GASabresIUFan

How do we make this team better? Draft well (WR & Safety), continue to get younger, and hit on some cheap FAs like we did last year on Floyd

Morse already said he wants to come back next season. I don't see a long-term extension, but they could easily add another year

He is under contract for next season. I expect they'll extend him for a year or two, which if structured properly will lower his cap hit in 2024. I expect extensions for Dawkins, Taron Johnson, and maybe Morse.

I don't think that will be an issue. Milano and Benard will be back. Williams and Spector are under contract and acquitted themselves well. I suspect Dodson will also be re-signed. Given Milano's injury history, I expect at least 2 LBs on the practice squad, but the 5 players mentioned above give us the most talented and deepest LB room we have arguably had during the McBeane tenure.

I’d like to keep Brady at OC and get him the WRs he wants and needs in the draft. I’m against making any big splashes in free agency. I want to continue to make this roster younger and cheaper. I’m for bringing back Jones and Floyd on the DLine. Mostly my dream is for this team to stay mostly healthy for a change. A healthy Bills is a SB contending Bills.

If the Bills end up with Adonai it will be a Kincaid level pick. He was a key reason UGA won back to back championships. Brady will love him. He is a perfect combo of size, speed with good hands. He is exactly what this offense needs. Then grab Ladd McConkey later in the draft to add a great route runner with excellent hands and speed and we’ll be set at WR for the next 5-10 years.

Ok, except they were great against the Chiefs in the regular season. Then in the playoffs they were without starters Milano, White, Benford, and Benard and three other starters, Douglas, Johnson and Dodson were all playing hurt. Could those injuries have contributed to the bad performance?

Absolutely. The terrible contracts for Knox, Diggs and Miller are huge issues, but I think all 3 will probably be gone after 2025. After 2025 we can move on from all 3 with a cap savings of 44 million. I think we can get decent production from Knox and Diggs over the next 2 years.

I watched Brady tear apart the SEC while at LSU using WRs (Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase) at WR with Burrow as the QB. Those two stars had over 3300 yards receiving on 195 catches in 2019. They also had Edwards-Helaire at RB who ran well and caught over 450 yards out of the backfield (and 1400 yards rushing). It was truly the greatest college offense ever. Brady simply didn’t have the weapons to execute his offense properly. Diggs is no longer in the same universe as Jefferson and Chase and he was the best of the WR lot. The only pass catchers Brady trusts are Kincaid and Shakir. I honestly believe if Brady stays, he’ll lobby for a 1st pick WR with size and speed to make his offense go. I can also see him wanting a 2nd big WR as another TD threat. At LSU he used Terrance Marshall as the guy.

Others have made this point as well. I agree Tre is not a good tackler but he does bring other good things to a possible move to free safety such as coverage and ball hawking skills. He is also like Hyde, a very smart defender positionally.

That was certainly the case heading into last season. Jones, Miller, Settle, Phillips, Floyd, Poyer and Hyde certainly made it that way, but heading into next season many of those players will be gone. Hyde, Settle and Phillips are almost certainly gone. The youth movement centers around Benford, Benard, and Rousseau and should continue with new draftees at safety and along the D Line. The team as a whole is going to continue to get younger. McGovern, Brown and Torrance now anchor the O Line. New WRs will be drafted and Kincaid is now the starting TE. Cook is the starting RB. I think the only over 30 starters on offense are Diggs and Morse. (Dawkins will be 30 next year).

I thought that as well. However after watching Greg Tompsett video referenced elsewhere I feel much better about the cap situation. They are between 30-40 mill over the cap depending on how much the cap rises. Cutting Harty, Hines, Gilliam, White, Neal and a few others gets us toward the goal. Add some extensions and a little restructuring and your’re there.

This is one of the reasons I started the thread. So many people are screaming in other threads fire McD, fire Beane, we are in cap hell (we aren't), the offense sucks and the defense sucks etc.. However, when you put together a visual view of the roster, it reveals that Beane isn't an idiot, but has built a core of a very solid football team, which is getting younger again. In the last 3 drafts, he has added starters Rousseau, Brown, Cook, Benard, Shakir, Benford, Kincaid, and Torrence. He has 10 draft picks in 2024 to add more depth at WR, safety, and to fill other needs such as D Line.

He'll be 30 in June.

I've mentioned it in other threads, but I like how this team looks on paper heading into next season. Only looking at players under contract Offense: QB - Allen RB - Cook OLine - Brown, McGovern, Morse (Bates), Torrence, Dawkins TE - Kincaid, Knox, WR - Diggs, ?????, Shakir Defense: DLine - Oliver, Rousseau, Miller LB - Milano, Benard, Williams, Spector CB - Douglas, Benford, Johnson, White (if healthy and not cut) and Elam S - Poyer Players under contract who I think will be cut - Gilliam (FB), Harty (WR), Hamlin (S), Hines (RB), Doyle (LT), and Neal (CB). Others under contract - Van Denmark (T), Davidson (TE), Anderson (RT), Shorter (WR), Jonathan (DE) I think that's 11 very good to great (Allen) players on offense, which only needs another 2 WRs and some OLine depth. I'd also bring back Ty Johnson to back up Cook and draft an RB with one of our 3 6th Rd picks. On defense, there are 7 excellent starters (Oliver, Rousseau, Milano, Benard, Benford, Douglas, and Johnson), plus the ever capable Poyer (if he returns). We need another starting safety and help on the DLine, but these are not insurmountable issues, especially if Floyd and DaQuan Jones return and by some miracle, Tre White returns healthy. If White does return, would he be moved to Free Safety to replace Hyde? I love our depth at LB, especially if Dodson is also re-signed. This is the core of a very good football team that could be a SB contender with the right tweaks and some luck in the health department.

I think we need to get younger along the D line, especially if we bring back Floyd and Jones to go with Mille and let Epenesa walk. The only returning D Line under 30 are Oliver and Rousseau (and little-used Kingsley Jonathan).

He is going to stay the course because he has a good team and given the bad contract he gave Diggs, Knox, and Miller, we are kind of stuck. He should stay the course because the majority of his starting lineup is under contract and again, it's a good team. He needs to get help at safety, along the D Line and at WR, and depth at corner, but other than that his roster is in good shape.

Only Dodson, Jones, and Floyd should be brought back. OK maybe Dane Jackson. The rest, we thank you for your efforts for the Bills. Good luck with your future endeavors.

Poyer is probably returning and I’m ok with that. I’d add Gilliam to the cut list. I can’t imagine a reason to keep him on the roster for 2.2 million. Cutting him saves 1.9 million. In the video he mentions restructuring Morse. You can just as easily extend him another year. Honestly his play has warranted keeping him beyond next season. I add also advise not playing with the June 1 bull. All that does is add cap hit to 2025 for players you no longer have. I also agree with his 3 extensions.

We should be optimistic. On offense, we have a great QB in his prime, a very good OL with some excellent young players, and an excellent RB. Shakir is an emerging No. 3 and Kincaid is an emerging top pass-catching TE. On defense, we have good to excellent starters at most positions. Oliver and Rousseau are anchors of the D Line. We have better depth at LB than ever in Milano, Benard, Dodson, Williams, and Spector. We also have two good starting CBs in Benford and Douglas and possibly the best nickel back in the NFL in Taron Johnson. We also have under contract two aging but quality players in Diggs (WR) and Poyer (S). Depending on how Beane handles the cap, both should be back next season. This is a great base to work with that needs a starter at WR, a starter at S plus added depth in the D backfield, D Line, and WR. I'd also like to bring Floyd and DaQuan Jones back on the DLine for good depth.

As a fellow Bulldog backer, I think the plan should be to trade out of the first to the early 2nd rd picking up an extra 3rd and maybe a late 4th as well. I'd then use the early 2nd on Adonai Mitchell, and the late 2nd on Bullard (or other available safety). I'd have zero problem with grabbing Ladd in 3rd.

Fairburn at the Athletic says if we cut Diggs after June 1st we'd save $20 million in 2024 but get hit for $20 million in dead cap in 2025. That might be worth it. I agree with Neal. Cutting Martin doesn't move the needle for me. You can accomplish twice as much by dumping Gilliam. McGovern is young and did a solid job. Might as well extend him for 2 more years and lower his cap cost that way. Same goes for Douglas, especially if they move on from White. I'm not sure about Thompsett's restructuring amounts, but it's good to know it's possible to get under a cap and add some flexibility. To add more cheaper talent, I'd love to see Beane trade out of the first and get more draft capital. Buffalo currently has the 28th, 60th, 99th & 128th picks in the first 4 rounds. I'd like to see Beane trade out of the 1st rd and pick up at extra draft capital. For example, the Bills could trade our 28th pick to GB for their 1st 2nd rd pick (41), their 3rd (89 or 93), and a 4th rd pick (126). GB has 2 2nds, 2 3rds, and 2 4ths to play with. If the Bills made such a deal they'd have 2 2nds, 2 3rds, 2 4ths, 2 5th, 3 6ths and a 7th. I would like a higher 2nd than 41 to get the WR we need, my example is just to show what's possible.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap/ I’d suggest clicking on the above link to begin to see where Beane can find 50 million in cap savings. Diggs, Miller and Knox have terrible deals, but all have dead cap cost larger than their salaries. Unless restructured there is no savings to be had. White has a 16 mill salary but only a $10 mill dead cap. He is likely gone. Finding a way to restructure Diggs, Knox and Miller’s deals will go along way toward getting under the cap. Morse, Poyer, Harty, Gilliam, and Hines all carry much lower dead cap cost vs Salaries. Harty, Gilliam, and Hine will all be gone. I doubt Morse is let go, but extended to save cap. Poyer may also return. Moving on from White, Hines, Harty and Gilliam saves about 16 million. I wish Beane luck finding the rest of the needed cap savings.

Don’t let facts get in the way of an argument. If we follow his rationale, the Bills should fire McD, fire the coach who replaces him and then maybe we’ll win a SB with the coach after that 5 years after letting McD go. Geez that makes sense.

5 years and two coaches later.