SoTier

This is similar to what the Drought Era Bills used to do. The only difference is that the Bills FO back then wasn't nearly as interested in winning football games as they were in maximizing profits, so they either let their best players walk in FA or they traded them away for next to nothing. In both the Drought Era and the current desire of some fans to trade away players for draft picks, the result is having to use premium draft picks to fill self-created holes instead of spending premium draft picks on players who could improve the team. Cook is only doing what players do, trying to get paid as much as he can. That he uses social media to make his wishes known is also just what people his age do. I would really prefer that the Bills re-sign Cook, too. He is truly an explosive threat in the running game, and it's unlikely that the Bills can replace him as easily as some think. Fans need to have some patience. There's absolutely no reason to trade Cook at this time since there's no immediate deadline looming to get a new deal done. They could make a deal next month or before the season starts or even before FA begins next March.

Thanks. I thought the #12 was too high because the Bills made the playoffs in 2017, but I couldn't find any references to a previous trade. I guess I didn't ask the right questions ... like what did the Bills get for Cordy Glenn, whom I knew that they did trade.

The Bills first rounder in 2018 was #12, which gave them about twice the trade value points than they have at #30. They gave up #12 plus #53 and #56 to move up to #7. That's 5 spots. The Bills would be moving up about 25 spots. Not realistic. Hunter is likely to go in the top five, which is about 200 or more trade value points higher than #7. The Bills would have to give up their 2025 first and both seconds plus their 2026 first plus possibly other picks or players. I don't think that Hunter is worth nearly that much. I'm not sure that even Abdul Carter is worth that much draft capital.

The Bills "over investing" at RB wasn't about "losing a valuable pick at a position losing value". In the early 2000s, RBs were still valued. It was about the team philosophy that emphasized maximizing profits over winning. Consequently, the Bills rarely re-signed the best players they drafted and used high draft picks to fill the holes created by losing those players. They did similar things with DBs as they did with RBs, letting first rounders Antoine Winfield, Sr, Nate Clements, and Donte Whitner along with 2nd round DB Jairus Byrd, all excellent DBs with multiple Pro Bowl and/or All Pro awards, leave while keeping first rounder Leodis McKelvin who was not nearly as good as the DBs they allowed to leave. The Bills weren't missing on high draft picks at RB and DB and needed to try again and again. They spent a lot of draft capital replacing good players that they didn't want to spend the money to keep.

Exactly -- and this was back in the days when teams frequently re-signed their best RBs because they valued them more than they do today. The only sorta "dud" in the trio was Spiller. McGahey was a pro-bowler, maybe an All Pro, for Baltimore before going on to Denver and rushing for nearly 1200 yards and another Pro Bowl season. Lynch was an All Pro and multiple Pro Bowler for the Seahawks and led them to a SB. He might become a HOFer, too.

Finding good RBs was never the Bills issue during the Drought Era. Keeping the good ones was always the problem because the Bills, especially under Russ Brandon, never paid their best "home grown talent". They drafted McGahee at #23 in 2003, and traded him for a 3rd and a 7th in 2007. They used their #12 pick in 2007 on Marshawn Lynch to replace him. Lynch ran for consecutive 1000+ until he fell out of favor with Jauron. The Bills traded Lynch to Seattle for a 2011 4th round pick in October 2010. They used their #9 pick in 2010 on CJ Spiller whom they allowed to leave in free agency in 2015. Oh, it would undoubtedly be a great deal for whatever team that got him, just like trading for McGahee and Lynch worked out great for the Ravens and Seahawks. It wouldn't be a good deal for the Bills. The best deal for the Bills would be for the two sides to reach a compromise that keeps Cook on the team for several more seasons. Keeping Cook for the 2025 season and allowing him to leave in FA in 2026 and getting a comp pick is the second best deal imo.

In mid-May, Niagara-on-the-Lake will just be starting up for the season. It will probably not be as decked out with flowers as it is later in the season. The same with Niagara Falls, Ontario. For example, the Maid of the Mist boat tours (by whatever name they operate under) may operate on a limited schedule, and be very weather dependent. If you take a tour (I highly recommend it!), dress warm since the water will be cold! You won't have to wait for tables in restaurants in either NF or NOTL in mid May, especially during the week. Ft George Historical Site is the equivalent to Ft Niagara. It may be open limited days/hours in May. There are a number of wineries right around NOTL, too.

If "the NFL" -- professionals and fans alike -- don't already know that all these media draft analysts are creating/feeding off hype, they haven't been paying much attention to the draft for a long time, especially when it comes to QBs. The bolded QBs are the bonafide great franchise QBs in recent drafts. The underlined QBs are 2nd tier franchise QBs. The only #1 overall pick who has become a great franchise QB in this group is Joe Burrow. 2016 - #1 Jared Goff, #2 Carson Wentz 2017 - #2 Mitch Trubisky, #10 Patrick Mahomes, #12 Deshaun Watson 2018 - #1 Baker Mayfield, #3 Sam Darnold, #7 Josh Allen, #10 Josh Rosen, #32 Lamar Jackson 2019 - #1 Kyler Murray, #6 Daniel Jones 2020 - #1 Joe Burrow, #5 Tua Tagovailoa, #6 Justin Herbert, #26 Jordan Love, #53 Jalen Hurts 2021 - #1 Trevor Lawrence, #2 Zach Wilson, #3 Trey Lance, #11 Justin Fields, #15 Mac Jones 2022 - #20 Kenny Pickett, #262 Brock Purdy That is the best description of Josh Allen I have ever heard or read!!! Thank you!

Has any other team offered a disgruntled RB a big pay day since then? The few RBs who have gotten big second or third contracts have been the guys who have been "team players" like Barkley.

I looked at the photos, and I wasn't impressed. I would call the house "uninspiring" rather than "stunning". I have no doubt that it's filled with the usual expensive finishes that are popular with buyers with lots of bucks to spend on a house, but it's just an ordinary suburban tract house that could have been built in the last 30 years in Anywhere, USA. Put it in a less upscale subdivision and it's a $500k house. Put it in a less upscale subdivision with less expensive finishes, and it's a $300K house.

Just because the Jests did something stupid doesn't mean that other teams are as stupid. They also traded for a 39-year-old QB a couple of years ago. Bell's big contract done 6 years ago sure isn't going to make teams line up to sign disgruntled RBs for big bucks. If anything, it's a cautionary tale for NOT paying RBs.

I don't think that it will ever come to the Bills "forcing" Cook to play for them. He has a valid contract for 2025, and it's in his best interest to play as well as he can. There is also no deadline for the Bills to extend him until after the 2025 season, so the two sides can keep talking for quite a while. If they don't come to agreement, the Bills can either franchise him (which would be a nice pay day for Cook) or let him walk.

Temperamental WRs get paid, especially when they've amassed multiple 1000-yard receiving seasons because they're hard to find and tend to have pretty long effective careers. They can also be game breakers when paired with good/great QBs, which means that teams need excellent WRs. RBs are not WRs. Most RBs start declining in their late 20s because of the wear and tear on their bodies. It's also not the 1990s when teams absolutely needed great RBs. Cook's also not a great RB like Saquan Barkley or Derrick Henry. He's not even an every down RB. It's unlikely that many teams are going to be willing to pay top dollar for a temperamental RB who's not an every down back. I don't think holding out or playing with a crappy attitude is in Cook's best interest if he and the Bills can't come to terms before the season starts.

Holding out for nearly half the 2025 season or playing with a crappy attitude all season isn't going to encourage other NFL teams to pay him the big bucks he wants in 2026.

What's really funny is that Geno and Darnold have both taken teams to the playoffs while the Jests can't even make the playoffs with a future HOFer playing QB. ^^^ It's not that crazy if the team doesn't think they can get a franchise QB in this draft. Ward, Sanders, and Dart aren't in the same class as Elway, Kelly and Marino or Mayfield, Darnold, Allen as prospects. How excited were we Bills fans in 2017 when we squeaked into the playoffs after 17 years? When you're a fan of a perennial bottom feeder team, making the playoffs is your biggest goal. Ya gotta make the playoffs before ya can win a playoff game.

In the real world of the modern NFL, Day 3 picks (Rounds of 4-7) of any team seldom start many games as rookies, and 37 of the Bills' draft picks between 2017 and 2024 were Day 3 picks. Including all these picks who are highly unlikely to start at all on many teams -- or even make the teams -- makes it appear that McDermott "doesn't like to play rookies", which isn't true at all. More than half of the Bills' 24 Day 1 and Day 2 picks started at least half of the games in their rookie seasons (13 of 24). The most NFL-ready prospects are found in rounds 1 and 2, so those are the rookies most likely to start most of their games during their first season. The Bills had 7 first round draft picks between 2017 and 2024, and 5 of them started more than half their games. Ed Oliver started 7 games and Kaiir Elam started 4 games as a rookie. The Bills had only 2 second round picks, Zach Moss and James Cook, both RBs, who didn't start at least 1 game as rookies. McDermott is more than willing to start rookies if they're good enough to play.

The claim that McDermott doesn't "like" to play rookies simply isn't true. These players all played at least 8 games as rookies: Tre White, 1st rounder, started all 16 games Greg Rousseau, 1st rounder, started all 17 games O'Cyrus Torrence, 2nd rounder, started all 17 games Tremaine Edmunds, 1st rounder, started 15 games Cody Ford, 2nd rounder, started 15 games Keon Coleman, 2nd rounder, started 12 games Dion Dawkins, 2nd rounder, started 11 games Josh Allen, 1st rounder, started 11 games Matt Milano, 5th rounder, started 5 games Dawson Knox, 3rd rounder, started 11 games Gabe Davis, 4th rounder, started 11 games Dalton Kincaid, 1st rounder, started 11 games Zay Jones, 2nd rounder, started 10 games Spencer Brown, 3rd rounder, started 10 games Devin Singletary, 3rd rounder, started 8 games Damar Hamlin and James Cook are the only Bills current starters drafted by the Bills who did not start as rookies.

That's my position on the draft too. Whether to go CB or DT or WR in the first round depends upon who's available. Don't pass on a better CB prospect to take a lesser DT prospect ... or vice versa.

I think a big difference between first round CBs and Day 2 or 3 CBs is that the first rounders tend to be bigger. Obviously speed counts, too, but it's more common to find smaller, speedy CBs in the middle rounds with excellent instincts who go on to become good/excellent starters than at many other positions ... and many of these players become starters right out of the gate. I totally disagree. No draft pick comes with a guarantee, even a first round DT ... and FTR, McDermott's first pick in 2017 was Tre White who started every game as a rookie and became an All Pro CB before injuries wrecked his career.

I think finding another vertical threat via the draft is probably the best strategy, too. I take issue with the poster who claimed that Beane and McDermott have some kind of psychological issue with speedy receivers. There's no evidence of that. You claimed that Beane and McDermott have a "deep seated distrust of burner receivers". In what universe was Kelvin Benjamin ever a "burner receiver"?

What proof do you have that this is true?

Except when there isn't a franchise QB to be had. This is not the draft to be in need of a franchise QB, maybe not even a backup.

In single elimination playoffs where the teams are fairly evenly matched, luck is a much bigger factor than pure talent. Anybody can make a mistake that changes the course of the game, ie the Minneapolis Miracle. Anybody can get hurt in a game, ie Dre Greenlaw's Achilles injury in the Super Bowl. Anybody can have a bad day, ie Andy Reid n the last Super Bowl. A roster filled with big stars (and supposedly elite players) doesn't even guarantee a playoff berth much less a playoff win, ie the Dallas Cowboys for the last 20 years. A team has to have all its ducks -- from things it can control to random events -- line up in a row in order to win a Super Bowl.

I wouldn't object to the Bills trading for a big name WR and extending him ... if he's truly a difference maker not just a big name. I don't think that's Metcalf. That he's better than any of the Bills WRs doesn't mean that the Bills should have traded for him when acquiring Garrett or Crosby became a moot point. Metcalf isn't the same level of WR that either Garrett or Crosby are pass rushers. I was on the fence about trading for Hendrickson because I don't think he's on the same level as Garrett or Crosby, either.

I don't think that DK Metcalf would make the Bills "great" because I don't think he's really a "difference maker". I have never particularly like Metcalf, even when he had Wilson throwing moon balls to him. I'd prefer that the Bills extend Benford (which they have done) and Cook rather than shell out a 2nd rounder plus $132 million for Metcalf.