Brand J

It’s funny we were just talking about QB contracts. There’s a new extensive article in The Athletic and it seems I haven’t been alone in my thoughts: Salary Cap Crossroads Ahead: Joe Burrow Leads Young QB Crop That’ll Reset Market & Test Teams’ Priorities

I wish they would’ve made the trade last year to leap frog Dallas and pick up 4.39 Micah Parsons who actually played MLB in college. He’d be the blue chip speedy player our front 7 needs.

I’ve moved past the game and the frustrations of “there’s always next year,” but not everyone around me can say the same. I was walking down Sunset Blvd in LA a few hours ago wearing my Bills shirt. Ended up passing a guy in a Lakers jersey and I hear “you guys should be in the Super Bowl!” Turned around and he had this distraught look, like the game was a couple days ago. “Thirteen seconds, man! Thirteen seconds!” I know, I know. “I’m a Raiders fan, but let me tell you, everyone was rooting for you guys, it should be you in the dance! Squib it!” We chatted for a minute and then went our separate ways. So although I’m over the game and have been for awhile, it somehow finds its way back to me. I suppose I could stop wearing Bills paraphernalia and avoid these encounters, but I’m proud of the trajectory of our team. We don’t suck! “You guys are young, you’ve got time to get one” was his parting words. One can only hope.

I think if a coordinator can say “I called the number one defense in football and did it without a single pro bowler” he should be expedited to the nearest HC vacancy. I put much more stock in All Pro votes than Pro Bowl nominations, but I really think that 13 seconds cost him an opportunity. It was talked about everywhere and canceled many of the great things Frazier did this year. With that said, it feels like his defense fails against competent offenses more often than not and I’d prefer a more aggressive play caller. Don’t see McD moving on from him though, so he’s ours at least for another year. Also don’t see us having access to any blue chip prospects that could help his scheme. Expect more of the same next year - great against bottom feeder or one-sided offenses, middling against good QBs or balanced attacks.

Who will Allen race against before every practice now??

MAJBobby warned us he was higher on Edmunds than most, but then proceeded to give us a fair and accurate description of his game. Well done, sir. I was waiting to read “he makes impact plays like Deion Sanders because QBs are scared to throw his way.” Seriously, that was another poster’s write up. To me, Edmunds player comparison is Tyrod Taylor. Both were highly respected teammates, captains, and pro bowlers, but could frustrate the heck outta you. Oh, one was taken in the 1st round and the other in the 6th, but I feel the comparisons are there. Thanks for the LB report.

Daboll? I find the McD/Daboll discourse interesting. If McD was unhappy with him to the point he wanted him gone, I don’t think there’s any way Schoen would’ve made him a HC. McD and Beane talk regularly, you can believe Beane talks to Schoen and the others as well, so if there was internal strife, I don’t think that hire happens. I do think there were disagreements, but never to the point where a coordinator was going to lose a job. We heard how much Farwell wanted out too, isn’t he still employed with the Bills?

Probably tried to use the tape to get a spot on another team’s 53.

He was also away from the team when he was fully recovered due to personal reasons. Some speculated it was due to a death in his family, but it was never revealed. We don’t know where his head is at, but I’m pretty sure it’s not 100% in being the best DT he can be for the Bills.

Believe the hire has to be an external one to qualify for the 2 draft picks. Lovie has to know he has no real future as HC of the Texans. That organization has to be one of the worst run in all of sports. They’ve got a top 10 talent at QB riding the bench during his prime years and don’t seem interested in doing anything about it - besides trying to fleece teams that want to trade for him. They’ve made all sorts of bad moves in just 2 years to become the bottom dweller they are today.

Vernon Butler, Star, Kelvin Benjamin, the Carolina pipeline has not been fruitful.

Let’s make one thing clear: I don’t dislike Edmunds. I’ve never called him trash or terrible and would invite you to prove me a liar. He does some good things on the field, of course, but also leaves a lot to be desired. It’s evident both of us have biases when assessing his play, though yours are farther from reality. Are you seriously comparing our MLB and what he brings to the field to Hall of Fame CB Deion Sanders? Have you gone so far to convince yourself his impact is comparable? Your previous post was filled with excuses for why Edmunds registered 0 sacks, 0 FFs, 0 FRs, and 1 INT, despite being largely healthy and playing 100% of the snaps, but now you’ve outdone yourself. Quick, what’s Edmunds most notable play in his 4 year career? What stands out to you more than any other, the play that has so far defined his career? Does he have ONE? In what big game did he make his presence felt? Someone like you and your bias might tell me the Chiefs because he took away Mahomes first read forcing him to pick on the other defenders. What do you say to PFF’s poor coverage ratings? Are they biased as well and doing a poor job assessing his responsibilities? To illustrate just how much you grab at straws, you even argued that I said Edmunds rushes the passer a lot. Go back and re-read. I said he does rush the passer, but sucks at it. He gets stood up by RBs. But someone like you would tell me he’s doing his 1/11, opening the play so others could do their job. I said my biggest takeaway from Beane’s season ending presser was that he praised Edmunds for his role in the defense, as far as getting players lined up and shouldering that responsibility. That was what I felt was his most glowing remarks. I didn’t comment on all his other snippets that included “would we like to see him get better at…” because he didn’t say anything I found revealing. Call it confirmation bias. I’m willing to own up to mine, I live in a space closer to reality, but wouldn’t expect someone who compares Edmunds to Deion freaking Sanders to realize the extent of his biases. Good lord is right.

I don’t know if that second half was more about the Bengal defense, or Mahomes losing whatever magic he had for the 9 quarters prior. He looked like a completely different player and wasn’t throwing to receivers that were actually open. It’s like he was afraid and gun-shy all of a sudden. Go back and look at the play towards the end of the game where he was running around like a blindfolded squirrel. There were receivers open in the endzone, small window, but nothing he hasn’t attempted before. I do think their failure to score before halftime was some sort of psychological turning point. And then that first INT to the big lineman cemented his downfall.

Wisest decision I’ve made 😂 No use in conversing with someone who doesn’t understand basic statistics and insists in using 2024 in his “argument” as though all contracts have already been set for that period. Yeesh. At least you finally admitted to what I’ve been saying all along: the deals are larger. Thank you for playing and good day, sir.

To that point, when facing top offenses I’d rather the defense get beat taking more chances with calculated blitzes, than sitting back rushing four down after down. Players like Hill are going to get theirs anyway even when playing conservative. We’ve seen time after time that a good QB can work through a disguised secondary before the 4 man rush gets home. Frazier’s defense only works against a top offense if we’ve got a monster DL - quick, fast, and strong - unfortunately we don’t have that.

Sigh. The measurement to which I got the numbers is consistent in both cases - it doesn’t discriminate to where the QB is in that contract and points to the fact their deals are larger now than they were then, comparatively. You can ignore the data all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact. You can also assume contracts will be the same 3 years from now, but that’s an argument based on assumption, that’s all it is. And that’s all you’ve been doing. I gave you concrete numbers to show the increase, you’ve given nothing, no stats or otherwise that speaks to the contrary. As My Cousin Vinny so eloquently put it, “I’m done with this guy.”

Yeah, I’m just looking for a fix for what I perceive as a growing issue. Literally. But as I said in my earlier posts, it’s not a problem until it becomes one. If owners are content to hand out bloated contracts to that position specifically, that’s their prerogative, it’s their money. Naturally as QBs make more, other positions receive less. I don’t know the RB numbers versus now and the past, but I can bet they’re not making nearly what they used to, relative to the cap. But again, if everyone’s cool with it, players included, then it’s not a problem.

Again, my argument is based on the PAST and the trajectory of QB salaries, whereas yours is projective. I’m going to make it plain as day seeing as how you’re still struggling. I’ll compare 2022 to 2015 using the same criteria. The average cap hits of the top 5 QBs in 2022 are $43,865,331 with a salary cap of $208,200,000. This represents 21% of the cap. The average cap hits of the top 5 QBs in 2015 were $20,087,583 with a salary cap of $143,280,00. This represented 14% of the cap. Sure, this data could be an anomaly, maybe I just lucked into picking the year with the highest variance, but I’m pretty sure if I were to go year by year my argument would still hold weight - QB salaries are climbing and consuming more and more of the salary cap. Those are the hard numbers for you from then and now.

The inefficiency in recognizing tiers is part of the problem, yes. The other is that a higher salary cap means players are naturally going to get paid more. We already have a league that utilizes max player contracts, so it’d be easy to look over there and see if the fears are justified. Is it working? Are there players lesser than Lebron making just as much as him on max value deals? I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but would be shocked to learn that’s the case.

I’m going to have to dismiss your argument if you insist on referring to future years where salaries and the cap aren’t in existence. You couldn’t tell me in 2018 what it would look like, definitively, in 2022, so it’s not a fair argument. Also, apologies in assuming you had access to the earlier Spotrac content. I thought you were purposely being cagey so as to not support my argument 😂

Yes, I’m not arguing future numbers, because we don’t have those. All we can objectively evaluate is the trajectory of contracts from then to now. It’s a simple question to an issue you said doesn’t exist - are QB contracts consuming a much greater percentage of the salary cap year to year?

We’ll have to agree to disagree here, Gunner, because lesser players arguing for max contracts is no different than Carr arguing in the present to be paid like Mahomes. A ceiling on player positions doesn’t mean a lesser player’s value or worth would then be equal to their superstar peers across the board.

I said they’d argue for more than what Mahomes got, partly because the cap is higher. You said there were QB contracts right now at 24% of the cap. There weren’t many, of course, but it exists. If what I fear is not happening, are you suggesting QB contracts have not risen percentage wise - relative to the cap - since 2013, the earliest year on that Spotrac sample you sent?

Those players could argue for max value contracts, but do you believe those teams would pay it? You guys are looking at it from - max value means negotiations would cease to exist and they’ll all just push for that number. I don’t agree. I do agree the market does not adequately recognize QB tiers, but at the end of the day, an agent has to negotiate the best value for his client. Setting limits on how much a position can occupy the cap won’t stop those negotiations.

As to the first in bold, how do you figure when there are contracts right now that exceed 20%?! QB contracts are getting richer, when Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert’s time comes, they’re going to argue for more than what Mahomes got. Why? Part of the reason will be because the cap is higher. Putting the arbitrary 20% number once again at the forefront, their contracts could surpass the percentage. If QBs are worthy of being paid the max percentage, then pay them, there’s only a handful of those guys in the league anyway. “Every” contract wont be pushed to the max, that’s just silly. For those that are, teams can be assured the bloating contracts can never occupy more than “20%” of the cap. Since you’re struggling to understand the concept, I’ll compare it this way… the NBA has a salary cap along with max value contracts and rules within those contracts. See here. MLB has no salary caps and player contracts in that league continue to balloon. Like the NBA, the NFL has a salary cap. You seem reluctant to compare the trajectory of contracts to earlier times, but the argument I was making is that QB contracts are consuming more of the salary cap year by year, percentage wise. That’s fact. Setting percentage limits would not only help ensure the contracts remain reasonable, but would also assuage current renegotiating arguments when players see there are others making more than them.