LEBills

Haha I don’t think there is anyone to be traded for right now

Yea I mean we will have to wait and see how the season goes. Him not making the roster would still be pretty surprising to me. When we signed them I said we would not get much out of him and Josh Palmer. Keon, Shakir and Kincaid are the key to the passing game this year.

Going about as well as I predicted then 😕

I was excited for it because it felt like the official start of the season. Pretty standard fare as far as Hard Knocks goes. Guessing episode 2 will have a segment on Keon, Cook, and Bosa.

Trade for Alec Pierce?

Think he may have been kidding because ESPN had him 8th in that position review series they did a few weeks ago https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45589580/ranking-nfl-top-10-running-backs-2025-execs-coaches-scouts-make-their-picks-best-rushers

After Jacobs, those players all have a top 66 pick rookie contract player waiting in the wings (or starting) except for broken down 29 year old Joe Mixon. Will probably require that level of investment to replace Cook next year at least.

Could be Beane doesn’t believe in paying a running back a big contract. Schoen is from that GM tree and let Saquon walk.

Cant forget what a Sean McVay system and a QB that can barely move does for those numbers too. Cook is the more talented runner. But this contract along with the Jacobs contract last year probably set the tone for where Cook will fall in percentage of cap space if he was to get a new contract this year.

Etienne is toast. He is much worse than Cook. Just let Cook play out this year if we can’t get a contract done with him.

I think you are underestimating things. There is a reason Beane seemed to complain that Cook is holding in. He sees things both short term and long term. Cook will play this season, probably week 1. But GMs and coaches are control freaks and don’t like the unpredictability going into the regular season. On top of that, Shakir is probably questionable for week 1. So going into Week 1 vs the Ravens they could have questionable statuses for their top RB and WR from last year. Long term, Beane will either have to plan to let him walk and fill the position someway else. If Davis, Keon, or Palmer don’t emerge as difference makers this year, that leaves Shakir as the only proven skill position difference maker on your roster. And would be something Beane would have to spend free agency and the draft trying to replace. If he franchises him it will just be to get a long term contract done. The franchise tag is likely to be 15 million plus next year for running backs anyway which would be fully guaranteed and a tough contract to workaround with the cap. For a team that values consistency, that seems onerous. Whatever happens, it will be interesting.

Players are always at a disadvantage in these negotiations but if this is a hold in, he does have leverage at this point. Shakir is the only other dependable skill player and he is hurt. In fact most of our WR room is nursing some injuries right now. I doubt the other players will hold it against Cook for saving his body for the regular season to maximize his pay day. It may bother Beane and the coaches who want the team to be as ready as possible for the regular season. Beane will not release him lol maybe he tries to trade him. Finding a trade that will keep the Bills as good as they are with Cook is going to be hard to do at this stage of the offseason. I still think it is more likely that the contract is close and so Cook doesn’t want to get injured before it is finalized.

Cook has a lot of leverage. As much as we all hope Ray Davis, Keon, Palmer or Moore may step up, Cook and Shakir are the only proven quality skill position players on the Bills. That is partly Beane’s fault and so makes playing hardball a bit more tricky. With how good Cook has been over the past two years, despite a couple of drops and not being a good pass protector, I would pay him the $15 mil. Some team will. 2800 yards and 24 touchdowns over the last two years is a lot of production on good efficiency. Not to mention how well he performed this postseason. Maybe the Bills try to wait to see how the season goes, hopefully that works out this year and in the long run.

I think the point being made is you don’t have to choose between a good OL and a good RB. There is enough money to pay all of them, especially with the entire WR room costing less than Ja’Marr Chase’s yearly salary. You would just have to choose to pay those positions rather than backup TEs or rotational DLineman. And Cook has certainly shown more when it matters in the playoffs than 0 sacks AJ Epenesa or Knox’s 58 yards total receiving all of the last two playoffs and 320 yards total in 6 postseason runs. That right there is almost 16 million per season for backups that don’t produce in the playoffs.

It’s certainly to prevent injury. Either that is to save himself for the regular season so that he can perform well when it matters and increase his value for free agency, or because the deal is imminent and doesn’t want it pulled if he went down. Either scenario is good for the Bills, with how he has been practicing and just decided to stop, I think the latter is probably more likely.

Yea, a very realistic possibility that the deal is close and so he is not risking injury prior to it being signed.

Yea I think this is it. Whether he is seeing his teammates get injured or he stubbed his toe, he does not want to get injured during practice. I do expect he is going to try his best and produce well during the season to justify his next contract. If I was Beane I would figure a way to pay him and put this behind us. Especially with how well he played all playoffs and the lack of other proven weapons on the roster.

Agreed with Moore, Coleman will handily out produce him this year imo. As for Coleman, it sure sounds like he has had some great plays in camp but has been inconsistent (I just read these training camp threads and listen to some of the Bills podcasts daily so it’s all just second hand info for me). I expect him to be very boom and bust again this year. My hope is that he can produce similar to year 2 George Pickens who I think is a more souped up version of Keon. A couple hundred yard games with several sub 50 yard games and a good stat line by the end of the year (~60 catches, 950 yards). With Josh throwing him the ball I think he can wind up there.

Im very skeptical of Beane as a drafter, but I think Hairston was worth the pick. Especially if you go back to his 2023 film, he was very good. The worry for me is how slender he is, injuries cut 2024 short and made him more reticent to tackle than he was the prior year. To sum it up, he was worth it but injuries make it risky

Parrino mentioned on his Day 1 podcast that Shand stood out. Sounds like he is continuing it on day 2. Drafted in the CFL this year after finishing at LSU. Canadian born. Maybe a future practice squad player.

Yea he was 39th in the NFL of WRs for yards per game last year and 58th for touchdowns. A good player and is valuable to us, but in a vacuum he would be ranked in the 30s around those players you mentioned.

Alec Anderson will be the most improved. He was already good but he will win a starting job this year. Bernard should be the runner up with the DLine quality improving ahead of him. I don’t think DQ will be on the team all year but he already hasn’t been good so it wouldn’t be that much of a drop off. AJ played a lot of snaps last year and I think that is going to decrease a lot though his play quality may stay the same. I’d also go with Taron as most likely to decline from a good player due to his age and wear.

Don’t forget that he averaged 112 yards and a touchdown per game in the playoffs this year. Better than anything 24 mil/per year Diggs ever provided in the postseason.

5th is pretty high, did Brandon Beane call and complain to PFF again?

On this team, yea he is worth the $15 mil he is asking for. Probably will get 13-15 here or elsewhere in FA.