Shaw66

Both of these guys have the speed that McD's defense requires. Get one of them, draft an MLB high and bring Kyle back. Bills will have a MUCH better defense. I've been wrong about everything, but I'm sure McD wants to replace Preston. Too slow.

I think you have to draft linebackers. You get an occasional Lomax but generally your stars come out of the draft. Having said that, I like the idea of bringing Bradham back.

This guy covering Carolina estimated it would take 4 years $40 million. https://www.catscratchreader.com/2018/3/5/17075718/is-nfl-carolina-panthers-defensive-tackle-star-lotulelei-worth-4-years-40-million

I agree. So maybe the plan is to use next year's first to package with the 12th to move up for a qb, then get the MLB at 22. Then get a guard center in the second round. And maybe a tackle. Whatever. It's amazing to see the team being reshaped like this.

I think this correct. I saw something that said he was looking for four years at $40 million, so your 8-9 is a little low but in the ball park. By the way, buying these guys after a down year is smart. It keeps the price down a bit.

All last season I said McD would be going after his next Keuchle, so it wouldn't surprise me if this is what they're doing. But if they moved up to 13 to take Smith or the VT linebacker, what do they do at qb? Is Cousins still in play?.

I like this a lot. I don't know NFL talent, and I'm unfamiliar with Star. So why do I like him? McBeane like him. They know him and like him. He played for McD and his play was excellent. His stats dropped off last season, which was the one season he didn't play for McD. He must like McD to have decided to come to Buffalo. He's first round talent, and there's no substitute for talent. Linemen tend to last a long time, so he could be a fixture for five years or more. This may help bring Kyle back. It means Kyle doesn't have to carry the inside. Star seems to be more of a space eater, which frees up Kyle to do what he does best - slash. I think Kyle retires or returns to Buffalo, and this will help him decide to return. This also means Cousins is out. Bills are spending the cap elsewhere. Looks like Bradford and a rookie.

Anything's possible. Beane's got a vision and he ain't afraid to go for it. Of course, as Badlands pointed out an hour ago, maybe Beane is a total lunatic off his medication. Who knows what's next? Wednesday is going to be very interesting.

I agree with you. I was just spitballing. I don't think you make this move unless there's someone you really want, and if there's someone you really want you can't sit at 12 and hope he's falling to you. I think the Bills will be moving again, but the next move might not be until sometime within 48 hours of the draft. Beane is fearless. And I assume McDermott is on board with him. It's amazing to watch.

Yeah, but if you were going after Cousins, you'd rather have more picks, not fewer. If they thought they'd get Cousins, why not give Cordy to Cincy for their second and then have SIX picks in the top 65? I think this signals that they have a QB in the draft that they really want.

Let's wait two days and see if the Bills sign Keenum. If they do, they probably aren't using #12 on a QB. They might even trade back out of 12 for a later first and a second. Watching Bean these past few weeks, I'm not going to be surprised at anything.

I don't think you trade up if you're going to sign Cousins. If you're getting Cousins, you want to add a lot of talent, not one guy at pick number 12. I'd rather have the 21 and 22 and get two good players. I think this trade means the Bills sign a journeyman, bridge QB, because this looks like they're going after their QB of the future in the draft.

That's great! In the next two days there are four more trades. Shady and Hughes and Benjamin and White are all gone, and the Bills have twelve picks in the first round. The Pegulas have Beane carted off in a straight-jacket!

I know, but from RIchie's perspective, Dawkins is just a kid. And there'll be a kid on the other side. I'm not complaining. I assume they got decent value for him, and I think the move means they were happy with Dawkins. Plus, I love the assertiveness. These guys have a plan and they are goin after it. When Whaley inked someone, maybe Hughes, he said he was happy because the Bills had their six key players. He said you can afford to pay six guys big salaries, and the Bills had their six. Well, Gilmore, Dareus, Taylor and Watkins are GONE. So much for his key players.

WOW! I didn't think that would happen. I''ve never been a huge Glenn fan, but still, I would have thought the Bills would have wanted some stability. Richie is going to feel lonely over there on the left side.

Not fair to call it the scrap heap, but you're exactly right. Take the free agents with talent whose careers have gone a little sideways. That really works. AND, if one of the good QB prospects falls to 21, take him. I've stopped paying attention, but I think there are five - Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, Jackson and Allen, maybe Rudolph. Chances are pretty good one or two of them is still on the board.

I think he MIGHT package picks to move up into the 10-15 range to get a QB (or even a position player) that he really wants and is afraid won't fall to 21. He could do that without mortgaging the entire draft. But I think it's more likely he'll do what you say - just sit tight and use those picks. I'd love to come out of the draft with two starting offensive linemen and three starting front seven defenders. They may not all start on day one, but my mid-season they could be. That's a huge upgrade. Add to that an effective thrower like Keenum and the team has the talent to make some noise. Shady and Ivory, Benjamin, Jones and Thompson, a good offensive line. A better pass rush. That's a team. Sure seems like the way to go.

That's true. He could. And I expect he will if there's a QB he's absolutely in love with. But I don't think that QB is out there. I think he gets much more bang for his buck signing Keenum for $20 million a year for three years, or something like that, and then drafting a QB as soon as he sees one he like, probably at 21 or 22 or in the second round, and use all the other picks to take position players. If Keenum shows that 2017 wasn't a fluke, then the Bills have a quality starter for several years and his successor on board. If Keenum isn't so good, he still has a decent team around him, so the Bills do okay, and the successor starts in 2019 after a year of seasoning. If he trades a bunch of picks and gets the wrong guy, he's screwed. He doesn't have a QB, and he doesn't have the talent on the team to support a weak QB. I think it's a much riskier move to trade up, and that's why I think he'll only do it if he's in love with someone. The presumptive starter will be under contract by this Friday.

Maybe that's how you'd do it, but I doubt that's what the Bills will do. Beane has been very clear - you get more talent with picks than you do in free agency. So I don't see him following a course where he trades lots of picks so he can end up with lots of cap room to get free agents. That's exactly backward from what he's said all along. I think he signs a QB who will be a starter in September, he keeps his picks and drafts a lot of talent, including a QB.

I agree.

Even Bradford or Bridgewater. The Bills will go to camp with a veteran QB as the presumptive starter, someone who has had SOME measure of success. Bradford and Bridgewater have their problems, for sure, but they've had actual success. In my mind, they won't get Cousins and Keenum has to be the guy they're targeting. He's spent five years in the league, kicking around, learning the game. Then last season he started 14 games and showed he can play well consistently. Had some rough outings, but everyone has those. Keenum is the kind of guy who will at least be fine for the next couple of years while the Bills find the right youngster to grow into the job, and Keenum might also grow up into a quality starter who gives you a 95+ passer rating every season, in which case you have your starter. He's as good as Tyrod, for sure, and has better upside. Decent size, savvy. Spotrac estimates his annual salary value around $21 million on a four-year deal. I'd guess that's about right, and I'd guess you'd have to guarantee two years of that. Not an unreasonable price to know you're starting 2018 with a decent starter. Done.

I will be stunned if the Bills do anything other than what you describe. If they're in the Cousins sweepstakes and get him then they might even postpone taking a QB. If they don't get Cousins, they'll get one of the other vets, Keenum probably being the next best choice. Then the Bills will use one of their picks on a rookie QB, maybe even trade up 10 spots or so if someone they really like is there. Although as you and others have pointed out, Beane's said a lot of things at different times, one thing he's consistent on - he plans to build through the draft. He's said that's the best way to build because that's the cheapest talent out there. They clearly believed that they can coach young players and make them useful in their first and second years in the league - Milano being one example. He's already shown he'll spend a few million here or there to plug holes, which he's done with three free agents already, but he wants to build through the draft. That also tells me that if the right QB is there in free agency, he'll be willing to write a big check, because he MUST get a good QB and he doesn't need cap room to plug holes because he intends to do that in the draft. The reason people are interested in the Pegula plane is because it's nearly certain that there is some big QB news coming in the next couple of days. We will know the presumptive starter by the end of the week. Only way that guy will not be the starter will be if (1) he gets injured or (2) some rookie really impresses through pre-season, like Wentz did.

I think the people who will be disappointed will be the people who think the Bills will trade into the top 5. I don't see that happening.

When did they say that? Everything I've heard from Beans has been so vague as to .mean nothing.

I know. I dont expect it. BUT ... Everyone has been strangely silent about Cousins. The only report was more than a week ago from Schefter saying that his sources told him that four teams have talked to the league about contracts for Cousins. Thats hardly conclusive evidence of anything. The Bills could have talked to the league since then. There's been nothing from Cousins camp. I have occasional contact with one Bills insider, and he's been totally silent. Not a hint about what the Bills might be doing. So as far as I'm concerned, there's no reason to believe the Bills are out of the Cousins game.