ColoradoBills

Maybe that's the problem.

I was going to comment after seeing some of the film. You are so right. This could get very interesting where he takes snaps Saturday. I know some of these numbers are not truly accurate but at the combine Basham weighed 274. His listing on Bills site is 281 and his listing on Pro Football Reference is 285. Maybe he takes a number snaps at DT on passing downs. I wonder how much more weight he could put on while keeping his mobility? Could he end up being some sort of hybrid DE/DT? Is that a way McDermott pictures him now?

Unfortunately it can't be Zimmer. He only has 3 years of service and is subject to waivers. I'm not saying that Beane should or should not do this with Addison but this is the kind of move that Beane and McDermott need to look at. Bills have to take advantage of both the IR and expanded PS rules this year. It should be noted that a vet that could agree to this kind of move also can be paid at a higher rate than a typical PS guy. Players like Breida, Butler and Jones could also be considered for a move like this.

As of now I see Kumerow as having shown he deserves to WR6 slot especially with his PS worth. The question for me is Stevenson. It is looking like the Bills may want to keep him as a WR7 instead of risking a team picking him up on waivers. It's looking like his value will rise so I say keep him on the 53 roster and find another to cut. Sanders, McKenzie and Kumerow are all FAs next year so Stevenson under contract probably is a good move. Hodgins, Gentry, Williams, Lenoir and Powell are a good group to have one or two easily survive to sign on the PS.

Beane and McDermott got to figure a way to use the IR and PS rules again this year. Keep the young guys on the main roster and use call ups for depth if needed that bad because of injuries. This way you don't expose the young guys who would get picked up. It a good chance Sweeney starts on IR. In the meantime a TE will be on the PS to call up if needed. Hell Nate Becker had a good snag in the Bears game and has been on the roster for 2 years. He will probably be on PS again. Gilliam was taking a lot of snaps alone in the backfield. He does make Breida expendable. Breida probably won't get picked up so he can go to PS too. If he gets picked up Williams is there. That gives you 7 WRs and Taiwan Jones if he is needed that badly. If Jones is not kept then a vet OT could be signed. Have to figure out some moves like this for the D too.

It has to be very hard for him to go back to rehabbing while the team moves on. The only thing I could say is he talked so much about his special needs brother in the past that I imagine he will push thru this somehow.

Agree. I looked up what you said Hap and it was true but I knew something was put in place for teams not to be able to "stash" young guys using this. Thanks Cpt Caveman for your input. If memory serves (I'm old and it ain't what it use to be) this rule got put in around the time that they started letting players come back from IR without being "designated to return". I imagine a lot of board members don't give a rats behind about this stuff but some of us do. LOL.

I thought that got changed. The article you quoted is dated 2014. Like I said I thought that got changed when the newer IR rules came out but I could be wrong on that one point. It really doesn't matter too much though because these are usually players with smaller contracts.

That is all true but any player accepting a settlement becomes a FA but cannot resign with the original team once he is cleared to play. That rule is there so teams don't use this technique to stash players for future use.

They can be quite complicated and confusing. First it's not a "settlement" it's more of an agreement that both sides have to approve. It is normally dependent on the type of players contract. Drafted players have different rights to money lets say than UDFAs. I will only use Phillips situation as an example. He is a drafted rookie. One way or another if the Bills "cut" him he still gets his guaranteed signing bonus. If his injury is determined that he would miss half of a season he gets game checks for that amount of time. That's is the crux of it. How long is the injury. One thing is a team that agrees to an injury settlement cannot re-sign the player when he gets better.

I looked up Haack's splits when we signed him because I kind of thought the same thing. It's funny but some of his worse days were against the Bills. But he is a pretty good punter. He had 1 blocked punt that I watched against the Pats* in 2018. He didn't have a chance on the kick. The 22:25 mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fg1LfX9If0 The way I think that Beane and McDermott are thinking is he doesn't need to kick deep with the Bills offense. He should be kicking balls needing to get inside the 20 with good hang time and no returns. Like I said he had some bad games against Buffalo. Here is his splits. https://www.nfl.com/players/matt-haack/stats/splits/

Haack looked great in Detroit. His first punt yesterday had a lot of pressure on him (I remember the announcer talked about it almost being blocked). His second was at the 1 yard line in the end zone. He took a "one step" kick to avoid a block and did it fairly well. I guess fans need to panic about something but he is an established veteran punter.

All true but he was also the QB ON that below average team. I think he is a little better than some people give him credit for.

Backup QB is never important until it is. With any luck Mitch gets turned around and the "next Mitch" may want to go through the same thing next year. A rinse and repeat of this situation could be fun.

Been pleasantly surprised with his play on D. Nice to know he has worth in the LB role and not only a STer. He never had a chance at LB when he was with PIT for his 1st 4 years. I predict he is the ST Captain this year.

Yes, K I S S.

The way I see it is Breida was brought in to add a different dimension and insurance against whether or not Devin and Zack showed the improvement needed for the RB group. He may not be needed (especially with the Jones option) and Gilliam looking good. Singletary looks vastly better than last year. I could see a scenario where Breida does get cut and after all the other RBs flood the FA market he ends up on the PS.

I don't see a CB, NCB or S getting cut this round. Bills are thin (only 3 deep) on all backfield positions. It seems to me there are a lot of 4 deep positions these cuts come from. Now maybe a DB shakes loose they like and bring him in but only then will they cut someone.

Jake only has 3 years. He is subject to waivers.

WR Bug Howard C Tyler Gauthier DT Treyvon Hester MLB Marquel Lee WR (insert name here) I want to go with Tanner Gentry (but the Josh thing) OR Brandon Powell (but with Stevenson banged up he probably stays to final cutdown) OR Duke Williams (Beane gives him a chance to find another team and if he can't the "Duke" would be happy to get a chance to come back for a PS spot if needed). Way too many WRs currently on the roster (13) not to cut at least 1 and probably 2. Need to give a good chance to look at the remaining guys. Edit: Duke news.

I agree with the plan and the risk. No one knows whether or not the comp pick will happen. One good thing is the makeup of the team is stable and with the cap situation the way it is the Bills probably won't be bringing in a lot of expensive FAs next year. There also is a good chance that a number of Bills FAs may be re-signed which doesn't count against the comp pick formula. It's going to be one of those "great if it happens" situations and I'm sure Beane will be considering all these things. In the meantime having Mitch as a backup is awesome!

Unfortunately that will probably not happen. Roberts signed a 2 year deal with a decent amount of guaranteed money with the Texans. He is not getting cut. It's a pretty good contract for a 33 year old PR guy and is why Beane probably let him walk. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/houston-texans/andre-roberts-6596/

Typically also on a 1 year contract. The prime guys that fit this are Breida, McKenzie, Hollister and Taiwan Jones.

Awesome!

Who blocked that?