BarleyNY

Except nothing else is pertinent to any discussion about Watkins (unless you want to get into specific pick values). The "other" ways of describing the transaction are just people trying to mislead. Either downplaying his cost (just traded away one first and one fourth to get him) or overblowing his cost (we used 3 firsts and a fourth). Both are intentionally deceptive and I discount the opinion of anyone employing such dishonesty.

Horrific argument. Two firsts and a fourth = Sammy Watkins. Is anything else material to the discussion?

It makes sense to use what was given up for a player. People often omit some part of the total which makes is seem like less was spent on acquiring a player than what really was. That's misleading, usually intentionally.

Wrong. 15 first round picks from the 2013 draft didn't have their 5th year options picked up or their contract extended prior to needing to pick it up. Zero are with the team that drafted them. Ditto 10 in 2012 and none were still with their team in year 5. Ditto 2011 draft with 0 for 10. That was the first season for fifth year options. So no team has ever declined a 5th year option and retained the player. (I included players that were cut or out of the league with those that had their options declined.)

That's a good point about the option. Cooks had his picked up whiched helped his value. A team would want to negotiate a long term deal as part of any trade for Watson now that it's declined. I don't see a trade happening, but I'd jump at the chance to get a late 1st or early 2nd for Watkins. That'll be way more than we'll get as a comp pick when he walks next offseason. We can get our 6-8 wins this season with or without him on the field for 6-12 games. I thought his option should've been picked up, but it wasn't. Like it or not, this regime is moving on from him. If they can get something significant for him while doing so, then great. Again, I don't see it happening, but I'd jump at the chance to get real value for him.

That's completely wrong. The only significant injury that Dez Bryant had prior to signing his big deal was a broken ankle his rookie season (2010). He signed his deal before the 2015 season and promptly started piling up the foot and leg issues that have plagued him the last two seasons. There's no chance that he'd have gotten a contract even remotely close to his current deal if those injuries had happened before his deal was negotiated.

Injury. I said it when they didn't pick up his option. That was the first step in the Bills moving in from Watkins. You're high. Gilmore has been a more producer player than Watkins. Gilmore was a high quality corner that played at a Pro Bowl level the entire time he was playing press zone. Watkins has flashed at a top 5 talent level - which is what enamours so many - but he hasn't produced. His best seasons have been at a good level. That's ridiculous. We gave up two firsts and a fourth to draft him. Everyone understands that. Well, almost everyone.

Still some big holes in the snow removal department.

Thanks!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAc7uCKXgAExV-x?format=png&name=large Here's a comparison graphic for Hodges vs. Brown. Can someone post the actual pic? It's from PFF. Looks like quite the upgrade.

Nice signing! Glad to see things coming together.

I broke down the cap consequences of cutting versus trading Dareus earlier in the thread. He still has $20.6M of unamortized bonus money on the books now. It would be very, very difficult to even trade him due to that. He sure can't be cut due to the guaranteed salaries on top of that and he's not eligible to be waived since he has more than 4 accrued years in the league. The Bills are stuck with him for this season for sure. Trading him before 2018 would still hurt, but be manageable. If he screws up again this season I can't see anyone wanting him even at his base salaries though. In that scenario he just wouldn't be tradeable unless we pulled a Houston-Cleveland style trade. We're stuck with him for awhile regardless of what the FO or HC is saying.

Thanks for the breakdown.

Looks like his former employee, Berry, did him a solid. Grigson was a total disaster as a GM. Can't see how this helps the Browns.

Couldn't agree more. It's especially true when the person in question is supposed to be a team leader and is the most highly paid player on the team.

If Dareus was traded now, the Bills would get hit with $20.6M in dead money. If done before next season dead money would be $10.44M, but at least the team would see a small net increase in cap space. Trading him is reall the only option in the near term, but I'm not sure it's much of a threat. Either way he's getting paid and it's not like he's getting shipped out of a Super Bowl contender or particularly desirable city. (I love Buffalo, but don't tell me Dareus wouldn't rather be in Miami or LA.) This contract for this player is Exhibit 1-A on why Whaley had to go. Here's a link for anyone wanting contract details. Note the tab for different cut dates/trade. That can be used with the year tabs to quickly see what the impact of cutting/trading players is at different times. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/buffalo-bills

Awesome

I blame them all. The Wrecks Brothers were a train wreck to be sure. Whaley wasn't nearly as bad as them, but he sure wasn't good.

*It's "you're," schoolteacher. Sadly, you're pretty much on the nose with the rest.

WAY too young says this 48 year old. RIP Cortez.

The "I didn't find a QB!" schtick is just a deflection so that his myriad other mistakes aren't on center stage. Him not finding a QB was just symptomatic of his more basic problems.

Yeah. There's a point where further complicating something is detrimental to efficiency. Complaints from players throughout the two seasons Rex was here about not being able to react effectively due to the complications of the defensive scheme were telling. It also didn't help that the scheme sucked.

I agree that probably both do. But I see it happening after the drought is ended. It just seems a bit too much like celebrating the drought to do it while it continues. But maybe you're right. Maybe the fans are looking for something to celebrate in the meantime. Yeah, I could see it looking at it that way.

Maybe the phrase should be "no longer overcomplicated".

You have better friends than me