WickedGame

If Cooper gets a two-year, $20m/yr-ish deal from the Bills after this season, I consider it a good move for the Bills. Unless someone else on the roster emerges, we need a #1 WR next year. A rookie isn’t gonna be that in year one, and young vet #1 receivers are going for $30m/yr now. Think of Cooper as a bridge top-two receiver that doesn’t break the bank while your early round draft pick of 2024 or 2025 develops into “the guy.”

I mean, you did suggest flying a plane full of people into the ocean…

In half a heartbeat, I got to OJ, Thurman, Fred Jackson, Marshawn, and McCoy as better RBs. And that was without thinking hard. I was too young to see Gilchrist or Cribbs, but they get a leg up, too. So while I like Cook, it’s not even close. Clearly we’re in the doldrums of summer already

Do some research on America’s recent history of airplanes full of people being flown to their deaths by angry men. Or do some research into rural America’s experience with violent, angry young men. May I suggest the memorial museum in Oklahoma City. It paints a far better portrait of what rural communities are capable of at their best than your words do. And a far more terrifying portrait of the consequences of violent-minded, angry individuals. There is no place for calling for violence like you’ve done, no matter how angry you are.

Given his injury history, why would he even need to come back in October? Why not later? If he wants one more shot at a championship, he doesn’t need to be here for the regular season…nor does he need that extended risk.

He can sign late in the year for the Super Bowl run. Don’t need him during the regular season and he doesn’t need to play. Rest up…we’ll see you in January.

Hasn’t played a snap yet and he’s the best Hardy or Harty we’ve ever had. Daequan > Deonte > James

Brandon Aiyuk, here we come?

He also had a cap hit that’s $7m/year higher, and he’ll be 30 years old in June. I’ll concede I’m not an expert on the compensation, but I imagine it won’t come cheap to get the Bears to part with their #1 receiver from a year ago — a guy who had 950 more yards than their next closest WR.

We don’t have a 3rd.

My long-shot prediction: Bills trade for DJ Moore. Cost is pick #28 and a mix of later/future picks. Maybe a player (Spencer Brown?) Bills get a proven WR to replace Diggs at a modest $16M cap number for the next two years. Maybe they extend him two years, since he just turned 27 last week. The Bills avoid a roll of the dice on a receiver at 28. They also potentially keep their #2 pick in the deal. If Brown is part of the package they get an RT in the second to compete with Lael Collins. Then we get a WR in the 4th and everything else is depth. The Bears, who have only a few picks, stockpile picks and use #28 to nab the 5th or 6th best WR to be their new #2 WR alongside Odunze or Nabers. Brown would also fill a need for them. They end up with two cost-controlled receivers on 5-year rookie deals to go with their cost-controlled QB, freeing them up for big swings in free agency in 2025. Feasible?

Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State - Cardinals Rome Odunze, Washington - Bills Ladd McConkey, Georgia - Panthers Brian Thomas Jr., LSU - Bengals Xavier Worthy Texas- Chiefs Bonus Bills pick - Odunze

I hate when people say this. It’s reductive. There’s a massive difference between paying big money to a 30-year-old Stefon Diggs who underperformed and paying big money to a 26-year-old Aiyuk who has improved every year and is easily in his prime. I’m not saying the $25m-$30m/year would be easy to swallow, but let’s not pretend Diggs’ salary and value is an apples-to-apples comparison with Aiyuk at a similar salary. Nobody wants a car payment after you’ve just finished paying off your car, but I’d rather have a new Maserati than a used Mercedes.

I’d trade this year’s #2, #4, and a #6 for him. It’ll take more than just a 2nd rounder for SF to part ways…they just witnessed what Diggs traded for, and they know whoever trades for Aiyuk is doing a long-term deal and getting years of production out of him. Then I can package my #1 with whatever I need to from this year’s remaining picks or next year’s picks to move up a few spots (if needed) for another WR. That gives me two studs for the next few years after I extend Aiyuk (structure it so the cap hit starts next year). Whatever picks I have left this year give me depth, and next year I still have capital to get an Edge or whatever else becomes our top need.

Would you say it’s better to have a big Johnson or to get the Clapp?