BillsFanForever19

While I think people are generally overlooking Michael Hoecht - this idea that "Our upgrades at DL are suspended 6 weeks" isn't true. Especially along the Interior. T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker is where the major improvements were made. Larry Ogunjobi is an upgrade over some of the depth we had. But I don't think anyone's looking at him as the real game changer among those three additions. And like I said, I expect bigger things out of Hoecht than was thought when we signed him - especially after the impressive off-season he had. And we'll be better when he is in the lineup. But Bosa is where the major upgrade is. The only "wild card" about Bosa is whether or not he can stay healthy. And there's also Landon Jackson, who was hot and cold in the Pre-Season. All this to say we made 6 additions along the Defensive Line to improve it. We have 4 of those 6 on hand now and they're most of where the improvements are expected to come from.

Not surprising. Beane calls on everything. Even if he knows it isn't something doable. Bc you don't want to be the team looking back saying "sheesh - that's all it took? I would have done that". But as is the case most of the time and was clearly the case here, it was probably a "what are you looking for and what's he looking for?" and then an "okay, let me know if that changes, thanks for your time". Even if we could come up with that kind of money to take on Parsons' current deal and then signed him to the deal Green Bay did (which would take some Olympic level cap gymnastics) - we still would have had to beat their offer of 2 1sts (when their picks are thought to be marginally better than ours) and Kenny Clark (who is probably worth more to the Cowboys than Ed Oliver). Then if we were able to do all that, we'd be *so* up against the cap, we'd need to rely on our Draft Picks for replacements - which after this year includes 19 of our 53, 7 of which starters. And we wouldn't be picking before around Pick 60 the next two seasons. It just wasn't feasible. And that's why it was only "explored".

Not only are they not signing someone to the 53 to bring up 3, not only are they not bringing up a DT - they aren't bringing up a CB either. DT isn't a surprise as I've always said 4 DT's are enough and Carter would have been inactive anyways. Relying on just Christian Benford, Dorian Strong, and Ja'Marcus Ingram on the Outside is a bit of surprise though. But I'm guessing they feel like they can use Cam Lewis on the Outside if someone gets hurt. Kendrick Green makes sense as they probably feel SVPG isn't ready to throw into the lineup so soon from injury, if Connor McGovern gets dinged up.

I think if Prater is Perfect in his stead, it will be hard for them to justify pulling him out for Bass coming off injury. If Prater starts missing kicks and Bass is ready to go, he'll be back.

At least his 6th Round Insurance Policy immediately made up for it and he was able to get something out of the mistake. We got a 5th this year and a 7th next year. We turned that 5th into Jordan Hancock - who looked very impressive and could very well become a Starter as soon as next season as a Nickel or a Safety.

We do. We signed Matt Prater to the Practice Squad. He'll replace Bass until or if he's ready to come back. Just haven't put him on the Active Roster yet bc they can elevate him from the PS this week and put him on the roster next week and this avoids having his contract guaranteed for the whole season.

Yes, that was your point. But that isn't what's happened. There was no corresponding signing to the 53 as is the norm when someone goes to IR. Just Bass to IR. We can only elevate two players. There needs to be a signing for all 3 to happen. And as of now, it appears they just decided to IR Bass now and add Prater to that roster spot, but after this week so his contract isn't fully guaranteed for the whole year. Again, I believe Carter would have been inactive anyways even if he were healthy. So there's no need to elevate a DT. If they felt they needed one, they'd have brought up Logue instead of Franklin for ST. Things could change, but right now all they've done is move Bass to IR.

I agree that big time injuries at the worst times cost us games against the Chiefs. Even the :13 second game, I feel a healthy Tre White would have made the difference between winning and losing. But while having Benford and Rapp may have gotten us to the Super Bowl, we still wouldn't have won against that Eagles team and the kind of game they were playing. Ultimately, I wasn't as upset as others about the Chiefs loss. Given the kind of soft rebuild team we had last season - I think it's a miracle we were able to make it to where we did. But that team wasn't built to take on the kind of Offense and Defense that the Eagles had.

Yes and no. Your overall point was they can't afford to wait to put Bass on IR because they'll need to sign someone to the roster as they'll need a K, CB, and DT. But unlike most IR moves, there was no corresponding move. Just Bass to IR. My point was they're going to elevate Prater from the PS this week, so as to not guarantee his contract for the full season. And that if they felt they needed a DT, CB, and K instead of just a CB and K - they'd have used Carter's spot for a DT instead of Franklin. As of now, I believe what I said to still be true. They're going to elevate Prater from the PS this week and after this week, they'll sign him for the spot they opened up by putting Bass on IR now. I assumed they'd just make him inactive but there must be a financial benefit to having him on IR now instead. I still maintain that Carter would have most likely been inactive on Sunday, so his injury doesn't require a call up. Dane Jackson and Matt Prater will be out call-ups and we'll be good to go with Prater signing after the week is over. If a signing is announced between now and Sunday, than you're right. But as of now, you're both right and wrong.

This doesn't surprise me. Him signing with the Raiders in the first place did. From everything I was seeing last season and the scuttlebutt coming out from anonymous sources (probably from within our building) - he was done with Football. My guess is the signing was a Kyle Orton situation. The money and the opportunity seemed too good to pass on. But unlike Kyle, he got in the building and realized he couldn't tough through it for the money even for one more year.

I don't disagree that's it's played out But if you look at the original Sam Franklin signing post, there's a ton of that same comment. But the Chiefs fan says it and it was like "get 'em!". Kind of felt like a "I can make that joke, but you're not allowed to" scenario.

I don't think it will be an issue. Carter likely would have been inactive anyways. They've known about the injuries they're facing and chose to sign Sam Franklin to the roster. If they felt they needed 3 elevations, I think they would have signed one of Phillips/Logue or Jackson instead of Franklin.

So is this a Bills fan version of one of those "I can make that joke, you can't" situations? @Billl just doing the same joke countless others on this board do when a Panther move happens.

Starting to think that too. I think they either pushed him too hard and there was a reaggravation or it's just not coming along bc he's been working before it's fully healed and they just decided to fully shut him down for a while. Probably want to do an elevation for Prater this week, then move Bass to IR, and sign Prater after this week - as signing him prior to Week 1 would guarantee his contract for the entire season. And they're probably hoping Bass returns at some point.

Prater used to be a Superstar Kicker. He's 41 years old at this point though. But he was perfect on Kicks and XP's before he was injured last year, which he's now healed from. We tried out a bunch of guys this off-season and brought in Caden Davis for a game. But Prater's a bigger name with more experience. This kind of move combined with Bass going from Limited on Wednesday to DNP on Thursday has me wondering if there wasn't a reaggravation and they expect he's going to miss some real time.