Einstein's Dog

I think this year is a huge year for Cook. If the Bills are going to extend him it is easiest to do before his contract ends. But I think the Bills need to see continued improvement - catch rate, pass-pro and ball security. Also a factor might be his locker room presence, how he fits the culture and if he picks up more of a leadership position.

They seem to think Aiyuk is going to take a team friendly franchise tag? I don't know if SF really believes that - they double dipped at the draft 1st + 4th and just paid J Jennings $10M guaranteed over 2 years, $15M total.

It's not just a view from Madden that makes our WR room a huge downgrade - it's an opinion by a vast majority of impartial observers. We're going from a $22M + $13M WRs to $8M + $3M. Our top WR would be battling for the number 3 spot on numerous other teams - including two in our division. Yes, we were able to do well in the second half when Diggs + Davis weren't doing well - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to replace at least one of them with established top tier talent. I was hoping Beane would supply Brady with a full complement of offensive weapons. We have the underneath hands guys and badly need some outside boundary WRs. The idea of a rebuild when Josh is 28, really negatively affects my view Beane's job. This idea that we don't have a choice is ridiculous. And the cap situation is a direct result of prior moves Beane made. Like it or not? No, I don't like it. I'm still in denial.

Don't wait - a 1st and 4th for Metcalf. Bring in his $13M salary and immediately restructure to a $6M cap hit. Leaves about $7M for the season. Bring back Hyde in a low cost vet/coach role to bring our new safeties up to speed. Back to contender status!

My "literally 0% chance" quote was from the possibility to trade for a vet WR, which I am of course still hoping occurs. Although each day out decreases the odds. C'mon Beane. You make it sound like a trade for Diggs just fell into Beane's lap and he couldn't turn it down. I feel Beane was actively shopping Diggs. Remember the "Ready for watever" and "Well...." cryptic quotes from Diggs. Diggs knew something was up, Diggs had initiated it. IMO, Beane didn't do this on a lark. Josh wasn't blindsided. I've felt Beane had a plan. This is part of what makes it hard for me to accept - this is Beane's plan? The C Samuel/rookie Coleman/Shakir/Kincaid/Cook core?

Well you did say "literally 0% chance" which came across pretty conclusive. Now with each passing day your point is looking on more on target. Hard days for me to handle. I've felt the Bills weapons have been pretty good. And I've always followed Beane's logic. I could see giving G Davis a bigger role. I even could see Crowder and even McKenzie for bigger roles. And this year I was hoping for a bigger role from Shakir - or at least maintain the role he had at the end of the year to extend throughout the season, same with Kincaid. But I'm not on board with this year's moves. The idea that you go from Diggs/Davis/Shakir/Kincaid/Cook to C Samuel/rookie Coleman/Shakir/Kincaid/Cook is a shocking downgrade. My evaluation of Beane's work is primarily based on the off-season moves and their expected talent level for the upcoming season. As it stands, IMO, this is by far his worst off-season. Is he really going to do a rebuild in the middle of Josh's prime?

That would only be if Tua doesn't hold out now. It's now that Tua has the upper hand. Very risky IMO for Tua to go into this season without a mega-deal, he could easily get a career ending concussion. If the Fins play hard ball and don't cave, they won't have a QB this year worth anything and Tua will be at his same market value next year since he wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Ready for watever."

I agree, especially if Cook does not improve. While Cook had good 2023 numbers he didn't look special in the eye test. A lot of what he did was based on circumstances, being the RB1 for the team and having a better O line. I hope the FO gets back to the strategy of inexpensive RBs - and put those resources into WR (and of course the franchise QB).

I didn't address the draft compensation because your complaint was about cost. The Bills have an extra 2nd + 4th for 2025 so they have plenty of ammo. I think the Bills could offer up a 1st + 4th for either Metcalf or Aiyuk. They just fit the Bills current roster like gloves- bring the entire offseason moves together. It would create a young Phase 2 on the offense. Metcalf/K Coleman/Shakir /Samuel w Kincaid + Cook/Davis what a new core for several years. If Beane can't swing it for either of those 2, I would offer a 2nd to the Raiders for D Adams. Get him on a 2 year deal. If that doesn't work DHop for the late 2nd for 2 years. As to your earlier question to someone else I was worried about the doubling down with Franklin. He was there in the third. That would have been the rebuild way to go IMO. If the Bills don't do a trade for a vet WR, I will be wondering why Beane didn't do that.. At the time I was rooting against it because it would have signaled to me the end of the WR search.

Cap space is fluid, especially a year out. Remember the thread from tranplantbillsfan "$23 million in CAP in 2025 if no more moves as of 5/14". The point is a team should be able to afford an expensive QB, expensive WR1 and expensive LT. That has been a gold standard strategy that the Bills have applied.

Why can't the Bills pay market rates for a top tier WR? It's been an excellent working strategy to date. Just because they shipped Diggs out doesn't mean you abandon the winning strategy. The Bills have adopted an inexpensive RB room, in part to allocate funds to the WR. With a backloaded contract a WR like Aiyuk could be done. The Bills currently have very inexpensive offensive playmakers under contract for several years so having one expensive playmaker should be able to be budgeted. It had been in the past. Prices for good WRs is on the rise. Lets not shut down reasonable discussion of the Bills wide receiver situation just because you have a preset bias. You believe the Bills won't add a WR and can't afford it under the cap. I don't fully buy into Beane's off-season words, think the strategy all along has been to add one, and believe it is entirely possible cap-wise.

I'm with you, I'd much rather be looking at what Franklin could be than giving chances to the retreads of Claypool or MVS (and lets face it Hollins was never supposed to be a starting outside WR). For me, if they bring in a top tier WR via trade it all makes sense. Then you don't take two in that instance because it would conflict with the path/increased role for Shakir. The backup for K Coleman would be the versatile C Samuel - while not the same type of player you can adjust the offense until he develops. If they don't add a top tier WR, I am baffled and disappointed at the new direction.

Mortgaging or Investing? Getting a real WR1 for several years is team building. Getting an Aiyuk or Metcalf is not some band-aid, it's obtaining a bedrock core piece of Phase 2 of Josh's career. You're okay with D Adams or DHop who are much older? Those would be fallback positions IMO. They would solve the 2024 problem but would have 2026 questions. I don't know which ones are really available, just showing there seem to be options. It's Beane's job to bring one in. SF is acting like they are moving someone (drafted 2 WRs and just gave $10M guaranteed to J Jennings).

I would add any of Metcalf/Aiyuk/Sutton/D Adams/DHop.. No to BTJ. The addition of one of those takes the CB1 and safety and changes the way defenses will play us. This helps the rest of the offense which I think is pretty solid. The addition also moves down Hollins/MVS/Claypool.

I think adding a top tier WR changes the whole evaluation of the off-season offensive moves for the better. It takes the offensive talent to a different level. I believe the moves made allow for a WR and it would not be all in. They have the room for this WR for several years. There is an incredibly young core of offensive playmakers. Lets not forget that cap management is part of Beane's job. If he really opts to do this radical of a rebuild in Josh's prime, he should face the music.

It seems the majority of Bills fans do not think a good WR will be added. The love for Beane is deep and they cannot admit that it would be a huge stain on his resume if we go into a prime Josh season without a top 32 WR on the roster. On the flip side all the off-season moves come together into an excellent plan with just this one move. It's the linchpin move. It's the plan behind moving Diggs, why he didn't take any of the mediocre FA WRs, part of why he didn't double dip on WRs in the draft, why he didn't initially take all Josh money. Apparently, I am the only one who sees this. IMO Beane can continue to be a great GM, these are all things I would have done - I was rooting for them. But to not finish it off would result in a huge downgrade of my evaluation of Beane. June 3rd is Monday. It's coming. These type of ridiculous excuse threads will roll off the pages.

The above "they've shown they don't want to" is where I disagree with many here. What I see is a short term blip, over the long haul they do want good WRs. Their strategy is the sound strategy of paying a franchise QB, DE, WR1, LT - and there had been CB1. Just because they temporarily moved out their WR1 doesn't mean to me that they totally revised their strategy. Yes, the Bills had cap issues, but I don't think their idea is to take a year off from being contenders because of it. That would be a huge mea culpa and would be a massive stain on the resume of Beane. I don't think he ever intended to do that. It looks to me like Beane has fooled a lot of people. IMO, getting a top WR would not be kicking the can down the road. It would be in the form of a thought out plan. That plan has the room for around a $30M WR1. Look how inexpensive all the rest of the offensive playmakers are - and that they are covered through 2025 - Josh 4, K Coleman 4, Kincaid 4, Samuel 3, Shakir 2, Cook 2 with backups Davis 4 and Knox. The 2025 cap should not be a problem, it can handle a top tier WR, looks to me like that is a good fit. But why wait until 2025 when you can get a WR1 now. So if you get one for 2024 I would think the Bills would do it quickly after the Tre money comes in. Because if they want Metcalf or Aiyuk you want to get them before J Jefferson's contract hits which should reset the market. And if the Bills wanted to go big and get J Jefferson they would want to do that early also to put Miami (T Hill) and Cincy (J Chase) into chaos. Plus the Bills would need every available fund prior to being able to bring J Jeff's $19.7M cap hit. I'll be getting up early on Monday June 3rd.

I think/hope some of the Brady changes were to adapt to the personnel he had. I think Brady wanted to move away from the dependence on Diggs + Davis and rely more on the Kincaid/Shakir/Cook as the core of the offense. Brady did well with limited tools he had IMO. IMO, the strategy should not be to keep Brady working with a limited personnel but instead try and improve on the WRs. With this strategy you give Brady a better top tier WR, replace Davis with eventually K Coleman but while he learns you cover for him with Samuel. You slightly increase Shakir's involvement, at pretty much the level he had the second half of the season. And keep Kincaid at or a slight bit more than the second half of the season also.

A couple of comments for you. Yes, I believe you will hear it for a while, but in an instance above they were quoting the article by Florio. Florio's article came out after yours and was eerily similar. The person above didn't say Hill and Waddle, they said just Waddle was more than the Bills WR and TE combined (I'm not sure why they didn't throw in our inexpensive RB room but maybe they didn't have the $5M to spare). In my world that is another clue that a WR is on the way, the Bills entire current offensive playmaker budget is incredibly inexpensive - and is for 2025 as well. It could easily support one top tier WR IMO -and they should do it!

What? T Brady had M Evans and C Godwin - both expensive (along w Gronk) M Stafford had C Kupp and OBJ I think it would be wise for the Bills to invest in a good WR. Some teams are now doing the expensive QB/WR1/WR2 route like Philly. I don't know how they're going to do it. But I agree the Dolphins are going to be in trouble soon.

Yeah and to think many expect the Bills to not have any part of getting a top WR. Like the price will be coming down. Or they're not important. The market is full of comparables now, the amount a DK Metcalf or Aiyuk should get won't be too hard to figure out. These teams could be hurrying to get deals done because they fear the June 1st surge will notch up the level (see Collins and now Waddle). They may be right. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Bills give J Jefferson a record setting backloaded contract in a huge trade. A 1st, 2nd, and 4th might get it done.

Some responses: The question wasn't who will be the top WR, the question is who do you think is the top Bills WR now, going into the 2024 season? You avoided answering it, and it's easy to understand why, an answer of C Samuel or a second round rookie is embarrassingly bad. You are wrong when you say I wasn't a fan of K Coleman. I like the pick, just not as an immediate replacement for Diggs or Davis. I think K Coleman needs developmental time. You say the WR is set and it is *clearly* the course. Your definitive tone is just your bias on what you think is going to happen. Just like when you were shown the error of your "can't do it for cap reasons", your fuzzy math on targets is full of errors. And 6 WRs is a possibility, as well as one of your "locks" not making it (ie OJ Howard). I'm surprised by how many people think Beane will have done a good job if the top WR in 2024 is scheduled to be C Samuel.

With the continued news of J Jefferson and the rumors of trade still going on, I probably should not have overlooked your suggestion. J Jefferson was not extended by Minn, rumors floated that Minn wanted to move up and get Naber. J Jeff probably wouldn't mind leaving Minn and the rookie QB . Florio has stated Minn could be open to trading him if the offer is right. The Bills have an excellent trade history with Minnesota. Neither Florio or the Connor Orr article mention what the right offer is exactly. The Bills would need to unload draft capital, have around $20M to take J Jeff on, and then give J Jeff the biggest WR to date. All are theoretically possible. Give up a 1st and 2nd, have the Tre money + Josh restructure + Oliver restructure, then backload a massive contract for about 6 years. Wouldn't that be something.

My question is who do you consider the Bills best WR heading into the season? Not X or WR1, just the on-paper best WR the Bills have going into 2024. I can understand your apprehension in answering this question, because it doesn't bode well for Beane at this time. My point in saying Beaneologist is when I bring up actions that I consider signs, people respond with words from Beane. And those words are selected from a vast pool. And much like the Happydays example the ones they consider applicable are the ones they want/think are going to happen.