Inigo Montoya

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports the Steelers are "closing in on a deal" to trade Antonio Brown to the Bills. Wow. It will be interesting to see what the Bills are sending the Steelers' direction, as Buffalo doesn't have any extra picks in the early rounds, holding their own first-, second-, and third-round picks, with the first being at No. 9 overall. Going from Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh to Josh Allen and Buffalo is a significant downgrade for Brown both in football and life. His fantasy prospects will obviously take a big hit with this deal. It's truly fair to wonder if Brown will willingly go to Buffalo. RELATED: Buffalo Bills SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter Mar 7, 2019, 10:32 PM I added the emphasis to the above quote. I'm tired of these ignorant cheap shots on the city of Buffalo. Screw them. I wish I had a paid subscription to Rotoworld just so I could cancel it.

Everyone knows Big Ben is a Douche Canoe. We may find that AB just needs a change of scenery. I'll be glad if it ends up being in Buffalo.

AB just signed a fair market value contract with the Steelers in February 2017 , I don't know why the Bills have to renegotiate it. It's four years $68 MM, with a $19 MM signing bonus. He's already under contract. I don't see any reason the Bills should extend his contract past age 35. Let's not get squirrley here McBeane.

Fair point Augie. You might hit on a late round pick. I would rather have them spend their money in free agency to shore up the O- line and if that's not successful for whatever reason, invest heavily in the O-Line in the draft. I suspect that a 5th rounder might require more coaching up than a 1st rounder. Drafting your franchise quarterback and then not investing in the linemen to protect him seems like a good way to be back in the franchise quarterback market in 2-3 years.

This needs to be the year of the O-Line at One Bills Drive. If they can grab two solid O-Linemen in free agency (Paradis/ Williams/Williams/Zeitler/Morse) then I think you have the luxury of looking at EDGE or DT or WR at 9, otherwise they need to grab the best O-Lineman on the board at 9. No point in spending all that capital to get your franchise QB if he is running for his life every other snap. The O-Line isn't sexy but it is the heart of the offense. Can't run the ball, can't pass the ball without a decent O-Line. If Allen is going to continue to develop, he needs an O-Line.

So Case Keenum was basically worth a subway token and half a ham sandwich. Beane's trade of Tyrod is looking better all the time...

The Three Divas... Mayfield, Landry, and ODB in the same locker room? Get me some pop corn! This is gonna get ugly in a hurry!!!

With at least two and possibly three quarterbacks going ahead of us we should be able to grab an elite talent at 9. If we can grab two O-linemen in free agency then I think an EDGE or WR should be on the table. If we can't grab two O-lineman in free agency, we have to grab the best O-linemen left on the board, either Willams or Taylor. The O-line is not sexy like an EDGE or WR but the O-line is the foundation of our offense. We have to solidify the O-line this year. There will likely be four new starters on the O-line this season. They will need all the snaps together they can get at OTAs, camp, preseason, and likely a quarter of the regular season to gel and work as a unit. This needs to be the year of the O-line at One Bills Drive. We can not go into another year with a bad O-line and our franchise quarterback running for his life every other snap with no running game.

Belichick drafted Garoppolo with with the 62nd pick ( late 2nd rd). I don't see him parting with a 1st rounder for his back up qb / Brady heir apparent. I think he feels he can develop a QB just like he did with Garappolo and will grab a solid QB at the end of the 2nd again this year. Ultimately, I just don't think Rosen is a Belichick kind of QB. Belichick still routinely chews Brady's ass in front of the entire team when Brady screws up. I don't see Rosen thriving in that environment. I think Belichick will look for a QB who has two traits, mental toughness to survive Belichick's coaching style, and someone who has a great football IQ. Rosen might be smart, but I just don't think he will do well with Belichick busting his chops all the time.

I pray he doesn't go to the Pats just so I don't have to listen to the media ball wash Belichick over his amazing move to get a first round QB prospect with a 3rd round pick. Having Allen, Darnold, and Rosen all in the AFC East might be interesting though....

I agree with this opinion but the nature of the NFL Coaching Carousel probably makes grabbing a new QB this year more appealing to Vrabel. Most coaches get three years to get the job done and then they get the ax. If Vrabel sticks with Mariota again this year and he doesn't get the job done, then they are going to be drafting a rookie QB or trading for a retread QB in year three of Vrabel's tenure. Not a good situation to be in for Vrabel. Conversely, if they draft a rookie QB this year, Vrabel probably gets a mulligan for his first year with Mariota, and he'll have two years, more likely three years, to develop the new QB. From a job security point of view, I think Vrable is in better shape drafting a new QB this year.

I knew we we're going to be in good shape next year but I had no idea the Bills were that flush. Solid info. Thanks for posting.

Fair point ODB. I think its likely with the cap space and draft picks we will add to the roster in those areas and not subtract. I can't imagine the O-line or WR groups being worse than they were last year. I am so glad Benjamin is gone. In all my years of being a Bills fan, I have never hated a Bills player until Kelvin Benjamin.

I don't see 1,000 rushing yards but I do think this is a break out season for Allen. Look at what Allen did in the second half of the year with no supporting cast. This will be his second year in the offense, he should have a decent O-line in front of him so he's not running for his life every snap, a running game to keep the defense honest, give him a couple receivers who can get separation and catch the ball, and I think Allen is going to surprise a lot of the "experts" with what he can do. I think we are on the verge of being a good football team again for the first time in two decades.

Too bad you weren't hanging out with my friend that night...

http://www.realclearlife.com/sports/super-bowl-champ-patriots-have-nfls-second-easiest-schedule-in-2019/ Thanks to the strength of their 2019 schedule, the road for the Patriots to advance to their third straight Super Bowl is going to be an easy one. Based on strength of schedule rankings for each team, only the Washington Redskins have an easier path in 2019 than the Patriots. The rankings are done by determining the combined winning percentage of a team’s 16 upcoming opponents based on their record from the previous year. Inconceivable!!!

I was listening to the Pro Football Focus radio show on NFL Radio Sunday night and the two guys from PFF said it was a near certainty that Kyler Murray was going to be their #1 ranked QB going into the draft this year.

My post says the team will be ready to make a run in years 3-5 of Allen's rookie contract. I do expect Allen to be much improved this year just like he was improved after he returned from injury. I still don't think the roster will be in a position to start making deep playoff runs this year. We should definitely add some talent this off season, but I don't know if it will be enough to truly contend for a Super Bowl this year. Still too soon for that I think. I do think a Wild Card is definitely possible this year and I would be a bit disappointed if we don't make the post season. I think this season McBeane will fill in most of the remaining gaps in the roster and our young roster will benefit from one more year of experience. In 2020 we go into free agency looking for a couple of key veteran pieces that we need to make us real contenders, and then it's game on. Of course, this is just my opinion and it is based solely upon speculation, conjecture, and spilling the entrails of a chicken and reading the portents.

I guess I could tolerate Bell, Brown, and Beckham if they were Bills... ?

I don't want Bell, Brown, or Beckham in the AFC east....

I think Terry and Kim will give Beane and McD all the time they need. If Allen becomes a legit QB, Beane and McD will both be in Buffalo for a long time. The Pegulas know that if they pull the plug on them they are looking at another 2-3 year rebuild and no one wants that. (Especially when they are trying to build a new stadium). Unless Allen is a disaster and McDermott just craps the bed, I think the Pegulas will keep Beane and McD around and let them build something here.

Complete BS? You go off on a tangent extoling the virtue of offensive lineman like I just threw all O-linemen under the bus when the whole point of my post was how I believe O-linemen are vital for a team to be successful. According to you, I guess the Bills are good at the O-line position now. Juan Castillo was the only problem with our O-line last year. It was all just the scheme. Now that he’s gone and we have a new O-line coach we should just stand pat with our current O-line and let our new O-line coach with a better scheme turn Miller, Ducasse, Bodine, and Groy into All Pros.

You under value the effect of good veteran leadership in a locker room full of young players. If we were strapped for cash your case to cut Shady might be stronger, but we’re not going to be able to spend all of the cap money we have now. To use a military analogy, the coaches are the officers, a good veteran player who accepts a leadership role is like a good NCO or sergeant. They keep the young bucks in line. They set the example of how a professional prepares for a game and how a professional carries himself. Great NCOs are the backbone of a military unit and veteran players who believe in the team’s Process are the backbone of a successful team’s locker room. I think you might underestimate how hard it is to lead and motivate a room filled with 21 year old millionaires, and how vitally important it is to have the right attitude in a locker room. The coaches can only do so much, it’s the veteran players in the locker room that really hold the young guys accountable. The veterans provide positive peer pressure and lead by example. This is how you show up everyday to work, this is how you practice, this is how you prepare for a game, this is how you watch film. This is how you have long term success in the league, watch what I do. Leadership 101. Any organization, no matter how skilled the individual members are, will fail without the right leadership. That’s why McBeane is willing to pay Shady this year, and why I respectfully think you’re wrong.

I think Shady stays as veteran leadership on an offense that will be revamped this year with many new players. Who is the veteran leadership on offense if not Shady? Allen has great leadership traits but is only a second year player. Is there a solid veteran leader on the O-line? Nope. Who’s the veteran wide receiver? Ummmm.... You need to have veteran leadership and by all accounts Allen and Shady have a great relationship and Shady has bought into the Process. Shady is not the player he once was, but he is still respected in the locker room and around the league. Keep him as a third down back and keep him for veteran leadership. It will be money well spent.

I think you're right, Beane seems to favor seniors and especially team captains. I hope they continue that kind of profile in this year's draft. Unfortunately, there are very few seniors with a 1st round grade this year. According to CBS Sports draft rankings there are only five seniors in the entire top 32 ranked players in this years draft. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/ My two favorites for the Bills to grab in the first round, offensive tackles Jonah Williams and Jawaan Taylor, are both juniors. I'd draft one of them and then heavily weight the amount of playing experience someone had in college in determining who to draft. There is so little practice time allowed by the new CBA that it is a lot harder to coach up a college player with raw talent but who needs work on technique than it used to be. Getting a player with a full four years of college experience is more important than ever.