Logic

I certainly understand (but do not entirely share) your viewpoint. Jerry was DEFINITELY the majority of what was interesting/excellent about the Grateful Dead. I still enjoy gathering with the tribe and getting my boogie on, and I love me some Bobby Weir.

Copy that. Obviously not good enough yet, but it does represent an improvement over the 10 points per game that they were scoring prior to Allen's return from injury.

I tend to agree. If I'm not mistaken, the Bills were averaging 24 points a game once Josh came back from injury. And that was with a bad o-line and a WR corps lacking in talent. Just with the additions we've already made in free agency (not even factoring in what gets added via the draft), and with Allen about to get a full offseason and training camp of starter reps, I expect a much improved offense in 2019. My entire adult life as a Bills fan has been spent without a franchise QB. I was too young to really remember watching Jim Kelly. As such, I literally don't know what it feels like to know that my team has a franchise QB. If Allen lights it up in 2019 and proves that he's "the guy", well....I just won't even know how to feel. What is it even like being a fan of a team with a franchise QB? Uncharted territory for me.

All we have to go on is the national analyst (I can't remember who...Daniel Jeremiah, maybe?) who said he had Murray with the same grade that he gave Josh Allen last year. I think the order of QBs drafted this year would be Murray, then Allen, then Haskins, then Locke. Just a total guess.

Of all the bands I can think of, the Grateful Dead have handled this the best. Once Jerry Garcia died, they went as The Other Ones. Eventually, they brought "The Dead" out of mothballs, but without the "Grateful". Later iterations that play Dead music have included Ratdog, Phil and Friends, Further, and now Dead and Company. But to their credit, they have never attempted to go out as The Grateful Dead. Even their much celebrated 50th anniversary farewell shows at Solider Field in 2015 were only billed as "Celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead". They've let the name stay...well, um....dead...since Jerry died. Kudos for that.

The only thing I'll say with respect to the comments about Culley and the lack of foundation around Allen: It's important to remember the restrictions under which the team was operating due to cap constraints. I recall Beane mentioning that the Bills were in on both Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel, but couldn't offer them as much money or clear opportunity for success as the Bears. I also remember the Bills being in on RT Ricky Wagner the year before, but again, couldn't afford what he ultimately wound up receiving. It's only fair to at least keep their salary cap imposed limitations in mind when mentioning the lack of foundation around Allen. Furthermore, the Bills are not the first to use the "fix defense in year 1, get QB in year 2, build around QB in year 3" model. All that being said, I have no explanation or excuse for Culley being the QB coach. That made no sense to me then and still doesn't make sense to me now. Perhaps he'd have been a fine hire if the Bills had a 10 year vet at QB. But for him to be the primary tutor of a ROOKIE?! No bueno. Glad they did the right thing and axed him.

I mean...how good of a backup center do you think MOST teams have? As it is, the Bills' current backup centers are Russell Bodine and Spencer Long. Both are guys that have started a lot of games in this league. If you look around the NFL, you're not going to find a lot of teams with really high quality backup centers. I think Bodine/Long is as strong of a backup center situation as you're likely to find anywhere in the league. As for Morse, he seems to be a consensus top 10 center in the NFL. Furthermore, I expect Long to compete to start at GUARD, a position at which he performed well when he was a Redskin. No one expects him to be a candidate for starting center, so I'm not sure why that's even a discussion.

I agree. Except I think the bolded leads to some people going overboard on the pessimistic outlooks. Why wouldn't they? The Bills have been so bad for so long that many Bills fans are conditioned to expect the worse, even when there are signs that optimism may be warranted. I believe that what we're looking at now is the beginning of the 3rd year of a complete teardown and rebuild. Year 1 they jettisoned bad contracts and players and began to build a defense. Year 2 they identified and selected a quarterback and continued to bolster the defense (it finished 2nd in the league). Year 3 is all about building around Allen and making sure he's the franchise QB they think he is. In years 4 and 5, we'll start to see contract extensions for homegrown stars. I also think we'll start to see bigger free agent contracts handed out, being that they are projected to be in the top 5 in cap space again NEXT offseason. So yeah, we're still toward the beginning end of a complete rebuild. As such, big dollars have yet to really be committed across the roster. Right now, the team hasn't proven anything and has to be considered below average at worst, average at best. Anything above that, they must prove on the field. But as for the cap dollars the Bills are spending? They look exactly like they SHOULD look for a team in this stage of a rebuild. As always, I am cautiously optimistic. I understand why some choose pessimism, though, whether consciously or subconsciously.

9. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Ed Oliver IDL, Houston 40. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Kelvin Harmon WR, NC State 74. Buffalo Bills USER PICK JJ Arcega-Whiteside WR, Stanford 112. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Tytus Howard OT, Alabama State 131. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Alize Mack TE, Notre Dame 147. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Devin Singletary RB, FAU 158. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Beau Benzschawel IOL, Wisconsin 181. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Demarcus Christmas IDL, Florida State 225. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Bryce Love RB, Stanford 228. Buffalo Bills USER PICK Ryan Finley QB, NC State

The below chart makes very clear what the Bills are doing. They have less money committed on big contracts than any team in the league. Why is this? I would postulate it ties into why they have only been signing average to slightly above average players to no more than modest contracts: They are planning to do the majority of their spending on the retention of their own young core in the coming years: Milano, Edmunds, White, Allen, Dawkins, [Edge draftee], etc, etc. Rather than spending big chunks of their cap on overpaid free agents, they are meticulously and intelligently allocating their money in a way that will allow them to retain all of their own home grown talent, rather than be forced to watch anyone walk away because the Bills can't afford their contract demands. It's a breath of fresh air and a massive change from the way things were done under Whaley.

I'd rather see them add 5 high quality players that they really like, even if it means using their extra 4th and 5th rounders to move up a few times. I don't need to see 10 players added. They won't be able to find roster spots for 10 players. I don't expect them to draft more than 7 players at most. Beane and McDermott's recent draft history also shows that they like moving up in the early rounds if the price is right (Dawkins, Zay, Allen, and Edmunds were all selected after trade-ups).

With the caveat that this will be a complete guess, based on looking at Spencer Long and Roger Saffold and Kalechi Osemele's contracts to form a base line range... I believe Spain wants a lucrative contract and teams aren't biting due to his 2018 and 2017 seasons not being up to the caliber of pay that he likely wants. As such, a 1-year prove it deal is probably the most likely outcome. Based on his age, recent production, and the contracts of the players mentioned above, I'd guess that a one year, $4-5Million deal could get it done. I could be way off, but that's my line of thinking. *Edit: I should have said that's what I think his true VALUE is. Will he settle for that amount? Who knows. He may think he's more in the $8-10M range, and that's why no one has signed him yet.

It's always been weird to me that teams without an established franchise QB don't draft MULTIPLE QBs high and have legit competitions for the starting job. If it's the most important position in sports, and you don't have a good one, why wouldn't you take as many high swings as possible until you do? Cards should keep Rosen, draft Murray at 1, let them compete for the starting job, and let whoever loses either be a backup on a cheap deal, or trade away said player AFTER you're already pretty sure the other guy is the franchise.

1.) They extended an offer, but Beasley felt (correctly, apparently) that he was worth more 2.) Beasley wanted out of that offense and wanted an opportunity to catch more balls elsewhere

People keep saying this, but Fisher is signed and rostered as a tight end. So wouldn't he just line up as one of the usual 2 or 3 TEs in the goal-line package? I don't see why we'd have a tight end up line up as tackle. His addition still strengthens the goal line package, don't get me wrong, it just does so in a different way: Some poor linebacker or safety is going to be blocked by a converted tackle. Good look to that poor chump!

I believe one part of the plan of having "the ageless duo"/Medicare Express backfield this year is pairing them with a young running back who can soak up their work habits and learn from the best. Singletary looks just like a young Shady to me. I don't care one bit that he didn't test well at the combine.

I will say it again: the "Buffalo can't lure free agents" business is nonsense. Total nonsense. The type of player that wouldn't want to come to Buffalo solely because the nightlife and weather aren't stellar is the type of player the Bills and McBeane likely wouldn't want on the team anyway. Quality players that are also quality PEOPLE, like Mitch Morse or Cole Beasley or Micah Hyde, have no problem coming to a place like Buffalo. Furthermore, the money the Pegulas are pumping into the Bills' athletic facilities, and the way they run their team in general, is creating a very favorable look for the Bills. Word is getting around, too. You heard a couple of this year's free agents mention that their agent told them really good things about what was going on with the Bills and the direction of the team. As we see here, the way the team is run, the leadership, the quarterback situation, heck..a LOT of factors...are more important to many players than the city itself or any of its perceived shortcomings. Case in point: How did the Jets -- in one of the supposed most desirable markets in the NFL -- do this free agency? Anthony Barr went back on his word to them because the thought of going there "made him sick" , Morse chose Buffalo, Paradis chose Carolina.

Agreed on the plan for the 9 spot. As for Long: The best case scenario for the Bills is that Teller wins one guard job outright, and Feliciano or Boettger win the other. This would allow Long to be high quality swing depth along the interior. No matter how it works out in the end, I have confidence that the o-line will be much improved. If the Bills had to line up and start the season next Sunday, I already think the team would be leaps and bounds better than it was last year, based solely on our free agent additions. The fact that we still have 10 picks in April is icing on the cake.

Could Beane really sign a SIXTH offensive lineman this offseason?! That's gotta be some kind of record...

I watched from the Bills Backers bar in Portland, OR. You would have thought were were in the heart of Buffalo. Hugging strangers, unbridled joy all around. The greatest New Year's Eve ever!

Fair enough. But bear in mind that there are 64 starting guards in the NFL, so this places Spain barely south of "average" at the position. I'd venture to guess the Bills' starting guards all ranked well worse than 40th last year. As such, this would represent an upgrade, and isn't that the point?

I'm an admitted optimist, but I like the signing. First of all, he comes with 2nd round pedigree as an offensive lineman, so putting him on the field as a tight end should be a real boon to the running game. Secondly, having him in goal line jumbo packages should present one more tool in Daboll's toolbox. Third, these are the type of "low risk, high reward" signings I always like. The Bills have literally NOTHING to lose by giving this a try. There's no guarantee he even makes the team. Fourth, his addition gives the Bills just a little bit more draft day flexibility, as they now have three tight ends on the roster: a classic in-line guy (Kroft), a move tight end/receiving option (Croom), and a blocking specialist (Fisher). While we all want and expect a rookie to be drafted at tight end, it is no longer QUITE such a dire need, from a "personnel already on board" standpoint. Between this and Mo Alexander and hosting Quinton Spain, I'm liking what I'm seeing from "wave 2" of Bills free agency.

Not immediately, I don't think, since they have to bring 90 guys to camp anyway. But if they sign Spain, I can absolutely see a scenario where they end up cutting either Long or Feliciano.

I think Bush and Alexander represent about as good a set of depth safeties as a team can have.

Per Alexander himself on Twitter.