DefenseWins

Tanking is certainly not "pointless". We are talking about the Bills ability to draft the "face of their franchise" for anywhere between the next 15-20 yrs. Just look at the longetivity of the top QB's currently in the NFL. QB's can play well into their late 30's and early 40's. If "tanking" results in a 3 win season in 2017 vs a 7 win season so what. 7-9 gets you nothing but a worse draft position. You are not making the playoffs without reaching 10 wins in most seasons. Who the Bills are able to draft in 2018 will have a tremendous effect on McD's coaching career. Those who subscribe to the belief that TT is NOT the answer at QB should embrace the idea of trading TT now and suffering for 1 year knowing that the future will be a hell of a lot brighter afterwards. Yes that assumes that Beane and McD are as good at their jobs as we are being told. If they are not then we are F$cked anyway.

I agree that nobody gives the Bills a 1st round pick for Shady. Maybe not even a 2nd. But even a 3rd might be fair. He is not getting any younger and eventually he will slow down. And it could also depend on what HE wants. If he feels that he didn't "sign on for a rebuild" then the smart move might be to move him now before he becomes a cancer in the locker room. If he is willing to stay then that changes the picture abit. We have to trust what Beane does on this issue.

TT is a "good player"? That certainly has NOT been proven to date. I don't believe that is true. In fact, I'm not so sure that this team wouldn't win more games this season with Peterman at QB than with TT at QB.Nor am I sure that the Bills could get a 2nd for TT at this point either. (I'd take a 2nd though.) One thing I am sure about is wanting the Bills to draft the best young QB they can get in next years draft. I think if you take a poll of fans that would be the majority decision.

I don't know why anyone would say that Bills fans wouldn't accept a one year "tank". We've been accepting crap for 17 years now. What's one more year with the thought that we will finally invest high draft picks to get the best possible young QB for the future?

I think that there are several factors though that must be considered... Watkins case was unique because you had a player that has had multiple injuries during the short period of time that he has been on the team and was up for a rather sizeable increase in pay. (15mill/season or more) Where Shady is concerned, he may be questioning "I didn't sign on here to do a rebuild." Do the Bills want a potentially hostile player situation on their hands when they could get something useful (maybe a 2nd rd pick) in return for him now? I have no idea how he actually feels but that is a consideration in any decision they make. Kyle Williams will most likely retire after this season. Allegedly McD had to talk him into returning for this season. McD and Beane could well decide that by trading TT now they would at least get something back in return that they would not have if they go 6-10 and end up cutting him after the season anyway. These are all different situations that are arising and will play into any decision to tank or not. If they end up drafting a QB next year the Beane and McD will almost certainly get to year 4 before Pegula would consider ditching them. After not making the playoffs all these years, I'd rather go all in and do whatever it takes to get the best young QB that they can get.

I wanna see more of this kid... Let's not get too giddy just yet... But I like what I am seeing... Goodbye Yates...

People have to accept that Watkins is gone and is not coming back... Time to move on...

Not necessary... But not too far off the truth either... People all too often see what They want to see...

Wait until the injuries hit before you start projecting an improved season... At this point they haven't been hit very hard at all... That can change in a hurry though... Glenn is already a concern... If he is out any serious length of time, things could get ugly pretty quickly... The thought of Dawkins playing LT and Mills RT should be a sobering thought... And running QBs tend to be more injury prone than drop back passers... At least when Tannehill went down Miami had a solid backup plan to turn to. (Cutler) The Bills won't have that. Peterman is a rookie and will need time to develop. You can't expect him to seriously lead this team to victory if he is pressed into service for any serious length of time. He won't be playing against 3rd stringers if that comes to pass. What if Shady goes down for any length of time and then Jonathan Williams gets nicked up? There is a serious lack of depth on this team. Optimism is fine but you need to be realistic as well. Zay Jones for instance may be a promising young WR but he is also a rookie. Most WRs dont become really good until their 3rd season. Does anyone not remember that Eric Moulds for example sucked his first 2 seasons before blossoming in his 3rd year? Let's just sit back and watch this team develop. (that goes for coaches, front office and players)

4-5 wins

Peterman has this entire season to impress the Bills coaching staff and GM... Don't forget that Kirk Cousins was drafted in the 4th rd of the 2012 NFL draft behind Robert Griffin III... Was that a "wasted pick" too? You need two competent QBs in this day and age... Let's not draw too many inferences off of one pre-season game where he looked better than Yates while playing with and against other 2nd and 3rd stringers... Having two good young QB's on your roster is certainly NOT a bad thing... When Dalton went down the Bengals had McCarron to step in and hold down the fort... I shouldn't have to remind my fellow Bills fans considering that Reich stepped in when Kelly was injured and led the miracle comeback against Houston... Bottom line right now is you keep stockpiling draft picks for 2018 and watch Peterman's development and work habits as the season goes along... Also, keep in mind that when the regular season starts the opposing defenses will be playing much more stringent and exotic defenses as opposed to bland pre-season defenses...

Jerry Rice by a country mile...

I'd actually prefer Mahomes/Matthews/Gaines myself....

Sounds like a great idea... Trading Shady to Washington... TANK!

I previously said the Bills would win 6 games... Make that 4 wins... TANK! If you are gonna do it - DO IT RIGHT! Is Shady or TT next? Love all the draft picks AND the $$$ savings from not having to pay Watkins... Good Moves!

There is also rt 5 to Milestrip Rd to Southwestern Blvd... Weve had great success with this route over the years...

Amen to all this...

So you don't think that Marrone, who saw EJ everyday in practice couldn't simply have decided that EJ wasn't gonna cut it?

WHERE did I even mention those two idiots? But lets face facts here our HC has no prior head coaching experience. He may talk a good game but let's see him win a few games before we annoint him as the second coming of Marv Levy. And the same holds true for our rookie GM and front office staff. Let's see what they do with next years draft before we start shouting their praises. And I'll go on record now as forecasting a 6 win season for this team...

and if the rookie HC only wins 4-5 games this year and ends up being fired 2-3 yrs down the road are you still gonna feel the same way? Can't we just agree to sit back and see what the "kid" has? Actually this same idea should apply to most of this team... How will this yrs #1 draft pick perform/pan out? We shall see. I, like ALL Bills fans, want to see this team progress and start to win ball games.. We can all agree on that - can't we? But clearly we are in a classic rebuild here. Teams hate to use that word because it makes it tougher to sell tickets for one thing. But we have to be honest with ourselves here....

You have a rookie HC who has no previous HC experience period. Brand new stafff. Rookie GM and totally brand new front office staff. THAT ALONE IS A REBUILD.... And the rest of the things I mentioned only add to it. Oh, BTW I forgot to mention our supposed brand new rookie RT (presumed)... We have no idea how these pieces are all going to fit together... Will TT be the QB next year? That seems to be up in the air at this point too... Same goes for Watkins really... Kyle will need to be replaced which will create another opening in the near-future. OH AND DID I MENTION THAT THE TEAM WENT 7-9 LAST YEAR!!!

Funny... I see a rookie HC, GM, brand new Front Office crew.... A 7th yr QB who hasn't shown that he can get the job done... A 7mil/yr TE with knee problems... A #1 WR who can't stay healthy but is gonna want to be paid HUGE $$ after this season... Kyle Williams who will prob retire after this season... Darby who clearly regressed last season... basically 2 new Def rookies (Lawson & Ragland)... Eric Wood who isn't getting any younger and who has basically been so-so to this point in his careeer... I think REBUILDING sounds just about right.... An awful lot of question marks here...

This is the real reason Maclin signed with the Ravens: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/06/12/jeremy-maclin-gets-free-crab-cakes-for-life/

So you (if you were Barnidge) would rather play with TT vs Joe Flacco? under a rookie HC McDermott vs John Harbough? Especially with recent hip injury that may end the career of TE Dennis Pitta? Not if I was Barnidge...

If you were Barnidge why would you wanna come to Buffalo? Why not hope to sign with say Baltimore where there is at least a chance of catching on with a possible playoff bound team? even if the dollars were less in Baltimore. Baltimore could really use a TE assuming Barnidge is healthy and would lower his price abit (whatever his price may be)