Inigo Montoya

We are in a unique situation right now in Buffalo with a very talented roster from top to bottom, while at the same time being in a very cap friendly situation. That will change significantly over the next 2 seasons as Beane begins re-signing our solid players who are currently on their rookie contracts. Below is a list of the top six highest paid positions in the NFL, and the average salary for that position across the League; https://sportsaspire.com/average-nfl-salary-by-position QB $16-16.3 mil DE $13-13.2 mil DT $9-9.7 mil RB $9-9.5 mil WR $12-12.4 mil CB $11-11.2 mil Here are the highest paid players at each of those positions on the Bills' roster right now; https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap/ QB Allen $5.8 mil DE Hughes $9.5 mil DT Star $8.1 mil RB Yeldon $1.9 mil WR Diggs $11.5 mil CB Norman $5.8 mil At every position our highest paid player is below the NFL average for that position. Those savings at the marquise positions free up money for Beane to add solid depth along the entire roster. Beane can bring in quality back up / depth players and roll players on $2-3 mil contracts. We have at least one more year with that flexibility. After that it will be time to look at extending Allen, and White should have his new contract and things will start getting tighter for Beane. We are in a two year window to get to a championship. Beane has been quoted as saying that the Bills are ready to win now. The numbers and our roster bear that out. The Bills are ready to win now and I think he will change his draft philosophy to reflect that. He may not be drafting to build a roster for success down the road like in the last two drafts, but instead looking at drafting who this team needs to win right now. It may also color how he looks at bringing in an additional difference making free agent before the season starts.

I agree with both of you. If Allen isn't able to identify the Hot Route and get the ball out to the right receiver in year three, then as much as I like Allen and his physical abilities, then I think we are probably looking at his ceiling right now. We're not thinking of anything that Allen himself and the coaching staff hasn't already thought of. If Allen isn't studying game film, watching play after play of these blitzes during this off season to help him better identify the blitz and decide where the ball needs to go quickly, I'd be shocked.

Both Daboll and Allen seem to like the "Empty" formation with 5 receivers and no RB in the backfield. I have tried to find some stats that break down how often the Bills used this formation compared to other sets on pass plays last season, but I haven't been able to find them on line. The addition of Diggs this year completely changes this formation for opposing teams to defend. Defenses would typically sub into their Nickle or Dime packages and move a safety over to John Brown's side to cheat on him and cover him high boxing him between the corner and the safety. That takes two of the 5 or 6 DB/LB out of the play covering Brown leaving 3 or 4 DBs / LB to cover the other four receivers in the play. Now defenses are going to have to cheat to Diggs side with that safety coverage over the top which will leave Brown with a single defender. Can they double Brown too? They are running out of DBs to cover all of the receivers on the line now. Do you put Foster and McKenzie out there with Diggs and Brown and have them all sprint deep and clear out the entire middle of the field for Beasley on a quick slant to the middle? That play sounds like an easy 7-10 yards 4 out of 5 times. Do you curl Beasley and Duke into the middle of the field and pull coverage down into the box and leave a corner one on one with Diggs, Brown, and Foster streaking straight down the field? One of those guys is going to have one on one coverage with no safety help over top and will be there for a big play. There are only so many CBs to go around. Who ends up with the LB or Safety on him... Foster, McKenzie, Beasley? I'll take that match up every time. What happens when Daboll has all the receivers run deep and then pulls the guard, Allen tucks the ball and runs behind those big O-lineman into the cleared out side of the field. Let Allen get a couple nice chunks of yardage on that play and now the D-Coordinator is going to have to worry about dropping all his LBs into coverage to help his DBs on these empty sets. If Allen sees the LBs cheating into coverage he audibles to the run play. If the LBs are tight to the line, he sticks with the pass play. What a nightmare for the defense. You just have to pick your poison if you are the defensive coordinator and decide who you are going to cheat on and just pray you don't get burned. The amount of variations and twists and different combinations that Daboll will be able to scheme up with this "empty" formation will be crazy this year and I expect that we are going to see tons of this 5 WR set this season. The line should give Allen the time and now he has the weapons out there with Diggs in the mix to make it very dangerous for defenses to cheat. I'd love to see Beane pick up a vet WR4 like Rashard Higgins and let him push Duke, Foster, McKenzie and the rookie WR in camp to get on the field. I don't think Allen is going to have too much trouble throwing for 300 yards in a game this season. This is going to be fun to watch.

Hopefully Beane can put on his wizard's hat and once again trade those players that aren't going to make the cut on this deep roster and stock up on some more draft capital to use like the 5th and 6th round picks (Teller / Bodine) that were a part of the Diggs deal.

The era of the Bell Cow RB is over. The punishment on their bodies is just too great for someone to soak up that many touches. Even a beast like Derrick Henry was breaking down at the end of the season and missed some time and his availability in the playoffs was in question. RB is a two player position today. A good team should have a 1a and a 1b at that position. We definitely have the 1a in Singletary. Lets get the 1b in the draft.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Nsekhe is our back up LT. Nsekhe made 10 starts at LT for Washington in the two season before we signed him. He played fantastic in those games, that's why Beane went out and got him. Nsekhe played better than Ford at RT last year in my opinion. If Ford wasn't a second round pick and given some special consideration by the coaching staff, I don't think Ford gets on the field ahead of Nsekhe at RT last season at all. The Bills are not getting rid of their backup LT who is on a team friendly 3.7 mil contract this year. It doesn't matter how good Williams is. Beane didn't bring Williams in so he could get rid of Nsekhe.

I think Motor is great. At 5' 7", 203 lbs I worry about his durability across a full season and playoff run. We need a solid 1b to go with Singletary's 1a. He was used sparingly last season and still missed three games with his hammy. The most carries he had in a game all season was 21. We need another skilled RB to pair up with him.

They will not release Nsekhe. He is a high quality swing tackle, can play left or right side of the line. He would be a starter on most teams. Nsekhe was clearly seen by Beane as our starting RT when they signed him until Ford dropped in the Draft. He is also first man up at LT if Dawkins gets banged up. We have plenty of guard depth, not as much tackle depth. Nsekhe is safe on this roster unless some team is willing to back up a Brinks truck to One Bills Drive to get him.

Fair points Shaw. The reason I think we need to have two legit RBs is that I don't trust Motor to make it through a 16 game season and a playoff run without getting dinged up at some point and missing time just like last year. He's just 5'7' and 203 lbs. Not the kind of frame designed to take a weakly beating. Daboll barely used him during the first two games of the season and then he got hurt on his 6th touch in Week 3 and then was out for 3 weeks. He came back in Week 6 and only had seven rushing attempts. Week 7 he had just three rushes and four receptions. The most rushes he had all season in a game was 21. I'm a big Motor fan but I'm worried about him handling a full season + playoffs work load. I think we need a 1b to go with Singletary who is our 1a, to split the load. Someone who has a little bit of size to him so he can also be our short yardage / goal line back. We need another RB who is an actual threat to do some damage when he spells Singletary and doesn't just signal a passing down to the defense. I don't think that RB is Yeldon. Christian Wade is intriguing, but I don't think this franchise would be smart to hang its hopes on him at this point in his development. As for an EDGE rusher, the number of sacks is just one metric. Right now I don't think we have an edge rusher that the other team needs to really game plan against the way we would game plan against a Myles Garrett or Khalil Mack. If we can put that kind of disrupter on the end of our line who dictates a constant double team, that opens up the middle for Oliver to do his thing. If they need to double Oliver and our DE, such as Ngakoue, then they have committed four players to blocking two of ours and that will be almost impossible to do. I'm not saying that Oliver is Aaron Donald, but imagine dropping Ngakoue next to Aaron Donald on a passing down and being the offensive linemen who have to stop those two side by side. The Bills defense was great last year, but imagine how much better they could be with a premier EDGE rusher lining up next to Oliver. I think our defense could be historically great, '01 Ravens / '85 Bears great.

We lost ; Zo Alexander OLB Jordan Phillips DT Shaq Lawson DE Kevin Johnson CB We added; Mario Addison OLB Vernon Butler DT Quinton Jefferson DE Josh Norman CB AJ Klein OLB Tyler Matakevich ILB We will also get Harrison Phillips back at DT We did lose some pieces on D, but I think we added some decent replacements, even possible upgrades at those positions. Some of them have played in McDermott's system before. I still think our D will be solid this year.

I agree with you, last year's D was elite. I think our D could be historically great with a legitimate edge rusher like Ngakoue. The Ravens won the Super Bowl in '01 with that amazing defense and Trent Dilfer at QB. The Ravens didn't even bring him back next year. For better or worse, our offense is pretty much set right now for 2020 except for the RB2. If we can put Ngakoue on this D we might not need as much out of Josh Allen and the offense. Defenses can win championships. The final score of Super Bowl LIII, just the year before last, was Patriots 13 --- LA Rams 3.

I believe the Bills are just three pieces away from being a serious Super Bowl contender. One of those pieces is already on the roster, one should not be too hard to come by, and the final piece will cost a pretty penny. The first piece is a QB who is able to lead an offense that can score an average of 24 points a week. Last season the Bills averaged 19.6. The top six offenses last season were Ravens 33.2, San Fran 29.9, Saints 28.6, Bucs 28.6, Chiefs 28.2, and Dallas 27.2 points per game. Obviously averaging 28 points a week from Josh Allen and Co. would be even better, but I think that with our defense coming back essentially intact, we can probably be in every game if the offense can just score 24 points. Josh Allen needs to take another step and with another year in the League and in this offense, with O-Line stability and more playmakers, the table is set for him to play much better. He wasn't a turn over machine last year, far from it, he had 9 INTs and 4 lost fumbles for a very respectable 13 turnovers during the regular season. A QB averaging less than one turn over a game is solid. Allen protects the ball, now he needs to start putting some more points on the board. The second piece is a solid backfield compliment to Singletary. Whoever they are is not on the roster yet. The RB back position is the one position that a rookie can step in from the college ranks and make a difference. That may be the way to go because the free agent RB market is drying up fast. Devonta Freeman, Lamar Miller, and Chris Thompson are probably the three best still out there. Not very inspiring. That is why I think the Bills go best RB on the board with their pick in the 2nd or 3rd round like J.K. Dobbins out of Ohio State or A.J. Dillon out of Boston College who is a bruiser at 6'0' and 247 lbs. Our own version of a thunder and lightning with him and Motor in the backfield. A second RB is still a big hole on this roster and it needs to be addressed if we are going to contend for a championship The third piece is an honest to god EDGE rushing beast who can consistently get after the QB. This is going to be the expensive part. The Bills finished 12th in the League last year with 44 sacks. For reference, the top squad was Pittsburgh with 54. Watching our defense last year swarm the ball, repeatedly bend but not break, and only give up an incredible 16.2 points per game (behind only the Pats at 14.1), I think many would be happy to just stand pat where we are and that would be a reasonable argument, but I would disagree. We are trying to beat out 31 other teams to the championship. We are in a two year window with Allen on his rookie contract and a wide open division. We need to strike now. I think adding Yannick Ngakoue from the Jags would be the final piece of the puzzle. It would be expensive and would almost certainly cost us next year's first and eat up a bunch of our remaining cap space this year. Would Clowney on a 1 year "prove it" deal be a reasonable, less expensive option? Maybe. I'd rather go with Ngakoue who by all accounts seems more like a "Process" guy than Clowney. Ngakoue is only 25 and Clowney is 27 with more of an injury history. We are not going to draft a rookie EDGE in the 2nd round this year who is going to be an immediate difference maker. I don't think that anyone we would add with a late 1st round pick next year would have the kind of impact that Ngakoue would. More to the point, that 1st round pick in next year's draft doesn't help us at all this year when we have a real chance to make a run. Putting a beast like Ngakoue on this defense right now would create the scariest defense in the NFL and would make life very tough on Lamar Jackson and Mahomes who we need to get past to get to the Super Bowl. Having a stronger defense would provide Allen and the offense with an even bigger cushion this year. I think now is the time to make these moves. (1) Allen takes a step, (2) grab a solid RB2, (3) make a deal for Ngakoue, and the Buffalo Bills will be true contenders for the AFC crown and a Super Bowl berth. It's time for Beane to push his chips into the middle of the table.

The Perriman signing is a good signing by the Jets. I'm sure Joe Douglas tried to get Anderson back but Anderson was in that dumpster fire of a locker room last season being run by chief arsonist Adam Gase, and I'm sure Anderson was looking for a both a payday and a change of scenery. Perriman was the last decent WR left in the free agent market. Douglas was left with no other real option but to bring him in and hope that the Perriman that spelled Mike Evans at the end of last season is the Perriman that shows up for training camp and the regular season. Perriman, Crowder, and Enunwa isn't a bad trio plus they have Bell who is a solid receiving back. The Jets new GM Joe Douglas has tried to pull a Beane and has brought in several low-mid range free agent O-Lineman who might prove to be an economical upgrade on last year's horrific line. Fant could also end up being the worst LT in football and get Darnold killed. Time will tell. Douglas is someone who came up under Ozzie Newsome and it looks like he is trying to do things right, and he is certainly a huge upgrade over Mike McCagnan who was a train wreck of a GM, but I still believe that as long as Adam Gase is coaching that team, the Jets will be stuck in neutral.

You can't call it "Spanish Flu". That's racist... ?

According to Sportrac, https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap/ the Bills have $33,299,716 left in the kitty right now. That number does not include the contracts for Quinton Jefferson, Taiwan Jones, Dean Marlowe, or Tyler Matakevich. I have no idea how much their contracts will count against the cap. The Jefferson signing alone is reported to be a 2 year deal worth $13.5 MM. I have no idea how that breaks down into the cap, but I think it's probably safe to say that will bring the cap number down to at least $29MM. We need to have some money in the till to sign our draft picks. Last year people threw around the number $8 MM to get that done. This year we have no 1st rounder so maybe we can cut that number in half and say $4 mm for draft picks and that brings us down to $25 MM. Most GMs like to carry about $8-10 MM into the regular season to deal with injuries and other opportunities that arise. Not sure how much Beane likes to keep in his back pocket. We also have several players that we all anticipated that the team would tender new contracts to this off season like Dawkins and Milano that have not been resigned yet. I'm sure Beane would also like to carry some of this year's cap forward into next year (he carried $22 MM over in cap space from last year). Put it all together and it looks like we are sitting at $25MM right now and still some of our own young players to sign, we need an emergency fund for the season, and will probably want to carry some cap forward into next year. It looks to me that we are likely done in free agency this year. Any big signings would require that we dump some significant contracts to make space. I think Beane followed his successful free agency strategy from last year. Expend some capital and grab one big name free agent at our position of greatest need, Morse/Diggs, and then shop for mid range free agents who provide a good possibility of an upgrade at their positions.

Truce... I regretted that post the minute I sent it. The post is reflective of how I feel about these issues, but TBD is not the place to have that discussion and I apologize for giving into the temptation to climb up on my soapbox. This message board is one of the few escapes from the toxic politics that permeate every facet of our lives now. We need to work to keep it that way.

In that same generosity of spirit, I would like for you to run out and give a homeless person half of your house and all of your belongings for free. You have way more than that homeless person does. Apparently that homeless person is just as entitled to the fruits or your labor, skill, experience, effort, and time as you are...

With Diggs, Smoke, and Besley that is a hell of a trio at WR. I listed the current trios for every team in the league. I think we have a Top Five WR group. Things will change some with Free Agency and this list does not include premier Tight Ends like Kelsey, Kittle, Ertz, Andrews, and Waller who play like WR1s for their team. There are also some decent Free Agent WR out there like Anderson, Perriman, Sanders, Funchess, Taylor Gabriel, Demaryius Thomas, Agholor, Geronimo Allison who could alter the equation a bit. I went ahead and highlighted the teams that I think are legitimately in the discussion for elite WR corps. I think there are 8 teams that can make a claim to be at the top. My top Five + 1. KC 2. LA Rams 3. Arizona 4. Cleveland 5. Buffalo 6. TB (Perriman likely gone in FA) 7. Jacksonville 8. New Orleans https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/depth-chart/WR/ AFC Baltimore Marquise Brown, Willie Snead, Myles Boykin Buffalo Stefon Diggs, John Brown, Cole Beasley Cincy AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Cleveland Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Damion Ratley Denver Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton, Tim patrick Houston Randall Cobb, Will Fuller, Kenny Stills Indy TY Hilton, Zach Pascal, Paris Campbell Jacksonv DJ Chalk, Dede Westbrook, Chris Conley KC Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Mecole Hardman LA Ch Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Andre Patton Las V Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfrow, Zay Jones Miami DeVante Parker, Preston WIlliams, Jakeem Grant New Eng Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, N'Keal Harry NYJ Robby Anderson (Free Agent), Jamison Crowder, Preston Williams Pitt JuJu, James Washington, Diontae Johnson Tenn AJ Brown, Corey Davis, Adam Humphries NFC Ariz DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk ATL Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Russell Gage Carol D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel, Seth Roberts CHI Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Javon Wims Dallas Amari Cooper, Michael Gallop, Ced Wilson Detroit Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Danny Amendola GB Davante Adams, Alan Lazard, Valdez-Scantling LAR Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks Minn Adam Thielen, Bisi Johnson, Chad Beebe NO Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn, Tre'Quan Smith NYG Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, Darius Slayton Philly Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Greg Ward Sea Tyler Lockett, DJ metcalf, Malik Turner TB Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Breshad Perriman (Free Agent) Wash Terry McLaurin, Trey Quinn, Steven Simms

The big news here is that the Pats lost out on Diggs and the Bills won. It makes having Diggs at One Bills Drive even sweeter.

I think it’s so funny that you are both named Chief! It’s really not a very common guy name at all. It would be like two girls named Cinnamon randomly bumping into each other on a chat board. What are the odds? Maybe if it was a stripper chat board the odds would be a little bit better, but you know what I mean.

There are not going to be rookie mini camps or OTA's this offseason. We'll be lucky if they start training camp at the end of July on time. This is not a good year to be a team rookie dependent for anything and its a horrendous year to be introducing a new offensive or defensive scheme. Five new head coaches, eleven new defensive coordinators, ten new offensive coordinators this year in the League, and a QB carousel like I have never seen before. Imagine being the teams who are going to draft a rookie QB this year and trying to get them ready for opening weekend? Makes a lot of sense to fill as many needs as you can with veterans who know the NFL game in Free Agency this off season, as rookies are really going to be behind the learning curve this year. The Diggs pick up makes even more sense when you look at it through this lens.

Competition at every position. It's the McBeane Way...

Beane just keeps finding those just below the radar guys with game! Just like last year with Feliciano and Nsekhe. Improving the talent of the roster without blowing up the Cap. Beane the wizard strikes again!

Brady is finally gone. I have never had a strong opinion as to whether it was more Bill or Tom who was responsible for the Pat's success. I think in truth it was the combination of the two and I think with Brady gone now the "Patriot Way" will quickly come to an end. Bill runs a highly disciplined, zero tolerance type of program. It's an anachronism in today's NFL. It has often been reported that Bill would tear into Brady in front of the entire team. And Brady took it. Brady is the GOAT, and he took the abuse from Bill without complaint. If you are on the Patriots and you are sick of getting browbeaten by Bill are you going to step up and say something if the GOAT Tom Brady is not complaining about it? Nope. You are going to suck it up and take it just like the GOAT does. Tom's willingness to be hammered by Bill allowed Bill to hammer everyone else on the roster. That is going to change now. Bill will continue to try and maintain that strict control on the program, and for a couple seasons he will succeed because the people on the roster now accept his discipline as business as normal, but as the roster begins to turn over and new players come in to Foxboro, there will start to be some unrest when Bill tears into people and they don't have Tom Brady there to essentially back Bill up. Another thing Brady did to allow the "Patriot Way" to succeed was to take less money and craft his contracts to be highly team friendly. Same kind of scenario, if the GOAT is accepting less money to help the team and program be successful, you should too. And players did. There were no hold outs in Foxboro. There were no players griping to the media about their contract situation. They followed Brady's lead. Now he's gone and that will likely change too. Bill and Tom won some many championships for so long that New England became a destination for veterans who were great players but had never won a ring and wanted to win one before they retired. They would come to New England and take significantly less money in order to chase that ring. That gave the Patriots a big advantage in signing talented free agents on the cheap. I think those days are over too. That removes a significant advantage that Bill had before when negotiating with free agents. It's going to be hard to play the "Take less money but win a ring" card now with Brady gone. The stranglehold the Pats had on the AFCE and the League is over. Bill is a great coach and he will always field a competitive team, but the dominance that came about because of the partnership between Bill and Tom that allowed the "Patriot Way" to prosper is finally over.

https://www.texanstalk.com/threads/hopkins-traded-to-cardinals.115052/ If I were Bill O'Brien, I wouldn't go to the grocery store in Houston any time soon. ? For those of you still stinging from the playoff loss to Houston last season, please bathe in the tears of Texans' Nation and be rejuvenated.... scha·den·freu·de /ˈSHädənˌfroidə/ noun pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune. "a business that thrives on schadenfreude"