msw2112

Huasch has been good, but hasn't had the longevity with the Bills to call him our best kicker. Kickers often have a good year or 2, then lose their mojo and either move on or retire. Dan Carpenter was great for the Bills for a couple of years (fairly recently), then just lost it. I hope that the same doesn't happen to Hausch and that in a couple of years we can answer the OP's question with a "Yes." Some the greats - like Adam Vinatieri - have been able to sustain excellence over a really long period of time. Again, I hope that Hausch can do the same!

I like Yarborough, but I don't think there's room on the roster for him this year and I can't spell his name. Johnson is going to take the last DE spot.

I liked Teller and thought he was a good, young developmental lineman. That said, the quality of the roster is such that capable players are going to be cut this year, so if Teller was going to be cut, better to get something in exchange for him. I guess I have to trust Bills management. Their roster moves in the last couple of years seemed to have worked out in our favor. I was disappointed when they traded Watkins and Darby (obviously much higher-profile moves than this one), but those moves proved to work out well for us, so I will go on faith that this one will work out too.

I agree with this. Otherwise an excellent projection of the 53 by the OP.

I think the "You" in "You've" refers to non-Bills fans.

I agree with the Beth Mowins comments. The sound of her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I cringe whenever I turn out a game and hear that voice. I support women in every way, but I cannot stand Beth in the booth. I don't THINK that the content of what she says is that bad, but the voice is so horrible that I find myself unable to listen to what she is saying.

Like most of us, I see the moves that the Bills have made and believe they are a much improved team over last year and that their record will show it. But, to be honest, I really don't know what other teams have done in the offseason. So maybe the Bills have gotten better, but perhaps some other teams have gotten better too. I do agree that some of the anti-Bills bias is lazy journalism. The Bills biggest signing was a center and not a well-known name. How many people really know who Mitch Morse is? How many of us knew who he was prior to the Bills pursuit of a FA center this offseason? We signed a lot of quality players, but really not a lot of big or "sexy" names like OBJ or LaVeon Bell. The poorly or marginally informed "journalist" isn't going to see anything that the Bills did as cause for an upward trajectory. They don't know much about the players we have signed and they probably have not kept close tabs on Josh Allen's progress from year 1 to year 2. So, to them, it's more of the same.

Keep mind that the concept of the Practice Squad hasn't been around forever. I have been watching football for my entire life and I recall the concept of the PS being created sometime in my adult life. I did a few Google searches, but was not able to find the year that they first instituted the Practice Squad. Does anyone know? As to Tyree, I think it is worth stashing him in the Practice Squad. He has a lot of physical talent, but is clearly raw and needs time to develop. If he progresses, you keep him, and if the coaches determine that he just doesn't have it, you can let him go somewhere down the line. In addition to Tyree's development, it's good to have a 3rd QB to take practice reps and also to have another QB available during a disaster situation where a #1 or #2 QB goes down.

I agree with those who want to take a pass on Clowney. I see him as a Dareus-like player (albeit with a much better physique). He is highly talented and would be paid top dollar as such, but is not highly motivated. Whatever team signs him to a large, long-term deal will regret it later. Clowney is the exact type of player (like Dareus) that causes teams to get into salary cap jail. I hate the Patriots as much as the next guy, but they manage their cap extremely well. They get rid of guys like this and let some other team take on the headaches and salary cap issues. When they do get "problem child" types of players, which they sometimes do (see Josh Gordon, Randy Moss, etc.), it's usually on the cheap, when the guys are running out of chances and trying to re-establish themselves. If it works out, they get a bargain and if it doesn't, they can get rid of them with little cap impact.

Some of these visits and signings are to improve the roster. They can cut guys who have a 10% chance of making the roster and replace them with guys who have a 15% chance of making the roster.

Right now, the Bills have a deep pockets owner who is willing to invest in the team, a seemingly competent GM, a seemingly competent HC, a great fanbase, a solid defense, a young talented potential franchise QB, an excellent placekicker (had to get that in), and many improvements across the roster from this year's draft and free agency signings. Based on these factors we are probably NOT one of the 12 worst franchises. Despite this, I still think we belong on that list based on the history of the last 15-20 years. We have 1 playoff appearance (which followed a 9-7 season and lasted all of 1 game) in nearly two decades. If things trend like I believe they will, we should very soon be off of the list (by next year) and remain off the list for the foreseeable future after that.

I haven't read all 5 pages of this thread, so I don't know what's been said, but I don't think Clowney is a good fit for the Bills. He's an extremely talented guy, but he will command top dollar and Beane is very judicious with managing the cap. Clowney also has a history of playing below his potential, whether it is due to injury, disinterest, etc. His 2nd to last year in college he was a beast, then dropped off his final year, but still went #1 overall due to his off-the-charts physical talents. He's been inconsistent with the Texans. When he's "on," he's among the best, but he's not always on. Giving up a lot of assets and paying top dollar doesn't seem to make sense here. He's not quite Marcel Dareus (and he's obviously in much better shape), but I could see some of that kind of unrealized potential happening with Clowney.

There are guys that hold out. Look at Roquan Smith for the Bears last year. While signing draft picks is not the challenge it used to be, it is still commendable to get our first round stud signed, sealed, delivered and into the mix quickly and without fuss.

They also have more OL and more WR on the roster than they need. Some guys are going to get cut in the later stages of training camp. If they sign Smith, that just means that one more of the TEs on the roster will be cut at that time. Perhaps Smith is the guy they cut, or perhaps he beats out one of the other guys (many here think it will be Fisher) and makes the team. What's different this season from recent years is that there will be guys with some level of talent and can play that will be cut. Should make for a much stronger and deeper roster.

I agree. He's a good depth guy, team player, etc. It's not his fault that he was the best we had at the position for a long time. With all of our signings and draft pick, we no longer need Mills, but he's a good veteran player to have on your roster. He has starting experience and is decent in some aspects of the game. Not a great option as a full-time starter for teams with stronger lines.

Bodine and McKenzie are gone. Roberts will be KR and Long will back up at C. The open spot goes to Feliciano, another WR (Sills, if he has a good camp), or a 3rd QB. If Tyree has a good camp, they may want to put him in the active roster. He's a big enough name that he could get snatched up if we try to stash him on the PS.

Wouldn't it be great if he turned out to be the Lorax of the offense? Similar paths to the Bills.

This draft pick seems to be a home run in every way. All of the experts (including the Bills own) agree that he has the talent level to be a great player, especially when played in the proper position (which his college team didn't do last year). On top of that he seems to love Buffalo, love the Bills organization and was clearly excited to be selected by the Bills. And going to visit Pancho, one of the greatest Bills fans, in the hospital was awesome. Many prima donna athletes wouldn't have taken the time to make this kind of gesture. I realize that I am re-stating most of what has been said in other posts, but it just feels right to comment! One thing to also keep in mind is that Oliver hasn't even signed a contract yet.

Shady wouldn't draw much more than a mid-to-late round pick. Our best bet is to see if we can squeeze one more good year out of him with our much improved offensive line and likely much improved passing game (which will soften up defenses for the run). If he doesn't perform well, we have other options on the roster, including an older, but talented vet, a mid-range vet (in both age and talent level) and a talented rookie. We have the cap space to accommodate McCoy for 1 more year. I wouldn't deal him unless it was to a contender and with his blessing, so he could go out on top. The Bills want to establish a culture as a place that treats their guys well and where guys want to come and play. Dumping McCoy, a possible HOF'er and one of our best players in recent years, for a bag of used jock straps sends a bad message to future free agents.

I agree with this post. Assuming the first 4, Roberts makes it for special teams and Duke and Sills duke it out (pun intended) for the final spot. McKenzie showed some good athleticism and versatility last year, but he dropped too many balls and his ST duties can be fulfilled by Roberts.

At the time, I was thinking we should have gone with Sternberger in the 3rd round, rather than Singletary, and I like Winovich, but I trust this regime and they obviously see something in Singletary, plus they may have rated Knox (who they ultimately got at TE) higher than Sternberger. I had never heard of Knox before the Bills selected him, but I'm not one to dig that deep into draft analysis. The main reason I know Winovich is that I am a big Michigan fan and have seen all of his games. I only know Singletary because he was listed as one of the guys that made a pre-draft visit to the Bills and they seemed to be interested in him. (And I only know Sternberger because he was listed as one of the "top players available" and "top TE's available" on the tickers on draft night).

I agree that the Pats had a nice draft and I would like to have acquired Harry and Winovich, but I am quite pleased with what the Bills have done and for a national NFL media program to discuss the AFC East and not even mention the Bills is lazy and weak. The Pats should still be the favorite in the division, but the Bills will make some noise and should be the 2nd best team in the division and a wild card contender. I like Josh Rosen and think he will develop into a good QB, but the Dolphins are a dumpster fire. The Jests have vastly improved their roster and have a 2nd year QB with talent, but I'm not sure that Adam Gase is a very good HC. His track record in Miami is less than impressive.

We had 6 wins and picked 9th, our promising rookie QB now has a year of experience, our OC's system has been in place a full year, we have vastly improved our roster through FA and the draft and we have arguably upgraded the coaching staff by replacing some of the weaker links, and have an easier schedule. Slating us to pick 4th (which means somewhere between 2 and 5 wins, at best) makes no sense and clearly shows a complete lack of homework done by the person who wrote the piece. My personal opinion is somewhere between 8 and 10 wins.

I honestly have not seen enough of Barkley to compare him to the other two. The Barkley that played against the Jests last year looked pretty good. I guess I would go with the poster above who said that Taylor is the perfect backup. Makes very few mistakes and keeps the ship steady while others try to win the game for you (running game, defense, special teams, etc.) If Taylor was on a squad, designated as the backup and accepting of this role, I'd go with him. If Taylor is competing to be the starter and lost the competition, then I would go with Barkely, who is very much accepting of the backup role. I LOVE Fitz as a guy, but he's just too inconsistent as a player. He plays like an NFL MVP (literally) for a few weeks in a row and the fan base gets all riled up, and then he reverts to absolutely terrible play. He's also a virtual lock for a fumble or INT on a late game drive in a close game. Of the 3, Fitz is definitely the guy I would most like to have a beer with or play a round of golf with.

Nobody really has any idea on how draft picks will work out until they step on the field. Some franchises seem to have a better track record of success (Ravens & Steelers, for example), but that could be as much due to solid organizational continuity and good coaching as much as anything. Even though they may really mean much, I'd still rather be hearing positive comments about the Bills' draft than negative ones, so I am pleased with what the pundits are saying about the Bills right now.