BarleyNY

Honestly, every competent GM would call on all of the other teams with high picks - except the teams in their own division. It’s due diligence and it means nothing (except that our GM is competent). They are all gauging the market.

Yup

I could not agree more.

Agree on all thing she Cleveland. I think they’re another year away from finding their footing though. As for records, I’ll wait until closer to the season to make my predictions.

Haslam kept Hue Jackson against Dorsey’s wishes because of clauses in his contract that would have dramatically escalated his compensation if he was fired before the start of the 2018 season. Expect him to have a very short leash if the season starts off poorly. Haslam should have eaten that contract anyway. Notably Sashi Brown wanted to draft Wentz at 2 but Jackson didn’t want him. Despite Hue spinning it the other way later that was known at the time of the trade to the Iggles.

No. The Browns aren’t trading #1 overall. You’re probably looking at something like 12/22/53/65 for 4.

Here’s a thorough breakdown of the contract: https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2018/3/15/17127384/massive-contract-details-for-new-buffalo-bills-defensive-tackle-star-lotulelei-most-expensive

@YattaOkasan Thank you. Yes, the Rule of 51 applies until final cut down day. Also correct that the draft pick number by OTC does not consider that rule. See, you don’t need me. ? The one cap number that really sticks out is the dead money: $36M. That’s brutal. This is a season to dump the older players and usher in the new generation, starting with a drafted QB who will (hopefully) be the future of the franchise.

Stupidest contract of the season so far. But you had to know that somebody was going to do something like it for him.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/yearly/cap/ Wow. Not a lot of important players signed beyond 2019 either.

He made his mark years ago when he was the only media person dialed into front offices around the league. Now no one is and he’s just living off of his old reputation.

The real issue it is that we aren’t going to get that much for Glenn on draft day. We could probably get it from a desperate contender who has an injury at LT after the season starts. That’s the time for premiums to be paid. But not on draft day. He’d go at a discount. I do like that you’re trying to find a way to get a QB though. I’d certainly sell out for one I believed in. I just don’t see how the Bills can climb up to the top of this draft. They’ll have to find another way to get one.

Notably players tend to have the least value on draft day. QBs will always get a premium but any other position will be looked at as a dump by the team getting rid of them. Bad fit for new scheme or other issues - health, contract, attitude, etc. Draft weekend is a much better time to acquire a player than trade one away.

Usually there’s an alternate compensation agreed upon should a traded player fail a physical. Player X or draft pick Y. IIRC Chip Banks was originally included in the trade that netted the Browns Bernie Kosar in the supplemental draft. He refused to report to San Diego and they got a first round pick instead.

Here is a nice interactive chart from Drafttek: https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart.asp?RequestTeam=Buf And here is a chart showing the total value of total draft picks for all teams: http://www.tankathon.com/nfl/power_rankings The Bills rank 6th.

The big difference is that teams’ rookie caps are based on the actual slots they pick at. Say the Browns picked Darnold or Rosen at 1, then Allen or Mayfield at 4 before trading him to a team picking much later in the first. The Browns would have a much larger rookie pool than they needed (no real problem there), but the team trading up would have some real difficulties with that QB’s contract. They couldn’t pay him like the 4th overall pick because of the rules for rookie pools and rookie contracts. Thus it would be prohibitively difficult for a team to make a big trade for a player already drafted by a team. The Browns only trading partners would be the team’s with the next 2 or 3 picks. The Browns plan is to add a vet and take a QB at 1 unless they find a FQB in free agency. I can’t imagine that they think Cousins is such a player, but you never know.......

Ive got an inside source in another city (not Buffalo or Boston). He knew the scoop and shared. That’s all I know about it.

I would. Incidentally it wouldn’t be both of this year’s firsts, it would be our natural 1st this year and next. But it won’t happen. JG’s agent was instrumental in getting him to the team he thought would be best for him. He actually worked with NE brass to make it happen. He’s staying in SF (unfortunately).

I met Brian Daboll a couple years ago. His daughter, who already lived in the Buffalo area with his ex wife, was on my daughter’s soccer team. I can’t say much except that he was a nice person. His fiancée at the time (I think) and daughter also were also good people. Guessing they are married by now if they weren’t. Looks like a good hire hire from a football standpoint too.

One of my all time favorite announcers in any sport. Rest In Peace, Mr. Jackson.

Yup. Not a lot of people understand statistics or modeling.

I follow 538 quite a bit. As Election Day neared they only had HRC as a very slight favorite - and that was with the caveat that there was a very real possibility of Trump winning due to the potential of high turnout among many people typically considered unlikely to vote. They were the only unbiased outlet that I saw give Trump a real chance to win.

Yup. The OP is just offering the same fallacious reasoning we’ve seen before: Look! There are teams with highly paid/franchise QBs that aren’t in the playoff! Ergo it isn’t important to have one. Obviously that’s stupid. What they miss is the massive importance of having a FQB where winning a SB is the goal.

The Bills would need some star power and popularity for that. They don’t have it at this moment. There is one thing that trumps ratings - Goodell’s authority. Don’t cross him or you get hosed. The Saints found out the hard way with Bountygate. Goodell told them to stop and they didn’t. The hammer came down. Josh Gordon lied to Goodell’s face and got hammered. Kraft and the Patriots got away with a lot for very little punishment, but Goodell had to follow through with Brady’s suspension. It was a matter of preserving his authority.

We did not. The Patriots were asking more of AFC teams than NFC teams for him - even from the Browns. No way they give him up to another AFCE team. It was also rumored the Belichick wanted to trade Brady and sign Garoppolo long term, but that was nixed by Kraft. At the time I assumed that the rumor was just posturing to get more in trade for him, but now I believe it.