Inigo Montoya

The Bills signed him. It's a one year contract and the Bills are on the hook for the signing bonus portion of the contract giving the next team a bit of a discount on the signing. It would cost around $2 million for a team to sign him this year. I don't think it's a prohibitive contract for a team to take on if they need some help in their TE room.

One other way to look at it that the offense has a lot of weapons for Josh to throw the ball to. They are going to be looking for ways to get Diggs, Davis, McKenzie, Crowder, Shakir, (maybe Hodgins) and Knox on the field. That's before you add pass catching backs like Cook and Duke. Maybe they would be willing to let a pass catcher like OJ Howard go because they have enough pass catching depth on the roster to absorb those reps.

Reading an article in The Athletic by Joe Buscaglia today and it mentioned OJ Howard; "Once Allen had adjourned to the sidelines, Howard’s playing time began against the Broncos. Howard, Morris and Sweeney continued to rotate in at tight end, but Howard played more snaps than any of them. Howard took 34 offensive snaps (56 percent) by my unofficial count. He took advantage of a red zone opportunity by bringing in a touchdown at the end of the half. But you have to wonder if the extended time for Howard was the Bills putting their best foot forward to showcase the tight end for a potential trade." https://theathletic.com/3524600/2022/08/20/observations-bills-win-broncos/ With Quentin Morris having a strong camp and roster spots being at a premium, moving Howard before the season starts opens up a spot for a young player that the Bills would probably lose trying to place on the practice squad like Spector, Blackshear, Brandin Bryant, or Isaiah Hodgins. Trading Howard would also take about $2 million off the books this year. Spector in particular might be worth locking up on the 53 man roster. Edmonds, Matakevich, and Andre Smith are all UFAs after this season and Tyrel Dodson will be a RFA. Will Beane really want to let Spector walk when he has flashed all camp and preseason? It becomes a lot easier to use a roster spot and keep an extra LB or one of the other guys listed above if they trade Howard. Beane's roster is deep and players he cuts this year are going to end up playing on other teams. I'm sure he would rather trade than cut and get some value in return.

Mac Jones will be a serviceable NFL QB and will start for the Pats as long as Belichick is coaching there. As soon as he retires and a new regime comes in they will move on from Jones and he will become a professional clip board holder bouncing around the league for a few years padding his bank account. Some say his ceiling is Drew Brees. I don't agree with that, but even if for the sake of argument you agree with that, what kind of career does Brees have without Sean Payton creating that offense around him? Brees had Payton to help elevate his game, Jones doesn't even have a real OC this year. The contrast couldn't be greater.

It looks like Wilson will miss Week 1 and Flacco will be under center. Reports are that Flacco is looking fantastic running the Jets offense. I hope Flacco looks like the second coming of Joe Montana back there just to stir the pot. 😄 https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/702/joe-flacco

I've included a link to a youtube video of Jenna Cottrell and Mike Catalana from Buffalo Plus discussing the rookie CBs in training camp / preseason so far. I think they are really solid reporters on the Bills and I watch all of their content. They echo what I have heard from other camp watchers, namely, that Benford is outplaying Elam so far. It would be something for McDermott and Frazier to start the #180 pick ahead of the #30 pick, but if Benford is outplaying Elam they need to put him out there. They need the best CBs on the field regardless of their draft status. This is especially true if Tre White is not ready to go at the start of the season or needs some time to round back into form. We've seen late draft picks force their way onto the field with stellar play before. One of my favorite Bills, 5th rounder Kyle Williams, comes to mind. The Bills just couldn't keep him off the field. Will Benford force McDermott and Frazier's hand and leapfrog him ahead of Elam to start the season? The section talking about Elam and Benford starts around the 4:40 minute mark

I agree, looks like Mac Jones deliberately twisted the guy's ankle. Wonder if he will hear from the League about this? I expect two supplemental draft picks to the Patriots as a result.

I agree. Settle was my choice for breakout candidate this season in a previous thread. The Washington fans were really upset that he was allowed to walk in free agency. The guy was just buried on the depth chart in Washington and never got a real opportunity. When he did rarely get on the field he played great. Von Miller, Oliver, Settles, and Rousseau shoulder to shoulder? They could dominate.

It sounds like things are bad in Beantown. Sure hate to hear that... The Athletic's Chad Graff writes "the point of concern is nearing" for the Patriots offense after it has struggled badly throughout training camp. "The running game struggled," Graff writes. "The receivers didn’t get open. The incompletions mounted." And the quarterbacks have been under constant pressure. With longtime OC Josh McDaniels gone, coach Bill Belichick has handed offensive coaching duties to ex-DC Matt Patricia and former special teams coach Joe Judge. Patricia is coaching the offensive line and calling the plays while Judge is handling Mac Jones and the quarterbacks. Just an utter nightmare. It's a big concern for Jones' development. This offense is completely devoid of playmakers, and the coaching sounds even worse. https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/62961/mac-jones

Man, all the Patriots are having inappropriate contact in Florida. First Kraft, now Brady.

Jones threw a dime to Agholor in the end zone in the AFC Wildcard game. Unfortunately for Jones, Micah Hyde gave him back a nickel and five pennies when he picked it off.

"13 Seconds"

Astro deserves his own thread during camp!

I just read the whole thread. I'll come back and read more of it later too. I'd read the bottom of a Kleenex box right now if it made some obscure reference to the Buffalo Bills. Can not wait for this season to get rolling!

Poyer and Hyde are the foundation of our defense and have been since they arrived. They can compensate for iffy CB play and I would love to see them both stay in a Bills' uni for a few more seasons. They are both still playing at a very high level. In an increasingly pass happy NFL you need to have a solid safety group. That goal line INT of Hyde's against the Patriots in the playoff game last season is one of the greatest defensive plays I have ever seen.

Josh just checks off all the boxes. 1. He can throw the ball accurately with velocity or touch anywhere on the field. Put Mahomes and Rodgers in that group too. 2. Can run the ball in the open field like a Tight End and run short yardage like a full back. Obviously Lamar and Murray can run in the open field but they're not short yardage guys. 3. Has maturity beyond his years to shoulder the responsibility of being the face of a franchise. Contrast that with Mayfield and Murray. Who is another young QB who does it as well or better than Josh.....? I'm not sure there is one. 4. Is a leader of men and can get the locker room to follow him and makes those around him better. Put Brady in this list. 5. Is absolutely clutch in the big moments. Definitely Brady in here too. It would be fair to put Mahomes in this group despite his showing versus the Bengals last season. You can say Rodgers but he sometimes disappears in the playoffs. 6. Is big as a mountain and an elite athlete. Herbert is not as big as Josh but close, don't think he is as athletic. 7. Has the strongest arm in the NFL. Mahomes in here as honorable mention, but I think Josh has him. 8. A desire to win that is crazy. Who else drags Aaron Donald around by the facemask and trucks LBs and CBs on the regular? The guy will do anything to win. There are some gamers out there playing QB, but Josh takes it to a new level. The bottom line is that there are other quarterbacks who have some of the same qualities that Josh has, but not one of them has all of them. Josh is a unicorn and if he is blessed with a little bit of good luck has the potential to be one of the all time greats.

With the Kyler Murray signing I didn't think it would be long before some more rumors about Lamar's contract surfaced. Enter CBS Sports... I hope Lamar breaks the Raven's bank... 👀 https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/710/lamar-jackson CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones believes Lamar Jackson should be "aiming to match and top [Deshaun] Watson's guaranteed deal" in his contract negotiations with the Ravens. "That should still be the bar for Jackson," Jones said, adding that Kyler Murray's contract extension shouldn't impact Jackson's talks with the Ravens. "Obviously, negotiations are what they are, so what one side's starting point is doesn't mean that will be the ending point. Perhaps Watson's deal will remain anomalous as NFL team owners act as though it doesn't exist." Watson signed a fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal with Cleveland -- $80 million more than the previous record for guaranteed money. It seems unlikely the Ravens will top Watson's guarantees, though Jackson's extension should top Murray's recent deal. Jackson -- who is not represented by an agent -- continues his prolonged talks with the Ravens as the team's training camp kicks off. "

Bingo! Gissele has more career earnings than Tom does. By a comfortable margin. He had the luxury of not needing to maximize his salary.

The six years was the best part of the deal. I expect 4 and 5 year contracts will be the norm for QBs That one extra year is really big.

The best thing about Josh's contract was that it was 6 years tacked onto the end of his rookie contract. Allen got paid the going rate for a franchise QB on his deal, the Bills didn't get a discount on that, where he was team friendly was in the length of the contract. Six years was huge for the Bills.

He routinely makes crazy sideline grabs that play to Josh's strength. When Josh extends the play and breaks the pocket and starts running towards a sideline, I've started to expect seeing #13 following him across the field making some ridiculous toe tapping snag on a Josh Allen laser beam to move the chains.

I'm not sure if you're trying to troll. I really don't care. Bottom line is that by your own rankings Allen is #5 in the NFL behind two QBs who will likely be retired in the next two seasons. The Bills have at worst a top three QB going forward. I can live with that. By the way.... you wouldn't happen to have six fingers on your right hand?

The section on Allen starts off, "Allen is a freak show at the position...." https://www.nfl.com/news/five-scariest-quarterbacks-entering-2022-nfl-season-where-gronk-ranks-among-top- I'm past the who's the best QB debate which will always be a Chevy / Ford thing. Bottom line is our QB is elite and is now getting the respect he deserves. What a road Allen has travelled from draft night punch line to where he is today.

It's hard to die from an OD on Benzos. A lot of the "overdoses" happening in this country are really poisonings from pills spiked with fatal amounts of Fentanyl. Taking any pill today that isn't purchased at a pharmacy is like playing Russian Roulette. There was a group of cadets from West Point who were on Spring Break earlier this year who got some pills spiked with fentanyl and some of them died. A first responder did mouth to mouth on one of them and almost died himself from coming in contact with the residual fentanyl on the cadets lips. How crazy is that? 100,000 Americans died from "overdoses" last year, the vast majority were actually poisonings with fentanyl laced pills. 77% of all deaths in teenagers in this country is from fentanyl poisonings. If you have kids you absolutely have to have the talk about this with them. It's a mass poisoning on a scale never seen before and no one seems to be willing to call out the companies in China making the fentanyl (with the OK from their government) and shipping it to the Mexican cartels to smuggle across the southern border (with the OK from their narco-government) into our county.

In a similarly useful, highly scientific exercise, I am going to rank the best flavors of ice cream but stipulate for the purposes of my rankings that they all have to taste like mashed potatoes. Talk about off-season filler content...