mjt328

Brandon Beane made his plan very clear. The main reason he purged the salary cap were for: 1. Freedom in pursuing guys they like in Free Agency (not necessarily going on a spending spree) 2. Being able to re-sign their own drafted talent down the road This front office still plans on building the roster through the draft. One of the keys to not getting screwed in Free Agency is in how you structure the contract. For all the complaints about us "overpaying" for Star Lotulelei, we can actually get out of the last two years very easily. We could technically cut Trent Murphy right now and not suffer much cap hit at all.

Running Back is a young man's position. Any team signing a 27-year-old RB to a monster contract is bound to regret it. Especially one who was willing to sit-out an entire season over getting slightly low-balled (in his eyes) on an extension. Hopefully Le'Veon Bell goes to a team who also really needs O-Line. Then we can outbid them for the guys we want.

Bills fans have been through a lot over the last two decades. They are skeptical, pessimistic and easily frustrated. Around the league, we have a reputation as one of the NFL's bottom-dwellers. Each year, we are written-off and expected to suck by almost everyone. When judging my team and making expectations for an upcoming, I try to separate my emotional feelings. I want to base my thoughts on reality. I don't want to get too over-hyped based on what I hope they do. But I also don't want to become too negative, just because I'm afraid of them disappointing and letting me down. With that said -- Even if the Bills were not my favorite team, there are signs that we are moving in the right direction. No front office is going to be perfect. No coaching staff is going to be perfect. Anyone with realistic expectations knew this was going to be a rebuild project. And the reasoning for our lopsided losses, sloppy play, penalties, etc. can generally be attributed to areas of the team where this regime hasn't been able to properly address the position. Where this regime has been able to dedicate Day 1-2 draft picks and free agent contracts, we are looking pretty good.

Disagree completely. Two years ago, Brandon Beane took over as General Manager and immediately began trading players for picks. The majority of people covering the NFL (and a large group of our own fans) said the Bills were tanking and expected them to be competing for the #1 Pick in the draft. Instead, this team ended up winning 9 games and making the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Last year, Beane completed the tear-down. We went into the season knowing our rookie QB would probably be starting a good chunk of games. The same people once again claimed the Bills would be the NFL's worst franchise, and expected us to compete for the #1 Pick in the draft. Instead, this team ended up winning 6 games and was a Charles Clay drop from winning 7, against one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL. So if this team consistently wins 4-5 more games than expected.... then either Sean McDermott is a WAY better coach than anyone gives him credit for, or this team is better than anyone gives it credit for. They are certainly not overrated. Beane, McDermott and everyone in the Bills organization EXPECTS Josh Allen to take a big step forward this season. There is no backup plan for Allen failing to progress. This year will be about surrounding him with better blocking, better weapons, and watching him take-off. We were exactly .500 (5-5) in the games Allen started and finished as a rookie, with one of the worst supporting casts in the league. With Clay making that catch, we are 6-4. Now if we can give him some help, and he improves just a little bit as a passer... is it totally unrealistic to win 9,10 or 11 games? Considering that New England won the AFC East with 11 wins last season... that would by definition, make us a contender in 2019.

Last year's offense didn't use the Tight Ends very much in the passing game. Maybe that would change under Brian Daboll if we gave him a better TE to use. I don't know. If we are going to utilize his skills, then I'm OK with taking a top TE prospect in the late first round. But TE is just not a position that should go in the Top 10, unless he's a can't-miss "next Tony Gonzalez" player who is fantastic at both blocking and receiving.

Ryan Kalil retired. When it comes to Center, the Bills only have two good options in Free Agency: - Matt Paradis - Mitch Morse After that, you only have a handful of guys with any real starting experience in the NFL. And I wouldn't consider any of those guys (Matt Skura, Spencer Pulley, etc.) to be upgrades from Russell Bodine or Ryan Groy. If you don't get Paradis and you don't get Morse (and believe me, there will be a very big market for both), then your only choice is looking to the draft. There are some decent 2nd-3rd Round options like Elgton Jenkins, Garrett Bradbury, Erick McCoy and Michael Jordan. But I never like going into the draft with a desperate need at any position. That's probably why Beane jumped on getting Spencer Long. Because if we strike out on all of the above, Long was probably the next best option.

I agree about Nick Foles. The problem is... before the Flacco trade, the draft placement for Denver was perfect for us. If you are looking for a trade-down, the best place to be is 1-2 spots before a team that needs a Quarterback. Miami and Washington no longer have the incentive to move into the Top 10, unless Denver can still convince everyone they will still be taking a QB at #10.

Brandon Beane did a great job getting a high 3rd Round Pick for Tyrod Taylor. Absolutely no doubt about it. However... the salary cap must be taken into account when talking about trades. Teams aren't just trading for a player. They are also trading for his contract. I've defended Beane trading away Marcel Dareus for a 7th Round pick. Regardless of how much Dareus' fell play off, it certainly wasn't to the level of a 7th Round Pick. Unless you factor in the contract we were shedding.

It's too early to judge 2018. But either way, it's really irrelevant to the point I was making. They did kill the 2017 and 2016 drafts, which has allowed them to overcome the "salary cap hell" they were faced with. For instance - They decided to trade away Brandin Cooks, knowing they would be unable to re-sign him in Free Agency the next season. But they never missed Cooks at all, thanks to them landing Michael Thomas in the second round the same year.

The Saints successfully maneuvered out of "cap hell" through excellent drafting. In fact, you may not find a better drafting team over the past few years. Teams with salary cap problems have trouble re-signing talent, adding free agents and may be forced to cut players under contract. The Saints have been forced to do this. You just don't notice the players they are losing, because they are easily replacing them with draft picks.

I guess the possible Free Agents can be looked at as a positive. But it's definitely a negative for anyone hoping for a trade-down, or for more non-QB talent to drop in the draft. The QB needy teams now stand as: #6 - New York Giants #7 - Jacksonville Jaguars #13 - Miami Dolphins #15 - Washington Redskins Out best bet was for either the Dolphins or Redskins to make a move to get ahead of Denver (drafting at #10). It's still possible that Washington tries to move ahead of Miami. But now they have other teams like Denver, Cincinnati and Green Bay to negotiate with, which drives down the price we can ask.

Free Agency hasn't started. The Draft hasn't started. Beane literally signed the ONLY offensive lineman with starting experience available in February. And people are freaking out like the front office is done adding players and ready to move into training camp. Besides. The best veteran signings are always the ones that fly under the radar. Remember all the criticism after we signed Jordan Poyer? One of the priority moves of this regime was to sign a safety from a 1-15 team with a terrible secondary.

Going into the offseason, we needed (at the very least) starters at Center, Right Guard and Right Tackle. That's assuming Wyatt Teller progresses in his second season, and Dion Dawkins proves his sophomore slump was a fluke. And if the starters are bad, what does that say about our depth? To bring in a guy with 4-5 years of starting experience at multiple positions, at a reasonable contract, more than a month before Free Agency even starts - you really can't hate on this move. At the very least, he's depth and competition. Maybe a center. Maybe a guard. I've said it before. Even if we are VERY aggressive in Free Agency, there are no guarantees we get the guys we target. The market for O-Line this year is not great. And we don't have enough draft picks to address every position we need an upgrade in. It's good to have a solid backup ready just in case we strikeout getting the guys we really want.

Love this.

I agree with this. In retrospect, Brandon Beane's decision to trade AJ McCarron was clearly a mistake. He has readily admitted as much. If people want to criticize him, that's fine. But don't forget that MANY were calling for McCarron to get cut outright, and calling Beane a genius after the 4th preseason game for getting a draft pick in return. Personally, I would rather judge Beane by his entire body of work after some time on the job, rather than nitpick every little move he makes. On a side note, I really find the Nathan Peterman situation puzzling. What is it about the guy that inspired such confidence in both the coaching staff AND the front office. Heck, after the preseason - lots of fans were optimistic that he would start the whole season and bring us back to the playoffs. Think about all the decisions made by the Bills over the last 2 seasons, because of their unwavering confidence in Peterman. There is absolutely no way these things happen if Peterman looks anything in practice like he does in games.

C - Matt Paradis $5 RT - Ju'Wuan James $3 LT - Trent Brown $3 DT - Sheldon Richardson $3 TE - Maxx Williams $1 Move Dion Dawkins to LG and Wyatt Teller to RG. Trade down in the draft to get an additional 1st or 2nd Round Pick. My targeted positions in the first three rounds (4 picks): WR, RB, TE and DE In this scenario, I think Sheldon Richardson is a good deal and would fit better at replacing Kyle Williams.

Has Bobby Johnson stated what kind of blocking scheme we will be running? He was with the Colts last year. From what I've read, the Colts ran a mix of power and zone concepts. Since we are giving our O-Line a total overhaul, I think Johnson would have the freedom to adjust to whatever talent he is given. In terms of Mike Iupati, I think the Bills should definitely take a look. The guard market is very thin in both free agency and the draft. When the guy plays, he's really good. If he manages to stay healthy, you may get a huge steal.

Sure. You are always going to find examples of Day 3 picks (and even undrafted free agents) who become good/great starters. But if we are truly planning to compete for the AFC East next year, then we can't go into the season relying on rookies drafted 4th Round or later. In my opinion, that's not truly "addressing" a position. It's crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

It's hard to say what our best move is, until we see: A) What we land in Free Agency B) Who is on the board at #9 By my count, the Bills need serious upgrades at Center, Guard, Tackle, Wide Receiver and Tight End. Even if we re-sign Jordan Phillips, we still don't really have a 3-Tech Defensive Tackle. And even if you are in denial that Shady has lost a step, it certainly can't hurt to add another Running Back. That gives us seven glaring problems in the starting lineup, which need to be addressed if we truly want to compete for the playoffs/division in 2019. Personally, I think everyone picked on Day 3 of the draft is a long-shot to make an impact (at least during their rookie season). Which means (barring a trade-down), we can only really expect to address three of those seven holes on draft day. The rest need to be filled with free agents. Considering how much cap space we have, I think landing a half-dozen starting caliber free agents is certainly doable. But we aren't the only team competing for those guys, and some of the positions we need (WR and OG for instance) are very thin with guys that could truly be considered upgrades. If we strikeout in free agency, then Beane may have no choice than to move down for more Day 1-2 picks.

If employed properly, a good gameplan trumps everything. Even talent. The problem is, most coaches in the NFL are average. No creativity. No innovation. No forward thinking. They usually branch off from a coaching tree (like Andy Reid or Bill Parcells) that started running a particular scheme and style decades ago, and has been passed down for years and years. If they have right players and pieces, it works. If they don't, they fail, get fired and become another retread bouncing from team to team. Sean McVay is a small notch ahead of the pack, because he actually built a successful offensive scheme (as opposed to just copying someone else). But on Sunday, he proved that his ability to prepare for an opponent and make adjustments is just as poor as everyone else. Belichick figured out how to stop his bread-and-butter, and McVay looked like a deer in the headlights for 4 quarters. I would say that Belichick just gave the NFL a blueprint for stopping the Rams offense next year. But honestly, how many coaches are going to study what New England did and use it? My guess is that most of the Rams opponents next year will just try playing the scheme they play every week.

Bill Belichick is light-years ahead of every other coach in the NFL when it comes to preparation and strategy. The other coaches aren't even in the same league. It's pathetic and (as someone who hates the Patriots) ridiculously frustrating to watch. Belichick is literally the ONLY coach in the NFL willing to change his scheme weekly, in order to adjust to his opponent. It's been this way for 15-20 years. He knows what other teams do best, and he builds his gameplan around stopping it. Meanwhile, his opponent comes into the game expecting to have success just running the same scheme he does EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Then the coach looks completely flabbergasted when New England is (shock!) running a different defense than what he saw in the film room. Then he looks totally surprised when the soft-zone coverage scheme has somehow failed to stop Tom Brady. I don't know if other coaches just aren't smart enough to make weekly adjustments? Are they too lazy to put in same amount of work as Belichick? Or are they just too arrogant to think New England's mid-level talent will be unable to slow them down?

Do the rating numbers just take into account total viewership, or can it be affected by people turning the game off somewhere in the middle? If viewership started high and then there was a large drop-off in the second half, then I think we could probably assume the low score played a significant role. But if the Super Bowl had low ratings from the very beginning, then the cause would have to be something else. Did people not like the matchup? Are they tired of seeing the Patriots? What about the non-football fans? Was there less interest in the halftime show, or the commercials?

Well. The chances of making the Super Bowl increase dramatically when you win your division and get a bye in the playoffs. It's not just about beating bad teams 5-6 times per year. It's about the other franchises in the AFC East being virtually incapable of winning 10+ games, and actually competing for the division title. Since Tom Brady came around, neither the Bills, Jets or Dolphins have managed to land a Top 15 franchise QB (not counting Sam Darnold and Josh Allen yet). The closest we have come was Drew Bledsoe, who played good for half a season and regressed. The closest the Jets came was getting Brett Favre during his last pathetic pre-retirement year. The closest the Dolphins came was Chad Pennington. Now, name one other division (AFC or NFC) where only ONE team has managed to land a franchise QB for 15-20 years.

Troy Brown Deion Branch Wes Welker Danny Amendola Over the last 20 years, these guys have had equal/greater success in the EXACT same role that we see Julian Edelman play. None of these guys has been remotely good outside of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots system. Most of the time, Edelman finds himself matched up against a linebacker in the slot, or totally uncovered for the first 5-6 yards of his route. His limited skills are a perfect fit for the New England offense, and how Brady has always preferred to attack the defense. Put him on literally any other team, and he would be lucky to have HALF of the production he's got now.

For an offensive genius (who was reportedly the model that every coach-hiring team wanted to follow this offseason), it was absolutely astounding how poor Sean McVay did at adjusting to what the defense was throwing at them. No. Jared Goff didn't play well. But the pressure on him was non-stop, and every time he threw the ball (at least from my vantage point), the receivers were blanketed. This was just another case of a team going against Bill Belichick with FAR superior talent, but losing the chess match on the sidelines. Belichick had a plan to shut down the misdirection plays that worked so well for the Rams during the season. And when those plays weren't working, McVay had nothing to counter with.