BillsFanForever19

Apparently, you're not reading my posts. As stated in my previous post, they have never cut him or even let him go without a contract offer. They made an offer to him after his one year deal in 2018 during the 2019 FA process. Houston offered more money and more opportunities as a RB in a less crowded backfield. So he chose to go there instead for a season. And this goes to the crux of our back and forth. You make points to argue against what I say and I simply reply back with why I don't agree with the assessment or in this case, point out the parts that are simply incorrect. That's... kinda how message boards work? This last post is a prime example of what I've been saying. You spend most of the post taking a stance of me "overreacting" and spend time defending yourself that you never said Taiwan couldn't make the team. Yet you couldn't help but end the post with a (incorrect) negative on him.

You literally wrote him off the roster by having him as a cut. And while I point out that was extremely unlikely in the first place and that tonight points to it being even more unlikely than that - you maintain that it means nothing. Hell, even when Antonio Williams was dinged up - they still opted to keep him on the bench and then put Williams back in later when he was cleared. If he were a fringe player on the roster or even in a battle to keep his job, they wouldn't have done that. You can hedge your bet by saying "he might still make it". But you don't seem to want to hear the logic pointing to that already being the case and continue to point to reasons why he could/should be cut. I don't know any other way of reading it than you're personally writing him off the roster. And I hate to break it to you, but McDermott never cut him. He's also not been cut multiple times in his career. He was cut once in 2017 after 6 seasons with the Raiders, most likely for cap reasons while being on the final year of a 3 year contract extension there. He was a Free Agent after the 2018 season with us and chose Houston in FA because they offered him more. And after a year of subpar Special Teams, McDermott and Beane realized their mistake and brought him back for last year and this year.

I don't know how you can say "you fully understand the value of STs" and then write a guy off the roster who was called "the best gunner in the NFL" by McDermott in Camp, then disregard what it says that we're not risking him getting hurt when we're already down a number of RB's by saying (that as opposed to literally every other player we're doing that for) we're just doing it because "they know what he is". I'm not saying that just his sitting makes him a lock. I'm saying he was already a lock and them not risking him getting injured tonight says all you need to know.

If you look at the healthy guys who aren't playing, they're all locks. So you're suggesting Taiwan Jones and only Taiwan Jones is sitting bc they know what he is? With Zach Moss and Christian Wade hurt so we're already short staffed tonight at RB and need bodies? C'mon 🙄 That's not why he's sitting tonight. He's sitting because he's an important piece to our squad like the others who are sitting. You look at Special Teams and say you want someone who does more than just that. But that's not how McBeane looks at it. They realize and have talked about the importance of having a solid core as when you just rely on offensive and defensive contributors, you get burned. Yes, Taiwan Jones doesn't offer much outside of Special Teams. But that doesn't matter. Because Special Teams is one of the three phases of the game and he's our most important player in that role. I think you're seriously disrespecting that side of the ball by saying it's not enough that he's only a good Special Teams player.

Don't know where? You're keeping ELEVEN D-Lineman. It's going to be 10 at the absolute most. You're keeping 10 DB's also. How do you justify Cam Lewis? We have the same exact DB's we had last season, minus Josh Norman and Dean Marlowe replaced by Dane Jackson and Damar Hamlin (also Siran Neal is a CB, not a Safety). They aren't going to keep an extra DB or DL who won't dress unless someone gets hurt over their Special Teams captain who will play every game. Taiwan Jones was chosen as a healthy scratch tonight. He's not going anywhere. Even if it came down to the RB position, Jones will make it over Breida or whomever they decided was the RB3 Yeldon role.

Yes, he is. He's our top Special Teams player and was re-signed as such in the offseason. Fans on this board love to write him and Mario Addison off the roster. But neither are going anywhere. Both being healthy scratches speaks to the disparity between a lot of fans feelings towards them vs. McBeane's.

https://nwhof.org/news/top-10-wrestlers-who-played-in-nfl McDermott being a former wrestler seems to really like guys who used to wrestle. Harrison Phillips for example. https://www.stack.com/a/harrison-phillips-wrestling/

Lesnar was 27 and had already spent years in the WWE on top of his collegiate wrestling career. He was offered a spot in NFL Europa but passed to go to the UFC. Stevenson is 21 years old and has less wear and tear. Look, I'm not saying Stevenson can come in and immediately make a contribution. But he'd be an intriguing developmental prospect, if he were so inclined to move to football.

Yeah, "friggin' wrestling", only one of the most athletic sports in the world that translates well to a lot of other sports 🙄

Taiwan Jones and Daryl Johnson being released? That's really an assault to our Special Teams. It's all the rage for fans to release Taiwan because he doesn't offer much beyond Special Teams. But they knew that when they re-signed him. They talk him up as "maybe the best gunner in the NFL". I guarantee you, he will be on this roster. Whether fans like it or not.

This is not at all shocking to me. Bills fans have been trying to replace him from Day One. The Bills themselves have made him earn the #2 CB spot each and every training camp and preseason. And year in and year out, he goes out and does it. Is he a Superstar in this league? No. But he's a solid player, a solid #2, and I think it's time a lot of fans put some respect on his name.

See: Kroft, Tyler And who is having serious discussions that either should be cut, outside of a vocal minority in the fan base? Beane and McDermott continue to speak very highly of Addison. If either were to be cut, given their stature with the team, it would have happened a few months back to save the cap space and replace them instead of holding on to them with restructures.

I'd lock down Diggs as soon as he wants a new deal. That said, Edmunds is most likely the next one to get done.

This may be how you believe a franchise should be run. But saying that Beane has proven he's not afraid to cut a player outright that he's asked to take a pay cut to stay is flat out false. He's cut guys like McCoy, sure. But that's because he wouldn't take a paycut or wasn't asked to. As I've stated in my earlier posts in this thread, he's never done it. Not even fringe players like Kroft who we barely dressed. Even DiMarco was kept on the payroll on IR and wasn't released without an agreed upon settlement before his retirement. Is it possible? Yes. But again, it would be the very first time he's done it and I think there's a reason he hasn't. It's a bad look to the locker room to tell a player if he wants to stay he has to take a paycut and then cut them anyways before the start of the season, when it's difficult to latch on to a new team and be productive.

He was placed on Injured Reserve. Was only released on a mutually agreed upon settlement deal and he later retired. That's not the same thing. I'd even argue this further proves my point because they were willing to keep him on the payroll even though he was shot and only released him after they paid him. And it was only because the guy was toast. Which is not the case with Addison and Butler.

I think the bigger thing with these two is that they both were approached by Beane and told that if they'd like to stay, they'd have to take a pay cut. Both agreed to it. Beane has never told a player that they can stay if they take a pay cut and released them. Not even Tyler Kroft who barely dressed last season. For a regime that places a large emphasis on the team believing in the process and having high morale in the locker room - I believe that sticking to their word is important to this end. I think it would send a negative message for them to make players take pay cuts to stay and then say "thanks for doing that, but we're releasing you anyways and doing so after training camp where it will be difficult to find a gig and you'll be playing catch up all year". Long story short, while it is possible for them to do it - it would be the first time.

I wonder how many other playoff teams have 4 topics on the first page and a half dedicated to a fringe player.

Maybe they are trying him out at Tight End after all.

Kawann Short is still available. Given his familiarity with Lotulelei, Butler, and McDermott - I wouldn't be shocked if we were one of the teams reportedly in on him.

Yes. And although as I stated, I don't see it as likely - McKenzie is not the stone cold locks that Diggs, Beasley, Davis, and Sanders are. He's essentially on a 1 year league minimum deal. So it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that 2/3 of Stevenson, Hodgins, and Kumerow are so undeniable that they cut McKenzie loose. Especially if Stevenson outright wins the KR job.

I only mentioned where he was drafted bc you were mentioning players drafted in the bottom half of the 6th and that didn't apply with Stevenson. Ultimately, it's extremely early in Training Camp to be crowning anyone. But I can't help but feel that the Kumerow hype from fans and the media is getting overblown simply because Rodgers raved about him. We're talking about a guy who has been cut 4 times in the past year (once by GB, once by us, twice by NO). He's had some reported good practices. But so has Stevenson. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out. And yes, it's a good problem we have right now. But my gut has Stevenson over Kumerow and Hodgins.

No, I wouldn't. But another thing to keep in mind with Stevenson is that while he was a 6th Rounder - he was our 5th selection this year and in the top half of that round. I don't see our last 6th Rounder Rachad Wildgoose staying on (as our only loss at CB from last season was Norman and Dane Jackson will fill his roster spot on the 53), nor do I see our 7th Rounder Jack Anderson making it. I'm also not high on Isaiah Hodgins' chances as I feel he lacks the speed or return ability that is lacking in our WR core. So those are some Vallejo/McCloud cuts that will come this year that you wouldn't see in other years. But, I do feel that Stevenson (who does have those traits) and our 2nd 6th Damar Hamlin (who will fill Dean Marlowe's roster spot with little competition for it) won't be subjected to possibly being poached.

There could be something to that. But I think what it ultimately boils down to is a general disregard of the importance of Special Teams. Seems a portion of the fan base feels like roster spots being used for players who contribute almost exclusively on Special Teams like Taiwan Jones or Tyler Matakevitch - are a waste. That they'd sacrifice a really good Special Teams player for a guy who contributes more on Offense or Defense while also playing Special Teams, even if they aren't as good there. Or in Kumerow's case, a complete unknown on Special Teams. Because apparently anybody can do it and do it well 🙄

You're talking about replacing a guy who is our top Special Teams player and one of the better gunners in the NFL with a guy who has barely taken snaps on Special Teams. What's your reasoning here? Do you think you can put just anybody back there to play Special Teams? Taiwan Jones is not going anywhere. We're probably going to already have to cut one of our core Special Teamers in Daryl 'Bam Bam' Johnson from a pure numbers standpoint at Defensive End. If we weren't interested in having Taiwan back on Special Teams, we wouldn't have signed him to a new deal this offseason. Also, Stevenson was our 5th pick in this Draft. I'd call our 7th and 8th selections longshots. But we're not cutting more than a 3rd of our Draft. Especially when Stevenson provides speed and return ability, something our core needed addressing this offseason.

I do not see him as a lock. I've actually been asking the same question the past few weeks. Specifically, why does everyone speak of him so glowingly while completely discounting Stevenson? They were both Draft Picks of the team, in the same round. And personally - for what this WR core is lacking - I value Stevenson's speed and return ability over what Hodgins provides. Ultimately, it comes down to 4 guys battling for two spots. Isaiah McKenzie, Marquez Stevenson, Isaiah Hodgins, and Jake Kumerow. I think McKenzie's versatility and repore with Allen speaks for itself. Then it's two draft picks and Kumerow. While I could see them giving up on one of the picks - I can't see them giving up both.