GunnerBill

The reason I exclude Watson is I don't think anyone, including the Cleveland top brass thinks he is a franchise QB anymore.

Yes, the trade up for Elam was orchestrated by Beane. But nobody is saying McDermott played no part. The relationship is just not as you portray it. And for some reason despite being told this multiple times you continue to insist on it. And did you not read what I said about the Mahomes trade? That trade was orchestrated by McDermott. He ran the Bills 2017 draft - he was de-facto GM at that point. He relinquished that when his guy was brought in to fulfil that role.

Remains to be seen. I am not sold yet that we are better at receiver. Maybe we are. Maybe we are worse. Maybe we are the same talent wise but different enough in style that we find more explosive pass plays. I hope you are right, because if that is true it might make for an easier Cook decision next summer (on the basis he doesn't sign a deal this summer). We did keep drives going well. But that is a hard play to live drive in and drive out for 17 games plus playoffs. And even in terms of turning what was really 4 or 5 yards into 9 or 10 Cook is among the best in the NFL over the past two years. He was also THE best in the entire league last year at yards lost in tackles for loss - he was tackled for a loss just 21 times (second fewest among qualifying backs behind Jahmyr Gibbs) and those 21 losses cost us just 37 yards - the lowest in the NFL among qualifying backs. It isn't JUST that Cook can break a big one. He is critical part of their everyone eats small ball offense too. As to the contract, I agree the Bills and Cook are obviously apart on the overall value of the package right now. We don't know that is just AAV, it might be, but my strong suspicion is it is as much about length and guarantees. There are $15m per year deals I'd do, given his value currently to this offense. But he'd have to be willing to leave some team flexibility on the table in terms of guarantees and contract length for me to get there. I'm a don't pay running backs guy. But he is clearly the second best offensive weapon on the team behind Josh Allen right now and unless this O can prove to me it is built different in 2025 then my instinct is you have to try and find a way to retain what he brings without tying yourself to an expensive running back contract for the longer term. His 4.7 average is bumped up somewhat by 5.1 ypc as a rookie when he did not, for the most part, start and we have seen sometimes being just a change of pace guy inflates those numbers. He is a plodding backup level talent. Cook is way better at making the first guy miss and way better at getting 5 or 6 yards out of 2 yard holes. Because his vision is on a different planet to Singletary's. Singletary has had three starting jobs in the NFL now. The Bills let him walk after his rookie deal and replaced him with Cook, the Texans and the Giants ended up benching him for rookies. He is who he is. A plodding backup.

On the former - because that is how it works. Beane isn't a scout but he is the General Manager. He takes the views of his personnel staff, he takes the views of the coaches and he factors all that in to how they build the board and then the selections he makes. Howie Roseman didn't come up the scouting route either. Not all General Managers do. Indeed some of the best modern day GMs don't there is a lot more to it than that. On trading away the pick used for Mahomes - Sean McDermott takes the blame for that. He ran the 2017 draft. He didn't draft him away for peanuts though. It was pretty much BANG on the Jimmy Johnson chart value and the Bills actually won the trade (to the value of a 4th round pick) by the Rich Hill chart. You can think they could have got more if you want. Maybe they could. But they didn't give it away for peanuts.

Probably read his posts.... 🙃

Love ya really @Chandler#81

Our offense relied less on the run then though. This is the point I keep making on Cook. I'd much rather the Bills were explosive in the pass game and could churn out backup level talents like Singletary and Moss to plod around the backfield on rookie deals like they were in 2020/21. If they were I'd let Cook walk to a team that relies more on the run quite happily. But right now when we do NOT create many explosives in the pass game other than Josh on broken plays I'm reluctant to give up one of the best explosive runs running backs in football. If you replaced Cook with a backup level talent plodder in THIS version of the Bills offense as otherwise constituted I'd be concerned.

man, you olllllllldddddddddd

Only going from my fandom..... got to be Moorman. I think I'd put Taiwan Jones on there too (which will annoy a ton of people) and Nyheim Hines for that opening kick off touchdown vs the Pats the game after the Damar incident. That was just a special moment that will live long in the memory.

Didn't Fitzpatrick get traded the other way a few years back because, in part, he hated being in Miami?

So I don't have Darnold in the "franchise" club in any definition. I get the "he got paid" condition, but he has one moderately successful year as a starter. His other years starting have been dismal. Financially he and Baker are on a par but Baker has had three playoff years as a starter, and has played pretty darn well in the playoffs. So once you throw Darnold out.... you are left with TLaw and Murray. I have Lawrence in penultimate place ahead of Kyler, probably on the basis that Kyler it totally anti-clutch, he plays his worst when you need his best AND I think he is the most likely of the bottom end "franchise" guys not to be on his current team in 2026. But I wouldn't really fight against someone putting those two the other way around. I think Kyler has generally been more consistent in helping his offense move the football.

Agree with 1 and 2 for sure, and the UK experience supports both. We have moved towards advertising restrictions and affordability checks, bans on credit cards and other credit functions. On 3 - not sure that bet "in-play" has actually been proven more dangerous / risky, but if there is evidence to that end interested to see it.

Okay. That wasn't on the stat I saw but I did think he must be up there somewhere. I remember a few of those Saints - Eagles battles.

Who has never beaten Andy Reid. Not once. I'll take my chances that the active coach with the most wins against Andy Reid (thought all regular season) finds a way to get one in the post season rather than banking on the guy who has never beaten him to beat him.

Americans have a really odd perspective on gambling (especially sports betting) to a Brit. And I think it is proof that criminalising something (or only legalising it in very select circumstances) as was the case in the US until more recent times increases the public perception of the danger associated with it. That isn't to say that there are not dangers associated with sports betting. There are. Gambling addiction is real and there are people who suffer from it and the corruption risk while small does exist. But it has been legal in the UK for decades, certainly my entire life, and it hasn't led to a break down of society or some major undiluted corruption of our lives and our sports. Having a couple of quid on first goalscorer at the game you are going to on a Saturday or a fiver on an accumulator is much part of the ritual of being an English football fan as the half time pie and the post match pint.

Does sports betting lead to the odd instance of attempted match fixing? Yes. Does it lead to rampant or industrial level cheating that ruins sports? No.

If you speak to anyone with any knowledge around the Browns they will confirm it. I don't know how much of bringing in Watson was him. But he was the one who wanted Baker out.

Agree that is the standard for the D. That said they have been a top 3 D and top 10 on 3rd down multiple times (when Leslie was here) and it hasn't got them over the hump. But 3rd down is the big test for me this year. They were an abomination on 3rd down in 2024. A repeat would see Babich worry for his job.

I'd argue Mack Hollins cleared the bar of "made an impact" but he was who we knew him to be and if he is your team's most impactful addition over an offseason that is not a good thing.

All true although Zay's receiver coach from ECU had been hired on staff and they had a link at Temple through a guy who had interned in Carolina. Still the case that the 2017 draft other than Tre does not look the same as their MO ever since.

Dak Prescott is a way better Quarterback than Kyler Murray. The comparison is so ridiculous it isn't close.

I don't KNOW but I have always suspected that the Gutekunst interview was a solid for him. I suspect Beane and he knew each other (they are a couple of years apart in age and both from North Carolina).... because the timing of it was odd. The interviewed Brown, Beane and Gaine. Then they interviewed Beane a second time, then a couple of days later brought in Gutekunst. I think he wanted Green Bay to see him as a coveted candidate. You will recall at the time that everyone in Green Bay knew Ted Thompson was not well and not much longer for the role. There was basically two "teams" in the Packers personnel department at the time - team Wolff (Eliot) who most people assumed was the heir apparent as his dad was Thompson's predecessor and team Gutekunst. Gute was definitely seen as the outsider and to that point had limited outside interest whereas because of his name Wolff had taken multiple GM interviews by that stage. I think Gute needed the people in Green Bay to think "man we have two really sought after guys here" to give them a choice to make.

You and me both mate, you and me both.....

... but apart from all that?

Have a participation trophy