Inigo Montoya

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"

Beane seemed to kick the tires hard on AB last year, if he could land Hopkins for a high draft pick this year we would be In the drivers seat in the AFCE. Please, for the love of God Beane, do your black magic, pick up your phone, call Bill O’Brien and swindle him out of Nuk!!!

New England, Tennessee, and the Chargers will all likely have different QBs learning a new offense in 2020. There's a chance Indy makes a move at QB this off season too.

Human Decency Disclaimer: We all wish the COVID19 outbreak hadn't happened, and it's impact on the NFL schedule and season certainly ranks near the bottom of the list of concerns associated with the outbreak. Having said that, the outbreak will likely mean an abbreviated off season and I hope it isn't too Machiavellian to note that this abbreviated off season should end up helping the Bills competitively if there is a 2020 NFL season. As noted in other threads, the Bills have a lot of continuity moving forward from the 2019 season into 2020, management, coaches, and to a large extent, the team roster looks pretty well set. We are not installing a new offense or defense, not breaking in a new QB, no turn over on the O-Line etc.. That is a luxury that few teams will enjoy. For a League that is always in a state of flux, for once, the Buffalo Bills look like an oasis of stability. Look around the league this off season at just the coaching changes; New Head Coaches; (5) Carolina Cleveland Dallas NY Giants Washington New D Coordinators; (12) Miami Cleveland Houston Tennessee Dallas NY Giants Washington Detroit Minnesota Atlanta Carolina LA Rams New O Coordinators; (11) Miami Cleveland Jacksonville Denver Carolina LA Rams NY Giants Philly Washington Chicago Minnesota You also have to look at the QB carousel in the league. I've never seen so many veteran QBs on the market and it's quite likely that Brady, Rivers, Dalton, Tannehill, Bridgewater, Winston, Cam Newton and Mariota will probably all be in new zip codes or on the bench when the season starts, and that's not including the number of 1st round QB draft picks (probably at least 3) this season who will likely get the nod under center. Rookie Mini-Camps are from May 1-4, the OTAs start at the end of May and run through June, and then Training Camp starts at the end of July. How would you like to be a new head coach or coordinator trying to introduce your system and missing some of the handful of OTAs that you would use to introduce everything and get everyone started on the same sheet of music. If any of those are delayed or shortened, or canceled outright, the teams who are standing pat in scheme and personnel will have a big advantage. Looking at all the changes in the league this off season, the Bills are one of the few stable franchises across the board and that should be a big benefit during the first quarter of the season.

What a difference from the woeful years of the drought where Buffalo was a revolving door of management, coaches, and players. The product on the field reflected that lack of continuity. No one had a chance to get settled into a system and learn how to play within it. New head coaches, new offensive and defensive coordinators, a parade of quarterbacks and a continuous turnover of the supporting cast on both sides of the ball created a constant state of flux for this franchise. That's what happens when a franchise and team are lost and desperately searching for an answer. Look at the Bills now. Beane, McDermott, and Frazier coming back for their fourth season together, Brian Daboll is back for his third season along with Josh Allen. It looks like Bills are going to return all five starting offensive lineman next year and that should pay huge dividends for the entire offense. Continuity on the O-Line may be the most important ingredient for great line play. They should only get better playing in the same scheme, with the same O-Line coach, and with the same player on their left and right. The defense will be entering it's fourth year in the same scheme and it looks like we will be bringing back the majority of the defense that was the strength of the team and PFF's 4th ranked secondary in the League last year. Milano and Edmunds will be a year older and wiser in the system and in the NFL game itself, and Big Ed Oliver should take another step forward this year in the same system, able to just react in the system instead of having to think about what his assignment is. There won't be any wasted time in training camp installing new verbiage or new systems, they will jump right back into where they left off last season and the entire team should be able to hit the ground running. This is how a successful franchise operates. The foundation of the team is already there, the scheme and personnel are already there, now they just have to incorporate a few new players into the fold, and even that process is smoother because all the players around them already know the system and can help them out. This isn't the chaotic Buffalo Bills of ten years ago, or even five years ago. This is a Buffalo Bills franchise that has turned the corner and is now functioning at a high level across the entire organization; ownership, management, coaches, and players, all on the same sheet of music. It is the type of continuity that fosters success and the type of continuity that has been sorely lacking before Beane and McDermott arrived. It's the kind of continuity that teams contending for championships have. .

Kroft snagged that TD pass in Pittsburgh to win the game. Hell of a route, great catch. The guy has talent, let's see if he can stay healthy. He's got one more shot. He knows he's on the clock. I don't have a problem with this move at all.

Great news with Long's option being picked up and now Spain resigned to a reasonable three year $15mm contract. This off season is off to a great start. Keep the focus on the O-Line! Keep it up Beane!!!

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I think all of us were happy to see the resources that Beane put into revamping the O-line last year with major investments in free agency and in draft capital. The end result being that we put four new starters on the line and added quality depth to deal with inevitable in-season injuries. I was happy to see the Bills pick up the option on Spencer Long who has been a solid depth signing by Beane and who played good ball when called on last season. The 2019 offensive line certainly passed the eye test and seemed to give Josh more time to throw and better pockets to throw from, and the running game improved last year as well. Despite that clear improvement, by most metrics, the Bills still fielded a middle of the pack O-Line last season. Pro Football Focus (PFF) Ranks Bills O-Line 2018 26th Bills O-Line 2019 21st Football Outsiders Ranks Bills O-Line 2018 Running 30th Passing 23rd Bills O-Line 2019 Running 16th Passing 23rd NFL.com Total Offense Rank Bills Total Offense 2018 30th Bills Total Offense 2019 24th That needs to change if we are going to challenge for a championship. Beane and McDermott have correctly stated on many occasions that successful teams are built from the lines out and this team still needs help on both lines. We also need better O-Line play to help Josh continue to develop. I hope Beane again focuses on the O-Line this off season and during the draft. I'd love to see Beane make a real run at landing Joe Haeg T/G from Indy during Free Agency this year as their big O-Line signing. According to an article by Joe Buscaglia in The Athletic, last year Haeg started one game at LT, two games at RT, and one game at RG and was solid. If he can play at LT he can certainly play at LG too. With Spain's status up in the air, this one signing would give the Bills an enormous amount of O-Line flexibility and would give the Bills this group of O-Lineman; Mitch Morse C Dion Dawkins LT Joe Haeg RT/RG/LG/LT Cody Ford RT/RG Jon Feliciano C/RG Spencer Long C/RG Ty Nsekhe RT/LT Ryan Bates T Quinton Spain LG LaAdrian Waddle T Ike Boettger G Victor Salako T Morse, Dawkins, Ford, Feliciano, Nsekhe, Long, Haeg (if we can get him)and Bates would seem to be locks for the roster come opening week. We might see some movement on the last four on the list. If Beane lets Spain go it looks like RG will be one of the biggest competitions in training camp this year. We also need to find a permanent home for Cody Ford and fill in the final piece on the left side of the line. I would love for them to add Haeg and resign Spain, you can never have too much depth on the O-Line. We still have the luxury of playing on Josh's rookie contract. We have a lot of cap space and the O-Line is not a place to skimp. This team is entering a window where we can make a run and I think solid O-Line play and O-line depth is vital for that to happen. With another year of continuity in the system and Jackson coaching them up, I would hope this line could make a jump into the top 15 in the League this season. That improvement should be enough to push this offense over the top as long as Josh continues to develop.

Is someone really going to take the position that McDermott can't evaluate defensive back talent? At this point McDermott could sign a cornerback or safety he met bagging groceries at the local Piggly Wiggly and I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Brandon Beane will scale the Cliffs of Insanity, defeat a master swordsman, choke out a giant, best a genius in a game of wits (a Sicilian no less), survive the Fire Swamp, kill several ROUS, escape the Pit of Despair, storm the castle, and rescue the Princess all before draft weekend. Oh yeah, and somehow swindle the gullible and hapless Cleveland Browns out of some valuable Draft capital again...

I think another two members of this draft class have a real chance to be good to great players in another year or two, Dawson Knox and Darryl Johnson. Still early, but looks like a strong sophomore draft for Beane & Co.

I know that Beane values draft picks, but I don't know how you pass this up for a 2nd rounder if he can get it done. As another wise poster noted above, there is a learning curve for the WR position for most coming out of college and I don't think it's a pie in the sky statement to to say that the Bills are entering a window where they can compete for a Championship with Allen still on his rookie contract. To bring in a polished elite WR right now with no learning curve would be huge for this roster.

I wish Shady would have gotten a little bit of action today. Glad he finally got his Ring. Congrats Shady!!!

Thanks! Waddle was signed on a one year deal and he's a free agent right now. He signed with the Bills for $1.5MM on a one year prove it kind of deal and never made it out of the preseason before tearing his quad.