BillsFan4

No surprise whatsoever. I dont think Hue Jackson has any interest at all in playing another rookie QB this year. I think Hue HAS TO win some games this season or his arse is fired. I don't think he has the job security at the moment to go through another season of rookie growing pains. I think he wants a steady veteran presence at the QB position.

Yeah he really seemed to find his role on that defense in 2016. He had a really impressive season. Its even more impressive considering the fact that the coaches had asked him to switch to defensive end after the 2015 season, so he spent the whole offseason (before 2016) bulking up to play DE. Then Junior Galette tore his Achilles and they asked Murphy to drop all that weight he had just added and switch back to OLB.

McDermott talked about how he personally scouted Micah Hyde and thought he'd be a great fit for what they did. And Bob Babich is actually the one who recommended Jordan Poyer to the coaching staff. There were a few articles about it. Here's one - http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Familiarity-with-Poyer-landed-Bills-a-free-agent-steal/93caa964-472d-49b0-8f59-76362617c3da As far as the draft - 2017 went completely away from what Whaley normally did in the draft. He almost always had the players he drafted (esp. high) in for pre draft visits. None of the players we drafted this year were in for a visit (except Peterman IIRC). In fact, The Bills have always had their 1st round draft pick in for a visit from the time he first got here - every year from 2010 to 2016. The only year he didn't... 2017. Drafts as assistant GM (pre draft visits)- -CJ Spiller -Marcell Dareus -Stephon Gilmore -Tank Carder -EJ Manuel -Jonathan Meeks (this 2013 draft was probably him running the show but I'll list it under asst. GM because we don't know if he ran the show or not). Drafts as GM (pre draft visits)- -Sammy Watkins -Cyrus Kouandjio -Preston Brown -Ross Cockrell (thats the top 4 picks from the 2014 draft, all brought in for a pre draft visit) -John Miller -Karlos Williams -Cardale Jones -Kolby Listenbee -Shaw Lawson -Reggie Ragland -Adolphus Washington (I'm not sure if this is a complete list. It's just what I found with a quick search) You know who did have many of our draft picks in for a visit? Carolina Panthers. -Tre White -Zay Jones -Dion Dawkins -Tanner Vallejo Also, Whaley never drafted players from small schools (like Zay Jones or even Dawkins (Temple)), especially in the first few rounds. Whaley stuck to certain colleges and especially certain conferences. In his time as GM from 2014 to 2015, 9 of his 13 draft picks came form the ACC. Shaq Lawson (in 2016) made that 10. If you go back to 2013, only 3 of his 28 draft picks came form outside the power 5 conference - Duke Williams (4th), Randell Johnson (7th round), Dezmin Lewis (7th). Never a top 3 round pick from outside the power 5, again, until 2017 (Jones, Dawkins). This was completely dfferent than any draft from the time Whaley was hired by Buffalo. I am sure McDermott used some information from him but when looking at everything it's hard to believe that Whaley played much of a role in this draft. Nobody knows for sure, but that's the impression I get when I add up all the pieces.

Broncos seem really high on him. Their staff was running 1 team at the senior bowl and personally requested to work with him. John Elway, Vance Joseph and Gary Kubiak all attended his pro day yesterday with 3-4 more scouts (I believe) There have been a lot of rumors that they really like him. Miami as well. It could just just all be a smoke screen too I guess.

Did you see the insane contracts these free agent WR's got on day 1 of free agency?! Sammy Watkins became the 3rd highest paid wide receiver in the NFL at $16M per year - just $1M less than Antonio Brown! Allen Robinson got $14M per year coming off a torn ACL (Julio Jones makes $14.25M) Paul Richardson got 5 years and $40M, after a 700yd season last year. Albert Wilson got 3 years and $24M Ryan Grant got 4 years and $29M - after a 4 year career in which he caught 84 passes for 984 total yards! Insane! I think the Bills will address the WR position, but I don't think they were willing to give out silly money, especially before they even have their QB on the roster (a QB who may not necessarily be ready to start year 1...).

It seems like all of the QB needy teams went with experience first and foremost. They went after guys with proven track records of NFL starts - chose the known quantity over the unknown. And McCarron is kind of an unknown. It's always a gamble going with the unknown over the known, even if the known may not have the same potential (not saying McCarron necessarily has more potential...). In the end, the Bills only seemed interested in a cheap bridge/insurance policy at QB and that's what they got. They seem all in on getting their QB in the draft IMO. McCarron could be a nice surprise at starter, or he could just end up as the backup (which is likely why his contract is based on playing time) if the rookie shows he's ready. Seems like a very smartly written contract. And IMO is just more proof that the Bills are all in on their QB in the draft. I think they've clearly identified 1 or 2 QBs in this draft that they think can start by year 2 the latest. They even bought themselves a nice little 5 day window next year to potentially trade McCarron before his salary becomes guaranteed (and after the dust settles on the opening of free agency).

I meant more how the contract is a total bargain and all based on his playing time. If they planned on him taking 100% of the snaps as QB1, they wouldn't have written the contract the way they did IMO. He gets a bonus if he hits 60% of the snaps in year 1, then another bonus for 75% of the snaps. And then its the same thing with year 2 of the contract. If he doesn't meet a certain % of snaps, the contract is for backup money. To me, it seems like a good insurance policy. They have a guy who will be a reasonable priced backup if the rookie beats him out, and can start games if the rookie isn't ready.

Thanks for sharing. That definitely makes it seem like it won't necessarily be a bargain contract. Plus he did agree to terms with the Bills pretty quickly after free agency officially opened. I just don't understand why the numbers haven't been released yet...

I believe he is eligible. The NFL changed the rules for eligibility 3 or 4 years ago to allow guys with up to 2 accrued NFL season to be on the practice squad. IIRC you're only allowed to have 4 guys like that, though.

Caught in a landslide No escape from reality

I think they actually sent the paperwork to Cincinnati instead of to the NFL, and then they blamed Cincy when the trade fell through. I guess Jimmy Haslam's wife (Dee?) ripped them a new one. Can't blame her. Not knowing you are supposed to send the paperwork to the NFL and not the team you are trading with is a pretty big rookie error and made them look incompetent.

Eh, not so much. I mean, yeah it sucks for this year. But they are, IMO, being smart and getting as much of that dead money out of the way this year as possible (instead of spreading it out over 2yrs or more). So next year they will be in great shape with about $100M in cap. And they did a great job of cleaning up the Bills cap for the future.

Thanks. Just out of curiosity, Do you know what QBs Beane has went to see himself? I know he personally scouted Rudolph.

Very interesting if true. Anyone have a link or anything to back this up?

I think it's almost a guarantee that we draft a QB round 1, especially when looking at McCarron's contract details. It doesn't look like the contract of a guy they plan on being their starting QB. IMO the numbers look like an insurance policy in case their rookie QB isn't ready to start day 1 or they somehow miss out on their guy in the draft.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/03/14/aj-mccarron-can-make-up-to-16-5-million-over-two-years/ These are the supposed details of the McCarron contract

I'll be interested to see what he signs for. Its be great if he ended up back in Buffalo. Not counting on it though.

Yeah I think they weren't willing to overpay for any of the free agent QBs. Maybe Bridgewater picked the Jets over the Bills, or they offered better contract incentives? Seems like a very similar deals. Bridgewater signed a 1 year deal that has a base salary of $5M and is worth up to $15M. Although he signed after McCown did, and McCown was told he would be starting, so you'd think Bridgewater would've had a better shot at starting here. Which is the one thing that makes me wonder if maybe we weren't interested in him... edit - I guess the deal with the Jets is potentially worth more. I was thinking McCarron was on a 1 year deal worth a possible $16.5M, but it's a 2 year deal. So Bridgewater can potentially make in 1 year what McCarron can potentially make in 2 yrs.

Well, I can't say that I know a whole ton about McCarron outside the limited snaps I've seen him take for the Bengals, but I can say 1 thing for sure - I like this a lot more than I would have liked giving up a 1st (+ possibly more) for Nick Foles! Hopefully all that crazy talk about pick #21 for Foles can die now... We have a guy who should be able to start opening day next season, and we didn't give up any assets to get him leaving all that draft capital for a (possible trade up for a) QB in round 1. And if we we didn't know for sure before, now we know 100% that the Bills are going QB high in the draft (at least IMO).

With the way things are shaking out in free agency I am thinking more and more that the #3 pick is our target. With The Browns signing both Carlos Hyde for 3yrs $15+M ($6M year 1) and Isaiah Crowell for 3yrs, $12 M, they look to be going QB at #1 instead of Barkley. Gettleman said if he uses pick #2, that player should have hall of fame potential. They seem to be all in on making a run with Eli the next few years. If Browns go QB at #1 and Barkley is sitting there at 2, the Giants might not want to even trade out of that spot. Barkley would be a huge help to Eli and seems to fit Gettleman's criteria of hall of fame potential. If that's what happens it would leave pick #3 as the perfect trading spot for the Bills. It'll be cheaper than trading to 1 or 2 - it may only take our two 1sts plus the Cleveland 3rd (that would equal just slightly more than the draft value chart for the #3 pick), or maybe one 2nd (instead of the 3rd), leaving Buffalo with their pick of the remaining QBs and a good amount of draft capital to still improve the team (1 or 2 2nds, 1 or 2 3rds, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th). Indy has a ton of holes and wasn't all that active in free agency (I believe they've only signed 1 guy so far...). Ballard has said he's a huge believer in building through the draft. We will see soon enough I guess...

Wow that tweet he replied to was quite interesting - Wouldn't you think he'd want to gather as much information as he possonly could on every 1 of these QB if they're really drafting a guy at 1? Unless they're really just that sold on Darnold. I mean, they could still have them both in for private workouts. But why not go to their pro days anyway? Do you know, Did anyone One from the Browns attend? Their asst GM maybe?

This makes me appreciate the Dareus trade even more. Im not sure what Suh's cap hit would have been for a team that traded for him. I know it would have been lower than what it would have been for Miami, still more than Dareus though. But Suh has performed much better than Dareus on the field, and I don't think he's had any drug related suspensions or off field arrests that im aware of (I know he's not facing a 10+ game suspension for his next mistake...) and Miami could not get a thing for him. They had to release him.

Still no contract numbers for Star? I'm hoping this is a good sign that the numbers are team friendly...