BillsFanForever19

Yes, thank you. I don't think it really matters when they do it. It's a procedural thing that is meaningless when it comes to their chances of making the team or not, as the post I was replying to was trying to allude.

It means nothing. Just a salary cap technicality thing. We've done it before with someone who ended up on the 53 though it escapes me as to whom.

You said "an upgrade is needed". They felt Tavon Austin IS the upgrade or at least the guy for the competition with Marquez Stevenson. There's no point in sh-tting all over him and the position until we see what comes of it in Buffalo.

Glad to see you came to your senses. Hodgins was a "Futures" return. He's a Camp Body and will be brought back on the Practice Squad, if he's lucky.

It's not going to happen. People wanted another Returner. They looked over who was available and decided on Tavon Austin. They're not going to bring in another WR/KR just because you don't like the guy they chose. The roster is at 89/90. If someone else is brought in, it will be at another position.

That's not my point. You feel he's not the right guy for the job, is terrible, and has no business being here. And that's fine. My point is that feeling is trumped by the Bills brass' feelings. They signed him and brought him in. They obviously don't concur with those thoughts. It's him or Stevenson. And if you've looked at the job Stevenson did last season, I don't know how you can be positive he gives them a better shot. Austin hasn't been doing much in the way of Returns over the past few years, as evidenced by your numbers of 158 returns in his first 5 years compared to 32 over the past 4. He was used more as a gadget player over that time. He feels he's healthier now than he's been over that time and feels confident doing it again. I'm not saying he's going to be an All Pro. But it boils down to him or Stevenson. I think you'd be foolhardy to say Stevenson is head and shoulders above him and has a 2/3 chance of winning the job.

That's fine that you feel that way. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But unfortunately for you - the Bills brass doesn't feel the same way because that's who they chose to bring in and compete with Marquez Stevenson. Austin claims he's been unhealthy the past few years and finally feels 100% It could be lip service, but he has reportedly looked good in OTA's and has a lot of supporters in the WR room. And I really don't think he could be any worse than Stevenson looked last year. Long story short - you may not be a fan. But he definitely has a better chance of sticking than you're giving him credit for.

Being signed to a "Futures" deal, removed from last year on the Practice Squad, following being cut after Training Camp doesn't scream to me "McB" having some great faith in him and keeping him around because they see something exceptional in him. Do you feel the same way about Tanner Gentry? They released him after Training Camp, brought him back to the Practice Squad, and retained him on a Futures deal just the same as Hodgins.

I never said this means it wouldn't get done. I simply said this notion that it doesn't effect anything in terms of the negotiations and numbers is false.

My post that you replied to was saying that it's incorrect to say Fitzpatrick's deal has zero effect on Poyer. Re-reading your post, you say it's "not comparable". But in the very same post you admit that his number "bumped" from 12 before Fitzpatrick to probably 15 after it. That would be Fitzpatrick's deal having an effect on Poyer, don't you think?

I don't get why this is so hard to understand. YES. He will not be slotted at the top alongside Fitzpatrick. But Fitzpatrick raised the top end of Safeties deals. Meaning that those underneath him will also raise higher than they were. This happens at all positions. It's called a market reset. It's why teams lost their mind when they saw what Deshaun Watson got paid. It's why WR numbers got insane, even for the guys that weren't at the top. Even if Poyer wants 65-75% of what Fitzpatrick is being paid - it's still more than 65-75% of what the highest Safety contract was BEFORE Fitzpatrick's deal. To say it has no effect is simply incorrect.

6 months into a doctor preferred 9 month recovery? That would be begging for a re-tear. He won't be practicing until the end of the Pre-Season, if we're lucky.

How? Kumerow was specifically re-signed this offseason as a core Special Teamer. He has years of real game experience there and they valued him enough to give him a new contract. Hodgins has shown zero Special Teams prowess and has no regular season experience, regardless of what he shows in TC and Pre-Season. Combined with Diggs, Davis, Crowder, McKenzie, and Shakir who are etched in stone and a battle between Austin and Stevenson for the return job - there is no place for Hodgins. None. Zero. Zilch. I don't even know what makes you think Hodgins has even a remote chance after we cut him last season where there was more of an opportunity to make it and he was healthy as opposed to now. I am completely BAFFLED by there being more belief and support in Isaiah Hodgins this year than last year when we flat out cut him out of Camp. What is all this faith based off of? The one game we elevated him from the Practice Squad where he had zero catches? A media reported impressive mini-camp in 2019? I just don't get it.

This popular fan idea of McDermott's core Special Teams players like Taiwan Jones, Tyler Matakevitch, and Jake Kumerow as being a job anyone can do and valuing what they bring at their "true position" over what they've shown on Special Teams comes up every year. Every year Taiwan Jones is replaceable. And every year he's here. McDermott values guys who he feels excels at Special Teams. Kumerow has become one of those guys. If they felt he was as replaceable there as you think, they wouldn't have bothered to give him a new contract.

That number would have been based on the top end value of all Safeties before the new top end deal. The market has now been reset. It bumps up every contract underneath it. That's how contracts work in the NFL. It's naive to think a market reset doesn't reset the entire market.

Nope. Kumerow is only technically a WR. Much like Taiwan Jones is only technically a RB, Kumerow was re-signed pretty much exclusively for his Special Teams prowess. He will be here. If they felt he was replaceable on Special Teams, they just would have moved on from him instead of re-signing him. The 7th spot comes down to Austin and Stevenson over who shows more as a returner in Camp and Pre-Season. Hodgins is a non-factor. He was cut last offseason (when he was healthy btw which he hasn't been thus far this offseason) and sat on the Practice Squad in favor of 5 players who are still here. And we've since brought in Jamison Crowder, Khalil Shakir, and Tavon Austin. He's an unknown commodity in regular season Special Teams and not a returner. He's not making the 53 regardless of what he shows this Summer. His ceiling here is being signed back to the Practice Squad. If he shows something, maybe he ends up on someone else's 53 that has a weaker roster. I truly don't understand why he's such a fan favorite amongst fans. We essentially washed our hands of him last season when we cut him and made him available to be signed by teams on the PS. If they had any belief in him at all, we wouldn't have done as much as we did at the position this offseason.

Incorrect. Yes, Fitzpatrick will be paid more. But if that's the top end, it raises up everyone underneath it. His agent will say "If Fitzpatrick is at this - we need to fall in line at least here" which will be a higher number than it was yesterday.

We lost Cole Beasley (released) and Emmanuel Sanders (Free Agency/Retired?). So what did we do this offseason at WR? - Re-Signed Isaiah McKenzie - Re-Signed Jake Kumerow (ST) - Signed Jamison Crowder - Signed Tavon Austin - Drafted Khalil Shakir If they had any sort of plans for Isaiah Hodgins, first of all they'd have never cut him after Training Camp last season. And lastly, they wouldn't have made so many moves at the position this offseason. Hodgins absolute ceiling here in Buffalo is making it back on the Practice Squad again. Him making the roster is just as likely as Tanner Gentry or Neil Pau'u making it. Marquez Stevenson made the 53 over a healthy Isaiah Hodgins (who is also not healthy right now btw) last season and I don't even think *he's* making it this year. 6 of the 7 spots are etched in stone and the only reason we keep 7 is for Kumerow's ST's (otherwise we'd just keep 6 as we always have). The other spot will come down to a competition between Austin and Stevenson over the Return job. The days of an underdog impressing in Training Camp and the Pre-Season and making the 53 is a thing of the past, when we had a weak roster. The WR room is too stacked these days for that to occur. It's more likely he'd make someone else's 53 that had a weaker room and were looking for our castoffs, if he were to impress this Offseason, than our own. No matter how good he looks this offseason, he's not pushing Diggs, Davis, Crowder, McKenzie, or Shakir off the roster, Kumerow is a Special Teams extra who will be here (Hodgins can't do what Kumerow can on teams), and then we need either Austin or Stevenson on returns (which Hodgins can't do).

He's not coming back. Beane restructures and/or asks people to take a pay cut if he wants them to stick around. If he cuts you, that's it. He's moved on. He's never released someone and then brought them back in the same Offseason. Williams role on the starting O-Line was quickly replaced by Saffold. And they didn't match the Vikings long term offer for Bates to be a backup. And they're not going to pay Williams the money he would command to be a Backup, even if it were in Beane's DNA to cut someone and then change his mind.

This is has been something fans of this board have been saying essentially every offseason since Sean McDermott came in. It's just time to accept this is how he operates. He has said on multiple occasions and his actions prove it - that he feels you need to have a core of guys that's focus is exclusively Special Teams. Guys that are known commodities there. That when you put too much emphasis on what else they offer, you're going to slight the Special Teams and set yourself up for problems there. I tend to agree. When we're talking about the core Special Teams, we're talking about less than a handful of players. Saying three players who have that role is one too many is seriously dismissing that aspect of the game. Matakevitch is paid what he's paid because he's really good at his role. If they wanted to replace him or felt he was too much, they'd have released him or made him take a paycut when we were doing everything we could to create cap space. The fact that they didn't do either speaks volumes. He's not going anywhere. And if they felt Jones could no longer fill the role he's had with this team, they wouldn't have given him a new contract and brought him back. He's not going anywhere either.

Jake Kumerow was one of our core Special Teams players last season and was re-signed almost exclusively for that reason. Much like Taiwan Jones at RB, I don't even really look at Jake Kumerow as a WR on this team. Kumerow's going to be here regardless. And obviously, Diggs, Davis, Crowder, Shakir, and McKenzie will as well. Most likely also Austin for Returns. We kept 7 last season and that's your 7. And I didn't even mention Marquez Stevenson, who I also don't see making the roster, but I'd put as having a better shot at it than Hodgins. Long story short, Hodgins has zero chance of making the 53 outside of catastrophic injuries in Camp. Even then, odds are they'd bring others in off the street first. He was cut last season and he'll be cut this season.

He was basically a 7th Round Draft Pick. We cut him after Training Camp last season. Any team could have picked him up after we released him. Any team could have signed him off the Practice Squad. He's imo the 9th WR on a roster that will carry 6 or 7 tops. He'll be lucky to be on the Practice Squad again this season and has no chance to make the 53. Why anyone would be having hope for him is completely beyond me at this point.

No, Jake Fromm was selected in Round 5 at Pick 167. Our next selection was Tyler Bass in Round 6 at Pick 188. Then Isaiah Hodgins in Round 6 at Pick 207. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_NFL_Draft

I was wrong. Technically, he was a 6th Round Pick. But he was the 28th pick of the 6th Round so basically a 7th.

Hodgins was a 7th Round Draft Pick to begin with, was cut after Training Camp last season, and spent the year on the Practice Squad. Why anyone even brings him up is beyond me at this point. Imo he's the 9th WR on the roster. He'd be lucky to make the Practice Squad again and has zero chance of making the 53.