Kirby Jackson

If Keon is the guy that he’s looked like in camp, he’s about to take a step. I went Tuesday. He and Tre were the best players on the field IMO. I’ll hold off on the gold jacket until games start but he looked good. He’s limited but that’s okay. If he can catch slants and go, he can be effective. That’s pretty much all Michael Thomas did and he had a great career.

I’m going no matter what. I’ll have a 2 month old at the time so it’ll be tough. 😬😬 I’ve said from the start of this run, “if, and when, they next get to a Super Bowl, I’ll be there.” I was a kid the last time so this is the chance. Every Super Bowl that they go to between now, and when I’m in the ground, I’ll be there. The thought of the confetti raining down, and being anywhere else, would be something that I could never forgive. I’ll party that night in the city and head back the next day to continue the celebration and get ready for the parade. Twice, I’ve lived in the city, and watched from the city, of the eventual champs. It was a cool experience ESPECIALLY in New Orleans. We walked right to Bourbon Street and partied through the night. It was the most euphoric environment that I’ve ever experienced. That would be fun here too but not compare to being there. Feeling that energy is so much different. All of my friends that were there call it the best day of their lives (outside of their kids being born). This one is an easy decision for me. It costs what it costs and worry about it later.

I’d take some convincing on Benford. He feels elite and in an elite deal at an important position.

👀👀👀

My thoughts exactly. You’ve add a really hard time adding top end talent outside of Josh. It looks like Cook will be the only other guy in the NFL top 100 at 89 (unless Dawkins makes the top 51). Dawkins is the only guy with a Madden rating over 90. Lamar has 8 such teammates. Both McLaurin and Parsons are inside the top 52 players in the NFL and have ratings over 94 (98 for Parsons). Yes, I know games aren’t won with Madden ratings or the NFL Top 100 list. It is a pretty clear indication though that the top of the Bills roster comes in well behind other good teams. Players 2-5 on the Bills are probably worse than 2-5 on almost all NFL teams. They’re amazing 6-53 (and beyond really). If the Bills pulled off either of these moves, that guy would immediately become the 2nd best player on the Bills and play one of the next 2 most important positions in football after QB. It’s a no brainer for any team but especially a team like the Bills stuck on the doorstep.

The Cowboys don’t want Parsons now?

I’m all for it. I don’t care what it costs. This Bills NEED more elite talent. Josh Allen has one teammate rated over 90 in Madden. Lamar has 8. The Bills will have, MAYBE 2 other guys in the NFL top 100 (maybe just Cook). You win with stars. You have 1. Don’t worry about the cap in the future. Yes, it can be done. It isn’t easy but can be done. Go all in. Get Parsons (or McLaurin if not) if either of them is going to be moved.

So if they scored again, then it would have been plenty (assuming that the Chiefs didn’t score again). The Bills finished with 29 so it wasn’t enough because the Chiefs scored 30. The Chiefs have given up 29+ 8 (or 9 not going back through) other times in that span. Instead of adding a hypothetical TD, it has happened 12 times in that span. It basically happens twice a year. It’s not some all-time thing. We keep loading up on defense. They need to get better. No one is arguing that. There are countless threads on here talking about the investment in terms of dollars and top 3 round picks on defense vs. offense. It’s disproportionate to the rest of the league. It’s way different than the other top QBs. We could MAYBE beat KC by getting one more stop. We could ALSO beat KC by getting one more score. EITHER of those would work. I’m simply suggesting that they should try to give Josh Allen 1 more elite player instead of giving Sean McDermott’s defense one more elite player. I have more confidence in Josh getting it done in the clutch vs. Sean McDermott.

That’s a pretty lazy way to have a discussion. Those were your words, not mine. The Bills have thrown TONS of resources in terms of draft picks and money at the defense in this regime. The results have been pretty much exactly the same. They can’t stop KC in the big moments. I don’t want to keep trying the same thing and hoping for different results. I want to turbocharge Josh so that they end up with “plenty” of points. I think building around Josh Allen is a better strategy than trying to have him cover for lesser guys. I don’t think the sky is falling. I do, firmly believe, that WR is one of the worst 2 position groups on the team with S. Do you agree or disagree with that point? If you disagree, which groups are worse? If you agree, do you agree that he would be the best receiver on the Bills tomorrow (that’s rhetorical)? Do you also agree, that he will almost certainly be more impactful over the next 3 years than a WR picked at 28 or later? Instead of throwing a jab and running, go ahead and answer those very specific questions.

We didn’t score plenty of points because we lost. You never score “plenty” of points in a loss.

Nobody “wants” to pay a guy significantly more than he’s making if they don’t have to. Washington is now at the point that they have to. He will be at $30M plus, in Washington, within the next week.

Brilliant post 👏🏼👏🏼

Understood. I guess the way I am looking at it, is that the 2026 WR class isn’t very good. 2027 is too far off. Even if you get one in 2026, what are the odds that you get McLaurin-level production early? 5%? 10%? He had 1100 yards and 13 TDs. I don’t care about picks or cost, if I get 2 extra years of a guy, that’s definitely a number 1, vs. one I hope becomes a number 1 in 2 or 3 years. This is the Bills best Super Bowl chance (maybe) ever. They are literally the betting favorite in all 17 games. If you were to add McLaurin, even if it cost you your late 1st, you win no less than 12 or 13 games and potentially all of them. You’re probably looking at homefield throughout. I wouldn be firing all of my bullets now.

I guess where I differ from some here is that I don’t really care about a guy “growing with Josh for years to come.” Josh probably has 7 or 8 good years left. If you could give him the 1st 1/2 of that window with a bonafide, number 1 WR, I’d do it yesterday. I don’t need a guy that might become good in 2028. The Bills are favorites in all 17 games this year. Do anything, and everything, to win now. Tomorrow isn’t promised. We need to stop thinking about it in the context of the Bills. Now is the time.

I mean, McLaurin is 30 and you’re probably looking at him for 4 years. Von was 33 when they signed him with a long injury history. There are comparisons but the Von signing isn’t one of them. The Diggs trade is WAY more applicable here. FWIW, he was a 2-time captain at Ohio State. He was the leader of that offense in a lot of ways. He was highly, highly respected.

That’s why this situation will work itself out. It just makes too much sense for them. I bet they have the contract worked out before their first preseason game.

I think that this is fair but there are some differences. I believe McLaurin is a little better player. He’s also WAY more of a fit culturally. I think that I agree with the age part. I don’t think Washington has any interest in trading McLaurin either. The Seahawks have JSN as their new number 1. Washington doesn’t have that guy and are a Super Bowl contender. No Super Bowl contender is going to trade a top 10 WR to make fat Deebo their number 1.

I think that the agents are often (or usually) the ones to surface it. That adds pressure to the team. No one thinks that Metcalf deserves $33M and $22M for McLaurin (or whatever). By floating that, the agent gets support from the public and it forces the front office’s hand. He doesn’t really want to be traded (Hendrickson either). They just use that as further leverage. If NFL contracts were guaranteed you wouldn’t see these disputes. You don’t see it in MLB, NBA or NHL (anywhere near as often).

It wasn’t a problem until it was (kind of like the defense). Their offense was bottled up vs. the Ravens at 4.6 yards per play. Turnovers saved them. They were outgained 5.8 yards per play to 5.5 yards per play vs. the Chiefs. You aren’t trading for McLaurin to beat the Jags 54-10 instead of 47-10. You’re trading for him to get over the hump in the playoffs. Giving Josh more weapons is more important than anything. He’s the reason you’ll win, not adding rotational defensive linemen.

He’s making a fraction of his market value. The same goes for Hendrickson. I left my job in June because I thought I was making about 80% of my market value. McLaurin is making maybe 65% of his. We need to stop pretending “quality of team” is a lead factor on a player’s decision making in 2025. It is A factor but nowhere near as big of a factor as guaranteed money and total contract. People long for yesteryear when guys wanted to play for a winner. Sure a guy may play for a winner for $1M instead of a loser for $1.1M but when you’re talking about $22M vs. $33M that’s WAY more of a factor. Can we all agree to not begrudge guys for wanting to make market value? That’s what every single one of us does. I’m not getting my hopes up but if I’m Beane, I already have an offer on the table (with room to add more if a trade is possible). It would be the old Mario Williams “don’t let him leave the building” approach. I just don’t think that he’s going anywhere.

My thought is like $33M but they can make it work pretty easily as Greg illustrated. If they made that move, an undefeated season and Super Bowl is on the table. They’d be ridiculous.

Teams don’t really have “main strengths” anymore. There is too much data and development. There are some exceptions like Navy Football but, for the most part, teams need to be diverse in 2025. The level of data, scouting and prep, compared to the 1970’s (or whatever), is probably a 1000% increase (or more). You can’t be predictable, or one-dimensional, and win. I think that the Eagles have an elite rushing game. I think that the Bengals defense was abysmal. If the Eagles ran, at a rate similar to Navy, against the Bengals, the Bengals stop them pretty easily.

The Moss thing really bothered me because they used the 74th pick the year prior on a RB (who was fine and actually better). It didn’t make sense at the time and makes less sense in hindsight. I cringed but remembered that the Panthers used 1sts in 2006 AND 2008 on RBs. Not sure why you wouldn’t just add a late round guy or cheap FA as the 2nd guy?