BillsFanForever19

Yeah, you easily can. Chase when extended will stay on his Rookie number for two more years. Big money will come later in the contract with bonus money up front. Cinci's cap situation is the following for the next 3 seasons: 2024 - 52m under the cap (including the 21.8 tag on Higgins already on the books, that will get lowered) 2025 - 155.5m under the cap 2026 - 354m under the cap You pay Higgins big up front and Chase bigger after his Rookie deal. They're in great shape financially and having two #1 WR's to pair with Burrow is as monumental to their success in previous years than anything else on the team. They have the money to keep them both and still build a team around them and that's what they're doing. That's why they Franchised Higgins.

Cardinals and Giants will take two of the top 3 guys. The Bucs will either retain Evans which will remove them from the conversation as the cost will be so great, they'll need to use their 1st on another position. If they don't retain him, he'll go to another team which will remove them from the conversation. Cincinnati just Franchised Higgins. There's no way they're going to pay him, pay Chase, AND Draft a WR in Round 1 with the holes they have to fill. Houston has Nico Collins and Tank Dell, as well as finally being able to get Metchie back and ready to roll. They aren't going with another young WR. Here's a solid post @GunnerBill made on this situation: As great as the WR's looked, there's teams who's needs are far greater at QB, OT, DE, DT, and CB and a large number of extremely talented players at those positions as well. There's guys like Mike Evans who teams are going to sign in FA. Many mock Drafts had us as the spot for the 4th WR off the board. Mostly all had us as the spot for at least the 5th WR. Maybe we have to move up a little bit for the 5th. But I don't think it's a scenario that's impossible. Worst case scenario? We have to "settle" for an Adonai Mitchell or Xavier Legette. Long story short, if Xavier Worthy has pushed his way up to WR4 - it's a really good thing for us.

There's an extremely small chance that we can't get one of Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, or Xavier Legette. 7 WR's aren't going to go off the board between 1 and when we pick. There's far too many talented players at other positions and teams that have WR covered and need other things.

That's wonderful for them. But neither fit what we're looking for.

If you look at the teams between when the top 3 go off the board and where we're picking - there's not a lot of teams you can see logically going WR. I'm not saying Thomas is going to be pushed to 28 specifically. I am saying that if he does go from 4th WR off the board to 5th - that he comes within striking distance of a smaller Trade Up now.

Ian Rapport just said he talked to an exec who said that they think Xavier Worthy could be the 4th WR off the board after his run. In that scenario, it could push Brian Thomas Jr. to within striking range for us as WR5 - which would be huge!

He's not going anywhere. Beane volunteered without asking yesterday that "I know everyone (in the media) worries about Stef Diggs but he's going to be here and we're happy to have him and are hopefully going to add weapons to him" Thanks for the update!

The good news here is it's pretty much a guarantee that we'll get one of Brian Thomas Jr., AD Mitchell, Xavier Legette, or Xavier Worthy and there's reason to be excited about all of them.

My general feeling of the Combine today is Brian Thomas Jr. solidified his stock, Xavier Worthy, AD Mitchell, and Xavier Legette improved to greatly improved their stock, Troy Franklin and Keon Coleman hurt their stock.

I get it. Especially from an agent standpoint, as I mentioned. Doesn't make it any less disappointing to not see how he compares to the other guys in the class in a shared environment. I understand it, but you still want to see it. I'm sure GM's are probably the same way. Expected him to be shut down, but would have rather seen a whole show.

Because like I said, the Combine records are littered with Track stars that didn't translate to the next level. I want to see that he can do things at the same level where it counts compared to everyone else. If he were to drop a ball or wasn't the best gauntlet of the bunch, not the end of the world. It's not going to drop him. Just show you can do the drills at a solid level. Straight line speed is great. But I want to see he's a complete WR and a guy with competitiveness. If you're good at it, you should have no reason not to do it. It would raise him even more if he did. On one hand, I get it from an Agent standpoint. He still has his Pro Day to show these things. But that's a completely controlled environment and lacks the comparison to the rest of the class. Just disappointing to see.

Wow. They corrected it to 4.21, the fastest time ever. Congrats to that young man! But is he not running anything on the field and calling it a day now? I don't like that.

My dude, I think you're really setting yourself up for disappointment with the non-stop 28 AND 60 posts. We usually fill 2 starting holes in Round 1 and Round 2. And with the amount of money we don't have this year and the amount of holes we have, it's more likely than ever this year. Between Diggs, Round 1 WR, Kincaid, Shakir, and Knox - the next WR we take is looking at theoretically at best - 5th in targets and reps. The kind of reps that player would have isn't something you spend a 2nd on. Meanwhile the odds that we'll need a Starter at another position like DE, DT, S or at least a DE or DT that would be 3rd in rotation who would be seeing the field FAR more is almost a given. I do think we'll double down later. But if you're going to get upset if we only take 1 at 28 - probably best to prepare yourself for that now.

Now 4.22. That's even faster than I expected. Wow. Will be interested to see his field drills to ensure he's more than just a track star and has the fundamentals. If you look at the Top 40 times of all time at the Combine - it's not exactly a who's who of NFL stars. My concerns with size and college usage still remain. However, with Franklin not coming close as I expected - if he can show he has the requisite skills, I may think about looking past some of those things.

We always probably were going to have to, honestly, at least a few picks. Fun to see him sitting there at 28 in mocks - but I never saw that as much of a possibility.

That's still less than 3/4 of the time on the Outside in the College level. There are guys who are thought of as Outside guys that have to switch to the Slot at the Pro Level. At 5'11 with a 36" vertical, 185 pounds soaking wet, and less than 75% usage on the Outside at the College level - it's *at best* a projection to say you can stick him on the boundary 90% or more in the NFL and that it's going to work out best for him.

He's a Slot. Plain and simple. His success comes from working the middle of the field. You're nerfing him sticking him on the Outside. We did it in emergency situations last season and the results weren't nearly the same as when he was in the Slot. Fans see success out of the slot and assume that he can be #2 Outside. It's incorrect.

Our roster is littered with Slot guys or guys you can put on the Boundary part time or in an emergency. It's a problem we had when Davis went down. We didn't have 1 solid option to stick on the Outside opposite Diggs. Everyone wants to make Shakir an Outside guy, but Shakir isn't much of a factor there. His success comes from working the middle of the field. When we split him out Wide, we're nerfing him. We're desperately lacking on the Outside. It's all aboard the Thomas, Legette, Mitchell train in Round 1.

Exactly this. Even NFL Network said he's looked at as a Slot, but he can probably play some Outside too. I don't see us looking at Slot guys or even Tweeners in Round 1. McConkey is at best a Tweener. We need a guy who is a True Outside guy.

Unlikely. As @GunnerBill pointed out in a previous post, there's a long skew of teams between the 3rd coming off and when we're picking that are covered at WR and have much bigger needs. For us as fans, a lot of this stuff we're seeing is new. But teams go into this with a pretty good idea of where guys are at. Most people knew Mitchell would run pretty well. The 4.35 timed speed is great. But it's not going to move him up the board THAT much. I see it moving him from that early 2nd Round - fringe 1st Round, middle of the 2nd tier of WR discussion, to securing probably the 5th WR off the board, at best. And as others have said, his field testing hasn't been great. We haven't seen Brian Thomas run yet and there's a chance he's just as fast and will probably look better in testing.

I'll take his gauntlet over Franklin's all day, sideline lapse or not. Woof!

I've been saying it this whole time - Legette was being slept on and is going to rise when the Combine and Pro Day comes and his measurements and times are done.

Everyone's torching Coleman for his 40. Meanwhile, they show that he ran the gauntlet faster and smoother than anyone else. Timed speed and play speed are two different beasts.

Gotta say, I'm disappointed in Troy Franklin's time. That's not to say 4.41 is slow. It's just his "elite" speed is what separated him from others for me and made it easier to look past his skinny frame. This is why I've been all about him. You don't get 4.39 on a body like that every day.

Maybe there's a 2nd group?