Success

It's a shrewd calculation, imo. If a younger receiver can play with a top QB, it's worth taking less money for awhile. It will pay off. Brady made average guys wealthy, and other elite QB's have done the same. Brown will put up huge stats w/ Mahomes and cash in next year.

We filled a need, and so did they. The differences are fairly negligible in the scheme of things.

Well, this would certainly feel much worse if we didn't add Samuel today. Maybe we can snag the receiver they want in the draft, too.

Good pick-up for them. Kind of strange that it's 1 year, but still makes them better this season.

Finally a talented player goes to the NFC.

I'd accept round 2. It depends who is there at 28 in the positions they're looking for - I'd want them to take BPA there (for positions of need). That might be WR, but who knows at this point.

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.