Einstein's Dog

You don't sign a J Jennings, Deebo, or even Cooks to play back up to Skyler. That's a problem if you want Bell to get PT. The Bills already have a veteran in front of Bell - Palmer. That's enough. Much like last year when they wanted to give Coleman the opportunity to take a starting job, the Bills need to have an avenue for Bell to get there - Cooks would cloud that future. You think Cooks earned Josh's trust - I didn't see it that way. Cooks was there by default and didn't earn coming back. You mention Cooks and Beane talking pre-draft if things didn't work out. But things did work out for the Bills, they got an excellent WR at great value - so, no need for Cooks. Play the youngster. The sooner they get chemistry for Josh-Bell the better. And I'm rooting for Burton to make the team - once again, signing Cooks is a detriment to that hope.

Huh, seems like we have a disconnect. How is having Cooks being an additional block for Skylar to get PT a good thing? Bringing back a declining waiver wire add WR is not a good look. I think you are confusing trust with usage. Cooks was the best of a bad group. And Cooks was not good. Have Josh get used to Bell (and hopefully Burton). Palmer is everything Cooks was (when healthy). But Palmer should be getting phased out - same with Coleman. Why add an additional WR that we would also want phased out Time for a total reset of the WR room (you had wished for this prior too). The sooner the WR room is DJ, Skylar, Shakir the better.

The problem with getting a deteorating Cook is that it infringes on the youngsters. Cooks would impede the PT of Bell (and Burton). The Bills invested and committed to their veteran WR in DJ, the rest should be emerging young ones. Palmer seems to be a mistake they need to ride out for another year, and should temporarily (hopefully) take the role you envision for Cooks - man the outside until he is beaten out by Bell (and Burton). What may have looked like Josh's trust may have been just the best of a motley crew, that was forced into action becauise the run game was not dominating (as it had in the regular season - which is normally why it's a bad philosophy to ride). And Cooks rarely delivered. Time to move on (IMO).

I'm with you two. I don't want Cooks signed, he would impede the PT of Bell. This is a new age, use who you drafted early. I am also pulling for Jermaine Burton. Would love to see legitimate talent push out Palmer and Coleman.

A lot of people will not credit McD for a lot of what happened. Often times it's not easy to move on from the team that does significantly better than predicted - ask B DaBoll. The Bills decided to move on from the streak-breaking QB and chose another one - both good decisions. Seems to be a sizable contingent here that are rooting against McD - no matter what. Some don't even want him getting another gig. I don't know how they got to that space, but to me McD came across as a great guy. Doesn't mean that I wanted to retain McD - I wanted a change in both offensive (more of an aerial attack) and defensive (less passive) philosophies. But I hope McD goes to an NFC team and I will root for him because I like what I read about him as a person.

While I agree there was luck involved in "streak breaking", credit McD for not settling for it. He decided against the incumbent QB that broke the streak (Tyrod). Contrast that with DaBoll who got NY to the playoffs and then extended D Jones. People claim it's all J Allen but if they didn't get J Allen they were going to get someone. So if Allen was gone, do you get to put in Lamar? McD was going to get someone and everyone seems to think they would not be a good, quality QB. I understand how the Jets and Dolphins would want him but I hope McD goes to someone else. First, I want to root for McD so I wouldn't want him in the division. Second I would like to see him someplace like Tampa and/or Dallas and be competitive right from the start.

I am hoping McD gets the Tampa job. They are not too far off and McD would be a great fit IMO. The Tampa D has stunk for a while and McD could clean it up (even though I haven't been a fan of the passive D). The division is there for the taking -on a regular basis really. Last year Seattle won it with Darnold, so Mayfield could do it. The overall strategy of the Bills had been to take many bits of the apple. They were doing that - but the losing in heartbreaking fashion seemed to doom the strategy. With some small differences in circumstances the Bills would have been in.

Maybe the Vikes go WR - and then trade us J Addison for a 3rd

Keon for Aiyuk works for me (if they can't unload Palmer).

For me Dunne's article seemed to be the ground work to get McD fired. And to do that Dunne didn't just keep it on football related concepts - which I can understand - wanting a more aggressive defense, wanting assets distributed more on offense, etc. Instead, Dunne went beyond to set up a firing - attacking McD as a person and setting out to make him look incompetent. And the hits seems to continue when given the chance - now some unsubstantiated "ballistic" concerns. Not necessary IMO. If this is linked back to Beane, I hope that would end him.

It wasn't just the "hit piece" material itself. It was the timing. The Bills had their backs against the wall at that time. It was the Dorsey firing year, and it seemed like a not so subtle directive that if they missed the playoffs - McD was going to be out. This piece seemed to be setting the tone for that scenario. As for missing the assignment, it seemed like that year - McD (and Dorsey) were doing everything they could to limit Josh's running. The thought at the time was Josh's career would be severely limited if he kept the rate of running he had been doing. The comparable was Cam Newton. When the playoffs were in question (and probably McD's tenure as the Bills coach), McD and J Brady unleashed the running of Josh to have the Bills climb back into the playoffs.

I was thinking of the more obvious sitation - McD thinking Josh's focus was being taken off the game and was being sidetracked by the house. This can (and does) happen at a lot of jobs.

The choice of words are certainly Dunne's. Below it says that Dunne said McD "went ballistic" - that is very opinionated. So lets not think that Dunne is unbiased.

You'll never consider McD a great coach? What if he gets the Tampa gig and gets them several rings? And that's with Mayfield at QB. As Bills fans we saw a lot of the things McD had to endure - the ridiculous marking of the ball at KC, the ridiculous INT call at Denver. With a few breaks McD's record could be a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I wanted the change because I want more offense - and a more pass oriented offense. And I didn't like the type of defense played. But I like the guy and will be rooting for him.

I would like to see Beane figure out a way to move Palmer. A long shot I know. Someone mentioned Titans. Or maybe Beane could get creative and do somthing like Palmer for Aiyuk. SF might be taking the Aiyuk thing personally and not wanting him to go to WA. The two FO's would figure out salary conversions. And the Bills would get higher compensation if Aiyuk never shows. Maybe work Palmer into my favorite of trading for J Addison. There had been some rumors of Addison going. And I don't know if throwing Palmer into the mix would make it cost even more or not. But a 3rd and Palmer for J Addison would work for me.