Rubes

2 year contract.

I'm guessing Denver was hoping fans would be distracted by the new unis and not notice the trade.

Seems like a huge waste of time and effort to me. Nothing remotely new or interesting about the jerseys. Pointless. I'm also sick of teams wanting a black jersey so badly. The Lions had to add a black jersey, of course, even though black has never been one of their colors. Denver's dark jersey isn't black, but they tried to get as close as they could with that "Midnight Blue".

I won't argue that our receiver room is, right now, worse than it was last year. At the same time, I'll still argue that Diggs and Davis didn't provide a whole lot down the stretch, and we still did pretty good on offense. Sure, some of that is from defenses protecting against Diggs and Davis and allowing the others more freedom, but my opinion is that the magnitude of this is probably overblown. I'm excited to see what Samuel, Shakir, Kincaid, Knox, Cook, and any other new WRs will do with Allen and Brady behind them. Allen, after all, is the kind of generational player who can elevate those around him, and will always keep us in games. We lack anything like that on defense. The three things that stand out for me with our defense going into next year are: Once Floyd faded, we were unable to generate any kind of pass rush at all. Right now, that should be a pretty good view of what it will look like next year. Without Floyd, there's no reason to believe we are improved in that area, unless you're in the minority of people who believe in Miller's return to form. Pass rush is a huge question mark next year. The loss of Poyer and (likely) Hyde means we lose the leadership and execution in the defensive backfield. Sure, they may have declined physically, but we're also losing their ability to recognize offenses, ensure the DBs are in the right call, and they all have the right assignments. Can our current starting safeties do that? Perhaps, but it's certainly reasonable to question whether they can do it as well as Poyer/Hyde and not lead to misalignments/missed assignments/blown coverages. The defensive backfield is another big question mark. Linebacker health. Bernard was a revelation last year, but we also saw that we are very dependent on at least one being healthy. Can they both make it through (most of) a season? There's a track record there that concerns me, especially when we have to go up against teams like KC and Baltimore with strong offenses in order to be a true Super Bowl contender. Again, the original question was about being a Super Bowl contender. I think once you get to the playoffs, it's our defensive struggles that have and will dictate how far we go. Josh can do everything in his power to will us to victory, but it's the defense keeping us from the big game. I don't see the defense getting any better next year and, if anything, they could be a notch worse—unless Miller returns to form and one or two of these new additions surprises us.

No chance I could even see past the line of scrimmage.

Be scared? All I said is that the defense is a big question mark. I'm more comfortable with the offense because we have Josh Allen and a cadre of very good skill players. We did fine the last half of the year with Diggs and Davis providing less than they had in any of their previous years. We've already proven we can win without Diggs, and without much contribution from Davis. I think Brady will find ways of making this offense more effective. I do think there will be some growing pains, but in the end: Josh. As for the defense, I agree with you—McD has been good at plugging in a variety of guys at different positions without a huge drop-off, for the most part. But this year he is losing Poyer and (most likely) Hyde, who have given him a lot of flexibility. He's lost some folks from the DL, and we don't have a ton of depth at CB. I think overall the defense will do okay, but just how "okay" is a big question mark to me. The question was if we would be Super Bowl contenders next year...frankly, in my opinion it has already been the defense that has kept us from getting to the Super Bowl. I see the defense being most likely a small notch worse this year.

I agree with OP that defense is the big question mark for me this year. Will we be able to generate a pass rush? Will the secondary make up for the losses? Will Milano stay healthy for a full season? I expect we'll be okay on offense, but I can't see us going very far if the defense is a notch or two worse than last year.

Good one. And thanks for reminding me that the Bills didn’t draft Rashad, they only traded a great receiver away.

That's my takeaway as well. I think some first rounders who failed to live up to expectations can resurrect their careers elsewhere, but their ceiling is probably more "very good player" than "difference maker/franchise player," as expected of many first-rounders. I don't think that team situation/system/coaching figures in as much as we'd like to think.

I agree, that was pretty interesting to read. I also thought it was interesting to read about all of the different individuals basically acting in their own best interest, rather than "for the good of the team."

Good one. I think he's about as good as any so far. Still, it's interesting how few and far between the examples are.

Not a bad choice, but I don't think a solid career as a G makes up for being a huge disappointment as a first round pick at T. Dude.

Yeah, I don't think either really counts. Nice try though.

Yeah, @Billy Claude mentioned Alex Smith earlier, but I didn't remember his story until you mentioned it. That's a really good one.

Cheated how? Not a bad choice, though I don't know if I'd say he achieved the success expected of an 8th overall pick. Ew.

Definitely a good one. But also, that's going back like what, 40 years ago? Any others? That's a good one, I think. That fits the argument since the Bucs were a hot mess back then. Still seems like a rarity, though.

Was he really a failed first rounder?

Since we're almost upon the draft, I thought I'd bring up this annual topic: First rounders are believed, by most, to have the best chance of success in the NFL, on average. But as we all know, the draft is largely a crapshoot, and first rounders fail to live up to expectations all the time (looking at you, Elam). Sometimes we chalk it up to poor player evaluation, or poor player adjustment to the NFL, among other things. In some cases, we also think the specific situation they're drafted into is the cause, whether it's poor coaching, poor team culture, lack of supporting cast, and so on. If that latter point is the case it stands to reason those players could be successful in a different situation, on a different team. I'm wondering how often we see that this is the case with 1st rounders. That is, how many first rounders fail on the teams that drafted them, only to be released or traded to another team to become as successful as originally projected when they were drafted? Is the specific drafting team situation really a thing that has been proven by those who have changed teams? Or is it mostly a convenient excuse? What are some strong examples of first rounders who failed to live up to expectations on their drafting team, and then left to go to another team and achieved the success that eluded them? Does Jerry Hughes fit this? Are there others?

I’m not sure I believe that account. I’ve had near-50 yard line seats (47 yd line) about 30 rows up Bills side with lots of seniority, and I won’t get the option to attend the Experience until the Fall. Until then they won’t tell me what’s available or how much it will be.

For what it's worth, I got a call yesterday from my season ticket rep, who offered to answer any questions I have. I have season tickets in the lower bowl, Bills side, about the 47-yard line, 31 rows up. Pretty great seats. Seniority going back to 1977. He told me my invitation to the Experience would probably not come until the early Fall, but couldn't really predict it. I was hearing summer a little while back, but it sounds like it's being pushed back a bit. He said it could still be pushed back more, he just wasn't sure. Wouldn't tell me anything about PSL pricing, just that I would have the opportunity to get seats "comparable" to what I currently have, which I highly doubt. We'll see...

Maybe he was questioning the part about Diggs being great?

Salt Lake City is potentially an option; the Utah legislature just passed some bills aimed at luring a MLB team here.

It does, thank you!

Are there rules about how much you can specify for these bumps, or is this a potential way to manipulate the cap to some small degree?

If you read the Athletic article by Tim Graham on McGovern (recognizing that it's behind a paywall), I think you'd be pretty convinced that it's the right move.