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Disagree completely. I think the knock on him last year was he was considered a bit of a bust when he was signed by the Rams. Then he took off. But a lot of people thought it might have just been playing alongside Aaron Donald. So he literally had to sign a "prove it" deal with us. He proved it. His market will be better this year.

I mean, I did kind of touch on that in the last paragraph of the OP.

Actually, you're right. My mistake. He was like the last cut and was presumed on the 53 until it was announced. So last year was the one exception. Every other year under McDermott we kept 4.

The 5 will surely come down somehow. Whether they can move some stuff around in the contract or an out right pay cut. And we always keep 4 RB's on the 53. 2022 we had Singletary, Cook, Moss (than Hines) and Jones. 2023 we went into the season with Cook, Harris, Murray, and Johnson. We only moved to 3 when Murray went down and we needed an extra spot elsewhere.

I'd say everything from No Brainers to Painful But Possible should be done save for Hines (Beane says he'll be here and it's pretty clear a deal was struck last season that includes him being on the roster in Training Camp) and Poyer (already losing Hyde, they're not going to want to start over from square one at the Safety position). With each Hines and Poyer, hopefully we can get that number down from some sort of restructure or pay cut (at least in Hines case). This should bring us close to $50 under. Though like last season, not every extension or restructure that makes sense will be done or able to be done. But we should be in a spot to fill a lot of spots with some decent guys. Probably no one super exciting though. Going to be a lot of 1 year deals with void years. Nothing over 5-6 mil guaranteed in Year 1.

Situationally, they still will. Cook is the starter and will take the majority of the hand offs. Johnson showed better tough yardage running than Murray or Cook and will be used there and when Cook needs a breather. Hines on occasional passing downs, maybe as part of 2 RB packages or in motion in conjunction with Kick and Punt Returns. We always carry 3 RB's on Game Day. We carried 4 when Taiwan Jones was being used on Special Teams. We can carry Cook, Johnson, and Hines and maybe even 1 more with Hines doing a lot of Special Teams work.

White will have to be moved on for Cap Space. He has an out in his contract this offseason that we have to exercise. We simply cannot pay him the contract we signed him to before his ACL and Achilles injuries back to back. He's a 16.4m cap hit this season and a 16.7m cap hit next season. We can get out from under it this offseason and with the condition he's in and our cap situation, we really don't have a choice. So that leaves Douglas and Benford as our Starters. Taron in the Nickel. Elam as a backup on the outside. Dane and Cam Lewis are FA's - White and Neal will be cap casualties. We'll have to get some depth underneath Douglas, Benford, Johnson, and Elam as is. Safety will be fine. Hyde will probably retire and even if he doesn't, he won't be playing here. Poyer will probably be here another year to help bring along a Rookie in Round 2 or 3. Or we sign a guy they like who doesn't break the bank, being a Safety. The position will not "languish". It'll be fine. But one things for sure, we won't be moving a CB. Makes no sense and there's no guarantee they can even play the position or even want to anyways. Like any other position, we have a hole and we'll fill it through the Draft or FA.

We're not going to convert young Starting CB's or starting quality CB's to Safety. It's infinitely easier and cheaper to find a Safety than it is a CB.

It's not going to happen. Not at least until after the Pre-Season, if he proves to have lost a step. We could have voided his deal completely last year and been completely scot free of paying him a dime last year or this year. We didn't do it then, so why would they do it now that he's ready to come back and both Beane and he said he's coming back? I'm sure his number will drop via a paycut or some kind of restructure. But he'll be here.

We'll see. If he's the same player he was in Indianapolis and hasn't lost a step - this is absolutely incorrect.

Dime a dozen? The guy had two returns for a TD in the same game. How many times have you seen that? You can argue your opinion of his value all you want. That's not the point of the post. The point is he's not getting cut before the final cutdown. And unless he shows he's lost a step or is clearly beat out, probably won't be cut at all.

For real. No use in talking about other Head Coaches this year. Beane said he isn't changing course. McDermott said he talked to Pegula and Pegula still supports him being Coach. It ain't happening this season.

One, he hasn't been bad and is undeserving of being demoted. Two, even if that was a thing that made even a little sense to be done - you are aware that Rousseau, Von Miller, and Kingsley Jonathan are LITERALLY the only DE's we have under contract, right? We already have to re-sign or replace Leonard Floyd, AJ Epenesa, and Shaq Lawson. You want to add Rousseau to the list too?

Harty's most likely done. He's got an out in his contract, probably by design. A 1 year trial that didn't work out. Thankful for the Kick Return in the Miami game, but that alone doesn't save him. And with Hines staying, he'll be the Returner anyways (as he was supposed to be last year).

I'd doubt we'll lose Ty. He's not going to cost much of anything and he'll be motivated to stay. I don't see a huge market for an RB2/3. And I'd imagine we're still going to have a Bruiser. Last season we started the year with Cook, Harris, Murray, and Johnson on the 53. Hines will replace Murray and they'll have someone else to replace Harris's role. Probably a late round pick. As I and others have said, I'm sure that numbers going to come down somehow. But it just is what it is. He took his medicine last season, we were able to save some Cap for last year to get some help then. We take a little bit of medicine this year. He can't go back on his word and it's clear from yesterday's presser, he's not going to.

Another thing showing he's not going anywhere is Spotrac. He isn't listed as a player that has a simple Out in his contract like other players. Today they posted ways to save money. Hines was not listed among them. Which I take as them knowing it's not as simple as just cutting him and saving a full $5 million.

I think Ty Johnson will be back. He'll probably want to be back and it won't cost much for a journeyman vet RB. No one's going to make him their starter or break the bank for a 2nd or 3rd RB. Basically it will be Hines replacing Latavius Murray. If he struggles throughout Camp and the Pre-Season and shows he's lost a step, than he may not make the 53. But he'll be here at Camp regardless. Yeah, but without the deal they made with him last season - there's a player we would have missed out on then. Obviously part of that deal was he wouldn't be cut before this season and he'd be given a real chance to make the roster this year. They decided they'd rather save some money last year than this year. Just is what it is. Now he has to stick to his word or risk losing faith with players in their locker room and potential FA's down the road. And as others have said, I'd doubt he'll have that full hit. He'll probably take a pay cut or have his deal restructured in a way to save us some space.

That may or may not be true. But it doesn't change the fact that he will not be told "goodbye". And he absolutely would have made the squad last year. We wouldn't have signed Damien Harris or Latavius Murray if he were on the roster. We gave up a pick and a player for him and said before the injury he was being brought on slow in 2022 because he was just learning the playbook and that they had big plans for him. Perhaps he'll take a pay cut or there's a way they can restructure it to create space. But pre injury, he was one of the better pass catching RB's in the league and a top returner with rare speed for a RB. Those are valued traits you can't just find anywhere.

In a vacuum, given our cap situation, yes. But if he was told he'll be coming to Camp in exchange for not filing a grievance and saving us some cap space last year - Beane can't go back on his word. That would be terrible for his reputation amongst the locker room and FA's going forward.

A chance to earn it. Which I think unless he's lost a step, he most likely will.

This is true. They could still cut him after Pre-Season if he's lost a step or is flat out beaten out. But he won't be a cap casualty during the FA process, as many have expected.

Among most, if not all, posts talking about freeing up cap space - Nyheim Hines being released is mentioned. And in a vacuum, it seems like a no brainer type of move. But it appears it's not going to happen. I've touched on this in other posts a bit before but there's factors at play here. When the injury occured, his agent started speaking up about filing a grievance if he wasn't taken care of. Then it all went away. Beane and he came to an agreement. Hines would keep a portion of his money and not be released and in turn, most of his money for last season would come off the books - freeing up some cap space for last year and Hines and his people wouldn't file a grievance. I've been almost positive part of that agreement was he wouldn't be cut and given every opportunity to reclaim his job. Hines has said that he's going to be a Bill this year: https://www.si.com/nfl/bills/news/buffalo-bills-nyheim-hines-injury-rehab-jet-ski-accident Yesterday at Beane's Year End Presser - he confirmed it. Nyheim Hines will not be an offseason cap casualty: (56:49 - 57:22) I'm not a capologist, so I don't know if there's any massaging that can be done to his contract to create some relief somewhere. But it's pretty clear that unless he is completely physically unable to perform, Nyheim Hines will be one of our RB's behind James Cook.

It's going to have to be a Round 1 WR, hedging our bets hoping for a Benford like situation in Day 3 if our Elam at WR doesn't hit immediately, and then patient and careful spending for a vet. Add in Wild Cards like Justin Shorter, Andy Isabella in Year 2, and K.J. Hamler battling it out for the final spot or two and I think we'll be in a better situation than we were this year. I think it's possible that we get someone in FA that can make a difference. Obviously guys like Higgins, Evans, Pittman, or a trade for Adams are absolute pipe dreams. That's absolutely not going to happen. But if we're patient and let it play out like we did with Leonard Floyd, I think we can meet in the middle of our cap restraints and someone's unexpectedly low market and/or being stuck after overplaying their hand.

Benford isn't moving to Safety. You don't take a very good and still developing young starting CB and move them to Safety. It's much easier and much cheaper to replace a Safety than to replace a Cornerback. We'll find a Safety to replace Micah Hyde. I'm not concerned. Even if it's a Day 2 Rookie that's going to take some lumps, I still think we'd be in a better position than we were with Hyde this year. I have all the respect in the world for him and all the love for what he did in his first 5 years with us. But he wasn't remotely the same player after the Neck injury. I think he knows it too and that's why he's most likely retiring.

Lots of reasons to argue McDermott should be moved on from. But if you find yourself using Ty Dunne and directing people to his trash - that's gross. Regardless, it's not happening. If it were going to happen, it would have came before McDermott and Beane addressed the media.