Shaw66

Well, I think it's one difference maker. A guy who is a disrupter. A tackle or an edge. Sure, two would be nice, but they don't come cheap, and one would make everyone else along the line better.

Yes, and once they realize that's their NFL future, being on THIS team is where he would want to be - backing up the best on a team that is a threat to go deep into the playoffs for years.

I think if you have a good team, the key is too have a backup who can execute the offense and not make mistakes. He's certainly not going to be as good as your starter, but if you have a good team, the key is to not have your backup giving away games. The rest t of team will be good enough to win some games, so long as the QB isn't dishing out INTs. That means the backup should be a veteran with starting experience. Some of the journeyman backed ups qualify, and the other category of backups are the Flaccos and the Trubiskies, guys who have some hope of resurrecting their careers but who are willing to contribute to a winning team without starting. That's why I like Mitch.

Absolutely. And in this defense, a safety. But a difference maker on the D line is my #1 priority.

And the best available edges are ...?

It may be interesting to talk about whether the bill should go after Garrett or Metcalf. I think the more interesting question is whether the Bills should be willing to let Cook go in order to get Garrett.

Agreed. This isn't enough. What would really complete the package would be an elite edge rusher. This vision of Miller and Rousseau was the correct vision when Beane made the deal, but Miller's injury made it impossible to achieve what they saw. Rousseau's still young; he needs to be paired with an elite talent and the D line will be the force they need. My second choice for elite ability would be safety. Third would be receiver, but I really think the Bills are fine at receiver with the concept they used last season.

If I had to guess, and it's strictly a guess: I think Bernard looks at the market and sees that he can get more elsewhere. But he also sees that a big part of his success comes from being in complete sync with his coach's thinking and style. Bernard wants to win, and despite knowing he can get overpaid, he'll stay for less, because he thinks he has the best chance of winning with McDermott.

I hear what you guys are saying about Cook. I agree; he's a special talent. I'd hate to see him go, especially because of what you're saying about going all in. I remember saying when last season started that the Bills would be fine in 2024, but the point of getting through 2024 was to get to 2025. Plus, not paying Cook would take an enormous amount of courage by Beane. Beane would lose his job if he let Cook walk and Cook put up 2000 all purpose yards for the Lombardi winner. That is, imagine Cook makes Beane look like Schoen letting Barkley walk. Every player at One Bills Drive will be asking what he thought he was doing. My point was from more of a long-term building point of view. Overpaying players always hurts some in the long term, and chasing Cook with dollars will hurt in the long term, too. If it wins a Lombardi, overspending will have been worth it. If Barkley returns to this planet this season, the Eagles won't complain. They have the trophy. Let me ask a different question. What if there was a trade to be made with Cleveland - Cook and Garrett and some picks, probably big picks, going one way or the other. Bottom line, lose Cook, get Garrett.

There are a lot of really interesting discussions going on here. Some of the best we've had. My take on Bedford is that he is simply too good a defensive back to let go. He can do almost anything. He isn't a top cover guy, but he's very good. And he's he's an outstanding tackler. I think he has to get paid. As for Cook, I'm not sure it makes sense to pay him. There seem to be runs on positions, and the inflation drives prices higher than makes sense for good management of the payroll. I think particularly in light of the Barkley deal, teams are probably entering a period of overpaying for running backs. I think it is smart to stay away from "hot" markets like that. There's better value to be had shopping for less glamorous positions.

Bringing this thread back to first page so all can admire how the Bills are building with their new generation of core players. Skakir, Bernard, Rosseau. Sweet. And as another thread said, now Benford.

I think people who say that his production was down last year aren't seeing his true value. This is a guy who gets to where he's supposed to be virtually all the time, because he's smart, motivated, and quick. He's a solid tackler. In pass defense, he regularly is IN the play, instead of AROUND the play, which was one of the problems with Edmunds. I like Dorian Williams, too - love his speed and his tackling. But the Bills defense operates by having 11 players managing their assignments on every play; Bernard does it on every play and Williams may do it on 8 or 9 out of 10. On the plays where Williams doesn't do his job, the whole defense suffers. I'm hoping he'll show the same improvement from year 2 to year 3 that he showed from his rookie year to last year. If he does, with him beside Bernard, the Bills will be said backing up the line.

This says it all. Can't say I don't worry about injuries with him but other than that, I think the guy is great. Clearly a leader and in charge on the field. Great penetrator in the run defense - I have no idea how he gets in there and winds up at the bottom of the pile with his arms around the ball carrier. Superb pass defense instincts. Excellent closing speed. Build around the QB on offense, and build around the QB on defense. I try not to get caught up in "what ifs" during the off-season, but if the Bills can get themselves a seriously good edge rusher, the rest of Beane's work is just filling in the pieces. Good, good news.

Mitch. Mitch. Mitch. Best choice, probably by a long shot. First, the point everyone makes: If Josh goes down for an extended period, you can probably kiss the season goodbye. One exception would be a 6-week injury early in the season. Scratch out a couple of wins without, then make a late-season run when he returns. So, the only point worth talking about is what if the Bills lose Josh for a couple of games? Then I think Mitch is the answer. He has starter talent, or he wouldn't have been drafted where he was. The style of his game is similar to Josh's. He can't compare, but he's big, he'll run, he has a big arm. He's a third-rate Josh. The Bills can insert him in the lineup without having to adjust the offense significantly. He's smart, he's dedicated. I think he and Josh get along well. Mitch is about as good as the Bills can hope to get. Here's the list of quarterback passing yards last season, starting at #32 on the list. I don't think I'd take any of them over Mitch as the Bills backup. Cooper RushDAL Anthony RichardsonIND Joe Flacco Mac JonesJAX Aidan O'ConnellLV Mason RudolphTEN Spencer RattlerNO Deshaun WatsonCLE Justin FieldsPIT Drew LockNYG Andy DaltonCAR Tyler HuntleyMIA Jacoby BrissettNE Michael Penix Jr.ATL Malik WillisGB Desmond RidderLV Dorian Thompson-RobinsonCLE Marcus MariotaWSH Joshua DobbsSF

I have to say his slow delivery scared me to death. He had a lot of kicks last season that came within a whisker of being blocked. I thought he was living dangerously.

This is excellent and right on the money. Brees was amazingly accurate. And you're also correct about the wide receiver screens and other short throws to the boundaries. The Bills relied heavily on those early in the season, and defense is adjusted. The simple fact is that passing is becoming increasingly difficult in the NFL, because defenses have figured out how to stop the deep ball and to make even intermediate passing more difficult.

I haven't read any of this thread, so I apologize if this is just what others have said, but this idea you expressed has been bouncing around in my head for a week now. I would discourage you about getting your hopes up about completion percentage. I was on that train a year ago, and I think it was misguided. Josh started 2024 with a lot of high percentage games, but as the season went on, the 70% completion expectation proved unrealistic. I don't think using Brees as a model makes sense. He played in a different era, an era when the passing game was taking over pro football, and many defenses simply couldn't stop the right QB in the right offense. Defenses have adjusted, and if you try to beat teams with your passing game, the defenses can stop you. That's why the running game has come back so strong. In the past year or two, every coach has realized that passing isn't as easy as it was 10 years ago, and they've turned to the running game to get the yards that are tougher to get in the passing game. For example, the bubble screens and the rub plays were easy completions and easy yards three or four years ago, and they no longer are. Now, they're just another part of a varied attack - if you feature that game, defenses will stop it. The result of all of this is that passing is harder than it was, and having a consistently high completion percentage has become tougher. The Bills are on the right track - a varied, multiple offense that attacks all over the field is necessary, because the defenses will stop you if you tend too much in one direction or another. In 2024, three teams got just barely over 70% completions - Detroit, Tampa Bay, and the Bengals, and all teams except the Browns and the Colts got over 60%. Bills were 63.3. I think the best we can expect is to bump that percentage 5 points or so, and on 500 attempts that's 25 more completions. That sounds like a lot, but it's only one or two more completions a game. That would be nice, of course, but they aren't the kind of numbers that are going to change a team's fortunes dramatically. And, of course, the Bills don't need a huge increase in offensive performance. In 2024, they were second in total yards, seventh in passing TDs and first in rushing TDs. So I'm not being a downer in saying that you shouldn't expect a big increase in completion percentage. As we've all said here, over and over for three or four months, it's the defense that needs to make a big step up.

Maybe each team can be allowed three Sumo wrestler. I like their outfits.

I like it. It's a massive mano a mano pile of humanity trying to simply overpower the other. I think it's pretty cool.

The drought ended before Josh arrived.

Not in his early years. He scrambled often. And Josh moves in the pocket in ways that are quite similar to Roethlisberger. The real point is that guys as talented as Josh generally do not hit a wall as early as people are suggesting. Hall of Fame quarterbacks play into their late thirties.

Allen is most valuable, for sure. He plays the most important position, and he plays it almost as well as anyone ever has. But the OP asked two questions - one in the title and one in the poll. If the question is most impressive, it's OJ. His season was completely unprecedented, almost unimaginable. Compared to seasons that other QBs have had, Allen's was very good but not outstanding.

Elway and Big Ben say hello.

Diggs wasn't extreme. I'm guessing McDermott will not knowingly take another Diggs. Two good years and two years screwing up the team chemistry. Yes, you find them, but they're accidents. If people knew how good those late first rounders were going to turn out, they wouldn't have lasted until late in the first round. Brian Thomas Jr. wasn't available when the Bills and Chiefs drafted, and the Bears thought Odunze was better. At the end of the first round, you take guys who look like they have promise, like Rousseau and Coleman, and you hope they emerge. It's a crapshoot for impact players at that point in the draft. I think the way a team that's near the top of the league adds impact players is through free agency. You make a bold move for a Garrett, or you understand that a guy like Zack Baun will impact your defense. In fact, it worked for the Rams with Miller; it just didn't work out for Beane. I wouldn't be surprised to see Beane do it again.

An attitude like, say, Stefon Diggs? Furthermore, drafting at 30, you don't find day one impact players. You find Worthy and Coleman.