yungmack

Not much there for the Bills. The top of the list will likely stay where they are and many of the rest will have the luxury of signing for real contenders. My guess is the Bills will be signing off the margins with Poyer/Hyde types.

Despise the Cowboys, love any team that beats them, soft spot for the Browns as they were "our" team in the 50s.

Start with the old cliche, "You build a team from front to back, inside to out." So by that standard, how are the Bills at Center and DT? Guards and DE? Tackles and OLB?

No one in their right mind thinks Tyrod is, or ever will be, a transcendent talent. But the offense was pretty darn good - not great, but good - until Dennison showed up.

Really? How did that work out with Goff and Fisher?

I wish we hadn't traded at all and had taken Mahomes ourself.

To move up significantly in the draft will require a boat load of picks. And whomever they draft at that level will get multi millions, so both your draft picks and a substantial amount of your money will be committed on QB who might or might not work out. If that's too much for the FO to stomach, then, yes, go the pure FA route. But to my eyes, the likely QBs who will be available are not much of an improvement over TT, if at all. General opinion is that Cousins is the best of the bunch but I just don't believe he will ever move into that top 4 or 5 QB group, and even if the Skins were to let him leave, I really can't see him happily coming to Buffalo. If moving up in the draft will cost a ton, and FAs will also cost big money without offering significant improvement, then the other option is a trade. So you're a hater?

Yep, they're all starting QBs, and so is TT. As to And last I heard, Irsay is the owner, the guy who questions Luck's commitment, courage and willingness to play hurt. Having Chevy Chase as your avatar tells me all I need to know about your sense of humor.

That's a long list of mostly mediocre picks if you're talking about a dominating QB, and a team that does more than make the playoffs. Of the first rounders, the only one who look like a standout is Wentz, with Ryan behind him and the jury still out on Goff. As to the rest of them (and let's NOT leave out 2013), I don't see a great one among them. I mean, we are talking about a long-term franchise QB, right, not a "he's pretty good" guy?

Don't believe he has. The Bills, in my opinion, should initiate talks, see if Irsay is ready to part ways, and if he is, what will he take for Luck. He's the only guy I'd rate as a top QB who there's even a chance might be available. If negotiations fail, go back to the other scenarios. Couldn't hurt to give it a try and who knows? Can be begin excising cranky old farts like you?

Every fan with a lick of sense knows that the draft is a shot in the dark. "Can't Miss" players flop all the time, even among the highest picks. And QB disappointments are among the most hit-or-miss of them all. Nearly every year several are picked high in the draft, and nearly every year most of them disappoint. The real successes are few and far between, as a look around the league shows. One of the major reasons why FAs at all positions are chased after is that they've proved what they can do against NFL competition. They're generally a better bet than the unproven rookies. "Trial by fire" and all that. Still, it appears the Bills are considering packaging several of their picks this year (and maybe from coming years) to move up to get that elusive "franchise QB" and get themselves out of what Whaley called "Quarterback Purgatory." But who are the "can't miss" candidates that would make this worthwhile? Darnold? Rosen? Mayfield? Could be they will each be HOF-ers by the end of their careers but history is against that. Another path is to aggressively court a FA QB, which might include Cousins, Smith, Keenum, Bridgewater and a few others. These are all experienced NFL QBs and to my eyes, they all have serious flaws, flaws that lead me to think the Bills will not be greatly better with any of them and might be worse with some. So what to do if you're Kim and Brian and Sean, with a genuine need at QB, a bunch of good picks, several apparently quality QBs coming out of college, along with several serviceable pros? Here's what I lean towards: Don't package a bunch of picks to go after a college QB, and don't bust the bank to sign a "maybe he'll be good" pro. Instead, take those picks and, if necessary, some of that money you're considering spending on a FA QB and make a deal with the Colts for Andrew Luck. The owner seems to have fallen out of love with him, actively talking him down. And he owes a ton of money to a guy he doesn't like anymore. The organizational situation doesn't inspire confidence that the Colts are about to turn things around any time soon, which must be clear to Luck by now, which should make him amenable to a trade. A couple of first round picks, maybe more, and the willingness to take on Luck's contract just might make Irsay say, "Dilly dilly." I would certainly favor this path over using those same picks on an college QB, and I'd rather spend the money on Luck than Cousins, Smith, Bridgewater or any of the other QBs likely to be available. What do you think?

If you truly believe the Bills got the best of the KB for Darby trade, thank de Lawd you're not the GM.

Now explain the drop off with essentially the same personnel from the previous two years.

That "scheme" of his is precisely why he's got to go.

Actually there is. It's called "Wide Receivers Who Are Fast, Can Get Separation and Then Can Catch The Freakin' Ball." It's quite a successful approach with several cutting-edge offenses. Maybe the extremely conservative Bills will look into it...someday.

Zay Jones, Deontae Thompson, Matthews, Benjamin...They might be the worst foursome in the league to base your passing offense on.

On the money. And with damaged knees.

Not prevs, just coarse and vulgar and sophomoric.

Discussing a "sophmore slump" implies this past season marked some sort of great breakout. 9-8 does not a breakout season make. It's the same old middling record that makes up season after season with the Bills. When they knock out 11 wins and look like a coming power, that will be the time to worry about sophomore slumps. For now they're just a collection of Never Were, second level talent.

How well does she read defenses?

I know this will never happen -- too many players to be replaced, cap and contract money difficulties, etc. -- but a wholesale house cleaning is very attractive and might do a world of good. Bold to cut Clay, Matthews, Thompson and Zay but I agree. I'd also send Benjamin on his way. If Glenn is healthy I keep him. Same for Henderson. If Kyle wants to play another year, I keep him, largely because it's too big a "lift" to work in two brand new starting DTs. I think you make a rational (and unpopular with a certain segment around here) decision to keep Brown, Lawson and Washington. But the one bit of "crazy" that I don't understand is cutting Schmidt. Can you explain how you arrived at that choice? Nice piece of analysis all in all.

If you (and I really aim this towards the virulently hateful anti-TT crowd around here, not you personally) genuinely believe that replacing TT with Cousins or Smith or Bridgewater (!!!) or even Rodgers or Brady is the cure-all, I believe you are going to be terribly disappointed. Had a supposedly "much better QB" been running the Offense this past season, it's possible they could have squeezed out another win, maybe two. And that's a big "maybe." The problems with the Bills run much, much deeper than replacing a mediocre QB. Much of the offensive talent wouldn't be starters on the best teams, if they were on the roster at all. That includes all the receivers, one of the worst groups overall in the league; the O line, and, with the exception of an aging McCoy, the running backs/fullbacks. But perhaps the worst part of the offense is Rick Dennison, about the last man I'd want working with the "new toy" the Bills are supposedly going to move mountains to acquire. And if McDermott decides he's happy with Dennison, that will indicate to me that he doesn't have a clue about how to construct a proper offense. Which means the Bills will likely continue to be a middling team as long as he runs the show. And that will be, at most, two more years. And then we can start all over again.

Did you notice how freakin' many plays he was under center? Who does that with TT? BTW, Darnold almost never plays under center so if by some miracle the Bills get him, can we look forward to Dennison trying to fit another square peg into a round hole and screwing everything up? Natch.

Whatever it costs is too much for this guy.