Shaw66

I agree with this. Steve's not a great announcer by any means, but I never thought Jones was very good at all, so he's an upgrade. Not that I listen all that much. As for his idea, I think it's a perfectly good idea but simply isn't very important. The answer to the Bills' QB question is NOT (1) a veteran backup, (2) a bridge QB or (3) a QB coach. All Tasker has done is suggested that there's one guy out there who has the potential to fill all three roles. That's fine, so far as it goes, but it isn't going to change the face or character of the team. You could just as easily said that about hiring Jim Leonard as a backup safety a couple of years ago, suggesting he could teach youngsters and then maybe retire into a coaching role. You could have said it, and someone probably did, about Frank Reich at the end of his career. Nothing wrong with the idea, but it it's a detail. It isn't team-changing.

Of course that's what everyone's looking for. Some people will see all of that in Cousins, others won't. It's going to be really fun to watch when free agency starts.

I'm not the one being stubborn. The best evidence is that chances to win now and the best chances to cash in are not the things that COUSINS cares about. Maybe they are the things YOU would care about, but it's COUSINS who will be making the choice. My reply to was asking you to comment about what factors you think make other places more attractive than Buffalo to COUSINS, and you come back telling was what would be more attractive to you. And yes, I'm an advocate for getting him. I think he's the best choice. But that isn't what I'm writing about - I've said repeatedly that what matters is whether McBeane think he's the best choice, and I don't know what they think. I'm writing about what I think the attractive and unattractive aspects of each team to Cousins. It's based on reported information and my speculation, not based on the fact that I think the Bills should get him.

I just don't know about Arizona. I've guessed that Cousins wants to be in the midwest. If I'm right about that, Arizona is at a serious disadvantage. I think, but I don't know, that he's also close to his parents, and they live in Florida. So geographically, Arizona may be all wrong. Arizona has given me the sense that they know what they're doing. They seem like they try this, then they try that. I don't feel like they have a plan, a system that looks like it can produce a long-term winner. But that's just me. Maybe they have a really good story to tell about who they are and where they are going. I think the story will be really important to Cousins, and that's why I think Buffalo is in the hunt. The Bills' story is all about delivering for the city, sort of like the New Orleans post-Katrina story. Passionate fans (more like the fans he knew at Michigan State), owners who want to change the fortunes of the city and have been putting their money their mouths are, a coach and GM who are passionate about the story and have already taken the first step by getting to the playoffs. Arizona doesn't have a story. It certainly isn't about delivering for the fans - the fans came from all over the country and their true allegiance is to the Giants, the Jets, the Lions, the Bears, the team from wherever they cam from. Their fans just go to the games as someplace to pass the time. Who has a story? Not the Jets. "We gotta win one for the Big Apple"? Nope, doesn't cut it. Denver? Their story is being part of the Elway/Peyton QB legacy, and that could sell, but I don't think Cousins is buying that stuff. Minnesota will sell hardcore midwest values, something of a winning tradition. That will compete well with Buffalo. Cleveland has the same story Buffalo has, and the midwest thing, but they don't have the ownership/GM/coaching package that the Bills have. I think Arizona is a dark horse.

That's a good article. It shows how competitive Buffalo can be. Cousins won't care how much cash he gets in 2018; the money that matters is the total guarantee, and Buffalo can be completely competitive in the total guarantee department - $90 million, give or take. Cousins doesn't care so much he gets the $90 million, just that he gets it. Why? Because he's been franchised two years in a row, and after taxes he's already banked $15 or $20 million. Whichever deal he takes, he won't be eating Kraft Mac and Cheese in 2018. The one thing that I think he has wrong is that the Bills will want to have an out in the contract after 2018 so they can promote a QB they draft. That doesn't make sense. If you're going after Cousins, HE's the guy your betting on for the next three to five years, and you aren't going to use a high draft pick to take a QB. You might take a third or fourth round guy, but not a top guy. You can bet on only one guy at a time, and whoever signs Cousins will be betting on him.

I'm not sure what you when you say "of course you would say that." But the rest of your post is unresponsive to what I said. I said he will be looking for the right long-term situation and you say Buffalo can't compete with Denver and Minnesota because they offer "better chances to win." So far as we know, he isn't focused on win now. That's what I said. He wants the best long-term situation. So "better chance to win" is not what is going to make the decision for him. (And, by the way, Denver was 5-11 last season, so it isn't clear why they offer a "better chance to win" than Buffalo, which has been solidly at .500 for several years. And don't tell me Denver is great, they just sucked at QB, because then you're telling me that a "system quarterback," which is what you say Cousins is, can single-handedly account for 5 or 6 more wins.) And when I say, which apparently is true, that he won't chase after the last dollar, you say Buffalo can't compete with New York and Cleveland, because they can pay more. That just isn't responsive. Cousins won't care about top dollar nearly as much as other factors. Let's face it, no one is going to pay him $40 million a year. Highest it's going to go is in the $30 million range. Why? Because beyond $30 million you're simply doing too much damage to your long-term cap situation. QB comp has gone up gradually, and with the latest contracts we've seen that trend continue. Cousins isn't going to make some kind of quantum leap in compensation. Buffalo can pay in the $30 million range (which is what it's going to take), so money is not going to keep Buffalo out of the competition. Why isn't it just as easy, on your logic, to say he won't got to Minnesota or Denver because Cleveland and New York can pay more and he won't go to Cleveland and New York because they aren't ready to win now? The guy is a thoughtful guy. He's going to weigh all of the factors that are important to him. It is very possible, very possible, that Cousins will like the ownership/coaching package in Buffalo better than anyplace else. If I were a player, I wouldn't go to the Jets so long as Woody Johnson is the owner. His teams are consistently dysfunctional, just like Ralph Wilson's teams were. If I were a QB, I wouldn't want to go to Denver, because I'd constantly be in John Elway's shadow. Elway is the story out there. If I were a player I wouldn't want to go to Cleveland, simply because they've been screwed up for so long and there isn't any evidence yet that they know how to straighten it out. Yes they have picks and cap room, but they've had picks and cap room for years and they haven't been able to do anything with those opportunities. It's just too unsettled. In my mind, Minnesota is the real competition. They seem to have their act together. They have a consistently improving defense that was stifling for most the season. Not exciting, just really, really good. They execute in the passing game without prima donna receivers. They run well, and they have their rookie phenom running back coming back. It just looks like a really solid franchise. The big question is whether Minnesota actually will be bidders for Cousins. I can't imagine that they will bet on Keenum for the future, good as he was last season. I wouldn't bet on Bradford, but they might. I think the big question is how good do the Vikings think Bridgewater is? I wasn't a believer in him, but there's no denying that he was both solid in executing the offense and able to make things happen with his physical skills and creativity. Bridgewater probably is going to get $25 million a year; the question is whether the Vikings like Cousins so much better to pay a little more to get him. For me, the big question in Buffalo is the same as in MInnesota: do the Bills want Cousins? If they do, I think they easily have as good a chance as any team in the bidding. I think the Bills DO want him, for many of the same reasons I think Cousins may want the Bills - reasons that add up to the phrase "the right fit." I think Mcd wants him because he does what he's told to do, he studies, he's under control and he executes. I think Beane wants his draft picks; he knows with Cousins he can solve his QB problem and with his picks he can solve the rest of his problems. That doesn't mean Cousins will be a Bill. The Bills may NOT want him, and he may not pick the Bills. I could easily see him picking the Vikings, if Minnesota is bidding. But I actually think those will be the two most attractive situations to him. Denver will be third, but I think Denver will lose out because of Elway and because Denver isn't the midwest. I think he won't want New York City for reasons similar to why he wants out of Washington, (ownership and big city, high profile) and I think he'll decide that Cleveland is just too risky (Cousins only gets one chance to decide where he will play in his prime, and Cleveland is a high-risk choice. Cousins isn't a risk taker.) We'll see in a few weeks. It'll be interesting, at least, and if Buffalo is in the hunt, it'll be exciting.

Two separate points about this, Corner Man. First, in case you haven't noticed, McDermott is a system coach. McDermott wants his players to learn the system, plug into the system, and play in accordance with the system. That's what he wants. He doesn't want Brett Favre or some other gunslinger. He wants a guy who buys into the system, 100%. He wants a guy who will do his job, every play. And that is exactly what Cousins strives to be, every day. Cousins has been a top 10 QB for three years doing just that. Second, you call Cousins a system quarterback as thought that's some kind of dirty word or put down. Who is the greatest system quarterback of all time? Good arm, not great. Below average athleticism. Pocket awareness and mobility increased somewhat over his career, but it isn't great. Off script is terrible, so he never goes off script. He just throws the ball away or goes down. Who is that? It's Tom Brady, that's who. Who doesn't want a guy like that? I've been saying it for a month - Cousins is good quarterback and he's a good fit for McDermott. They think alike. He also is a midwest guy, so Buffalo likely will be appealing. (He hasn't said this and I don't know it, but he probably doesn't want to be in New York City - it's DC and then some.) He also is a serious Christian, as is McDermott. Cousins is thoughtful - he will want this to be his last NFL team. He will be interested in winning over the long run, not necessarily winning in 2018, so he will want a team that has a solid foundation and will build year after year, which is what McDermott says and looks like he is doing. And Cousins isn't the kind of guy who's going to chase the last dollar; he's going want good compensation and the right situation. Buffalo can manage the cap to compete on the dollars. So I don't see that Buffalo is any less likely to get Cousins than anyone else; in fact, when he's done his homework Cousins could easily decide that Buffalo is where he MOST wants to be. Finally, something I've said once before. Several years ago at about this time of year lots of people were saying it was foolish to talk about Mario Williams coming to Buffalo. The Bills wouldn't spend the money, Williams wouldn't want to play there, he'd fit better here or there. Almost until the day it happened, people were saying it couldn't happen. Now, it didn't work out as well as people hoped, but the point is that it doesn't make sense to believe the Bills can't get Cousins because, well, who wants to come to Buffalo? Turns out a lot of people want to come to Buffalo, and Cousins could very well be one of them.

Right. The SI PIECE is nonsense. A top 10 an in his prime isn't going to get a big contract? Ridiculous.

i"ll be interested to see, but I really don't think the Bills are trading up to #2. I think Bean LOVES his draft picks; the only time I can imagine him trading three or four picks for one would be if there was a certifiable premier talent he could get, a talent like Luck. He isn't going to trade, I don't think, three or four picks to get a guy who has question marks around him, be it Allen, Darnold, Rosen or Mayfield. The longer I think about it, the more I think he's going to sign a free agent QB. Then, depending on how good he feels about the guy he signed, Beane will take a QB in the first round or in some later round. .

You and I agree on the substantive point. Just as a matter of writing, which means a lot to you and me and not so much to others, when you say "can take 15 years to fix," the clear implication of that language is that the mistake alone screws things up so much that it takes 15 years to unwind it. You can parse the sentence and try to prove the literal words mean something else, but as I said, the implication is clear. There are practically NO 15 year mistakes in the NFL. There can be SERIES of mistakes that leave you with the same problem for 15 years, and that's what you meant and what your next post clarified. The Bills have had a long run of mistakes, not one 15-year mistake.

You know, there was a lot of absurd stuff in that movie, but I really enjoyed the portrayal of how gut-wrenching these decisions are. You can collect all the data you want, but at the end of the day the answer isn't obvious. So you have to make a decision that amounts to something only a little better than guess work, and the wrong decision will cost you a lot of money or a lot of draft picks, and in either case it could cost you your job.

Just to be clear, I said they've done most of their research on the veterans who might be available. The research on the QBs in the draft pool is ongoing. The veterans, they already have formed opinions on. Anyone in whom they're really interested, they've already studied every bit of film they have access to. I'm sure if you could talk to them today about who they think is worth pursuing as long-term solution, they can give a pretty definitive thumbs down on everyone they know is OFF their list, and they can give you a pretty good but not yet definitive thumbs up on guys they want. That is, they can tell you no on Keenum, Cousins, Bridgewater, Bradford, Foles, or yes subject to further investigation on each of the same guys. Your fifteen years to fix is hyperbole. Losman was not a mistake that took fifteen years to fix. Edwards wasn't a fifteen year mistake. It's true that it's been 15 years since Bledsoe, but that doesn't mean the wrong choice takes fifteen years to fix. The wrong choice generally impacts the team for three to four years. Either you cough up three first-round picks to move up to pick a rookie, or you write a contract that has three-year salary cap implications. In either case, if the guy you pick is a bust, you're in position to take another shot at a solution with three to four years, max. The good thing about signing a veteran to a big deal is that although it has three to four years of salary cap implications, you keep your draft picks, so you can keep drafting potential QBs who might be the solution if the veteran doesn't work out.

I think you are misunderstanding this. He wasn't saying he doesn't care if his team loses and he wasn't saying he didn't care about losing. He said exactly what McD said when the Bills were in their losing streak - it's not the end of the world. We process information we get better and we move on. His comment was more about the difference between how players see a loss and fans see a loss. It is NOT the case that coaches want there players to think "we are losing. I have to do more." That's not what McD wants. McD wants hia players to do their job every play. Focus on your job and do it. That's what Cousins was talking about and that's why I think McD might like him and why he might like McD.

Just surmising. Makes sense. They what.theyre looking for at QB and thetbknow who's likely to be available. So they must have already decided which if any of the veterans they'd want. I don't see any reason they'd be waiting to decide if they want Cousins, for example. Once they decide that it changes their thinking about other things. I think they want Cousins.

I don't think McD would anyone who wasn't looking forward to the challenge. These guys live to show up there every day and figure out one more little thing that will help them win.

If that ever was true, I get the sense that it isn't true any longer. I think this is a pretty tightly run ship now. The Pegulas have told people what their jobs are, and you do your job. They collaborate, and they're interested in the opinions of others, but I doubt McBeane are worrying too much about what Russ thinks or says. Russ has his own job to do, and McBeane don't report to him - they report to the Pegulas. Now, on the organization chart, they may report to him, but I seriously doubt that this time around their jobs depend on what Russ thinks. McBeane was a Pegula hire, and the Pegulas will decide their future. Just my sense of how things are operating.

I'm very much with you about this. McD very clearly has a system he believes will work, and I believe it too. A couple of players have commented about the night and day difference between 2016 and 2017. The sumo wrestling comment above was closer to the truth than we'd like to admit - the Ryans were playing at being head coaches; McDermott is working at being one. I agree about being built for the pressure. McD's mantra is to stay focused on the process. Don't think about anything other than what the process says you should be doing right now. There's nothing in the process about thinking about the pressure. The process is captured, I'm sure, in Belichick's mantra - do your job. If you're thinking about doing your job, there's no room for pressure. I hate seeing Hogan succeed for someone else, but I see him as a perfect example of what Belichick does and what I think McDermott is trying to do. Get a good athlete who's focused, who's a good soldier, and teach him exactly what you want him to do. When you look at the relative train-wreck the Bills' receiving corps was in 2017, can't you see how much better off the Bills would have been? A guy who's fast enough, sure-handed enough, who just does what he's supposed, to every play - runs his route, makes his blocks. You train a guy like Hogan, and pressure isn't part of the equation - he's just focused on what he's supposed to do, like a good soldier.

I agree with that, but I think there's more. I think these guys also are studying film from last season and analyzing where offenses, including their own, have evolve. And they're thinking about things will evolve next. They aren't just sitting around copying plays they see other teams run. If that's all you're doing, your offense is always a step behind. So they're thinking about what they can do that's new. A lot of that is driven by what they see defenses doing on film. They're thinking about how best to counter the developments in defense that happened last season. Some of that has to do with what talent you have, but some of is general offensive and defensive strategy.

Got it. I did miss the point. I think you're absolutely correct. I think that regardless of what happened last season, they were going to be going full-bore, doing what they think is the right thing. But if they'd missed the playoffs, there would always have been that nagging feeling in the back of their heads that the pressure was on, that their jobs were closer to being on the line, etc. The Pegulas would have been telling them not to worry, but anyone in that situation, with ANOTHER seasons without the playoffs, would be at least a little on edge. They definitely are free of that feeling. Instead, of course, they live with the knowledge that wild-card loss isn't enough. They have to get better. These guys live with the pressure of having to get better every day. Belichick lives with that pressure.

Right, but at the same time isn't he also creating a playbook? I suppose he knows 90% of the plays, but if he isn't being creative about the next 10%, he's already a step behind the best. So I'd think he's doing that. And he's supervising his assistants, who are probably the ones who really are doing the film study.

I forgot about the Combine. You're right. There's planning going on about whom they want to meet, what kind of information they want to get from the kids, what kind of side-bar conversations they want to have with other GMs and coaches. I'm sure they're 100% prepared when they show up at the Combine.

When he came to Buffalo, some article said McD had bookshelves full of notebooks full of his notes about how to be a coach. He's been studying coaching for 10 or 15 years. I think it's only natural that he'd be emulating stuff that he's seen Belichick do. In fact, I think if you asked him, you'd discover that he emulates Belichick A LOT. I see it several things. I've heard a few interviews with Belichick lately, where he talks about what he does, what he's thinking about, how he sets goals. A lot of what I've heard sounds like the way McD approaches things. That's why, for example, I think the Bills are interested in Cousins. Cousins is a Brady-type guy in the sense that he's always thinking about how things work, always trying to build his knowledge, always practicing the things he needs to do better. I'm guessing that McD sees how Belichick has been able to leverage that kind of guy at QB, and I'm guessing that McD is looking for that type of guy. And that, my friend, is exactly the difference between the last regime and this one.

I don't think so. If you listen to Belichick, he's processed last season and the Super Bowl. He's working 100% on 2018, and he's dwelling on the fact that he lost the big one. He doesn't have time. He knows that time spent thinking about 2017 is opportunity lost for 2018. McD operates the same way. Every day, he's fighting the temptation to pat himself on the back for last season. He does that in some quiet moment one night sitting at home, relaxing. At work, he's working, and last season is irrelevant. Except, there is still a lot of work being done reviewing last season's game films. There's information about players to be mined there.

I don't think they're putting the draft board together yet. They're probably still gathering info. I think the scouts all have work lists - things they have to do every day this week, people to see, data to collect. I'd guess that in some meeting McD told Beane that he's interested in learning more about that guard from Montana State or that DB from Kentucky, and Beane has told the head of his scouting division that they need this info or that about these guys by the end of the week. So some scout is on the road to meet with coaches at Montana State. I'm just guessing, but I think that stuff is going on. If you could know the travel plans, and if you could see the cell phone records, of the scouts, you could figure out who the Bills have some special interest in. When they're done with that data they work on the draft board, I think.

They've had that meeting, a month ago. They met again to talk when Smith was traded, and they met briefly when Garoppolo got his deal. But they know pretty much where they want to go. If there's a guy in the league now that they're interested in, they've already had the first informal talks with people like Cousins' agent, the Eagles GM about Foles, agents for the VIking QBs. This is the period where everyone bends the rules a little bit - they're trying to figure out how the game is going to be played for a guy like Cousins, but they aren't allowed to talk contract yet. But after Beane's had a conversation or two today about the QBs, he's done and moving on to other stuff. I think they're busy with stuff all the time.