Chaos

Diggs was my second favorite Bill. From a pure asset management stand point maybe this was a right move (although we did not get a second back, we got a second minus a fifth and minus a sixth back) And the one given up was an earlier pick than the second is likely to be even round adjusted. But again, maybe the correct assett management decision. But its hard to see the Bills being better in 2024 than they were in the last couple of years. Given the personnel turnover on the Defense and coaching, plus this, it seems as though we are giving Beane/McDermott basically a complete second rebuild shot

Except for the old guys we are young every year.

Can the heading of the thread be updated to be accurate: "Diggs and picks traded to Texans for second round pick" ? Mixed is charitiable. But I think Beane is better than you give him credit for. Davis and Diggs 2024 performances might illustrate one way or the the other.

In real life, we should expect the Bills to trade this years first and next years two second round picks to trade with the Rams to get this star DT.

Bold 2024 prediction: Bills face Texans in the divisonal round of the playoffs. Josh Allen single handedly brings the team back twice from Q4 deficits. However the second time in the quarter he puts the Bills ahead by 6, he scored too fast, leaving a full minute on the clock. Texans come back to win on the last series with a Stroud to Diggs TD pass. We will have a long discussion how Brady and Allen need to learn to milk the clock to the last play of the game, because we can't expect the defense to hold any sort of lead in Q4 of a playoff game.

Both were handled the same way and for the exact same reason. Optimal decision for the Business's finanancial bottom line.

Part of football success is management, including player development. Teams that draft early every year, tend to change their management. Bills fans remain confused by the epic failure of not truly changing their management during the drought era. Most teams (including the current era Bills) are not Russ Brandon level incompetent. No need to worry about "rewarding" poorly managed teams.

What people call “lack of accuracy “ for Josh means “not alway perfect “. He is among the most accurate QBs in the NFL.

My understanding that there is dash cam video of him exiting the passenger side of the vehicle after the crash.

My understanding is he was a passenger. Why would his drinking or not drinking matter? I think it is legal to be a drunk passenger.

No. Most people understand the difference between a linebacker and a quarter in terms of risk / reward. Maybe someday everyone will grasp that.

Edmunds remains a cautionary tale on trading up.

For anyone confused, the likely historical comp is Jeff Fischer

Did not mean to suggest you were the one making the comparison. Just expressing my bafflement at why anyone would. The more common bafflement is comparing to drought era rosters teams who competed against the Brady led Patriots as relevant. Summary : Each fan has their own expectations. If you don't align on the expectations first, its impossible to have a rational discussion regarding whether or not to make coaching changes.

I am not saying McDermott should be fired I am not saying there is obviously a better coach to replace McDermott I am saying, I am sincerely baffled by why anyone would measure the Bills record under McDermott to the drought era Bills, Marvin Lewis, or Andy Reid or any other non-relevant data point. In all walks of life people's performance is measured against expectations. In the NFL 14/32 teams make the playoffs every year. If everything was exactly equal in a five year period a team would be expected to appear in the playoffs twice. Eight teams advance to the divisional round, so in a five year period, it would be expected to make the divisional round approximately once. So in a world where schedules and rosters are exactly even, the Bills have been very successful during the last five years. The math says that is not disputable. In the real world however rosters and schedules are not equal. Another bit of math that is not really disputable, is that the production from the QB position during the last five years by virtually all measures has been top 2 in the NFL. Its hard to determine the talent level on the roster as a measurable against other teams. For discussion purposes, lets say the Bills have had a top 10 roster (excluding QB position) over the last five year. So top 2 QB, top 10 roster, AFC east schedule during the last five years. What are the expectations for that situation. In my opinion it would be odd for the Bills to not win the division every year for the last five years, given the QB and roster we have had. McDermott has delivered on that expectation. But not much more than that. Question 1: What is the appropriate expecation for the Bills with Josh Allen and the type of roster the Bills have had over the last five years This question is the root cause of most arguments over McDermott. It is not really about McDermott. It's about the Bills delivering or not delivering on expectations. Much of the defense of McDermott is in the form of "your expectations are unrealistic, my expectations are realistic, and McDermott succeeds in meeting my lower expectations not your higher expectations." This is an entirely reasonable fan argument. But it does not provde the answer for question 2. Question 2: Would a different head coach meet, fall short of, or exceed the expecations, that I set for McDermott. Many McDermott defenders shift the bar dramatically when discussion the merits of a change. This type of argument is "a different head coach does not guarantee a super bowl". But I don't believe that is a reasonable argument. Personally I think most (not all) of the current NFL head coaches, would win the AFC east in 2024 with the Bills current roster. So if that is my expectation to measure success against, I think it is a low risk decision to make a change. Question 3: Do you ever raise the bar of expectation for the Bills to "winning a super bowl" or "playing in a super bowl"? This is a yes or no question For the fans who answer question 3 "no", I think they will likely be happy with either Sean McDermott or a different head coach. For those that answer question 3 "yes" we are led to question 4. Question 4: How many seasons do you keep trying to get to the super bowl with the same head coach, before making a change? From a purely historical perspective, despite the narrow-minded fans, McDermott has already been given a very long time. But that does not answer the question of how many seasons. (note if your answer is "infinite seasons", that means you answered question 3 as no, and question 4 is not relevant. )

So your saying it was a wise decision to hang on too Marvin Lewis for those losing seasons?

Only for Harrison

There is meaningful comparison. Due to Allen the bar of expectations for McDermott is higher. McDermott is unreasonably calling people narrow minded who want a higher bar than he wants. Maybe his lower bar is narrow minded.

Do you expect this new core to be better than the old core?

Why do you think there are multple windows? If there are multiple windows, why did window #1 close? Why is window #2 opening? What do you think will be different between window #1 and window #2?

Bills defense was a bit disappointing the entire season. Four of their worst efforts were in the first 9 weeks. Patriots, Broncos (12 men on the field being the seasons low point), Jaguars, Bengals games. The defense did let the team down in the playoffs as well. But that was not a new thing.

Well we finished top 8 again last year. Most any roster with Josh Allen at QB, is a top 8 roster. I think the real question is "Have we taken a step forward?"

Thank you for the feedback. I won't argue one by one, but it seems like the Chiefs have gaps at receiver, and in the secondary as much as the Bills, as well as issue on the offensive line.

It seems to me all teams have gaps in talents. Which teams do you think have fewer gaps?