him Mrs. McDermott isn't respectful. I think as brethren fans who have suffered through a 17-year drought and other trials together, I think we can do better.

When Beane talked about Hyde and didn't rule out re-signing him, my conclusion was that he still wants another safety.