Logic

It's weird to me that the Bills are 3rd in the league in available cap space and that our GM has stated that his top priority is keeping our team as in tact as possible from last year...and some people think we should probably just let Matt Milano walk. It seems to me that the Bills have the money to keep the defensive core in tact AND improve the offense, and STILL be able to afford a Josh Allen extension in a season or two. Maybe I'm crazy.

Well, first it's important to keep in mind that the entire picture of how Phillips played last year includes more than just sacks. Against the pass, how often did he push the pocket and pressure the QB? Against the run, how often did he have a positive instead of a negative play? The 9.5 sacks are lovely, but they sort of obscure the fact that, on the whole, Phillips wasn't always good last year. Taking the above in mind, I think that a drafted rookie or a free agent could represent an improvement. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/all/defensive-tackle/ Lots of guys to choose from there in the list above. Assuming the Bills DO keep Phillips, though, Spotrac has his market value prediction listed at $6.1million. THAT is a number I could live with for Phillips.

I second this sentiment. It's a moot point anyway. He's going to re-sign with the Cowboys, sure as God's got sandals.

I don't think you're wrong about the price tags, I just don't want the Bills to give Jordan Phillips $9million. I actually think they can UPGRADE the position and spend LESS money. I would like to see them re-sign Shaq, though.

The funny thing about draft season is that a bunch of people who've never watched these college players in their life suddenly become experts on them. Everyone watches a few Youtube highlight clips, reads a few scouting reports, and suddenly knows everything there is to know about a player and becomes very passionate about either defending or deriding him. I include myself in this. One minute I don't know a damn thing about a wide receiver prospect, the next minute I've spent a half hour watching clips and reading about him, and suddenly I've got a passionate position. "Can't separate". "Doesn't run the whole route tree". "I'll be FURIOUS if they take Higgins at 22!". "I'll be THRILLED if they take Higgins at 22!". Bunch of folks who know nothing, pretending like they know everything. God, I love draft season.

Yeah. I was reading about him last night, and I'm pretty intrigued by his skillset. If you look at the game today, it's not always the biggest or fastest guys that have the most success. It's often the route technicians, the guys that understand the finer details of the position, that succeed. I'm thinking about guys like Robert Woods, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, Jarvis Landry, Keenan Allen, AJ Brown. I wouldn't want Van Jefferson to be the only wideout they add in the draft, but I'm all for having him be one of two guys added through the draft at that position.

Treadwell averaged 11.8 yds/rec in his college career. Higgins averaged. 18.1 yds/rec in his college career. That's a significant difference. I didn't watch Treadwell in college, so I can't say with certainty that they aren't alike. A quick look at the above numbers certainly suggests that Higgins is more explosive, though.

If they're thinking he's an upgrade over Star, then sure. As it stands, they have Star and Phillips at 1T and Oliver at 3T. So they need another 3T, and Reader ain't that. I know that Phillips is coming off an ACL tear, but he was a 3rd round pick just two years ago, was starting to come on last year and eat into Star's snaps, and they're not going to roster thee 1-techs. Again, I do think Reader is a superior player to Star, so if they have replacing him in mind, then great. I just find it hard to believe that they'd have asked him to take a pay cut rather than cutting him outright.

DJ Reader is a very good player, but the fit seems odd to me.

Higgins is certainly not my favorite WR prospect in this draft. HOWEVER... It's hard to argue with an 18.1 yds career receiving average (better than Hopkins, Watkins, Williams), 27 TDs (tied with Hopkins and Watkins), and hard to argue with the size and deep ball ability, too. And one more thing to keep in mind: McDermott, when asked what is important to him in a wide receiver, said "let's start with being able to catch the football". Now with that quote in mind, go watch Higgins highlights. He's a great hands catcher. Given the total package of traits, Higgins' ability to catch any ball in his area code (which is where lots of Allen's passes tend to end up -- just in the area code), the way he would complement our existing WR corps, and the recent NFL production history of Clemson WRs...I can't really find any reason that the Bills SHOULDN'T draft Higgins. If they could trade down a few spots and still snag him, that would be even better.

89 yards from scrimmage and a TD against LSU. Not out of this world production, but not "invisible".

Sorry, I just saw that. My bad. Have edited my reply with a line at the top accordingly.

**Edit: Aw, shoot. You said free agent WIDE RECEIVERS. I missed that last part. Ah well, the below listed players are who I like in free agency. The draft is where I want to see wide receivers added. They already have two trusty vets starting at WR in Brown and Beasley. Sorry I blew the thread topic** Kyler Fackrell, LB - Can play stack linebacker on 1st and 2nd down and rush the passer on 3rd down. Essentially, he would take over Lorenzo Alexander's role. Alec Ogletree, LB - If the Bills decide they don't want to even TRY to find a guy who can do what 'Zo did -- and that would be understandable, because he played a really unique role -- and that they want to go with more of a traditional WILL, I think Alec Ogletree would fit in really well. I doubt he'd break the bank, either. Vernon Butler, DT - Can play 1T and 3T. Former 1st round talent who isn't a gamebreaker, but can add great rotational value and versaitility. Ultimately, I'd like to see the Bills come out of free agency with a linebacker, corner, DT, and perhaps an Edge, as well. In short, I want to see them fill their defensive holes and depth chart via free agency. As I see it, the defense already has its young core, which were pretty much all drafted by this regime (Oliver, Edmunds, Milano, White, etc). Some savvy veterans who can fill specific roles would complement this young, homegrown core well. Conversely, I feel the offense has the opposite problem. It saw an influx of veterans and role players last year -- Brown, Beasley, Morse, Feliciano, Kroft -- but this year I'd like to see an infusion of youth. Allen, Singletary, and Knox were a great start. They need more. Free agency: fill out the defense with veterans. Draft: Infuse the offense with dynamic, young weapons.

From what I have seen and read, Jefferson had most of his success from the slot. When facing press coverage by outside corners, he did not fare so well. I'm not sure I believe he can thrive on the outside in the NFL. I view him more as a Jordan Matthews "big slot" type. Given that the Bills seem to really like Cole Beasley, and that they spent just about all of last year getting him acclimated with Josh Allen, I'm not sure I see the need for another slot receiver -- at least not with the 22nd pick.

Amazingly, the testing date has always been on 4/20. Too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.

Well... When a team trades up in the 1st round to select an offensive tackle, and then suddenly they want to trade him away the very next year....there must be a reason. Nobody instantly gives up on a 1st round player at a premium position without there being some kind of reason why. As such, I would want to fully investigate what that reason is before I'm willing to send them an offensive lineman that I like a lot and who I think can be a starter for the next decade, and who DOESN'T have any off-field problems or concerns. And assuming there IS such a reason, the team acquiring Dillard would be taking some degree of a risk. I don't want to trade away a guy I think can be at least a very good guard and who I feel really good about for a player who most likely has some sort of issues that are causing his drafting team to give up on him so soon. In short: trading a guy that fits in well on my team and who I think can be a good lineman for years for a guy who likely has some sort of major shortcoming seems like a bad -- or at least very risky -- idea.

No way I'm sending them Cody Ford.

Obviously it's very strange and uncommon to want to trade away a player you selected in the 1st round just one year into his career. It's even stranger when he plays a premium position, and it's stranger STILL when you used extra picks to trade up for that player. The speculation -- and it is just that -- is that Dillard is really soft. That he had a hard time with Philly fans, that he's a quiet loner type. Something about crying in the locker room after a tough game. Again, this is total wild internet speculation, but that's what I read.

Given that MOST rookie tackles have uneven rookie seasons, I can't help but wonder: If a "true tackle" had been drafted and had exactly the same season Cody Ford just had, would everyone be saying "bump him inside to guard", too? Or would they say "he was a rookie, he'll get better, give him some time"? It seems like the majority of armchair experts have decided that Ford can't/won't improve, and therefore has to change positions. Again, would they reach this same conclusion for more of a "true tackle" prospect? It's just weird to me that so many people are already so sure that he just CAN'T play tackle, despite having stretches during the season where he performed quite well there.

Milano misses ONE (difficult) tackle in a visible moment in the playoffs....and suddenly everyone wants to let him walk or say he "struggles to tackle". Ridiculous. He'll be re-signed, as he should.

LOL. I'm sorry, but getting the Bills from where they were, salary cap wise, to where they are now, in just two years...absolutely illustrates why I'm happy the Bills have Brandon Beane. As far as his "track record of overspending on free agents", I have news for you: When you're a rebuilding team that hasn't touched the playoffs in 17 years and play in a cold and undesirable city, you're going to have to overpay a bit to get certain guys to come here. You can get bottom barrel, replacement level players for their "correct value", sure, but in order to get the Mitch Morses of the world via free agency, you're going to have to overpay. I would also argue that Morse is not overpaid. He is also no longer the highest paid center in the league. And if you want to argue that Star is overpaid, that's fine, but I'll take the top three defense the Bills have now -- of which Star is a crucial part -- and you can keep the lackluster unit that preceded his arrival. Deal? Besides all of the above, my original post referred to overall salary cap management and position group allocation. If you were to go through the different position groups on the Bills roster, you wouldn't find any one position group that takes up a disproportionate amount of the salary cap. Why? Because Beane is good at managing the salary cap. Allocating 25% of the cap to one position group? Not smart cap management.

Jaquan Johnson's play as the season went along, and in the Jets game in particular, HAS to have the Bills thinking twice about giving Poyer more money. They could let him play out this year and then have Johnson on a cheap deal for the next two seasons. I also believe the Bills will be drafting a safety higher than many might guess come April.

Dawson Knox showed enough in his rookie season that Bills fans should be extremely excited about his potential going forward. He has the speed, contested catch ability, and blocking ability to be a top 5 tight end for the next decade. He obviously needs to work on catching the ball more consistently, but...considering how raw he was, and how many big plays he made as a rookie, the arrow is pointing waaaay up with this kid. When it's all said and done, the Bills' two third round picks last year could end up being the best players of the Bills' entire draft class.

True. I still don't think it's EVER wise to invest 25% of your salary cap into one position group. It would be difficult to convince me that that's an intelligent way to build a roster.

25% of the cap on just the secondary? Seems like a bad idea. I'm glad we have Brandon Beane, who seems to be a salary cap savant, instead of John Elway.