DrMaxPower

They kept the band together as long as they could. Unfortunately, 'that' iteration of the team is over. it's just a bummer that some quality players and good dudes never got over the KC hump and missed out on a Superbowl.

It kind of feels like McD has some new found confidence in their ability to coach up and play rookies/inexperienced players. All the defensive injuries lead to a bunch of players getting a baptism by fire and, for the most part, they filled in admirably. Maybe a small silver lining to last season. Nice to see them go full 'reset' and pull off the band-aid.

Wild that Seattle was on opposite ends of 2 of the worst trades in recent history. Adams trade was awful even if he'd been healthy. Such an overrated player.

I think it was also about development/stagnation. Alec Anderson has some talent. He needs a bigger role but was blocked on the roster.

In truth, this is pretty meaningless. How often does KC punt from deep in their end? Maybe 10 times a season? Still, why did it have to be the effing Chiefs?? Now I can't wish him well. Screw em all.

Those tended to be downfield and more like 'getting in the way'. I did appreciate the effort though. He was active. He is most certainly not a guy you set up off the tackles shoulder to block an end like Knox.

I think this explains the realities of the situation pretty well. Like it or not, people always look at the stats 1st. Knox's have obviously been underwhelming. I think most were expecting an increase in usage but it's been the opposite. The reality is there are very few true 'dual' TE's. Most lean heavily to either a blocking or receiving role. Dawson is in a pretty small group that can do both well. He's become a very good blocker and is a plus athlete for the position. He's certainly making more than his current role justifies but I think people are kidding themselves if they think he wouldn't get similar money as a FA. He'd be 10-14 mil all day.

I don't disagree with the idea of 3 guys being paid and 2 on rookie deals but I think the positions matter. Paying a tackle is going to cost close to double what a comparable guard will cost. I think it's hard to pay 2 tackles top shelf deals unless they are truly elite. I think Austin Jackson's draft position might inflate his value a bit. Shouldn't matter but I think it does to a degree. If we could get Brown done in the 10-12 M range, I'd do it. Gets to be a harder decision if that number starts floating higher.

He proved to be exactly what Beane hoped. Their patience was rewarded. He was an inexperienced and raw player with prototypical size and athleticism. He should still be ascending. The back injury certainly delayed things and lead to some questions but I think that's in the rear-view mirror now. I'd maybe wait a few week into the season, just to make sure there are no backslides but I'd be trying to get him on a reasonable deal. I also wouldn't be surprised if he bet on himself and waited out FA. He could get 15M+ with a similar or better season next year. I do think they will be making a decision on Dawkins vs Brown. I don't expect they will pay them both come 2025.

I don't really watch college football and am not much of draft 'guru' so looking for some feedback from those that are; I read that NIL and the transfer portal has massively reduced the number of underclassmen in the draft. There are only 58 this year, less than half of what has been typical recently and the lowest in over a decade. How badly has this hit the depth of the draft? Is this a deep class regardless? Everyone is excited about the number of picks we have but most are so late. Are we going to be picking guys in rounds 5/6/7 that would be UDFA's in prior years? I'm a little concerned that we won't be able to plug as many roster holes as we'd like.

I don't see any 'musts'. A few I'd like to see back if the price is right but would be OK with letting walk. Jones if the price is right. Had a good year but old. Floyd says he's chasing the money so likely ends up out of our price range. He really fell of a cliff in the 2nd half so I'm not ready to pay up. Dane is a really solid depth player. Low ceiling, high floor. I'd keep him near league min but the team has shown an ability to get productive play out of late round/UDFA corners. Dodson made a lot of progress this year but sort of the same deal as Dane - depth player at a position they've proven they can scout and develop I like Edwards as a 6th OL but it depends how much Anderson has developed. I think he's got potential. I'd bring back Rapp and Lewis on the cheap to prevent excessive turnover in the secondary. I'm assuming Poyer and Hyde are gone. I like Ty Johnson. He showed juice every opportunity. The biggest thing I want them to do is be strategic in who they sign in FA to try and ensure comp picks for Gabe and Epenessa.

It'd be a pretty crappy argument that ignores the overall body of work. You could make a better argument that this is the 2nd best team in the league. But sure, fire all the incompetent morons.

These threads are hilarious. I'm as disappointed as anybody but reading this forum, you'd swear we were in the middle of the drought. Our talent sucks, our GM is clueless, can't draft, wastes money in FA, our coaches are all incompetent, can't lead or make adjustments, etc. Yet every year, despite the incompetence of the entire organization, it's somehow a top 5 team. No, it's not all Josh. Believe it or not, it takes more than a QB. It's not easy to hill climb VS a dynasty. You'd think people would have learned that from the last 20 years of Patriots dominance. Everyone needs to do a better job. Coaches and front office. The hyperbolic 'everything sucks' criticism is totally over the top. The team needs incremental improvement in a couple areas and better luck.

Peter King had the following in his weekly column today; I think Buffalo GM Brandon Beane has some big decisions to make, maybe none bigger than what to do with Stefon Diggs. Diggs is 30. He’s due for a cap number of $27.9 million next year, which, for a player who didn’t have a 100-yard receiving day in the Bills’ last 13 games, is quite excessive. In fact, in the last 10 weeks of the season, Khalil Shakir had more receiving yards and touchdowns than Diggs—and it was Shakir who Josh Allen targeted on the biggest play of the season, Allen’s overthrow of him in the end zone near the end of the Kansas City playoff game. I expect the Bills to want to do major surgery on Diggs’ deal, and I expect Diggs to not be happy about it. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/fmia/news/fmia-conference-championships-brock-purdy-delivers-again-to-meet-mahomes-in-super-bowl?cid=fmiatw I'm not a contract expert. Do we have a leg to stand on in terms of forcing a renegotiation?

It's hard to understand WTF has happened to this guy. I really hope there was some hidden injury situation but it just doesn't make sense to me. All the swings/screens/hitches they ran to him felt like a desperate attempt to develop some engagement/buy in/effort. They are the last kind of play you'd run to a guy hiding an injury. If you have a WR on a reduced snap count due to being banged up, you make sure those snaps happen on critical 3rd downs. The number of time he checked out on 3rd down was maddening. I really hope somebody like Tim Graham is doing some digging because something is rotten and it's 1 of the biggest question marks coming out of another disappointing season.

If he's getting around like that in practice, I think he'll be fine for the game. Unlikely he's been needled up for practice. Add in the adrenaline of a big playoff game and I suspect you'll see him flying around on Sun.

Dane is a good, aggressive tackler. I expect him to match up well and have a solid game. Not worried about corner.

There has been a lot of smoke around Diggs having problems with some combination of McD/Josh/Dorsey/Bills Org for over a year now. When you combine that with what we are seeing on the field, both in terms of usage and productivity, it seems clear that something is rotting. Too many things are lining up in a bad way. If it wasn't for his contract, I'm about 98% sure he'd be gone after this year. I just hope that whatever it is, they can put it to bed for a bit and focus on a playoff run.

Agreed, though I'll give him partial credit for getting his nose dirty in the box. He's at least been active down low and made a few tackles and a couple punch outs. The guy that's been really killing me is Hyde. Feels like he hasn't made a play all year. He's always a step slow or a few inches short on the jump. With all due respect to a good dude who has given a lot of years of high quality service, he might be our worst starter right now. I'd rather see Lewis play. At least his legs aren't shot. Really too bad that these guys have hit the wall at the same time.