dave mcbride

Given that he’s the second best player on the team (given that Miller is injured), him remaining on the Bills is a good thing.

He played well against both Miami in the playoffs and Cincy, where he was one of the only players who actualy showed up on D. Had a couple of pass breakups that day.

This is kind of comically wrong about CBs. The lack of good cbs is why the Redskins have been terrible on D despite a great front. The lack of CBs is why Seattle’s D was getting constantly shredded after the legion of boom era ended. The addition of Sauce Gardner to the Jets last year vaulted them into the top tier of defenses. No team currently thinks like you do about CBs, and I bet you 5-6 are drafted in the first round this year. That said, I agree that the loss of Edmunds is big.

a little early to be saying that. Cincy all of a sudden needs safeties …

I love Smith's game, but I won't be surprised if Edmunds is the better player next year. He got a lot better this past season -- meaning that he's improving.

He's a better player than most Bills fans think he is, and the upside (youth, athleticism, experience, leadership) is tremendous. He's not a perfect player but he's one of the better off-ball LBs in the league. He was great in pass pro last season, and it's a passing league.

Agreed. I figured the Bears would go after him. It's definitely a loss for the Bills; he had a very good season last year. They're going to have to replace him in FA. I've wanted Lavonte David for a while given that I figured Edmunds was gone.

Well, Schefter was right.

I'm American and I don't get it either. My general view is that this tweet is utterly meaningless and that he may well have been trashed.

Who or what is "ION"?

This is interesting: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/09/calvin-ridley-says-he-needed-painkillers-to-play-through-misdiagnosed-foot-injury/

The Commanders remain a possibility, I think.

This is all true, but I really do believe that Jones has genuine physical upside and the intelligence to play the position well. Is he Josh Allen or Herbert or Mahomes? No. But he could also evolve into a player as good as Hurts and Prescott. He really needs weapons at the WR position, though. That's where the Giants should be focusing their energies on offense.

Pretty sure beating the hated Steelers in the 2020 playoffs ranks higher for Browns fans …

They released Clark because they got what they needed out of him and his play has declined (although he has been very good for them in the postseason, which matters). Not the trajectory of his AV over the last four years: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ClarFr01.htm. You can say they're releasing him because of money, but the better way to look at it is as follows: he is overpaid relative to his production now, and he's not going to get any better.

So much of the cap jail concept relates to the QB. Teams that find themselves in a bad spot are typically teams with mid-tier QBs earning massive salaries who are also completely dependent on elite talent around them to have any success (the Kirk Cousinses, Derek Carrs, and Jimmy Gs of the world). NO always got away with their cap situation in the past because they had a QB who could make any receiver look terrific and who raised the play of everyone around him. Bad QB contracts are the real problem. I look at teams like Baltimore, Cleveland, the Giants, and Minnesota and see problems given the money involved with the QB position. And if I'm Miami I don't know what to do with Tua. I also don't know what Baltimore will do. With regard to Minnesota, I say this even though the Vikings went 13-4. That was the most bogus 13-win season since the Bears in 2003, who also had a bunch of miracle victories. When a Dalvin Cook leaves on a team with Tom Brady on it, it simply doesn't matter much because the team would always be fine on offense no matter who the back was. A mediocre talent like Cousins needs Dalvin Cook, however. Josh Allen is the opposite of Kirk Cousins, so I generally feel very good about the Bills cap situation in future years. Yeah, guys will leave but the core will remain and the Bills should be in good shape. Same with KC.

... yet he had seven sacks in seven postseason games under Frazier.

Kendricks was not good this season, and the Vikings defense was horrible. He is past his prime. I'd pass.

Kendricks was a very mediocre player this year for a horrible defense. He is 31 and slowing down. He is definitely not the same player as the all pro from 2019. QBs had a rating against him of 82 in 2019 and 59 in 2020. In both 2021 and 2022, QBs have had a passer rating of over 100 against him. And if one pays any attention to PFF, he was rated 61.1 this year, which is below average. You have to factor that into your assessment. It's less about going into cap jail and more about paying outsized money for past production that ain't gonna return.

I think it's less about spin than seeing that teams with the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Chris Jones, and Frank Clark get to Super Bowls. The Bills don't have that sort of guy, and McDermott DID have guys like that in Carolina in 2013 (his best defense ever). The problem is that Greg Hardy was a violent criminal. But the Carolina defense that year was utterly awesome. I honestly think that the Carolina folks were traumatized by that event and have tried to avoid guys like that. That may be going out the window now. It brings benefits, but there are real risks too.

I was thinking about this very issue the other day:

The performance against Cincy was bad, but I honestly get the sense that way way too many posters on this site are unaware of how crucial DaQuon Jones was to the Bills this season. Him being out that game along with Miller, Hyde, and Hamlin down for the count put the Bills at a real disadvantage, personnel wise.

It’s like you don’t even look at the drive charts and the stats. I am questioning whether you watched the game. Every team has botched plays on offense (looking at you, Shakir). Look at the numbers and the drive charts. This is a bad hill to die on. Focus on the Cincy game and take the easy W.

Yeah, Keenum looks pretty bad out there now. He does have that connection with Diggs, though ...

This is changing the subject. You said they scored at will; they did not.