BillsFan4

I never once claimed that they were undoubtably good moves. I was addressing NastyNate, who said that they were undoubtably bad moves and I just don't see how you can say that yet (and I gave my reasons as to why). I personally like the trades so far, but my whole point was that it's way too early to say with such certainty whether we won or lost them yet. Time will tell. So I definitely wouldn't call that being a homer. Id call it being rational. And I don't see anything wrong with trying/choosing to look at the positive side for now, instead of focusing on the negative. It's something I always try and do. I don't understand the point of even following the Bills if someone chooses to look at every move in a negative light (not saying you do, just some fans in general). - disagree on Dareus for the reason I outlined in my previous post. If you like to refute some of the specific reasons I gave as to why, I can respond further. - I thought Benjamin was pretty good his sophomore year too. Actually, I think he's been pretty good most of the time he's on the field. He's definitely dealt with injuries but I don't think I'd say he is damaged goods. Let's see what happens going forward. - Benjamin is under contract this year, where as Sammy is a free agent. Trading away Watkins and trading for Benjamin makes a whole lot more sense when you look at the entire situation. Sammy admitted himself that his attitude in Buffalo was garbage, and that he was selfish, angry and consumed (by that anger). He said it had a negative impact on his relationship with the coaches and his teammates. He was a loner here. He talked about how he would be upset after games the WON just because he didn't get the ball enough. He said all he cared about were his own numbers. Nickel Robey said of Watkins in Buffalo - "In Buffalo, he wasn't open with anyone, he wasn't talking with anyone. He was self centered..." Benjamin is exactly the opposite. He's known to be a great teammate. He fits the culture the Bills are trying to build. Watkins didn't. This new regime is getting rid of poisonous players like Watkins + Dareus and building an actual team. So far is say that it seems to be working... the culture around this team seems night and day different than it's been.

How can you possibly say this yet? - We didn't even use the 3rd round pick from the Darby trade yet. What if we draft a guy that ends up being an impact player for the Bills for years? And we may get a 3rd round comp pick for Matthews, too. So let's maybe wait and see what the pick(s) turn into, and see what Darby does in his career in Philly before declaring winners, yeah? Plus our secondary was fantastic without Darby. He wasn't a scheme fit in zone coverage and was said to be struggling with the zone concepts. - Benjamin played all of 6 games for us. He was injured. He had surgery though and should be 100% by training camp. He's been a legit #1 WR so far in his young career. We got him for a 3rd and 5th. And guess what, if he walks we likely get a 3rd round comp pick back. On one one hand you say we lost the Darby trade because we got a 3rd, and then on the other hand you'd say we lost the Benjamin trade because we gave up a 3rd... Its hard to compare a CB to a WR, but I would say that Benjamin is at least the same caliber of player Darby is, if not better. - Dareus wasn't worth the money and seemed to stop caring after he got paid. He wasn't playing anywhere near his 2014 level on the field and looked lazy and/or like he didn't even care half the time, and he wasn't buying in. He was the Bills highest paid player and would have had a huge cap hit this coming season (and a couple more after that). You need your highest paid players to be setting the example for the rest of the team, and Dareus was setting a terrible example. What type of message does it send to the rest of the team if the Bills keep Dareus around at his salary? IMO it sends a bad one. How serious are the Bills going to take McBeane if they let their highest paid player get away with many of the things they are preaching against? They were trying to change a 17 year losing culture and shipping out Dareus was a big part of that IMO. The Bills ditched an overpaid, underperforming veteran who is one failed drug test away from a 1 year ban, saved themselves something like $50M on their future cap and actually got a pick back for him! Look at the Jets - Wilkerson situation. Very similar to the Bills - Dareus situation, except he hasn't has the drug and legal issues Dareus has. They couldn't get a thing for Mo so they released him.

He'd be smart to sign in LA if they make him a competitive offer. McVay is a brilliant offense mind. If anyone can get Sammy producing the way he's capable of, it's McVay. And with a full offseason with Goff, I'm sure he'd start targeting Sammy more too.

Well that could be why he won't be back, if he views himself as a #1 WR (and is looking to get paid that way). I can guarantee that the Bills don't value him as a #1. I wonder if they ever even made him an offer though. It didn't really seem like the Bills ever had much interest in negotiating a new contract, which is a bit surprising since he seems to fit their ideal personality traits to a 'T'. Yeah I think they view Zay as their a lot receiver of the future. Shame that Matthews couldn't find a long term fit here though. Definitely a Buffalo type of guy, personality wise.

Holy crap! I like Cousins, but not at $30.33 million per year. Sucks for the Bills though. We really needed him to land in Denver or with the NY Jets for draft purposes.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/ Browns have $108 million in cap space for 2018. The 49ers had more at $110 million but now they're down to $67 million with the Garoppolo contract. According to spotrac we are 16th in total cap space as of right now. We have a ton of dead cap this year. As of right now, the Bills will have the 5th most cap space next season (2019) with $97 million. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

It's all good. I'm pretty sure you did say that the record was good with Gaines. At least that's what I thought you said, since I was agreeing with you... lol I was just giving you the record with him in the lineup vs out of the lineup because you said you couldn't remember what the exact numbers were.

Von Miller on the toughest guys he's ever played against (good read) - https://www.theplayerstribune.com/von-miller-the-5-toughest-guys-in-the-nfl/ He lists Chris Ivory as the toughest RB he's faced and tells a pretty cool story about facing him.

Well, Shady should be happy. He specifically said (I believe it was at the end of the season) that that he wanted/needed a better #2 RB to help carry the load. Now he has one! I think he will be a very good compliment to Shady's running style too.

I hope you're right!

Bills were 8-3 with Gaines in the lineup. Pretty impressive IMO.

Bills are killing it in free agency so far! They've had 2 players in for a visit, both of whom went on to visit multiple other teams and both still picked us! I am not used to this. Neither factor into the comp pick formula either.

There are definitely players in the NFL that are dumb. But it seems like quite an assumption to assume "most are just slightly smarter than a rock"... I'd be interested in reading the sources you got these cold hard facts from if you wouldn't mind sharing the links. An NFL playbook is not exactly kindergarten stuff. You have to memorize a complex playbook about as thick as a dictionary. There is a ridiculous amount of stuff that goes into basically every play call, too. You have to know what you're doing, as well as multiple other players on the field - on offense and defense. Then you have to make split second decisions based on what type of coverage you see pre and post snap. Something as small as which way a safety or linebacker turns/looks can change your responsibilities on a given play. You have to know multiple concepts for each and every play, and then be able to execute them properly base on those split second decisions. Depending on what position you play, you have to not only know your own assignment but everyone else's assignment too. On every single installed play. Of which there are easily at least 50-80+, or even 100+ depending on the coach, and that's per week. That's not even mentioning the separate plays installed for 3rd downs and for the red zone. You are having to do all do all of this against other professionals who are not only trying to stop/beat you, but also trick you as well. I would venture to guess that you have to be a bit smarter than you are giving them credit for in order to learn everything that goes into preparing for a game. Check out this video. He talks about how Jon Gruden used to install 200-250 plays A WEEK! 150+ passing plays, 20-30 3rd down plays, 15-20 red zone plays... every week. Here's a good story on how hard it is to master an NFL playbook (according to a neuroscientist - https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2014/08/04/how-difficult-it-memorize-nfl-playbook-neurologist-explains Just out of curiosity I decided to briefly look into average intelligence of NFL players. Heres a huge list of NFL players wonderlic scores. A score of 20 is considered average intelligence. There sure are a whole lot of NFL players who scored higher than that. In fact, most of these test scores are above average - http://wonderlictestsample.com/nfl-wonderlic-scores/ Heres the average wonderlic scores by position - http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/nfl.htm Seems like most fall somewhere between slightly above average to slightly below average.

That's fair. Rudolph is definitely not my first choice, but I can't say that I'd be pissed f we drafted him. He does have some intriguing aspects. I am willing to give the Bills brass the benefit of the doubt on whatever QB move they make, though.

I'd be totally good with them giving up a 2nd for Foles and still drafting a rookie high in the draft. The only thing id worry about in that scenario is that it may make it harder to re-sign Foles (if he had a good season and the Bills wanted him back). There's always the franchise tag in that scenario though. But I wouldn't really want to give up a 2nd for Foles and have the Bills think they could punt on drafting a QB because of it.

Me too. I want the Bills to go up and get Rosen, or if not him Darnold/Mayfield. If it came down to Foles for a 2nd or Rudolph in the 2nd, I honestly don't know which I'd pick. But I think I'd lean towards Rudolph. Just comparing college stats (since we can't compare NFL stats...), Rudolph's seem quite superior... https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/mason-rudolph-1.html https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/nick-foles-1.html There is more of that unknown factor with Rudolph obviously. I feel like at 29 Foles probably is what he is at this point. Rudolph has the potential to be better, or worse. If Beane vets him and feels he has the potential to be better, then I'd rather take the gamble on Rudolph reaching that higher ceiling. Plus weve played around round with other teams backups long enough. Im of the thinking that it's long past time to draft and develop our own.

No. That would mean that the Bills would not be using a 1st on a QB in the draft, ans I would much rather take a shot on a QB in the draft than give up a 1st for Foles. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even that crazy about the idea of giving up a 2nd for him. Again, my worry is if they gave up a 2nd for Foles it might mean that there is less of a chance that they go QB in the 1st. Maybe one would have nothing to do with the other though, I don't know. I guess Im not convinced that Foles will be a successful QB on another team. And As I've said in other threads, I don't know that he is really much more than a bridge QB anyway. I am more ore than ok with the Bills acquiring him, but a 2nd is the absolute most I would pay and im not even crazy about that.

He is definitely Not the QB I want the Bills to draft, but I will give any QB they take a fair chance to prove he can be the answer.

Do you really think that trading Dareus to Jacksonville was the reason they beat us in the wildcard game? Even with Dareus, do you think the offense scoring 3 points would have won the game? Also, the rushing statistics were pretty similar for both teams. Jax ran for 150yds, Bills ran for 130. Both teams yards per rush were almost identical (4.1 vs 4.6) Neither team scored a rushing TD. McCoy rushed for more yards than Fournette did (75 to 57). I just don't see where the Dareus trade was in any way the difference in that game.

That is not allowed under the salary cap rules. I'm not 100% sure of the exact numbers but IIRC, I believe the salary cap hit from year to year can differ no more than 50%. Thata why the 49ers were only able to make Garoppolo's cap hit so big in 2018. John Lynch said he would have made the cap hit even bigger in 2018 (since the 49ers had like $110M in cap space) if it were allowed.

I'd be perfectly happy replacing Taylor with Foles if the cost were right. But not for a 1st +. As as far as Daboll building a system around what our guys do well, I have very high hopes that is what he will do. It appears that was something Beane and McDermott were specifically looking for in a new OC, and it's something Daboll has said will be a focus. But looking at Daboll's track record (as well as the way McDermott coached last season) makes me think we will still be a run centered team. It's hard to know for sure though because he's had crap for QBs pretty much wherever he's been. He does have a pretty varied run scheme - kind of reminds me of Greg Roman in that regard. He has consistently improved the run game of whatever team he's been an OC for, and it seems to be something he's focused on in the past. Where as his passing offenses have been near the bottom of the NFL (again likely due mainly to his QBs). That could all change if he gets a good passing QB though. Mainly for me it just boils down to me not thinking Foles is worth the asking price. Id much rather use a 1st + more on a rookie QB with a much higher ceiling in th draft. It's a gamble but if it pays off we are set. I want to take a shot on a QB with elite potential. Id be happy with Foles as a bridge QB though if we can get him for a mid round pick, but I'm guessing some team that misses out in free agency could panic and pay more for him. I don't really want that to be us.

Absolutely ZERO INETREST in Nick Foles if Philly wants a 1st, let alone a 1st + 4th + something else. Hes is a bridge QB who needs the right talent/system/playcalling and even then he's not great. He had an amazing Super Bowl game, a good playoff game (or two) and a good season waynback in 2013. You don't pay a 1st + for that. Also - both times he had success at QB, it was in very innovative offense's. Chip Kelly's 1st year, and Doug Pederson's brilliant and creative play calling last year. Do we have that type of offense and playcalling here? Or are we going to be a comservativr run first team again this year? My guess is the latter.

He was in all the QB meetings last year, too. He even dined with a few of them (as he also did the draft before that, too). Ans they took QBs in the 4th and 5th rounds those drafts. So I don't know that it can be definitively said that they are all in on drafting a QB high this year. I think it'll all depend on how the draft plays out, just like last year. Has Trubisky fallen, we probably would have drafted him. It may be the same deal this year, or they may use some of that ammo to trade up (which is my hope/wish and I do agree that there seems to be a chance it could actually happen this year). I think what Pegula meeting with these QB draft prospects tells me personally, is that he wants to be involved in the drafting process of finding the Bills franchise QB, and possibly that he wants to make sure he approves of the way they'd represent his franchise.

I have no issue with this. He did it last year too. I actually like that he's always trying to learn. That's exactly what I'd do if I were an NFL owner. Id much rather have him constantly trying to learn than thinking he already knows everything like some other NFL owners. I like that he has studied every QB draft class since he's taken over the Bills (and I know that's mainly because we need a franchise QB). As these QB's get NFL experience, we will see which are good/great and which are busts. Pegula will have some inside knowledge on each QB - ideas of what their personalities and traits (etc) are and if there are any commonalities among the successful ones (and the busts).

I totally agree that it is obvious that the Bills will be drafting a QB, and are in search of their franchise guy. But... I don't think that automatically means that they acquired all this draft capital to trade up for a QB. They may have. They may also use it to build the team up. I am convicted need that they will draft a QB. But whether they use multiple picks to trade up, or use a single pick, I have no idea. They have made numerous QB comments. But they have also talked about building through the draft many times too, and how they want to build a complete team. I am all for trading up for a QB. I am just not as convinced as you that is what Beane will do. I could see it going either way.