fergie's ire

I wouldn't mind CB or OL depth.

Yeah, I posted something similar in another thread. I think we're seeing big hints about what the offense will be and it's really exciting. Side note: At the end of the year we exposed the Patriots defense and showed speed was their kryptonite. They were soooooo slow, and I haven't seen them do much to address the problem. Now we just got faster and the Dolphins are putting together an olympic 4x100 relay team. Could be rough sledding for New England.

Anybody else excited to see what our new OC offers? It seems there has been an effort to evolve the offense with a lot of moving pieces. They tried to get McKissic and that didn't work out so now they have Cook. The re-signed McKenzie and signed an athletic TE. I foresee lots of shifts and options. They could line up in a 2TE run heavy set....and then shift Howard and Cook out wide and go empty....but still run the ball with a sweep to McKenzie or that fake to McKenzie with Josh keeping it. Or pass the ball, having spread out the defense and threatening the edges, run Knox down the seem. There's a lot they can do to make this offense really fun.

DANG. I went to bed early. Did we draft Tom Hagen? He's not a wartime consigliere.

Yes and no. They may be a different breed, but these days in the NFL the thinking seems to be that you don't sign running backs to a second contract. You use them for three to five years and chuck them out for a new one. Running backs are disposable....franchise QBs, not so much.

OHHH, slide DOWN. Took me a minute to get that. Thought you were saying they would be sliding in coverage to protect against him running....which is actually something they already do. I forgot who it was but I saw a breakdown of what Josh's running does for his game. A) He seems to throw better after he gets hit, but B) He can also manipulate LBs and safeties with his threat to run to open throwing lanes. While I agree that they might want to scale back the Josh runs I think an important part of his game is running enough to make it a threat. Sweet moogly googly...a swole Rousseau? He must be enormous.

By an estimated 20 mil next year...and that estimate may be conservative. This year is the post-Covid, pre-new TV Contract, bottleneck year.

It does seem that coaches and teammates see more in Edmonds than most fans do (though that could be coach-speak). But I think the big issue is his contract. 13 million is a lot to pay for a one year rental and for that amount teams would want an impact player (like an edge). Not sure teams would give up a 2nd or even a 3rd in this scenario.

They drafted some guy from the Mountain West?!! What were they thinking.

When reading comments on the Diggs signing I was thinking about how every big extension the Bills sign lately seems to generate the same comment "a fair deal." Whether it's Snowman, Allen, Diggs while these are not "team friendly" in the way that Brady would sign team friendly deals they are "team realistic." They are in the market value but probably less than the player could get in the open market. It takes cooperation and realism on the part of players/agents and on the GM. Players don't have an inflated sense of their own value (a la Le'veon Bell) and the team isn't trying to low ball the player. However, I keep waiting for this run to end...for a player who "needs to be respected" by being paid the most at his position for example. Wondering if it will be Poyer or Edmonds as they seem like likely candidates particularly based on Poyer's wife's posts.

I could see them picking up a solid but unspectacular vet MLB and then drafting someone athletic with upside in 2nd or 3rd...so they have a guy they can trust but also a guy they can hope will be great. However, not sure how much they get for Edmonds since he is on his 5th year option. He's expensive and only a one year rental. It's the same problem that Browns have with Baker. Even if some GMs think he is much better than last year showed, it's just too costly to rent him. I wonder what Edmonds and agent are looking for? If we could sign him as a middle of the road level linebacker, which I think is fair, not only would it be more affordable for us but would make him more tradeable....but he and agent may see him as a pro bowl linebacker and thus want top money which wouldn't be worth it.

Yeah the "He sucked and then suddenly was good" read comes from lazy journalists and casual fans. Yes, there were HUGE problems with Josh's game in the first year. He could not hit a swing pass to save his life, could not put any air under the ball, and he was slow reading defenses. (Though he didn't say it, he too was seeing ghosts against the Patriots.) However, anyone who watched could see the promise with plays like the 75 yard pass to Foster against the Jags. (Still one of Allen's most amazing plays.) Second year, he could throw the swing pass and put some air on the ball, at least with intermediate passes. Reading defense was better but still struggled at times. Inconsistency was the biggest issue and panicking and trying to make the big play. As someone (don't remember who) described him, Josh could have a lineman hanging off him, be on his back foot and throw the ball 40 years on the line and hit a receiver on the numbers....then on the next play lateral ball to the mascot. 2nd half of 3rd year and 4th year really see Josh dissecting offenses (reading, misdirecting, etc.) better ability to loft even a deep ball and some amazing touch (like against 49ers or the ball he was "throwing away" to Knox). It is a trajectory that anyone should have seen as possible (though not certain) from day one.

Whether Beane lied pretty much depends on how you define "pretty much."

And it's another area where he has learned. I remember in his early days he would do this thing where he would hold the ball way out to show the defense like "LOOK. HERE"S THE BALL. I'M HANDING IT OFF!! And then pull it back in. But it would screw up the timing, and because he held it out, the defense could also see him pulling it back. It fooled nobody. He's so much better now and that is a great play.

Mike Ryan of the Le Batard Show has always been a very vocal Browns fan. However, he has announced that he is done with them and is a fan free agent. Might be fun to recruit him. Maybe he has a charity we could support?

Just something that sounds overly picky, but I think gets misunderstood with our justice system. Needs to be proven beyond a REASONABLE doubt rather than a shadow of a doubt. It's a lower burden of proof. Doesn't mean there can't be any doubt just no more than a "reasonable" person would hold. Also, indictments are tricky. It often comes down to whether the DA really wants an indictment. Hence the adage about being able to indict a ham sandwich. It probably means the DA didn't think they would be able to get a conviction. Again, a picky but important distinction.

I think it's also important to remember where the Bills were when they signed him. I remember articles about how no free agents wanted to come to Buffalo (very different from today). Other than getting a QB, Beane's priority seemed to be to stabilize the line on both side of the ball (very smart) even if he had to over pay to do so. I remember another GM being furious about how much we paid Nsehke in free agency. Yes, we did overpay but stabilizing the lines helped make us competitive again and then built on that to the point we are now where players want to come here and we are a SB favorite. Like Nsehke I think that A) Lotulelei was good but not great B) was a position where we needed someone solid C) We overpaid to get him to come here. So, though an overpay I think it was a really smart signing and I can't argue with the team results.

Not his forte.

I just checked in an hour ago and there was a lot of moaning about holes we needed to fill like a dominant edge rusher and TE 2. What, did something happen while I was away?

They do, indeed.

High school teammate of one Eric Wood.

It's sad that what I consider Josh's two best "game winning" drives came in games he didn't win. The Hail Murray game and this one would have been legendary late drives...if not for those endings.

I don't see an Achilles in the list. Maybe you are confusing Achilles (back of ankle) with ACL (knee)? https://www.draftsharks.com/fantasy/injury-history/adrian-peterson/2460

Tell that to Bill Belichick: https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/8/31/22648576/new-england-patriots-initial-53-man-roster-after-cutdown-day Assuming he gets cut, Carson Wentz? Aaron Donald? Maybe their backup plan is to go after reclamation projects.

Actor. And really only gets gigs in commercials.