BarleyNY

If the Browns are serious about trading back (and it appears as though they are) then they have at least one QB they like better than Wentz. Lynch and Cook are the obvious candidates in that case.

If he shows up tomorrow, obviously that is better than if he doesn't show up at all. Let's see where this goes. The youth camp thing is nice and all, but he should be at workouts with his teammates. Stuff like that is great in a player's free time, but he's got work he should be doing - even if it is voluntary. I'd like to see some leadership from Watkins and he hasn't been a leader. He hasn't exactly been an ironman either. And that's the big rub here for me. While we are playing the "what if game", what if he misses significant voluntary workout time and then gets dinged in training camp like he did two years ago? Or gets injured in the season on non-contact plays like he's done two years running? Posting those pics while the rest of his teammates were in workouts was a d**k move as well. I'd wager that he's not going to get a lot of sympathy if he does gets dinged. And I already covered this, but it will all be forgotten if everything goes well for him. But if it doesn't, then it won't. The exception I don't mind on stuff like this is for older vets who are prone to wear down over the season. If those guys are excused, no big deal. You know what you're getting with a 10 year vet and you know that those players will be in proper shape. But even those players are in now.

To be fair, his season wasn't good enough to get the deal he seems to want and he has very little leverage at present. If he held out now the Bills could go get a player like Hoyer and/or find a QB in the draft. Then where would he be? If recent contracts given to young QBs with little game experience - like Osweiler - are used as a gauge for Taylor then one important factor has to be considered: Those QBs didn't hold out for their relatively big deals, they made it to free agency. That's probably what Taylor will need to do if he wants his big payday. Heck, if he does well enough he might still get his deal during this season. There's one, risky option left for him though if he does want to try to force a new deal. He could wait until after the draft. The remaining free agent QBs should all be signed by shortly after. If the Bills don't add a decent prospect or vet, then Taylor would have more leverage. It'd be a risky move and I don't think it'd work, but he could try it. He's just got so much more to lose than the Bills by holding out, I just don't see it as feasible. He needs to be in house, doing everything he can to be successful. That's how he can make himself the most money. Why sabotage his best shot at success - and huge money - with a hold out for what would be a lesser contract? Of course the flip side is "What if he doesn't earn that big contract?" Obviously that's a possibility, but if he doesn't believe in himself then I wouldn't want to give him a big, new contract anyway.

That's all very disappointing. I was hoping he had a reason for missing beyond "I didn't feel like going." At least he's not injured. I'd like to see some leadership out of the guy though. I've read where other posters have referred to him being a leader, but I've never seen proof of it. Being the only player to miss voluntary workouts certainly points to the opposite. Posting a picture of himself on an all-nighter gambling at Hannah's while his teammates are all at those workouts is beyond stupid - and it is disrespectful to his teammates. If Watkins stays healthy and has a great season then nobody will care about stuff like this. But if he gets injured or doesn't have a great year, you can bet it will come back up.

There are a lot of Constituationally protected, yet very stupid, things that people can do. That was one of them.

Well said. I'd be a big value pick so no complaints here. I don't think he will make it close to there though. There's a good chance someone will fall though and I'll be delighted if they get a steal in the second just like last year.

Yup. It takes real cluelessness to think this is something he should be doing. Not a great sign when your employer needs to issue a statement that distances itself from you.

http://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/bills-without-watkins-for-start-of-workouts Anyone know why he's absent?

To add: I'm sure that Houston tried to trade him and apparently got no takers at any price. If no team gave up a 7th round pick or even offered a conditional pick then no one was interested in paying Hoyer $5.25M for one year.

I like Roman as a coach and I think he's done a great job. Coaches should be graded on how much they get out of what they have to work with. He definitely didn't have an optimal situation in 2015, but that squad over performed in my opinion. His coaching and scheme was a very big reason why. I only wish I could say the same for Ryan and the defense.

Adding any player at the salary Hoyer will receive would be easier after Glenn and/or Gilmore are extended. But if the Bills really wanted to sign a player with his salary requirements they could structure a contract to have a low enough cap hit in 2016 for it to be feasible. I'm not advocating for the Bills to sign Hoyer, just saying they could if they really wanted to. For reference his last deal was for 2 years, $10.5M and he only got through the first year of that. He made $5.25M for that one season.

He's 31 and had bounced around the NFL a lot. The Bills are his 6th team: Career history Tennessee Titans (2008–2012) Pittsburgh Steelers (2013) Carolina Panthers (2014) Tennessee Titans (2015)* Carolina Panthers (2015) Buffalo Bills (2016–present) * Offseason and/or practice squad member only https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Velasco_(American_football) He's depth and can start if needed, but there's a reason he hasn't stuck anywhere. He's a veteran stopgap player for the short term and I'm not complaining about the Bills signing him, but I don't think his presence eliminates the need for interior OL help.

Yeah. I don't see the point of keeping a guy that won't be here beyond this season and who you don't want to see play in a game anyway. As soon as another decent option is acquired you move on. Until then you keep him around though. Would anyone around here care about Nassib if he didn't play at 'Cuse?

Agreed. The Bills either have two or three starting quality interior OL. Incognito was way better than "solid". He was exceptional, but he's not got many more years left. Wood was very good as well. He sucked in 2014 when the two OGs next to him sucked and he was very, very good in 2015 with Incognito (who was great) and Miller (who sucked) next to him. Oh, and Miller did suck. If year two is his year for improvement and health, then we might be okay at RG. I think that's charitable and optimistic, but even if he's solid I see big trouble should Incognito or Wood go down with injury. A decent OG or OG/C prospect needs to be added for depth, competition for Miller and/or to be groomed as a future starter.

Yeah, they know who they're taking. The only thing I can come up with as to why they're being coy is that they're trying to make it tougher for SF to work a deal for the other QB.

I would agree. Lots of teams are very interested in the Browns #2 overall pick with Wentz being the target of most. Offers from multiple teams are already in. It looks like the Browns are going to move the pick and take a developmental QB later to go along with RG3 and McCown. One thing is for sure - QBs are going 1&2.

Couple thoughts: - Depends on your metrics. I was going by yardage and points allowed. More advanced metrics rates them better. - It is incredibly difficult to rank a defense with any kind of metric when the offense is so poor. When teams don't have to score as much to win and run the ball a greater percentage of the time to run the clock and minimize turnovers the metrics get skewed. - There is definitely some talent on that defense so there's hope for it. Maybe with a competent Rams offense they'll be in a position to perform better. We will just have to wait and see on that, but there's no way that's a top 10 defense the last two years.

Lynch is liked much more by NFL teams than he is by the media at present. He's going much higher than most think. The Bills would need a substantial trade up to get him. He won't be ready for a year or two. He's raw and certainly a bust risk, but his ceiling is sky high. He will never be a read option QB, but his ability as a vertical offense QB is actually a very good fit for the Bills.

Same here. I predicted the same and that they'd get the last WC spot, but lose the first playoff game. My floor was 10-6, but missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker. My ceiling was 1 playoff win. They weren't a Super Bowl contender, but I thought they could make the playoffs. I don't see it this season.

Yup. Growth of existing players, familiarity of offensive and defensive systems and better utilization of talent are the main areas for hope of improvement. In theory at least. I just don't see it happening though. The level of talent on the roster will almost certainly be a bit less than last season, even with a good draft. It's up to Rex and Co. to prove me wrong and they'll get that chance. I hope they do.

That's not a kind schedule. No way do I see 10-6. 7-9 is what my head tells me, give or take a win. My heart says a little better than that, but it's usually an idiot.

The Rams roster isn't as bad as its offensive (last) and defensive (lower middle) rankings, but it isn't as good as you're making it out to be either. They've got some good, young talent - which would be nice to have on the Browns someday. The Rams have a good start on their defense, but their offense is a long way off.

She's absolutely right. I don't care about stuff like this or 99% of the personal interest stories about players, but I still get into the draft, building rosters and cap management. There's some drama there. But nowhere near the drama that pretty much every sports magazine sells almost exclusively. There's so little actual sport related material in an SI or ESPN the Magazine it's pitiful. It's all stuff that could be from a soap.

Seriously. I'm shocked he made it through waivers. He's got to have real issues.

Yeah, quitting and retiring do look a lot alike. I notice that he waited to retire until it was clear that no team was going to pay him anything to play. He made his money. No vet minimum deal is getting him back on the field even long enough to quit again.