BillsFan4

It's Ground Hog Day for real in here. I'm waiting for Bill Murray to stroll in and smash the alarm clock playing "I got you babe" any minute now... Seriously, don't you same people get tired of having the same fights with each other in every single Tyrod thread? I mean, really...

Great stuff. Thanks (again).

Almost 2/3 of the NFL's revenue comes from TV. National broadcasts (which the Bills don't play on too often) being the greatest source of revenue. I believe sponsorship is another big chuck of the NFL's annual revenue. Ticket sales (from 8 home games) for the Bills is a relatively small part of their overall revenue. I believe they only make like just under $50M per season in ticket sales IIRC. That barely pays, what, 1/2 a dozen guys maybe. They get far more from revenue sharing (Buffalo got $244M in 2016, which I believe is 2/3rds or more of their total profit) than the sale of tickets and Bills merchandise combined. Actually, I believe officially licensed merchandise is part of that revenue sharing. So really, other team's fans are probably paying as much towards the players salaries as we are. lol I totally get what you are saying, and I totally agree that us fans have every right to complain about the team that we give unwavering support every year (through almost 2 decades of mediocrity). But let's be real - Pegula pays the players salaries, and if not for the revenue sharing Ralph Wilson fought tooth and nail for, the Bills would probably be in trouble.

I could see saying that about Cardale, but The Bills got rid of EJ Manuel before they even drafted Peterman, and I believe before they signed Yates. So I don't think it had anything to do with deeming either of them better than EJ. They just decided that it was time to move on from EJ, which I totally agree with. That decision was also made before our new GM and scouting + personnel staff was in place, so,it's hard for me to put any blame on them for EJ. I am really not concerned with EJ turning into a successful NFL QB. He will be lucky to even stick as a backup IMO. Cardale is more of a wild card, since he is so completely raw. As of now I don't see it, but I'm not ready to write him off yet either.

Enjoy the (run up the middle, run up the middle, pass) 3 and out's Jags fans! Oh, and the TV announcers being able to predict the next play call, because the offense is so basic (anyone else remember that from his time with the Bills?) lol

The ironic part is that more than likely most of that 45 percent (of self identified republicans that want biased or inaccurate media outlets shut down) don't realize that Fox News and Breitbart would be at the top of the list! They probably think Fox would be the only "news" outlet left... haha. I really do miss the days when news was based more on fact than opinion, though (and that goes for both sides, obviously).

I really hope he has his best year yet in a Bills uniform. If he stays healthy, I think he will. This offense could be a great fit for him. The last offense was not good for YAC, and that's what Sammy excelled at in college. I'm hopeful that this offense will be much better for getting players YAC. He seems to be putting in the time with Tyrod too, and I think that's very important. The more trust Tyrod has in him, the more he is likely to get the ball. Tyrod being as cautious as he is at times, I think trusting his WR's is very important to him, and with Sammy missing so much time I think it's been hard to really build that relationship. I feel like Sammy has just scratched the surface of what he's capable of, and I'd love if he's able to stick around and realize all that potential as a Buffalo Bill. It's nice heading that he seems to feel the same way and wants to stick around here. He's such a young kid. I don't hold that against him either. I think about some of the stuff I did and said at his age... yikes. lol Plus, like you said those twitter trolls are brutal. I'm sure they've said a lot worse to him. I cam only imagine reading all those nasty comments constantly. We are only human. Sometimes it's hard to bite your tongue every single time.

Good stuff. Thanks Astro. This is my first year reading your reported I must say I really enjoyed it. Well written. Made me Alamogordo feel like I was there. So Mills didn't look too good from the sound of it? I sure hope he either greatly improves from last year, or Dawkins relegates him to backup duty...

Interesting. At first I thought that meant maybe Glenn wasn't ready to go yet. Wonder if it's just training Dawkins to have a backup at the LT spot, or what. I can't imagine that they're thinking of moving Corey Glenn to a different spot on the line. I'd rather have Dawkins focus on RT, since that's where he's needed most IMO (and IIRC has less experience at). But I guess it's nice to have options in case of injury (etc).

For sure. Beane is an excellent public speaker & communicator. I have been thoroughly impressed every time I've heard him speak. Very excited to see what him and the front office/scouting staff he put together can do.

Boldin still mulling over Bills offer. Sounds like there's more at play than just money - https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2017/7/26/15976540/anquan-boldin-still-mulling-buffalo-bills-offer-2017-nfl-free-agency “I’ve been talking to teams the entire offseason,” said Boldin, who will turn 37 in October. “They understand the way that I train, and the fact that I train at XPE, any team that I go to knows that when I come [into camp] I’m in top shape, and they don’t have to worry it.” Working against the Bills are two things; location and pedigree. Boldin’s family is in Florida and he has expressed a desire to be closer to them. He also told The Florida Sun-Sentiel that he wanted to play for an established winner. "I’m going into year 15 so the only thing on my mind is winning. I’ve earned enough money to take care of me, my family, and my kid’s kids,” said Boldin last week. “I’ve won a championship [with the Ravens]. I know how that feels so I want to a taste of it again. I want to line up with a team that’s in position to win right now.” I'd love for him to sign here, but it doesn't sound all that promising if he wants an established winner.

https://mobile.twitter.com/buffalobills/status/889966082374676481 Not sure if this has been posted yet, but this is awesome! It looks like T. Pegula may be staying in the dorms at St. John Fisher with the team. How many owners do that? I love his dedication to the Bills.

Man, I am so excited that camp starts tomorrow. Probably too excited... lol. Even more excited to see them play some preseason games. First one coming up August 10th!!

I know it's not fair to take away games, but without that Patriots shut out the Bills points against ranking falls pretty sharply (more toward the bottom of the rankings IIRC). Again, I know it's not really fair to take a game off the schedule, but that one game really does skew the average quite a lot. It kind of gives the impression that the Bills defense was better than they actually were at preventing points. They had their stretches of good play though (and their stretches of terrible play). But as others have said they seemed to fold when the team really needed them.

Yeah I got a kick out of that comment. I don't think Reggie Ragland is by any mean the best player on the team, but I can see why Rex would say something like that. Ragland ran a very similar defense to Rex's in college. He was probably one of the only Buffalo defenders who actually knew how to (properly) execute Rex's overly complex system. With all the trouble the Bills had calling/executing plays, getting lined up right, blown assignments/coverages (etc etc) I can see why Rex felt like he was so important. When there are so many guys on the team struggling to run the defense, someone who can looks like one of the best players on the team in the coaches eyes.

I have no idea if some of it's actually true or not, but i have seen/heard enough reports to make me wonder if it is. I actually just came across a quote about it in the Buffalo News article written today about the Cardale trade, which mentions some of what I was referring to - http://buffalonews.com/2017/07/26/bills-trade-cardale-jones-chargers-conditional-draft-pick/ "Although Jones had strong support from former Bills General Manager Doug Whaley, at least one former assistant coach on the team was known to have had major questions about Jones' maturity and dedication. The coach noted that Jones made multiple trips to his home in Northeast Ohio for personal matters, and at one point urged him to pay attention to the hard work that Taylor and former Bills backup EJ Manuel put into their preparation." Who knows, though. Because I've also read quotes from Anthony Lynn complimenting Cardale's work ethic, so...

I figured he had almost no chance of making the Bills roster. People were saying he was really struggling this offseason (and last, actually) + he had already fallen to 4th in the depth chart and seemed to be getting less and less reps (and from most accounts wasn't doing good when he did get reps). I also heard (on WGR) that he supposedly wasn't putting in the necessary time at OBD or taking things seriously enough and wasn't the most willing to listen to coaches instruction (there was also that story about how he wouldn't really take the instructions from the offseason QB coach he hired, and was fighting him on the changes he wanted him to make). if true, it doesn't bode well for his chances to make it in the NFL. Hopefully getting traded so early into his career will be a bit of a wake up call for him. He's got a great arm. He just needs to work on every other aspect of being a QB. lol I'm glad the Bills were able to at least get something for him. Better than cutting him and getting nothing.

Do they really have the cap room next year? Spotrac said $24M and OverThe Cap said roughly $30M (not sure which is right). If they want to re-sign or tag Sammy (assuming he has a good year) that likely eats up something like $13 - $15M of that space (depending on. The tag or long term deal, etc). If they want to re-sign Eric Wood that eats up another good chunk of that space, (maybe $5 - $7M, spotrac has his value projected at $7M) and that's only 2 players. That doesn't take into account any improvements they may want to make to the team in their 2nd year.

So, basically, if they really wanted them they'd overpay and give them whatever it took, value be damned? Overpaying older free agent players is not a very good way to build a team IMO. Making smart/savvy vet signings is a much better strategy (which appears to be what they're trying to do IMO). Yeah, we have a little bit of cap space, but we are a middle of the road team. We should not be maxed out against the cap. It's likely a transition year anyway. There is zero reason to be right up against the cap. Plus cap space rolls over. I'm sure Beane and McDermott want the cap space to have some freedom to build the team they want. I don't blame them for not going all in and maxing out their cap space in their very first year with the team.

I didn't take that comment as negative. I took it as someone just joking around and having some fun. Most of the time, I think (most) people are just joking around when they make that "championship" or "super bowl" comment. Maybe a very small number of posters are trying to be jerks by saying that. But most are just having some fun.

Kind of hypocritical IMO. They have quite a few players on their roster with "character flaws" and legal troubles (they almost seem to make a point of acquiring guys like that...), yet use that as more/less an excuse to release Lucky (even though it was a false arrest).

Wasn't sure if this has been posted yet, or where to put it. But this looks to be a new Bills series with Richie Incognito called "Going Incognito". It was pretty good. http://www.buffalobills.com/video/videos/Going-Incognito-with-Richie-Incognito-Doodle-Bugs/60e42c3c-218c-458b-a388-9bbe3c0ad5b3?platform=hootsuite

What makes me think that they won't want to just throw whoever under center is that McDermott has said he's not looking to do a bottom out rebuild. He said he wants to win every game possible. So I'm not sure that they'd want to take a step back at QB. I'm thinking that even if they draft a rookie next year in the 1st, that they will still probably make him beat out TT for the job. Maybe if they win 4 games that's different, like you said. But 7, 8? I don't know. I think 7-9 or 8-8 in everyone's first year with McDermott and company, with how tough the schedule is looking, wouldn't be that bad of a result for year 1. I mean, 8-8 is an improvement over last year. I think it will depend more on how Tyrod looks anyway, than the Bills overall record. I don't know that Dennison will want a total unknown under center. That's the thing though - we have a totally new front office and coaching staff. We really don't know enough about their tendencies yet to even make much of a guess as to what they will want to do... maybe it becomes another "Tyrod takes a pay cut or we replace him" thing. I guess it also depends on who is available as well. If there's no decent free agents and/or they miss out on their guy in the draft, that changes everything.

Wonder if Beane and Co. were possinky watching some old Bills film and seen some of the stuff Rambo did in Buffalo? Or if he's just been on their radar for a while now? I actually think he could be a nice fit in McDermott's defense. He puts a priority on turn overs and that's something I could see Rambo doing well.

I'd like to see the passing game improve in general. I'd also like to see TT play more games like his last Miami game, where he can score in the clutch. And obviously I want him to be able to run this new offense efficiently and show that he can be an anticipation passer capable of running Dennison's hybrid WCO. But as far as whether he will be brought back next season or not, I think that really boils down to 1 thing - is Buffalo able to replace him with someone they feel confident in? Someone who can run the offense as well as TT for cheaper (this is tricky because of TT's roughly $8M dead cap hit if cut), or better than TT for the same/more $. Or if they decide to go QB round 1 and they're able to draft the rookie QB they want - do they feel confident in starting him right away? If not, I think TT is likely back for another season even if he only plays at the level he did last year (2016).