VW82

10M would be a steal for what he gives us. The only other RBs that would give us James’s ability to get skinny inside and then make second level guys miss on top of that is a first round talent, never mind whatever you might think of his big play ability on the outside or in the passing game. Personally, I’d rather pay James and continue to use our best draft capital on the lines or to replace valuable starters as need dictates.

One reason I like our chances is we went from virtually no depth after 2023 to what's shaping up to be a very deep team this year. Injuries happen in the NFL. Maybe this will be the year the Chiefs and Eagles get worn down. It would take a catastr0phic series of injuries to completely derail us. Beane has done an excellent job reinforcing our weaknesses.

I also thought it was noteworthy that we drafted both Hairston and Strong. Our man press has been terrible the last couple seasons. We didn't have a single guy on the roster who could do it credibly once Taron dropped off. Now we have options. I wouldn't be surprised to see Strong not only make the team but battle for a starting spot right out of the gate a la rookie Benford. He doesn't run as well as some guys but he finds a way to stick with routes like the best of them. Could be a very underrated draft pick imo.

This. He even plays like Taron who I thought dropped off a lot last year, particularly in press situations. Hancock is a fearless in run support for a little guy.

I think losing Mack was an underrated loss. He was such a good blocker and made timely catches time and again. I’m very interested to see how Palmer fills that role. Hopefully, he’ll be more consistent uncovering in the passing game. Healthy Kincaid will also mean change. I have no doubt that he’ll emerge as a significant downfield weapon. He should see more snaps, but will that combined with loss of Mack impact our running game? I don’t see us running a lot of 12 personnel. This will be something worth monitoring as the season progresses because ultimately we’re a run team first, and we may find certain personnel groupings limit that.

Yes, one would hope they'd get the message. Love James, but him and his brother don't strike me as the brightest bulbs. Purely speculative, but I think his feelings are probably hurt (as he was basically the only team leader not extended), and so the probability of him holding out is greater than most Bills fans are giving credence to and are using Beane's comments to justify a "nothing to see here" stance. Expecting a logical response here might be expecting too much. At the very least, it's a situation worth monitoring imo.

...and that Curtis Samuel and Dalton Kincaid are actually healthy this year. Lots went wrong before we made that Cooper trade.

I'd say this is naive. Of course Beane is going to say that. It means nothing, and I promise you Cook isn't giving Beane a big hug after re-signing everyone but him. If anything, he probably took that personally. This situation is easily the biggest threat to the season, way bigger than whatever perceived weakness in the WR corps. If Cook holds out through TC and misses the first two games as an example - a very realistic possibility at this point - it undermines Sean and the culture of the team (i.e. sacrifice, teammwork, and committment). We can recover from that but it isn't nothing.

Good signing. Now we have five WRs with vet experience / pedigree. The ridiculous part of Beane's rant was always about the depth. If two of our top four had gotten hurt at the same time, we would've been F'd. At least now we have someone proven to step in.

I kind of get Beane’s reaction in the context of not spending significant draft capital to go after a WR1 type when our offense was so good last year and defense was not. We don’t have top end guys on the roster but we have decent veteran talent there and someone like Keon needs opportunities to grow into that guy (or prove he can’t). Our offense is built around our run game first whether fans like it or not. The part I don’t get is we only have four quality WRs. We’d have to really believe in Shavers who’s totally unproven as the fifth guy to think our depth is sufficient. Last year all it took was Samuel and Kincaid to get hurt and we were desperate. How is that not still a big threat?

Bills roster flexibility > Daquan's FA prospects. Teams take vets into camp and then cut them all the time. It's part of the business. If cutting Daquan is the only path to signing our draft picks, then ok, but it doesn't look like that's the case.

We can still make that decision at the end of Aug. In the meantime, what if our rookies just aren't ready. Jones might be the only decent option for the first half of the season. We won't know that part until camp.

Why would we do that without seeing what everyone looks like in camp? TJ and Deone (coming off a back injury) are rookies, and Carter is a projection until we see it.

Because he wasn't lining up at nose much in college. It looked like he spent as much time as a 3-4 edge as he did at nose, but mostly was a 3T. After watching more of his tape, I get it. I also get the Sanders pick from that perspective. We upgraded our Dline talent big time. God help opposing Olines on 3rd down. But...we still don't have a long-term answer at nose imo, unless you think Carter is that guy. Maybe we can convert Walker. I don't love the idea of taking a 6'7 guy with a thin lower base who's had back problems and deciding to line him up in the A gap every down. It feels like that might neutralize what he does best and potentially set him up for more injury issues. But again, maybe our strength guys can figure that one out. I don't mind taking a long-term approach here given the obvious talent, and even if Deone isn't the long-term answer at 1T our investment was low and we now have a lot of options for that answer to emerge from.

I do think we’re still missing someone that gets separation from the outside. We lost that with Diggs and I just don’t see it on the roster currently. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a trade closer to training camp.

I'd way rather bring Mack back.

The next time I don't trust a late round DB selection by McD will be the first.

Speaking of QBs, what are the odds we look for a developmental guy with one of our picks in the 5th. I know Howard has his doubters but he was very successful at OSU.

It’s almost like Beane is trolling us. Even the 340 lb guy is another 3T. “I’ll draft a receiver when you get a girlfriend.” Seriously though, we needed all this Dline help. Hope it works out.

This just seems like too good of value to pass up even if I might've preferred help at WR. Hopefully, we can help this kid refine some moves.

You still missed what I was saying. I was talking about moving up five spots worst case for Alexander (or Turner or Norman-Lott) because we were live at pick 51 when I made that post, or just stick at 56 and take our pick of those guys rather than moving up to take Sanders. One might argue that Sanders will be worth that but outside of Collins, no DTs were picked between where we took Sanders at 41 and where Bears ultimately started the DT run at 62.

Why re-sign when we can just re-draft

i have to assume Beane is going to tell us Sanders will play some 1T. He line up there some in college.

That's not the whole trade which I'm sure you know but you also seem to have missed what I was getting at which is if we'd just held til now we might've been able to just draft Alexander at 56 or move up a few spots and take him and not have to move back 10 spots from 62 at all. Some might also argue Alexander will be the better player though I'd be inclined to trust Beane on that part of it.