Einstein's Dog

I could see him somewhat relieved to not have to cater so much to figuring out Diggs. But still a little nervous about the current state of the WR room. Obviously he should have some trust that the current pathetic state will change but how much? Going with rookies, while ensuring Josh as lead dog, is not the best, on paper solution.

Just say "No' to a rebuild and instead lets go for the reload. Beane somewhat brought this upon us by letting Diggs get under his skin. We shouldn't let Beane off the hook. Beane needs to produce- none of this rebuild nonsense. The playoffs can be a crapshoot, the more shots/years as a contender the better the odds of bringing home the big prize. Wasting a year of prime Josh is a terrible idea. Get a vet and one of the good second tier WRs. The vet replaces Diggs - J Jeff/B Aiyuk/DK Metcalf/C Godwin/DHop. I don't really like Sutton though. The rookie replaces G Davis with potential to evolve into a WR1. Then the beat goes on, the Bills are once again a contender. Diggs does not deserve to be a chapter ender. He is a player that filled the role of expensive WR1. That role should be replaced and the Bills as a contender should continue.

IMO, the D Smith contract does not kill hopes of trading for a star WR. Beane will/should seek a deal. Aiyuk may now be out of range but he was never a great deal IMO - Aiyuk was going to cost a bounty in draft capital and be a big cap cost. WRs near the end of their deals looking for big money while the teams they are with are looking for draft capital are not attractive IMO -so just say no to the J Jeff/B Aiyuk and B Aiyuk. To improve year over year what Beane/McD need is someone better than Diggs last year. So a Dhop/DK Metcalf/C Godwin/D Adams/maybe C Sutton are all in play. These are all WR's that might be had by trading a reasonable draft pick and picking up a veteran with a reasonable salary. I'm hoping the FO replaces Diggs with one of these type of vet options. I'm hoping they replace G Davis with the draft, no need to move up- maybe even move down and get a McConkey/Coleman/Franklin/Legette.

Wow, your chart screams rebuilding year which is something I thought the FO was trying to avoid. I don't expect to be running with that. You say "Unless there is a major trade up" which leaves out the trade option. The trade option is the most non-rebuilding option there is. The trade option is the safest method out there to replace Diggs - while hopefully leaving the draft to still get a G Davis replacement. The high end trade options of J Jeff or B Aiyuk are excellent Diggs upgrades but infringe on the rest of team development in draft capital and money. Then there are DHop/C Godwin/C Sutton types that could be had for a lot less yet still be looked at as Diggs replacements. Beane is not done yet.

But it doesn't have to be a young guy in order to win the division. Someone like DHop type could be a more affordable, less draft capital bridge. And then the Bills still take a WR in the first two rounds that is better than G Davis right away and has the possibility to ascend to WR1 status.

The Bucs might get a comp pick for Godwin in 2026 if they meet the vague, confusing guidelines. Small consideration. I am not sure what it would take but what I am confident in is that it would be considerably less than the draft capital and money for Aiyuk. Aiyuk is making waves, Diggs style, to get money. And SF is reluctantly investigating. On the other hand, Godwin is already under contract and Tampa would be considering moving him to due Godwin not being in their future plans. I like the idea of trading for a vet on a contract to a short term deal. That is less risky way to replace Diggs. I thought a 4th for DHop and his reasonable salary might be a good option. Seems like Godwin would require more, maybe the 2nd next year that we got for Diggs.

The dead money is a timing issue, it will go against Tampa at some time. Tampa has a hard decision coming up with C Godwin. Since Tampa just paid M Evans it probably is not in their plans to pay Godwin. Moving Godwin now they could get something for him. Getting Godwin is not a miss, it is a distinct strategy on how to replace the Diggs hole. It is an alternative to spending huge draft capital to get into the top 10 for one of the big 3 (which is still risky to hope they replace Diggs production in their rookie season).. It is an alternative to the give big draft capital and pay big amounts to the Aiyuk/Jefferson scenarios. Many, including myself, were hoping the original use of the draft was to replace G Davis.

The advantage of trading for a vet in this situation is you can adjust salary/cap in a variety of ways. The player is generally agreeable because they get more money this year as apposed to playing on their old salary. I like the idea of a veteran WR that, on paper should be as good (or better) than Diggs last year. Plus getting one of the second tier of WRs that could be considered the equal of G Davis right out of the gate, their rookie year (with the potential to be much more).

For me, if they could do a C Godwin or Dhop, I wouldn't mind if they traded down into the 2nd and still got one of the McConkey/Legette/Franklin/Coleman level and some additional picks. By the way - excellent addition of C Godwin into the mix, hadn't thought of that one. Interesting.

I'm hoping these are the two major avenues being explored: 1. The exciting option of bringing in of two fairly highly rated rookies slotted for the spots vacated by Diggs and Gabe. This would complete a transition to a young, Josh lead offensive team. It would downgrade our odds for 2024 though but would be thrilling to watch unfold. 2. Upgrade from last year at WR. Trade for one of J Jeff/B Aiyuk/T Higgins/D Adams/C Lamb/DHop as an upgrade on Diggs. Draft a WR fairly high (first two rounds) as an upgrade to G Davis. This would be more costly but would keep us as a top 5 contender status for 2024.

And info is very sketchy/unreliable on the intangibles - attitude/personality/demeanor/intelligence. I don't want another diva but it is hard to know without more information who those are. Makes the second round pickups a little more appealing to me - the McConkey/Coleman/Legette/Franklin crew.

No to Burks. He hasn't done anything. If Tenn wants to move someone because they want one of the big 3 WRs, I think we should send about a 4th or 5th and get DHop. Then trade down in the draft and get one of the non-diva types in the 2nd - McConkey/Legette/Coleman/Franklin.

There is one big option not listed - get a veteran (either FA or via trade) who can be considered an upgrade on Diggs, and then take a good non-diva WR in the second (who could be considered an improvement over Gabe). This would give us an attempt at upgrading year over year- not a rebuilding year. Veteran trade targets include high tier J Jefferson/B Aiyuk/DK Metcalf/DHop or a FA like OBJ is also possible. Non- divas in the second could be McConkey/Coleman/Legette/Franklin types

Hadn't thought of D Adams. Obviously would be excited but I think the addition of a WR that requires both a lot of draft capital and money is unlikely. The others in this category J Jefferson/Aiyuk/and Higgins. Getting one of these top WRs is great for 2024 but would hurt the fit/development/room of a rookie WR FA Veterans, or those on a short term deal, would pair well with a young good rookie that I would like to see the Bills try ad draft. Dhop shouldn't take much and could fit that description. He could be paired with standing still at 28 and taking a WR that could take a year to take over. OBJ as a veteran could come without draft capital, same with M Thomas - but those two are IMO worse than Diggs IMO. They could be paired with a move up to get BTJ though.

I would gladly take DHop for a 5th, but I don't think you are considering the salary's of the two. Keenan is a $20M underperformer, kind of like Diggs. DHop is a $13M WR outperforming his contract. Part of the value for trading for DHop is he has a desirable contract in place - although you would juice that up a bit but are able to craft it in a way that you like. Personally in terms of expected performance for next year, in my mind DHop > Diggs (at least in Buff, overall DHop = Diggs).

DK Metcalf has too many question marks. His salary is already too high IMO. He's in the J Jefferson range and J Jeff would be the much better player to get. I'm talking myself back into Dhop. He is great value at that $13M range - and I think he has much better hands than Metcalf. Dhop would be a great bridge as we develop someone like A Mitchell/Legette/Franklin/McConkey or Coleman. All those rookies are risky though (even BTJ) whereas DHop is a known commodity. Tenn has a high pick, number 7, I believe. Trading to get up there would take too much IMO. But Tenn may want to grab one of the big 3 and then unload DHop. The question would be what would it take draft capital wise.

What about DHop? A meager $13M salary. Plus the guy has hands. IMO he is currently better than Diggs. Drafting a WR is necessary. Relying on the rookie WR is risky.

You mean yet, at this point, up to now, on paper. It's a net-negative if no other move is made. I can agree with that but I don't think we're done. How quickly even the on-paper decision can change though. Obviously if J Jefferson is added, the Bills are on-paper better. I would go so far as to say even adding DHop or Aiyuk would make the Bills better on paper than what we expected with Diggs still on the team.

i would be disappointed with OBJ. That would be one move I would not like, out of a lot of scenarios that are exciting to me. One scenario, kind of a compromise, I just thought of that I like is - trade a 4th to Tenn for Dhop. And we extend his reasonable contract (I think he is like $12-13M) for another year. Tenn just brought in C Ridley and 1st rounder from last year. Then draft similar to how we would have with Diggs - get one of the WRs with potential in the first two rounds.

You left out a couple of options: 4. The extremely low percentage, but Einstein Dog special, move down from 28 and select two of McConkey/K Coleman/Legette/T Franklin/Worthy. Low percentage and this place would go nuts, but has its merits. You get two tries at the eager, Josh allegiant, culture fitting, cost controlled, piece for a young offensive juggernaut core that will be in place for years to come. Downside - uncertainty and downgraded odds for 2024 season. 5. Much higher percentage: Trade. The big splash move would obviously be J Jefferson. What a move. But there are also others, Aiyuk, or others we don't even know about like DK Metcalf.

I could find a way to excuse his pathetic lack of effort when the play wasn't going his way. Claiming it didn't matter,, though it irritated me and was a bad look. In part excused in my mind by his yet to be disclosed injury. But what about all the times Diggs took himself out on those 3rd downs? Even with my made up injury for Diggs I couldn't come up with a rational explanation for those. IF he was playing hurt why wouldn't he have timed it so he was in on 3rd downs. That's inexcusable in my mind. Brady had to want him out.

C'mon, Josh had Smoke Brown, Cole Beasley and they brought in Diggs and I think Gabe. Houston has Noah Brown, Nico Collins and now the older Diggs. Very comparable.

And while it might make heads explode with those 6 WRs all available at 28, We could trade down and still get 2!

I would have preferred trading him to Dallas for their first (#24). But I guess maybe Dallas didn't want to do that? And I don't get it. What is Dallas doing? They lost way more than they gained so far (Pollard/Gallup/T Smith all gone). Dallas is losing the in-state hype battle to Houston by a large margin. Dallas should have given us their first - jerks. So I think Houston probably gave us the best offer for Diggs. And if the OP is suggesting we should have taken a lesser offer for Diggs because we're scared of Houston, well that's just foolish.

It's not just the cost or picks for me. It's also being careful about attitude, fit/culture. In my other post I mention trying to move down a little to take two chances in this years WR pool - the McConkey/Coleman/Franklin/Legette. The double dip obviously increases the odds of hitting on one, and if you hit on both there is room available here. Going with rookies at WR while riskier has the reward of creating an offensive cost controlled juggernaut for 3-4 more years! A good base is already there. And with rookies in the fold, Josh is promoted to more of the leader role.