BillsVet

So many inane threads need this included:

My dad gets these all the time. Like Lamar Jackson re-signing with Baltimore for 2 years and 110M. Or Rodgers being traded. I have to tell him that's click-bait garbage from low grade outfits and check a true source like ESPN or, dare I say it, TBD.

The same guys largely running it back in '21. '22 and now '23 are the ones who spent themselves into that cap situation, yet insist their plan only needs minor tweaks 3 years running. Their cap challenges are a self-inflicted wound resulting from a refusal to prioritize away from the defensive side and toward the offense. Not an abdication on defense, only to reduce using their best resources elsewhere at this point in the McBeane tenure. Consider that a defensive 1st this year would make it 6 of 8 years using their best draft picks on a defensive player. This is Ted Thompson territory. Fastest way to being a championship team is to get the QB, surround them with top-end skill players and block for those guys. Defense isn't winning championships anymore and it's not debatable. You get the guys who can rush the passer, cover, and everything in between isn't that crucial compared to the offensive side. As long as this franchise invests as much as they do in defense with picks and UFA dollars, they'll always short-change their best player. You can't be elite on both sides and of late, the regular season defense wilts in the post-season, putting more on an under-talent offense to make things happen.

Predicting a team will go need with their bottom of the 1st round pick is the easy move. Then again, it's McBeane and they're not all that imaginative so maybe not far off using that pick for need. They've used plenty of 2nd round picks in that way. And, their board amazingly lands on a defender more often than not although grades don't indicate the talent is there for 30 first round picks.

This thread is another example of how the SNL skit with William Shatner at the Star Trek convention telling the trekkies to get a life was ahead of its time. Way ahead of its time.

I'm interested in hearing from those advocating about a traditional 0 tech or another 1T how the defense will push the pocket. Because any decent QB facing zero pressure up the middle will have no fear stepping up and making throws downfield.

Yeah, it's time for them to up their game on draft day. I'd like to think they learned their lesson drafting for need in 2019 picking Cody Ford but then last year they went straight-up need in rounds 1-2, so I'm not confident much has changed. Their drafts all seem engineered to be safe. Not a lot of calculated risk, aside from the move to take Josh 5 years ago. Aside from that, it's been a lot picks with limited ceilings, though I thought Rousseau was an excellent decision 2 years ago.

This is just flat out false equivalency. Based on pay rates and where they're drafted, QBs are much more valued than MLBs. And, I'm pretty sure you could tell me the top 3 QBs in the NFL off the top of your head, but could not identify the top 3 MLB/ILBs. Buffalo's defense was 16th in points and 14th in yards allowed in 2020, but made the AFC Championship. The following year, they improved dramatically to 1st / 1st, but lost in the Division Round. This past season, 2nd / 6th, yet blown out in the Division Round. It's funny to see the latent anxiety here because there isn't a clear starter at MLB and a 1st round pick makes people feel warm and fuzzy. Still doesn't mean you use the highest pick this team owns on that position.

There is something fundamentally wrong with drafting players high and then financially not being able to retain them. If they swung and missed on a guy that's not good, but the idea of using a top-10 pick (EDIT: who has performed) and letting them hit UFA is almost worse. Definitely gives me pause about OBD's decision-makers using another high pick on a DT...or LB. But it's emblematic of a trend over the years...their so-so track record on draft weekend bleeds over into using too much cap on UFAs which means you have less cap flexibility in subsequent off-seasons. And here we are, where a lack of cap room is talked about as a legit reason. Sustaining a high-performing team, even with a franchise QB, is a lot harder than building one from what McBeane inherited in 2017.

You were a big fan of mandatory fun day, weren't you? Have fun or else!

Cincinnati's OL was crippled with injuries so it was something of a draw there injury-wise. Somehow, Bills fans always forget that. The other excuse, predictably, was citing their lack of cap room for not improving the offense as much this off-season. It's hilarious the grand canyon level reach people are making to defend them. Or, that McBeane didn't create that problem themselves. Most of you rubber-stamping the McD vision of NFL football just throw up mental roadblocks and go full automaton whenever someone asks about the value of taking defense at this point in McBeane's football management lifecycle. Besides, how does Cincinnati manage to go to the SB and then back to an AFC Championship? I guess it was because they had JaMarr Chase as Beane said in January.

I'm not as concerned about the technical aspects or training...it's a team game headlined by the QB. The end result, i.e. the W-L record, is all that matters, not the new drills a player is running. That's small picture stuff, which is often off-season puff piece stuff that fills the void fans have. The discussion centers around building a roster that can compete with now 2 teams in the AFC that own them in the post-season. And, how to overcome their failures in those games. Because if the wheel gets spun on draft day and it magically ends up taking another defensive player or two highly...you're not helping the QB and it's Ted Thompson v2.0 happening all over again.

I didn't make any observation about their roster's average age. My point is, people expect the team to at least remain as good or perhaps improve from one season to the next. It's not within the worldview that they could regress. E.G.: They were 13-3 last season, not much changed...ergo, they'll be about that next year.

Players get older, slower, don't heal from injuries as quickly, and generally are degrading every year. It's the NFL. Contracts are closer to expiring and new players must be integrated to replace those older players on the decline. Which means what worked last year is not a guarantee to succeed this coming season. People don't like change, but if you're not improving you are regressing. Status quo doesn't get it done in this world.

The only doubling-down on disappointment would be using another premium asset for McD's defense. Coming off the Cincinnati loss going defense again is like a business revising an aging product line despite their opponents innovating and gaining market share. If Beane concludes from the Cincinnati and Kansas City losses the last 2 years that they need more defense the result is they'll continue losing track meets against top-end NFL offenses. There's stubborn and then there's stupid. McBeane are trending away from the former and pointing more toward the latter if they go defense in RD1.

I used to follow them for UFA news years ago, but they went full click-bait garbage level writing and I could care less what he says. But more than that...Mike Florio is the NFL's version of TMZ and acts like a clown on air.

"Obviously, a trade hasn’t occurred yet. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. A team hoping to draft a quarterback could pivot to Jones, if that team doesn’t get the guy it wants." This passes for journalism in 2023. Then again, it's PFT so not surprised.

Bills have ~56M in cap devoted to DB's for 2023 which leads the NFL. But why not? It would be more indication that spending on DB's and sinking more into the defense overall won't work.

There will be more clapping. Lots more. And maybe a post game statement to the effect of, "sure, we'd like to shut out every team in the league, but it doesn't happen that way."

A lot of pundits who want industry cred tend to overlook that hard reality of a market every time a player is on the market. I'm actually surprised no one has yet claimed that owners have colluded with each other to make sure another large pay-out for a QB does not happen. Or maybe it has and I missed that. I'd also expect owners to see that there are significant headwinds economically happening in the US right now and to balance a large expenditure, even at QB, against that consideration. An outlay of 200M guaranteed is not the kind of financial decision a NFL team is going to take right now and especially not for someone who's had those injuries as you alluded to.

OP's thread is like political party A giving political party B advice on how to win elections. Not exactly the guidance you take. Until or unless the NFL changes rules surrounding RTP, PI, holding, et al. then the way to win remains throwing the ball downfield to as many solid receiving options as possible. Sheffield and Harty are effectively on 1 year deals, Davis in his last year of a rookie contract and Shakir is unproven. The draft could shake out any number of ways, but finding another receiver in RD1/2 should be a priority. One would think by now that banking on improved production from lower-tier players and Diggs isn't enough...but McBeane probably ain't changing this late in the game.

Check out Kelce blowing past Chargers 2nd Team All-Pro safety Derwin James in their Week 11 game game to put KC up with 30 seconds to play.

The irony to this is, both coaches have been criticized for not getting results until a franchise QB "fell into their laps." Of course, Belichick had been a member of 2 SB winning teams prior to becoming a HC. McCoach was a part of team with a SB appearance. Will likely never happen, but McD is still trying to jam that square peg into the round hole. Belichick has adapted his football vision as the game changed in the early 2000s from a balance between offense and defense to one where offense is primary. McD is not getting enough out of Josh and it's less on the QB than the HC by this point. That would not be the case with BB.

If Klein is someone they'd consider, best to sign him now to a contract deserving of a McD defensive player. Perhaps 1 year and 3M because contract negotiations might get tight for a player with little to no market. And, he can play special teams. It's a win-win.

Either Beane is not the wizard people think he is or McD is telling him to just get it done. 3rd week of UFA handing out 3M contracts to DTs is not a good look. And even though it's a moderate deal, it should be remembered when there's little to no cap room to make a trade at the deadline.