BillsFanForever19

I don't know for sure what's going on. But the fact that he showed up and then left, combined with Josh's words - I wonder if the following is what happened... McDermott let sleeping dogs lie after the Playoff game. Gave him space and didn't talk to him about it during the Offseason. Then when Stefon arrived, McDermott started playing "Look at me, I'm the captain" with him. Telling him it was unacceptable, maybe even asking him to apologize publicly to the team... something of that nature. This reopened old wounds and made him say "F this, I'm going home". Totally speculating, of course. But the fact that he showed up and then left says to me something happened after he arrived that ticked him off. And my guess is it was someone, most likely McDermott coming down on him. McDermott then making it public could have been a further flex of power on him. He could have just said "Stef was here but he was excused for the day for a personal issue". But instead he chose to make it a spectacle. Stef's agent saying "I don't know why McDermott said that" leads me to believe it was McDermott further saying "my way or the highway". Ultimately, a coach should have total control over his team. So in a sense, I understand it if this is what's going on. On the other, it's worrisome if McDermott is choosing to be heavy handed with a delicate situation when it could have just been swept under the rug for now. Again, only speculating.

The "Create another DeAndre Hopkins thread without mentioning DeAndre Hopkins" challenge.

Yes, it's more likely than not Hopkins would have better stats. It's not a guarantee though. No one knows how either would work with Josh. But that doesn't change the fact that he already signed Harty to a contract worth 5 this season that would cost more to cut him than keep him. He also spent a 1st and a 4th on a Big Slot WR. He's not looking at those guys and thinking "unproven, better go get Hopkins" like you and others are. He went out and got them because he has a role for them here. Beane isn't going to pay big money for Hopkins. There's a reason he's visiting Tennessee and New England and he hasn't signed with us already. Beane has a price he's willing to pay (if he's made an offer at all) and he's not sweating whether or not Hopkins comes around to it or not. Because he's a luxury at this point.

In targets? No, probably not. But if he proves to be a consistent speed deep threat for Josh, it's not completely insane to think he'd surpass Davis in yardage. And if that role comes to fruition in conjunction with Knox and Kincaid and Diggs as WR1 - Davis could become more of an afterthought anyways. Harty may or may not be a guy to step over Davis if he begins to faulter. But the way he's a complete and total nothing and an afterthought to you and other posters isn't fair. He's a player that Beane targeted in the 1st Wave of Free Agency and one of the few players he actually paid some money for outside of the minimum. He didn't do that to be completely buried on the Depth Chart and with fears of what he brings to the table. Between him and Dalton and then Trent and Shorter on the bottom of the depth chart with what we already have, he's done a lot and built his pass catching core the way he liked. That's why we're not going balls to the wall for Hopkins. He isn't the need here that he is on most other teams. That's fine that's what you want. But, again, the fact is that Beane targeted him very early in Free Agency is one of the select few he actually paid some money for. He didn't do that thinking "not a known commodity". It means that Beane thinks he is a player worth acquiring and paying that for. Whether or not you think he was worth it or is a good player is a mute point.

He is the most realistic chance. But Harty's contract raised a lot of fans eyebrows. And looking into him and the contract he was given, it's pretty clear that us and other teams looked at his 2021 campaign and saw a player that in his first and only opportunity to get any sort of reps as a WR instead of just a KR - proved to be a fairly consistent deep threat on an average offense with an average QB. Is it likely that Harty will become a Superstar? I wouldn't say for sure he will. But with Josh Allen throwing him the ball instead of Jameis Winston on an offense with the other playmakers we have? I don't think you can say there is no chance. And I think fans that are completely writing him off as a nothing signing are misinformed or wanting to discount him because they'd rather have a shinier toy.

How am I moving the goal posts here? I was replying to HappyDays saying "Many of us simply aren't comfortable relying on Davis to once again be the #2 target share in this passing offense which is what he currently projects to be" by saying that he already might not be that. Nothing he or I said had anything to do with last year. You just like to argue things that have little to nothing to do with what i'm talking about and then say i'm "moving the goal posts" when I explain what you're saying doesn't even fit the conversation. I'm saying that Hopkins is the shiny toy everyone wants because they've "heard of him" and all the moves Beane has made and the players who have already been stated to get more reps are sh-t on and discounted to be worthless players by posters who want to justify that Hopkins is a need and not just a want.

I love how everyone who was added or is expected to get a bigger role is discounted as nothing to justify the urgency that Beane should have for every posters "i've heard of him" shiny toy. Dalton Kincaid (traded up for and selected in Round 1, getting rave reviews in OTA's) - "Can't rely on a Rookie" Deonte Harty (had 1 season being used as a WR regularly and showed potential) - "Hasn't done anything most of his career, injury prone, never heard of him" Khalil Shakir (showed a lot of promise as an underused Rookie) - "Didn't impress me as a Rookie" Trent Sherfield (coming off his best season as a solid #3 in Miami) - "Just a guy, never heard of him" It's not just Kincaid though. We signed Harty to a larger than expected contract as a deep threat and insurance for Davis. And then he traded up to Draft Kincaid to provide further insurance. Sherfield, a bonified #3 that Miami players were very upset to see go, was also added. Shakir showed promise as a Rookie and McBeane have gone on record to say he'll get more opportunities in Year 2. And that's on top of having Diggs on the other side, Knox at TE, and Cook and Hines as pass catching Backs. Fans may have trepidations about who's a sure thing in their eyes and who isn't. But these are the moves that Beane made. He didn't trade up in Round 1 for a guy that he felt wasn't ready. He didn't give Harty a 10 million dollar, 2 year contract thinking "he's unproven". Both guys were brought in to play roles and quite possibly big ones. .... no one was talking about last year.

That's because you and others are focusing too hard on the technical labels of position. "WR2" doesn't mean he's definitely going to be the "#2 Target Share of the Passing Game". And it actually doesn't even mean he's WR2. He's just Outside WR 2. On many teams, the Slot WR is Option 1 or 2. Who is the "#1 Target Share of the Passing Game" in Kansas City? Travis Kelce. What's his technical listed position? TE. What position does he actually play? Slot WR. We traded up in the 1st Round to Draft a player that our analytics guy's metrics had as the best pure hands regardless of position in the past EIGHT Drafts. Yes, he's technically a TE. But he's a big slot WR and that's what he'll be playing here. Dalton Kincaid is a TE like Von Miller and Leonard Floyd are LB's. Deonte Harty had 1 opportunity where he was called into actual action outside of being a KR, in 2021 because of injuries. In a limited role with an average QB, he hauled in 36 catches for 570 yards and showed untapped potential as a deep threat with great speed and elusiveness. This led to him having a market as teams saw him as a potential star if given more opportunities and us handing him a 2 year, 9.5m dollar contract. In conjunction with players like Dawson Knox, Khalil Shakir in Year 2, Trent Sherfield coming off a good year as a #3 WR (and being asked to do even less here), and pass catching RB's like James Cook and Nyheim Hines - our passing game has many options outside of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. This has led to NFL.com ranking us as the #3 Offense in the NFL: https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-s-top-10-offenses-in-2023-bills-chiefs-eagles-produce-highest-win-share-proj Long story short, this idea that we need to worry about Gabe Davis being our #2 is EXTREMELY overblown. WR isn't the only pass catching option on the field and Gabe Davis isn't the only WR we have outside of Diggs. And him being the technical #2 Outside WR doesn't mean he's going to be Josh's #2 pass catching option. With the investments we made in Kincaid, Harty, and others with what we already had in house, Beane has provided weaponry that takes pressure off of both Diggs and Davis, as well as insurance in the event that Davis didn't just have an injury ridden, bad 1st year as a Starter. This is why DeAndre Hopkins, while it would be nice to have him, isn't the must have you and other posters make him out to be. He's a luxury at this point and that's why there isn't the urgency or need to get him at all costs from Beane. If he chooses to come here at our price, wonderful. If he doesn't, we still have a loaded Offense ranked Top 5 in the league.

That's the same thing I said. I never said they can pull you over and search your car for no reason. The OP was questioning how they could have searched Frank Clark's bag and found the Uzi during a traffic stop for a vehicle violation and stated "that's not how it works" when told they can when they believe they have probable cause to search.

Obviously, when he was talking about the QB's he wanted to play with - he was talking about them in the sense that their front office was also paying him the most amount of money available. Ryan Tannehill/Will Levis and Mac Jones are a FAR cry from the caliber of guys he talked about all offseason.

Yes, that is how it works. Give it a Goog. They do not need a warrant to search your vehicle if they see something inside of it that presents either a danger to them or obvious criminal activity, such as drugs in sight. Why do you think they flash their light and look around your car when you get pulled over? The only thing they need is "probable cause". So, are they going to search your bag or under your seat for no reason? No, probably not. But if they have reason to believe that bag contains drugs or a gun or they see something peaking out from under your seat, they absolutely could. And obviously in the case of Clark, they did have probable cause and they were correct in their assumption.

A cop can search a car without a warrant if they feel there is a reasonable suspicion that the occupant poses a threat to the officer's safety. Ergo, if they saw a bag that they thought possibly contained a firearm, they can search it and secure it. If you have a license for it and a license to carry it, you'll get it back after the traffic stop, no harm no foul. Obviously though, that was an illegal firearm.

Especially when you factor in character. Frank Clark is the antithesis of the type of character "The Process" preaches. Would have been a hard sell for me.

Do you have any idea how often WR's get upset in the heat of the moment when they're being game planned away from and lose an important game? Someone posted a whole video of similar instances or worse that have occurred. Just because he acted out in one moment doesn't mean he "turned" on Josh, coach, or the team. Oh yeah? Then why did he not only sign a long term deal with us last season, but also restructured his contract to make it more difficult to move him this offseason? After he "turned" on the team. He's not going anywhere this season or next season. He can't. He knows it and he knew it when he restructured. Stop being so sensitive. It's his brother. They talk about it more as a hypothetical dream they had growing up and/or to get money out of their teams more than anything else. Who did he "pretend" to be? I'm sorry he doesn't act exactly as you feel he should act. But that sounds more like a you problem than a him problem. Geesh dude. He had a minor meltdown due to his competitiveness following an absolutely abysmal team performance in which the gameplan was using him as a decoy and when it clearly wasn't working, Josh and Dorsey refused to switch gears. Honestly, i'm glad he acted the way he did. The way the team performed and the refusal to try and get him the ball when the gameplan wasn't working was more inexcusable to me than how he acted. He always unplugs in the offseason. And then when it's time to go, he shows up and plays at a high level. He's a Top 5 WR in the league and a member of our team. And you don't want him here because he doesn't act the way you want him to at all times? 🙄

If he's visiting that team in the state they're in now, they must be offering pretty good money. The hope is it isn't so much more than our offer that having Josh and the team we have makes up for the difference. But I'd imagine Tennessee knows they'd have to not only pay market value, but probably overpay to get him and the difference monetarily between the two offers will probably be too much for him to come back to ours.

Love how he spent the entire offseason talking about needing all these things, a stud QB paramount amongst them. And in his first visit, he goes to the team that has Ryan Tannehill or Will Levis throwing to him. That said, Tennessee definitely needs him. They spent a 1st on Treylon Burks last year who may develop into something, but didn't start the league on fire as a Rookie and.... like literally nothing else. Seriously, here's who they have: WR: 16 Treylon Burks 19 Jacob Copeland 14 Colton Dowell 82 Tre'Shaun Harrison 84 Gavin Holmes 10 Kearis Jackson 12 Mason Kinsey 13 Racey McMath 11 Chris Moore 18 Kyle Philips 80 Reggie Roberson 15 Nick Westbrook-Ikhine TE: 87 Alizé Mack 89 Thomas Odukoya 85 Chigoziem Okonkwo 86 Kevin Rader 83 Justin Rigg 88 Trevon Wesco 81 Josh Whyle WOOF!

My eyes are open, thank you. They see things a little more clearly and with perspective to how Beane operates than you, who looks at things simply from the point of view of what you would or wouldn't do and what can or can't be done without respect for the effects of those actions. I find it funny that you point to extensions as proof that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Those extensions needed to be done when they were done in large part to get under the cap last year and this year. The idea that we can 'damn the torpedos' and do whatever, whenever is not true in large part BECAUSE it hampers his ability to get extensions like those ones done now and in the future. Drafting, developing, and retaining are keys to building a team. You don't just fill a team and build a good locker room with the best available Free Agents every year. You may not value Knox or Oliver as important and replaceable. But he and the team feel otherwise. Both of these players (like Edmunds) would have made what they made and probably more had they gone elsewhere. As for "mid" signings, we started this year -18.5 over the cap and with 24 Free Agents. We had practically half of a roster to fill. He, at no point, said "we can't do anything" and then made the moves he did. He said he couldn't do "big splash" like signings this year and he didn't. He had to fill the roster and make all of those moves because of the 24 contracts that elapsed. And not every signing is going to be a name level superstar because we need to make sure we fill all those holes. Like you said, he had to do a "heap" of restructures to do it. There isn't an endless supply of restructures that can be done that he feels comfortable doing. At this point, it seems it's pretty much Tre and Dawkins. With Tre, they're doing diligence to see what the shape of his knee is medically first. Dawkins, they may or may not want to even do as they may want to move on from his deal that he didn't live up to last season after this season or next as simply as they can. Again, I'm not looking at things simply from the standpoint of what I would do and what is physically possible. I'm looking at the situation we're in financially, what we've done already, and how he operates. It's quite clear he feels we're in a situation now where a.) Hopkins would be nice, but he isn't a need and b.) He'll have to come at the price he's comfortable offering and that price is going to be below market value. I don't know what you're talking about when you say if he comes here or doesn't it has nothing to do with my "flawed rationale". It's pretty clear if he comes here, it won't be the best offer and he's coming here to play with Josh and improve his stock next season. And if he doesn't, it will be because Beane doesn't feel comfortable paying his price tag after what he's already done and what's on the horizon. But I'd love to hear your rationale if it doesn't happen. I'm sure it will be... rational.

Bengals fans wanting Joe Burrow at least have some merit to it. Chiefs fans? Patrick Mahomes was on the cover for Madden '20 and the cover for Madden '22 was Mahomes and Brady. They're upset because Mahomes didn't get to have THREE of the last five covers? 🙄

I'm not saying it can't happen or it won't happen. I'm saying that he seems to be letting everyone know that much like it was with Leonard Floyd - it's on Hopkins to come around to the deal he's offering (if there's indeed one on the table). He's not going to get into a bidding war and he's not going to overpay. Much like Floyd, if Hopkins wants to come here, he's going to have to turn down less money from another team or teams. It has to work for Beane and the balancing of his checkbook. And from the sounds of it, he seems to feel that someone is going to offer something that Hopkins won't turn down to come here.

So angry..... Yes, he did start last offseason saying he wouldn't be making any big splashes and then made it happen with Von in the first few days of FA. That is a thing that happened. And because that happened, people who want their shiny toys whenever like to say that he's always "full of sh!t" and cite it and it alone incessantly. The fact remains the same, however. He clearly does not want to break the bank for Hopkins. He's trying to get him at his price, if he's really trying to get him at all. If he was as important to him as you and other fans say he should be to Beane, if the cap doesn't exist and money is no issue, and Hopkins wants to play for us as bad as everyone thinks - this would be done by now and there'd be no need for hardball.

Yes, but when do you ever hear about Mike Evans being shopped by the team? When do you hear about teams being in the mix for trading for him? It's always the same sort of throwing at the wall speculation by fans and media of him being in the last year of his deal and the state of the team. Any time it's ever brought up around them they're befuddled as to why it's even being talked about.

The only thing I see on this list as something I'd expect is a Tre White restructure. He has looked really impressive in OTA's so the team has been looking into the condition of his knee heavily. Only reason I see them doing that following rave reviews is that they feel comfortable enough to play with his contract, which would make it more difficult to get out of. On the flip side of that coin is Dawkins. Dawkin's isn't a terrible LT. But he hasn't played up to his contract and last year was his worst year. He only has this year and next year left on his deal. They may want to try and get out of that contract as simply as they can after 2024 or possibly even after this year if he regresses more. I don't think it's a coincidence that amongst the many restructures they've done already, Dion hasn't been one of them. I also wouldn't expect a Daquan Jones extension until late in this season or after it. They decided that Ed Oliver was the priority to get done. I'd expect they wait until they see how Poona Ford plays for us, how Jordan Phillips returns after being oft-injired last season, and who stays healthy before committing to a 2nd DT long term.

How about Todd Bowles? "I don’t know where that [talk] came from, either. Mike’s been one of our best players for a long time. He’s still productive at a high level, one of my favorite guys on the team,” Bowles said. The head coach added “same thing” for Chris Godwin. “I don’t see those two guys going anywhere,” Bowles said with an incredulous look on his face. https://www.joebucsfan.com/2023/03/todd-bowles-addresses-chris-godwin-mike-evans-trade-rumors/

Mike Evans isn't available for Trade. It's always just speculation by media members for WR needy teams. Which we are not. If we were, we'd be offering Hopkins whatever it took. Between the additions of Kincaid (as much a TE as Von is a LB), Harty, Sherfield, and Shorter and what we already had in Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, and Khalil Shakir - WR is only a "need" for fans who feel Gabe Davis shouldn't be on the team and require a depth chart filled with "I've heard of 'em!" players to be satisfied. Whether or not anyone feels comfortable with how the position has been addressed - Beane does and none of those guys are going anywhere.

Yes, he didn't close the door on it so technically, we are still in it. But if you read between the lines of what he said today (I transcribed that above) and what he said to Pat McAfee yesterday: “We are all about people who want to come to Buffalo. We love it, especially if they fit. Obviously DeAndre’s a heck of a talent . . . Nothing but respect for him. It would definitely have to fit with how we would structure the salary and all that. Never rule it out, but know he’s a good player and he’ll probably command a decent contract.” ... it's pretty clear what he's saying. We've talked to him. We probably have an offer out. But that offer is what works for Beane and the Bills. It's a team friendly deal, most likely a prove it deal to improve his stock for next offseason. Nothing "significant". It's there for Hopkins if he wants it. But Beane expects someone's going to pay him significantly. And that won't be us. He can't pay a lot and won't pay a lot for what he clearly feels is a luxury add on piece at this point after what he's already done to his Pass Catching core. It's pretty clear he determined that another Edge Rusher with Von coming off of the ACL was more important. Fingers crossed Hopkins comes back to our deal and determines a chance to win is worth more than money on a lesser team. But I wouldn't hold my breath.