SCBills

Yes Yes To be determined. So far, they've shown they can build/lead a playoff team. They have not shown they can build/lead a championship team, yet.

Would you rather have: Kelce, Juju, Toney, MVS, RD2 Pick and a Top 2 OL or Diggs, Knox, Davis, McKenzie, RD5 Pick and a bottom third OL? I won't even get into the coaching aspect. Strictly talent based... tell me which situation you prefer?

I'd say reset like the Chiefs, but not by trading Diggs due to his accelerated cap hit. -Let Poyer walk -Let Edmunds walk -Trade Oliver Remake the Defense. The core of Edmunds/Poyer/Oliver has run it's course and that money needs to be re-allocated to the Offense. -Sign a mid-tier vet FA MLB -Sign a proven situational pass rusher like Melvin Ingram -Transition Benford to S and bring back Marlowe as insurance/depth -Draft a DT, S and Day 3 CB Tying up 25M+ in Oliver and Edmunds next year is cap malpractice. Neither of them bring us any closer to a Super Bowl appearance. Sign two above average OL Free Agents so Josh has proven protection, also draft an OL Sign a WR and/or draft a WR Day 3 RB We have options, but it's going to take bold moves by this Front Office. Or we can remain held cap hostage by paying absurd money to a DT and MLB.

You can get away with MVS, Juju etc., when your TE is in his prime and, perhaps, the greatest to ever play the position.

Cover 1 broke down metrics from the DL in one of their recent podcasts.. The DL dominated, with Von, Rousseau and Epenesa all playing at a high/above-average level up until Von went down with his injury. At which point Rousseau dipped a tiny bit and AJ actually graded out a tick better than before Von's injury. How this relates to Oliver?... We had a top 5 DL until Von went down. When they broke down our DT metrics, Oliver, during that time span our DL was playing at a top 5 level, had not even played enough snaps to qualify for evaluation in the metrics. So when people like Joe Marino (who, again, I genuinely like his podcast) scoff at the idea of replacing Oliver with, literally anyone, I do not understand the problem. Nevermind the fact we have zero DT's under contract for '24. Extend Jones, bring back Phillips and draft a space eater at some point.

Yea, I see that now. Makes no sense unless someone blows us away with a trade package.. which for a guy with his cap hit is likely not happening.

We replace Edmunds with a vet MLB at a third of the cost, draft a Safety and/or bring back Marlowe to compete with Benford as we transition him to Safety. Trade Oliver and draft his replacement. Cut underperforming guys like Settle and Basham. Sign another pass rusher like Melvin Ingram. The Defense needs to shift and we can't do that by running it back... and even worse, mortgaging future years to bring back BOTH Edmunds and Poyer.

The core of this team has failed 3 years in a row. As far as I'm concerned, the only immovable piece is Josh Allen. If someone wants to give us RD1 pick for Diggs. Fine by me. Just, for the love of God, get Josh Allen a legit OL. If he has time, he will torch any defense, provided we reset the weaponry with a couple high picks and a vet WR. I can't say I necessarily hate the idea of spending his money on OL in FA, bringing in OBJ and then double dipping early on say... Jordan Addison and Smith-Njigba or Jalin Hyatt.

Fair point.. The previous two, prior to this past year, the defenses dominated via pass rush. Not much we can do about our pass rush if we are paying Ed Oliver 11M and Tremaine Edmunds 18M. There is quite a bit we can do if we trade Ed and let Edmunds walk... both in the ability to sign someone like Melvin Ingram and be players for OL help in FA, allowing us to draft a DT early.

We're not in "cap jail" because of a QB contract anyway. We're in perceived cap jail because of the perception that we won't trade Oliver and must re-sign Edmunds.

Agreed. And this is why it's so frustrating to hear podcasters and analysts act like we're in cap jail this off-season because of guys like Edmunds and Oliver. They do not, and should not, be here next year. Cap problem solved. Let's say we cut Basham and Settle, allow Poyer and Edmunds to walk and then trade Oliver. That frees up quite a bit of money. We need to add another piece to the pass rush (or we should). That can't prudently be done by keeping Oliver and Edmunds. Without them, we have money to sign a Melvin Ingram as DE2/DE3. We have money to sign a solid vet MLB. We also have money to sign a good FA IOL as well as potentially bringing in OBJ. DT also needs to be addressed. We have nobody under contract for '24. Is Oliver in our plans? He shouldn't be.. trade him. Settle? He shouldn't be. Cut him. Extend Jones, bring back Phillips and draft a couple DT's... one early because a big body with some juice next to Daquan is worth it, imo. Then come draft, even if we use our Day 2 picks on DT and S, pick 27 can be used to the BPA on Offense, whether that's a WR, OL or Bijan. Point is.. we have options to drastically transform this team into one that has vastly improved pieces where it matters. But we need to be bold and make calculated decisions. I'm afraid that's just not in the cards for us though... Veach in KC flipped over his secondary, let some DL pieces walk and traded Tyreek Hill last off-season... then won the Super Bowl. I can tell you pretty confidently, he would flip this Defense over if he was here... he wouldn't stand for 3 years of playoff letdowns from the same side of the ball.

Epenesa, imo, is probably worth a modest second contract as DE4. Basham, such a bad pick. Just incredibly frustrating. May be time to cut our losses with him. If we subscribe to needing a top tier defensive talent level.. and it seems we do.. Here's what I would do: EDGE: Von - Rousseau - (FA) Ingram - Epenesa - Lawson (Or Kingsley Jonathan) DT: Jones - RD2 Pick - Phillips - RD4/5 Pick *Cut/Trade Basham. Cut Settle. Trade Oliver. Extend Jones. *Frees up a good bit of money and solves the DT issue of having nobody under contract for '24. *Once Von is healthy, that is a dominant DL, assuming (yea yea I know) that they hit on an early DT pick to pair with Daquan Jones. *This also assumes we let Edmunds walk and sign a vet MLB.

This plan has us leveraging the future just to re-sign our own. Allen restructure gets us out of cap jail. Then we need pull a couple more levers to free up Edmunds money. We would need to restructure every candidate we have, and likely backload contracts/void years, just to bring back two core defenders on a defense that hasn't stepped up when it matters.

Not necessarily a ranking, but the bolded are the only guys I want back.

Restructuring Allen, which makes completely rational sense to do, gets us out of the red. Let Edmunds and Poyer walk. Don’t have to borrow any money when you’re not spending it. Trade Ed Oliver. There’s 11M in cap without any other restructures. Benford/Marlowe at Safety opposite Hyde. Phillips back cheap with Jones/Settle and a draft pick. Given the Bernard pick seems completely ridiculous, yea… likely have to draft a MLB on Day 2 and/or sign a mid-tier vet. It doesn’t need to be so dire…. Just stop spending $$$ and high picks like drunken sailors on defense.

People I generally think are good listens, like Joe Marino, simp nonstop for filling holes on Defense with high picks/decently priced FA’s. I don’t understand what this hold is on so many people, especially when they don’t seem to ever have that same energy in needing to address obvious holes on the OL. That’s where they are fine with Day 3 picks and/or value FA’s. He went on and on this morning about “what do we do if we trade Ed Oliver” …. Oh heavens no, what will we do if McDermott doesn’t have his precious high priced/high pick DL rotation!? I feel like “defense wins championships” is just engrained in people… even though it’s no longer true. Its insane to me that anyone feels 11M is better spent on Ed Oliver than a premier IOL. Especially when he’s going to walk next year and is inconsistent af with an inability to be a takeover guy. Tremaine Edmunds or a premier OL? The answer is easy. Give me the drop off at LB over Josh Allen ripping apart his UCL again.

I don’t think 20M AAV / 3 years locked in is a wild overpay for Von. We had a Top 5 DL with him. Bottom third without. Pass Rushers can play at a high level well into their 30’s. What happened to Von, could have just as easily happened to Chris Jones.. a guy who if taken off KC, completely decimates their DL as well.

Jordan Addison. He has the best ability to be a true WR1 for us down the line, and a top tier WR2 while Diggs is still in his prime. Think he’s a home run pick. Not interested in slot only guys. Shakir and Diggs can both slide down to the slot. I like Wright if he’s there in RD2, but I can’t quit Spencer Brown … his upside is still too high if he ever figures it out.

Honestly, I don't either. I absolutely loathe the fact Oliver is eating 11M next year. We have zero DT's locked up beyond next year, but that's a story for another time. I think it's such a gross mismanagement of cap to pay him that money while we're all pontificating on how the Bills can scrape together scraps to sign a mid-tier IOL.

Watching the Bills/Chiefs Week 6 replay on NFLN at the office. DL looks night and day with Von in there. Insane how different they look.

Good... I want Burrow to ask for 60M when his time comes. Bengals owner can have fun trying to get liquid enough for what's coming down the pike.

The Allen restructure brings us to where we are out of the red. Bills are likely willing to restructure other guys that have been mentioned in order to free up, say, 12M for Year 1 of an Edmunds deal. Trade Ed Oliver. Gives us around 11M. Operating on that premise alone, simply letting Edmunds walk and trading Oliver, frees up - at minimum - 23M that the Bills likely had earmarked for those two.

Potentially true, but it isn't lost on me that the #1 OL and #2 OL played each other in the Super Bowl. Also isn't lost on me that the "elite" defense didn't look any different from the average defense in that game.

I completely agree, but would be fine taking a stud DT if we get Oliver off the books to sign a premier OL. DL is where I don't hate the investment, BUT Beane has to do better... and I'm to the point where I'd rather spend/trade for a Von Miller merc every few years while drafting monster DT's. As far as LB goes, if we let Edmunds walk, given we only play 2 LB's primarily, they are going to draft one early and/or sign a capable mid-tier vet. I'm fine with that too... IF the Edmunds money goes to Offense. Safety is where I start getting beyond frustrated, because we shouldn't need to use a Day 2 pick at Safety... there are going to be places where we aren't top notch on Defense, and I'm completely fine letting Benford and Marlowe go at it for who starts next to Hyde over the summer.

If given the choice: Let Poyer and Edmunds walk. Trade Ed Oliver. All three Day 1/Day 2 picks used to replace DT, LB and S. Then, after likely restructures, the Bills become MAJOR players in Free Agency. We're talking about the ability to sign 2 premier OL Free Agents, along with a WR like OBJ or Meyers. OR We likely let Poyer walk regardless, but keep Oliver and re-sign Edmunds. Maybe have enough money to sign an IOL. Draft WR/OL/S on Day 1 and Day 2. ------ I'd be fine with heavy defensive draft investment if it means getting Allen proven protection and another proven weapon. We can always draft a WR early next year with Davis in a contract year. Hypothetically (or something similar) Allen Dawkins - Bates - Morse - Seumalo - McGlinchey (Brown OL6) Cook - Day 3 Pick - Hines Knox - Morris Diggs - OBJ - Davis - Shakir - Beasley Von - Jones - RD1 Pick - Rousseau RD2 Pick - Milano White - Elam - Taron RD3 Pick/Benford - Hyde Enough money to bring back depth guys like Boettger, Jackson, Marlowe, Phillips, Lawson etc., ----- I doubt we do this, but I think it's time to pour money into the Offense. By doing that, I'd be ok with another defense heavy draft. Allen needs PROVEN protection, and a guy like OBJ on a 2-3 year deal (tied to Von's time here) makes all the sense in the world for us. Or do we want status quo on Defense and an Offense-heavy draft?