Rochesterfan

The problem with this is that FA is not done and until we are up to the draft - it is hard to speculate on the BPA and need ratio. Right now they need more RB, DE, and LB depth and could use a young WR. All could be in play with the 2nd round pick. If they pick up Jordan Howard and/or another CB (Harris) or they grab another OT or LB as depth in the next few days - then the focus shifts to WR, DE, maybe a center. Beane is once again filling holes in FA and that allows him to truly draft the BPA on the board - regardless of position. Then it will be who is falling and where to draft him. Position is irrelevant- it will be the top tiered guy left and you can’t know that until the draft.

Terrible take - what should they have done so far to upgrade the offense? FA has not started. The draft has not occurred. There have not been a huge amount of star WRs, OL, RBs, and TEs released to sign. They have so far done exactly as Beane has stated - they have signed their own and as he has in the past - filled as many holes as possible - so they are free to move around in the draft to get what they want. To act like they are done and he broke a promise because they re-signed a back-up TE and their starting and back-up OL is insane. Enjoy what they have done before FA has even started. They are positioning themselves to have another stellar offseason leading to another great year.

My feeling is that you take these 2 teams and one has to travel - potential exposure - then stay in a hotel - more exposure - eat, ride to game. Then two teams play - lost of close physical contact and potential exposure. The risk is just that you can fairly quickly infect an entire team and spread the virus amongst many additional support players. For example the CAA just found out a Ref tested positive - now potentially every team in the CAA has potential to be exposed. They have already returned to campus - now potentially a larger group is exposed. If you had 2 teams and everyone tested and quarantined along with coaches, refs, doctors, video guys, everything - it would be fine, but one breakdown - one positive and bang potentially 50 exposures that need monitored. It sucks, but it makes sense to keep everyone as safe as possible.

That would be an awesome job by both Shaq and Beane!

This is huge as like the AAFL when it folded - the players will get a shot before FA begins. As I said before - the biggest league issue is that these guys would only be available after FA and the draft - really limiting the number of shots. Good for them to stop completely and not try to postpone for a month and finish up when their guys have no shot.

I think they roll with most of the line from last year. You have your starters with Ford/Ty competing and then Bates and Long as back-ups. I will be interested to see about Waddle, but remember if the new CBA passes there are extra PS spots including for 2 veteran players. So the Bills could draft late round guys or sign another guy to compete and still have a place to stash a player if needed.

Looks like they made the right choice and it probably saves them a bit of money by only paying base salary - saves them win bonus money. Good for them - I was not sure they would make the right choice.

Now they will look even worse with the NCAA canceling the entire tournament. It will be interesting to see what kind of pressure they get at this point.

They are stupid to play, but dead if they don’t. No Win here. I wish the players would stand up for themselves- especially heading into Seattle, DC, and NY. The players already have little recourse (can’t sue and can’t unionize) - now would be the time to stand up and say no. You have 3 games in major impacted markets. Not a good look when everything else is being postponed. Making it look like they do not care at all about their players.

It is about TV when your TV contract pays the Bills. The XFL has a TV contract that provides them no money. The stations put up the risk and the money. The XFL gets nothing from TV. The production cost for an NFL game is huge - so although it gets significantly better ratings - it does not mean the station is making more money. A 1.5 share for the XFL is about break even for the TV stations - I believe. That was why Vince had to front enough cash for 2 years because the league has no real income other than game ticket sales and even that is limited by how much the venue needs to be open and running. For the XFL to survive - they needed ratings that would allow the stations to make enough money from ads to cover production cost and then share with the league. The original articles discussing this was looking at around a 2.0 or higher share to have the stations bidding on XFL rites. A 1.5 share is great, but it is barely enough to cover the production costs to cover the games - especially with the XFL covering the entire US map. The stations are ok with the ratings even as they drop, but unless the XFL comes up with a way to lessen costs - it can not survive with out a big time TV contract and the viewership is not driving that. Maybe someone will take a shot, but my guess is this fizzles out - especially with new NFL deals coming up and the extra money the NFL is giving to the bottom tier players - the pressure is really on the XFL.

This is not correct. Their TV deal gives them nothing. The stations (Fox, ESPN, ABC, etc) are not charging the XFL, but the XFL gets no money from the deal. The only income the XFL gets is a small percentage of the gate. Vince was prepared to lose money for 2-3 years in the hope that the viewership would stabilize at close to 2.0 share and that would allow him to renegotiate to get some TV revenue. The issue is that it has not quite stabilized and it is in the 1.2-1.4 share range - not bad, but probably not enough to get a contract that pays the bills. If the teams have to play in an empty stadium or cancel/postpone games - it potentially creates even more issues as it delays when these players become eligible for the NFL and hurts the long term plans of the league as a potential feeder league. It will be interesting to see how they navigate this as the current climate could greatly eat into the money Vince set aside and maybe he no longer can fund a second season if they play without fans. It should be interesting.

Why do you think KJ would accept a deal for 6-8 million with potential outs by the Bills? When he was cut by Houston he lost his 5th year option of over 9 million. I would think he is looking for his “big contract” as he is in his prime and he showed he was healthy. I am guessing he is looking for 4 to 5 years at 10+ with a nice guarantees. Probably more than the Bills want to pay their #2. I also would assume the Bills know exactly what he is looking for - which is why they signed Norman and have not signed KJ. My guess is just like Phillips and Shaq - they have a value set for KJ and he thinks on the open market - he can beat that - so the Bills will allow him to test the market and if he is not getting the money - they will happily sign him back, but if someone is willing to overpay - they already have their back-up plan in place and do not have to scramble. The Bills were obviously willing to go to 6-8 million for a CB - so don’t you think that has already been discussed between KJ, his agent, and the Bills. If that was going to be acceptable - the deal would have been done and signed and Norman would have gone elsewhere. Beane is not stupid - he knows what he wants to spend and what KJ is looking for and right now those numbers do not mesh. If the market gets flooded with more DBs and his price drops - KJ will be back, but all it takes is one team like the Jets to offer 5 years $55 million with 25 guaranteed and KJs bet on himself pays off. If not he can always return to Buffalo at a healthy raise.

Except Carolina actually improved in Defense the year we hired McDermott and Carolina still had Star. They were a top defense against the run - #2 I believe. Those rankings really started to drop when they lost Star. It might not be the only reason as they also lost Steve Wilks to Arizona, but it did not help. That drop in rushing defense in Carolina was most pronounced last year as they dropped from top 5 to middle of the pack to finally stopping at bottom 3 in rushing defense. Meanwhile the Bills went the exact opposite way. With McDermott, but no Star, the Bills where bottom 5 in the league in run defense. They pick up Star and move immediately to middle of the pack, just as Carolina drops to middle of the pack. Last year the Bills were top 10 rushing defense as Carolina was in free fall. Now Star was not the only factor as you have Edmunds, Oliver, etc. but I do not believe you can discount what Star provides - even if he does not fill the stat sheet. Could they get the same production from a guy like “Snacks” at a lesser price - maybe, but they knew Star would accept his part time roll and help stabilize the room and help get the other lineman on the same page. I will not discount that - as Oliver and Kyle before him, The Phillips brothers, and all the pick-ups seemed to settle in and play fine on the line.

Yes teams may target your CB2, but having Tre as a #1 means you can help by rolling coverage to ensure they do not get beat deep. This allows your CB2 to play more instinctual and play more underneath routes. This was the strength of Josh in Carolina. So yes they may try to target the #2 CB more, but for all the exposing teams did with Wallace - he was not bad in coverage, just a bit to small - which is why he was a UDFA. They got more size with KJ, but not much better play and that is what I expect from Norman. He is bigger and more physical- helping in the outside run game and he will match up with bigger more physical WR2 - allowing Tre to handle the WR1. The idea that Norman could be cut is the whole point of this. He was given a 1 year prove it contract with little to no guaranteed money. This was done before FA even begins - much like the Long signing last year. He is a depth body that if it works is great and if it doesn’t work - it cost you nothing at all - not even a shot at a comp pick.

Washington brought him in because at the time he was considered the “best CB in the NFL”. Carolina realized he was great because of the McDermott scheme - which made many CBs really good - so they did not want to pay him the huge contract. Washington needed another big signing. Washington doesn’t look at fit - they wanted the top CB and saw a way to get him. Also understand this is not a FA move - this is before FA even begins - it is just a depth move for a guy they know. Gives them more depth in case the Wallace surgery puts him behind or they lose other guys during FA. This is not a big time day one FA signing.

First - get your information correct - McDermott never coached Vontae (Miami/Indy) - so they only had minor info on him and much like this it was a low risk deal. Did him not being there the rest of the year hurt the Bills? Second - yes they knew Benjamin- did they give him a contract? They made a trade because they were in a playoff push and whether or not that trade helped - they pushed to the playoffs. So the trade was not a bad move. The Panthers picked up his 5th year option - so when he came in the Bills had him for the remainder of that year and the next. The Bills opted to see if playing on that last year would motivate him and when it didn’t - he was cut mid season. So it looks like - yes they knew him and when he did not give what they needed - they got rid of him. Just like the option for Norman. Especially as the report has 0 guaranteed money before the season - what is the risk? Can you also show these reports that he is currently slow and overweight and sluggish? I have not seen anything since the midpoint of last year where a poorly coached Washington was struggling and decided to “bench” him because of play. That entire team was unmotivated and played sluggish- not sure I blame it on Josh.

This would make sense because as a veteran player - if he is on the week 1 roster - it becomes guaranteed. They should not have to give extra guarantees because of his status as a veteran. This adds to the value as if he is bad - he is gone and no impact at all. If he is good - you have Kevin Johnson all over again. A guy you can play as needed, while still allowing Levi his growth and time. No real down side as it has little cap impact and brings in another depth guy to ensure we have a set roster.

His former HC didn’t want to give him a chance at an AAV of over 12.5 million a year. It sounded like a cap release more than anything. Your first part is absolutely correct - DC way overpaid and he was not worth what DC was paying him - so he gets cut. Now he is signed to a deal at less than half his original salary for a system he is better suited to. My guess would be if he was on a 1 year 6 million contract with DC - Rivera would of kept him around, but at over 12.5 with multiple years left - he was expendable.

He will have to compete to be CB2. He very will could be behind Levi Wallace and who knows who else we sign and draft. I have no issues with the signing as it is really just a depth signing. The money is totally irrelevant as it is a one year deal and begins to provide depth before FA begins.

Yeah - much like QB - the NFL needs more quality O-linemen and it really becomes apparent the lower you get - the total lack of O-Line depth and quality.

Because he never had to play. If they had let him play - he would have been out of the league faster. The Bills saw it and then the Chargers saw it. Now the XFL is seeing it.

It is not a “C” - it is a poorly designed Rams horn - curling from the A. Why it looks like lightning bolts and a C is anyone’s guess.

Agreed - the Chargers I could see. The Rams not so much.

This looks like the Sabres slug logo

Considering even with the win bonus added in - most players besides the QBs will make around $55,000 for their 10 games - they are not exactly making much money. They will make a bit under $480,000 less than the NFL minimum and well below even the PS players before the new CBA. Even with the bigger QB salaries they are way below NFL PS levels. The players are totally being screwed for money as the pay in the XFL is even less than the AAFL was. The question becomes how many get invites and how many do not. I really do not see this as viable beyond next season and if the virus scare continues on the coasts - attendance will plummet even further for teams like Seattle, NY, and LA. I know Vince pulled enough money to fund 2+ seasons, but I am not sure at what point he pulls the plug or has the plug pulled for him.