Mango

I agree with this. Taking all the names and specific player story lines out of it, the Bills waste a lot of top 100 picks. Like a lot of them. I don't hate moving on from Basham. I hate that we are moving on from another top 100 pick for what seems like the 100th time. The bill has yet to come due on Josh Allen ($18M in 2023/12th overall), and we are pushed tight against the cap with huge holes at OL, LB/LB depth, and WR. I posit its because we keep missing in the top 100 and keep redrafting the same positions over and over so we spend in FA at all sorts of position groups that don't really pan out when compared to pay grade. The FO needs to get much better at this or it will eventually catch up with this team. I suspect that time is coming fairly soon as the bill for Josh and Diggs starts to get bigger and bigger

That information has to be Terry. Kim was not named president of the Sabres until after Russ Brandon left in 2018. It has been reported that Terry was going around the president to scheme ideas. It was reported that Terry was regularly meeting with Regier and going around Ted Black. He was asked about it and was quoted as something along the lines of "Ted Black does not have a monopoly on hockey IQ". One would think that if it happened again in the next regime (it did), that it was the same guy doing the same thing, that he all but admitted to just a few months prior. Kim had/has her own issues, but by and large from 2018 on the organization found some more stability. Kruger and Co. were a terrible mistake, but we course corrected fairly quickly and also pulled the rip chord on Eichel. I was highly critical of all things Adams, but right now the team is in a good spot. I credit KP with a lot of that stability.

Pegula bought the team in February of 2011. Their last playoff appearance was April of 2011. Pat Lafontaine was hired November 13, 2013. He quite March 1, 2014. He worked for the Sabres for something like 75 days. I want Pegula to keep the team. I want the team to stay. But he has been a really bad owner. Maybe the worst owner the NHL has ever seen. The Sabres current drought is nearly 2x the next longest. Super nice guy, but the Sabres org has been notoriously toxic/dysfunctional since the day he came in. This in no way, shape, or form has anything to do with the date or the hiring/resignation of Lafontaine. It started before that, and it continues after it. Terry has always been really bad at this. I am hoping that without Kim as the buffer as President Terry can stay the hell away from what they are building. I am a fan of the current hockey staff and roster.

Not to derail. But I agree with you on the giant PR issue. I do think Hamlin flashed last year. Jaquan Johnson was absolutely embarrassed last year. Hamlin seemed to at least flash. Johnson felt like a liability every single snap.

Somebody on Sabrespace noted that Terry didn't attend the RJ Behind the Mic night. On one hand you want to be salty. On the other hand they have a lot going on at home. You almost root for the saltiness of it all because the opposite side of the coin means maybe Kim isn't doing great. Something nobody wants to hear.

It would be nice for the Pegula's to keep it all in the family. I think Jessica and Laura are very handicapable and responsible adults. I will be a little salty if he bought the team with the idea of "if I want more money I will dig another well" speech only to meddle for a decade and ruin the whole thing (until recently) only to sell it off.

In hindsight everybody might have been better securing the Sabres here as well with a combined deal for both renovations/new-builds.

Lets not forget the infamous "Maintain lifestyle" (paraphrasing) slide that they presented to the entire company. That may be a totally worthy thing to talk about behind closed doors. But what a major gaffe to show company wide. I really like where the Sabres are heading. Terry has been a terrible hockey owner, but I hope he sticks around to see this current iteration of the team through.

It is insane that the one person to point this out goes by the name "White Linen".

Josh is one of the best QB's in the league. His OL should be better. But sometimes he makes life difficult by holding the ball a little too long. All of these things can be true at the same time.

No never. Not even close. You may never make that money back ever. If you really are good enough to ensure you can make it back, then you are good enough to enter the league as a junior.

And all she gives you is a hand.

Man. This has to be a TBD record. 7 pages and 80% of responses didn’t read the article. Some of you willfully won’t. Wild.

I think the solution in the Ralph is to put Bills Mafia in zubaz colored print directly under the black 12th man. They can share the same tile on the wall.

Kincaid will fill in the slot alright.

At the risk of derailing this thread, I don’t expect Hailee Steinfeld to spend much if any time in WNY. +1 in the Britt Will column. She could have spent her time anywhere and she tried to make Buffalo a second home. I always appreciate it when spouses/players do that.

Surprisingly this thread has devolved into every other Kim Pegula thread. Random poster: Odd situation, as the head of a billion dollar corporation they have a duty to tell us something. Other poster: They owe us nothing, and I absolutely loath your curiosity on the issue. I darn you to an eternity in heck! Ultimately, I think the truth of this whole thing is in the middle. The whole thing seems be handled a bit oddly by the Pegula's. But they are entitled to make themselves as private as they'd like. So I get that. Because of human nature I am also curious and do hope for more information at some point. I think we can meet in the middle in a space where this whole thing is a little odd, respect the Pegula's/Kim, and also have some curiosity without all the "demanding" of information or the "vilification" of anybody who has any curiosity about the situation.

At the risk of getting flamed, I think a big part of the reason we lack RAC is Josh is late to throw a lot and the defense has reacted and/or he get his receivers while they are flat footed. EDIT: Josh has gotten better at a lot of things as he has progressed through his career, but I think this is his biggest short coming these days. Based on his comments this offseason on "Needing to learn to win from the pocket", I think this is likely at the top of his list as well.

I don’t think so, if only for the fact that we have a million guys to play inside and just Gabe/Stef on the outside. There’s a log jam there, it’s how we lost Hodgins.

On your first point, meh. If Norwood hooks it left. If Allen had Andy Reid. If there was PI called. Ultimately when the book closes those things didn’t happen and the results are the results. There is no trophy for “what ifs”. Ultimately Payton didn’t get the job done. On your second point, the soap opera is part of the fun in sports I totally agree. Finding Sean Payton a total ash hat is part of the fun of the league. I think he’s a blow hard. The league is more fun with guys to hate and guys to love. So keep it coming Sean, I want to keep chastising you on the internet in my spare time!

Payton isn’t a talking head, he’s leading an NFL team of grown men. There’s no real need for him to have all the answers on why Hackett was hired. It’s not in his job description to dive into that question. Especially not publicly. It does no good other than to inflate his own ego. Officially rooting against the Broncos. What an ash clown.

So weird to just go after Hackett and the Jets. Like, who cares dude. Sometimes in sport you get these “guru’s” who get by on convincing everybody why their the smartest guy in the room rather than just being the smartest guy in the room. In my experience I know a lot of coaches like this who do exceptional on the junior level, but fall short at the Olympics. Being great at that level requires full focus on you being great rather than putting down others to create a pseudo-talent gap. Not surprising this is who Payton is after falling short with such a prolific passer for so long.

Interceptions, off target, drops, and tips. 2 to Diggs in 2 days I believe. But it sounds like all things Davis, Knox, and Kincade are going well with some splashes from Shakir and Sherfield.

He’ll need a new deal relatively soon. He’s basically been playing on a rookie cap hit. This year he only counts $18M. But the next 4 or 5 range from $45-$55M which is amongst the highest cap hits in the league. The bill is coming due. Well have to extend to help spread money out.

I don’t love AAV for QB contract ranking. I much prefer cap hit on a yearly basis. Allen averages out to 9th, but he comes with $45-$56M cap numbers for the next 4 or 5 years. Allen has barely touched his deal in terms of cost. He’s only $18M this year which is a steal. But he also comfortably goes to the 5th and then 2nd highest cap hit in the entire league for the duration of his contract. The Allen deal isn’t bad. But he’s a top 3 QB who will carry a top 3 cap hit. It’s just fair value not wizardry.