Success

What's the lesson? I still kind of hope we go WR in the 1st, but now it won't ruin me if they go w/ defense - which we also need, and probably more at this point. There will be very good receivers still available in round 2.

I'm thinking this too. The more I think about it - we have that capital to trade up in round 2, and now it feels like we can really beef up the D-line in round 1 & still get a good receiver w/ the 2nd pick, given how deep this class is.

Just checking around - it looks like KC fans REALLY wanted this guy.

This gives them a little more flexibility to go BPA in the 1st. Like others have said, I hope they still go WR in the 1st. But if they don't have a 1st round grade on a guy in that spot, they can go defense, and maybe even trade up in the 2nd for someone they like there.

Was not expecting this. Very good move.

I agree - though this move doesn't really move the needle for them.

He played really well for us last year. Great depth at that position.

We'll trade up in some rounds, or maybe trade for future picks - I can't see us staying put & drafting 11 players. But I'd see something more along the lines of moving up a few spots in some of the early rounds if there is someone they really like. I doubt we trade up into the top 10.

It's not wrong to be cautious, but I haven't heard too many here say we'll struggle for a WC spot. The AFC East simply isn't that good of a division. Miami is our biggest competition, and they have lost as much as we have this offseason, if not more. The Jets w/ Rodgers might be somewhat tough, but I don't see them taking the division. As long as Allen stays healthy, I think the division title is more or less a given.

This is the only one I'm seeing on the 1st page of the forum.

We'll disagree on some of that, but you're not making unfair points. I think I might have watched the Pats do it for too long without having top wideouts. The only time they really invested was w/ Moss, and that didn't pan out. Brady made middlin' guys good & great. I think Allen can do that too - but the offense needs to be designed better. When you watch KC, you can see how Reid schemes guys open. I'm hoping we see that now that Brady can come in w/ his own offensive philosophy. I also think Diggs will be more or less back this season. With Kincaid, Shakir, Cook & a 1st rounder who hopefully pans out like a 1st rounder - that's a pretty solid set of weapons for the offense. I get the Hollins signing. We also need a ST ace now that Neal is gone.

I'm trying to see what the option is here. It's not like we were signing Ridley for the contract he got today. This is the nature of things now. It's how it goes when you have to pay a top-tier QB. Big acquisitions in FA will be few & far between.

Ah, yes. The KC defense just laid down for Allen. Unlike what the Bills defense did for Mahomes this past January. And it was quite a bit more than just "picking on Klein." Half the Bills D was out or hurt. I'm trying to imagine how much more spectacular Mahomes would have been than Allen if he was on the Bills for the 13 seconds game. I'm not able to muster much. Allen was unreal that game. If the Bills win that coin toss, NFL history is probably a bit different. You've got 3 Super Bowls, and the consensus top QB in the league. Some even say GOAT. The Bills haven't won a thing. Not sure why you need the vote of confidence for Mahomes from l'il ol' me. I'm never going to wish the Bills had Mahomes instead of Allen. Sorry 'bout that.

That's kind of cherrypicking w/ Sherfield & Harty. Did you like the Kincaid & Torrence picks? Did you like getting Floyd? Did you think Bernard would become the player he is, or that he was a bust?

So, Mahomes gets the kicker excuse for that game, but JA doesn't get it for the game this past January. Got it. Most people thought Allen played better than Mahomes that game. It was close & they both played great - but there really isn't a case for Mahomes winning that game for the Bills if he had been their QB.

That's fair. But I'm looking at a team that lost a coin flip kind of game to the eventual SB champs, and in that game were missing 2 stellar LB's that will be back, had one starting CB out (who will be back), and one clearly hampered by injury who will be back to full health. I think Von will be a big contributor a year removed from the injury, and Jones is back to health. I mean, if those guys had played, we might be talking about how we can repeat this year. I get that we also have holes at safety & WR right now, but having so many picks in the upcoming draft feels like good timing when it's a deep WR class, and there are so many safeties on the market. Something was off w/ Diggs, too. We'll see if it was age, or an injury that they just didn't talk about too much.

Why not list the guys coming back from injury, too? Morse is a loss. Poyer & Hyde were almost holding us back, imo - both lost a step, and we lost speed in the secondary as a result. White hardly played for us, and Davis was wildly inconsistent. I like the direction of younger & faster

I don't think there will be a team that is measurably better than the Bills. I saw us as the best in the league for awhile in '23, before the injuries started piling up. Really enjoyed the breakdown. Thanks for posting, and for the optimism. With Allen, we'll always be a contender - but I think we'll have one of our strongest teams of the JA era heading into '24. I just listened to Edelman being interviewed, and he was talking about how important health is to a SB run. We need that more than anything. It feels like every season has been somewhat derailed by injury. While every team deals w/ that, the Bills have been hit harder than most.

Too bad - would have like to see him stay. He wasn't a top CB or anything, but he's such a gamer, and a great tackler. All the best to him.

For sure. I think this is something else we all know, but worth repeating - we're going to have to draft very well moving forward if we want to stay in contention. That's also true of the Chiefs & Bengals. Beane has been a good drafter, but he'll have to be better now. It helps that we'll have more picks this year & probably next year too.

I feel like there are still some fans who don't understand the situation we're in w/ the cap. Which is understandable - this is literally the 1st time most of us have had to experience the kind of tight budget that happens when a top tier QB's 2nd contract kicks in. We don't have the money to sign guys we all want to see signed. From now on, Beane is going to have to piece together certain areas of the team w/ middle-tier players and bargain hunting.

What money?

That was one of the biggest "back into the playoffs" stories in NFL history. You generally give no context to the counter-points you try to make. How does Mahomes win the 13 seconds game? Does he rush out to tell the ST unit to squib it at the end?

Beane has a tough job. Teams HAVE to sign guys like this. They need depth, they need special teams. But any signing that isn't a marquee player or at least someone everyone knows gets slammed.

I think that's fair, in terms of the comparison. I see other fans kind of characterizing JA as being all athleticism and really lacking in those processing skills, which I of course completely disagree with. But it's fair to say that Mahomes is better there. As far as that final line, I think there are only a few fanbases out there that might have had an experience like we will when we finally get one - Cubs fans, Red Sox fans in 2004. Maybe Cavs fans when Lebron won that title there? It's hard to think of others. I can't think of an NFL team that has had a comparable history. I suppose Minnesota if they finally get one too.