Mango

One thing that always irked me is that Pegula hasn't upgraded the field conditions since buying the team 10 years ago. It isn't just that we have turf, it is also that the turf at the Ralph forking sucks. It was installed in 2011 and was the 29th ranked field in the league in 2015. Absolutely brutal. We have Josh Allen, who has said "I prefer grass". McDermott has said the same thing. And in the 6-7 years they have been here Pegula hasn't made any attempt to upgrade it to grass or even a better synthetic surface. And on the flip side we have the Patriots. Brady said "I prefer grass" and Bob Kraft replaced it during the bye week. https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/09/29/nfl-stadium-turf-grass-rankings

I don't think it is new-age parenting at all. I heard a story the other day of a guy at a stick and puck with his kid. Maybe around 10-12 years old. Dad was riding him hard, yelling at him. Slashed his stick out of his hands a couple times. Eventually tossed his kids stick across the ice. Now sports are great, hockey is awesome, and learning to commit to your team and your craft is an important lesson to be learned. But it is also OK not to ride your kid under some thinly veiled moral superiority. Can these things not be taught to a kid who wants to play volleyball or mock trial? Can't a kid learn the benefits of fandom by rooting for a different team and a different sport? Or do we have to force kids to root for the Bills because....toughness or whatever?

The Bills still use those spinning brooms to clear the field in the snow. They were on the field in some of the pictures during clean up. They toss the rubber everywhere, and it needs to be regraded. My tinfoil hat says that even though the game was delayed the storm ultimately knocked out Bernard, Benford, and Spector due to field conditions.

The first thing I’d address is why it isn’t fun for him anymore. Is it his heartbreak/emotion? Is it your expectations/sadness? Is it the yelling at the TV? Solve this and you likely solve the fandom issue. I remember being a kid and reenacting plays with my dad in the living room. Or being very low single digits and my dad pointing out that Bruce Smith was tough he never wore a shirt no matter how could it was, and at halftime we ran around the snowy backyard in the snow in shorts and a t-shirt. The late 80’s and early 90’s had a lot of success and a lot of heartbreak. A lot like this era and Bills football. There’s ways to make the fandom fun even with the peaks and valleys.

I think the league wanted/needs the Bills to win this playoff matchup to keep the hype high otherwise it risks flaming out for the causal viewer. The Taylor Swift aspect changes something for the league. But in general they’ll want a back and forth at some point.

I like this a lot. But one thing I will add. I think any change to Allen's cap number includes an extension.

Now that a day or two has passed, can we talk about getting Jason Kelce his own permanent box going forward? (Assuming he retires) Is there a more famous Buffalo guy than him. Crushing beers, bowling ball shots, shirtless, helping little kids meet their hero’s.

I’ve been wanting to take a step back from the cap ledge for a few seasons just to give us more flexibility. I disliked Diggs restructure after his schtick to end last season and OTA’s. I thought Von was a huge risk when we signed him and his restructure was bonkers. Of course it made some room to sign other players. But every time we do this we need to make bigger decisions a year or two down the line. It’s certainly a cost v reward that is catching up to us.

The issue is his restructure. It doesn’t give the team any bit of leverage. Without it we could move on this year.

The other thing is we’ve had him say “heal up from the bumps and bruises then work on somethings”. But today he was all about getting right back to work when there are a lot of rumors swirling about an AC joint AND rotator cuff injury to his throwing shoulder. If we can protect him and get a nice rookie piece or two at WR, we could see a huge tear from Josh in 24.

The only way Allen is done in Buffalo is if his arm gives out on him a la Kelly. Granted he has had a couple of injuries to his throwing arm pretty early in his career. But he is not asking for a trade because he hates McD and Co.

This is precisely why I am pro going very conservative in 2024. Any major restructure to clear space is just destroying our cap efficiency. Outside of discontent it is my biggest reason for me advocating moving on from Diggs for the extra $3M pre June 2024 rather than 2025. My one quibble on this is moving on from Knox. It doesn't really provide any relief or any value. I think he could maybe be prime for an extension after 24/25 to lower his cap hit with a lesser value. Dawson will have to decide if he still wants to be apart of this for the future as a secondary TE option on passing downs or does he want to take more money to be a primary elsewhere. I think he stays. EDIT: Speak of the devil. I just found this from Knox after the game.

I like Lamar the QB. What a talent. I am over KC, Mahomes, and Travis Swift.

I think they can get through it this year and basically do whatever they want. But my thing is at what cost? I would rather reset it and move on from hefty vet salaries.

I have been hard on Josh's post season, film, and decision making. But he seemed much different the back end of this year. One notable mention was that he directly said "I am anxious to get back into the lab and start working". Normally we hear "Gonna let the body heal" or "I will take some time to decompress from this" or "We will work on some things this offseason". But this was much more along the lines of "lets get back to work".

What about it 2 years ago? We blew it. Last year we were paper tigers on both sides of the ball. For the most part I was higher on this team at the back end of the year than either of those other two. This one hurt, but this wasn't a "McDermott was protecting his precious defense" game. The defense was a seiv and needed to be kept off the field, Mahomes and co. didn't win by 4 because they took their foot off the gas. They lost by 4 because the Bills kept their possessions to a minimum with long sustained drives. I am confident that Buffalo wins that game fairly easily with a healthy Milano, Bernard, and Douglas.

I would protect the 2025 cap number as much as I possibly can and use 2024 as a mini-reset. Get kids in the building in 2024 that can take a leap in 2025. No need to try and mortgage the future to try and hold this together with elmers glue. The ship can stay afloat without it, and will be a better version for it if they weather the storm.

McDermott or not McDermott, we have no money and we have to get some quality rookies high in the draft this year. Next year the offense will have to ball. That said, for the 2024 playoffs, that defense was a mash unit. We are rolling out with backups/injured players at nearly every back 7 position. And not just backups, guys that were 4/5 on the depth chart at their position. It was brutal.

I think they will have to be. I really believe we have to take a half step back and refuel for a very aggressive 2025. If we time it right we should be able to open another $65M in 2025 cap dollars by moving on from Diggs, Miller, and Tre while an offensive focused draft comes into its second season. But that means we are winning a lot of games because we score a lot of points. The plus side is we should have enough room ($$$) to keep that group together for a very long time, with enough left over to make a couple big signings on the other side of the ball.

Odd to me that all we have is live interviews with Allen and Dawkins at this point.

I think we will get a better idea of his value next year. Floyd had a great year opposite him. He will likely have a lesser partner next year and will have to take a big step. If he makes that step you pay him. If he is still just a guy, then you have a tougher call on his value.

Gabe's value on his rookie contract was great for us. Let him go get an Edmunds contract. He was a good teammate and provided some value to this team. He just proved he wasn't "the guy".

Totally agree. I would protect the 2025 cap space however possible. To me that means either keeping Diggs all year or moving on before June 1. We need one of not two wide receivers, a center, two safeties, and a couple of pass rushers. Clear the deck where we can, load up in the draft, and be aggressive in 2025. EDIT: For reference, the timing of releasing Tre, Von, and Diggs would open up $65M in space for 2025.

I don't think his cap hit is prohibitive in a trade. In that scenario Diggs $18M-ish next year puts him at 15th overall between Ceedee Lamb and Justin Jefferson with the freedom to walk away. I think that would be good value for a team with a young QB and a lot of cap space. If this team wants to move on from Diggs I think they can and even get 'some' return on it if they want.

The delta in keeping Diggs vs cutting/trading Diggs is $3M. That is an important distinction to make. I generally agree here. When you cut a guy, you have to replace him. But Diggs has had the ability to be a distraction. I wouldn't be quick to pull the trigger on this one. But I also don't fall into the "fork no" category either. Both seem to have some cost and some benefit. It all depends on what kind of Stef we get back next year? Do we get this seasons teammate that was a good soldier. Or do we get the Bengals/OTA Stef. If it is the ladder you pull the trigger. If it is the former you ride this out another year.