FireChans

I call it drought brain jokingly, but its really just fear-based decision making. Look at how many folks are like "that's how you get another EJ" in this topic alone. Like it's a death knell. Now, for the staff that messes up at QB, it very well may be, but that's not really the fans' concerns. The bigger crime is missing out on a Mahomes or an Allen or a Jackson because you are too paralyzed by fear to take one. And that's a sentiment that has been echoed in TBD lore forever. It's all documented, you can look back to 2016 and 2017 posts in the Tyrod era. There was a LOT of "what if the rookie is worse?' type posts and not just from the usual suspects. And I get it, in a season to season league we all want the product on the field to be watchable. But the quickest way to be a perennial playoff team is to nail the QB. It seems very quaint now but that's where we were. If I told you, 5 years from now, the Saints make the playoffs or at least are in the WC mix almost every single season for 10 years straight, what is the singular thing they did to make that possible, the answer is undoubtedly "found a QB." It's not prioritizing continuity in the FO, or that they hired a future HoF coach or that they went BPA through the draft and built a powerhouse team. It's just not. Now the larger point is that's where NFL teams get it wrong sometimes too. They sometimes fail to empower their teams. Schoen and Daboll should feel like they can gamble on Shedeur because that's what matters the most. But they clearly won't, because getting another QB wrong means they are both looking for work in 2026. So instead, they will take Hunter or Carter and pray to god they win 8-9 games and save their asses. And then in next year's QB class, they will be far from the #1 QB in the class and probably not even be able to trade up for the #2 QB. That's what the Saints should avoid, at all costs. They have the capital to take a QB now, and they should. I have said it once and I will say it again. The best thing Sean McDermott did for the Buffalo Bills was make the playoffs his first season. Not because it was a crazy successful year, but because it gave him (and Beane) the capital in the owners' eyes to gamble hard for Josh Allen. And because they gambled, we all won. It's doesn't matter that he may not be the best or second best HC in the game, or that Beane isn't the best FO guy in the game. It doesn't matter that a division rival had maybe the best coach in the history of football with 20+ years of continuity. It made it all irrelevant.

There’s no question that Russ and Ralph were trying to not lose money on the Bills first and foremost. Cash to cap spending and all that. The things @SoTier gets wrong are things like: Spiller wasn’t drafted because Lynch was walking in FA. Spiller was drafted and Lynch was traded because Lynch was addicted to hitting pedestrians in his car and doing other dumb *****. Ralph had been dead for 3 years when Gilmore walked and we were “forced” to draft his replacement in the first. (Funny how when we let Edmunds walk, we weren’t forced to draft his replacement in the first. Maybe this “forced” nonsense is just that). Mario Williams was perhaps the greatest Bills FA signing in 25 years. It was not the same as overpaying TO on a 1 year deal (which was in fact shameless FA move but a drop in the bucket imo) Pegula had opened up the checkbook for Whaley long before McD got there. The 2015 and 2016 Bills had a ton of money on the books. They were restructuring Clay and throwing money at Incognito etc etc. But we didn’t make the playoffs those years either, because our QB was dog ***** and our HC sucked too. So right church, wrong pew. The drought Bills were mismanaged. But even mismanagement can’t overcome having a good QB. The Bengals are notoriously cheap, and do dumb ***** or mismanage ***** all the time. When they have Palmer, Dalton, and now Burrow playing high-level ball, they make the playoffs. The Bills were mismanaged and were afraid to chase QBs. That combo is the recipe for the longest playoff drought in sports. this is OBVIOUS

In fairness to @Kirby Jackson, this sounded a lot more like “solitary OD/suicide in hotel” when the story first broke.

That’s the NYT/athletic reporting https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6275934/2025/04/13/lsu-kyren-lacy-death/ Former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy was founddead late Saturday night from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after a police pursuit, the Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. He was 24. The Constable’s Office responded to a call Saturday evening from one of Lacy’s family members who said he shot a gun into the ground, according to the sheriff’s office. Lacy left before authorities arrived. When law enforcement tried to stop his car about 20 minutes later, he fled again. The pursuit lasted several miles until his car crashed, the sheriff’s office said. As law enforcement officials moved to try to take him into custody, they discovered his gunshot wound and a handgun in the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the preliminary investigation determined he shot himself before his car crashed, according to the sheriff’s office.

A total crock. It’s a nice story on paper but it doesn’t hold up to cursory examination. McDermott let Gilmore walk and drafted White in the first. He was running the entire org, and the Pegulas had owned the team for 3 years at that point. They over-emphasized RBs but not because of money reasons. It was because of stupid reasons.

We did. I’m not sure Morse was seeking out independent Neurologists to see if he was okay to keep playing 6 months ago. https://www.newsweek.com/sports/nfl/saints-chris-olave-see-specilaits-determine-nfl-future-after-scary-concussion-1982125 I do know that we aren’t talking about trading a 3rd round pick and potentially signing a massive extension to Morse like we would Olave. do you think it’s smart for a team to trade for Tua and pay him right now?

Fair enough. I just don’t think there’s ever a good enough reason to wait when you don’t have a good QB. If they like Shedeur, they should take him. Maybe Arch stays in school. Maybe they hit on every other pick and win 8 games. The future is uncertain.

And so what? The 2012 Bills were 6-10. The 2013 Bills with a bum in EJ were 6-10. In the grand scheme of it all, it made no difference. EJ sucked. But he had a shot to be better than Fitzy ever would be. That chance is worth taking every time in a QB league. Treating picking a bust QB in the first as a cardinal sin that must never happen is coward stuff. The long view taken is the correct view. The fear mongering of “taking the wrong QB sets you back 5 years” is just that. You’d think Bills fans would’ve wised up to this by now.

May I introduce you to the 2017 draft. You may have heard about it. The sole reason the Bills drought lasted as long as it did is between Kelly and Allen, they drafted TWO QBs in the first lol.

So what though? If Sanders falls to 19 and the Steelers get him and he looks the part, everyone will clown the Saints for passing and rightfully so. The old GB used to believe that regardless of how garbage the rest of the roster is, if you don’t have a QB your biggest need is QB. The new GB believes the Saints should pick the 3rd best EDGE with their top 10 pick when they may not have a QB on the roster lol.

It's changed but I'm not sure it's changed all that much. 10 years ago, the best players to hit FA were Darrel Revis at 30 years old and Suh. Both very good players but not the best of the best at that point in time, with some warts (Revis - age and Suh - everything else about him). The days of free agents "resetting the market" wasn't all that common in the first place. It's probably less so now, because players rightly or wrongly seem to get their money first then demand out. But the benefit of signing mid to upper-tier FAs over extending players that are already under contract is that only one of those methods improves your team's talent. Aikman from 92-95 had 11 less passes thrown than Kelly from 90-93. Both had 11 starts. Aikman from 92-95 had a passer rating of 106. Kelly from 90-93 had a rating of 77. Aikman was a regular season dud who turned into a postseason stud. Kelly was the opposite.

Troy didn't have more INT's than TDs in the postseason. Troy in his 3 SB runs had 17 TD passes and 4 picks. Jim in his 4 SB runs had 13 TDs and 16 picks.

Really? Players we extended early. Josh Diggs Tre White Brown Is 50-50 a much better track record? There's also the point where Beane extending his own looks better for....Beane. Beane drafting Rousseau and paying him $20M AAV looks better to Terry than drafting Rousseau and letting him walk like Edmunds. Hell, look at the positive response our offseason has gotten from the national media. We spent like 90% of our money on paying guys who weren't even pending free agents and got like A- grades on how we improved the team lol

I really don't understand this concept ha. Bottom out to do what? Eventually have a QB prospect fall in your lap in the top 10? That's what they have, right now. Their cap situation SUCKS, no one can deny that. But it's getting easier .They aren't over the cap in 26 and they are basically free from a ton of their old money in 2027. To me this is such a drought era Bills loser concept. Being 2 years away from being 2 years away, we'll take a QB next time, we aren't ready yet etc etc. Trading guys like Chris Olave away to draft other talented players in the top 10 that will get infected by your loser franchise culture for 2-3 years until you try to find a QB.

To me, that’s why I’d definitely take him. You’re not going anywhere anyway for 2 years. You definitely don’t have your QB of the future for those 2 years and beyond. What do you have to lose? Sanders sucks and you win 2 games, so be it. Sanders is a solid rookie and you win 4 games, then fine. Sanders is like incredible and you win 7 or 8 then your future is brighter than it’s been since 2016.

No one wants to lay blame at Allen’s feet because it is legitimately unreasonable to expect more from him.

Didn’t Dak get votes in 23?

FWIW, @Gugny has wanted OJ’s name off the wall consistently for like 2 decades

Olave is a concussion away from retiring. How much would you give up for that kind of player?

They are gonna take Sanders if he slides to them and they should

Somehow both of these takes are true

My spicy take is that your take ain’t that spicy. Jim Kelly was a HoF choker. Its like Troy Aikman stole his ability come postseason a la Space Jam.

You know Dalvin didn’t hold out because he got paid, right?

From risk analysis yes of course. for moral compass, probably less so.

Perfect time to double dip on WR