BillsFanForever19

I love when people propose an 'Assistant HC'. It's almost always a fan being like "Damn, I'm stuck with this coordinator or Head Coach I don't like. How do I deal with this? Okay, what if we add ANOTHER coach that hopefully negates them?" Like you said "this brain trust isn't going anywhere". Adding another coach in an assistant role isn't going to change how Joe Brady runs the Offense or how Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich runs the Defense. And he's not going to provide some kind of "eureka" moment for Sean.

There's two options when it comes to Samuel. 1.) The most likely is that he's here. Whether that's on a re-worked deal or pay cut to provide us a little space or he's just here on the same deal he's on. 2.) We trade for a WR and Curtis Samuel is part of the trade. It would cost us 11m+ in Dead Cap to cut him this year. That's why the "out" in his deal is looked at as after this upcoming season. Cutting him isn't a good option. Curtis Samuel IS a WR with Speed. I hope this year was just a combination of the turf toe nagging him throughout the year and a lack of experience with Josh. But speed for the sake of speed is not enough. Like I said, Samuel has that. You still need the Offensive Coordinator to run plays that stretch the field and/or that guy with Speed to beat the coverage. And I fear that Brady simply didn't utilize Samuel's speed the right way. And if it's the case, getting another Speed WR isn't going to change anything. We aren't "drafting rotational lineman". McDermott's Defense uses heavy rotation. That's why guys are rotating. It's his philosophy and that's really not going to change.

I'm not giving up two 1st Round Picks and the insane amount of cap it would cost, preventing us from spending money on other positions, for just one Defensive End. As @HappyDays has said, the key to overcoming the Chiefs en route to a Super Bowl bid is to load up the Offense with firepower and outscore them. Take the Defense out of it. We could have the best Defense ever and Mahomes is still going to go Michael Jordan when it comes to the Championship game. For what it would take to get Garrett (or at least what you're proposing), you're costing yourself multiple 1st Round talents and multiple players you could sign with the massive amount of cap space he'll take up - for 1 player on Defense that Andy Reid will scheme around and Championship Patrick Mahomes will still find a way to put up points on. This isn't to say completely neglect the Defensive End position. But you can sign a guy like Khalil Mack or Josh Sweat to go along with Greg Rousseau, keep those Draft Picks and have much more money that can both be used on Offense than it would to put Garrett under contract, and field a very similar result. Myles Garrett is a great player. But he's not going to impact the game as well as having a DK Metcalf, Tee Higgins, Deebo Samuel, or Chris Godwin for Josh to throw to will. If i'm delegating multiple picks and a large amount of cap space to someone this offseason - that's where i'd be leaning first.

The only issue I have with taking a 2nd Round WR is that I want a veteran of Cooper's caliber or greater replacing that spot. And I think it's a forgone conclusion that Mack Hollins is going to be retained at his roster spot. With Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and Curtis Samuel (who's out is after next season, as he'd be an 11m+ Dead Cap hit for this season) under contract and Hollins retained - that only leaves Cooper's spot to be filled. And a 2nd Round Speed WR who is looked at as a #2 is not who I'd want for that spot. If we were to trade for someone like Deebo Samuel and Curtis Samuel were part of the deal, by all means. But if we're to be filling one WR spot (as expected as the number's been 5 the past couple seasons) - it needs to be something bigger than just a Rookie at Pick 62.

Funny - but she ripped off Tom Grossi's routine. Here's his videos following the AFCCG.

Nope. They were starting AJ Epenesa, Damar Hamlin, Daquan Jones hit the wall, Dorian Williams for most of the year and a Matt Milano who only became a semblance of his old self at the very end (though never looked fully like himself pre-injury). On top of that, in the Chiefs game we were rolling with Kaiir Elam and Cole Bishop. The talent level just wasn't there to put the Defensive woes completely on him and fire him after 1 year. He won't be going anywhere this offseason.

I posted this on another thread, but it's fitting in this one. I have a fear that they don't want the kind of WR we're calling for and/or the type of WR we're calling for won't want to come here with the kind of role a #1 WR in a Joe Brady Offense seems to be. Once Joe Brady took over, Stefon Diggs became a decoy. And came off the field more than he ever had. And we became a much more Run focused Offense. It's my belief that this was the breaking point for Diggs. Then we make the move for Amari Cooper. Who comes in and is used mainly as a decoy. And ultimately not seeing the field much. The only reason I see for this is that he wasn't the down field blocker that Mack Hollins and Keon Coleman are. Many fans, myself included, want a bonafide veteran #1 WR to come in this offseason. But I fear that with how Diggs was used, how we approached the position this past offseason, and now seeing how Cooper was used that Brady isn't interested in a guy unless he's willing to get his hands dirty on the regular and not be a focal point of the Offense. And most stud WR's aren't interested in that.

Shane Buechele and Zach Davidson also brought back. Buechele is kind of surprising to me as we re-signed Mike White and I thought he'd look elsewhere rather than be a 4th arm in Training Camp.

This whole situation concerns me. Once Joe Brady took over, Stefon Diggs became a decoy. And came off the field more than he ever had. And we became a much more Run focused Offense. It's my belief that this was the breaking point for Diggs. Then we make the move for Amari Cooper. Who comes in and is used mainly as a decoy. And ultimately not seeing the field much. The only reason I see for this is that he wasn't the down field blocker that Mack Hollins and Keon Coleman are. Many fans, myself included, want a bonafide veteran #1 WR to come in this offseason. But I fear that with how Diggs was used, how we approached the position this past offseason, and now seeing how Cooper was used that Brady isn't interested in a guy unless he's willing to get his hands dirty on the regular and not be a focal point of the Offense. And most stud WR's aren't interested in that.

If it's only 3 of the 5 - it's Benford, Shakir, Cook for me. I was on the fence for paying Bernard and this year sealed it for me. Rousseau is good at setting the Edge, but he's never had more than 8 sacks in a year in his 4 seasons here. 25 total over 4 years is just not enough to justify the kind of contract he's going to command. We need to go out and get something better than Epenesa this offseason opposite Rousseau. Hopefully someone who gets more sacks than Rousseau. Depending on how big that fish is, I'd probably move on from Rousseau after 2025.

Without watching the video, I assume it's for 'Sinners'. The newest Ryan Coogler directed, Michael B. Jordan starring film following the Creed and Black Panther franchises. She's going to be in it and I'm looking forward to it. After Black Panther and Creed, if you tell me it's a Ryan Coogler/Michael B. Jordan film, that's all I need to hear. Bills Queen Hailee as a Vampire too? I'm sold.

I know re-signing a Running Back after their Rookie deal goes against everything certain posters on this board stand for. And it goes against my general thinking as well. However, James Cook has become an exception for me. This regime spent Draft Picks and Cap Space over the years trying to find a Running game like we got this year by Drafting guys like Singletary and Moss and bringing in veteran's like Gore, Breida, and Hines. Without a RB like Cook, we wouldn't have gotten to where we were. You aren't likely to replace a guy like him by just Drafting another. I think we can carefully arrange a contract that would be worth keeping here and beyond my thoughts on it, I have a sinking feeling they want to and will do it. I could see a scenario where Rousseau could be a surprise move on from candidate. If we were to do something big at Defensive End this offseason, it wouldn't shock me if they then went with a more inexpensive option opposite them. Bernard is honestly the last person I would extend on the list. While he definitely exceeded expectations last year, I felt this year he was extremely underwhelming. He felt like he was constantly out of position. The middle of the field was a barren wasteland of yardage all year long. And outside of the strip and recovery against Mark Andrews in the Playoffs and the game sealing pick on Mahomes in the regular season, I really fail to remember him hopping off the screen otherwise. As opposed to last year where he was regularly doing so. He'd have to have a BIG bounce back next year for me to consider paying him.

Yes, he will be cut. His contract was always really a 3 year deal. Our out is this offseason and he's not performing at a level worthy of not exercising it.

So because you walked into a local Sports shop and heard 3 Bills themed songs in a row - that means they're winning the Super Bowl next year? I'm missing how these two things connect...

I think the Defense simply lacked talent in a lot of spots. A simultaneous casualty of guys aging out of their roles and the salary cap not allowing us to fill with difference makers. We were starting AJ Epenesa, Damar Hamlin, and Dorian Williams. Rasul Douglas and Daquan Jones hit the wall. Taylor Rapp overachieved my expectations but wasn't a game breaker. Terrel Bernard and Ed Oliver took a step back from their performance last year. Matt Milano took a while to get his sea legs under him and got closer to what we had seen before the injury last season, but never got back to full form. This isn't to say Babich always had the best game plan. But with the Defense we were fielding, I'm certainly not willing to say he was all to blame.

Exactly. Most of that list can be replaced by budget FA's, Day 3 Picks, or UDFA's. And the guys we'll want to bring back, of which I agree on, won't cost much.

We're in a much better situation this year than we were last year on players needing to be re-signed or replaced. And in a much better situation cap wise than starting 54m over the cap. But saying there's 6-7 open roster spots on the entire roster is simply not true. Our Free Agents are as follows: WR Amari Cooper CB Rasul Douglas WR Mack Hollins DE Von Miller (almost a lock to be released) FS Damar Hamlin RB Ty Johnson FB Reggie Gilliam TE Quintin Morris DE Dawuane Smoot TE Quintin Morris DT Austin Johnson LS Reid Ferguson OT Ryan Van Demark OG Alec Anderson DT Quintin Jefferson DT Jordan Phillips QB Shane Buechele OT Tommy Doyle Each player on that list, save for the bottom 2 represent a player on the 53 man roster we fielded last night that will need to be brought back or replaced. That's 16 roster spots. And that's not accounting for other possible releases made to upgrade positions.

There's a massive difference between how we're entering this upcoming season and how we entered this season. Of course there were a number of Playoff teams with far superior talent. We entered this season 54m over the cap. We had to do everything we could just to get to zero. And then re-sign or replace TWENTY NINE players with little to no money. This season's team was patched together with less than desirable starters on both sides of the ball. Some overachieved (Mack Hollins (who still wasn't a game breaker), Connor McGovern (at Center), David Edwards, Taylor Rapp) and some underachieved or played like we thought they would (Curtis Samuel, AJ Epenesa, Daquan Jones, Damar Hamlin). And injuries to Benford and Rapp had us taking a STARK dropoff in talent with Elam and Bishop because of a lack of depth. We weren't supposed to do what we did this year. Next year, entering basically at zero - meaning all of the extensions, re-structures, pay cuts, and releases will go straight to acquiring players rather than just to get to zero from -54. We've got less to re-sign or replace than this year and have 10 Draft Picks (including 3 in the first 2 Rounds). This upcoming year was always set to be the year where we could truly build a Super Bowl contending team. This was the year where we were just getting by on journeyman players we could afford to field a team. And they still, against all odds, came this close to a Super Bowl.

Kurt Warner's viewpoint demands more respect that the fan Fitz is replying to. But the sentiment remains the same:

I'm disappointed that we came so close and lost. But i'm not broken like a lot of you. Because while most of you looked at our record and how far we got and thought "this is it! we're absolutely going to do it!" - my thought was "holy crap, this was our soft rebuild year with a roster lacking at many positions and having no depth. If we can make it this far with what we've got, imagine what we're going to be next year when we can actually build a Super Bowl competing roster!". We came within a Dalton Kincaid dropped pass of possibly going to the Super Bowl with Mack Hollins, Curtis Samuel, Keon Coleman, and Khalil Shakir as our weapons (still kind of in disbelief we didn't use Cooper more, but it is what it is). Starting AJ Epenesa, Kaiir Elam, Damar Hamlin, and Cole Bishop on Defense. A Center who never played the position at the Pro Level and a Guard who was a Backup for us last year. And we got to the furthest point this team has gotten. Next year all of the moves we'll make in extensions, re-structures, and releases will go straight into spending money instead of getting to zero from -54m. We have 10 picks, including 3 in the first 2 Rounds. And we have less to replace or re-sign - allowing us to focus on improving problem areas instead of just putting bodies there. This was supposed to be a lost season where we get by with what we can and get guys experience in Year 1 with the team. Instead, we were that close to the dance with a roster that is as bad as it's looked in years. Rather than bury your head in the dirt, be proud of what they accomplished - and salivate on the opportunities to actually field a contending team next year.

We are. -2.5m is a FAR greater situation than -54m. When you extend Josh, release Von, release, restructure, or pay cut others - that number is going to change from -2.5 to a large double digit number in the positives. Then there's who we may be replacing this year vs. who we were replacing next year. Last year we lost 4/5 of our WR Core, both our starting Safeties, a starting Center, a starting Defensive End, former starters in Dane Jackson, Tyrel Dodson, and Tre White, plus 13 other important depth or role players - a whopping 23 players in total. And that's AFTER re-signing AJ Epenesa, Daquan Jones, Taylor Rapp, David Edwards, Ty Johnson, and Cam Lewis. So the number we started with having to replace or re-sign was 29. All with FAR less money than we'll have this year. This year, that number is 16. Which will be 17 after you move on from Von. And the list of people needing to re-sign or replace is easier in terms of importance to the team as well. Most of the list you can fill with Day 3 Draft Picks (of which we have 7), UDFA's, Budget FA's, or re-signing them to minimum deals. That list is: WR Amari Cooper CB Rasul Douglas WR Mack Hollins DE Von Miller (almost a lock to be released) FS Damar Hamlin RB Ty Johnson FB Reggie Gilliam TE Quintin Morris DE Dawuane Smoot TE Quintin Morris DT Austin Johnson LS Reid Ferguson OT Ryan Van Demark OG Alec Anderson DT Quintin Jefferson DT Jordan Phillips QB Shane Buechele OT Tommy Doyle SO..... long story short, yes, we are in a MUCH better situation this year to build the roster. I think some of you took that as we'd be going into this season with a bunch of money to spend right out of the gate before we made moves. That was never the case, as just to field a team this year, most of our deals had to include bigger hits in contracts this season. But as opposed to last year, freeing up the cap space in extensions, releases, re-structures, and pay cuts won't be to get to zero from -54m. It'll be to actually have money to spend.

Not saying that and that's not the point. The point is he's talking logistics and a lot of fans are talking about it like it's a possibility. It isn't. The idea won't even enter Pegula's head.

I don't think Higgins will be an option. He's been (surprisingly) pretty open about wanting to stay in Cincinnati and is reportedly willing to take less to do it. And Cincinnati is 50m under the cap before any restructures. I also worry that as good as he looks, that without a Ja'Marr Chase on the other side - he might be a different player. But if he does hit the market and we can get it done, by all means. Outside of Higgins, another game changing addition would be Chris Godwin. He's coming off an Ankle Dislocation that came in October which is a concern. But he's 28 years old and an absolute monster. Beyond Higgins and Godwin - there isn't much beyond aging stars like DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, and, um, well... Stefon Diggs. DK Metcalf is definitely something we should be all over. If he's available. He's been talked about for years and it's seems like they never want to move him. And prevailing thought from analysts is that the Seahawks won't be looking to rebuild this year. So like every year, we'll have to see. A couple WR's that I think will be on the Trade Marker are Deebo Samuel and Garrett Wilson. Deebo was basically told it was his last year after the long term deal was given to Brandon Aiyuk after Christian McCaffrey and Ricky Pearsall was Drafted in Round 1. I could easily see him being someone they'd be interested in. Wilson is going to be looking for a new contract soon and the Jets are in clear rebuild mode. Idk that he would want to stick around for it and the assets they could get for him could be intriguing to the Jets in their rebuild. Though I don't know that they'd trade him in the division. If we made a big move, especially a trade which would require using a top pick (and probably more), I don't think they'd be spending a top pick on a WR and definitely wouldn't be doubling down. Whether we should or not. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Curtis Samuel aren't going anywhere. You could def make an argument that we should move on from Samuel. But the out in his contract isn't until after next season. We'd be eating 11+m in Dead Cap to cut him. But maybe we could move him as part of a trade. Then there's Mack Hollins who has developed a rapport with Josh and they surely will look to re-sign him. Add a stud from the list above plus the 4 I expect will be here and that's your 5. Maybe we carry 6 and take a guy. But it's been 5 for the past couple seasons.