Rochesterfan

Wow - never heard any of this. When my daughter just took drivers education - the #1 thing they said with any breakdown on a fast moving road or freeway was do not leave the car. Stay in even once the cops/tow truck arrives and let them work. A car is designed to take an impact and still protect you - outside of the car you are subjected to flying debris as cars go by and exposed to traffic that can hit you. The wind of the cars rushing by - also can work as a vortex - especially a tractor trailer and try to pull you toward the road (the same phenomenon happens with trains and people wanting to stand close by and end up sucked under). Edit - thanks @muppy - that is exactly what I thought also.

I don’t care what happens - I do not see Ravens/Bengals playing for the AFC title. I think Bills, Chargers, Tennessee, Cincinnati are division winners. I think Denver, Baltimore, Indy - are the Wild Cards - so I guess 2 AFC West teams. I think the Hill trade hurts KCs offense significantly and doesn’t help Miami enough to make the playoffs. There are trades that both teams win - I think this is a trade where both teams lose.

I would totally be on board with that as long as you made that the rule for all contracts not just RFA tenders.

What benefits do we gain from you speculating that Haskins is committing suicide? What knowledge do we gather from you saying - Alcohol or Drugs may have been involved? What teaching can we provide by blaming the other driver? There is no teaching points to be had in your made up stories - just wait on the facts. We have heard the car ran out of gas and then car problems. We don’t know if he was even alone. We don’t know what the traffic was like at 6am on a Saturday morning versus other days and if that influenced the decision. Speculation provides nothing and blame helps no one.

So then tell me exactly what happened to cause this so we can fix it. Oh wait - YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT CAUSED IT - you can’t fix it without understanding the situation and you can’t understand it if you keep making up situations that do not fit the data. Let them do their job and then we can assess what happened and if a fix is needed. Sometimes a bad decision is a bad decision and sometimes it feels like the only decision in a given situation. Just wait for the facts.

That is the nature of accidents - decisions being made, but blame does not and should not be part of this at this time. You keep talking about preventing this from happening, but at the same time you have speculated on everything from Haskins committing suicide, to drinking and drugs, to feeling adrenaline rush, to the driver of the other car being at blame. Why don’t you just wait to find out what happened rather than coming up with horrible scenario after horrible scenario. The young man was killed in an accident - facts are still coming out - the reasoning and the understanding come with the facts. At this time blame, speculation, trying to reason out why and what he did, should all be put on hold. Maybe there was a good reason and maybe there wasn’t. Until the facts come out - who cares about the other things.

While I totally agree that the RFA system skews way to far to the existing team - I do not think this example or anything with the Bates contract points to that. The fact that Bates was the only RFA to get an offer is what shows the skew. The rest got tendered at levels that either made them less attractive or additional compensation that kept other teams away. Bates was actually how RFA should work. He was free to explore and get offers - teams could create offers within the rules to make it difficult, but Bates was essentially a FA with the Bills having the right to retain him on his best salary. Bates got a significant raise to take on a longer term deal and it was valued appropriately. Whether the Bonus was paid 6/1, as part of the yearly salary, or upfront to save CAP space doesn’t impact what he got. The money is the same. RFAs are also going to be a difficult group to go after and of course the league wants it that way - cheap labor. There are dangers attached to RFAs - if tendered - the existing team has 5 days to decide - therefore holding off the signing team from making deals, losing draft picks if tendered high enough - so you have picks and players going. Those things have a bigger impact on RFAs than converting a bonus - at least in my opinion.

This is totally wrong in my mind to what the Bills should do. The question should center around is What happens without an extension. If Jordan will play and be quiet - then keep him. If he is going to be a distraction look to move on. Money versus WAR goes out the window at this point - he is a 30+ year old defender - his so called WAR for this year might be a net loss, but the reality is come the next couple of years he becomes a negative player that you are tied to. In addition - you say people are trying to “save Pegula from spending his money”. No one is advocating that - heck even the Pegula’s have shown their willingness to spend money. What would the “WAR” be if you traded Poyer (-1 from your early discussion), but they used that freed up 9+ million from Poyer as part of a trade to get Bradberry or as money to sign Gilmore or even do both (a significantly higher positive WAR based on position importance and strength). At this point - I think a quality veteran CB - especially if younger - gives you better WAR return than Safety - especially in this system. Their evaluation should be based upon where do we see him as a plus versus minus player and with that money and trade - what can we replace him with. If Poyer is willing to play out the contract and not be a distraction - great. If you can get a very team friendly deal with money up front and reducing the CAP hit this year and next, but with outs as he approaches his mid 30’s then great. If he is not willing to do either or both - then look for ways to move on that get you better now and in the future. The worst thing you can do is give him a nice extension and tick off a different veteran like Hyde. The Miller and Diggs deal set off Poyer - does a Poyer deal set off Hyde or Knox? At some point - someone goes - make sure you are losing older - easier to replace players rather than younger more talented players.

So is there anything to back this up or just your feeling? The closest thing to that I have seen quantified - would be Vegas odds with a player injured or out for the season. In an individual game - a safety missing the game would not really move the line at all. Other than QB and maybe a real special OT or DE - I am not sure any other position missing the season shifts a teams W/L total by a game. I personally think if Poyer was moved and replaced by Johnson and Hamlin would be less than 1 point per game for the player - maybe 14 points on the season. It could result in an additional loss, but I doubt it would dent the overall win total Vegas puts out. It is just not an impact position. I like Poyer and have no issues extending him for the right deal - if it saves us money this year and next, but I also do not think that trading him and getting something or letting him play out the contract is bad. I like what I have seen out of Hamlin and Johnson and wouldn’t mind seeing more, but with the task at hand - my preference is for Poyer and his family to shut up and win.

I believe they have already picked up his 5th year option for next year. That is done and set.

While OBJ to the Chiefs may happen - he had an ACL late in the SB - he is expected to miss the majority of next year - I don’t see that helping them much for 2022. I would more likely expect to see him resign in LA similar to Ike here to rehab and be a late season plug in if they get healthy. Mathieu was released a while ago and has been on the market since before FA began. Melvin Gordon to the Ravens would fit their run first mentality - seems like another spin you wheel move - assuming any of these actually come to fruition.

I think you are close, but I think the AAV for the first 2 years is to high. I would look at a max of about 20 guaranteed with a very minimal salary in year 1 and 2 both guaranteed also. So he gets like 24 guaranteed, but his actual cost this year and next is only like 6 million each year against the cap. Then have year 3 go up some - closer to this years salary with the bonus and then 1-2 years of out with minimal dead cap 8 million or less. I am also fine if they trade him if needed and get younger. I don’t mind the idea, but that contract makes no sense - way to much guaranteed money by at least 15+ million to have outs after even 2024 - you are talking about 14 million dead cap and with that guaranteed money spread out over the years - you are not getting any cap savings this year with close to 7 million in SB spread out and a vet minimum contract - you are looking at 9 million - barely a savings. Cut that down to 20 million guaranteed or even 24 with 2 years salary at 2 million guaranteed and I am fine, but 35 million - nope let him walk or trade him.

Sal had Howard Eskin (Philly Media) on today - he was one of the original reports on this. His take from the insiders he knows with the Jets was the Jets called and were willing to offer the #10 pick, but the Seahawks stopped them prior to the offer and said they are not open to trades right now. It sounds like the #10 was not the only pick they planned to offer, but the other picks were really less significant. It also sounded like the Jets are not the only team to call and none have made a “legitimate” offer as the Seahawks are not really listening to offers. Basically - Eskin stated the Jets (and other teams) have called multiple times and currently the Seahawks are turning down every discussion that includes Metcalf. It was never a formal offer that was turned down, but it was a starting point the Jets were looking at to get Metcalf and before anything could be put out - the Seahawks said no thank you and moved on.

NYS - Erie county was transferring the land to NYS and the state will own the stadium. The state will get lease money and fees on parking, food, and tickets to recoup some/most of the money spent.

There was very little doubt it would pass. There was a lot of posturing to be done and complaining, but the reality was the legislature was never going to rework the entire budget and get agreement from the governor’s office and they are required to pass a budget - so as long as it was included in the full budget - it was nearly guaranteed to pass. Now we move to the next phase - where the rest of the planning of the stadium comes out.

2 Things that I think are very important. 1) Your statement Tre will not come back until mid season - where is that coming from. Sal and the other reporters covering the Bills on a regular basis all say McDermott and Beane have said that he is progressing ahead of schedule. Sal has repeatedly said that the expectations are he is ready for the first game - although a set back could change that. I have seen nothing but fans speculating on him missing 1/2 a season. 2) You do realize that Dane was our #1 CB for every game after Thanksgiving right and we still ended up with the top passing defense in the NFL. Dane slid into Tre’s role for the most part allowing Levi to remain in his role and Levi was still the bigger problem. Beane may move up, he may not. They may think that Dane in that role along with a veteran and Tre coming back is more than enough. They may think that Tre will be ready Game 1 and that Dane and Cam can fill the roles with help from Johnson and Neal. I think (and everything I have heard from the beat reporters) are the Bills feel they are better at DB than the fans and that there is room for improvement, but that is not the only spot and they might fill with later picks as has been their norm.

What are you planning to give up for this - Holy Cow. Sauce is going top 10 and most likely top 5 - so are you giving up the next couple 1st 2023/and 2024. All of our picks in this draft and a 1 next year don’t get us high enough to get to 5. There is almost no way to move up and get Sauce and still have a 2nd round pick to grab Watson. I love the idea of Gardner, but I don’t care how aggressive your GM is moving from 25 to 5 is reckless and will hurt you badly for years to come. Rather draft Booth in the 20’s and have ammo to draft several other good players to offset the price we are paying now.

This is ridiculously short sighted - you do realize that since McD took over bringing The Carolina board in year 1. This front office has drafted 14 starters in those 5 drafts including 5 different drafted players that we have extended. In addition we have at least 14 additional drafted or UDFA guys that are primary back-ups and contributors on this roster. Beane does not need to start hitting on Picks - this team with this FO is by far one of the top 3 drafting teams across the league. Is every pick perfect - Nope, but he has used the draft well to create a deep team and used FA to ensure there are no major holes. Will he draft 4 starters at the positions you suggested - who knows - he may read the team needs very differently than you because he knows who he is looking at for extensions and cuts post June 1st around the league, but the one thing we know - the guys he will draft will be ballers. I am not worried about the draft because Beane and McDermott have been on fire getting picks that fit needs and wants both starting and depth.

So you start out arguing that the state and the county are “giving” way to much public in this investment and that the state did not play hardball. When the reality seems to be that PSE, the state, and the county had lots of discussions about location, infrastructure, money, and costs (over the last 10 years) to come to a general conclusion on what would work. NYS was basically taking money from Erie county gambling and reinvesting it in Erie County. You cap this argument with it is the largest expenditure of public money ever for a stadium. Once it is pointed out repeatedly that this is not even close to the biggest expenditure of public money on a stadium (it is the largest amount of state money provided immediately to a stadium project) - you switch to the fact that the state paid 115 million of the 1.2 billion provided to Yankee Stadium - even though that does not include the huge state and federal spending on infrastructure around the stadium. Then you finally claim the real issue - the Bills shouldn’t get your money unless you by a ticket - now we are at the root because the rest of the arguments were sliding the goals around - public money is public money - If Erie county had laid out 850 million and the state paid nothing - you can darn well know that the state you then give extra money to the county to defray the costs. Just as they did with NYC and the stadiums. The NYC funding is repaid multi-times over by breaks given and direct funding of items that the original money was earmarked to cover. It is still coming from you in very tangible ways. The difference in this agreement is NYS knew they had a settlement upcoming with a specific amount of money - the governor earmarked those funds (very little from your pocket) to pay for the project. The agreement also allows the state to recoup money on parking, food, and ticket fees. This was similar to how they covered the cost for the original Meadowlands stadium, but instead this time they gave the Jets and Giants land worth multibillion dollars at no charge, gave them huge tax breaks to build a stadium, and gave up the revenue and income they had collected previously. In the end - the stadium will cost taxpayers significantly more in lost land and lost revenue (taxes collected and fees) than whatever they provide the Bills. I have no issues with your last argument if you truly feel they shouldn’t get your money that is fine - the rest of the argument is lazy and just the same talking points parroted by journalists trying to make it look as bad as possible. Even a small amount of digging - shows how the actual expenditure is in line with other previous costs and the state does not lose out on ways to recoup portions of the money.

Yankee Stadium is still a much bigger cost to the public. The stadium cost 1.5 Billion to construct and most articles peg the Yankees at putting in 670 million. That leaves 800 million in construction costs alone. Overall 1.2 Billion of construction and infrastructure cost was covered by public funding - some of that via tax free loans, but it was picked up via State and County funding. Yes the state was a smaller amount that the new Bills stadium, but it is all still public funding that ends up getting spread out from other state funding.

Yes, but you are stating Public money. It is the biggest expenditure of state money, but it is not the biggest public funding by a long shot. The NYT put out an article talking about the Number of seats in stadiums in and surrounding NYC and the amount of public money just tied to tax breaks alone that pull money from city and state coffers. So did the State provide the immediate funds - No, but that is just the lazy way to look at the financial aspect. If the State and the municipalities around NYC provide nearly 2 billion in tax breaks - that is exactly the same money being used - just filed in a different slot. Would it make you happier if the Pegula’s built the Stadium, but then got 2 Billion in breaks and funding? As PSE stated before - there were options, but this cost the State less in the long run than giving tax breaks free land - additionally it provides the state with a limited revenue stream to add fees to to have the users payback at least a portion of the money over the investment period via ticket and parking payments. People are complaining because lazy arguments get made about how it should be funded, but the truth lies someplace in the middle once you look at other deals made. Public money comes in many forms and the amount being spent by the state and county is a fraction of amount spent on other projects - it is just being spent upfront and the amount is more fixed.

Again this is only a partial truth - the money being proposed for this stadium is still significantly less than the public contributions to build and house MetLife stadium, Yankees Stadium, Barclays Center, etc. The money proposed is just being funded differently. Compared to the funds given to the Yankees - that are worth significantly more than the Bills - the money provided by the state is a tiny fraction. If any of those stadiums had been on a public ballot - they would of failed and the outcome would end up the same as Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, and San Diego - where teams left and then the cities decided they could fund stadiums and teams came back once the cities put up the money.

Certainly - based upon QB play and team talent level - he would be a much better fit in Dallas. The thing that makes no sense is the tweet stated Dallas was interested, but Miami trades Parker and a 5th this year to a division rival for a 3rd next year (which in equivalent terms is a 4th). There is typically a premium to trade in division and basically they swapped a 4th and a 5th. How interested could Dallas have really been to not match that deal. It is clear Miami is loading up picks for next year in case they need a QB, but if Dallas was really interested in Parker that should of been a workable trade as the compensation was minimal and was future driven.

And a team that gave up next to nothing. What was Dallas asking for? Parker and a pick for nothing. They could not have been trying very hard. 😂

Going through the draft and calling it 13 guards in 10 years is still a very rare occurrence. Basically - almost every year there is 1 guard, 1 center, and 1 TE taken in the first round and not all of the guys considered guards were looked at as guards - many moved up with potential OT flexibility. You compare that to other positions and you average around - 4 CBs, Almost 6 EDGE guys, 3.5 DTs, 2 ILB, 4.5 OTs, 4 WR, 3 QBs, 2 RB and 2 Safeties. I think the numbers speak for themselves - yes 1 team will most likely draft a guard, but in terms of position priorities- IOL and TE are the least drafted position and are obviously seen as the least important to draft early. This is closely followed by Safety, ILB, and RB - the other more devalued positions. These players are more often drafted later and in lesser frequency - although there are exceptions. On the other side - you have CBs, WRs, QBs, OTs, and especially EDGE guys that are taken in a 4:1 or more ratio to guards. I think the NFL over the last 10+ years has shown you the value - yes you can draft a guard, but it should be rare and you should be getting the consensus best guard in the draft.