dave mcbride

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, he's a young, experienced, and reasonably good DE coming off of his rookie contract. More than one team will see him as an upgrade, and he'll be paid as a consequence. I also think he's an excellent fit for Patriots-style defenses (e.g., Miami, NE, Detroit, Houston). I doubt the Bills see him in those terms, and won't match. He's going to the team that'll give him the best deal and the most guaranteed money. He'd be unwise not to.

Yolo's thread on the pressers has a tweet in which he says that.

PS - I don't put much stock in PFF ratings and PFR's AV number because I don't really understand them, so take this with a grain of salt. Murphy graded out higher than Lawson by both metrics (and significantly so with AV) this season. Again, I think Lawson is a good player, but I also think that Murphy was a lot better than people here are giving him credit for, at least based on what I watched. I really did think he was a pretty disruptive force over the course of the season.

He didn't start any games this year at all, actually (not that that means much). More importantly, his snap count was basically under 50 percent for the first half of the season before going up later in the season: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LawsSh00.htm. By way of comparison, Murphy's snap counts were significantly higher: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MurpTr00.htm. I think Shaq has become a better player and like I said I'd love to keep him. However, I still think the Bills view him as a rotational guy and aren't going to pay a lot for him. My larger point is that I think that there will be two teams out there desperate enough for a solid-quality DE who will represent an upgrade, and that's all Lawson will need to get paid. And he is in it to get paid at this point (rightly so).

I just think that someone is going to pay Lawson more than the Bills will be willing to. He's a role player for the Bills, and there are teams out there desperate for a competent DE (which he is). I suspect he's going to get paid.

They also need some good journeymen too, and they can easily afford Murphy and Yannick. Murphy is a well-functioning cog in a very good D, and he is disruptive even if the sack numbers don't show it. Not sure why Bills fans want to get rid of solidly functional players on an elite unit.

Elite corners have catch-up speed. Peters has it. There is a reason why Peters, a genuinely bad person, went in the first round despite his many transgressions and remains coveted by good teams trying to win a Super Bowl despite the aura of bad vibes that always surrounds him. Good players make plays, and he's as good as anyone, talent-wise.

I think Lawson is as good as gone. He wasn't given much of a chance to shine here, and some other team with terrible d-line problems will likely value him more than we do. I hope he comes back, but I'm not expecting it.

Like I said, good players make plays. Peters made one. He's a better player than Brown, although Brown is good too.

You see, I don't actually believe that. I thought he looked plenty explosive this season and I think the coaches felt so as well. He is a good-not-great player under contract, and the Bills are swimming in an ocean of cap space. Don't get rid of good, responsible players who know the system!

He was facing a corner that was without question a top 5 CB in 2019 on that play. Other guys make plays too.

That's not true. For one, he was the Bills' best defender in the Jets finale. Not that it mattered to the Bills, but it mattered to the Jets.

I am not saying he can’t do it; if he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be in the league. But that was a HARD (albeit doable) boundary catch given the ball’s velocity and his positioning, and that is simply not one of his apex skills. He is a speed guy who is now a good route runner. That is his game.

Trent Murphy was a good (not great, but certainly disruptive, dependable, and good) player this past season and was one of the best players on the field vs. Houston. Why do Bills fans want to cut good players when they have $98 million in cap space???

No, and I can practically guarantee you that he’s thinking of ways to secure home field advantage in 2020 and avoid WC weekend. They had the number one defense in practically every category, for chrissake.

He IS a good receiver - a very good one. But he’s not a boundary receiver and never has been. The Bills really need one of those to pair with Brown. Yes, it would have been nice if he could have toe tapped there, but I am not going to criticize a 1A-type player for not having the complete skill set of a Hopkins or a Jones.

I am thinking of the money. It would be a Mario williams-like signing and the money all of that entails.

FWIW, Indy has already said they're moving on from Ebron. There's something about that guy that is off.

I think he was fine at the midway point this season, but he basically shut himself down with the team's tacit approval given that getting the #1 overall pick had become paramount by that point. He really hasn't been injured all that much by NFL standards. He's only missed significant time in 2 out of 8 seasons, and even in those seasons he played the majority of the games. The idea that he's injury prone is a bit of a myth. Most NFL players who last a decade miss time at some point. Yeah, that worries me.

I think the Bengals are going to franchise him. They're drafting a QB #1 overall, and the best thing they can do for that QB is give him an elite, experienced target. Bear in mind that they're getting Jonah Williams back too, and he's a genuine blue chip LT. Combined with Boyd, Mixon, and Eifert, that is a talented group. I could easily see them bouncing back. They lost a ridiculous number of games (8) by one score or less this season and were way better than 2-14. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/12/17/a-j-green-has-no-problem-with-franchise-tag-but-hopes-for-commitment/

"Dolt"? Jeez. I genuinely apologize for misreading, but being a jerk is pretty lame. We're all Bills fans here.

I do think he's on the downswing; don't get me wrong. I just thought he threw ball pretty well in the TN game. He's not a bad qb, I don't think, and in the right situation he can produce. But of course he's not who he once was. Incidentally, my hunch is that Belichick really wants to move on. His legacy is secure, and I have to think he's bored with the current situation and feels like he needs a new challenge.

PS - For the reasons you state above, I don't think the Bills will target him. That doesn't seem to be their way, for better or worse.

It's less the Philly game than the SF game. It might have been the best game I've seen played by a DE all season. I also think we're in a place where we can roll the dice a little. I want to win the division, and we need some better players.

Good post. When Brown sat out the final game of the 2018 season, it was clear to me that he wasn't elite. He's a good player who I'd like to have on the team, but he ain't great and he ain't worth a first round pick in the best receiver draft in some time.