Billy Claude

Blame Beane for that, not McDermott. It wasn't McDermott who signed McCarron. In Beane's defense, the signing was widely praised when it happened and the standard go-to vet bridge QB at the time was Tyrod who was not a possibility for the Bills.

I agree. Allen was noticeably better after returning from the injury, once he had time to step back, process what was going wrong, and correct it. Outside of the Minnesota game, he was playing very poorly before the injury. The opponents pre-injury were stronger, but the split between his 2018 pre‑injury and post‑injury numbers makes the improvement obvious: Pre‑injury (6 games) Passing: 12.5/23.2 (54.0%), 139 yards, 0.33 TD, 0.83 INT, 3.5 sacks for 19.5 lost yards → 119.2 net passing yards Rushing: 5.8 carries, 25.8 yards, 0.50 TD, 0.67 fumbles, 0.17 lost Totals: 145.0 total net yards, 0.83 TD, 1.0 turnovers Post‑injury (6 games) Passing: 15.4/31.0 (51.9%), 203.6 yards, 1.0 TD, 1.2 INT, 1.2 sacks for 7.4 lost yards → 196.2 net passing yards Rushing: 9.0 carries, 79.3 yards, 0.8 TD, 0.67 fumbles, 0.17 lost Totals: 275.5 total net yards, 1.8 TD, 1.17 turnovers Outside of the Vikings game, Allen did not look good pre-injury and the trend was not really improving -- he had only 82 and 84 yards passing the two games before his injury. After the injury, everything improved—especially the total yards and sacks. His sacks per game dropped to one‑third of the pre‑injury rate, indicating he had a much better grasp of protections, reads, when to tuck and run, and when to get rid of the ball. The plan was always to sit Allen behind McCarron for half a season. Unfortunately, McCarron turned out to suck worse than Peterman in the preseason/camp and, of course, we know what happened with Peterman.

Agree, the actual competition was between McCarron and Peterman with the preference being McCarron. Unfortunately McCarron was much worse than expected. Allen was supposed to sit for a half a season just like Mayfield and Jackson did. Yes, it would have been a good idea for Allen to sit for a little bit. Allen played much better after sitting and watching Derek Anderson and Barkley for three games when he was injured.

I think this has to do with the lack of a promotion–relegation system, leading to a scarcity of available teams. The only way a city can obtain one of the very limited number of NFL franchises is by outbidding other cities through stadium subsidies or tax incentives. If a city with an existing team does not offer comparable support, the team can realistically threaten to relocate. By contrast, a team like Arsenal cannot realistically threaten to move to a place like for example Leeds. There would be no political support for subsidizing Arsenal since fans of other London clubs wouldn't care if Arsenal left, and it is unlikely that Leeds United supporters would switch their allegiance to Arsenal. Was Wimbledon the last major team to relocate? They were able to move to what was probably the only town in England without a long established club.

Folks are expecting way too much. There were 21 wide receivers picked in the fourth round in the last four drafts. The average rookie year production for these receivers was 15.6 receptions, 155 yards, and 0.8 touchdowns. The median production was 7 receptions, 64 yards and 0 touchdowns. Only three of these receivers had over 300 yards their rookie year: Amon-ra St. Brown (90 rec, 912 yds, 5 TD), Elic Aoyomanor (41, 515, 4), and Romeo Doubs (42, 425, 3). There were two more with over 200 yards their rookie year. Past performance is no guarantee of future results but anything over 200 yards would be a major success. I predict 15 receptions and 160 yards based purely on statistics.

I am surprised Tim Tebow hasn't gotten more support in this thread. I know his limitations were well known before the draft but has any other player matched his folk hero status in college? Also another player in the 2006 Rose Bowl, Reggie Bush. Drafted 2 and 3 the next year and both were with the Bills for a short time.

Bills opponents in the games Kincaid played last season were 87W and 117L or .426. Only two games were against teams that finished above 500 (both games were against New England). In the games Kincaid did not play, opponents were 49 and 36 or .576. Three had winning records and the other two teams finished 8 and 9. Kincaid playing helps the Bills but comparing games with and without Kincaid wildly exaggerates the affect.

Yes, they don't have PSLs in Europe because there would be round the clock protests and sustained boycotts if teams were to try it there.

So most likely the guy did the honorable thing. By retiring right away he doesn't get his money. The dishonorable thing would have been to purposely play like crap in training camp and get cut at the cutdown so that he gets his s signing bonus.

Bob McAdoo/Ernie Digregorio/Randy Smith Buffalo Braves Billy Martin/Reggie Jackson New York Yankees Kendall Gill/Nick Anderson Univ of Illionis Fightin' Illini Danny Briere/Chris Drury Buffalo Sabres Lebron James/Kyrie Irving/Matthew Dellavedova Cleveland Cavaliers (2014-15 and 2015-16) Josh Allen/Stefon Diggs/Tre White Buffalo Bills (2020 and 2021)

Oops, I misunderstood you. I thought you were implying the opposite, i.e., that it was unlikely that they had an open relationship because the husband hired a PI.

I think that story is has been largely debunked.

I agree with you that Beane is media savvy. A few years ago, I would have also agreed with you that he knows, but is not overly concerned with what is being said. However, this is no longer true these last two years as the pressure has ramped up.

If that was true he wouldn't have blown up at those guys from WGR. He also wouldn't be constantly leaking stories about how the Bills almost got this or that guy.

One aspect of McDermott's culture change was that he was able to squelch the constants leaks that the Bills had during the drought almost immediately. This is a very bad look that someone, I assume pretty high up in the Bills organization, felt that they needed to kick McDermott to make themselves look better.