GunnerBill

In fairness it happened at OL as well a fair bit. It is only the last couple of years it hasn't. I remember them signing Quintin Spain and Jon Feliciano to be their two guards and thinking "great they are both upgrades but they play totally different styles, what blocking scheme are we using?"

I know they weren't on speaking terms by the end of the previous season. The Cincy game their relationship was described to me as "toxic" and even teammates were not sure of the root cause.

And more importantly with the Quarterback.

Yea. Fat guy. Don't love the skill set that comes with it.

Far below is an exaggeration. But I think he only re-set the market once. He normally slotted in as 2nd or 3rd highest AAV when he got paid.

Yep. I think Benford is a Ward type level player right now and is younger with still the potential to get better. He is already better than Davis and Adebo. He clearly isn't Stingley. So that gives you a sense of where his real market is.

Ha, I was also going by PFR on their Ed specific page.... it says 66%! Just checked PFF and while they don't give you a percentage they agree the regular season total snaps was 603 - which is the number that PFR use to get their 66%.

Ed played 66% in 2024. Despite missing one entire game.

I like TJ a lot. I'm higher than the consensus I think. But for the Bills he is so reminiscent of Ed Oliver I struggle how you get them both on the field.

He has to be under the cap now. Once the league year has begun you have to be under the cap at all times.

I just don't know if we are committed to this offense if he is ever going to be as good of a fit in it as Dawson Knox. I realise he will not be traded. And it makes 2025 make or break for him. If he makes, great. If he breaks, his value might be lower next offseason. But I understand Beane not wanting to give up on consecutive first round picks in the same offseason. That would not look good on his resume.

Are there possible weapons in this class? Yes. But the stock is thinner than in recent years and whether one reaches the Bills at a spot that is workable I don't know. I don't get the sunk cost idea though. What sunk cost? One second round pick (Keon) and two mid vet FA deals on career WR3s? That is about the lowest sunk cost in football on outside receivers. The Bills still have a very significant need for upgrades at boundary receiver. Whether the team admits that or not. That said, the strenght of this class is the defensive line and if the Bills came away with two DL from their first three picks I'd understand it. I just would then question why they targeted the spot for two of their 3 reasonably big FA moves this offseaon - even more so given that they botched it and ended up with two guys who can't play until week 7. My view since January has been the strength of this class is DL so look at secondary and receiver in FA/trade market UNLESS you could swing a trade for an elite level pass rusher because elite talent is more of a hole on this team than any single position.

In a word, unconvincing. The Bills are still the best roster in the AFC East. They still have very few outright holes, but they have precisely one star too. Concerning to me that one of the contracts that hasn't got done is with the guy the closest I think they have to being a breakout star in Benford. I understand why you might wait on that deal, don't get me wrong, but he is a guy I could easily see becoming an elite NFL corner over the next 3 years and the Bills risk him doing that on another team.

I think we all know the Beane - Josh relationship by now. Josh likes to joke around and ball bust a bit and the texts every time a QB got a deal were just that. I am sure that whenever they have had serious conversations about Josh's contract Beane was always clear he needed to get beyond 2024 and the pain (and dead money) of moving on from the old guard and then when the table was re-set in 2025 they would take a serious look at Josh's deal. I believe that would have happened this offseason with our without the MVP. Josh Allen is a smart guy. He understands the way the league works.

No the trade down with KC got us Carter. I think that was 4 spots? Then we went down 1 with Carolina.

It doesn't get rid of the dead cap hit. The dead cap hit is money we have already paid him. It has to go on the cap somewhere.

Matt's one of my favourite ever Bills. But I think this is a really sensible, pragmatic decision on both parts.

I doubt it. Stingley's contract is for the the final two years of his rookie deal plus 3 new years. The big numbers will hit in years four and five. Year five will be 2029. The conservative estimates of the salary cap in 2029 are $410m. That is based on the numbers in the current TV deals which are due to run until 2033. But it came out last year the NFL has a clause to end those deals early in 2029 and run new deals from 2030. While that probably doesn't make a big difference to the 2029 cap it means the 2030 cap could take a very significant bump - and teams will be happy to kick the can into that year with restructure etc to create cap relief. By the end of the decade the salary cap is going to be not far short of $500m.

Ah so we now need to adjust our draft strategy yet further away from weapons for Josh to shore up the botched defensive FA acquisitions?

Yea I feel like Jackson, Groot and Bosa is a lot of versions of the same or a similar player. More twitch and bend would be my preference too.

That is a fair point.

If only the world was as binary as you'd like it to be, eh?

Oh he was. He was horrible.

Cos he was on a good team with too much talent to suck. I did say that before the season.

Yep. That's another.