BillsFanForever19

I mean, maybe. Or maybe he was just seeing the rumors and hoping he'd go to a winning team and now that the GM has made it clear it's not going to happen, he's fine getting the full amount of his massive contract. It's one thing to go along with rumors and embrace them. It's another to become a public malcontent, hold out, and try and force yourself off the team. That may not be in his DNA.

With the addition of Dalton Kincaid, a TE in name only, in conjunction with Harty, Sherfield, and Shorter - I get the feeling he's feeling pretty good about his pass catchers. I understand, to an extent, the idea that GM's are always lying. But Beane doesn't usually just flat out say he's not in on something that he is. He'd say something like "we're always looking at improving, but it has to be the right price" or something like that. He's time and again said it's not happening and he's not in. People like to point to him saying that "we probably aren't going to be big players in Free Agency" and then signing Von Miler and him saying that he's "more likely to trade down than trade up" and then trading up as proof that you can't believe him. But those were vague statements. They weren't him saying "i'm not trading for (insert players name here)". Combined with the Cardinals GM flat out saying "DeAndre's a Cardinal and we're moving on", his not being moved this weekend, their ridiculous asking price, and their cap situation being good even with his contract - I get the feeling the Cards were never interested in moving him in the first place. Unless it was an offer they simply couldn't refuse. Which we were never going to do. Long story short, this one's over. Hopkins is not coming this season.

Yes, he is 1 of 1. But he's the prototype. Size, strength, athleticism. DT's can be over 300 lbs. But the days of the 350+ Vince Wilfork "big tub of goo" types the OP is yearning for has past. Players are too athletic these days for the Sam Adams' of the worlds to succeed. They're a dinosaur like the sit in the middle of the field exclusively and stuff the run MLB's.

I've seen it before with UDFA's. I'm sure there's no guarantees on any of the years and the other years are funny money to give him a better signing bonus.

A- The values we got on Kincaid and Torrence were out of this world. Kincaid shouldn't have been on the board and was NFL Network's 9th ranked prospect overall. Torrence was someone who was widely mocked to us at 27. To get him at 59 was incredible. But when the 3rd Round arrived, I said to myself "alright, this is where Beane likes to just throw a headscratcher of a curve ball and deviates from the consensus boards". Sure enough, that's what he did. I've come around to Williams after remembering the dropoff we had in coverage from the LB position when Milano would go down. We can't assume Milano is always going to be available. So it's good to have someone with the athletic skills of Dorian. Day 3 as far as selections go was a bit of a wash. Shorter is intriguing to me. A #1 HS recruit at WR with prototypical size for the outside and decent play speed for someone his size. Could be a project that pays off. Then the 2 picks in Round 7, eh whatever. Practice Squad developmental players who may or may not even make the PS. But getting two teams to give us 7th Rounders plus 6th Round picks in a better Draft next year in exchange for 6th Rounders this year in a lesser class was amazing. Beane having 10 picks in next year's class, giving us the ability to move around the board or move picks for players was a masterclass. The only thing keeping it from being an A+ to me was that the ability to go Kincaid, Torrence, Simpson in the first 3 Rounds was right there for the taking. Should have moved up. Getting 3 players that were mocked at 27 to us would have been absolutely insane.

Yes, but even they wouldn't be considered "a big tub of goo".

That much is certain - Diggs and Davis are 1 and 2 on the outside (barring any unlikely Hopkins trade) and Sherfield and Shorter fill out the bottom of the 53 as Outside X's and Shakir as the 3rd Slot. Harty has the versatility to play Outside and Inside. I get the feeling he'll be cycled in and out between Diggs and Davis on the Outside and Kincaid on the Inside depending on the package. And be the first to start if there's injuries on either side.

Unless you're running a 3-4, a "big tub of goo" is a thing of the past. And even in a 3-4, they're just a space eater. You need to be powerful and athletic in today's NFL. Especially in the type of Defense we run. Gone are the Ted Washington's, now is the time of the Aaron Donald's.

https://dknation.draftkings.com/2023/4/29/23674250/undrafted-free-agents-2023-best-players-available-from-nfl-draft-udfa-addname-addname

With Oliver, Jones, Phillips, and Settle - we're set there this season. 1 or 2 of those guys will re-sign in the near future. It wasn't a need this season. Might be next season - but that's what next year's FA and Draft are for.

McDermott be like "C'mon Beane, it's Pick 252 - it's a throwaway pick. Give daddy a DB. Daddy needs a DB"

We're in Practice Squad territory, especially in this Draft.

Probably feels like everyone available at this point is UDFA level and can probably sign them anyways. Perhaps all of the guys he really liked are gone. He probably also felt handcuffed this year. After moving his 4th for Kincaid, he probably watched people he wanted like Trenton Simpson go just out of reach without the ammo to move and wants to make sure he's locked and loaded next year.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion this means we're loading up on picks specifically for Hopkins. Next year's Draft is universally considered to be a deeper class. So if someone wants to give us a 7th and a 6th next year in a better class for our 6th this year, it's a no brainer. Plus, Beane likes to move around the board. Extra ammo facilitates moving up if he wants next year.

You didn't. But you were replying to me replying to someone else who was saying Deonte was 'WR4' and that WR3 was open to Sherfield, Shakir, and Shorter.

Pretty clear to me that they want to see if their 3rd Round investment in Bernard will pay dividends in Year 2. They probably want to give him every opportunity to win the job. In the event he shows poorly in Training Camp and the Pre-Season - they have AJ Klein as an insurance policy. Looking like a 3 man competition between Bernard, Klein, and Dodson.

Milano gets dinged up quite a bit though and you want to have something solid behind him in the event he gets hurt. When he's not in the lineup, coverage really drops off from the LB position exponentially.

I mean, I'd be fine with it. But at this point, I think Hopkins will have to force his way off the team for it to happen. Pretty clear to me between Arizona's GM's words and actions (as well as their solid cap situation even with his contract) that they don't want to trade him. And with the additions of Kincaid in Round 1 (a TE in name only), Harty, Sherfield, and Shorter - Beane may feel comfortable with our Pass Catchers at this point.

If you watch his highlights from 2021, he was working on the outside in that role quite a bit. Beane even said when we signed him that he sees him more of an Outside WR than Slot. Maybe he moves inside and out. But there's no way we paid him what we paid him when we paid him for him to be declared behind Sherfield (a guy we paid a 1 year 1.7m dollar deal after the 2nd wave of FA) and Shorter (a late 5th Round developmental prospect).

He's calling the 3rd Outside X WR "WR4" with the Slot being WR3. It seems from Beane's words, Harty is not being looked at as a Slot - but as an outside Deep threat. There's no way we paid Harty what we paid him for him to be behind Sherfield and Shorter on the depth chart and Shakir is a slot. The slot will be covered by Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir. Harty will be the 3rd X behind Gabe Davis and depending on how both perform, it could be more of a 2A/2B situation. Sherfield and Shorter will be cycled in at the 5th and 6th spots at WR on the 53, performing mainly on Special Teams unless there's an injury.

I don't see that happening. We only have 2 picks left. And I'd doubt he'd want to trade future picks next year this late into this Draft, when next year is supposed to be a better Draft.

He was mainly a Kick Returner the other seasons. In his one year of actual snaps, he got 147 more yards on 6 less receptions. Having more receptions for less yardage isn't a positive in McKenzie's favor.

Having flashbacks to last year's Draft: - Trade ahead of the Cowboys moving up 2 Picks - Pleased with Rounds 1 and 2 - Questionable 3rd Round Pick - Don't pick again until Round 5 I think the pick is a head scratcher and wouldn't be who I would have gone with in Round 3. But to say he's a waste and can't be "something for this team" before he even plays a down is absolutely ridiculous. You don't have a Crystal Ball and you don't know what he could develop into.

I mean, more power to him for still having faith. But Arizona's GM said yesterday that he "doesn't foresee" moving Hopkins and flat out said today "DeAndre's a Cardinal and we're moving forward". I don't think they have any intention on moving him. Based on their reported asking price before the past couple days, which was completely unrealistic, I don't think they ever did. Um, you may want to look at McKenzie's stats and Harty's - because that's just factually wrong.

Really wish we had moved up a bit and gotten Trenton Simpson. Would have been insane to get 3 players who were mocked to us at 27. If he's an OLB that plays Special Teams, I'm really not a fan of the pick. 3rd Round has been a head scratcher 2 years in a row. But if he's good and proves to be a solid Backup to Milano - I'll be thrilled.