BarleyNY

This would be the missed drug test he swore he didn't miss? I thought so.

Whaley has made some good moves the last two seasons, but he's made a fair number of mistakes too. The big counter to your arguement is that Whaley has spent to the cap limit, but that's only gotten the team to a 17-15 record and zero playoff appearances. It is reasonable for fans to expect a team spending like the Bills are to be in the playoffs with a fighting chance. But they've just been middling. I haven't given up on Whaley, but I'm not totally sold on him either.

$41.3M in career earnings does give a guy options.

IIRC there we reports of both a hamstring tear and ankle injury when he missed games last season. I heard a report of lingering hamstring issues, but I can't remember where I heard that so take it with a grain of salt.

I agree. Swap Baltimore and Buffalo and things are better for both divisions. It'd make more sense.

He is vigilant in battling his imaginary foes as they commit terrible, imaginary acts. You've got to give him that.

We are on page 3 and no one has posted a single pic of the Jills. That's telling in regards to their popularity. I'll throw this in: I've seen teams bring in HS cheer squads for games. I understand why. It's a thrill for the kids to cheer at an NFL game. It's well-intentioned. But I hate it. There's just something deeply creepy about seeing kids cheer an NFL game. The stands are not filled with kids the same age as the girls and parents of school kids as they are at a HS game, they're filled with mostly older men in various states of inebriation. It's messed up and I hope the Bills don't ever go that route.

That's a good point. I have no idea how Sammy does finding the open spots in zone defenses.

Weak sauce, man. Not one respectable poster here has said that. He had a good 14 game season in which he performed very well in a limited role. He wants paid large at a time when unproven QBs are getting almost as much as proven ones. He's being asked to prove his worth and seems willing to bet on himself. We'd all love to see him get a huge deal, but want him to earn it this season. It's what Flacco previously did and it's what Cousins is doing this season. Why is it such an issue for you?

That's what I think the Bills are laying groundwork for now. Getting feelers out, seeing where players at positions of need stand physically and seek contractually. Then they're ready to move quickly if needed. The RB corps would need to take a definite downturn for me to want the Bills to sign Bush early enough to guarantee him his salary for the season, but I also don't know where Shady's hamstring stands. If he was expected to miss games at the beginning of the season I'd move now to sign Bush or another back. With Karlos set to miss the first 4 games, no way would I want to go into the season with what we have left. Heck, there's even a chance that Jonathan Williams gets suspended for his DUI. Anyone feel comfortable playing Baltimore with Gillislee and Boom Herron? I sure as **** don't. Who said that?

Two thoughts on Clay: - The Cover 1/3 looks the Bills have been getting take away the seam route, which I'd like to see him have a chance to run more often. He would also be helped a great deal by another deep threat opposite Watkins so that they'd see more Cover 2, which would match him up with a MLB/ILB in base defenses or 3rd safety in nickel/dime. - The play at RT is important for Clay. If he's regularly needed to block or chip to give help it will hinder his opportunities. Solid play at RT will enable him to flex more often and get into his routes quicker and more often.

I sure agree with the the first two sentences. I wouldn't mock it though. Not unless Miami gave him a stupid contract, which I doubt is the case. While Foster hasn't been able to stay healthy of late, but has been very productive when he has been able to stay on the field. He can help that team if they don't overuse him and he's able to stay healthy. If not, I doubt the Phins have much to lose.

I think it's hilarious that someone is complaining that things are out of whack when an 8-8 team finishes in the middle of the pack in attendance. It's like a manager complaining that employees are untrustworthy because they took 40% of their sick days on Mondays and Fridays.

Roman wasn't using Watkins as a decoy. The KC defense took Watkins away by doubling him. There's nothing Roman could do about it except take what that extra attention to Watkins opened up for the rest of the offense. Roman did his job. So did Sammy, but the other players on the field didn't execute well enough. Expect to see teams use a lot of Cover 1/3, often rolled toward Watkins, this season. This is why some of us have been harping on the team finding another quality WR, someone to make teams have to pick their poison.

Yup. Thanks for posting. It also illustrates why we'd be smart to get Sammy some more help.

I totally agree. LMAO

At least one RB (Karlos Williams) is going to be suspended for 4 games to start the season. He won't count for a roster spot until he comes back, though. But he was being counted on to be the #2. Jonathan Williams is a potential suspension due to the DUI arrest, though that is by no means certain. A good team plans for it, though. Those are 2 of the top 3 backs on the roster. Even assuming Gillislee is carried as a 4th back (3rd while Karlos is suspended), the RB corps could be hurting to start the season even if everything else goes well. But what if it doesn't? What if Karlos misses 4 games and still comes back out of shape? What if Shady's hamstring is still bothering him? What if any one of the top 4 RBs gets injured in training camp or preseason? I don't blame Whaley one bit for looking at RBs. No need to pull the trigger just yet, but why not see who's available and be ready to move if needed? They'd just better not be all he's looking for.

You are embarrassing yourself here. Gillislee has 8 career games played and 3 career TDs. Shady has 102 career games played and 59 career TDs. Each had 3 rushing TDs last season (McCoy also had 2 receiving). It's idiotic to put the two into the same category. Gillislee is obviously a lot closer to a rookie than he is to an elite back going into his 8 season.

1) Rodgers 2) Brady 3) Brees 4) Newton 5) Ben He's been a great QB. I do worry about his transition as he gets older. Part of what has made him so successful is his ability to shake tacklers, extend plays and find receivers downfield. As he gets older he won't be able to take those hits like he did and he's going to have to get rid of the ball earlier. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts.

1. I agree. EJ did get dealt a bad hand here. At this point there's not much to be done about it except part ways as soon as reasonably feasible and wish each other well. 2. I don't think anyone is saying he'll cost the same after this season as he does now. It's just that the added risk of signing him now wouldn't be offset by the savings. With the contracts going to players with limited starts - like Osweiler - Tyrod would be expecting a big deal. It's better to be sure of what we have and give him a bigger deal if he proves himself. Or, if he doesn't, move on. 3. I see the biggest risk with Taylor having to do with shouldering more of the offensive load. If he passes more, then he'll see defenses focus more on stopping the pass. Health is also a concern - even from the standpoint of judging him fairly. Also I would have liked to have seen the Bills focused more on improving the offense this past offseason. Judging Taylor fairly means putting him into position to succeed and I don't think they've done enough to help him there. It's an easy answer if he's a lot better or worse than 2015, but what if he's about the same? That's a tough call and it's what I see as the most likely scenario.

I see you're still worried about the team hurting Taylor's feelings. Do we really need to go down this path again?

This topic has been beaten to death prior to this thread, but I'll recap my position: - EJ is a dead man walking in B-lo. There's really no plausible scenario where he's here next season. The sooner both parties move on, the better for both. - CBs like Gilmore are necessary to run Rex's defense, which puts a lot of pressure on the position. I see a deal getting done prior to the season. - Taylor hasn't yet earned the deal he would accept and the Bills aren't in a position where they are forced to make a move with him. His contract (and where he plays in 2017) will be determined by his play this season. Taylor really has no choice but to bet on himself. He can't hold out because so much is riding on his play and he needs all of the preparation possible. The Bills are wary of giving Taylor a big deal now as the risks far outweigh the rewards. The franchise tag is available next offseason if needed.

I read your post as stating Hughes had an $8M-$10M per year contract, not that there was that much left over. I was just working through the numbers for clarity.

Certain transgressions - bouncing checks, drug or gambling habits, etc. - are risk indicators for fraudulent behaviors too. Anyone with the ability to steal directly or indirectly from a company or who opens him/herself up to blackmail with their actions has to be let go in many circumstances. It's not always fair, but there can be a lot of exposure for a company. As for NFL players, certain behaviors are locker room poison. There's an excellent LT playing in Canada right now. He is plenty good enough to be a top NFL LT, but he'll never play in it because no team will have him. His transgression? A consensual sexual relationship with his sister when he was younger. I won't give his name, but you can google it. I'm curious to see how the Browns players respond to Crowell after his resent tweet. My guess is that he will have a lot of repair work to do before training camp or he is in deep trouble. He's started that with an apology and statement that he's donating his first game check to the Dallas Police Officer's Fund, but he probably still has a long way to go.

I disagree on several points. You can't compare a contract from 2 years ago with one this offseason. Hughes would have gotten a fair bit more than $9M a year if that deal was done today. It'd probably push $11M a season. It'd certainly be over $10M. They'd have another $8M-$9M left to spend, but the combined production of upgrades from that wouldn't come close to touching the impact of Von Miller had over what Hughes has had. They aren't remotely comparable in terms of impact.Nobody said Von Miller was the only reason the Broncos won the Super Bowl. But he was the single player that did the most to get the Broncos that championship. And it really wasn't even close. The article that Yolo posted explains it better than I can: