Ethan in Cleveland

Agree that is early but he has been really bad for a few years now.

Comp picks only count for free agents lost. If they cut him while still on his rookie deal there is no compensatory pick. My guess is no trades. Going into camp I thought they would trade Epenesa but sounds like he is outplaying Lawson for the last DE spot.

The Bills had 17 punts returned which was 3rd fewest in the league and they gave up a little over 5 yards per return which was also top 5 in the league. In a perfect world Haack gets replaced and they gain 4 or five net yards. Its all about net yards. If the PuntGod increases the touch back rate too much the added distance won't matter. Again none of this punting discussion really matters if the offense is fine. Nobody cared about the punter for Brady, Manning, Brees, or Mahommes. Kicker yes, punter no.

Like others. I only saw a handful of highlights of him playing. But he was a huge part of my sports viewing life growing up on Inside the NFL. Sad day news. Thoughts for him and his family

Not disagreeing with you. You are correct that is what McD wants. I think many of us just disagree with that philosophy. In the end it doesn’t matter much. We are only really talking about it affecting maybe one roster spot for a marginal player.

The difference between the best and worst punt coverage teams last year was roughly 7 yards per punt. The difference in total yards per game was about 20 yards. The biggest factor in determining yards per game given up was the number of punts returned. Rams only had 9 total punts returned all year. Bills had 17. A few teams had over 40. Want to give up less punt yards, have a great offense. The rest doesn’t matter.

Go watch the video Belichick discusses this. It’s much more technical than you think. Plus everyone has one so it is not a disadvantage.

17 catches in 3 years of playing. If he is loved by his team why did his team bring in Howard to replace him? Good point

That 98 yard kick was sick. I watched a video of it. 65 or so yards and then bounces forward. Returner picked it up at the one and was tackled at the 2 or 3. That's 96 or 97 net yards.

As for the watered down issue, I tend to agree but it is not a new phenomenon. Lynn Swann and John Stallworth were both good players on an amazing dynasty. Neither should in the HOF. I can name several more but I will highlight Levy and Kurt Warner. Great stories but not HOF worthy. Eli will make the HOF as a 2 time SB winner with a ton of yards. But he only made 4 ProBowls in 16 years. Was he even a top 5 QB when he played? I'd argue in no particular order Brady, Peyton, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Brees, Ryan, early Wilson and late Favre are all better QBs. Obviously Eli's career doesn't overlap perfectly with all these QBs but I'd take every one except Ryan over Eli.

So were the careers of Gale Sayers and Terrell Davis. Longevity is part of it and it can be the most significant part of the argument for guys like Reed and Monk. But greatness can be recognized too.

Hopefully he turns it around. Sweeney has zero talent. If Howard can just be average they can do so much out of a two TE set.

I agree. Klein was a capable backup. Matakevich is not. Matakevich should be replaced with a cheap rookie or UDFA.

I'm as big of a skeptic about Edmunds as anyone. But I wouldn't question him because of injuries. He has played 61 of 65 games in his career. He played with a hurt shoulder. He lacks instincts but he doesn't lack durability.

Why not this year? Matakevich doesn't do much for this team. Save money now. $750,000 dead money and $2.5M cap savings. Use that for Poyer or Knox.

Makes sense. Looked like he played outside in college quite a bit.

As long as one is designated no officiating conspiracy posts!

Upstairs seems to make sense but yet every HC that calls plays - Reid McVeigh Shanahan all do it from the sidelines. Probably doesn't make much difference.

Absolutely no reason for Allen to take a single snap in preseason. He gains nothing. It is 100% risk and zero reward. I wouldn't play a single starter the entire preseason. Makes zero sense. What is Von Miller going to learn about pass rushing in the preseason? I say again, 2020 football was fine without preseason. 18 game schedule with 1 preseason game is all that is needed. They can play all the back-ups fighting for jobs in that one game. Almost every poster on this board can pick 45 to 50 of the 53 spots on the roster already. Beane and McD should know the 53 by now from practice. It is past due to end this relic of a bygone era.

Darby tore an ACL in Philadelphia. Eventually spent a year in Washington and played well enough to get a 3 yr deal with Denver for $30M. He has started 11,16,11 games the last three years. He has had a decent if unspectacular career. A bit disappointing for a second round pick but far from a bust. Far better than Ford and Epenesa to date.

Yeah they just missed it by a year. 2018 was the real tank job when they fielded a non-competitive team and tried to start Peterman at QB while Allen developed.

Well done Another example why no pre-season games need to be played. NFL football was just fine in 2020 with no preseason.

Agree about the current trajectory. That said I thought their last draft was good. If they clear some cap they may be competitive soon. I was never sold on Zach Wilson but I thought he played better as the season went on. INTs went down even if overall production was still not good.

Hate it when posters bash other franchises. Outside of Buffalo, the Bills are mostly known for OJ and and losing four SuperBowls. Hopefully Josh changes all that this year. In 63 seasons the Bills have 35 more wins than what you are calling a "historically stupid franchise". Less than half a win per season more. Both teams have overall losing records. Bills have 11 more playoff games played than the Jets. One franchise is 1-0 in the SB and one is 0-4 with two AFL Championships. Bills have 10 people in the HOF 7 of which are players - one being of course a murderer. Jets only have 4 - 3 players - one a famous fur coat wearing, Brady Bunch appearing, alcoholic that kisses sideline reporters.

Hmm let me think way back to 2018.... FA signings included Chirs Ivory, Vontae Davis, Trent Murphy, Star, Bodine, Newhouse, a rookie QB, no cap money, and finished 6-10....