Kirby Jackson

I’m sure that they hear rumblings but nothing beyond what most of us hear. It’s more, “yeah, the Bills are definitely interested.” That’s kind of obvious though. The Bills will be in on this. The question is, “will they pay the price needed if the Raiders convert the salary to a bonus?” That will require more compensation. How I’m interpreting that is, “the Bills will be in this until it ends. They may not be able to get the deal done at a compensation level that works.”

Not me and I like Baker. There are a couple of reasons that WR is a much bigger need imo. First, WR is WAY more impactful than S. You don’t need to look any further than contracts and where the position gets drafted to see that. WR/LT/Pass rush come after QB. Secondly, the Bills 2 best safeties may not be playing yet. Edwards has played on winning teams and is a playmaker. Bishop is absolutely their most talented safety. They may be able to upgrade there by just playing different people. We will start to see it this week with Bishop.

I can’t imagine that he thinks this group is good enough. He (wrongly) hoped to strike lightning in a bottle with former high picks that failed in the NFL (Claypool, Isabella, Hamler, and to a lesser degree Samuel). He probably hoped one of them (plus Samuel) “broke out” with Brady and Allen. The reality is that bad players with more opportunity are still bad players. Anyone who thought that this group “quietly got better” was hoping, not logically looking at the situation. This is one of the worst WR rooms in the NFL. It is no surprise that they’re not good. Beane can’t be surprised. I’m shocked that he left this draft, with the 8th or 9th WR picked, after trading down twice. That shows me that he was a little too bullish on the lightning in a bottle approach. If he traded up for Brian Thomas Jr., how much better would we be feeling about this group? You’d say, “we have a guy that has shown flashes of stardom.” They took the ultimate boom or bust prospect in Coleman and so far, he’s looked as expected (great body control, competitive with the ball in the air, no separation whatsoever). The Bills, imo, didn’t have the luxury of a project for this group. That group from a few years ago that you referenced could have take ln a shot on a project. The Bills needed productive day 1 because they didn’t have enough other talent in the room. Now we are left with this group. Kincaid and Shakir can be really good pieces. Neither has proven that they can be the guy. That’s not a knock. That’s what we should have expected when looking at the alphas around the league. If you add an Adams to this group, now you’ve got something. It pushes everyone down a slot into their more natural fit. You can play him opposite Coleman (end the Mack Hollins nonsense) and have Shakir inside. You can continue using Samuel as a chess piece but you need to use him correctly. It’s been so predictable so far. Throw him a couple of screens, a few slants and 4 or 5 carries and he will help the offense. I don’t think that he’s surprised though that he needs a number 1 receiving option. I think that he hoped for lightning in a bottle but expected this. In weather, a “watch” is more likely than an “advisory.” A tornado advisory means “there might be one.” A tornado watch means “we are expecting one.” At least that’s my perception of it.

It was going to go to one of the 2 guys draped all over Mack Hollins.

I mean none of this is surprising. The Bills are bad at WR. They have one of the worst groups in the league. A guy who probably goes to the HOF hits the market. They’re interested and reached out to gauge the cost. In other news, water is wet.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, their window is only a couple of years. If you manage to hold them off this year, they may never catch you. The Jets should push for Adams because this year is their best chance, and will be, with Rodgers age/contract.

Makes sense if the price is right

You do realize he’s likely heading to Canton. I’m not sure why we are assuming that “better” should be used here. 😂😂

I don’t disagree. It was intended to be a hard cap as opposed the how the NBA or MLB handle it. Like anything, they found a work around. In theory, there will come a point where some team is so strapped they can’t field a team. It just doesn’t seem like that is a reality.

That’s not how the cap works though. The cap is 48% of the league’s revenue. Teams can obviously afford to be way north of that because they have so much cash coming in. They spend $255.5M on the players and the rest is used elsewhere. Teams just structure and restructure over and over, paying the money out of pocket now and moving the cap hit into the future. With the consistent climbing of the cap, it makes sense. The cap is up $30M per team this year. At some point, maybe it slows but there is NO reason to worry about the cap when you have a contender. If you have an owner willing to stroke the check, you keep kicking the can down the road. You worry about the cap when you aren’t going to be competitive. If I’m the Bills, I just push off cap concerns until Josh is gone. We pay more out of pocket now to ensure the best possible lineup. We take our medicine when he is gone. This is what the Saints philosophy started out as with Brees but it has just continued.

This is why the Bills are (potentially) an option

Don’t you think that there’s a correlation of more targets meaning that you’re open more often? Last week, we saw a stat that Josh was throwing to his first read, a league low, 55 or 56% of the time? Isn’t a decent portion of that attributed to the 1st read not getting open? There’s a reason that the league leaders in targets are also the best receivers in the league. They get the ball thrown to them because they’re open. I think arguing anything that “definitely would have happened under different circumstances” is beyond flawed. We have facts and things that we believe might have happened in a different situation. The facts outweigh what might have happened in a different situation.

Yep and OTAs are like 3 days a week 4 times a year or something. These dudes don’t care about where they are (except for the taxes).

From my time in sports, location is the most overrated aspect. That’s something that fans think about way more than players (especially in football). You live in that city for 1/2 of the year. If the money is right, he will play with Allen in a second.

I wouldn’t give up the 1st but would give up 1 of the 2’s. If Metcalf were available I’d give a 1 because of the age.

He may cause problems. That’s absolutely true. He may come to Buffalo and be a dominant, all-pro. That’s also true. Is the juice worth the squeeze? For me, it’s a no brainer. The Bills WRs are bad and Adams has been one of the best WRs in football for a decade. He’s not perfect (attitude concerns, contract concerns, age concerns). At the same time, he gets off the plane and is the Bills biggest threat in the passing game by 5000 miles. I prefer other options, but the fear of him being difficult is a minor concern, not a major one. The Bills are bad at that position and he has been elite at that position.

I think that holds true to a degree. When your QB is your best player and biggest star, you can check that ego. Brady and Moss, electric. Allen and Diggs, great. Mahomes and Tyreek, fantastic. Rodgers and Adams, amazing. The Bills are one of the few teams that can check that ego. If he goes to Pittsburgh, for example, it could be ugly (although Tomlin masterfully navigated that lunatic Antonio Brown).

That doesn’t answer the question. If they could make the money work, would you rather they employ Mack Hollins or Davante Adams? Door number 3 wasn’t a part of the question. Fair enough and we slightly disagree as to whether or not they are contenders. Before the year, I thought somewhere between 9-7 and 12-5 and a likely division title. I lean towards the higher end now. What I didn’t expect to happen was for so many “good teams” to be as flawed as they are. The top teams in 2024, at this point, are not at the level of the top teams of the last bunch of years. I think that the Bills have an opportunity because no one is dominant.

I don’t think that this is the move for them either. I am challenging the notion that they’d be better off without him because of his personality. That’s nonsense. They absolutely need an injection of talent and he’s elite talent. They should be on the phone seeing what this, or other moves, might look like. Despite what we were led to believe on this message board, they did not “quietly get better.”

For this question, let’s assume that they can work the money out. If the Raiders eat salary it’s doable. I just don’t want the excuse to be “we can’t afford him.” Let’s assume that they can make it work. Would you rather have Adams or Hollins on this team?

He asked for a trade. There are certainly other teams in play. Don’t get hung up on the “asking price” though. He may go for less than that. I think they get a 2nd to eat salary and a 3rd if not. They might require a 1st from KC. Washington makes sense. The Jets make sense. The Chiefs make sense. The Ravens make sense. The Bills make sense. There are others too but I don’t think any of them make a ton of sense.

You can ask for whatever you want but that doesn’t mean they’ll get it. That feels like the price.

Field Yates tweeted that the Raiders can eat a portion of the salary like the Leonard Williams deal. If that’s the case, the Bills obviously pay a premium. A 2nd probably gets it done.

He does play a different role. I’m suggesting that Hollins “role” kind of goes away. Coleman can handle some blocking and they can play 12. Let Johnson run his routes and use Samuel as a “chess piece.” Get him touches.