mjt328

At this point, I think our O-Line troubles start with a lack of talent. Our best 3 linemen from the last several years (Eric Wood, Ritchie Incognito and Cordy Glenn) were all lost within a single offseason. Only Glenn has been adequately replaced, and Dion Dawkins was injured/did not play yesterday. Vlad Ducasse and John Miller both struggled horribly at Right Guard last season. This year, both are unquestioned starters. Jordan Mills has been a weak spot for years. This year, he's the most experienced starter. Neither Ryan Groy or Russell Bodine have been able to snatch the starting job, which is always a bad sign. Maybe Castillo will prove to be a poor coach as well, but right now he's working with crap.

So wait a minute... You start this thread, criticizing Brandon Beane for not doing enough to improve the Bills roster. (Keeping in mind, this was Beane's FIRST year handling Free Agency and his FIRST year running the draft. AND ALSO keeping in mind the 2018 season hasn't even started yet). Then when I point out that Beane needs another offseason before we can judge his success, you respond to my post with the following quote: "Turnaround time in the NFL is usually around 3 years."

The players Beane has dumped were released for a variety of reasons. Some were bad scheme fits. Some were not going to fit the salary cap. Some did not display the team-first attitude wanted from this coaching staff. Out of all the players we let go, I can't think of a single one that I would take back (at the cost we traded them for). Ronald Darby was injured and didn't play well for the Eagles last year. Sammy Watkins was a disappointment on the Rams, not re-signed and has been pathetic in preseason action for the Chiefs. Cordy Glenn is hurt again. Tyrod Taylor was not the long-term answer. When considering replacements, you have to understand our limited resources. We only had so much salary cap space. We only had so many draft picks. Did we sign Bodine and Newhouse because they were coveted players by Beane and the staff? Are these guys our long-term answer at those positions? Or were we trying to make the best of our limited dollars, and get by with adequate fill-in players for THIS season? That's where the patience comes in. The 2018 Bills are not a finished product. There are some important draft pieces scattered across the roster (Allen, Dawkins, Jones, White, Edmunds, Phillips) along with some important veteran additions (Benjamin, Lotulelei, Murphy, Hyde, Poyer), all of whom are important towards this rebuilding process. But those guys only make up half of the starting lineup. Next year, the Bills will have the cap space to properly fill the weak spots. They will have another full draft class of picks. Their young prospects will have gotten some badly needed experience. By the middle of next season, we should have a really good idea where this rebuilding project is headed and whether Beane's plan is working out. If his picks are struggling at that point, his Free Agent pickups aren't earning their contracts, and the Bills aren't winning games -- THEN we can start criticizing his decisions.

I really hope the message board isn't going to be flooded with these kinds of posts all season. Fans need to get it in their heads. Brandon Beane didn't come in here to patch some holes and make us a Wild Card team. He came here to completely tear-down what the previous regime did, and construct this roster piece-by-piece into a consistent championship contender. That cannot be done in only 1-2 seasons. (I think many fans have already forgotten that Beane didn't even come to Buffalo until May of last year, after Free Agency and the Draft were already wrapped up.) I agree that roster turnover CAN be quick in the NFL. But a lot of that depends on what pieces are already in place. The cornerstones of Doug Whaley's roster were either players that Beane didn't want (Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby, Marcel Dareus, Reggie Ragland, Cordy Glenn, Tyrod Taylor) or players that have retired this offseason (Eric Wood, Ritchie Incognito). This is a TOTAL rebuild. Our two most important acquisitions this offseason were Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds. The plan is to build the franchise around THESE TWO GUYS for the next decade. Hopefully someday both will become regular Pro Bowlers. But for now, the common trait is that both Allen/Edmunds were considered physical freaks, who were raw and needed LOTS of refinement before reaching their potential. Read the scouting reports before the draft. Neither of these guys were expected to make a tremendous impact as rookies. There will be growing pains, and mistakes. Considering the number of players we decided to part-ways with, the two surprise retirements on the O-Line, our terrible salary cap position, and our desperation to land a franchise-QB --- it was totally unrealistic to expect Beane to fill all of our glaring holes in one offseason. The plan in Free Agency was to be conservative in spending this year, and get the dead-money/bad contracts off the books. Once 2019 hits, the Bills just might have the most cap space in the entire NFL to play around with. And all of our future draft picks. Bottom line. There needs to be an element of patience among the Bills fanbase. - 2018 was all about blowing up the roster and purging the unwanted pieces. - 2019 is about rebuilding the foundation - 2020 will be about filling in those holes If we aren't competing for the AFC East by the end of next year, then we can start criticizing what Beane did right/wrong. Until then, it's way too premature.

1. We didn't have much cap space, so all of our Free Agent signings were bargain-bin castoffs. Specifically Russell Bodine to replace Eric Wood at Center, and Marshall Newhouse to compete with Jordan Mills at Right Tackle. 2. Eric Wood's retirement was unexpected. But at least it happened in January. The Ritchie Incognito retirement was an even bigger shock, and didn't happen until the earl/mid of April. By that point, the team was already wrapping up Free Agency and looking towards the draft. 3. The Bills used their premium Day 1 picks on their two biggest needs. Quarterback and Middle Linebacker. Nobody can fault them for that. 4. Their next picks were used to fill Defensive Tackle, Cornerback and Wide Receiver, which were also massively huge needs. They finally followed that up with O-Line, getting guard Wyatt Teller. By that point, we were already through the 5th Round of the Draft. We only had so many resources.

Nothing... (whether it be analytics, statistics, film study, etc)... can flawlessly predict how a player performs at the next level. The biggest reason? They aren't a finished product yet. Teams didn't miss on Tom Brady because they were stupid. They overlooked him because virtually nothing during his college career suggested he would be more than an NFL backup. His performance on the field was average. His physical attributes were average. His stats were average. Brady just happened to perfect every aspect of his game after reaching the pros - whether it be accuracy, arm strength, pocket presence, release and his ability to read a defense. That doesn't mean analytics have no value. Every piece of information can help a scouting department in evaluating prospects. But they aren't going to be anywhere close to 100% in predicting future success.

Why can't anyone just be patient, and maybe wait for him to play a few seasons? The Chicago Bears were on the clock for about 5 seconds, and half of the NFL "experts" were already preparing articles about how bad the Bills screwed up. By the time Josh Allen was shaking hands with someone other than Roger Goodell, he was already a certified bust. Now he's played approximately 3 quarters of preseason action, and all his critics are saying they were SO WRONG and he's going to be an perennial Pro-Bowler.

Said it before. And I'll say it again. Wide Receiver is the most overrated position in the league. You don't need superstars at WR. You need guys who can get just enough separation... along with fairly reliable hands. Ultimately, our success in the passing game will depend on the starting Quarterback, and how well he plays. Nothing else matters if the QB can't make the correct read, release the ball quick enough and deliver the pass in an accurate fashion.

It's had to take anything from the preseason. At least when it comes to Wins/Losses. The starters and veteran/guys who will play 80-100% of the regular season snaps, will often get 1 quarter in each preseason game. Some will only play a warmup series. Some won't play at all. And you have to wonder if half of those players are even going full-speed. By the time you reach the second half, an extremely large chunk of those guys will never play a real NFL down. And that doesn't even factor in the lack of game-planning by the coaching staff.

The thing that stood out to me was Josh Allen's ability to escape the rush. Even when defenders got hands on him, they couldn't seem to bring him down. It was very similar to what Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton bring to the table. On the night, there were at least 2-3 "wow" throws from Allen. The zip and placement on that touchdown was impressive. I know that people were always impressed with EJ Manuel's physical abilities too, but I don't ever remember being wowed by anything he actually did on the field. Quite a few of Allen's incompletions were the fault of his receivers. Either drops or poorly run routes. Between the sieve of an offensive line, and the awful play of his receivers - you have to wonder how Allen would look with the 1st or 2nd team. I don't think you can fault Allen too much on the 4th down play -- simply because it was 4th down. He was trying to make something happen and there was nothing to lose. Now if he does that on 1st-3rd down, it's another story.

I totally agree, but you need to read my whole post. Is Mack worth a 1st Round Pick? Absolutely. But it's not JUST the 1st Round Pick. It's also the $20 million per year salary that he's looking for, which could easily be used on anywhere from 2-4 additional starting players. When you are in rebuilding mode, I'm not sure you can justify paying one player (outside of the QB) that much. Would you rather have Mack and a bunch of bums? Or would you rather have 4-5 solid starters all over the defense? Teams like New England have proven it's better to have a deep/balanced roster - because it allows more flexibility in game-planning and makes it easier to handle injuries.

Nope. Outside of quarterback, very few players in the NFL are worth that kind of investment - unless you KNOW he is the last piece necessary to make a championship run. And the Bills are nowhere close to that point in their building process. First of all, Khalil Mack would cost us a 1st Round Pick. Bare minimum. And considering all the question marks on our roster, it's quite possible that pick will be Top 10. For most decent GMs, a Top 10 pick should be a slam-dunk starting caliber player. If that wasn't already enough, (assuming we aren't looking for a 1-year rental) I've been reading that it's very possible Mack hits $20 million per year in salary. For a comparison, Star Lotulelei just signed for $10 million per. Jerry Hughes makes $9 million per. Trent Murphy came for about $7 million. Kyle Williams and Micah Hyde make roughly $6 million per. Jordan Poyer is between $3-4 million per. At the end of the day, the cost of trading for Mack would be at least 3 strong NFL starters. Depending on how well we played the free agency game, that money could go even farther. I'm talking 5-6 starting players. When you are building for long-term success, you can't justify that.

The arrogance of some players is unbelievable. Until you are a proven commodity in the NFL (and have become a free agent), you should just be grateful at being in the league. If you want to play for a contender, then help make your team a contender.

OK. Go ahead and argue for those guys. Throwing random names out isn't actually saying anything. There is no way to prove that any of those players were "ruined" by playing too early, or if they would have just busted regardless. Everybody likes to talk about David Carr, but statistically his best seasons were his 3rd, 4th and 5th in the league. If he was ruined by playing too early, you wouldn't expect to see any progression after his first season. But like many NFL quarterbacks, he just peaked at a certain point and never got better.

The Bills were a ridiculously talented team. Anyone that says they "knew" the team was going to lose in the Super Bowl is just being negative. That team was totally capable of beating the Giants, Redskins and the Cowboys. Despite that, I will say that those NFC East teams were a nightmare matchup for our defense. If the 90s Bills had one weakness, it was an undersized front 7. We sometimes struggled with powerful offensive lines and strong/smash-mouth running games. Which happens to be the common denominator with those Super Bowl teams. Our gameplan should have been airing it out, racking up points and trying to force the opponent to give up on the running game. But we tried to play too conservative, and got punched in the teeth. The 90s Bills probably would have matched-up better against the 49ers. Somehow, the 49ers appeared in 6 NFC Championships between 1988-1994, and never faced us once in the Super Bowl.

Lots of people had Josh Allen ranked #1, or right around that spot. Just look in the Top 10: Cleveland allegedly was debating for months between Allen and Baker Mayfield. Like you mentioned, the Giants/Pat Shurmur have said Allen would have been their top choice if they decided to go QB. Many have reported the Cardinals being "heartbroken" on settling for Josh Rosen instead. We know what the Bills thought.

I guess we'll see. I've voiced many of the same accuracy concerns, and was very vocal that I preferred Josh Rosen. At the same time, a very large chunk of NFL Scouts (the guys who get paid to do this) had Josh Allen ranked extremely high. Even the team that actually drafted Rosen reportedly preferred Allen.

If the Bills are without LeSean McCoy, the season is pretty much shot. Losing three of our best offensive linemen, our Pro Bowl running back, installing a new offensive coordinator's system, AND completely starting over at quarterback (possibly starting a rookie). That is way too much to overcome, regardless of how good our defense can be. The only silver lining is that McCoy is 30 years old, and our team can't be counting on him long-term anyway. Even if nothing happens with these accusations, his contract runs through 2019 and then he's a 32-year-old free agent. I think most of us were expecting the Bills to take a step back this season, even anticipating McCoy on the roster. Hopefully we can get Josh Allen some experience, add some strong pieces next offseason and then be ready to compete in 2019.

But where is the evidence this happened? Do you really think the NFL owners called around and told each other - "Hey, let's show that Kaepernick guy and make sure none of us sign him!" There are thousands of other NFL players who kneeled for the anthem and still have jobs. Like I said. In terms of other NFL Quarterbacks, Kaepernick had played himself into a backup role (at best). His decision/actions caused a ruckus across the country, and enraged thousands of fans. Nobody was going to deal with that headache for a guy holding a clipboard. Nobody forced Kaepernick to kneel. Nobody forced Kaepernick to make his statement about "refusing to respect" this country. Those were his own decisions, and he should take the consequences like a man. But instead, he's choosing to play the victim.

Why would that make a difference? I am a salesman, traveling from business to business. For my job, I spend 99% of my job outside of the office. My company still expects me to be on-time every day, gives me a dress code and tells me how to act while representing them. If I don't live up to those standards, they have the right to fire me. When you are employed, your boss makes the rules.

The NFL didn't discipline him. Kaepernick actually opted out of his contract, so that he could become a Free Agent. The league didn't suspend him. The league didn't fine him. Owners just didn't want to sign him. Again. He has nobody to blame but himself. Even Hall of Fame players like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss eventually ran out of interested teams, because they were too big of a distraction/headache to compensate for their talent. Kaepernick brings the baggage, but without the high level of play. Nobody was going to deal with this kind of media frenzy for a backup QB.

Tired of the whole anthem thing. Nobody else in this country has the right to demonstrate/protest on company time. Nobody else in this country could expect to keep their job when they purposely p**s-off a large chunk of the company's customers. Guys like Colin Kaepernick and Malcolm Jenkins don't even realize it. But ridiculous antics like this are one of the primary reasons Donald Trump won the election in the first place, and why he will probably get re-elected in 2020.

It probably depends on which team buckles first, and decides to start their rookie QB. I don't get the impression either coach is in a big hurry.

1. If NFL Owners made the collective decision to only give out "incentive-based" contracts, the Players Union would call for an immediate strike. They would also probably sue the league for unfair labor practices. There is absolutely no way they could get away with it. 2. If individual team owners (let's say the Pegulas) made the decision to only give out "incentive-based" contracts, it would set them at a massive disadvantage in Free Agency. Why would anyone re-sign or sign with the Bills? They could easily get guaranteed money elsewhere. The current system is fair. Both the owners and players make ridiculous amounts of money (compared to the general working public), and the fans are happy enough to keep buying tickets and merchandise. No reason for anyone to complain.

I think most people are ignoring the "depth issues" on the Bills, because they are more concerned with the holes in the starting lineup. Considering the Bills made the playoffs last year (when many thought they would be tanking), I'm certain my opinion will get a lot of backlash. But truthfully, I think the Bills were very lucky (mostly due to weak Wild-Card competition in the AFC). This really wasn't a playoff-caliber roster last season. Now with the unexpected losses of Eric Wood and Ritchie Incognito, the trading of Cordy Glenn, and the high probability we start a rookie QB - it would be totally reasonable to expect us to take a step backwards in the win column in 2018. I think the Beane/McDermott plan is clear. Become a true AFC playoff contender in 2019. Last year was about purging the roster for draft picks, but we got lucky and squeaked into the playoffs. This year is about adding the franchise QB, some key pieces on defense and fully transitioning the mentality of the locker room to McDermott's vision. Next year, the Bills have all their draft picks, tons of cap room and should have Josh Allen ready to lead the team.