BarleyNY

I don’t think you hand out a contract that’s either 1/$15M or 2/$21M to a JAG+ level WR on day 1 of FA just because is floor is not embarrassing himself on the field. Other options? A few examples: Brandin Cooks got 2/$13M, Dyami Brown 1/$10M, Mack Hollins 2/$8.4M. All cheaper, two of whom had/have a dynamic ability on the field. The third worked well with Allen last season.

I didn’t see any further upside with Gabe when the Jags signed him. He was who he was at that point. Quality #3 outside WR, but a guy that immediately makes you think “We gotta upgrade there.” when he is your starter. The only thing that makes his contract with the Jags make any sense to me is that Trent Baalke gave it to him. I don’t see any upside with Palmer either. He’s in that same bucket. Really nice to have at your 3rd outside WR as long has he’s on a rookie or otherwise cheap deal, but not a guy you want to pay or see start. I’d just like to think Beane and the Bills are doing substantially better than the likes of Trent Baalke. For what it’s worth, Palmer’s deal is $3M/year cheaper than Davis’. So that’s something. It’s not quite as bad.

Certainly true about the market, but the Bills should have done better. At least Dyami Brown has upside and is on a one year deal. There’s no reason that the Bills shouldn’t have been able to get a player with upside on a proven it deal or an aging vet looking for a ring on a one year contract.

For sure this is partially market driven. The Bills didn’t want to get shut out for an X WR. Nor did they want to pay a huge contract to one. So they overpaid for a bottom tier starter. I don’t think that nearly covers the disparity between contract and value though. It is similar to the Gabe deal in that both deals are way over the value of the player and both were done in the first wave of free agency - where overpaying is the norm. I also think both will be regrettable. I don’t understand why either of those players would have been a priority for any team though. I had the same thought when both deals were announced so quickly in FA: Oh wow! Someone effed up. I agree that this misstep was driven by underinvestment in the WR spot as well as the Coleman selection. Palmer is here to be the floor at X. He won’t embarrass himself on the field even if he’s pedestrian. Keon will have to beat him out to earn reps there. As for the state of the market, that’s not a surprise to anyone. It’s why the Bills should have invested more in the WR position.

Has anyone come up with a rationale for why we effectively guaranteed Josh Palmer $21M (plus incentives) for two seasons? I’m at a loss. I know the WR market is rough with supply issues, but this seems a pretty egregious overpay. Who could we have been bidding against?

That’s not how I’d characterize the entirety of the show, but broadcasting the company line is definitely a component. I listen to it for a variety of reasons and much prefer it to the “shouting shows” on networks like EsPN.

Earlier in this thread I talked about this and broke it down. Cook had significantly more snaps, carries and receptions in 2023 than he did in 2024. He looked like he wore down at the end of the ‘23 season and it really showed in the playoffs. It seems the Bills thought the same and reduced his snap count in ‘24 - and it paid off. It looks like that level of workload is where he’s at his best.

I could not agree more. The most fun I’ve had at games has been in the worst weather. But NFL owners are looking at profits, not what’s most fun for the fans.

I find it interesting to listen to the media like Tasker who toe the company line. It tells me exactly what the team is selling to the public. One can learn a lot by comparing that to their own analysis as well as what is heard from the small portion of national media that is competent and unbiased.

He certainly has done that repeatedly. I’m just hoping for better this year and I’m talking about what he should do, not what I think he will do.

Many of those examples illustrate why a team should not depend on rookies to make much of an impact in that first year.

Okay. So this is specific to Campbell and his injury. I’d have to look more closely at him to determine whether I think he would be worth it, but it is certainly worth a discussion. How much do you expect a player picked at 30 to contribute in their rookie year anyway? It’s reasonable to expect some positive contributions, but if you’re looking for a major impact you’re almost certainly going to be disappointed.

It’s a word

Who said that drafting a player who can be elite in two years means that player won’t contribute their rookie season?

Atlanta. I have no idea how much they’re each opened. Lots of talk about them but I had no idea how many were out there. Figured others might want to know too. 1/3 with roofs was a little more than I’d have guessed. Seems like the league is slowly moving there. On thing about a dome in Buffalo is that it would be nice for most weather games, but wouldn’t change when we have to move home games. People still have to get there.

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/list-of-indoor-and-outdoor-nfl-stadiums-how-many-nfl-stadiums-are-domed/#:~:text=Of the 30 NFL stadiums,list to break it down. 10 of 30 NFL stadiums have a roof/dome. 5 of the 10 w/roofs are retractable.

Absolutely yes. Cincy isn’t spending a lot anywhere else except for Orlando Brown Jr. They structured the Burrow, Chase and Higgins deals with substantial salaries this season. So if you check OTC or Spotrac it looks like they don’t have any room, but there’s plenty to be made. It’s just a question of whether or not they want to spend more to keep him around. 6/2 will be a non-event again. With 2 post 6/1 designations available to every team none of them wait to cut any player anymore. No sense risking them getting injured or paying them off season bonuses. If a name player gets cut around that time it’ll be because of performance - and you probably don’t want to add a player like that.

Exactly. Older folks - or even late middle aged people that expect to hold onto their tickets - have to consider what those steep steps are going to be like in rain, ice and snow.

Yes, they can do whatever they want with his contract now. Coming to terms with added incentives could be a workable solution for this season. It’s a good idea IMO.

Rookie contracts can be modified, extended or replaced after year 3, so yes.

If people want to stay downtown at the Ritz Carlton or the like, then they can just take the rapid up to the game or drive the 10-12 miles to the stadium. The Brook Park location is good as far as stuff to do. There’s plenty nearby and It’s easy to get anywhere on the West Side or downtown Cleveland from there. It is not like downtown is in great shape since Covid anyway.

It will be right by the airport and IX Convention Center. Plenty of hotel space in that area.

The Bills’ number matches what overthecap has for their total offensive cap number for 2025. So not a great metric. I don’t think it really tells us anything about any team.

The coaching mistakes and inadequacies still anger me. As does the thought that the result was that they lit another season of Allen’s career on fire. I know that there were other factors - talent, injury, player mistakes & refs. But on game day what a team can control is execution by coaches and players. While Kincaid’s fail and some other mistakes by players definitely contributed to the loss I thought that it was the coaches who didn’t meet “the standard” that day.

that’ll be tough for Anderson to pull off since he only got drafted two years ago. also I don’t think people here understand how good Hunter is or how the NFL’s economics work. He’s getting $27.5M AAV over the next two seasons and he is comfortably in the top 10 of NFL Edge players. there is nothing wrong with Hunter’s extension and he’ll be off the books when they have to allocate a lot of cap space to Anderson.