Shaw66

That's a good point. Probably someone made a mistake. Or here's a theory. They don't know who's playing guard or center. McGovern is a possibility. Getting the word out lets everyone know the Bills are in the market for either. If they didn't say it, people would assume the Bills have high need at center and none at guard. THis gives them options. Just a guess.

That's true in a lot of ways. They signed Miller to be an impact player in 22 and 23 and hoped for the best after that. The writing was on the wall for Poyer and Hyde, although the timing was still unclear. Diggs would be in his prime, and they'd have Davis on a cheap contract. And remember, Edmunds was the start of the parade out the door. 2024 was always going to be like this. But as others have said, it just doesn't look to be too bad. The offense needs two players - a center or guard and a receiver. The defense needs a safety and probably a corner, although Douglas, Benford, Elam is a very nice fallback plan There are some things that would be nice, but that aren't essential. That's five players, with a tight but manageable cap budget and a boatload of picks. Beane will get Brady a receiver, and rest will be up to him. McDermott will get the defensive backfield together, and the Bills will be a contender.

I'm cap ignorant. Can you explain this? I thought when the Bills cut a guy, they took the cap hit, and the guy became a free agent. As a free agent, he's free to sign with any team, but there's an additional cap consequence if he goes back to his former team? Or did you just mean that once the franchise takes the hit, it's making a commitment to getting younger at the position, so they actually don't want the guy back? Frankly, I'm expecting that the Bills will bring in a veteran free agent to start at some position, safety, center, even guard, really anyplace up and down the lineup. So, if it were Morse that they needed for a year, you think the Bills wouldn't be interested? I'm not challenging what you said; just trying to understand what you meant.

Hey, Gunner. I was rereading this, and I hadn't really focused on the Hughes comparison. I can really see that. Hughes had an interesting skill set, but he wasn't well suited to playing the more button-down style McDermott wants from his edges. Playing that style limited the things that he did best. Hughes wasn't able to make explosive plays in that defense. Even though we've seen only a little of Elam, we've seen enough to see that playing with the discipline McDermott requires limits his ability to make plays. Compare him to Tre White, for example. White was good enough to be a true cover corner, but when he played with the discipline required by the defense, his cover skills aren't lost. That same thing is what the Bills got from Poyer and Hyde, and from Johnson. They're all guys with ability to make big plays AND play the scheme. That's also what's expected from the linebackers - run the defense, but make plays, too. That's what Elam has to do, and we haven't seen that from him yet. And that was Hughes's struggle, too. The difference is that Hughes was still a net plus on the field, but Elam has generally been a minus. Elam has to make a leap this summer. I can see that now.

I agree. Turnover is part of the program in any well-run franchise. Morse generally wasn't physical enough from my point of view. As others have said, he'd get pushed around in pass pro sometimes, and he wasn't a great power blocker. What he was was a solid leader in the middle of the line, in charge, standup guy. That will be missed. Also as others have said, this move isn't leaving a vacuum. They have a plan for the position, and no doubt a backup plan, too. And a center probably will be added to the equation someplace along the way, starter or backup. I'm not concerned. I often repeat what I heard Colin say one day. He asked a Las Vegas odds maker how much it would affect the point spread if JJ Watt (at the time he was the reigning defensive player of the year) was out of the lineup. The odds maker said, "maybe a half point." So, if JJ Watt is a half point in the point spread, what is a solid but not spectacular center? The league is full of talented athletes, well trained, committed. Some are better than others, of course, but the difference between the starter and a quality replacement often is pretty small.

Seems like you were right about Miller. I need to stop doubting you!

I really like this. I wonder if Trubisky has reached the conclusion that his future now is journeyman backup. If so, this is great. He might have a three-four-five-year run in Buffalo. He has the size, arm, running style, and brains to be a JA backup. A good fit in the QB room and a decent guy to put on the field if the need arises. I assume he and Josh get along, or else the Bills wouldn't have done this.

That's interesting. You know way more about the technical stuff than I. If the Bills are going to move on from him, I'd think the earliest that would happen would be late camp/preseason, when they know they have their CB depth covered with some other young player(s). I'm still hoping you're young, as you are, too.

Yes, that all may be true, but he also could be Jordan Poyer, who had 10 starts in four seasons in Cleveland, or Micah Hyde, who was only a part-time starter in Green Bay. Not saying he's a safety - just saying that top talent doesn't always develop into top players in the their first three or four years. Yes, change of scenery helps some, scheme is a factor. But at least with scheme, they thought he could be a scheme fit when they drafted him, and he knows that scheme fit is critical to making it in Buffalo. Maybe you're right, and the Bills already have given up on him and are just waiting for the right opportunity to unload him. I think he's cheap and talented. Aren't likely to get a better backup at that price. Bills will get a rookie corner or two in the draft and and free agency, and if one of them can take the backup job from Elam, so be it. Otherwise, I think the Bills will be happy to have him. At least, that would be my take.

I just wrote something about this generally, and gave Elam as an example. I think it's important to keep young talent a year too long, rather than cut young talent a year too early. Young often talent needs time to grow into the league, and it's worth it to give young talent extra time to see what that growth looks like. Everyone uses Wyatt Teller as the example. Elam was injured last year, which hampered his growth. He also, clearly, has had trouble being effective and consistent in McDermott's scheme. He's young - turns 23 this year. I'd much rather invest another year in him than see him starting for five years (which he has the potential to do) for some other team.

Yeah, I agree. Belichick was the master at that. Over the years, I've developed two general rules about player retention. The rules are (1) let old talent go before they're done (only exception is a true franchise player who you drafted and who deserves to finish his career with your team), and (2) keep young talent until you're sure they've busted. It looks like Beane should have started on the old players a year ago, and done it a bit more gradually. Had to keep Morse, because the middle of the line was so unsettled. Had to keep White, because he could have come back and been a stud for several years. McGovern, Torrence, and Douglas made them expendable this year. Had to be Poyer last year, and Rapp could have taken on a bigger role more quickly. The best talent in free agency is first and second picks coming off their rookie deals, guys who have underperformed in some way, so their original team lets them walk. Work ethic and team orientation are great, gotta have it, but there's no substitute for size, strength, speed, talent - the stuff you find in the first two rounds. Elam is the current example of sticking with the underperforming young talent. The Bills need to keep working with him and see how he develops. Edmunds was the last example - Bills were sure about him by the time he left.

Yes. They got a little old last season. They probably should have bit the bullet on Poyer last season.

That's great! Thanks!

I agree. It will be interesting.

Looking at that list, what does it say about where McDermott expects leadership to come from. He knows, the players know, who has to step up. Where does it come from: Milano and Taron Johnson, maybe Rousseau. Who's the leader in the backfield? Putting a lot on Rapp. On offense, it for sure falls on McGovern, who's moving to center and needs to be able to win at the position, learn to work with a new guy on both sides. And Allen, but Allen's good as a leader and just will get better. There'll be some veteran free agents, too, and they'll be brought in intentionally to be leaders. Still, it's going to be a different team.

Wow. You are on a roll. This, too, is simply excellent. And not only are these players good human beings and feel somehow like family. They also were part of one of the most memorable periods in Bills history. They were core players at a time when Bills fans were being rewarded for the two decades of disappointment. These were the guys who were there, who were anchors, when Bills football became genuinely exciting, exciting like we hadn't seen in those two decades. Yes, sure, it was Allen, of course, it was Allen, but these guys were the supporting players the team depended on to lead the others. They are part of an exciting era. And I'll add this: I think the first rock McDermott built this team on was Kyle Williams, and I've always thought that when the Bills win the Lombardi under McDermott, Williams will know, and McDermott will acknowledge, that it started with Williams. And we all will know that it went through Poyer and Hyde, and Morse, too. They'll be gone, but they'll be part of the success that's coming.

Thanks, Logic. That was great, just great.

I agree. Beane doesn't play the game from the sideline. He's always in the fight, so there will be some big deals, for sure. There might be a trade up in the first round. It could be anything.

Thanks. I think you're right.

Weren't you and I talking a few days ago about whether it's reasonable to expect much from Miller, that it looked like he just wasn't going to get back to his old self. Doesn't this say that at least Miller is confident that he will be back? That's a big bet on himself.

What a player! All I can say is thank you, and good luck!

Interesting comments. Yes, to all. I don't know, but I wouldn't say they have plans and backups and backups to the backups. I doubt they're really plans in the ordinary sense of the word. A plan is something that takes you to a defined ending. An engineer puts together a plan for the construction of the building. In that case, the end product is known, and the plan is how to get from where you are today to the final building. When the building is done, in all major respects the building comes out just like the original suggested it would. When Beane does is different. There isn't a defined end, with player A at this position and player B at that position. It's open-ended - assemble players that collectively can achieve what we want. When you say plans and subplans, I think what actually happens is like what Beane has described for the draft. He's not planning so much as he's playing out scenarios in his head. Who's likely to be available where I'm picking? Who would I take? What might I do if I trade up? Trade down? What if the guy I want isn't there? He described it well after his first draft. He had spent a day role playing a lot of different scenarios. He admitted that despite all of his preparation, no scenario involved getting Allen and then being able to get Edmunds, too. It's sort of like it's impossible to have a "plan" for a chess game. If you're playing white, you might be able to predict each of the six or eight moves, but sooner or later the available choices of moves are such that there are too many possibilities to plan for. You can think about the scenarios and what you might do, but at some point you're not planning. And I agree the draft is mind-boggling that way. The bad thing about the draft is that, unlike free agency, you have no idea how these guys are going fit in the NFL. It isn't easy to predict. In free agency, you've at least seen a guy up against Dion Dawkins, as an example, and that gives you some kind of gauge as what he might do. (For example, when Colin Cowherd asked Dion Dawkins who was the best pass rusher he'd ever faced, before Cowherd finished the question, Dawkins said, "Von Miller." That information is much more valuable than any information they can get about any edge coming out of college.) When the Bills traded for Diggs, they said to themselves, "We got our receiver." When they drafted Kincaid, all they could say was, "We hope we got a receiver." The whole process is one in which you have to make choices with insufficient information, and the information that you did have that was relevant to yesterday's choice has changed when you have to make today's choice, because other teams and players have made moves, too. And, yes, I'm sure there are times when Beane doesn't want to hear any more from McDermott, because it just adds to the uncertainty of the whole process. That's why it's so important to have a GM and coach who are real teammates in the process, guys with continuity together, so that the GM can develop a feel, an intuition for the kind of guy the HC needs. Obviously, Beane has lots of help developing all the information they have about the players who are available, either in free agency or the draft. Eventually, however, he has to make the calls. It takes a certain kind of personality to work well in that environment.

Blonde or brunette?

Good points. And what's funny about that is that, if he could speak frankly about it, he'd say fan expectations are a tremendous distraction. Here he is working on trying to put a team together, and he hears a constant drumbeat, sometimes virtual screaming in his ear, none of which is of any value to him. And yet all the time he's trying to do the job he's hearing this stuff. He has to just shut it out, because he has to make the decisions based on the quality information the scouts have developed, not the whims of the Mafia.

Wow! That's exactly right. The thing about it is that 32 GMs are getting paid the big bucks, are probably only about half of them are really good at their jobs. I'm not saying they're slouches; they do it seriously, but the roster they end up with to start the season isn't as well constructed as the best GMs. The best GMs have their teams in the hunt every season. And there's luck, too, but the guys who get it, like John Lynch and that guy who was so great in Baltimore. I think Beane is growing into that kind of success, but time will tell. But you're so right. The size of the job, the importance of the decision making, and to just work your way through, year after year, always hunting around half blind trying to find your way from here to a roster. Good for those guys.