Rochesterfan

Hall in the first would be terrible and there should be no way the Bills waste draft capital that way. If you want hall - trade back 20 spots and have it - do not waste a 5th year option position by drafting a RB. 🤢

It doesn’t matter - you should almost never draft a RB in the first round. The cost of a 5th year option and a second contract make it not worth it. You overpay even if he is good - the cost versus return on 1st round backs is terrible.

I think Sal was discussing this - I believe the conclusion was that they expect the Bills to draft a RB, but not very early. He heard the Travis talk last year was not a ton by the FO and that he would not have been the pick unless several other players were gone. The RBs they actually have signed are all low end RBs. He said reading the tea leaves - he expects RB 3rd round or later and more of a receiver. We will see, but unless Hall falls a long way and other guys are picked - I think this is not a match.

Should be easy enough to do - every city that lost a team has built a brand new stadium - usually 100% public money to bring in a new team. So every city and state that has lost a team - must have determined having the team was a much bigger benefit than not having the team.

So you are thinking the state would spend the 850 million and get a better return than covering the cost in 20+ years. 😂😂😂😂 It surely could of been used to make more jobs maybe, but the Bills employee a huge number including game day people and all of that generates tax revenue. The size of the salaries alone make it hard for a regular set of jobs to match - including the fees on parking, tickets etc - that go right back. Finally - the state, the county, and the Pegula’s have been in discussion for years on this. You know as well as everyone else - the ideal spot would have been to build the stadium downtown where the Pegula’s have their other buildings, but they worked out a basic agreement years ago to rebuild on-site as the cheapest alternative. The ideal solution would have been about 850 million for the stadium downtown and about 2 billion in infrastructure- you know similar to what gets spent in NYC publicly, but they came to an agreement to use similar money in OP. It is a pretty solid assumption that the Bills badly needed a new stadium and that the Pegula’s and the NFL were going to pick up a portion of it and the State and the County were going to pick up the rest. They had a framework on the money before Hochul took over and it was always going to get pushed through. The stupid thing is thinking that the state should of played hardball and risk losing a huge money generator over a couple of hundred million dollars. For all of the crap we read from economists about the cost - the facts are EVERY city that has lost a team (Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Houston, LA, and Oakland) has found a way to build a new stadium for a team after losing the team - usually at a significantly worse deal than was offered before. The difference is the size of the Buffalo market - means we never get a team again - so you lose the revenue and Buffalo loses its identity. Lose/Lose

And once again without a deal - all that profit goes away to another place. If out of NYS - that is lost revenue that equates to the cost of the stadium.

Terrible Point. They can and do give money - local, county and even state levels give all kinds of money to local businesses. They give tax breaks, loan assistance, and sometime 0% loans depending on the business and the expected revenue and job creation. They even do it to home owners with things like a Star Rebate for elderly people to reduce Residential Tax rate. When my business wanted to add a third floor onto our building - we had to get approval as the area was zoned for 2 story buildings. When we got that approval - we also were given a 10 million dollar - 0% loan from the county because we employed more than 500 employees total and we wanted to increase it by 10%. We also we’re given tax breaks to remodel and add parking to the current space. There are all kinds of funding available that has different levels of payback. The stadium is no different - they are using 850 million to build it, but as the leaser - the Pegulas will be paying some of it back - along with fees on tickets, parking, food, etc to recoup the money.

The taxpayers are contributing 850 million with the expectations being that the State is going to collect enough money via fees associated with parking, tickets, food, and the lease to the Bills to play in the stadium to pay back the 850 million loan in 24 years. The Pegula’s are not paying upfront, but over time with the lease. The Pegula’s are doing the same thing - they are asking the users to help pay for the stadium that you are using. The Pegula’s are leasing the stadium - just as most businesses lease their buildings - they then have to recoup that cost. The PSLs are a way to recoup some of the cost that stay in Buffalo. The difference is if the Pegulas do not charge a PSL - then they have to hike the cost of a seat significantly to cover the cost of the lease and actually have to increase it higher because the seating is not given to the home team it is split revenue with the visiting team. Therefore with the PSLs - the Pegulas can actually allow the ticket prices to be lower than needed to recoup because the PSLs go directly to them unshared. No matter how you want to do it - you going to the game will be covering the cost. The PSLs keep more money with the local owner - higher ticket prices gives more revenue elsewhere. It is a fee - they charge it outside of the ticket price so the money is not part of the shared revenue. Either way by definition it is a PSL - a set amount charged to season ticket holders in addition to the cost of the seat for the right to purchase that seat. I believe the current phrasing is club seat license and fans have talked about it for years. The concept is not new to Buffalo - the process of an essentially 30 year ownership of the seat is a new concept.

I also believe there is some additional differences between “the Bills board” and the full board. The Bills like most teams have all kinds of draft guides and the like and all of that data gets entered into their database and the teams have a full board of players that they expect to get drafted. The Bills talk every year about having “mock draft sessions” where internal guys are assigned teams and they draft based upon what they believe individual teams will do to try and simulate as many parameters as possible. Therefore we know that they have some type of grade on really every player and I believe they have someone monitoring that board during the draft in case someone unexpectedly falls and they need that information for trades or picks. The Bills board is a much smaller and tightly constructed board centering around players that fit what they want and should be available at their positions in various rounds. These are the players they are concentrating on and have stacked grade after grade and highlights so that when the time comes - they can do quick comparisons and have open dialogue. They don’t need every player because you are not reviewing and doing the work on every player - you have certain guys that you are putting together full draft info on and that is limited because of time and visits.

It has happened at least 8 times before in the modern NFL - why would we think it could happen again. The Chargers moved when a tax on hotels rooms was voted down - not even a tax the people in SD payed.

Agreed, but Baltimore wouldn’t fork over the money and the Colts moved - suddenly they find the money and steal the Browns. Cleveland couldn’t find the money and when the Baltimore threat was realized - suddenly Cleveland found the money and then built a stadium for the new Browns. The same goes for St. Louis - lost the Cardinals - built a huge new dome for the Rams. Oakland lost the Raiders to LA and then got them back and lost them again over Stadium money. Houston needed a new stadium - lost the Oilers - built a huge new dome for the Texans. LA had 2 teams leave that needed new stadiums and tax breaks - San Diego needed a new stadium - lost the Chargers - why would it be a surprise that suddenly they decided they could force through the tax increase on Hotels that failed and make another nice offer. I would call BS except the exact same thing has happened at least 8 times in the last 30 years and every town that lost a team suddenly found funding to throw at a new team. Every time. The difference is if the Bills left Buffalo - they were not coming back - we were dead.

You can make that the rule, but how are people going to respond with a beautiful image of the ball tip crossing the goal line and the league ruling him short because the midpoint of the ball didn’t get there. They can fix this - by giving leway knowing the length of the ball, but then you get the scenario where there is clear evidence of the ball being short because it is sideways, but the inaccuracies and leeway allow it to be good. The obvious fix is this technology is only used in scenarios where the ball can not be seen and the location is questionable and the rest of the time they use the Refs to mark the ball. It can not be one or the other - it has to be used as a small supplement to the Refs with logic prevailing and they need to have other markers on the field to compare the ball to - such as shoulder pads to have frames of reference as the fields are not microchiped yet.

How is it more accurate? How much time are they going to spend trying to determine and sync up the exact timing? What way is the ball facing sideways or longways - are you measuring to the middle or end? Basically it takes a action that the NFL admits is just close and acts like it will be precise - when in reality it will be no more accurate and will lead to potential things like TDs being overturned because the chip didn’t get there. The precision of 1 chip across a huge field with no additional reference points is gotta be pretty close to the precision of 2 guys watching the play and moving in from the sidelines. It sounds to me like something that makes us sound advanced, but in reality it will have next to 0 impact.

Because like the spotting - the NFL loves the sudden death concept. I hate the gimmicky rules - 2 forward passes is just way beyond gimmicky. The chip may help a little, but not really - you still have to determine when the runner is down and then they will still get it wrong because the ball is not round. So to determine exact spotting - you need multiple chips and sensors in the field - otherwise it will be no different from the NFL - the Refs are guessing when he was down and touched. They will just act like it is better. Do we need 3 different types of point afters and I would change the onside rule completely. The receiving team should get the choice of taking the ball from the 15 or allowing the other team to kickoff. The losing team should not be giving repeated advantages to help overcome poor play - especially a 4th and 12 - that is way to short. Basically the USFL is actively upping the injury factor - kicking from the 25 and Goalline plays are some of the worst - this league is not long - one spinal injury or set of concussions during the plays the NFL has already shown to be dangerous and the USFL will be sued out of existence.

Yes - he never made the roster last year - isn’t that the definition of a camp body? A guy brought in to compete in camp and then gets cut at the end? If he makes the team - it is because Kromer made him better, but since he couldn’t make the team last year - what makes people think he is being viewed as anything but a camp body again this year? The Bills roster already has 3 tackles - plus Bates who played more snaps at Tackle for the Bills than Hart did. I just do not understand the outrage for signing a guy that likely doesn’t make the roster and can be use in preseason to help stabilize a young o-line of guys that will not be in the league come September.

He didn’t make the team last year - not sure why people think he will this year. He is just a guy to help stabilize 3 full offensive lines needed for training camp. The only place he made the team and played was when the Titans needed tackle help and picked him up.

Not only is Toronto in Bill’s territory, but Canada has a law protecting the CFL that enacts penalties and prevents any local, public funding of stadium builds, tax breaks, or other subsidies to anyone operating a franchise connected to a foreign based league or team. In 1974 - Canada enacted legislation to block the NFL from expanding North and that has been used over and over to keep NFL teams from looking North. When Rogers was looking at purchasing the Bills after Ralph’s death - this was a major sticking block to moving the team to Toronto. Rogers was trying to get the law changed because the Rogers Center was not adequate for permanent NFL and he wanted/needed help securing additional land and building a new stadium. He was shut out of public funds to build and tax incentives to secure the land and build were also threatened. The CFL and the Argos were also asking the government to impose addition fees on work unless it was for a new stadium exclusive to the Argonauts. That was part of the reason when it first came up - that the Toronto ownership group was going to “play out” the rest of the lease - they needed the law redacted or they could not financially put an NFL team in Toronto. As long as the CFL is viable and not part of the NFL - Toronto is going to be a hard place to land a franchise. If the CFL had folded - I think Toronto and the NFL work with the Pegula’s on a deal.

He has literally played 1 snap with the Bills all time. Just 1 snap. They played him as a third string lineman in PS and cut him coming out of training camp. Most likely this year will be no different. Not sure how terrible he was or where you focused on him so much, but understand that he is just a veteran signing for preseason. I just do not see at all what is stopping you from bringing in lineman with this signing - you still have at minimum 16 open rosters spots after the draft. You can bring in as many UDFAs at tackle as you want - tell me how many do you think choose the Bills? They have 2 starters on longer contracts, a young back-up, and will probably be drafting someone - they still need at minimum 1-2 more for preseason. Hart will be a tackle out there when Matt Barkley is running the offense during preseason and is then cut. It means nothing. Sorry - I just do not understand the hate for a guy that is literally a camp body - no impact to the salary cap just brought in to help the third string squad keep Barkley alive for a couple of games.

So you are thinking that you are going after a guy the was not drafted in typically the top 20-25 tackles in the draft and the 16-18 tackles signed as UDFAs- so perhaps the 40th college offensive tackle left - versus a guy that has taken nearly 5000 NFL snaps - played in over 80 games - starting over 65. Hart is being brought in to help stabilize the 3rd string O-line and would not stop the Bills from drafting or picking up as many UDFAs as you want. I really do not understand some people - especially comparing him to like Vlad Ducasse. The guy was signed last year and didn’t even make the Bills, he was cut coming out of training camp. He was later signed by Tennessee as an emergency player - played in 3 games and then cut as players got healthy. He was then resigned by Buffalo when we had issues - never played, was cut and resigned for the end of the season and got 1 snap. He has had 1 snap in a meaningless game and will be cut again, but he know technique and pace of practice - so he helps the third unit by giving them some experience.

Hard to really take this seriously. He played 1 game with 1 snap for the Bills last season. He was on the practice squad and got called up for 1 game and he got that 1 snap. Late in the season - he was plucked from the PS by Tennessee and saw limited action in 3 games with 1 start and a whopping 100 snaps. So you are complaining about signing a guy that was the worst player in the entire league every week for a season - when the guy got 1 snap in a mop up role on the team he spent the season with and then got picked up as emergency player on a new team and was forced to play. I don’t think the Bills are expecting anything from him - he is a veteran person to fill in the OLine during the preseason. He didn’t make the team last year - little chance he makes it this year.

Yep - he is not even 3rd off the bench - he was a Covid PS player last year and is just veteran filler. This is actually a very nice signing as it gives you veteran depth and a guy the coaches are familiar with and can help educate the room and young players. If this was a signing to be a starting G/T then it is stupid, but as a roster fill - you need 10-15 guys like this to help get through camp - especially with how McD like to run practice.

Just stupid. The Bills have 65 guys on the roster (66 with Hart) they need 90 players for training camp and have 8 picks. Even assuming they make all 8 picks - that puts them at 74 - the Bills need to fill 16 more spots to reach 90. They found out last year with a good roster it is hard to get UFAs after the draft - on a good year you get 10-13 and I believe the Bills only got like 8. Therefore just based on math and the need for camp bodies - expect 6-8 more signings like this. Low level bodies that are just here for practice and can get you plays in the preseason to protect your veterans.

Agreed - everything I have seen is they are locked into a minimum 20 year lease with options (either four 5 year options or two 10 year options) to play in LA. That is until 2040 or 2060 with the options and it is a sweet deal. I believe they have a $1 lease and get their NFL share of the seating. The Rams are covering pretty much everything and the Chargers are like lazy children coming home and paying a tiny bit of rent and acting like it matters. The Chargers are printing money and they don’t care if they have a large season ticket base or not because the PSLs go to the stadium - so for them they are happy with no season tickets as long as their games sell out - they get the seat money from what I read. It was an amazing deal.

Ron - the head of PSE - talked about this repeatedly. They have initial thoughts, but with a finalized budget and the location and style set - they had not begun work on true renderings. They have some blank filler renderings, but nothing finished. Based upon the timing - they were still working on things they want based on visits to other newer venues. They want to pick the nicest features that fit with the styling. Now that the NYS budget is done - they can begin to put together the features and then come up with a final rendering. I am sure they could whip something off, but the final renderings will be ready once the Pegula’s decide on the final touches - things like a party deck that might hole as many as 5000 standing fans with food and bars. Some of that will exceed the original plans and the Pegula’s are picking up the overages. We will see, but everything seems to be going right in the expected time line. They have the funding done, location and style picked, they have the schedule end date set - now you work backwards to when to get shovels in dirt and parts and pieces ordered. A bit of a delay here is probably good to let some of the global prices settle. Maybe everything falls apart, but so far the timeline seems settled and very doable.

Schefter has both his Pros and Cons. The issue tends to be he hears so much information and chatter and what to report and how to say it. When he first started out he and Mortenson where about the only 2 guys doing that and were plugged in everywhere and he was generally viewed as a likable, honest guy. More and more reporters have taken on that role adding pressure and timing to his job and especially in the eyes of certain players - he has gone to far and put out info that was not appropriate. I get people being upset, but he did not say anything that was wrong or said to belittle Haskins - he is a struggling athlete trying to make the Steelers - it was just not the time or place and he admitted that. I get the anger and he deleted the post and apologized for the wording and there is little left he can do except learn. What he said did not bother me as he described who Haskins was at the moment, but I totally understand the frustration - especially as this is not his first incident. In times of anger, sadness, and frustration- the emotions must be poured out and sometimes that goes to someone that you can tangibly go after due to the slight and that is what Schefter is the lightning rod of peoples emotions. He tweeted poorly and became the ire - he shouldn’t be destroyed over it.