FireChans

I have every confidence in the world that Hamlin will not be a Bill next season.

Because he also sucks. Credit to Hamlin, he beat out the rest of a bad bunch.

Feel like we have had a roster spot saved for a plodding LB since forever. There's always one dude who makes the team who can no longer run.

And Rex would’ve been made coach for life. Reggie Bush saved us from that nightmare.

100%. CFB has completely changed imo for the better. Some folks love the dynasty thing or love to hate the dynasty thing. The last 3-4 weeks of CFB with upsets, rivalry games that matter, and teams in the playoff push has been awesome. Folks hated the 12 team playoff because it made the regular season more meaningless. Ask teams that are scratching and clawing for playoff spots if the regular season was meaningless. The true meaningless regular season was when UGA vs Bama basically decided what SEC team made the playoff because the rest of the year they played Atlanta Community College or teams in their conference that had no shot to compete without similar talent. The old HC's hate it because the game as changed. The new, young coaches will adapt or die and the world will keep spinning and CFB will continue to be awesome.

Oh goodness gracious. Josh is the 14th highest paid QB in the NFL right now. Has he outplayed that deal? Does he deserve to be paid among the best in the league which he is not paid at compared to the other guys at the time? There are other QB's making $17M more than he is per season right now. Do you know why Beane hasn't given him a massive raise? Because he doesn't have to. It was the same with Diggs. Feel free to live in a world where its not an NFL GM's fault for eating a gigantic cap hit of dead money of a contract extension he didn't have to do in which the player didn't play a single snap lol.

Diggs was under contract for TWO MORE YEARS. He had no leverage. Beane didn't give Josh a massive raise because Tua and Burrow got paid. It was a bad deal on Beane's part. No one could have seen this coming is factually not true. Some people liked the Spencer Brown extension. Some folks hated it. If Spencer Brown plays at a really high level for the next couple years, Beane will get a lot of credit. If he flames out and his chronic back injuries resurface, Beane will get a lot of blame. That's the game.

Because the guys they brought in to replace him also sucked? Here's the scenario. Hamlin knows the defense because he's been here a while, he's cheap but he sucks. The Bills draft a safety in the second round and bring in an FA who has started at a decent level in the NFL in Mike Edwards. The rookie gets hurt and isn't ready. Edwards sucks more than Hamlim. Hamlin starts by default. Hamlin still sucks. The guys they brought in to challenge him sucked more. So they bring in a semi-retired vet with his head falling off to replace him because they actually think he may be better.

Are we acting like Diggs didn't get a big money extension and demand a trade right after to end up in Buffalo in the first place? You are conflating two very different situations. Giving Diggs an extension was a calculated risk that blew up in Beane's face because he had a known track record of forcing his way out of town even after getting paid. Giving Von a gigantic contract when he was 1000 years old was a calculated risk that blew up in Beane's face because he was a larger injury risk. Giving a player that his earned an extension then that player inexplicably turning into a terrible player is far different. Ultimately, its a results business. You are acting like no one could have seen Von getting hurt or Diggs becoming a cancer (again). You are welcome to read through those threads when those moves were announced. Some loved them and some thought they were mistakes. Beane owns the result. Like every other GM does. Everything he does is his fault, positively or negatively. He doesn't get a pass because he had decent logic behind the idea. Just like no other GM does either. If big splashes are failures, they are failures that he, as the GM, wears.

I have no problem if you disagree. Don't think that makes you a "homer." Being afraid to have a take is what I take issue with lol. Calling a hypothetical situation "pretend kid stuff," after engaging in it for 2 pages because he's afraid to go on record is a coward move. Here's all the "pretend kid stuff" that @NewEra was just so above engaging in. Waste of time to even talk about. So childish. Lol. I guess a hypothetical of "if the Niners played in the AFC" isn't playing pretend in the sand, but "how would the Bills do if Shanny was the coach" is basically having an imaginary friend.

Meh. I have a hard time believing it was "we are aligned on everything except how often we give our running back the ball" causing their level of strife. Like I said, we all agree that Daboll had fundamental disagreements with McD about the offense. Where that starts and stops will probably be unknown. I find it difficult to believe that the OC that he was basically not on speaking terms with towards the end of his tenure was aligned with the HC's philosophy. I don't know how much McD agreed or disagreed with Daboll's offensive design. Would it surprise me if McD pushed for simpler reads for Josh and Daboll said no? It would not. Would it surprise me if McD has wanted to play ball-control with Josh as his QB for his entire tenure here? It would not. Things that we know: Daboll's pass heavy, don't take the ball out of Josh's hands offense was not McD's favorite strategy and is likely the biggest reason they have a frosty relationship. Dorsey's high to low, high variance offense got him fired. Brady's ball control, feed the running back offense for the last 10 games of the year in 2023 secured him the OC job with virtually zero competition. So yeah, respect the opinion that McD was very nurturing about Josh going out there and slinging it when Josh was developing. Not sure I agree, because of basically every other aspect about McD's influence on the offense that is proven to be the complete opposite of that. That would basically be a complete regression of offensive philosophy and honestly a black mark on McD that he has gotten tighter and more conservative and less understanding of the Lambo in his garage. If you think McD was all aboard the Daboll offense and has now gone the opposite way, he probably should go lol.

I’m not saying I don’t understand why he gave him the extension. I know exactly why he did. He wanted to reward a guy with a reputation of being volatile so he didn’t become disgruntled. And he went against the philosophy that every single player outside of Josh Allen was treated with, “no extensions with more than 1 year left on your current deal.” He was wrong. He misplayed it and Diggs became disgruntled anyway. You are trying to say because he had his reasons, he is blameless. He is not. No GM in the NFL who gives a gigantic extension and then trades that player, accumulating the highest non-QB dead hit is blameless. If the Cardinals gave some random dude $70M in guaranteed and cut him before he played a snap, their GM would get killed. Rightfully so. Their job is to be right.

You can’t see a gigantic Xavier Worthy 60 yard TD in the playoffs with Hamlin 8 yards behind him just out of frame? You are a more well-adjusted fan than me.

Fair enough. I know you have some inside info, but I’m not sure what you say tracks with what we have seen from Dabs/McD’s dynamic. My understanding is their rift stemmed from their fundamental disagreement on how the offense should’ve been run. I find it far-fetched that they were lockstep on how to develop/design an offense around Josh in 2018 to wanting to kill each other by 2021. Maybe McD completely changed his offensive philosophy once Josh “arrived” in 2020, but I find that unlikely. I think it’s more likely that McD is getting retroactive credit for things that Daboll did that he probably disagreed with at a certain level.

And if Beane doesn’t give him a giant extension 2 years early, we don’t have a gigantic dead money cap hit.

Who do you think has been the worst player on the defense

Why? They are currently a bottom 10 defense. And they are led by a QB who historically has played TERRIBLE in the playoffs. Lamar has a 2-4 record in the playoffs with 9 TD’s, 6 INT’s and 6 fumbles. We saw a better version of this Ravens team get embarrassed by the Chiefs last year. The Ravens are not a contender if the Bills aren’t.

Diggs had 2 years left on his deal. The only players that Beane gave a big money extension to with 2 years+ left on their deals was Josh and Diggs. One is our franchise QB for 15+ years. The other was a disgruntle-prone WR with a history of forcing himself off teams in the past. Diggs did not deserve an extension. He was given one to keep him happy, and it eliminated any motivation for him to keep being a good soldier. Beane played with fire in the form of a volatile WR, and got burned. Diggs didn’t play a single snap on his extension, and Beane has to own that mistake. What do you specifically think McDermott did to develop Josh? Do you think he broke down his mechanics and helped clean up his footwork? I think McD hired the guys who did that. And kudos to him for doing so. But there’s a difference when you are the guy who DOES that or the guy who hires the right guys to do that.

The same LaFleur that has gotten mortified in the playoffs with Rodgers?

Feel like we are getting somewhere now.

IMO, if you don’t think the Bills are contenders that basically means you think the only AFC SB contender is KC. That’s wild.

Why do you think they signed him?

So hostile. It’s okay bro. It will be our little secret.

Okay. Just go on record. Do you think Shanahan and Josh from 2020-2024 would’ve had more success than McD and Josh from 2020-2024? Sure, no one can prove it. does that mean we can’t discuss it? lol. Very odd take. My suspicion is that you kind of agree, but you’re afraid to admit it. It’s okay bro. It won’t make you a bad Bills fan to think someone could have POSSIBLY done a better job than McDermott.

I’m ASKING you the question. I don’t think McD would have. Do you? To your second question? If he had Josh Allen at QB, yes I think it’s possible. That’s the point lol. I think Shanny would ABSOLUTELY have at least one SB appearance. Maybe 1-2 playoff losses to the Chiefs.