fergie's ire

Oweh is a physical freak, which McBeane seems to like...but drafting a pass rush specialist who had zero sacks this year scares me.

True...it is kind of nice. However, I will say that now the pre-season SUCKS. It was so exciting to look for every report...but especially Astro's...to read about every throw that each QB made to see if maybe one of them would be THE ONE. But now....pretty mundane.

Yes...and particularly once the new salary cap kicks in. Now is the perfect time to sign him...under the current cap. Then his contract will be more affordable once that new cap kicks in....and when teams can afford more, QB salaries will skyrocket.

Young, athletic, shows tremendous promise makes GREAT plays occasionally...but also sometimes seems lost. From a small school and needs time to develop. Sounds like Josh Allen, doesn't it? But it could also apply to Darryl Johnson, so don't sleep on him. He needs to put it all together the way Josh did, but I think there is great potential with him.

My suspicion is that they didn't want to. All the talk last spring around the collective bargaining agreement was that the NFL was pressuring to get it done so they could sign new TV contracts. My guess is that they had the deals all worked out last spring and then Covid hit. They could have signed it at any time but by waiting until after the start of the new NFL year, the cap is set low and they can recoup some of the lost revenue from fanless stadiums.

I don't know...maybe he is useful in the case that Allen just goes down for a few games (like Drew Brees the last couple of years). However, I keep thinking of a reporter who talked about watching a Colts practice when Peyton was the QB. He saw Peyton getting almost all the snaps. He talked to Polian about the fact that A) his backup qb was Jim Sorgi and B) He didn't give him any practice. Polian's response was "If Peyton goes down we're screwed....so why waste time and money on his backup. I kind of feel the same about Josh Allen. I think that for me it will depend on the cost. If Trubiski is relatively cheep...and is coming here to learn the way Josh Allen learned...then it makes sense all around.

It does seem that way, doesn't it. Remember, Belichick was the one who would make a point of actually going on vacation during the first few days of free agency. Quite a different approach this year and we'll see if it works.

Yes, I probably watched a game before then, but the memory that I can pinpoint...and still envision...is him going over 2000 yards for the season against the Jets in a snowstorm.

Not true:

If he's related to Da'Rick, I'm all in baby.

Agreed. Although Star's value is hard to see on a stat sheet, I do think his absence made it clear how important he is to the defense. I do think the Bills want to get better and younger at his position and they should be trying to find his replacement...but for this year we definitely want him.

Yes, we have seen flashes from Epenesa, and I think that Johnson is another who shows promise as a defensive end. Edge players are so expensive (either in draft capital or actual cash as a free agent) that it would be nice to develop one of our own. I think the better move might be getting a stud one technique (Star back will help, but would like to see better and younger). It would allow Oliver to play his natural position and also take pressure off the ends...and maybe one of these young guys will take the next step. Of course, the best scenario might be the stud interior lineman PLUS a veteran DE on a one year prove it deal.

Seems I've read this story before...like about 3-4 years ago: https://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ryan-fitzpatrick-considered-retiring-after-last-season-1.14849466

Yep. They went to the same high school.

Vague title.

Maybe in gratitude he'll let us borrow his front four for a year or two. Could you imagine this team with that group added?

I think he does own those because I think those bad investments are part of his strategy...and why he has outs in their contracts. Beane has always seemed to have a strategy of taking lots of players with risk in the hopes of hitting on a percentage. If you spend a ton of dough on a big name player and whiff, you're shmowed. But if you overpay for 10 guys who don't command huge salaries but who fit a scheme and have up-side, you can miss on half and still have five really good players. He likes players who command less money because they have been injured (Murphy) or stuck behind someone on the depth chart (Mongo) but have the potential to be really good...particularly in the Bills system. So, some are hits and some are misses. Remember after Josh's rookie year, he signed like 15 o-linemen. Sure we got Morse (who was actually a fairly high priced player) and Mongo and even Nsehke was useful for a year, but there was also Spencer Long. With his strategy there are going to be misses and I think he knows that. Now, one of the reasons for such a strategy is he needed to a complete re-vamp of the roster. He needed a ton of bodies. Will his strategy change and will he be more selective now? Not sure.

The odd thing is that we kept hearing that they wanted to get the CBA done so they could complete TV deals. Maybe they are worried that because of Covid, those deals would not be as lucrative...but TV execs almost always seem to be optimistic and raise how much they are willing to pay by quite a bit. Seems it would be a way to make up for lost stadium revenue.

Josh Allen has now received more career MVP votes than Russell Wilson.

I miss Kirby Jackson.

And I would say this roster was built with quantity rather than excellence in mind. They need to get a LOT of good players and they have done quite a bit with them. Remember what this lineup looked like two years ago? The OL is a good example. It has played well, but it was built largely with castoffs and backups...but solid enough to fill the huge holes we had. The exception to this philosophy are Diggs and Allen....and they will need more players like this but it is, yes, a process.

I think this might be an age detector. Who, like me, clicked on this expecting to hear "Eye of the Tiger"?

Just put me in a wheelchair and get me to the show Hurry, hurry, hurry, before I go loco I can't control my fingers, I can't control my toes Oh no oh-oh oh-oh

Yes, and I don't remember what game it was earlier in the year, but I seem to remember that Tre did something similar late in the game figuring they NEEDED the sure play. He jumped the route and didn't worry about being beat over the top and picked off a pass. It runs contrary to the prevent defense strategy...but I like it and particularly with the wind, he knew that the deep route would be high risk.

Oh that's right. Thanks for the memory jog.