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Pure speculation, but I thought the Bills would go after Barr. Jets will be tough competition since they also have a lot of cap space.

If Josh Allen can develop into a franchise type QB, it will help tremendously in the recruiting of free agents to Buffalo, including skill position players. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a chicken or the egg problem in that Allen's success likely will be in large part dependent on having a strong group of WRs, RBs and offensive lineman. As we approach the beginning of the free agency period, I will be happy if we sign some quality o-linemen (such as Daryl Williams and Mitch Morse), TE (such as Jesse James) and at least one veteran WR. We need these types of building blocks to move forward on offense and then we can add at least one WR, RB and OG in the draft. It would, at least, be a good start to fixing the offense and the Bills potentially becoming a more desirable destination for free agents in at least one of the categories that seems to matter (among others, including money), which is a having a young QB with potential to develop into a franchise QB.

This does not make a lot of sense to me on a bunch of levels. Hope we are not giving up much in terms of players or picks since we are going to have to pay Brown a lot of money for a renegotiated contract and we still have a lot of needs. Feels like a Bills type move from the Whaley era and prior eras. I will be really surprised if Beane decided to do something like this.

Losing to RPI last night was very disappointing. Unfortunately, rooting for Cornell usually results in the same feelings as being a Bills and Sabres fan.

Agree with you that time will tell. I do find it interesting that McD went for younger coaches across the board for his hires (OL, WR, QB coach and ST coordinator).

I understand this kind of a perspective, but experience can be a very positive attribute for coaches. I also don't think anyone is in favor of hiring a retread that has had limited or no success, but there were a number of assistant coaches and coordinators that were available who would have been good hires. I also understand that many coaches may not want to come to Buffalo for any number of reasons, including team or area related, so it is not only difficult to assess these hires but also how many potential candidates were interested in coming to Buffalo.

I am pretty underwhelmed by the new hires to the coaching staff. There were a lot of experienced assistant coaches and coordinators available after the season with all of the head coaching changes. Were these the most qualified assistant coaches that we could hire? Was Dorsey the best QB coach that was available to us? At this point, I am not sure if there is anything more important to the future success of the team than Allen's development. I also find the continuing reach back and connections to the Panthers a bit tiresome.

If the Bills were going to hire a current NFL assistant ST coach instead of someone who has experience as an NFL ST coordinator, is this the best choice from that group? I guess we will never know who they considered and interviewed, but you would think that many in the current group of assistant ST coaches on other teams would have been interested in a promotion to a coordinator position with the Bills.

Not suggesting that these departures were not warranted, but probably not a good look that McDermott has been hiring and firing assistant coaches and coordinators on a consistent basis in his first two years. Sprinkle in our history of firing head coaches after three years and assistant coaches/coordinators may also have concerns about their longevity with the Bills.

Keith Armstrong is one of the only names I have seen reported as having interviewed with the Bills (special teams coordinator). He signed with Tampa Bay.

One thing about this that I thought was strange is that I recall Allen said that only the Bills reached out to him after the release of the tweets. If other teams were interested in Allen, wouldn't they have reached out to Allen as well?

You have to think that McD would do this only if there was someone available that he was interested in. With all of the head coaches fired recently, I would expect the new o-line coach to be coming from one of those teams.

It will be interesting to see how many of the UDFAs remain on the roster and contribute after free agency and the draft. We had a lot of holes going into this season, and we did not have the money to fill these holes with free agents, leaving us with little choice but to use low cost/young player options.

We are in wait and see mode for both of our first round picks last year (Allen and Edmunds). Need to see significant improvement and development from both in year two.

Hard to argue with the stats. Allen will need to improve his accuracy to become a quality starter (or better) for the Bills, which we all had understood would need to happen when he was drafted. I hope his accuracy when pressured will improve as he gets more comfortable with the offense and improves his ability to recognize defenses/pressures. This does underscore the importance of making sure that we have the best possible coaches working with Allen to improve his accuracy since he is showing very good intangibles and rare athleticism and arm strength.

I think how competitive we will be next year (and the years that follow) will depend in large part on whether and how much Allen develops. He is still raw in many aspects of his game, so it may not be reasonable to expect that the Bills will be competitive (i.e., in the hunt for a playoff spot) next year, particularly since they also have a lot of holes to fill.

Allen certainly has shown flashes of talent, but I am wondering a bit about Edmunds. Gave up a valuable pick to move up to take him, and it seems players drafted after him are having outstanding rookie seasons (e.g., Vander Esch, Evans, and Ridley). I know he is very young, so hopefully he will continue to develop, but I am not sure he is a true MLB.

Agree that Allen is more athletic then I had expected, but he really needs to improve on his accuracy (as other posters have noted). We also need to see Allen play with a better o-line and wide receivers to get a better sense as to what we have with him. Can he get through his progressions and make good throwing decisions if he has the time? Can he understand the defenses and audible when necessary? With such a poor o-line in front of him, we are not able to get a sense of these things, and these are the things that will determine whether he will be a quality QB for the Bills in the long- term (along with improvements in his accuracy).

The o-line is really bad and we probably need upgrades at four positions on the o-line. Allen had no time to throw today and the running backs had no room to run.

Allen is a gamer and very athletic. It is a world of difference with him in the lineup. He made some great plays with his legs, made some very good throws and made some very poor throws. I understand that it may not be on Allen for this particular play and the Bills need to surround him with more talent, but he absolutely will need to become more accurate and consistent in the passing game to have long-term success as a starting QB in the NFL. I hope the Bills use all necessary resources to help develop Allen's skills, because he really does have a rare combination of talents and tremendous potential.

Allen has been running (both planned and unplanned) a lot more than he probably should. Worried that he is going to get injured if this continues.

One thing that is a significant change are the weather conditions that teams play in. With more domed stadiums, it seems that weather, at times the great equalizer, is becoming less of a factor. Poor weather conditions, particularly cold and snow, typically had more of a negative impact on offenses than defenses, and we are seeing fewer games being played in these conditions. The Bills defense has played well this year, but thank goodness we did not have to play the Saints, the Chiefs, the Steelers or the Rams.

We also have games coming up against the Jets, the Dolphins (2), the Lions and the Jaguars. This may help our defensive rankings since none of these teams are powerhouses on offense and some of these games may be played in cold weather conditions, which typically helps the defense.

Another guy on my fantasy team. I am having a very rough season not having Bell and with the injuries to Dalvin Cook and now Kupp.

Wouldn't the NFL owners challenge this interpretation of the CBA? Why would they cave on this point without at least attempting a challenge?