Flip Johnson

I don't know if the Bills have a definitive plan yet or rather several possibilities that they are keeping in play as we get closer to draft day. However, if the Bills are open to retaining Taylor, I could see them holding on to their picks or perhaps only moving up slightly to draft Lamar Jackson (right now evaluations on Lamar Jackson seem very fluid). This would allow for a situation similar to what San Francisco had with Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. The mobile, experienced game manager is starting, while the younger, more explosive QB is waiting in the wings. Lamar comes in and starts when he's ready, be that game 1, game 10, or 2019. In Kaepernick's case he took over a team with a 6-2-1 record. But in the meantime, Taylor plays at a reasonable price tag, and we already know he has the support of the locker room and decent career winning percentage. I don't think McDermott wants to miss the playoffs this year - I don't think he's enamored with Taylor, but it's already proven that he can be a playoff team with him. Drafting Jackson (if you like him) would allow the Bills to basically keep their picks and fill out other needs. Plus, while I don't think they are at all the same player, they have some similar traits that Daboll may be able to take advantage of.

He is fired up after a big win. Nothing really significant about these comments. But he is a rotational player on the Jaguars - a run stuffing DT from what I can tell. Whatever he did in the past is water under the bridge - the Bills HAD to get out from that contract and it is amazing they found a trade partner.

No. There was not the sense that we were building something in 2014 after Marrone's 9-7 season. That team had just lost a must-win game to the Raiders. They did not have a lot of young talent or a positive draft situation. They had traded the upcoming 1st rounder in 2015 and the coach and QB were out the door the week the season ended. The 2014 Bills had an expensive, dominant, aging defensive line, but they were not setup for sustainable success.

Yes, 9-7 is not an earth-shattering won-loss record. However, this is a turning point for the city and the general perception of the franchise as a cursed afterthought. The truth is the Bills haven't actually been bad since Gailey's last year. They were bad for about twelve years and they have actually been right in the middle of the league for the last five years. They are 33-31 since 2014, which again, is not earth shattering but it is also not bad, and not in keeping with the national perspective on the team. That record is better than (for example) Ravens Chargers Titans Raiders Dolphins as well as the franchises that have been truly bad like the Jets, Browns, Jaguars.

"All the personnel decisions made this year have been so bad." Hard to know where to start, but let's try Micah Hyde the pro bowl safety? Or Jordan Poyer who had a pick-6 yesterday? Or Tre White the potential DROY? Or really just the entire secondary?

Thank you for this truly stupid take. Nobody is arguing that the 2017 Bills are loaded with pro bowlers, but there is every reason to think the 2018 team will be more talented. Let's see - in year one of the McDermott/Beane era the team has: - Shed its worst contracts and will have flexibility in 2018. - Picked four starters with it's first four draft picks. - Is sitting on two #1s, and two #2s in 2018. - Is on the verge of breaking a 17-year drought. It's been a real disaster.

One week at a time. The concerning thing if you're a Pats fan is that their WRs are not winning one-on-one outside. They are all system players even Cooks - Edelman was the guy who could truly separate. The Bills corners shut down the Pats WRs, as did Miami. The difference is that the Bills didn't generate any offense and they had to play against Gronk.

In terms of statistical probabilities this will be the biggest December home game the Bills have had in a long time.

Props to UB - Leipold has them pointed in the right direction. If not for the QB injuries this year, the team could have gone 9-3.

You can like it or not, but when McDermott says "we need to work harder," "we need to watch the film and improve," and "I'm confident in the guys that we have" he is not joking. It may be coach-speak, but it is also 100% his mentality. We are not changing the QB or trading for a WR over the bye week. It would be nice to have talent oozing out of every position, but the truth is that teaching Logan Thomas how to hold the edge for that extra half second or teaching Zay Jones how to run that fade route is the difference in this game. Those little things can happen during the course of the year. Furthermore, good teams figure out what they have in the first half of the year and try to have that solidified for the 2nd half. If we can get to 5-3 at the midway point (and personally I think 6-2 is in play), we are going to be in position.

The formula is my point. The difference between the average age of the Bills (26.7) and the league middle Broncos (26.0) is basically negligible.

I think we are all wondering whether the Bills as currently constituted can sustain success. Thinking about this took me back to something McCoy said earlier in the year. He made the comment at the very beginning of the season that the team was built to win like the old Seahawks. As the season takes shape it is easy to see what he was talking about. The 2012 Seahawks: Had a very mobile QB (rookie Russell Wilson) who attempted fewer than 400 passes but could hit big plays when necessary. They were the #3 rushing team in the league (led by Marshawn Lynch), and their rushing attempts outweighed passing attempts 536/404. Their WRs were a collection of random guys - no one on the team had more than 50 catches. The backbone of the team was its defense - only 245 points allowed. The defense was led by a ballhawking secondary and a strong front four. They played great special teams and minimized turnovers (only 18 on the season) and ended +13. Because of their limited passing attack, they played numerous games where it looked like they had no offense, especially early in the year (road losses by scores like 20-16, 19-13, 13-6) They dominated on their home field. 2012 turned into a wild card team, and was putting up big scores (remember the 50-17 game in Toronto?) by the second half of the year. It was not until 2013 that the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl and won - by that time Wilson had developed as a passer and the Legion of Boom had fully developed. Obviously, Seattle has managed to sustain success but the recipe has changed over the years as the defense has gotten older and Wilson has become a top-level talent. Here are the stats from that season: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sea/2012.htm

This thought experiment could be played out for virtually every team in the NFL. What if our best player gets hurt? What happens then? What happens if the Falcons lose Julio Jones, the Bengals lose AJ Green, the Pats lose Gronk, the Raiders lose Cooper, the Texans lose Hopkins, etc. etc. The answer is, it would be bad. In the Bills case, we had a great backup RB last year in Gillislee, and when McCoy went out (Miami, NE) it was bad. If it happened this year, they would activate Banyard, maybe pick up a guy off the street, and hope the injury is short term.

Not the same - Glenn doesn't have a long history of missing games, nor does he have any suspensions. He is just a a good player making market value trying to battle a legitimate injury.

Frank Reich Stevie Johnson Billy Brooks Wayne Patrick Don Beebe

I know everyone seems to struggle with nuance here. Up until recently "tanking" was not part of the sports vocabulary. You can build something without tanking. That is what the Bills are doing. The Bills already have 6 picks in the top 100 next year. They will have great flexibility to go after a QB if they are dissatisfied with Taylor at the end of 2017. Peterman was picked to be a backup. Mid-round rookie QBs occasionally turn into Kirk Cousins, but regardless they are great ways to have cost-controlled backups who turn into future trade assets. New England has been doing this for years (Hoyer, Mallet, Jimmy G, etc.) We could get lucky with him, but right now he is completing 50% of his passes against the 2nd and 3rd stringers. He is not remotely prepared to start an NFL football game. Taylor could probably garner a 3rd rounder at this point - not a game-changer given the ammo the Bills already have. Somehow one bad preseason game proves that he cannot play and yet we could get great value for him. Okay. McCoy was traded 2 1/2 years ago and the Eagles got nothing. The Bills would not profit from that trade and he would represent a ton of dead money. Trading Kyle Williams would get what, a 5th round pick? The idea that the Boldin retirement would trigger a tank is bizarre and would truly mean that this team has no plan. Up until he signed, most Bills fans had given up on the idea that he was coming in the first place. McDermott and Beane know that they are in the mushy middle of the AFC - nowhere close to Pats and Steelers, but several steps above the misery of Jags, Browns, and Jets. They HAVE to build for 2018 and beyond - and they have been doing that starting with the trade down for Tre White. The Watkins trade fits in that framework, but IT DOES NOT REPRESENT A TANK. Look at the Bovada odds - the Bills expected win total did not go down. Watkins or not, they are at best a wild-card team this year. They are like 10 other teams in the AFC that could win between 6 and 10 games depending on injuries, officiating, schedule, penalties, etc. The wild card is a worthy and realistic goal to compete for and would be a huge step towards where the team wants to go. Even if they go 7-9 again, McDermott wants this team "in the hunt" until December. It doesn't help him to start of his coaching career by going 3-13 with Nate Peterman. You are always on the clock in the NFL. One great indicator of an executive's success is his/her ability to be future-oriented. If you read War Room you will see Belichick/Pioli were looking at the future, even as their '02 team unexpectedly went on a run and made the Super Bowl. Because of Brady's unexpected rise, the Pats have always been able to focus on the future. This is the way that McDermott and Beane are trying to run the team but it does not mean strip-mining the current roster.

Bettis is hard to justify. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BettJe00.htm 3.9 ypa on his career, only two all-pro seasons. Similar to what Frank Gore will probably be - inducted because he was good for a long time. But not a dominant/game-changing player, which is what I think of for a HoFer. When you look at the guys behind Bettis for all-time rushing yards - dominating, electric guys like Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Thurman Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Terrell Davis, OJ Simpson, Marcus Allen - you have to recognize that accumulated yards don't mean everything.

We all know that the Pegulas did not have experience in running a pro sports franchise. I believe they came into ownership with a mindset of "hire good people and give them the resources to succeed" after seeing that philosophy work in other areas of business. After six years overseeing the Sabres and 2 1/2 with the Bills they are realizing what they didn't know - namely, that the above philosophy is fine, but not in itself, enough to build a winner. Without trying to, I believe McDermott has put both organizations on blast with his work ethic, professionalism, and attention to detail. The early termination of Rex, the new "one voice" approach with the media, Pegula's commendation of McDermott as a "man of faith," and Pegula's criticism of the sloppiness of the Bylsma/Murray regime, all seem to indicate that they are recognizing in McDermott the type of person they want to work with. We'll see if it results in wins (for either team), but I believe we are seeing our ownership gain clarity in what they are looking for. It's not easy to run a pro sports team and I'm choosing to be hopeful about this.

According to your analysis, there are no "very fast" corners in the NFL. Nobody runs under 4.2. John Ross just broke the combine record at 4.22. As to the bigger picture, as unproven as Seymour is, I don't have a whole lot more confidence in Darby. He seemed very tentative at times last year. The consensus seems to be that there are a lot of good DBs in this draft, so a day 1 CB would certainly show a lack of confidence in what we currently have.

I think the Cousins comparisons are real and I believe NFL GMs are high on this guy. He is not going to get past day 2 IMO.

Brett Favre played a very good season at age 40 in 2009, then fell off the cliff in his age-41 season and retired. Warren Moon played a decent season at age 41 in 1997, then hung around as a backup for a couple more years. From my research that is it for QBs on the plus side of 40. Brady is 39 right now, the idea that he has 6-7 more years is completely ludicrous.

Mike Lombardi is very high on Nathan Peterman as a mid-round pick https://soundcloud.com/ringernflshow/gm-street-with-mike-lombardi-ep-88 Right around the 8:00 minute mark Also Peterman reportedly has a visit setup with the Bills in early April, per SiriusXMNFL

The point is the Moneyball nature of these signings. The combined production of this trio is likely to be greater than what Goodwin could have done in Buffalo.

Glenn is not moving to RT. There is no way that is even a consideration. Forget about the money - you don't move an excellent player to accommodate a mediocre one. CK is in grave danger with the new regime. It is not like he is a pro bowler on the left side and can't get a body on anyone on the right. He needs to show well in camp to have a chance at making the team. We already know six guys who are making the team (last year's five starters plus Groy). Henderson can be carried without a roster spot for the first five games. I see the Bills addressing RT with another FA signing or a 2nd - 4th round pick depending on their internal evaluation of Mills.

That game was not an anomaly. Packers were a weak road team that year. They came in 3-3 on the road and ended up 4-4.