Logic

Fair point about the finances alone, but given how McDermott and Beane are already raving about Hollins' influence in the locker room, and with Beane calling him a "glue guy", I'd still bet my bottom dollar that Hollins is very close to a lock.

Looking at the contract/guarantees given to the free agent WRs tells us that the first five you listed are roster locks. They're not cutting Hollins or MVS. That leaves: Claypool, Hamler, Shavers, Shorter, and Isabella ...fighting for the final one or two spots, depending on whether they keep six or seven WRs on the 53. As others have mentioned, health and special teams contributions will likely wind up being the deciding factors.

I hope he does. He's the best outside corner on the team, he's a great locker room guy, and a Douglas/Benford duo for the next few seasons would be very good. I suppose it's possible they're waiting to see how Elam does this year, but even if he suddenly breaks out, he'd still be on a cost-controlled deal for three seasons (assuming fifth year option is exercised), and you can never have too much depth at outside corner.

Awesome, thanks. You're gonna have a marvelous view. Enjoy!

It's been a decade since the team that won the Super Bowl had a dynamic, big-contract running back. The Chiefs are in the midst of a dynasty with guys like CEH and Isiah Pacheco toting the rock. I just don't think that spending money on an elite, big-money running back is the way that most very good teams are going about things these days. Re-signing Cook to a second contract is certainly not the foregone conclusion that you think it is -- particularly for a team who seems to regularly spend day two and three picks on running backs and who just drafted an RB with a three down skillset a month ago.

It is my destiny to be arrested for fighting a police horse during a Bills Super Bowl parade. My life will not be complete until this happens. It's a tough goal to have, because it requires not only a Bills Super Bowl victory, but also a less-than-amicable police horse. I'm not just gonna pick a fight with a NICE horse, ya know?

It's already been said a few times in here, but I agree with it and will reiterate: The only time you give a second contract to a running back is if he's either a big time threat in the receiving game (like CMC or Kamara) or is so elite that he's the engine of your offense (Derrick Henry or Jonathan Taylor). And even in the latter case, it's not always great business. Generally speaking, and with very few exceptions: Draft, employ for four (or five) years, let walk, repeat. All of that said, unless Cook ups his contributions to the passing game considerably, I don't think the Bills should (or will) re-sign him.

Awesome! You'll have an amazing time. Just out of curiosity, where will you be sitting?

indefatigable Bucatini schmohawk I couldn't pick just one.

I suppose it really comes down to subjective opinion. Put simply, when I look at the fact that Josh Allen was responsible for the highest percentage of his team's offensive production of any QB in the league last year by a fairly large margin, it indicates to me that the team is asking him to do too much. All I'm asking is that it be more common for the Bills to perform well on offense on a more consistent basis WITHOUT Josh Allen having to be a total alien. I'd like it to not feel like he has to put the cape on every single week for the Bills to have a chance, which is what it has felt like all too often to me the past few years. If the end result of this new offensive build is that Josh can spread the ball around more, play point guard, distribute to his playmakers, and save the heroics for the late-season and playoffs, then great. But from where I sit, it seems just as likely to me (if not more so) that the end result of this new offensive build is that Josh doesn't have enough game-breaking talent around him and STILL has to put his cape on darn near ever week for the Bills to succeed on offense. We can go around in circles on this for days. Ultimately -- time will tell.

Thanks for the response. I guess my answer would be that the "Josh Allen needs more help around him" narrative is not just my own, but one that seems shared by many unbiased reporters and national media, as well. https://www.nfl.com/news/hall-of-famer-jim-kelly-believes-bills-need-to-get-qb-josh-allen-some-rb-help-jo https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/05/the-buffalo-bills-and-josh-allen-need-to-change-but-will-they-be-able-to https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39385819/buffalo-bills-quarterback-josh-allen-supporting-cast-wide-receivers-running-back https://www.the33rdteam.com/analyzing-every-nfl-playoff-team-projecting-their-futures/ Just from a quick Google search, there's a sample of different forms of the "Josh needs more help" narrative. From Chris Simms to Jim Kelly (whose quote admittedly came before Cook broke out) to Bill Parcells to reporters for ESPN and the Guardian, there are articles and quotes from over the past couple years talking about the Bills needing to do a better job putting help around Josh Allen. This stance is summed up well by Bill Parcells, who said "you just can't play Solitaire in the NFL and expect to win". Now to be clear, I don't think that the cupboard has been bare by any means. Diggs is/was a legitimate number one receiver, Cook just had a breakout season last year, Knox was a pretty good tight end even prior to drafting Kincaid, etc. HOWEVER...yes, I DO think the Bills can and should have given Allen even more help than they did. The writing has been on the wall that Gabe Davis isn't a good WR2 for a couple seasons now. When veterans John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley left, effectively NONE of them were replaced. I like Khalil Shakir a lot and think he may have a great third season, but he's not there YET. One need look no further than the Bills counting on big offensive contributions from the likes of Trent Sherfield, Deonte Harty, and now potentially Mack Hollins. But if one DOES look further, they see an offense which counted in big contributions from 34 year old Latavius Murray last year. An offense which had to bring back the ghosts of John Brown and Cole Beasley in the playoffs the year before that because they didn't have enough depth at WR to do anything else. So no, I'm not a "the Bills haven't given ANY help to Josh Allen" guy. But I AM a "the Bills haven't given ENOUGH help to Josh Allen" guy, and I stand by that opinion. He has made chicken salad out of chicken ***** for a while now. Too often, the Bills' offensive gameplan has seemed to RELY on Josh Allen to be superhuman. That is, unless he was pulling on his cape and doing crazy Josh Allen things, the Bills offense has not often enough carried its own weight. Anyway...all of this is rehashing the past. Leading into this season -- as I have gone over ad nauseum and no one wants to hear any more -- I continue to see disconcerting warning signs. I don't want to talk about them any more. You and I each know where the other stands on this issue. Time will tell if the Bills have given Josh Allen the necessary weapons to succeed in 2024 and beyond. But to respond to your insinuation: Yes, I believe they have failed to give him good enough weaponry in seasons past, and I don't believe that's a minority opinion. As I showed with several of the links I posted, it's a pretty popular and not at all radical notion.

I think that if Allen has his best season -- maybe even an MVP season -- it will mean that the decision to oust Diggs was a good one. That Allen felt freed up to just throw it to whoever was open rather than have to placate an ego. That the necessity of Allen taking greater ownership of the offense and becoming more of an alpha leader led to a rise in the level of his play. That the way Beane decided to rebuild the offense was a good one, that Brady is a good playcaller. Ultimately, it will mean that my concerns were unfounded, that I was wrong, and that Beane knew what he was doing. If you have followed my posting career here at all, you'll know that I'm not the type to cling to my priors, or to root for a player or team unit to fail simply because I predicted struggles. I'd WAY rather be wrong. If the offense is gangbusters and Allen has a great season, I'll happily eat a giant plate of deep fried crow, and will admit that he was given an effective cast of players and a good playcaller. Now I have an honest question for you: If the passing offense struggles this season, slips multiple spots in the rankings in terms of scoring and yardage production, and the Bills offense is -- overall -- noticeably less effective than it's been the past few years, are you going to label it "growing pains" or excuse it away in some other fashion, or will you be willing to admit that some of us less optimistic fans were correct, and that Beane did not set Josh up optimally for success? I'm ready -- and even eager -- to eat my crow if and when the time comes to do so. Can you say the same about yourself?

Just wanted to report on having seen Dead and Co for three consecutive nights at the Sphere. First of all, let me just say, I am NOT a fan of Las Vegas. I think I would have really loved the 1950s, mob-owned, Frank and Dean and Sammy, cocktail dresses and martinis and poker table Vegas. I do NOT love the 2024 Vegas, which I found to be little more than a sprawling, stinky, expensive, Disneyland/Times Square of a place, whose only goal seems to be to get you seated in front of a slot machine, hammered drunk, after spending $200+ on a dinner for two. Now that that's out of the way... The shows themselves were amazing. I can't even really put into words how cool The Sphere is. Just an all-encompassing, immersive, at times overwhelming technological marvel. At times, the experience was so novel and so cool and so interesting that all I could do was grin like an idiot and laugh like a schoolboy. Half of the videos I took feature me laughing maniacally in the background. The band played mostly well -- particularly on the third night -- and at the moment where they weren't playing as well, I was still so caught up in the spectacle of the graphics that I didn't mind as much. All the band members wore black on night one and did a night-long tribute to Bill Walton, complete with #32 stickers on their guitars, Walton stuff up on the video screen, and more. They played a few of his favorite tunes, including a Fire on the Mountain (his favorite Dead song) encore. Very glad I was there for that. The below videos are not my own, and are just taken from YouTube from other people, in order to give you a sense of what I was seeing. If you get a chance to go see a show at the Sphere, I highly recommend it.

In a league where passing is emphasized and in which the rules are set up to encourage its success... The most important thing to do is get a quarterback. The next most important thing to do is protect him so he stays upright and healthy. The third most important thing to do is to get him some good players to throw the ball to. The Bills have indisputably achieved goal #1. They seem quite likely to have achieved goal #2. I am uncertain that they have fully achieved goal #3, but I fear they may not have. Others are optimistic that they have done so. We can argue all day about TEs vs WRs, having one or two elite options vs having a grab bag of different skillsets, etc, but at the end of the day, the proof will be in the pudding. There will once again come a moment in the playoffs where the Bills need offensive players OTHER than Josh Allen to step up. Will anyone be ready to answer the call? Tight end, running back, receiver, I personally don't really care. I just want 2024 not to be "The Solo Josh Allen Show: Remix". I'm sick of that show. Time will tell if Beane has gone about the building of the offense correctly and to sufficient effect. I am less optimistic than others, but we'll all see soon enough. **Edit: And before anyone says it: Yes, it would be REALLY nice if some defensive guys started stepping up, too. All the offensive firepower in the world won't do a thing if our defense can't learn to stop a nosebleed in the playoffs.**

Bunch of scofflaw scumbags. Wake me when a Kansas City Chief ISN'T in the news for abusing someone and/or breaking the law.

Nico Collins is, in my mind, sort of the best case scenario for what Keon Coleman could become. He's 6'4" 215 lbs and offers uncommonly good RAC for a guy his size. Sound familiar? Admittedly, Collins is faster with a 4.45 to Coleman's 4.61. Then again, Coleman is probably a bit better above-the-rim than Collins. Collins got off to a modest start in the NFL with 446 and 481 yard outputs in his first two seasons while also struggling with injuries. Last season he had a true breakout with 1297 yards and 8 TDs in 15 games. I don't know if Coleman's first couple seasons will be as modest as Collins' were, but I think it's reasonable to hope and expect that he can reach (or exceed) the production that Collins just posted in year three.

Obviously most of the world today knew Bill Walton as a great broadcaster and an all-time NBA great. I knew him more from Deadhead land. He was a close friend of the band, and claims to have seen over 1,000 Grateful Dead and Dead related shows in his lifetime. From when he was a still-active bearded redhead NBA player in the 70s until the modern day, if you were at a Dead show (particularly on the west coast), you could look out into the crowd on the floor and usually see all 6'11" of him towering over everyone, smiling and singing along, his arms outstretched in his massive condor wingspan. Imagine being behind THAT guy at a concert? Sheesh. Various words of love have been sent Bill's way by members of the Dead community the past few days. John Mayer, who plays with Dead and Co nowadays, said Bill's special talent was to reorient you so that you had the same relentless positive and optimistic outlook on life that he did. So that you always saw the light. Mayer said "I think it's pretty good advice that when times get tough, everything will be okay if you just pretend to be Bill Walton". RIP Bill. Thanks for bringing so much light and joy to so many for so long.

The amount of those yellow puffer jackets we're about to see in the stands come winter time this season is gonna be hilarious.

I already gave answers. I'm sorry you didn't like them. Let me try again. Christian Kirk posted an 1100 yard season and then was on pace for a 1200 yard season last year before getting injured. No current Bills receiver has EVER even eclipsed 900 receiving yards, let alone 1,000. Curtis Samuel's career best receiving yardage total was 15 yards better than Gabe's, but Gabe scored more TDs that year. Brian Thomas was ranked higher on every draft board everywhere than Keon Coleman. Had he been on the board when the Bills picked, they would have taken him over Keon Coleman. While we love Kincaid's potential, he has yet to post a 900 yard season, which Evan Engram just did. As for the Titans: DeAndre Hopkins has 12,000 career receiving yards and 78 TDs. Even last year, at age 31, he still had -- yep, you guessed it -- over 1,000 yards, which -- can you guess what I'm gonna say next? -- is more than any current Bills receiver has ever had. Calvin Ridley has 1,000 more receiving yards and 14 more receiving TDs than Curtis Samuel in two LESS seasons than Samuel. Tyler Boyd has played just one more season than Curtis Samuel, but has 2600 more yards and 9 more TDs. So yes. I think both the Jaguars and Titans -- based primarily on career production vs "potential" -- have better weapons than the Bills. Objectively speaking, the stats back me up. In some cases, HUGELY so. I'd be willing to be that if you were to poll most unbiased NFL fans, they'd agree. It's perfectly fine that you disagree with me, and perfectly fine that you find my opinions abysmal. I'll survive. Have a nice Memorial Day.

I'll miss you. Best of luck in future endeavors.

Yeah it seems as though Orlovsky's comment is based on a decent amount of projection. IF Coleman hits and IF Knox returns to his '21-'22 form and IF Shakir elevates his game and IF Kincaid takes a sophomore leap...then the Bills could reasonably be a top five group in the AFC. If we're going solely by proven NFL production, it's pretty hard to argue top five with a straight face.

I agree, and have mentioned a few times this offseason that I'd be fine with the "quantity approach", most effectively deployed by the Green Bay Packers last season. Until the addition of MVS and Claypool (and the realistic seeming possibility that the latter might actually have his head screwed on straight), I didn't feel that the Bills had accomplished the "quantity" goal very effectively, either. I feel better about it now. To me, though, having a deeper stable of decent to good players is not necessarily superior to having a shallower stable of very good to elite players, it's simply a different approach. Nor does it mean that one can't attempt to rank teams' respective offensive skill player stables without it meaning that one has some kind of vendetta against one's favorite team simply for not ranking them #1.

My responses in bold. It's not as if I said the Bills skill players are dog poop or anything. I said I'd rank them about sixth in the AFC, and listed who I'd rank ahead of them. YMMV.

For what it's worth (probably not much): My personal opinion is that the Bills would be JUST on the outside looking in of the "top five in the AFC" discussion. In no particular order, I'd list the Texans, Chiefs, Dolphins, Bengals, Titans, and arguably the Jaguars as having better weapons than the Bills. So I'd probably have the Bills sixth or seventh. A big jump from Kincaid and Shakir could change that, but that's where I'd have it now.