Estro

This is my reading of the tea leaves John, let me know if I'm that far off: The Bills are more than willing to move on from Tyrod, but they will only do so if they can get their hands on 1 or 2 guys they have their sights set on: Option 1 appears to be Trevor Siemian. Better passing stats than Tyrod, due $1.5M over the next 2 years & 2 years younger than Tyrod. This one is a no-brainer, problem is Siemian is a Bronco, so the Bills are hopeful the Broncos land Romo. If they do, perhaps they entertain trade offers for Siemian. There is no way he is being cut, at that bargain salary for the next 2 years. Another problem now, is that there are rumors the 49ers might be interested in Siemian if the Broncos are willing to deal him. So yea......I could see how the situation is very fluid. Paying Siemian $1.5M for 2 seasons sure as hell beats paying Tyrod $40.5M for the next 2. That additional $39M in cap space over 2 years could go a long way in helping other areas of need on this roster, and there are many. With that said, if the Bills want to land Siemian in a trade they are going to have to convince him Buffalo is better than San Fran and Shanahan, which is a tough sell, IMO. So you can then expect the Bills and 49ers to get into somewhat of a bidding war as to how much they will pay Siemian if he comes in as a bridge QB. In the end, I think it'll be very hard to outduel San Fran.

Great post. I bet no one at One Bills Drive has ever looked at the team this way. If we did, I'd be willing to ebt our team would be way more successful on the field. This post goes in line with a major problem of the Bills that nobody talks about. This team has very few "good" contracts. By good I mean a player another team would love to have on their roster at their current contract aka a tradeable player. If you look at our roster we have very few players that other teams would love to trade for. It's why we will be forced to cut Tyrod......the Bills did a despicable job with that contract extension. Gave Tyrod a free $6.5M raise in '16 and then all the leverage in '17 with a massive $27.5M in cash due to continue the deal. If they gave him a free $6.5M in '16, the Bills are the ones that should be sitting in the driver seat this year with all the leverage, somehow they don't. Really bad deal on their part.

It's good, you won't regret it. This is much more in depth than the magazines. The author and the guy who does the write ups is really locked in. Not a lot of glossy pictures and color though. He has a solid 3 to 4 paragraph writeup on almost every draftable player.

Drew Haddad is looking to get back in the cut (Mike Mayock reference)

The Bills would need to trade down to about pick #19 or lower to expect an additional 2nd round pick to come there way. Check out the draft value trade chart and check it out. With such a deep draft, that everyone's been clamoring about I think it'll be very tough to trade down because I just don't think many teams are going to want to part with a 2nd round pick in a good draft. The more likely scenario, IMO, will be the Bills trading down in the 2nd round. I could certainly imagine a team picking later in round 2 wanting to get up to pick #42 for a guy they have a 1st round grade on who they think can come in and start right away. Take the Seahawks, for example, their 2nd round pick (#58) + their 3rd round pick (#90) would be the perfect match for the Bills 2nd round pick (#44). Don't forget Seattle received two 3rd round compensatory picks (#102 & #106), that's a lot of ammo to move up for a guy they like in the 2nd. I also think Jerry Jones, who loves trading up in round 2, will be looking to do the same this year. Their 2nd and 3rd round picks would be a decent match for the Bills 2nd round pick. With the Bills having no 4th rounder this year I predict they look to trade down somewhere in round 2 or 3 in order to get an additional pick. I'm rooting for it. http://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart.asp

Just a heads up: I've been purchasing this draft guide for the last 10-12 years. It's an amazing resource to read up on pretty much all of the prospects. This book is in front of me the entire draft. I love Nawrocki's brutal honesty, haters tried to label him a racist, for having harsh takes on some recent black QB's, but it was total baloney. The guy just offers up his honest opinions and he's very tied into the scouting community so he gives you honest info. that you wouldn't hear elsewhere. For those that spend the $14, enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Draft-2017-Preview-Nolan-Nawrocki/dp/0879465859

I don't think they are clueless at all. I think the new management has a very clear plan, unlike the Bills, and are in the middle of executing that plan. 2 1st round picks, including #1, overall 2 2nd round picks 3rd round pick 2 4th round picks 3 5th round picks the most money to spend in FA I'm actually envious of where the Browns are right now. They have a ton of resources, both $$$ and picks, and it'll be interesting to see what they do.

This is called living in la la land. According to the draft value chart that would be the equivalent of the Browns giving up 1820 pts on the chart for Tyrod, which is slightly more than the 4th overall pick in the draft. If you think any team would value Tyrod like the 4th overall pick and then have to hand him $27.5M in cash, you truly have no understanding of how the NFL works.

You also aren't getting a 2nd round pick for Tyrod, probably not a 3rd rounder either. Had we negotiated a team friendly deal with Tyrod and not given him all the leverage he may have been a tradeable asset. With the terrible deal we gave him, though, I don't see why a team would give us a pick for him. They know we overpayed, they know he's not worth $27.5M in cash in '17, and so they know we are now forced to cut him unless we want to pay stupid $$$$ to a middling QB. At this point I would take any pick from the Browns even if it was a 7th rounder because I think it's in the Bills best interest to move on from Tyrod. I think we need to seriously upgrade the position, and I don't want to pay a QB $27.5M in cash and still not feel comfortable about the position. It's an easy decision, IMO. Save the money, and keep looking. Tough pill to swallow, but any objective Bills fan knows Tyrod will never be a playoff type QB year in and year out, he's just not a good enough of a passer.

Funny you say that, because the guy sounds pretty dumb in any interview I've ever heard of him. His communication skills and ability to give an interview are atrocious. He can't string together a couple sentences without falling all over his words. I've always thought communication abilities tell a lot about intelligence. Pegula's are terrible.

You're absolutely right, which is why it's imperative that the Bills sign 1 less FA than they lose to ensure they lock in that 3rd round comp. pick. Losing a quality player hurts. Saving all the cash helps. Getting a free 3rd round comp. pick really helps. Let's hope One Bills Drive fully understands that and doesn't blow the free 3rd round comp. pick.

I think a sign of good GM's is having a keen sense of what a players worth is and knowing when to let a player walk. I have my concerns about Doug Whaley, like many on this board, but I do have to give him credit where credit is due. Given the benefit of hindsight, he has done a stellar job of not overpaying many payers that have left Buffalo: Jairus Byrd Andy LeVitre C.J. Spiller Da'Norris Searcy All 4 of these players were very good to good players for the Bills, but you can't keep everybody. I view Gilmore as the same type of player. He's good, not great. He's not a blue chip, game breaking defensive player, IMO....and if you're not that, then you don't deserve the money Gilmore will get on the open market. I will be happy to take the 3rd round comp pick in '18 and save the $14M-$15M per year and redistribute that money elsewhere on the roster. Side note: I'll also be happy to take the 5th round comp. pick in '18 for losing Robert Woods. Woods defines an average/replaceable player. There is no reason to pay a player like that $5+M per year, which is what I think he will get on the open market. If we could get him back for $3.5M or so per year I'd be okay with that, but I think he and the Bills both know that won't be happening.

Very good move for the Dolphins. On top of the low price, it appears they've agreed on a new deal which will likely be much less than what the was owed by the Jaguars, which signals another win for them. Much better than agreeing to a trade, and immediately giving them a raise (cough: McCoy: cough) when you don't need to.

Your first point guarantees this team mediocrity for another 3 years. Cant get behind any smart long term view that starts with handing a mediocre QB a lot of cash. Doug Whaley and the Bills, unfortunately, structured this deal with Taylor terribly. There is so much cash upfront that you cant simply keep him for a year or 2. If you're going to keep him around for $27.5M in cash in '17 then you have to keep him for at least 3 years. After watching Tyrod for the past 2 seasons, I don't need to see him fir another 3. I wouldve been down for maybe 1 more year as a bridge QB, which is what he is, but that ship has sailed because our front office put together a terrible deal. There are consequences for putting together bad contracts and giving away all of your leverage. If the Bills were poker players....Doug Whaley would be the guy who buys in 4 or 5 different times....blows all their money...calls it quits....smiles and shakes eveyones hands.....thanks them for taking all his money.....then promptly get laughed at for how bad they were once they are out of earshot. These assinine contract extensions, unneccesary raises, and failure to protect yourself agaisnt drug suspensions are equally embarrassing and inept.

I think that was already answered. If he had a breakout season, which he didn't, we would've franchised him for $6M less then what we currently owe him. We also would've saved $6.5M last year by not giving him an unnecessary raise, which could've been rolled over to this year. So for those that argue the extension at least made the cap hits more palatable.....WRONG again. The $6.5M we would've rolled over had we not given him an extension would've put us in the same place cap wise, all while saving $12.5M in cash over the 2 years. When you look at this extension it was an absolute disaster, and for those that try and defend it, you're clearly not thinking objectively. And to Kirby's point that Tyrod "deserved" the raise. What Tyrod deserved is to pick what contract he wanted when he was a FA in '15. He chose the contract the Bills put on the table, which probably gave him the best chance to start. The Bills in no way owed him anything on top of what he agreed to as a FA. Unfortuantey, we seem to have a GM and Front office that uses the same flawed logic, and it's created the most predictable of situations: cutting an okay/average player because they were morons and paid him like a really good player. Couple that crap contract with them signing Dareus to a massive $$$ deal with no language about smoking pot, which he already proved he will.........and you're starting to see how incompetent this organization is. We all see the losing on the field, it's much more obvious. But the losing off the field, as an organization, when it comes to contracts and player development, while not as obvious, is equally pathetic.

Let me also point out another reason the Bills totally messed up by giving Tyrod this extension: If the Bills had not offered Tyrod an extension, and let him walk this offseason (as it appear they will), they would've been in line to receive a 3rd round compensatory pick in 2018. Instead, we are now forced to cut him, rather then have a player on an expired contract which is the difference between a 3rd round pick and no 3rd round pick. So on top of giving him a free $6 or $7 million in '16 (mistake #1), having a huge amount of cash required in '17 to continue the extension (mistake #2), they also cost themselves a 3rd round comp. pick in '18 by making this a standard contract extension rather than a team option (mistake #3). A team like the Patriots who are much smarter than our Bills would've made the extension a team option, that way if we declined it Tyrod would've still been considered an expired contract FA and thus part of the comp. pick formula. Instead the moronic Front Office we have, blew it, by not understanding how to structure this deal to ensure we'd get a comp. pick if we didn't want him moving forward. Go look at how the Pats structured Darelle Revis' deal back when they signed him...and see how they received a 3rd round pick for him a year after they declined a massive $20M team option and you'll begin to see the difference between this organization and that organization. It really is a joke.

I repeat my sentiment, absolutely no way Tyrod gets $27.5M in cash next year. Any team that evaluates Tyrod's game and sees that the Bills, led by Tyrod, have ranked right near the bottom in passing 2 straight years isn't forking over big time $$$. This extension, as someone else stated already, was totally assinine on the Bills part. They gave Tyrod a free $6.9M last year and then front loaded the contract with a hige amount of cash required in Year 1. The alternative of standing pat and having the option of the franchise tag this year was a much cheaper and smarter option. The Bills lost all of the leverage they had and they had a lot of leverage before that dumb extension. The only way this extension was ever going to be a good one for the Bills was if he saw at least 4 years of the deal because the cash lightens up in years 2, 3 and 4, which makes the overall deal more palatable. Unfortunately, he's not a very good QB, so the Bills will never see years 4 or 5 of the deal because they would be committing to almost certain mediocrity, exactly where they've been for almost 20 years. Time to cut bait and roll the dice with someone else.

Absolutely no shot of Tyrod Taylor getting $27.5 M in cash next year from any other team but the Bills. I love how everybody says Tyrod can get the same if not more on the open market. Its not going to happen folks. Can he get a deal that has a lot of funny money on the backend that looks like the contract he has now? Absolutely. But he's not getting $27.5 M in year 1. Tyrod defines average, middle of the road, bridge QB w/e you want to call it and those QBs DO NOT get $27.5M in cash in 1 year. Any team that decides to do that is making a serious mistake.

I happen to really enjoy Mike Schopp. He's real, he's honest and his football IQ is high.....not in an x's and o's type of way but more of the math, analytical way. Ive learned a lot by listening to that show over the last few years. Can he be a little short/rude with callers? Yes, but honestly it doesnt bother me.....most the time they do get pretty boring/generic/dumb comments from the callers.

Don't know if he hates it, but he's absolutely awful at it.

I don't want Gilmore for the $14-$15M per year. I think another team flush with cash will give it to him, though. He's a good player, but he's not an amazing, difference maker type player and for $15M a year, you better be getting a game changer, which he is not. I'd let him walk and make sure you lock in a 3rd round compensatory pick by not signing more FA's than we lose. His contract will likely be large enough to award us a 3rd round comp in 2018. If you thought you could franchise him and then trade him to another team for a 2nd or 3rd round pick this year that would also be worth looking into. Is there some team out there that would be willing to send us a 2017 3rd round pick for Gilmore and also give him a brand new, rich contract? Perhaps, but the risk you run there is that nobody wants to trade for him and you have to pay him the franchise # in 2017. Not a horrible scenario, but if the Bills don't think he's worth $14-$15M per year K think they're more likely to just let him walk and bank the 2018 3rd round comp. pick. Let's just hope Whaley isn't dumb enough to sign more FA's than we lose thus costing us the 3rd round comp. pick.

I'm convinced this kid can become the QB Bills fans have yearned for for 2 decades. His pocket presence, movement within the pocket to get off his throws, arm strength and accuracy are all pluses. I love the way he steps up in the pocket. It's why I hated Blaine Gabbert and Jared Goff as prospects. They were both terrible in the face of pressure, often times dropping their eyes and staring at the rush. That's a deal breaker for me....if I see that in a QB I don't think he has a shot at being any good in the NFL. With Mahomes you have a guy who keeps his eyes up, steps up, and delivers very impressive accurate balls all over the field. He's 6'3", 230 lbs., he's the real deal and the Bills need to take a roll of the dice on him at #10. Does he have some quirky footwork and odd hitches? Yes. But, I truly believe this guy is going to be a future stud NFL QB. http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/patrick-mahomes-1/gamelog/2016/ Go get this guy Doug! Please! Deliver us from QB purgatory!

Kyle Shanahan's offensive design is a thing of beauty. When your QB is throwing to guys wide open in the end zone you have to tip your cap to the play caller. Great rhythm, great design.....All of these teams including the Bills that may have been turned off by his over confident demeanor are morons by not handing this guy the keys to the head coaching position. In an offensive league this is the guy I'd want as my head man. I just like the idea of offensive minded HC's.

I believe you're right. The position still open indicates to me the guy they want is still coaching. Matt Nagy, an Andy Reid disciple, had 3 years in Philly with McDermott he's also younger, but he's only been the OC (co-OC). I'm not sure he has the play calling experience it seems McDermott is looking for.

Does it concern anyone else how poor of a public speaker Terry Pegula is. Whether it's an appearance on WGR radio or opening a press conference today, I've found him to be pretty brutal. A part of me believes that ones ability to communicate gives you a little insight on ones intelligence and ability to asses other people, and I just wonder if Pegulas total ineptitude when it comes to public communication means anything.