Logic

It almost certainly WON'T be $12M/yr. Wait for the full contract terms. The ones you're reacting to were released by the player's agent and don't tell the whole story.

Woof. I don't care about the money. As I said recently, there's no sense in reacting to contract terms when we don't actually know them yet. But purely reacting to the player himself? Hard to get excited about a WR coming off back to back 580 yard seasons, who just had a HUGE opportunity in LA last year and didn't really seize it. He's fine, I guess. Not a needle mover. Very much Just A Guy. Now here come the same people that defended the Curtis Samuel signing last year to tell me how wrong I am...

After being hyped up with all sorts of potential trade targets, big name guys, etc... ...in reality, this free agency class wound up being WEAK SAUCE, and there are a few teams with absolute PILES of money that the Bills wouldn't wanna try to outbid anyway. I expect the usual wave 2 and wave 3 bargain signings and role players, and onto the draft.

Fair. I'm gonna wait to see what they actually do in free agency before I get any level of upset about extending their good, young, homegrown talent.

I could understand being upset or hesitant if the Bills paid Rousseau like a top five edge, but they didn't. Even without the contract details being fully in, he seems to be about 12th in AAV amongst edges right now, and that's before free agency begins and mega bucks get handed out and he starts getting pushed down the list. I think that by this time next month, and certainly by this time next year, the deal will look like a bargain. This front office also likes to extend guys that they believe are ascending, BEFORE they reach their peak and would command considerably more money. See: Brown, Spencer. It doesn't always work out, of course, and there's no guarantee that it will this time. But if it does? Well, again...see: Brown, Spencer.

First day on Two Bills Drive? 😜

Re-signing a 24 year old edge that's still ascending and was ranked 9th in HAVOC created last year to what appears to be a below market deal is good business. For those pointing out the playoff disappearance: Yep, its true. But it doesn't undo the good year he had up until that point or the fact that he's a plus starter. For those saying it takes us out of the "insert favorite trade target or free agent here" market: No it doesn't. If anything, it helps, because this deal likely lowered his cap hit for this season. For those saying "we're just keeping the status quo": First of all, that's silly. Every team re-signs its good players while ALSO still adding more. We haven't gotten to the "adding more" section of the offseason yet, so prematurely saying "status quo" is dumb and reactionary. Furthermore, "status quo" was division champion for the fifth straight year and one drive away from the Super Bowl, so the statement is dumb for TWO reasons. We'll wait to see the full contract breakdown, as always, but all indications so far is that it's a team friendly deal that will keep Groot here through his prime and won't preclude them from adding more pieces. Haters gonna hate...

Great point. And not only that, but the cap will go up next year, and the year after, and the year after. So often a deal looks like mega bucks and fans hem and haw and say "overpay", and by year two or three of the deal, it looks like an absolute bargain.

It's really the best possible outcome for both sides. It's become popular among some Bills fans to hate on Von because he did not represent good ROI for what the Bills paid. But the truth of the matter is that he DID offer quality pass rushing reps last year and DOES still have something to offer. It's best for Von to stay in a locker room he already knows and loves and have another shot at a Super Bowl. It's best for the Bills (from a cap and on-field standpoint) to have him here on a reduced deal. Obviously, if he's not willing to take a big enough pay cut, then cutting him outright becomes the preferable outcome. But so long as he's willing to be team-friendly in his contract expectations, it'd be better to have him here for cheap than to cut him and take on the dead cap.

Delete this thread or let it sink off the first page if you want, I don't care, but: **walks up to mic, taps it twice, clears throat** Ahem. As contract extension season and free agency season begin, I am here to remind you once again: Never take the first contract numbers publicly announced at face value. These numbers are ALWAYS given to the media by the players' agents, and thus they are ALWAYS phrased in the most favorable sounding way, without regard to accuracy or nuance. It is always more prudent to wait a day or two until the ACTUAL contract numbers come out, because they typically paint a much different picture. Look our for words like "up to" and "guaranteed money" and "void years". What looks like a $50 million deal can easily be a $25 million deal, with various incentives (both likely and unlikely to be earned), escalators, phony baloney tacked on years, etc. If you overreact to the first numbers announced for any new NFL contract, you're overreacting to incomplete information at best, and outright lies at worst. Thank you.

Ok but if you could just maybe pick a gentler class. She always seems so worn out when you drop her off.

My wife assures me that it's not the size that matters, but the way you use it. Then again, she does seem to have a lot of gentleman callers...

Every offseason I say (and no one heeds it): never believe the first contract numbers you hear. They are always reported by the player's agent and made to sound as favorable as possible. Always, always, ALWAYS wait until the contract details come out, because they typically paint a vastly different picture than what is initially reported. In this case, $25 million guaranteed tells us more than "four years, $50 million". Even so, as for the contract numbers themselves, I'm waiting until they're all out in detail before I comment. On its face, it doesn't seem to be a bank-breaking deal, but more info is needed. As for the player: this reminds me of Spencer Brown. Paying an ascending player BEFORE he fully breaks out and becomes one of the best at his position in the league. They clearly like Bernard a lot and have entrusted him to be the leader of this defense. They've seen the flashes of playmaking ability and the leadership and smarts that he provides. The best possible thing they can do now is ensure that they beef up the D-line and allow Bernard (and Milano and Williams) to roam free without getting engulfed by guards. Locking up the young leader of your defense is a GOOD thing. Doing so on a reasonable contract is even better, and we'll know soon whether that was the case. So far, though, it looks like it was.

Christian Kirk is the John Brown of Curtis Samuels. He's already a Bill.

You couldn't eat more than 6, you nancy boy.

I'm guessing he still winds up back with the Bills, BUT... It also might just be Zach Davidson SZN 🚀

Neal seems to be a talented prospect, BUT... If the Bills re-sign James Cook, then between him and Ray Davis, I don't see the need to spend a 4th on a running back. Even IF Ty is not re-signed, then a late rounder or UDFA or post-draft veteran signee should be fine for RB3. It's a very deep running back class. That said, if for any reason the Bills feel like re-signing James Cook is NOT going to be the likely outcome (which I don't anticipate), then that changes things.

If anyone -- even one single person -- dislikes this move, they'd probably also complain about a free lunch. Locked up a productive homegrown receiver through his prime for under market value. What's not to like?

Forget Coleman's attitude. When taken in context and listened to, I'm not as concerned with the comments as some others seem to be. What pisses ME off is that McDermott is sitting here talking about the Bills wanting to be more fast and explosive downfield at wide receiver. Like...WHAT?! Xavier Worthy was the FASTEST PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF THE COMBINE and was sitting there with the Bills on the clock. Beane galaxy brained it and traded down (with the Chiefs, no less) so that he could add...a high character rotational defensive tackle?! It just feels like such a Beane/McDermott move (and not in a good way). Veach/Reid are sitting here going "we've gotta trade up and get our QB an explosive WR", and Beane is sitting here going "meh. We can trade down and take lesser guy. Who needs speed when you can have jumping ability?". And even IF they didn't want Worthy for whatever reasons, there were other explosive guys like Troy Franklin and Devontez Walker available throughout the draft. It was a VERY deep receiver draft. They took exactly ONE receiver, and it was one who notably LACKED speed and explosiveness. So here we sit a year later, still needing speed/explosiveness downfield at wide receiver, except this year the draft isn't nearly as deep with it and the Bills have other needs. And the very fast and explosive receiver they passed on just put up 157 yards and 2 TDs (garbage time or not, facts are facts) in the Super Bowl. Infuriating.

A very fair point. My only counter would be that nothing in Beane's history tells me he's going to find an instant impact defender in round one. It has never happened. But you're right: it IS an exceptional defensive line class.

Me. This coaching staff has shown that they haven't been able to get immediate game changing impact from any edge defenders (or penetrating defensive tackles) they draft. Drafting at 30 makes instant impact even more unlikely. We already saw what the "draft and develop" route looks like: We did this with both Epenesa and Rousseau, and here we are after years five and four for those guys, still saying we need impact edge help. We also haven't seen game changing impact from ANY 1st or 2nd round defenders the Bills have drafted under Beane, period. Josh's prime is now. The "beat the Chiefs and win a couple Super Bowls" window is open NOW. Go get me an instant impact defender (and one legitimate outside receiver somehow), use remaining picks for defensive depth, and let the chips fall where they may.