LEBills

2 Olave TDs now…he may be a core piece of their rebuild 🥲

Diggs didn’t have a sterling reputation in 2020 either and he became the best WR in Bills history. It’s a lack of want from the top that gets explained away as “not a good teammate.” And for what it is worth, I’d hate playing for Arthur Smith too haha

The issue isn’t picking Keon though who knows how these other players would be doing on the Bills. The issue is only picking Keon early in his whole tenure as GM. If Diggs and Keon are your only early draft pick investment in 8 years at WR (he also spent thirds on fat Kelvin Benjamin and semi-retired Amari Cooper that it took less than a year to realize they would not be on the team long), that’s not enough as we are seeing right now.

As soon as he went to the Steelers, Pickens should have been on his way to Buffalo. Still on rookie deal and on the field he is who they wish Coleman would become. Their were definitely options out there this offseason.

He should acquire WRs via draft or trade. Signing mid level free agent WRs is dumb. It’s an expensive position to sign in free agency and almost none of them perform better than they did on their original team. WR is a tough position to evaluate in the draft. The Chiefs drafted Skyy Moore who was terrible but have drafted a WR in the top 4 rounds every year since and now have Rice and Worthy - not great but better than any WRs on our roster. So to me the biggest crime is not even trying to draft WRs early until Diggs forced his way out and we were desperate. So we are not arguing opposite points. Beane is not a great drafter, and so he has to fill a lot of holes with expensive veterans in free agency who are only in free agency because their former team doesn’t think they are worth it. This makes him both not a great drafter and poor at managing the cap lately. But I will always believe if he drafted WRs early most years, some of them would be already be successes with Josh and then these other misses wouldn’t hurt as much.

The misses are forced errors because of how badly he has planned out this roster at WR. In 2018, all of our WRs were terrible So in 2019, he fixed them with veteran WRs in Beas and Smoke. Good signings and something we could do with Josh on his rookie contract. In 2020, we traded a 1st and 4th for Diggs, drafted Gabe in the 4th, and Josh had his most prolific season and we immediately went to the AFCCG. In 2021, we didn’t draft a WR until the 6th round. Released Smoke and signed Manny Sanders. 13 seconds ended our year. In 2022, we had the last chance at cap space and used it on Von. Released Bease and Sanders contract expired. Didn’t draft a WR until Shakir who is a good but limited player that we lucked into for the draft capital. Josh was now throwing to Diggs, Gabe, little dirty and had Shakir developing. They got smoked by the Bengals and all the talent they had on offense. In 2023, Beane saw how bad our offense looked last playoffs and drafted Kincaid in the first because he knew he needed to add a weapon for Josh. Drafted Justin Shorter in the 5th round. We wound up bringing Bease and Smoke back at the end of the year lolol lost to the Chiefs. In 2024, Gabe signed in Jax. Because it had been 5 years since we spent a better draft pick on receiver than we spent on Gabe, we had to go and sign Samuel for $8 mil a year instead of having a player on a rookie contract ready to step up. Then Diggs got himself traded and literally Shakir was the only player on the roster that had caught a pass from Josh. So then we used our first pick on Coleman because we were desperate. In 2025, because all we had was Keon, Shakir and Samuel, we had to sign Josh Palmer to a 9.66 mill per year contract. Again, did not draft a WR until the 7th round. In the time since we actually invested in the WR room in 2020, we have drafted one WR in the first 4 rounds. In that same timeframe we drafted 6 DL, 2 OL, 2 LB, 2 RB, and 2 CBs. Keep in mind that WR makes up 5 of the top 11 non-QB contracts in the league. So we have barely drafted one of the top 3 most expensive positions in football. So I posit that the reason he has whiffed on WR draft picks and signings is because he has only drafted WRs when he absolutely has to, and then overpaid for players who are only in free agency because they are not that good. So has he whiffed on DL a lot making him have to use picks over and over on them instead of WR? yes. But he is whiffing on WRs because his strategy of how to acquire them onto the team is dumb.

Shaheed isn’t better. He would help us in the regular season by giving us a true deep threat. Shaheed’s punt return ability would let us cut Coddrington. He will likely get a decent contract in free agency so whatever you give up for him you will recoup some as a comp pick the following year if you don’t resign him. But if he is all you acquire, I don’t think it’s enough.

Yea this is the year. The schedule gets harder next year and Burrow and Lamar are probably healthy. So go all in like this is the only year that matters. Unfortunately, Olave is the only one who could fit our cap and be talented enough to meet expectations. If he gets a contract extension from the Saints, I don’t think there is really another move to make this year.

Yea it’s Olave or just wait till the draft for me. Pickens would be great - that’s what you hope Keon could become as a player - but he isn’t getting traded now.

I don’t know I’m not their GM LOL, I imagine if the picks are enough everyone has a price tag. He is just a great receiver on a bad team with a pretty good contract so thought I’d throw it out there to speak into existence since Olave has been discussed a ton.

Taking a look around the league there is one other receiver with a low enough salary this year to fit easily under this years cap. His team is off to a poor start, drafted several WRs high this year and need OL desperately. To obtain him would be costly, maybe prohibitively so. But trading picks and O’Cyrus Torrence may be interesting for the Texans and Nico Collins. a WR can’t fix all of our problems, but if there is one that can rejuvenate an offense on his own it may be him.

Shaheed would bump Coddrington as he would be the returner as well, Olave probably Moore maybe Shavers.

Shaheed would be a great addition in conjunction with getting Olave. Shaheed is likely to get a good sized contract that will net New Orleans a rd 3 or 4 comp pick. So you would have to offer similar compensation a year early. Something like a 2026 1st and 3rd for Olave and Shaheed. The WR group would be much better this year though New Orleans may not want to gut their WR room like that.

Olave is the best player realistically available. 25 and under contract through next year. His concussion history is bad but part of that was being subjected to Carr crash’s hospital balls. He is a good but not great WR1. If we have any hope of fixing this WR group this year, it involves him. But probably need someone else too that is a true deep threat like his running mate Shaheed.

This bye week would be a great time to get Olave. Not sure Beane will admit mid season his WRs stinks two years in a row

This is my biggest Bills fan fear

After enduring another difficult game to watch, the bye week is upon us. I wanted to highlight some players who may be available via trade this year. Trading for these players may not be the best for the teams long term outlook but may give us a 2023-style spark. If we are to bring in some new players this year, this bye week would be the best opportunity to get them up to speed: Jeffrey Simmons, DT, Titans Simmons has been on a tear so far this season with 4.5 sacks on a terrible Titans team that just fired their head coach. Overall, his contract is pretty manageable (would take some maneuvering this year), but he may look for a renegotiated contract after this year. We have several players in the pipeline at DT, but Simmons is a true difference maker. As such he would be an expensive and unlikely addition Chris Olave This may be about as good a time to inquire about Olave as there will be. A costly drop last week vs the Pats and many New Orleans fans were expressing the opinion it is time to move on. From 2022-2024, he is one of 28 players to have over 300 targets. His 5% drop rate is tied with Stef Diggs as 23rd worst of those 28. His 63.5% Catch Rate is 19th and success rate is 14th. He has had great yards per route run and first downs per route run advanced metrics throughout his career, showing someone who is a good and consistent separator. He has a very manageable contract that would not require much to fit and is signed through 2026. Many teams need WR help, so to land him may require a first round pick. Rashid Shahid Shahid has immediate value as a returner as he is averaging 14 yards per punt return and would immediately bump Coddrington off the team. He also is a dangerous deep threat who plays on the outside over 60% of the time. He wouldn’t add much more than that deep element, but that is certainly something our offense needs. He is likely to receive a nice sized contract as a FA if he leaves in the offseason. So whatever you give up you would recoup a comp pick the following year. Devin Bush A former Steelers bust, Bush has rejuvenated his career in Cleveland. He has especially shown to be an effective tackler and has graded out well in run defense. The Browns appear to be settling in for another rebuild and seem willing to move off players that are playing well but are not in their long term plans. Stephon Gilmore / Kendall Fuller Though trades are the splashiest way to add to your team at this point. There are still some free agents available that cost only cap space. Stephon Gilmore does not have a special place in Bills fans hearts, but even at his age he is still a good corner. Not sure he would be willing to take on a small contract to play this year though. Last year he signed for $7 million. Kendall Fuller has had a lot of success throughout his career while playing both the perimeter and slot. Justin Simmons Damar Hamlin is out for the year and Rapp and Bishop are not making a difference this year. Simmons signed for $8 million last year potentially making him too expensive. —- If I was Beane and felt pressure to win this year or else. I would trade my 2026 first and third for Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed and sign Justin Simmons and Kendall Fuller to one year contracts with some void years to make it work with the cap. Then hope a D-coordinator change, the PED guys and a healthy Max Hairston can fortify the defense enough to stop a nosebleed.

Josh is getting older, he is getting caught some times that he used to get away from things. Still amazing, but he can’t be expected to do that all the time anymore.

No, they feel very comfortable. When Beane went on WGR and cursed out the hosts (and many on here applauded it) I knew he felt he had the rope to do that. It will take multiple years of missing the playoffs for a change to be made and that is hard to do when Josh Allen is so great. We will fire Babich but Beane and McDermott are here for awhile unfortunately.

Yes after this season they should move on from McDermott and Beane barring a Super Bowl. Like 2023 we will turn it around enough that Pegula will give them another year probably.

yea the 2022 draft helped us so much from a cheap talent standpoint. Now they are all paid and the 2023 - 2025 classes have not shown anything except Kincaid when he is healthy and Cybo being pretty good and Walker doing pretty well.

We were running the ball well and that 4th and two where Josh flipped the ball to Ty Johnson. I saw Ty was in instead of Cook and was so mad. Leave Cook in and make them account for him, or better yet let him run for those two yards. Cook can’t play every snap, but he should definitely be in on 3rd or 4th and short every time imo

Been saying this for years now

I think Babich will be gone like how we moved on from Dorsey in 2023. For players, I’m not sure there is much to do. We don’t have a lot of cap space and I would be surprised if Beane will give up significant picks for talented players in case this year really bottoms out. Poyer may be our only option at Safety to make a change. Justin Simmons is out there but being able to fit him under the cap may be tough without adding several void years. Their are free agents like Stephon Gilmore and Kendall Fuller at CB that would probably improve the position if we are able to afford it. This limited cap space is tough. Could try to trade for Devin Bush at LB. He has been very good for the Browns - especially vs the run - and they seem willing to trade decent players for improved draft capital. Cheap contract and probably would cost a day 3 pick. Olave is the top target that may be out there and he is no Jamar Chase. May take our 2026 first rounder to get Really depends how far they want to kick things down the road for a chance to improve this year. Trade for Olave and Bush, sign Gilmore, Fuller and Simmons and we may have something. But it’ll hamper us the next few years with the trade picks, restructures and/or void years we would need to fit those types of players under the cap. If I was to guess, Babich is gone and we ride the year out with what we have

Bout time, he was historically bad for how many games he got to coach. Hopefully the Jets let Aaron Glenn challenge for that crown.