Ethan in Cleveland

Why? It is a reasonable theoretical question and a good thread so far.

They have $80 million in cap space. They can do both. The upside of the tag is it is only one year and no long term commitment or prorated signing bonus that hurts the cap in 2021 and beyond. Personally I would let Phillips walk and favor keeping Lawson. But I think in the end both will be gone. It would nice to get some compensation, but probably the best hey can do is comp picks. No way Lawson takes a team discount after the way he has been treated by this staff and regime. Phillips on the other hand may test the waters and find out the market isn't as high as he thinks and signing back with the Bills who have treated him well may be best step. It's amazing the duplicity of McD here. Phillips was playing better than the hot shot rookie so Phillips started. Lawson has been better than Murphy every day they have been here and yet Murphy kept getting the starts until the very end of 2019.

Using the tag as a tool to control the situation has long been underutilized by this organization. Belichick used the tag on his PK twice and a back-up QB. They have the cap space to apply the tag and still be able to sign other free agents. Even if Lawson or Phillips played 2020 under the tag amount they would still have plenty of money to spend. I of course don't think either is worth that amount of money but being able to avoid a long term commitment, a signing bonus, and the dead cap hit if they were to be released later makes a lot of sense - even if the one year amount of cash is higher than you would want to pay.

You think that is his worth? I think Tampa could get higher than a 5th for Howard. Or that Bill's TE situation is good enough to not invest more than a 5th? That may be a reasonable argument. Knox and Kroft may be enough at TE for 2020.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28640475/32-nfl-players-use-fresh-start-offseason-qbs-injured-stars#BUF Three interesting tight ends on this list. I loved OJ Howard as a draft prospect. David Njoku and Eric Ebron are interesting too. If these guys have truly fallen out of favor I would give a 3rd round pick for Howard or Njoku to pair with Knox and then let Kroft go. Ebron has never lived up to the hype so I would pass on him. A few guards on the list are intriguing too. I'd be fine if Spain was signed. However if he walks and they want to keep Ford at RT, Peat and Glasgow look like decent options to target. And then there is QB. I'd probably stand pat with Barkley, but noone really knows how he has looked in practice. The Jets game was unfair as it was our number 2s against their number 1s. That said I would not mind bringing in Marriota on a one or two year deal. I don't think he will get signed to be a starter anywhere and his skill set is similar to Allen. This means the offense doesn't change much if Allen missed some time. I'd pass on Dalton.

It's only relevant if they dont learn from their mistakes. McD let Gilmore go, passed on Mahomes, and Beane traded away more talent than he brought in. Beane admitted the 2018 team was not competitive. So they wasted a season and multiple draft picks to get Allen and Edmund's. Their fates are all intertwined. So far Beane has shown that he seems to overpay in free agency, drafts reasonably well but the jury is still out on most of their picks, and gets higher compensation back in trades than would be expected.

Sunk costs and opportunity cost. It is basic economics and accounting at this point. Beane and McD were so desperate to rid themselves of Dareus that they went into salary cap hell and then overspent on Star to replace him. But that is the past and his dead cap hit and the cost to replace him far outweighs keeping him on the roster. The fact they can lower his salary a little bit helps and if he stays healthy they only need to find a backup 3 technique DT for the next year or two. J Phillips will leave. They don't need him with Oliver on the roster. They need two starting edge players in this offseason. I'd prefer a DE in free agency and an OLB in the first round.

100% agree. Want him on a short term deal as you suggested. 3 years tops. Make the first two guaranteed and hope you get two great years. I have no interest in Cooper on a 5 or 6 year massive deal. That would eat up too much cap needed in 2022 and beyond

Beane signed an injured PED busted Murphy. Kroft had injury history and so did Morse. Spencer Long as well. There is nothing in Beane history to say he would avoid signing Green if he is cleared to play.

The author is correct. NFL fans have to live with a predetermined schedule and the risk of dud games or the inconvenience of travel and gameday that a switch from Sunday to Monday might cause. It would be a nightmare for folks like me that have to travel long distances for a home or away game. Bills fans travel well and this change could make that harder. But given enough lead time it may be possible. I'm on the west coast, have a full time career that rarely gets me home before 6 or 630 pacific time. I rarely watch a game unless it is a great matchup.

I think the team blocking rate is probably accurate. For the most part Dawkins held his own. Spain was stellar in pass blocking. Morse and Feleciano were ok. As this thread has pointed out, the real issue is RT. Either Ford gets better or they need an upgrade in talent.

You are partially correct. He wasn't considered a top candidate but no one was shocked that he got hired so quickly either. Rex and Greg Roman built a top 5 scoring offense. He was perfectly fine with clock management and game decisions. He should have been told he can be HC but Schwartz is staying as DC. Rex should have been smart enough to just add a few wrinkles to a top 5 defense. Pegs blew it. And Whaley never got a chance to pick his HC

1. Toronto games 2. Russ Brandon as GM 3. Marv Levy as GM 4. Hiring Rex Ryan 5. Wasting draft picks repeatedly to move up the draft

Yes. But why do the players have to honor the contract? If the market says they are worth more, why shouldn't they try to get paid?

I'd prefer they bring back Spain, keep Ford at RT, and sign/draft a LT to groom for Dakins departure in a year or two. Dawkins is a middle of the road LT -capable but not elite and is not worth top 10 money. OT play in college is so terrible now that they need a couple of years to develop. If Spain leaves, and you ascribe to the put your top 5 guys out there, then moving Ford to LG and letting Nsekhe or another guy play RT makes sense.

Love how players "need to honor their contract" but it's ok for Beane to cut any player he wants. Why shouldn't Beane honor the terrible contract he gave Murphy or Star?

Agree 100%. Good post. Bruce Smith left for Virginia the Monday after the season and came back to Buffalo the morning of training camp. I don't care if these guys spend one minute of the offseason in Buffalo. Just be a professional and play hard on Sunday

Get rid of all the divisions. Makes no sense not to play 16 teams each year. I would much rather play 3 NFC teams than the AFC East teams twice

Seattle would be a great stadium to copy

AJ Green or draft is the best options

Yes the NFL needs fans in the seats, but they having millions watching on TV. Making the TV experience better is far more important than the stadium experience. As for the stadium experience the best hope for Buffalo is a dome. Second best option is covered seats for the majority of the stadium.

I'm in the same camp. To me he is best TE prospect the Bills have ever had. He has the combination of size and speed to be every bit as good as Whiten, Kelce, and Kittle. I don't think he will be elite like Gronk or Gonzalez but he can be perennial ProBowl level player. He just needs to learn the NFL game.

100% agree. Knox blew the play

The most you can argue is it was an illegal forward pass and penalty for a safety. But he gave himself up and if it was a Bill's player that did the same thing you would see it that way.

If I'm the Dolphins, I sit back and rebuild my roster. They are terrible. They can take a QB at 5 or maybe hope Tua falls and take him later. Hell they can pass on QB all together and trade down to get more picks in the draft