Shaw66

Glad I found someone else who thinks Cousins may still be in play. Yes player visits dont start until Weds but talks agents start today. There's a good chance all the details will be in place by Wednesday for several of the free agent and to sign. I sou t the Bills will send the plane to pick up an agent.

It was deadly boring a month ago, because the Bills coaching situation and GM situation were all set. I wrote about how boring it was and that it wouldn't get interesting until free agency. Now I'm like you. I'm looking every hour to see if there's news. In the last couple of weeks we've had three interesting signings and the Tyrod trade. Now we're waiting on Wednesday for a qb. Things definitely have heated up. That's really interesting. Not surprising - I'd hoped he was like that. He seems that way in his pressers. He gives interesting direct answers. I agree about it being different. This is the first time that I can remember thinking that the GM and coach knew what they were doing. Lots of people seem to be freaking out about whether the Bills will get this free agent or draft that qb. I'm not. I think McBeane know exactly what they're doing. I'm just interested to see what they're thinking.

Actually I think Foles could be the long term answer, but as I think about it I think you're right about signing a free agent QB instead. Bridgewater or Kewnum or Bradford could be as good a solution and won't cost draft capital.

Tbat ogfense requires on-field dwcision making. He's shown he can do it. That thinking skill is very valuable.

I don't think the Bills would have moved on from Taylor if they weren't nearly complete certain that they had a veteran replacement. They weren't going into 2018 with Peterman and a rookie. The news has been that the Eagles want to move Files and there was a rumor the Bills offered a second. My first thought when I heard about Taylor was that the Bills needed another pick to sweeten the pot for the Eagles. Foles has played a lot of good football in the NFL, just not consistently. If the Bills want him, I have to think the Bills can make him a consistent quality starter. It also means they can go slow on a rookie QB. No trade up, just get another quality youngster ti compete with Peterman. Files would be your guy for 2 or 3 or 8byears, depending in how Files and the youngsters pan out. In the meantime, the Bills will still have at least three picks in the top 65. I'm still hoping for Cousins. There's been no news about him for days now, and the reports that he was down to four teams weren't all that firm. It's going to be an interesting week.

Turns out the policy has been in place for a couple of years now. It makes some sense to me, especially if you think the team is on its way to some years as a championship contender. How many of these requests do you think they get? Maybe 100 a year? How many are from legitimate fans who want to attend most games, and how many are from people who will be reselling? I'd bet at least half are resellers. So the Bills are giving up $100,000 of revenue by saying no to out of town buyers. Half of them are serious fans, many or most of whom will find a way to circumvent the rules to get tickets - usually by just having a friend or relative buy for them. The resellers are more likely just to move on. In other words, the Bills will still half the tickets, and it'll only cost them about $50,000 a year to have said no. When the Bills are winning, it means they have those unsold tickets in inventory to sell to local fans who want season tickets or even single game tickets. This does several things: 1. There are fewer fans of the opposing team in the stadium. 2. The Bills are able to satisfy ticket demand in the local area, making more fans that really matter to them happy and increasing secondary market value to the Bills. Local advertisers are more interested in marketing with the Bills the more local fans are happy. 3, Selling locally means more kids coming to the games, and that helps build fan loyalty in the next generation.

All true. The reality is that NO player has a noticeable impact on wins and losses except QBs. They just don't. So it doesn't make sense to spend a lot of money on any player except QB. Much better to buy a lot of $2-3 million talent and plug them into your system. Three $4 million guys will help your team more than one $12 million guy.

Exactly. I keep saying it, but McBeane won't admit it - this is the Belichick/Parcells model. You keep acquiring talented players (not stars, just talented guys) and plug them into your system. If they take to it, you keep 'em, if they don't, cut 'em loose. A lot of draft picks lets you add more talent. Find your QB wherever you can. Bills probably will sign a free agent QB (or trade for Foles) and draft a qb with one of the picks they currently have. Only wild card I see in the situation is Lawson. If they don't like Lawson (and I don't know if they do or don't), and if they could find another trade partner to get one more decent pick, THEN they might be positioned to trade up. But it's all just pure guess work.

People are seeing in this what they want. The early signings might also mean they're getting a few guys cheap bexcuse they're about to write a big check for a qb, like Foles. Just have to wait and see. I still think they won't trade up more than 10 spots in the first round. I think they might not even do that. Just take the best qb they see when it's their turn.

I like this. I like getting good athletes drafted high who struggle on their rookie contracts. They have talent and they have something to prove. McDermott is the kind of coach - sincere, understanding but demanding - who can help a guy committed to getting better. Ivory, Davis and Iggy. Inexpensive talent. Draft picks are inexpensive talent too. Pretty clear that's what McBeane are looking for.

If the Bills had had a qb for the past several years Goodwin would still be a Bill.

Right. Trump's trying to bring steel manufacturing back to Lackawanna. he doesn't want any foreigners bringing steel into New Era Field. Plain as day, when you think about it.

Read much, Beast? Where does my post assume anything? I said "if." If you need help understanding the concept that word signifies, let me know and I'll try to advance your education.

If he gets good coaching, I think Cousins will be one of the top 5 QBs in the league in two years. I think so because I think he's probably among the top 5 QBs in the league to be a coach-on-the-field-type QB. He's smart, he studies, he executes the way he's supposed to. With good coaching, he'll be outsmarting defenses around the league. Of course, he could suck in crunch time, in which case in matter how smart he is.

I love everyone saying this is insane money. It's what bona fide starting QBs in the NFL make. Compared to what you and I make, sure it's insane. In the NFL, he's getting exactly what he should. If the Vikings win a Super Bowl with him, is anyone going to think the guy was overpaid? If they win two, he'll be a bargain.

I just can't imagine Beane giving up a boatload of picks to get into the top 5. I'll be astounded if that happens. I think it means they'll sit tight in the draft, maybe move up to 10-15 if they see an opportunity. Then they'll take the best QB they can, and they'll go to camp with Taylor, Peterman and the rookie. Unless the rookie looks great, Taylor will be your 2018 starter. 2019 starter will be Taylor, if he has a great 2018 or Peterman or the rookie, whoever emerges. What I don't like about that is that with Cousins you can have a solid starter who may turn out to be great but who at least will be a good deal better than Taylor until you find the guy who IS great.

I'm not givin up hope. Let's see what we're hearing in a week. If the Bills have dropped out, to me it means Beane won't write a big contract for anyone until he's SURE, and sure means he's been on the team and has shown everything that they want.

I was trying to stay on the topic, which I often fail to do.

I thought we were talking about Chark..

I'd like to see film of his drops. He looks like catches almost everything against his body. Gotta catch with your hands in the NFL.

I don't want to argue about it, because the point's the same. If you don't throw them in the second quarter, you won't learn how to throw them in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure you're right about your point, however. First, Brady doesn't throw contested balls. A very high percentage of his throws are out of the reach of any defender. I think the same is true for Rodgers, too. Quarterbacks throw to receivers who have an advantage over the defender - the receiver has a step on a deep pattern, or the receiver has the defender turned so the QB can throw to the back shoulder, or the receiver is six inches taller or 40 pounds heavier than the defender. The only 50-50 balls they throw are occasional deep passes, especially on third down, where an INT doesn't hurt you much. If you throw 6 50-50 balls in a game, you'd get two completions, two incompletions and two interceptions, on average, and that's a bad result. Good QBs don't throw 50-50 balls very often.

When you change coaches every two years, it's a sure thing personnel is going to get flipped. I think McBeane will get ar teast four years in Buffalo, and you'll see this stat change dramatically.

My guess is that, despite poll results, Denver will be no better than third, behind Buffalo and Minnesota.

This doesn't surprise me. I think QBs who are cautious about throwing the ball never learn how to take risks when they throw. If there's a risk, they don't throw. Then, when they get to the 4th quarter and need a score, they don't HOW to take risks, because they don't take risks any other time. So they make bad choices. It's common among conservative quarterbacks.

And scoring is down for two straight seasons. Defenses are figuring out. The STYLE of offense isn't very pleasing. Lots of little gadget plays to squeeze out a few yards here or there.