akm0404

Why don't you show us on the doll where Tom Brady touched you?

It wasn't a mistake. People are spouting histrionics because they are so deeply hurt by the Patriots that they just assume this is some next level deception by Belichick to make them sad inside. Nobody has been able to address this simple question: If Doug Whaley committed such a grievous, fireable offense in criminally undervaluing Mike Gillislee to the extent that every team could just snatch him up for the "essentially free" price of a 5th round draft choice, why did literally ZERO other teams than the Patriots submit an offer sheet? If MG was worth SO MUCH MORE than a 5th round pick, would not all of the other teams that have actual competent GMs swoop in and collect their freebie? Whaley probably sucks and the Bills are historically terrible, but they turned a scrap heap mid-season free agent that again ZERO other teams wanted into a 5th round pick. It makes the Whaley haters look bad to seize on this when there are tons of other legitimate examples of dubious decision making.

We either make our 6-carries-per-game backup running back the 10th highest cap hit on our team or turn an out-of-the-league street free agent into a 5th round pick. This is a nothing decision. Don't be blinded by your admiration for the Patriots. You literally could not trade the guy with the contract he's going to have for a 7th round pick. No other team aside from the Patriots put in an offer sheet. 30 of the 31 teams said no thank you. Let's make it 31 out of 32.

All teams lose good players to free agency. You only remember your favorites leaving because of that collection of sadness jerseys in your closet.

Count me in the camp that thinks being smart is a huge asset for a quarterback. Granted, IQ tests like these aren't the only (or perhaps even the best) measure of intelligence, but all things being equal I'd sure rather have my quarterback be as sharp as a tack and able to quickly process a lot of conflicting information. Doesn't mean a dummy can't be very good, but given the complexity of the modern NFL, smarter quarterbacks = more flexible, creative play calling and a small bit of extra upside through being able to execute in specific niche situations.

I for one am pretty excited about my favorite football team parlaying a scrap heap mid-season free agent signing into an extra draft pick today.

My read of this schedule is pretty favorable. We avoid many of the elite NFL teams, and games against some of the middling (read: our contenders for wild card prospects) are at home. Seems an impossible task to win fewer than 5 or 6 games, so we might as well try to win amirite?! My ranking of most difficult games: 1. @NE Week 16 2. @ATL Week 4 3. Vs. NE Week 13 4. @KC Week 12 All in all, I'd say the NFC South and AFC West are pretty favorable. AFC West is generally wide open and while all the teams are solid, there aren't any guaranteed losses. NFC South has Atlanta (who can be inconsistent year-over-year) and the Panthers, Bucs, and Saints which were pretty not great last year. Top end: 10-6 Bottom end: 5-11 Go Bills!

Riddick was always going to be in a timeshare with a clear role (all passing down work, all hurry up) injury or not. Not entirely sure Ameer Abdullah's role and stature in that offense is remotely comparable to McCoy's in ours. Edit: In all games Riddick played (including two he was injured in), he averaged >50% more carries than Gillislee. Edit 2: And, he averaged more than 5 catches in each of those games as well.

And to address those that say, "All we needed was to spend an extra $900k on that second round tender!", despite no teams really ever doing this. $900k alone gets you the next season of each of these running backs: Tevin Coleman Jerrick McKinnon David Johnson James White Matt Jones Rob Kelley Jay Ajayi Thomas Rawls Paul Perkins Jordan Howard And I can already hear you saying, "But these guys are on super team-friendly rookie contracts!" All the more reason to build talent through the draft, right? A 5th round pick sure might help turn some bloated backup contracts into sweet upside laden rookie deals, no?

To challenge the assertion that most teams are paying their back-up running backs $3-4m per year, the facts indicate otherwise. According to spotrac.com, only two teams in the NFL have two running backs with cap hits of $3m or more. Both of these teams employ nearly a 50/50 timeshare. Eagles - Sproles/Matthews Jets - Forte/Powell My research indicates that no team is paying a running back with a 20% or less carry share anywhere near $4m.

People that suggest tendering your 6-carry-per-game backup running back at the 2nd round level just do not understand restricted free agency. No big deal, some people get it, some people don't. These same people are shouting from the rooftops that Whaley should be fired for criminally undervaluing MG, but are conveniently ignoring the fact that for the first 6+ weeks of free agency, no other team agreed with the Patriots that he was worth the 5th rounder. I'm just not sure how it can be completely obvious that Whaley blundered when 31 of the 32 NFL teams have tacitly agreed that MG is NOT worth a $7m 2-year deal and a 5th round draft pick. If the Bills match this offer sheet, they are conceding a 5th round draft pick to pay their backup running back the 12th highest salary on the team. On a team that already has the second highest paid running back in the NFL. I know it is the Patriots and they make us really sad, and I know we really felt super excited when MG punched in a touchdown last year, but I'd suggest that making decisions based on how they make you feel isn't the best way to turn the franchise around.

Ya'll have to take this with a grain of salt. This is only a thing because most folks here have had their feelings hurt by the Patriots so much for so long. If any other team stroked out and gave you a 5th rounder for some street free agent backup, you'd be jumping for joy. But because it is the big bad Patriots, and because they've so deeply hurt you for so long, you just can't help but assume this is some next-level maneuver by Lord Belichick to sneak into your house and kick your dog.

Also agree. I'm hoping deep down that we're opting into being a run-first team sort of because we have to, and not because we think that's the most effective way to win in the NFL. I'd personally rather be the #1 passing offense in the NFL and have the #18 rushing offense, but obviously that isn't in the cards right now. I'd like it to be though, one of these days.

I don't necessarily disagree. That is more of a salary cap allocation question (how much cap% do you want to allocate to each position group), and it definitely is an interesting discussion. Most would say that paying McCoy what we do isn't a great idea, but I think that if you are, you need to sort of accept that you're going to have to be a bit more frugal with the reserves. The real sticking point on this decision is less about the AAV for me, and more about the combination of the cost of the deal in terms of the cap AND giving up a 5th round draft pick. That makes it a fairly clear pass in my mind. It's obviously somewhat close (hence this strong debate), though there was only 1 interested party out of 30 that was willing to exchange the 5th for MG at that price.

Riddick was essentially the starter in Detroit, leading the team in attempts and yards despite injury. Powell was the most similar to our scenario, but he had 32% of his teams attempts vs. 20% for Gillislee. Burkhead's salary is based on being part of perhaps a 4-headed Patriots rushing attack. Sproles/Matthews more of a timeshare as well, with 34% Matthews, 22% Sproles. $4m would still be a hefty price to pay for a 20% share backup RB, especially in light of McCoy's MUCH higher salary than any of the other "starters" on those listed teams.

Do you think there are no conclusions to be drawn from the fact that the Bills got identical performance from two different players in the same situation over the course of two very similar seasons? Calling this conflation is a bit of a stretch, imo.

Follow along here. If the Bills match the Patriots offer sheet today, they have Mike Gillislee under team control for 2 years, costing $4m this year. If the Bills do not, they do not have to pay him, and receive a 5th round draft pick. Ergo, the cost of signing him is a 2-year $6.xm deal and NOT getting a 5th round pick. The Bills can either have him at the terms off the offer sheet, OR the draft pick. If this isn't trading MG for a 5th round pick, I honestly don't know what is.

The Bills are currently 21st in available cap space, with approximately $10m less cap space than the average team. To suggest that we have tons of free space so we can somehow afford to overpay a backup running back is dubious at best.

Say what? Matching the Patriots offer sheet EXACTLY costs the Bills a 5th round draft pick, and EXACTLY makes him the 10th highest paid player on the team (in terms of 2017-2018 salary cap cost).

No doubt, and I liked both Karlos and Mike. However, these guys' situations were not very similar to MG/KW (backing up McCoy, number of carries, etc.). Reggie Bush - 12 attempts for -3 yards. Jonathan Williams - 27 attempts for 94 yards. Boom Herron - 11 attempts for 37 yards. Boobie Dixon - 105 attempts for 432 yards (pre-McCoy). Cierre Wood - 2 attempts for 3 yards. The fact is, the Bills had two journeyman type guys backing up McCoy for the last two years who essentially put up identical numbers. Trading a 5th round pick for Mike Gillislee and making him the 10th highest paid player on your team is bad football. Plain and simple.

Things that make you go hmmmm..... Karlos Williams - 93 attempts for 517 yards (5.6 avg.) and 7 TD, 11 receptions for 96 yards and 2 TD. 613 total yards and 9 total touchdowns. Mike Gillislee - 101 attempts for 577 yards (5.7 avg.) and 8 TD, 9 receptions for 50 yards and 1 TD. 627 total yards and 9 total touchdowns. Karlos Williams - a guy who can barely find a home on an NFL roster. Mike Gillislee - a guy who couldn't find a home on an NFL roster. Is it maybe, just maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe possible that you don't need top tier talent to be a productive backup running back in Buffalo?

Let's make our 6 carry-per-game backup running back the 10th highest paid player (by 2017-2018 cap hit) on the team, AND trade a 5th round draft pick to keep him. An off-the-scrap-heap mid-season free agent signing who had been out of the league the previous year that nobody else wanted. You want to make him your 10th highest paid player and give up a 5th round draft pick for him. I'd love to have him on the roster, but it would be literally INSANE to match this offer. THAT is what bad teams do. Zero other teams through 6 weeks of RFA submitted an offer sheet for him, yet Doug Whaley was criminally inept and MUST BE FIRED for selecting such an exploitable, obviously bad tender. Despite the fact that none of the other 30 teams agreed that it was the steal of the century. But it's the Patriots, you say. Quit being the scared little zero self confidence kid brother that worships big bad New England. They luckboxed the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL for the last 15 years. Surprise surprise, they've been the best team in the NFL for the last 15 years. Before that? Garbage franchise. Their godlike walk-on-water always-outfoxes-our-dumb-Bills coach was garbage before that. They'll be garbage again afterwards. R-E-L-A-X.

You missed my question, sir. If tendering MG at a Round 2 value was such a no brainer that any competent GM would do, why did no other team put in an offer sheet for him over the past 6 weeks?

MG hits RFA on March 9. 6 weeks later, nobody has made an offer. CRIMINALLY UNDERVALUED!

Then why didn't all of the other teams jump at the chance to steal him away for peanuts?