BillsFanForever19

At the absolute worst, he takes a Defender in Round 1 but only if FA goes poorly with replacing starters at DE, DT, and Safety. But even then, he'd know to Trade up in Round 2 or as you said, he'd look dumb after everything he said. Zero f'n chance he goes Defense back to back. More likely WR Round 1 and Defense Round 2.

Well, we have to re-sign or replace starters at WR2, DE, DT, and FS. I think we'll try and bring back Leonard Floyd and Daquan Jones for their familiarity. Floyd says he'll go where the money is. However, much like last year, I see a number of DE's above him that will get paid more. I think it's possible we meet somewhere between what he's hoping for and what we can realistically afford. If not Floyd, it will be another Floyd like signing. A guy who overplayed their hand and has to accept less at the end of FA. I don't think we pay Epenesa what he'll cost. We'd have to Start him and I don't know if I'd have him play every down. And I could be wrong, but I don't think Jones is going to have a massive market either. I think they represent the most we'll be spending. I see us bringing back Taylor Rapp, again because of his familiarity and again because he won't cost a lot. He'll prove to be insurance on the Draft Pick on Day 2 we hope to replace Hyde with and Poyer. Another low cost guy. After that it will be small contracts for other DB's like Dane Jackson and Cam Lewis. Ty Johnson also won't cost much as the RB market is bad and he's an RB2/RB3. But that's about it. Everything else will be covered in the Draft. Maybe we get lucky with a FA who overpriced their market and has to accept less to go along with Diggs, Rd 1 WR, Shakir, and 1 or 2 of Shorter, Hamler, and Isabella.

That will happen when you're down not only both your starting LB's, but playing with a 3rd String MLB who was on the couch 2 weeks prior (and rolled his ankle halfway through the game) and a backup OLB who went into the game less than 100%, went down after a few plays, and played through it bc we literally had no one else to replace him. Down one of your starting CB's and your other starting CB playing at maybe 50% Seriously, I can't be the only one who saw him hobbling 5-10 yards behind his man to catch up on anything over 10-15 yards. Standing still trying to get Mahomes in the open field after the simplest of moves. Douglas was on the field, but he probably shouldn't have been. Could the game plan have been better? Perhaps. But we were simply outmanned against an offense the caliber of the Chiefs in the Playoffs (who are a different team every year at this point than they are in the regular season). Injuries on Defense, terrible Special Teams play (Martin had no business being on the field either), and a couple miscues on Offense are what cost us that game. The Chiefs are a dynasty. We can't expect to line up a mash unit against them and expect to win. Mason Rudolph and the Steelers are one thing. Mahomes and the Chiefs are something else entirely.

Thank you! I had this very same thought yesterday. Watching the Chiefs win their 4th AFC Title in 5 years. Having gone to the AFC Championship game 6 years in a row. En route to possibly hoist 2 Lombardi's in a row, 3 of them in 5 years. Maybe it's not this player sucks, this coach sucks, this GM sucks, and/or we need to blow it all up. Maybe, just maybe the Chiefs are just that good. Yes, it's frustrating to not slay that dragon. But it's not like we're the only one. We're just the team that gives them the most trouble. If we need to blow it up, then every team in the NFL does. To beat them, we're going to have to be at our best on field and have our best players on the field. We were down Matt Milano (perhaps the best true OLB in Football), Terrel Bernard, Gabe Davis, Christian Benford, Taylor Rapp, had a maybe 50% Rasul Douglas, a 3rd string MLB who was fresh off the couch (who rolled his ankle halfway through the game), and an already playing at less than 100% Tyrell Dodson who went down again at the beginning of the game and played through it because we didn't have a choice. Maybe we still would have lost at full health. But against that dynasty, in the Playoffs where they're a different team? We're lucky it was as close as it was. Tweak the roster. Hope for better health. But the sky is not falling. I know how disappointing it was how things ended. But many teams around the league would kill to be in the situation we're in that posters consider a total failure.

I think it should go the other way. Let Josh be Josh. Yes, that includes some tough decisions. But every QB has those. I feel that we were getting what you wanted earlier in the season. That's why Josh was underperforming. He was listening to McDermott who wanted him to play a certain way. Trying to rewire him and think more when he plays has more negative results than him playing the game in which he likes to play it does.

It's far from the only song we use that's 20 years old or more. Should we not play "Welcome to the Jungle" either? "Mr. Brightside"? "Crazy Train"? I don't know if you've noticed, but Rock hits have been extremely few and far between for a long, long time. We play songs that pump up the players and the crowd and that's predominantly Rock music. Who cares if it's outdated? What do you suggest? The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Juice WRLD, and Lizzo non stop?

He was picked 30th overall. What were you expecting, Bruce Smith?

My dad asked me if I was watching and I said "after last week, just tell me who wins". I don't care to watch it. I'd have rather Baltimore wkn. I don't like the feeling that comes with losing to KC and then seeing KC win it all. Makes me feel like if we just went through them, we'd have been at least AFC Champions.

This is so overblown by you. He's had hits and he's had misses. No GM hits on every pick. Busts in Round 1 and Round 2 happen league wide. And when you factor in where we're picking on a yearly basis and the amount of impact players we've found in later rounds, Beane's success in the Draft is pretty good. You can't be where we are on a yearly basis if he's terrible at Drafting and terrible at FA like you contend.

It's so easy to look at past Drafts and the success of players and say "you should have taken (so and so) instead". For most of those that you mentioned, we went with the higher rated prospect. They just didn't end up being the better player. The Oliver or Metcalf comparison makes no sense. Oliver was selected 9th overall and was universally a Top 5-10 talent in that Draft. DK Metcalf was the 9th WR to come off the board, selected 64th overall at the bottom of Round 2. 8 different teams, who were specifically picking WR, went with a different WR. People would have thought we were on Crack to take Metcalf in the Top 10. Now if you say Cody Ford or DK Metcalf, that makes more sense. However, even then, Ford was considered the better prospect. He was considered a steal at the top of Round 2, a 1st Rounder who fell. Metcalf on Draft Day was considered a workout warrior who didn't show up on Game Day in College and was a major question mark who was as big a Boom or Bust prospect as they came. It just so happened, he was a Boom. Epenesa over Uche, again, Epenesa was the higher rated prospect. Considered a 1st Round Pick who fell. Also a true Defensive End when we were in the market for one. Uche was considered more of a tweener. A LB who could pass rush situationally. Creed Humphrey was Drafted after Year 1 of handing Mitch Morse a massive contract to be our Center for years to come. So logically, why then would we Draft a Center that soon after having solidified the position with Morse? Again, it's so easy to look back at the success of Drafted players by other teams in hindsight and build an all time team. Players like Metcalf, Uche, and Humphrey were passed by all other teams at least once, if not twice, or three times. Beane has built a successful team. Consistently in the Top 2-4 teams in the AFC and 4-8 in the NFL. Many fanbases would kill to be in the situation we consider a failure. There's been a number of things that have kept us from getting over that hump. To point at Beane and say his Drafting is the reason is silly in my opinion. The Draft is a crap shoot. You take the highest rated player at a position of need when you pick and hope for the best. Sometimes the higher rated prospect is a total bust. Sometimes you find a late Round Pick who was on no one's board and they turn into a Superstar. Beane has picked some real winners. No GM is 100% when it comes to hitting on picks and every GM has picks they'd second guess in hindsight. If you think there isn't teams and fanbases pointing at some of the guys we got when we got them and wish they'd have picked them instead, you're wrong. And none of the miscues we had are at the level of "I wish we drafted Josh Allen instead".

And do you think McDermott would be comfortable with maybe the most famous and decorated NFL Head Coach of all time being under him on his staff? After any and every loss, fans and media would be pushing for Belichick to take over.

Not in the technical sense. Shakir could grow into the go to guy on passing downs at WR behind Diggs. But he's a Slot guy. #2 to me is the X WR opposite Diggs on the field. Shakir won't be that guy. You can occasionally throw him Outside in a pinch, but you want him running those middle of the field routes primarily. So, no. We don't have an X reliable enough to replace Davis on the roster ATM.

Exactly. He does a lot of different things. Special Teams, added blocker, and versatile. And he doesn't cost much. But a majority of posters around here feel anyone can block and anyone can play special teams. And unless you're scoring points or getting INT's or sacks, you're useless, can be replaced by literally anyone, and are a waste of resources.

Micah Hyde was a tweener who also played Safety in College. He wasn't just a young CB randomly making the transition at the Pro level. https://hawkeyesports.com/roster/micah-hyde/ As I've said, the only times that transition is made is if they were Drafted out of College as a tweener with the versatility to play both spots or aging elite CB's who have the skills to transition (ala Peterson, Vincent, and Woodson). You never take a young CB who's playing the position at a high level and put them at Safety.

I'd be surprised if Poyer is gone. From the comments of the Hyde family, it seems he's going to retire any day now. I think Poyer's on the decline. But I also think they don't want to completely start fresh at both Safety spots. And I get the feeling they'll be getting younger there, so they're going to want Poyer there to help bring along the Rookie. I think he'll be in line for a paycut or some sort of restructure to get his figure down a bit. If there's no restructure to be done and he turns down a paycut, maybe they bite the bullet because they feel they have no choice. But my gut says Taylor Rapp comes back cheap as insurance, having a year in the system under his belt, and we Draft a guy somewhere between Rounds 2 and 3 to pair with Po.

I don't gamble out of principle and having friends and family members who are/were addicts. But I'll publicly admit I was wrong and you were right if Tre isn't a cap casualty. Tre's just part of it though. We're 1000% not moving Douglas, Benford, Elam, or Jackson (especially since he's a FA) to replace Hyde.

Take a look at the votes. Take a look at the replies. The opinions I'm in "disbelief" of aren't so much opinions, as things that just don't happen and make no sense.

Doubly so when you consider the out in his contract is this offseason, he's on the books for 16.4m in cap this year and 16.6m in cap next season, we're set at CB with Douglas and Benford on the Outside, Johnson at the Nickel, and Elam at CB4, we're ridiculously over the cap, and have starters at WR, DE, DT, and S to replace, and a myriad of depth players. The NFL is a cut throat business and emotions should never enter the equation. In this situation, we literally have no choice. Warm fuzzies be damned.

We can get out from under Douglas without paying anything more. But he won't save us money this year and next year like Tre will. He's also not coming off an ACL Tear and an Achilles rupture. We won't be keeping both. We're not going to take a young ascending CB like Benford and make him CB3, as well as push Elam back to CB4. Tre won't be ready to start the season and he can't be counted on as anything but a reserve with limited reps when he does. And his contract pays him like a Top CB in the league. As I've said and anyone who looks at our cap situation and the contracts we have said - it's a no brainer. Tre is gone. Even Beane when he was asked about Tre's future started with "that's a good question" and not an unequivocal "he'll be here". Which is about as damning as Beane gets.

Agreed. I'm pretty sure when we traded for Douglas, we knew then that he'd be replacing White not just for last year - but completely, provided that he performed well in our scheme. And he definitely did. He'll be extended, unless he and his agent want to test the market first. Here's hoping they don't want to.

Yeah, it really is. The amount of mental gymnastics you're doing when it's as simple as Drafting or signing a Safety is incredible. You're right, we are stacked at CB. But we need a starting WR (plus at least 2 more for rotation and depth), a starting DE (plus 1-2 more for rotation), a starting DT (plus 2-3 more for rotation), and at least 1 starting Safety, possibly 2 (and another 1-2 for depth). All the while being ~44 million over the cap and one of our many CB's having an out in their contract to save a ton of money over the next two years. The answer isn't move a CB to Safety because you have warm fuzzies. One of those CB's has an out in their contract, put in for a reason - in the event we're in bad shape roster wise, cap wise, and in case of fall off and injury - of which all have occurred. The answer is simple. Move on from one CB and use that money this year and next year to address the multitude of positions where we're not only not stacked - we need starters. We can move on from one CB and still be in very good shape there. And moving CB's to Safety isn't something that happens all the time like you think. It only happens if a guy is a tweener with experience at both positions at the College and/or Pro level. Or they're elite aging CB's with the tools to transition like a Patrick Peterson or Troy Vincent. That's not the situation here. And even if it were as likely as you'd think it is that we'd just move a guy - it would be a project. You don't just move a CB to Safety, who's not played the position at the Pro Level, and say "okay, we're good there". It's a total projection. We'd still need to bring in a True Safety as insurance in the event that it wouldn't work. So knowing that we have to sign a guy anyways - this project would just cost us even more money by having to sign insurance and keeping on a CB that we could save money moving on from. I'm honestly shocked it's even as close as 65 against, 34 for on your poll. It just makes zero sense any way you slice it.

It's ridiculous to think you take the better performing CB and move them to Safety for the lesser performing CB. Safety is the lesser position and is easier and cheaper to replace. And Elam wasn't even the 3rd Outside CB on this team. So he's going to go from Outside CB4 to CB1 or CB2 at the cost of moving our best CB? Never. And it's INSANELY ridiculous to think Douglas would not only be open to that, but then would choose to sign an extension paying him less money to do so. You do understand we can't just make guys sign whatever contract we want, right? He's got one year on his deal and is a Top CB in this league. In no way, shape, or form is he going to choose to take an "extension more appropriate for a Safety than a CB, which would save us some money". Why would he cost himself money? He's either going to be extended as one of our starting CB's this offseason (extremely likely) or he's going to get paid to do that elsewhere next season.

Exactly. We won't be getting anyone in FA with that kind of cap hit. It will be a Taylor Rapp type (maybe even Rapp himself) and/or a 2nd-3rd Round Pick. Anyone that will cost anything more than 5 is a non starter given our cap situation and the amount of holes we need to fill.