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That and he was an even bigger investment than Epenesa and Basham were. We spent a top 10 pick in the 2nd Round and a 5th Round pick to trade up for him. These types of investments are going to get at least 3 years of development.

Exaggeration much? You are comparing apples to oranges here. We also brought in Von Miller at Edge with these guys on the roster. I'm not advocating these guys should have started. But you've already decided they're "JAGs" after a season and a half of Epenesa and 8 games of Basham. You're arguing they should not only not start, they shouldn't even be given rotational reps AT ALL, possibly sacrificing the future for a guy who has none - while also comparing 2nd Round investments to 5th and 7th Rounders 🙄

Epenesa has played 2 years. You know who was considered a total bust after 3 years and given away for essentially a bag of balls? Jerry Hughes. I don't know that Epenesa or Basham will become great or not. And neither do you. The only way to know is for them to at least get rotational reps. You'd have us not do that and give up on Epenesa before the Colts gave up on Hughes.

You are completely missing the point. It's not about Hughes v. Epenesa and Basham last season. It's not about who's viewed as better right this second by message board fans. It's about development. It's about investment. It's about what could be and finding out whether they can or can't. We know what Jerry Hughes is. He's not getting better. If you think he's the same guy he was 4 or 5 years ago or isn't actively declining - you're fooling yourself. After a half of a season with Basham and 2 seasons of Epenesa - we don't know what they could become in their 2nd or 3rd years. Especially along Von Miller and DaQuan Jones in place of Hughes and Lotulelei/Phillips with Kaiir Elam behind them in place of Levi Wallace. And just disregarding them and burying them on the depth chart will hamper their development into what they can be. They aren't chalking those picks up as lost causes and it would be foolhardy to do so. There's still time and room to grow. That doesn't exist with Jerry Hughes at this point in his career. They were Drafted in large part because of Hughes age and decline in play. The lack of pass rush that he was providing. We must try to develop them and see what they can or cannot become. We spent 2 2nd Round picks on them. You have to be more patient than taking important reps away from them in years 2 and 3. And your idea of keeping 6 DE's - we won't be dressing 6. So one player will be barely used if at all as the 5th and one won't dress as the 6th. We'll also need to carry an extra CB on the roster with White's injury to start the season. Possibly an extra Lineman with Boettger's. And possibly another TE with Howard surely getting more usage as the #2 than Sweeney did. I'd be surprised if we kept 6 DE's again. You're oversimplifying matters that aren't as simple as you'd like them to be. "k bye"

Sacks and Tackles. The stats that actually matter. I'm laughing at a .9 differential in PFF rate as an argument point. Hurries and Win Rate are great, but not when you can't get the sack which has been the story of Hughes for the past couple years now. It's why we've been drafting Ends and ultimately decided to bring in a guy like Von Miller. I'm not "posturing" anything. I DON'T know that 34 year old Hughes can be better than what Basham or Epenesa can be this season. And you don't know that either. They're 23 and 24 respectively. We've seen two full seasons of Epenesa. Guys can be late bloomers. You know who was a late bloomer? Jerry Hughes. Basham has a total of 8 games under his belt. You're ready to say you know who someone is and can be after 8 games? C'mon dude. We spent back to back 2nd Round picks on these guys. At the very least, we have to let them get rotational work and experience to see what they can or cannot become. You don't invest what we've invested in them and not use them or allow them to get experience as rotational pieces.

You're right, we are trying to win a Super Bowl. That's why we replaced him with Von Miller. I think you're greatly overvaluing what Jerry Hughes brings to the table at 34 years old. If he were the difference maker you think he is, he wouldn't be on the market still. And it's laughable to say he's "maybe" better than Rousseau at this point in his career. All you have to do is look at Hughes stats last season v. Rousseau's in his first games in the NFL (with room to grow this season) to see that. He is declining. Your opinions of Epenesa and Basham are irrelevant. We spent two 2nd Round picks getting them. One is entering his 2nd season in this league and the other his 3rd. You don't make the kind of investments we made in them and then give up on their development, in Basham's case after one season. You don't know what they could develop into. If fans take their emotions out of it, look at how we've treated him this offseason, the things Jerry has posted, how he looked last season, how we addressed the position this offseason, and what he'd be being asked to do this year - the answer is obvious.

He's not coming back. It makes no sense. He'd be coming back for pennies on the Dollar with his role as Starter and Leader of the Edge Rushers room replaced with Von Miller. His reps would be a third of what he had here his entire tenure (he'd surely get more opportunities almost anywhere else) and would keep younger players with high draft pick investments from getting more experience. Doesn't make sense for the Bills, doesn't make sense for Jerry. Fans having a soft spot for him after all his years here and liking the idea of him being in the building if we won a Championship this year is no reason to sign someone. If Jerry were in the Bills plans this season, they'd have re-signed him early in FA. They wouldn't leave such a respected veteran twisting in the wind and then thrown a bone at the end of FA. And they probably wouldn't have brought back Shaq Lawson as the second or third situational pass rusher off the bench, which is all Jerry would be here at this point.

Might want to ask the Bills fans who pre-purchased Super Bowl tickets last season or the ones that bought tickers the season before that if they think it's a wise investment.

Sure. But are any of these teams taking on a 1 year 19 million dollar contract and giving up a Draft Pick to do it? No. And of these teams that could use him, there are surely some who are looking at Drafting their next hopeful Franchise QB next season. And having an upgrade at QB who will win them more games this season would only hurt that. So it's quite the pickle he finds himself in.

To further put to bed the "he didn't want to be drafted here" narrative - here's a clip of James Cook getting the call. He's smiling. The family's going crazy. Some of them yelling "Buffalo!" in glee.

Brandon Beane and Pat McAfee talking about Matt Araiza on Pat's show. Interesting stuff. Beane didn't think Araiza would be there for them. McAfee says he didn't know how to Punt in the NFL when he was drafted, the Colts said "we think you're athletic enough to figure it out", and that McAfee feels the same about Araiza's pro potential. Beane says "tee it high and let it fly" 😆

Is there a set date where teams officially announce their UDFA signings? I know it doesn't come immediately following the Draft but I thought we'd see the list by now.

Sanders is done. He said himself on Good Morning Football that when Allen asked him to come back he told him his knees are in rough shape. Crowder takes Beasley's spot. Shakir (as stated by Beane) will be the first person up on the Outside or Inside, taking Davis' spot with Davis taking Sanders' spot. Shakir will also probably do returns. McKenzie will also get his fair share of reps and may take returns if someone gets hurt and Shakir needs to take more reps on the outside. Kumerow will stick as the 6th for his Special Teams. He was re-signed pretty much exclusively for that reason. Hopefully we'll never have to use him as a WR. Stevenson will go to the PS. Hodgins was never on the 53 and definitely won't be this year. His ceiling is back on the PS. Last year we kept 7 WR's and 2 TE's. With the additions of O.J. Howard and James Cook as receiving threats - I see us keeping 6 WR's this year (will probably keep an extra TE this year and an extra CB with White's injury). Between Diggs, Davis, Crowder, Shakir, McKenzie, Cook, Knox, Howard, and possibly Wydermyer - we have more than enough pass catching firepower. If Sanders were to return, it would probably be mid to late season if there were an injury.

Kumerow will get the last spot for his Special Teams play. We carried 7 last season, but that's a bit of an anomaly. Usually only carry 6. I think an extra spot will go to TE as well as CB this season, maybe even OL. Stevenson was a late round flyer who was brought in exclusively for returning. He underachieved in that role and I expect Shakir to take over there. Hodgins was a guy we cut out of Training Camp last season and stuck around on the PS. He's not making the 53. He'll be lucky to make the Practice Squad again.

At this point with 4 roster spots remaining (maybe even less as there could be other UDFA's that haven't been reported) - I don't think you can look at any FA and say "he's definitely coming in". Guard is a big concern amongst fans on this board. But given how they addressed O-Line this offseason (currently 16 on the roster) and their lack of urgency in the Draft (going elsewhere with quality Guard's available when we picked in multiple rounds) - it doesn't appear to be to Beane. Saffold and Bates are our starters. The pool of Quessenberry, Boettger, Mancz (who will fill in for Boettger at reserve Guard until he's ready while backing up at Center), and Ford - in conjunction with Futures signings like Capra and T/G flexible UDFA's will be widdled down to form the reserves. You might not like the guys brought in already, but that doesn't change the fact that they were the one's Beane chose to address the position. He's not just going to keep signing more and more Lineman because people on this board see flaws in the ones that he went with.

We may be in the market for a couple smaller depth signings. But we're not going to pay the kind of money Bradberry would command and he's not going somewhere to be a rotational player (which is what he'd be here). Brandon Beane appeared on One Bills Drive and spoke on the subject of veteran releases following the Draft (from 16:00 - 17:10 and transcribed below):

Sure and I'd love Deebo Samuel too. But it's not a fit. If we waited on CB in the mid-rounds, maybe. But Tre White's only going to miss a few games and then he's back on that side. We just spent a 1st Round pick on the other side. You're not going to draft someone in the 1st and then give them as little amount of reps as a #3 Boundary guy would get. He's not going to sign somewhere for anything but a starting role. And we're not going to pay someone what his price tag is going to be for the role we'd have him in. He'll get big money to be a Starter somewhere and probably on a long term deal. The idea of us doing that has sailed. Tre White and Kaiir Elam are our starters long term. If we wanted to get and pay James Bradberry as a Starter, we would have made an offer to the Giants and went elsewhere with our 1st Round Pick.

It's clear. Singletary and Cook will be here. Jones will be here for Special Teams. Gilliam's our FB/TE/Unofficial 6th OL. Beane has always kept 3 RB's and a 4th guy who is a Special Teamer (Senorise Perry when it wasn't Taiwan Jones). So it comes down to Johnson v. Moss for the 3rd Guy. Simple as that. And then I'd expect Blackshear on the Practice Squad taking Antonio Williams spot after he signed with the Giants. And/or maybe the loser of the Moss/Johnson battle, if they don't get picked up by another team.

He's a painfully shy and quiet person that obviously doesn't feel comfortable having a microphone and camera in front of him. He said it himself when he was asked the kind of person he was. "Quiet" was one of the first words out of his mouth. And that's okay. Not everyone is an extrovert who revels in being in the media and is a good public speaker. All that matter is how he performs. Ever seen interviews with Larry Bird early on? It was painful. One word answers and making sure everyone knew he didn't want to be there. But come game time, it didn't matter. I expect much the same with Cook. I think people (and I'm not implying you bc I think you're just talking about being in the interview room) need to lay off this "I don't think he wanted to be a Bill" narrative. Not everyone is overly emotional and jovial. It's getting real tiresome seeing posts from Bills fans who jump to that conclusion everytime we take a player that doesn't immediately burst into tears and jump up and down. He made posts from the facility on his IG during his Pre-Draft visit. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't want to be here. He's talked about how he fell in love with the Bills during his visit. If he didn't want to be here, he wouldn't have said that. And ultimately, if he didn't want to be here - Beane and McDermott would have picked up on that during his visit and they wouldn't have picked him.

And Taron Johnson in the Nickel And Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer behind them Tre White will be back by Week 4 at the latest. We just spent a 1st Round pick on a highly talented CB on the other side. Dane Jackson played CB2 from Thanksgiving and through the playoffs. Bradberry's going to have options and far better opportunities to see the field on a more regular basis than we'll offer. And we're not going to pay what it will cost to get him for the kind of role he'd play here.

The title of the article outright states that "no trade market developed". If we offered them something, they'd have made the deal. No GM is going to turn down picks from a team in another conference to release them for nothing. It's obvious that Beane didn't make an offer. And after Drafting 2 CB's, 1 in the 1st Round, I don't see them being in on him even as a Free Agent. Especially at what his cost will be and other teams most likely offering a better opportunity long term than we have here.

Thank you, as well. There's always a small concern when I put a lot of time into a post that I'll sign on the next day and have a bunch of notifications calling me a moron. So I appreciate both you and the poster above me. Beane certainly is a guy who values flexibility and tweeners on Defense. But listening to his pressers post Draft, it certainly appears that each will be played at the positions they were Drafted as. He spoke of Benford being a guy he could see playing Safety if need be. So I think this season, that's where he's going to be and if they don't like how it worked, maybe next season they'll give him a look at Safety. Bernard I don't see as anything but a Linebacker. He is quick and slightly undersized, especially at MLB. But given where he was Drafted, I think if Beane thought he might be a Safety, it's something he would have talked about right off the bat. Instead, he spoke exclusively about his flexibility being between Outside and Middle.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate your saying so and putting so much effort into your thoughts as well. As you said, Phillips is strictly a 3-Tech. So I think he's clearly the backup and rotational option to Oliver over there. Brandon Beane said at his presser that he sees Settle at 1-Tech "first". But he certainly has the flexibility to play both. It seems to me the D-Line is Oliver and Phillips on one side and Jones and Settle on the other. At 37:01 -

It's always possible that a UDFA steps forward, greatly exceeds expectations, and goes from undesirable to undeniable. However, atm, Travon Fuller should be looked at as nothing more than a Camp body. When Beane had his choice of all CB's available to him, he chose Benford. He spoke of what he saw Benford's possibilities in the future were during his Press Conference, alluding to a plan for him. Travon Fuller went Undrafted and among NFL.com's Top 39 available UDFA CB's, he didn't make the list. So I'd say putting him on the same ground as Christian Benford and Cam Lewis is very premature, at this point. I'd put Olaijah Griffin, Nick McCloud, and Tim Harris (all entering their 2nd camp with us) above him right now and I don't consider any of them to be thought of at the same level as Benford and Lewis either. https://www.nfl.com/news/top-undrafted-rookie-free-agents-following-the-2022-nfl-draft While I'm not saying I think it will happen or that it's likely, I wouldn't say that I'm sure it can't. You usually don't keep 3 separate slot WR's. Khalil Shakir could make him expendable and I see his future as our long term slot guy. That could happen sooner than later based on how good he looks this Summer. They're called "surprise cuts" for a reason. And while McKenzie would be a surprise, I can't 100% rule it out and I'm not the first person to bring this up as a possibility on this board.

In retrospect, I think I agree with you and maybe should have said I could envision a scenario where Isaiah McKenzie is a surprise cut. I think it's more likely all 3 of Crowder, McKenzie, and Shakir are on the roster and Stevenson is out. But as far as "surprise cuts" that you wouldn't necessarily expect - Isaiah McKenzie seems like he could be a candidate, if one of those were to happen.