Florida Bills Fanatic

The premise of this string is that the Bills can get two FA tight ends that will be more impactful than available O-linemen. I'm not sure that it will play out that way. I think you have correctly described a very likely approach for the Bills. With at least three holes on the o-line to fill, it is highly unlikely that they will want to fill them all through the draft. I also believe that they will add a veteran TE that can be a serviceable starter until they can develop the long term starter. If a drafted rookie beats out the veteran to start, then you have good depth and the flexibility to effectively run 2 TE sets. We'll see over the next few weeks how free agency shakes out. After that the real draft needs come into focus.

Funchess is not the answer to any of the Bill's needs. We should not be wasting any of the 90 camp roster spots on him. There is enough tape on Funchess to know what he is. I'd rather see an UFA WR in camp to see if we can hit on another guy like Foster. I agree that the money would be better spent on Morse or T. Williams. I really think that Williams is the kind of receiver that the Bills should be looking for. He has length and speed to stretch the field.

I agree with you. This story of a one year deal may just be wishful thinking leaked by someone affiliated with the Broncos to dissuade interested teams from going after him. No agent with half a brain is going to let him sign a one year deal when there are needy teams known to be interested in him.

I think T. Williams and J. James may be the kind of guys that Beane would be looking for. The other guys probably don't fit the cost/value target that Beane will want. I really think that they will go hard after one of the prime free agent centers (Long is just a depth player). I just don't believe they will take a tight end with the 9th pick either. If they trade down and Hockenson is a good value for their new pick, then maybe. I have low expectations when it comes to free agent pickups. I think the signings of Hyde and Poyer may be the blueprint for Beane's approach to free agents. Neither of these guys were big splash signings but are good solid players that have turned out to be great values.

I have low expectations for his punishment. I'm just hoping to get a good perp walk video that I can save and use to torment my friends that are Cheatriot fans.

We need to chill a little bit on the so called list of free agents. There will be cap casualties and new coaches cutting players that don't fit new schemes. There are always players that are surprise releases. I don't expect a bunch of top tier players to become available. There will be a fair number of players available that will be an upgrade over what we already have. I just hope that Beane doesn't spend the cap money unwisely but still goes after players to fill important holes. As some have already said, the real difference makers for the long term will come via the draft. If the front office people are doing their jobs, they know more about potential cuts than some sports reporter putting together a list.

You are exactly right. Allen had no time to throw and the backs had no room to run. O-line had more leaks than Kraft's claim of innocence. Fix o-line, shore up the defensive depth, and get one good weapon for the offence. I don't care about the mix between free agents and the draft as long as the Bills don't crawl back into a cap hole.

Spygate, deflategate, and now hookergate! It's easy to see why people hate the Cheatriots. Rightly or wrongly, the leader of an organization has to set the moral compass for that organization. Given this latest incident, it will be difficult for Kraft to hold his players and staff accountable for behavior detrimental to the NFL. I doubt that he will be forced to sell his team but it would be in the league's best interest if he does. You can just imagine the protests and bad press initiated by women's rights groups, if Kraft continues to be involved with the team. He needs to go away!

I think you are right on point. JJ is a step up from what we had and he would buy the team some time to develop a young player. If a younger player eventually takes over the starting job, he would be a very good number two as long as Beane didn't over pay him.

Although the league continues to generate significant revenues, there are some potentially troubling signs for the NFL. St. Louis, Oakland, and San Diego recently turned their backs on the league. There were a number of large corporations that were conspicuously absent from advertising in the Super Bowl. The television viewership for the Super Bowl this year was the lowest that it has been in 10 years. Significant numbers of people stopped watching the NFL because of the national anthem controversy. The league and the NFLPA know all of these things and much more. A strike in 2021 would drive more fans away. The advice from the NFLPA to the players to save money in advance of the contract negotiations, is common union advice given in any industry going into a contract year. I don't read anything ominous in any of that. All of that being said, both sides stand to lose more than they could ever hope to gain. The problems will come if a faction of radical players or radical owners drive the narrative to a stalemate and cause a strike.

I agree with you. Foot injuries for a speed guy make him a big risk. There are too many other good options. If he falls into day three of the draft, I might take a chance but I don't see that happening.

I still think Washington will draft a QB to be a long term solution to their problem. They may bring in a lower cost FA to get through 2019 but I don't think they see any of the guys that are available as their long term answer. They still owe A. Smith a hefty sum and will be hard pressed to pay a FA big money for 2019. I hope Washington becomes sold on one of the top guys QB's in the draft and gets nervous about someone jumping in ahead of them. Nine may turn out to be the sweet spot. The only thing I've grown to expect is the unexpected when it comes to Beane in the draft. Since we don't need a QB, the Bills can go a number of different ways and still end up with a great draft. Free agency moves will give us an indication of draft direction.

So I guess you don't like Poyer and Hyde.

If it involves a player that provides some value to the team, yes. If it is for a slug that just takes up a roster spot or is a problem in the locker room, no way.

It's always good to hear other opinions. Sometimes fans forget they are wearing blinders when it comes to their Bills. I know I'm guilty of that at times.

I think you are absolutely correct. He will be the 2019 version of Groy as the primary backup for center and guard. The details of the contract will tell us a lot.

Bears paid too much and have created a cap scenario that will force them to release some talent. Mack is a great player but missed some playing time with an injury and the Bears defense was still awesome without him. It begs the question, did they really need to spend the money to get him? Sports reporters jumped all over the trade because it was a great story and it may prove to be if they can win a championship. I have my doubts The Bills have so many holes to fill, that it would be difficult to allocate the money and the draft picks to obtain him. I guess the Darius contract has made me cynical.

Pegula's aren't going to start a revolving door in the front office. They watched that movie in Cleveland and saw the result. They know the roster coming out of 2017 was a train wreck. They had to have agreed to dump the high paid underachievers and eat a bunch of dead money. They have cleared the cap space, drafted some really good young players, accumulated a significant number of draft picks, and established a good defense. Bill Polian was recently complementary of the job of the Bills coaching staff and front office in 2018. I trust Polian's opinion. If they were to dump McD and Beane at the end of 2019, they would spiral into the next version of the Browns. Good coaches, free agent players, and good front office people would avoid the Bills like the plague.

Never! The guy puts himself before the team. I've seen enough from him to know he would be bad for the locker room.

Mike Stratton turned the lights out on the Chargers with that hit. It was a great day for Bills fans. I agree with you on these two games.

This guy can play. He had problems but seems to have turned it around for the last couple of years. Sometimes it takes a young guy a while to figure it out. Some never do. He does what the Bills had hoped that Benjamin would do. He runs better than Benjamin (I know that ain't sayin' much). The ability to separate is necessary either through speed, quickness, or running great patterns. He should be an excellent complement to Foster, Jones, et al.. We'll see what he does in camp and preseason. The Bills have virtually nothing invested and nothing to lose.

He's no better than what we already had. I think the Bills will look elsewhere.

Great work! Thanks

One of the biggest problems that I saw with the Rams was their insistence on running their stretch cut back play up the middle. It broke for one 16 yard run. The rest of the time it was shutdown. Anderson had some decent runs on straight dives and counters but they wouldn't stick to it. No doubt Goff was terrible but McVay's play calling was worse. He was naive to believe that he could just rely on his normal regular season schemes. BB was prepared for all of it and shut it down. I have not seen anything from Goff that makes me believe that he will ever be a dominating QB in the league. I think he is a very similar player to Sam Bradford and we all know how that has worked out. Better them than us.........GO BILLS!

You're exactly right. I'm sure Foles and his agent have made it clear what his desires are. The Eagles have known that this day was coming and should have prioritized their options and strategy. If they plan to keep him and pay him, they will have other contracts to rework and some expensive veterans to release. If they plan to let him go, they will work to get the most compensation in return ( with a compensory pick as the last resort ). Good GM's do long term planning and I'm sure the Eagles have.