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I think they were the ones offering the most money. But he was hoping a better team would have saw him take those visits and up their offer. But that didn't happen and I don't think it's going to happen. Now he's in a holding pattern deciding what's more important - the money or playing on a winning team. I think he ultimately signs with one of them because one or both will pull their offer eventually knowing they're being leveraged and the teams like us are offering far less.

Ultimately, what I'm saying is you're laser focused on who you think is #2 and not looking at the core as a whole. KC had Kelce and JuJu, but what else? We have Diggs, Davis, Kincaid, and Knox. If Davis is faltering, his targets go to Kincaid in the Slot or Knox at TE. And/or Harty. And that's not even taking into account Shakir or the pass catching RB's like Cook and Hines. It's a very talented deep pass catching core and the idea that between Davis, Kincaid, Knox, and Harty there won't be a single viable option outside of Diggs is insane to me. He targeted Harty on Day 1 of FA and doubled down by spending a 1st and a 4th on Kincaid. You don't do that thinking "He's just a Rookie though, can't count on that at all". Also brought in Sherfield and bought a scratch off so to speak by Drafting Shorter in the 5th. All of this with Diggs, Davis, Knox, and Shakir already in house. There's no way he did all of that and is thinking "I didn't get enough insurance for Davis, who I still believe in, I NEED to bring in Hopkins too". NFL.com has us having the 3rd Ranked Offense in the Entire League and you're acting like we're in rough shape and have a "yeah, but" for any player not named Diggs just to justify your idea that Hopkins is 'need' and not a 'want'. https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-s-top-10-offenses-in-2023-bills-chiefs-eagles-produce-highest-win-share-proj

They just gave 4 million in cash up front to Hines in a restructure to keep him. He also has a 2 million dead cap hit to release him. He's not going anywhere. Neal is not only one of our Special Teams core, he's the only other Nickel CB on the roster besides Taron Johnson. Murray was literally just signed a month ago. You don't sign a guy a veteran and then immediately release him. Dawkins hasn't lived up to his deal and had an average at best year last season. He looks out of shape this offseason. I don't think it's a coincidence that they didn't do a Dawkins restructure amongst the MANY they've done this offseason. They may want to get out from under it after this season if he underperforms again or simply move on after the 2024 season and restructuring his deal would make that more difficult. Fun to play Madden arm chair GM - but most of that stuff is unrealistic. And you're discrediting all of them because unless the team has two Superstar, All Pro, Household names, we apparently have nothing. I could understand your concerns if Beane had simply said "Davis will bounce back" and didn't do anything. But he spent a 1st and a 4th on Kincaid and targeted Harty on Day 1 of FA as insurance. And it's not like we were completely barren before then having Diggs, Davis, and Knox already in the fold. And also Shakir in his second season and wild cards like Shorter and Sherfield. You see "need" when it's really just a "want". Hopkins is a luxury to Beane or else he would have made the trade or gotten it done already.

You're operating as if there's no chance Davis can rebound after his first year as a starter dealing with injuries, Kincaid won't have a solid Rookie season, and Harty will underperform/won't stay healthy. Maybe 1 or 2 of those things will happen. But all of them? I wouldn't bet on it. And that's not taking into account already having Diggs and Knox, solid pass catching RB's in Cook and Hines, as well as Wild Cards like Justin Shorter and Trent Sherfield. This team has weapons.

I don't think he a.) Feels anything close to what you feel about Davis and the #2 position and b.) Feels that Harty alone was the answer. But that Kincaid AND Harty are, in conjunction with not only hoping, but expecting a better year out of Davis. I think Beane seems "exasperated" because he's tired of being asked about it. If he wanted Hopkins as badly as you think he does, he'd make it happen. And I'm not "doing my best to pretend like it isn't". I'm just not saying "yeah - but" like you are to not 1, not 2, but 3 different players in Davis, Kincaid, and Harty when it comes to options outside of Diggs. And that's not even talking about Dawson Knox, Khalil Shakir in his 2nd year, and pass catching backs like James Cook and Nyheim Hines. You're obsessed with the idea of who is the technical #2 instead of looking at the entirety of the pass catching weapons we have. If Davis is faltering, we have other options to go to that aren't Diggs.

The OBJ deal includes cap hits stretched out 3 years after his contract expires. May not be a concern to you, but if it wasn't to Beane, he'd have done it already. Probably would have thrown a 6th or 7th Arizona's way to simply Trade for him. And actually, Hopkins himself doesn't seem interested in that. According to Tom Pelissero on the Rich Eisen show some weeks ago - Hopkins wasn't open to reworking his deal to involve something that didn't pay him up front and that's why they couldn't get a deal done:

The Salary Cap implications are the main issue with getting the contract done. If it didn't exist, Oil Baron Pegula would have no problem coming up with that money.

I did not. To be fair though, I was given a heads up from someone in front of me who had attended the year before. I guess he did that every year. So I made sure to say "thank you" loud enough that I knew he'd hear me. I'd like to think I would have either way though.

All of those guys were single year deals. Rodger Saffold started every game for us in that year. Jamison Crowder was lost for the year in the middle of Game 4. OJ Howard was signed to a 1 year 3 million dollar deal. Not near the investment he put into Harty. And you like to constantly point to the release of Howard like it's a normal thing that happens all the time. It wasn't. That was a shock. I'm not saying Harty will or won't be a star for us. What I'm saying is the kind of investment Beane made wouldn't have been made if he had no intention of having a role for him. He didn't target him on Day 1 with all the options available to him thinking "this is just a depth signing and I need to Draft a guy in the 1st and sign a Top 10 WR like Hopkins too".

The fact that he paid him a 2 year, 9.5 million dollar deal with a 3 million bonus, 5.25 guaranteed and made him more expensive to cut than to keep in Year 1 says that. Beane doesn't bid against himself. If Harty didn't have a market, he would have been signed for the minimum peanuts like most of the veterans we signed this offseason and wouldn't have happened on Day 1.

That doesn't matter nor discount the fact that Beane targeted him on Day 1 of FA and gave him a multi year deal that was worth more than the 1 year, league minimum that he signed most others for. You might not think anything of the signing. But Beane made him a priority. He's not a break glass in case of emergency depth guy. He will be used.

I think you're greatly downplaying how much of a reduction he'd have if Hopkins were on the field at the same time, as well as Kincaid in the slot. Quite a big difference between Davis and McKenzie as far as talent goes. Not to mention, I think everyone is greatly underestimating Deonte Harty. Beane didn't sign him on Day 1 of Free Agency to a multi year deal and outbid other teams for his services for him not to be used. And Davis isn't going to go from Starter to being barely used at all either. The reduction would be noticable and he's already reportedly unhappy with what it was last season.

Reminds me of the time I attended Jim Kelly's Football Camp as a Kid. Funny story, on the last day of Camp, he signed autographs for everyone sitting on a Golf Cart in a Field. After you got your autograph, he would say "left" or "right" to you. When he was done he said "everyone in the right line said thank you after getting their autograph, everyone in the left line didn't and now has to run laps" 😆

Not going to happen unless Hopkins wakes up one morning and completely changes course and says "I don't care about the guaranteed money, I just want to play there". If we were offering anything close to what Tennessee or New England were offering, he'd have taken a visit here. And even then, I'm not sure we're even in it at all. Diggs is reportedly upset about his usage. After last week and after spending a 1st and a 4th on Kincaid and targeting and paying Harty on Day 2 of FA already, which should cut into his targets even more than last year, I can't see them bringing in Hopkins too.

That's true. But Geno flamed out as a Starter and then spent 5 seasons as a Backup that never saw the field before rising like a phoenix. Not exactly the same as having a less than stellar year one year and a stellar year the next. You don't get comeback player of the year that way. Didn't know the Vegas Odds, but when I thought of it, considering what he went through - even playing again in any capacity is going to trump anything anyone else does when it comes to "Coming Back".

Yeah, Comeback Player of the Year goes to players who return from a serious injury. Guys who had a down year and then a massive year aren't going to take that award. It will go to someone like Odell Beckham Jr, Matt Stafford, Breece Hall, or Tua Tagovailoa. And honestly, given the severity of the injury, even if Damar Hamlin finishes the season in a reserve role - I could see the award going to him. But, yeah, no way does it go to Mac Jones for improving his performance.

Like I said, he's not available for Trade this Offseason. It's just speculated wishing and hoping from other fanbases: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/06/17/mike-evans-bucs-working-toward-third-contract/

It's pretty clear to me that McDermott made a conscious decision to throw Diggs under the bus and someone above him, whether it was Beane or Pegula, put him in his place over it. McDermott ALWAYS goes out of his way to downplay or flat out lie about things to the press to avoid any sort of distraction. It's his M.O. But this time, he went out of character and deliberately made things a public mess. Then the next day, he completely contradicts himself and is reading a carefully prepared statement off of a piece of paper - surely carefully constructed by multiple people and/or the PR Department. The whole thing was a mess of McDermott's own creation. Diggs did what he did. But McDermott could have done what he always does and it would have been a minor blip in the media.

True. Thanks for catching and the clarification. I was wondering how a DIII player who barely touched the field got a Combine invite. Still wild to me that given his resume, he's gotten multiple shots in the NFL just based simply on size, measurements, and athletic ability. Definitely a Cinderella story if he ever amounts to something in the league.

The idea that players are more about Rings and less about Money is a romantic fan driven idea. Not saying it never happens. But that generally only happens if the contender options are fairly close in offer. If the Titans or the Pats are going to overpay and the Bills and Chiefs are only looking to pay him average to below average money with incentives - best believe he'll sign with the Titans or the Pats. He's probably waiting and hoping a better team sees he's serious about taking one of their offers and matches or comes close to it. But if no one does, he'll sign with one of them. And I don't see Brandon Beane getting into a bidding war for anyone at this point. He's a firm, "here's our offer, take it or leave it" kind of GM. Floyd got done because he came back to our offer. If Hopkins were to sign here, it will be the same thing. But given that he took those visits, I don't see that as likely. And after everything that happened this week with Diggs, I see it as even less likely. It would send the wrong message to Diggs and the Media if we were to bring Hopkins in now.

I don't think it's just leveraging though. He doesn't need to fly in and meet with teams for his agent to find out where they are financially in an offer. He's visiting in person to see if he likes being there and could possibly make it work. Odds are because they're offering the most. Especially seeing the full court press that Tennessee put on from his IG story. One thing I'm fairly certain of is that if what we were offering (if there were an offer, at all) were enough to "close the gap", he wouldn't be visiting with those teams in person. And I don't see Beane upping his offer based on what they're offering. I imagine it's more than likely a Leonard Floyd situation. If he wants to come back to our offer on the table - great. If not, oh well.

He wants the best offer. If it were about simply playing with Josh or Mahomes, he wouldn't be taking visits with teams like Tennessee and New England. He wants to find his best money offers and leverage them. Maybe he'd take less than what a lesser team is offering to play in Buffalo or KC, but if one of those teams wants to overpay in their offer (which they'd have to if they want to land him on their sorry @ss teams) - the discount will probably still be more than the Bills or Chiefs are willing to offer at this point in the Offseason.

My issue with that statement is that people can have their own personal concerns about that. But Beane signed him and made him a priority. What posters want is for him to be, at most, the 4th technical WR on the depth chart and the 5th or 6th option in the passing game after Diggs, Hopkins (who fans look at as a "need" and not a luxury), Davis, Kincaid, and Knox. Beane didn't sign him to a 2 year contract worth 10 million to turn around and go out and spend a boatload more to get another guy because he doesn't see him as a "sure thing". He'll already surely be behind Diggs, Kincaid, and Davis on players split out Wide. I don't think he's looking to use him even less than that with the investment he made in him. Which is why I think Beane has taken a stance of "If he wants to come here cheap, sure. Otherwise, I don't really need him" with Hopkins.

Oh man - you've gone and done it now. You've given sound reasoning as to why Beane targeted him in Wave 1 of Free Agency, outbid others to get him, and why he more than likely feels comfortable with what he's done with the Pass Catching core this offseason already. The "he's an unknown" and "he's never done anything in his career" crowd around here that want to dismiss him and bury him on the depth chart at every chance they get aren't going to like that.

I keep seeing people say "If Beane wanted" as if that's all it takes. Just offering a fair market value probably isn't getting it done unless he's offering the highest amount. Hopkins wants money. All that media noise before he got released was all fine and good. But it's pretty clear since hiring an agent, it's all about getting the most money he can.