Einstein's Dog

I would prefer Codrington then Hyde. I don't want to see a rookie in there, just too much pressure. I also would not want to see Shakir or T Johnson- I consider them too valuable at their other duties - Shakir as our WR and this might be a T Johnson type of game - the out of the backfield catching RB is a weakness for Denver. I also don't want to see someone who would consider it their number one job- ie Hardy or even Hamler. Thinking this is their opportunity to make a name for themselves, this can prompt them to make risky decisions that might not be in the teams best interest.

You've said the bolded in a couple of threads, but last year Miami was the 6 seed and went to KC and lost (the Bills were the 2 seed). I don't consider Miami to be much of a threat to the Bills for the foreseeable future. But I do see Miami being capable of making a run to be a wildcard team.

He's back. It was never a question in my mind. It's not just a game, it's a playoff game - and this is his job, his career, his trying to be part of the team and the community.

I think one of the excellent aspects that Beane/McDermott have done is keep Josh happy. To me, it looks like they have made it a priority and it shows. I don't foresee Josh going anywhere for almost 10 years - as it should be. I also don't see Jackson or Burrow going anywhere for a long time.

No, you don't have the same path each season. Each season is different. This season was a "retool". Highlighted by the obviously undermanned WR room. The expectations were the Bills were fighting for their playoff lives. And congratulations for trying to wedge in a new angle of paranoia. The totally manufactured and make believe idea that the soon to be MVP Josh is upset.

Even with an upset by Denver, the McDermott haters would probably not get what they want. The preseason expectation was playoffs or bust. Just because McDermott far exceeded regular season expectations I don't think management would hold that against him in the post season. While losing to Denver would be disappointing I don't think management would treat it as a reason to clean house.

You don't come back for the fans, you come back because it is your job. He does not deserve time, that's not how it works. He didn't accumulate sick days or PTO. It really doesn't matter what the reason for the personal time was. what matters is he is out there Sunday. And I am extremely confident Cooper will be out there Sunday. Cooper seems to take the team and the situation seriously, he is a professional. These are the playoffs. He will be out there.

I think Jamar will be looking for J Jefferson money. Which makes the Bengals problems even more severe.

I think you are seriously underestimating the cost of Jamar if you think he is signing for $25M.

Didn't Josh get one reception on 0 targets in the SF game?

I'm with you. People think the guy that played the KC game with a broken hand is going to miss a playoff game? C'mon.

And yet, here we are with A Cooper on a reasonable deal - unable to hold the Bills hostage. The point is, the Bills do have some control over the contracts of the players they get. Unfortunately the Bills need a top tier WR for next year. It's hard to get a non-diva top tier WR, so the Bills need to be careful. The D Adams/ T Hill/ S Diggs of the world need to be avoided. Maybe A Cooper if he shows a little more, or a big move for DK Metcalf.

I think in one way our losing to the Rams was a blessing in disguise. If the Bills had won, then KC would have needed this game and played their starters and probably won -giving us Cincy in the first round.

How quickly people forget Denver lost to Cincy. It's a break to get Denver instead of Cincy.

From a broader perspective though, Ravens added D Henry and have done worse this year. The Bills lost Diggs and have done better.

The point is to fill the boundary WR with a top tier talent. It's a harder position to fill than RB and is not cheap. To do that the Bills have generally used a value approach to the RB position. J Cook looks like he will want at least $8M/season. That could be allocated to the boundary WR. RBs are more easily replaced in the draft.

For me it's about choices. I have preferred the strategy of paying a top tier WR and not paying big money at RB. I would like a move for DK Metcalf over paying for J Cook. A succession strategy for value RBs could be one more year of J Cook along w R Davis and Ty Johnson. Grab another mid round RB. The RB room would then be done on a fantastic budget. Use the money saved in the RB room to pay for a top tier WR.

I think Amari is great for this year. The Bills needed a top tier WR and Amari is at the low end of those IMO. Still something the Bills needed. For the future though, I am hoping the FO still values top tier WRs and will pay to get one. Amari would be a consideration (a pretty cheap one) but as you mention above there are others. I am not a big T Higgins fan, but I am a big DK Metcalf fan.

A lot of us here were banging the drum for a top tier WR right from the start (you and I included). For Doc to think that the Houston game made Beane come to this realization seems a cheap shot. We all want the Bills to be Super Bowl contenders every year. But the outset of this year with the retool and Diggs drama, there was a drastically different feel (and yes, this was in large part due to Beane's actions). The "really lucky" part for Beane and Co this year seems to be the 4-2 start and winning the squeakers over NYJ and Miami, and the Division being an unexpectedly easy laugher. The plan seemed to be this was going to be a second half team - get a top tier WRmid-season, get Milano back (and maybe Hyde) and make a late run to save the jobs of McBeane. As for the Bills had no choice, I disagree. Beane had several choices D Johnson (looks like would have been a terrible choice now - released by Balt), D Adams (too much a diva in my book, and expensive), and DHop to name a few. It's possible Beane paid a little extra to outbid KC and get his choice of A Cooper (over DHop). Jury is still out on that move - but A Cooper is younger, saying the right things so far, and the future looks bright with him in a Bills uni.

Wow, this statement has so much I disagree with: Too late in the game? We still have another third of the season to go. Cooper should be totally integrated by the playoffs. Even with Diggs you think we needed 2 more outside guys? What? We needed to replace G Davis which they did with Coleman. Gross incompetence? How has it blown up? The Bills are sitting at 11-3, with a wrapped up home playoff spot. "Piss more asset management"? They got Cooper for pennies on the dollar. Upstream it was called "really lucky". With consideration to all the above bizarre takes it's hard for me to give much credence to your "Obviously it was an audible".

I don't know if you follow the Bills but they had a unique situation with one of their WRs - Diggs. He was a locker room cancer and a decision needed to be made on how to deal with his future. The FO decided to trade him. Trading him put the team into difficult cap constraints. So no, this was not business as usual. Any plan at that point was going to have drawbacks. What was yours?

Was it just "really lucky" out of Beane or was it his plan all along? You're suggesting he got this idea after the Houston game whereas I believe he had the outline of the plan in his head prior to letting Diggs go. Beane may not have known the exact WR but I tend to think he planned on getting one. The drafting of only 1 WR was a signal to me that the Diggs position was not going to be a full rebuild situation. The lame additions of Claypool and MVS were never serious candidates in most of our minds (with the exception of a few that the OP appealed to). If it hadn't been Cooper it easily could have been someone else. DHop/D Adams/D Johnson That's not luck, that's a choice.

What the OP doesn't give as an option is Hyde. The Bishop/Elam play time is more for future seasons. Nice to see get some game time this year but they aren't really factors in this years playoff plans. Hyde, on the other hand, has the potential to upgrade the team for this years playoffs. Would like to see him get some game time.

I think Beane will certainly be more careful. He might have taken a rental for the half year knowing the damage would be mitigated if they didn't work out. I think that is part of the A Cooper hesitation. Got to see how he fits and if he's real.

It is my contention that it was cap constraints that kept the top tier WR off the roster for so long. You think it was clear in game 1 now, even though that was one of the better "everyone eats" games? The C Samuel deal is not really relevant to the Diggs situation, it happened before him. MVS and Claypool were given very little money and were always viewed as stop gap measures. Cap constraints along with the monkey wrench that the Diggs situation brought in could make for an out of box solution. They didn't draft two rookie WRs and that was always a sign to me. They kept Hydes locker for him and that's another sign. 2024 season was done on an austerity budget with reinforcements coming in late, and yet McDermott has them sitting at 11 and 2.