Logic

Having Will Levis's top two receiving options be a 30-year-old and a 31-year-old -- and both on big contracts -- seems...kinda weird to me? I mean, on the one hand, he's got reliable vets to lean on. On the other hand, you'd think you'd want a youngster at the position that Levis can grow with? Plus, deciding not to pay 24-year-old AJ Brown and then deciding to pay 30-year-old Ridley two offseasons later (yes I know it's a different front office) is such a weird look for the Titans. Maybe I'm crazy. Probably not. I think they're building their team weirdly.

I'm a real sucker for trading late round picks for supremely physically talented former high round picks in need of a 2nd chance. I guess that's my way of saying that if Burks IS on the block and the Titans would like a 5th or 6th round pick for him....I'm in!

That is....SO MUCH F'N money for a 30 year-old-receiver. My goodness. Ridley is a good player, and he was a few freaky TD drops away from having had very good statistical season last year in a middling Jaguars offense. But...yikes. In a year this loaded with WR talent in the draft? To pay THAT kind of money for a WR?! Yowwwwza.

Correct. It wound up looking pretty bad, though, because he was out there producing in a big, WR1 kind of way for the Giants, while the Bills were forced to sign the corpses of John Brown and Cole Beasley for their playoff run. Many Bills fans were livid at the time. You'd have thought we let prime Herman Moore walk out the door. As it turned out, sanity prevailed, Hodgins' Linsanity streak was short-lived, and now he's looking for work. Life is tough as a WR4/WR5 type in the NFL when you don't play special teams.

If I were better at resurrecting old threads, I'd do so for a "what the heck was Beane doing letting this guy go?!" thread that surely existed and probably got to 20+ pages long back when Hodgins had a few good weeks for the Giants in 2022.

Good for Dane. Good for the Bills, if they're playing comp pick Bingo.

I tend to think, with the money we have tied up in Diggs and the amount of scouting the Bills have done on top WR prospects, that our WR2 and WR4 will be coming from the draft. I do not think the Bills will be spending big bucks on a free agent WR. That said, I do like Mike Williams the player, and he WOULD provide physicality and downfield big play ability that the Bills currently lack. Alas, unless he's signing for relative peanuts, I don't anticipate the Bills going anywhere near him.

Yeah. He seems like discount Gabe Davis, but without the lure of being "young and improving" and thus enticing the coaches to try to make him a viable WR2. Hopefully he's nothing more than a gunner and never sees the field for meaningful offensive snaps other than as a blocker on obvious run plays.

If this is a "special teams contributor and compete with Shorter to be the 5th WR" move, and they didn't pay much, and they're still going to bring in more legitimate receivers via the draft or free agency, then I'm fine with it. If this represents one of the more significant additions they wind up making at WR this offseason (which I doubt), then I dislike it very much.

Probably for the best.

Only problem with Mike Litorus is that it takes a LOT of work to get the desired performance level out of him.

Diggs hasn't been a big difference maker the past two playoff seasons, either. Should probably cut him. Heck, Allen didn't play great against the Bengals in the 2022 playoffs. What do you think we could get back if we trade him away?

Poyer apparently is getting paid just $2 million this season. That number, to me, says the Bills cutting him was more about his performance than his cap number.

Good for him. He gave his heart and soul to Buffalo, and THEY chose to cut HIM. He gets to move closer to home, make his wife happy, and play for a pretty good team. I'm genuinely happy for him. I hope he stays healthy and plays well, and that he enjoys finishing in second place in the AFC East next season

You're probably right. I'll be honest, I don't love the idea of foregoing the signing of talented young veterans who can help this team NOW for the theoretical dangled carrots that are future 4th and 5th round compensatory picks. Beane played compensatory pick bingo this past offseason and lost, and the Bills only have a 4th to show for it, after thinking they'd get a 3rd. I know some here love comp picks as a team building strategy, but if it's between a few key FAs and a 4th or 5th round pick, I'd prefer the players. I may be alone on this island. Comp picks are simply not enough of a sure thing, and come from a process that is way less than transparent. Simply not a fan of planning one's talent acquisition strategy around it.

I agree, I just think that the quality of guys left at safety leaves a bit to be desired, and will soon get to the point that it's no more desirable than starting a rookie. That said, I fully acknowledge that I had never heard of Jordan Poyer prior to the Bills signing him, and I likely considered him a "special teams and depth guy that a rookie will push to the bench" when he signed here. McDermott and Beane obviously know better than I do. Still, I liked Chinn, and he didn't sign for much, and it's a deal I would have been happy for the Bills to have done. Alas, they must've either not liked the player, not liked the price, or both.

Bums me out. He and Geno Stone were my favorite safety targets, and both are off the market. The Cover 1 guys liked Alohi Gilman, but he's off the market, too. I still expect the Bills to sign a safety, but the longer they go without doing so, the more I begin to suspect that a high draft pick may be used on one, and that Rapp may actually start at SS. Huh.

I found these graphics to be EXCELLENT when trying to quantify Jones' impact on our defense. It compares the Bills' defensive numbers when Jones was in the lineup vs when he wasn't. Pretty irrefutable evidence that he had a major positive impact on the Bills defense.

If anyone actually thought the Bills would be spending that much on a running back in a year with this many needs and their cap situation, and coming off a season where James Cook posted 1500+ yards from scrimmage, well...I'm not really sure what to tell you. It was never feasible, practical, or particularly necessary. That said, it's a good signing for the Ravens. It's also good for my Derrick Henry dynasty league shares.

I don't disagree that Moss will have less opportunity to run the ball than when he was a fill-in bellcow back for the Colts. It doesn't change my stance that Moss was and is a good NFL running back and that his failures as a Bill were more due to poor schematic fit and lack of opportunity than to a lack of talent on his part.

Respectfully, is there any proof that this statement is accurate? Do you have any data indicating that injuries to defensive tackles increase in frequency as they get older, particularly more so than at other positions?

I said when Zack Moss was a Bill that he was a good player who just needed an opportunity. That he was a guy who got better the more opportunities he got in a game. That maybe he simply wasn't a good match for the Bills offense, but that he WAS a good player and not a bust. I was called crazy and laugh-emoji'd by many on this forum. Fast-forward a bit and Moss looked quite capable filling in for Jonathan Taylor, and has now parlayed that into either a starting or at least prime complimentary role with the Bengals. Good for him for rehabbing his career and going from "bust" and "afterthought" to a guy who can make $8 million in free agency and get significant snaps for a contending Bengals team.

People can feel however they want about this, but... My only bone to pick is with those who say he's "oft injured" or "injury prone" or whatever. Prior to his pec injury last year, he hadn't missed a game in eight seasons. I realize he's 32 years old, but the DT position is one at which 1T and NT types have historically continued to excel well into their 30s. And simply being 32 is not a guarantee of continued injury troubles. The Bills were significantly better on defense with Jones on the field that without him. His deal does not break the bank. For those reasons, I view this re-signing as a positive. If anyone views it as a negative, again, thats fine and thats their prerogative, but using "injuries" as the reason is odd to me.

If you figure there are 32 teams who collectively start 64 edge rushers... AJ was in the top third of the league in pressure percentage last season. Ascending player. Glad we kept him.