BillsFanForever19

This was one of my favorite parts in the whole thing. Dude was really like "c'monnnnn it's just a little ole' 7th" 😄

Yes, he plays only 50% of snaps. But that's what we do with him here. Other teams may see a bigger role for him. And they may look at it is a net positive more than a negative because not only will he be 26 at the point of signing, he will have less wear and tear than most 26 year old Running Backs. Bills fans like to focus only on the negatives on the scouting report, usage in our system and pass blocking abilities (or lack thereof) to argue he should make less than market value. While ignoring the positives like age, wear and tear, stats, big plays at big times, speed, elusiveness, etc. For every RB (or any player for that matter), you can find negative things. They still get paid. Guys like McCaffrey and Barkley have had multiple serious injuries and are older than Cook. Kamara is at 12.5 and while he does stay on the field more, he is 29 and has had injuries. He also wasn't a great pass blocker in the beginning and grew into becoming better at it. 10m is the number 30 year old Aaron Jones is paid. There's no way James Cook is paid the same as Aaron Jones at 30 years old. 10-12m might be *your* max for what you'd be willing to pay him for his role in Buffalo. But I guarantee you, that's not what he'll be signing for. Whether that's here or elsewhere. Your absolute max price is about 500k to 1m less than what I'd expect the low number to be if he has another season like last year - based on recent contracts for the position and the continual rise in cap. Everyone? You mean this season? Bc I can think of a number of people who have left us for more money elsewhere over the years. Tremaine Edmunds, Gabe Davis, Harrison Phillips, Leonard Floyd, Jordan Phillips, Shaq Lawson, even guys like Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson left when someone offered them slightly more money than what we'd pay. The RB position is a different situation too. Often times you've got one chance to really cash in. As once a RB hits 30, they're more often than not the same player.

That's another side of it. If Beane wasn't interested in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, or 2024, at times when we needed help at DE (as opposed to this year) - why would he be interested now? He's already passed on him for other players on 5 separate occasions. And ultimately, 2025 Clowney doesn't feel like much of an upgrade for us (if any) for any other position than the bottom of the rotation. And he'll have better opportunities elsewhere. I don't. *Maybe* Week 7 if everyone in the DE room stays healthy and there's nowhere else on the roster that's had injuries and opened up a roster spot. But to move him now would be to only have 4 DE's until Week 7, at a position where we always carry 5. Bosa isn't going to be taking more than 50% of snaps. So you'd be asking a 3rd Round Pick to be taking 50% or more of the snaps right out of the gate as a Rookie. If there's any injuries before Week 7, you're down to straight up relying on Jackson and Solomon to be taking way more snaps than they should. Which is a distinct possibility as Bosa is historically an injury waiting to happen. Not only would an injury have us relying on Jackson and Solomon - it would bring us down to just 3 DE's on the roster. So, yeah, I wouldn't expect to see AJE going anywhere until Week 7 - if at all.

Official numbers are in. 1 year, 2.5m fully guaranteed with 2.5m in possible incentives. So he did take about a million less to sign with us than the Browns UFA Tag offer.

You'll just have to get used to that. 80's for a WR is an antiquated practice. Nowadays, that's looked at as a Tight End number. League wide, almost everyone wears a number between 0 and 19. Looking at our presumed Top 5, they're all in the 0-18 range.

Agreed. I'm happy with a 4 man rotation of Groot, Bosa, Epenesa, and Jackson (with Solomon as 5) to start the year. Keep them all and come Week 7 if everyone stays healthy, you worry about making room for Hoecht then - if we even have to. Losing Miller and Smoot and gaining Bosa, Hoecht, and Jackson is a big time upgrade. We don't need to do anything else at DE and I don't think Clowney is an upgrade over what we have now.

What are you "hearing about" from him? Him posting a picture of he and Josh celebrating? The guy wants to be paid market fair market value (of which you're lowballing). So what? I'll never understand fans like you that get personally offended and lash out over business. If he was talking crap about Josh or the team like Diggs, i'd get it. But all he's ever talked about is his feeling he should be paid more. He should. And It's not your money. I don't get why you're so angry as to be constantly personally insulting him. Brandon Beane isn't bothered or angry about it. Why are you?

10m is not well paid for the type of player he is. That's an underpay. That's what 30 year old Aaron Jones is being paid. Josh Jacobs is making 12m. Alvin Kamara at 29, who's a very similar RB is making 12.5. It's fine to say that you personally wouldn't pay for a RB. But to suggest 10m is "well paid" or a solid offer for who he is isn't accurate.

That's exactly my take away. I remember listening to him on his infamous WGR rant talk about the strength of their Offensive Line and the Running Game and thinking "hold on - you're not paying your top Running Back either". It's clear in his words and actions that a move like Pittsburgh made for DK Metcalf is something he's simply not going to do now that we've paid Josh what he's being paid (on top of the mountain of guys he chooses to retain every year). My hope for Cook is that he puts in another very good year and that at the start of the offseason if we haven't gotten a deal done that works for both sides already, we Transition Tag him. So long as there isn't any ridiculous overpay offers, match it.

That was 2 years ago. And again, that was 9.5 sacks on 654 snaps v. Epenesa's 6.5 sacks on 387 snaps. He had to be on the field for almost 300 more snaps than Epenesa to get 3 more sacks. And that completely ignores last year where he had 5.5 sacks on almost exactly the same amount of snaps. He won't be getting anywhere near that 650+ number if he were here. This stat you're going back to isn't the argument you think it is.

Clowney is nearing the end of the line. But he still doesn't go from being a full time starter straight to a "camp body" competing for a spot. Someone will sign him as an off the bench situational pass rusher and guarantee him a roster spot. Let's compare those sack numbers via snap counts: 2023 Clowney - 9.5 sacks on 654 snaps 2023 Epenesa - 6.5 sacks on 387 snaps 2024 Clowney - 5.5 sacks on 652 snaps 2024 Epenesa - 6.0 sacks on 612 snaps Then you factor in age - Clowney is 32, Epenesa is 26 (will turn 27 this year). Epenesa also has him on reliability and wear and tear. Getting rid of Epenesa for Clowney is a downgrade in practically every way except for name value.

Maybe. They need guys to throw to the pass catchers. They may just call up Buechele and/or White to do that. Unlikely that whomever they invite will be signed if they do though. They don't bring more than 4 to Camp and they've had Buechele around for a while. I doubt any Undrafted that's floating around now unsigned is going to make them cut him.

Didn't even make it past the first "if" in this scenario 😄

Half expected to see someone post "he's saying he's butting heads with Josh - cancer get him out of here!"

He hasn't really done that in his career. And 6 years in with injury issues, I don't think it's wise for whomever signs him to expect him to do it and do it well at an NFL level and also stay healthy.

If you're bringing him back to be a Starter and paying him a bag, absolutely not. Terrible idea. If you're bringing him back as a Blocking WR who's your 5th option on a cheap deal (possibly minimum since he's being paid by Jacksonville) and isn't forced the ball to unless he's open - I don't see an issue with bringing him to Camp. Considering we paid Josh Palmer a relatively decent sized long term bag and invested pick 33 into Keon Coleman combined with our cap situation, if we brought him in the first scenario isn't really an option for him. But right now, our 5th WR is basically being handed to Elijah Moore (unless you consider Tyrell Shavers, Kaden Prather, Laviska Shenault, etc. as legitimate competition). And there's questions on his fit in the locker room and his skills and his contract is probably one that doesn't have much guaranteed money that would preclude us from moving on from him. I don't think it's crazy to think Gabe could make him expendable or at the very least really push him to earn that spot. Ultimately, it comes down to Josh for me. If Josh wants him, who are we to say "no you can't have him"? If Josh doesn't care or doesn't want him, then don't bother. But even if it's a move Josh is pulling for, I think it would also come down to Gabe. Does he want to come back for a reserve spot duty role that is guaranteed nothing and is paid little? Regardless of what posters say of him in this thread, it's likely he has a better opportunity elsewhere.

Unless you're talking about Kaden Prather or Tyrell Shavers (who were going to be cut anyways) or that a move for Davis would make them carry a 6th WR instead of the standard 5 - this comment doesn't really track. Most likely, signing Gabe Davis would mean one of Davis or Moore wouldn't make the team. Maybe Curtis Samuel would be traded. For the most part, they have a set number they roll with at each position. I don't see Gabe Davis coming in meaning we're cutting some young developmental players at another position. And the developmental guy at WR is Coleman who isn't going anywhere and the aforementioned Prather, Shavers, etc. who wouldn't make the roster anyways.

There is no larger veteran that is an upgrade from Daquan Jones available. Cut him and we're rolling with just Walker at 1T (with the occasional pass rush package of Sanders next to Oliver) and Carter. If they were going to move on from Jones this offseason, they'd have either a.) been more proactive in signing a veteran 1T to replace him early in FA and/or b.) Would have Drafted someone in the first couple Rounds. If he were to be cut before the season started, it's pretty likely he would represent the top 1T on the market. Teams don't cut starting quality 1T's coming out of camp very often.

I did say aloud "I better not hear Landon Jackson here" just because I knew they met with him a ton, fit a need, and had Bills DNA written all over him. When we did Draft him in the 3rd, I was happy we got him there. But I thought he was in play at 30 based on Mocks and that would have ruined the night for me. Sanders wasn't even a thought at 30. I don't know how i'd have reacted.

Agreed. I had thought with the way they put it out there themselves, "was this all a publicity stunt?"

Just started watching it now. I'm suprised to see an official Buffalo Bills video start off and publicize the WGR rant.

No, we just restructured him last year.

We picked up Tremaine's 5th Year Option before we let him walk. If Dalton looks like he did last season this year, that won't be happening.

It really depends on what you consider tight. As it stands, we're at 10m under with a projected 17m jump in the Salary Cap. Which puts us at 26th in the league. Yes, we can come up with more space. But we'll also need to fill at least 15 or 16 2025 roster spaces on expiring contracts from that list, plus another 3 or 4 that will be let go to make space. And in 2026 (thus far) - we only have a standard 7 Draft Picks (and the last pick or two you can't really count on). So even with extra space, we're probably looking at another year of a bunch of 1 year FA deals with some mid tier to upper mid tier guys mixed in to fill holes, leaving us with not a lot to play with. But maybe he'll surprise us with a big ticket item somewhere, depending on the strength of the Rookie class out of the gate and the growth of others in Year 2/3. I think given the amount of long term contracts we've been handing out every year and the number Josh is at going forward, gone are the days of big time, long term "Splash" FA signings or Trades like Stefon Diggs and Von Miller. I'd love to be wrong, but every year the board says "this is the year he goes all in" while year after year - his words and actions say otherwise. He's very much a 'Draft, Develop, Retain' focused GM.