FilthyBeast

I still can't fathom a reality where any team would make this team of trade and give this kind of guaranteed money out. Even if he was a true superstar (which he's not) why put your franchises entire future in this basket? What's going to be even more funny is if this guy ever takes the field again he's probably not going to look anything like the QB he was in Houston and/or suffer a serious season or career ending injury right out of the gate after not playing for so long. Shame on Cleveland for truly being desperate for relevance.

To be honest, we could fire McDermott in the next few years and then he follows his mentors path and wins a SB with his 2nd team. Nobody really knows. I think what he does this year though after the KC debacle and how this organization moves on as a whole will be very telling in terms of what his future will be in Buffalo anyway. Regarding Farwell - he should have been fired immediately to send a message, but he wasn't. And if he truly left it up to Frazier that also raises questions many questions as well.

If true this has to be very awkward for McDaniel (who is a very awkward cat to begin with). Just like all the Tua/Watson chatter last year. But at the end of the day a lot of us are 'Plan B' so to speak even in our professional jobs where the primary candidate declines an offer. Just how things work in life.

I agree with this but the biggest factor is it being a division opponent and how truly hard it is to win against the same team you play twice a year over and over. That's why it was so depressing how the Pats seemed to always sweep the Bills when both the Jets and Dolphins we able to beat them somewhat regularly during the Brady years. This is why getting 4 or more wins in division play this year will be truly be impressive given how every team has markedly improved on the paper with possibly the exception of the Pats.

I could see this as good fit for Mayfield especially if CMC can ever stay healthy for an entire season again. But you do wonder what Cleveland is asking for in return because since they have no leverage I'm guessing Carolina or anybody else possibly interested is not giving up anything more than a late round pick even if Mayfield is probably worth a bit more.

Agree, doesn't necessarily sound promising and doubt they would even have said anything publicly if it was something minor.

I know not everyone is a fan of PFF's metrics but I certainly wouldn't question this one and this is why he's here to 'close the deal' so to speak:

I'll be very surprised and impressed if we sweep the Dolphins yet again this year. Not saying they will be the better team if they spilt the series or somehow sweep the Bills but we all know Hill has been a big problem for this defense even with a healthy Tre White and that's not going to magically change just because Tua isn't wearing a Mahomes jersey. He just needs to prove he can get him the ball. Where I do think they may turn the corner is on defense and they showed glimpses of that in the 2nd matchup last year. And considering we play them early in the season again this year with our oline that may take time to gel with new faces/blocking scheme that's where I see the Bills most vulnerable in that week 3 matchup down there.

People keep saying this but big difference between a 5th round QB that was never expected to amount to much and was a complete dumpster fire in the handful of NFL games he started vs a top 5 overall pick who has actually shown flashes his first few years and is now entering a pivotal 3rd season with the best compliment of players he's had around him. At the end of the day though nothing is guaranteed and Tua could still crash and burn this year.

If he doesn't make the final roster this year (and I don't believe he will) than yes I think he's cut and won't be brought back to PS squad either if Beane/McD/etc feel he's just not going to pan out here.

Yes and I've been 100% transparent about that if anything because I feel the '13 seconds' debacle is a microcosm of his coaching shortcomings over his 5 year body of work in Buffalo. Obviously I would love to be wrong and that may still happen but it's the 'attention to detail' so to speak that just isn't there with McDermott or his staff in crucial big moments despite JA17 now currently owning the highest passer rating in postseason history based on minimum attempts which is also very telling.

Tua has a better arm than some want to believe but he's a very precision accurate passer especially in the short/intermediate game which is why he completes a high rate of passes. In fact the more I think about it he reminds me a lot of Drew Brees in his early Chargers years (who ironically the Dolphins also tried to trade for years ago) in which there were questions about his arm strength and long time viability and why they ultimately moved on from him and drafted Rivers. Brees is a HOFer who has a SB ring and in the top 10 all time of just about every major NFL passing record so if Tua follows a similar path he'll be just fine.

And this is what makes no sense. McDermott had to have made the final decision or it brings even more question to his coaching ability and long term viability. But if it was Farwell or Bass that screwed up the actual execution (assuming a squib kick was supposed to happen) why be so secretive and vague about it?

Agree but it's more of the exception and not the rule, especially because of Brady being the GOAT in the Pats case. He covered up for a lot of deficiencies and questionable draft picks through the years. In the case of the Steelers they have always been among the top drafting teams especially the guys they find on defense which helps offset all the big names they pass on resigning through the years. The cupboard has always been restocked so to speak.

No way, personally I'd pull the trigger after this year especially if this team fails to come close to expectations and doesn't win the division and/or is bounced in the first round of the playoffs. But again, going back to the idea of not wasting Allen's prime years/current contract i think after the 2023 season would be absolute longest you wait since that would be 7 years with McDermott and no SB win if that's the scenario that plays out. Exactly, it'd be the desired outcome obviously I'm just not it's going to happen especially after the way last year ended....

There's no way the Pegula's are going to sit around during Allen's primes years when the big time money in his contract kicks in and be content with just getting to the playoffs under McDermott. At some point both sides will realize it's time to move on even if it's done under the guise of 'McDermott deciding to resign' instead publicly being fired.

The salary cap is real but a good analogy I saw a while back from one of the NFL talking heads is the secret ingredient is ownership in terms of what ones actually want to spend their money vs the ones that don't and I think that applies perfectly to Buffalo when looking at the current situation with the Pegula's vs the previous ownership under the late Ralph Wilson. And even when big money was handed out by the previous regimes in most cases it was the wrong move (i.e. Fitzpatrick extension). But make no mistake about it, even with a team like the Rams going all out the last few years they will eventually pay the piper and their owner, GM, etc have not been shy about that especially after securing a lombardi trophy earlier this year and the expectation they are competing for another this season.

It's certainly debatable since both have been to a SB with the former getting their twice and finally winning. Shanahan specifically is intriguing considering the success he has had in SF without an elite QB, leaning more on defense even though he's an offensive minded coach. This is why I keep telling people that if for some reason we did dump McDermott if he can't get to a SB or win it this year, we'd instantly be the premier destination with any big name coach begging us for the job because of one reason (JA17). Not like years past where we are happy to land any retread possible interested in being the HC for an irrelevant franchise.

There is some truth to this but I still think Brady and the Pats would have had similar success even with better QBs/coaches in the division from 2001 - 2019 simply because 6 world titles and nearly 20 division titles aren't a fluke no matter which way you slice it.

Not necessarily the same thing since we didn't win any championships with that group but I get where you're coming from on this.

Probably the same thing a lot of Browns fans will and realize it's pretty much a death knell to the franchise. This just shows the fine line between a fluke and real success (in terms of looking at the trajectory of the Bills and Browns the last few years). Browns are so desperate to stay relevant after ending their own extensive playoff drought a few years ago they didn't want to believe it may have been a fluke so they essentially made a deal with the devil so to speak in terms of what they gave up for Watson both in draft capital and contract wise. And I still think it's ridiculous as I don't view Watson as a clear massive upgrade over Mayfield which many seem to think is the case. Not arguing he's not better because he is but considering the aforementioned cost and the baggage that's clearly not going away it's truly a head scratcher.

Not going to lie, in some ways the Bills recent success (specifically back to back AFCE titles) does feel a bit hollow since we did this post Brady and in a watered down division as a whole. And this is another criticism of McDermott (and JA17 to a certain degree) is that they were never able to beat the Pats with Brady as their QB. Yes winning 4 of the last 5 including a dominant win against them in the playoffs is great but we all know it's not the same Pats team that was dominating the conference and league the greater part of the previous two decades.

Yes 100%, probably even more so because he's responsible for the only championship in franchise history in Philly. I think the Jaguars are going to take a massive step this year too with him down there. Maybe not playoffs just yet but they will be a factor and probably can win 7 or 8 games. That's why for all the shortcomings and lowlights McDermott has so far in his career, if he can coach this team to a SB win he'd be legendary and nobody will care about '13 seconds' or anything else.

It's basically what we did with Von Miller and essentially a 2 year deal for Donald and both sides can walk away after that without any penalty. Rams have not been shy about their intentions of winning in the short term even if they end up picking #1 overall in the next 5 years which is a distinct possibility but McVay, Snead and all their current core players will be long gone by then anyway.

He's a SB winning head coach and that matters so I would also put him in the top 10 and above McD for that reason alone. Also when you consider what a circus the Dallas front office is with Jerry Jones at the helm it's still a big deal that he got the Cowboys back to the playoffs and won the division last year regardless of getting bounced in the first round.