BillsVet

When did TBD become enamored with congratulating former Bills who never made it here? But while we're at it...I want to congratulate Jason Peters for continuing to make Russ Brandon look a complete clown on his way to Canton. Not many 40 year olds playing OT for a playoff team and getting meaningful snaps.

This is just a heavy dose of quibbling. Going 11-3 and winning the division is nice...the standard for 2022 has always been to get the #1 seed heading into the playoffs. Just saying we're in a good place now while putting the head in the proverbial sand isn't a view I share because... The idea last off-season was to improve the running game to alleviate the reliance on Josh. But it's now clear these last 4 games they need Josh running to keep the offense going. That was on display against a lower ranked MIA defense. Josh is running the ball almost 10 times each of these past 4 games. That's on McBeane....they are responsible for not giving him the protection and skill players to allow him to win from the pocket.

I don't understand how you can make the first observation and then make the 2nd, 3rd, perhaps 4th, 5th, and 6th. Last off-season on offense McBeane were all about reducing Josh's carries and here we are back to needing him to run to manufacture offense again. They whiffed on the UFA OL signings and they're still not strong running the ball. Cook may catch passes, but you want more from a 2nd round RB. Sum is that the running game is still not good and they lack the 3rd receiver. Perhaps they're trying to make up for it with better pass-catching RBs but they've also spent a lot getting those guys. They are 11-3, but seeing them scrape by against Miami at home is a harbinger of things to come in the playoffs. Miami is no pushover, but Buffalo is likely to face better (KC, CIN) in the playoffs at some point

Josh willed this team to victory tonight. But the more shots he keeps taking the shorter his career is going to go and most of that issue is on McBeane. Those two need to figure out how to align offensive strategy with better personnel and not more RBs. And they knew it last year, but still threw token attention there. Rodger Saffold, Quessenberry, et al. aren't a commitment to offense.

Josh must not be able to see him in those 7 starts. Those OLinemen on the right side are pretty hard to see over.

Best season with the Bills as a metric means nothing. He was a WR3 in 2020, mostly in 2021, and now he's a 2, so of course his surface level stats would improve. With a true franchise QB, he's had less than 40 yards receiving in 7 of his 12 starts this year. WR2's with catch rates hovering around 53% aren't a victim of not being targeted.

The original post here was talking up the play of DaQuan Jones and how that was a great Beane signing. That's one of those mid-range deals the Bills have taken on several times going back to McD's start. Some have been excellent, though the investment in the DL to be 8-9 deep has value, but is more about the HC's defensive strategy. Few teams actually do this, yet there is no indication Buffalo will look to be more cost effective there and as it stands, they'll spend somewhere around 20% of their cap there next season.

I'm not pointing at you with that reasoning, but it's popular here with some. The 7 I referenced are: Miller, White, Hyde, T. Johnson, MIlano, Oliver, and Jones (he of 8.6M). If you assume they'll re-sign Oliver, then your wish to see offensive upgrades just took a hit. What do you think Oliver gets? I wouldn't be surprised if he clocks in with Jonathan Allen type extension of 18M AAV. I'm not implying their spending on defense inhibits offensive spending, I'm saying it's reality. Most Bills fans wish away problems by saying the cap will go up...but they've never paid a QB in the cap era 1/6th of their cap either. That consideration means something has to give. The defensive scheme needs to become lower cost while retaining the same or similar value. Buffalo can't go out and sign UFA's on defense like they have these past few years, improve the offense, and pay Josh. They ain't got the money nor have the players to re-structure to free the amount necessary to do all these things. They've already re-done Dawkins and Tre's deals in the last few months.

He is signed for '23...at a 10M cap hit...one of 7 on the defense next year with hits over 9M. That's why I laugh when people talk about re-signing Poyer, Edmunds, and Phillips while extending Oliver to keep the band back together. They can't afford it without making big changes elsewhere. I always ask, what's the benefit of having the league's best defense and stocking it every year only to have Josh take hits? Because it's guys like Jones that people laud and rightly so, but at some point the McD's defensive shopping list has to be changed. It's why I see Beane merely as the guy who gets the ingredients to what the cook wants. Argue all you want, but when the draft board and UFAs invariably trend toward defense something is amiss. 5 1st rounders used on defense versus 2 on offense makes that case, not to mention the underwhelming offensive UFAs signed this last off-season. They always have money for defense, but when there's little left it gives some posters here the fall-back excuse of saying they didn't have any money.

It's a bad indicator when a MLB in this defense has not forced or recovered a fumble in his (EDIT: last) 56 games. There's definitely improvement, but is it worth a multi-year contract paying 10M per? You can't justify that cost at a position which even in McD's scheme. Especially when the defense already has 3 other guys getting paid that or more with their cap challenges they'll fae this off-season.

DaQuan Bowers was a TB DE some years ago. Sure, Jones has played well and was a good signing, but he has a 3.6M cap hit this year and is down for 8.6 next. 2022 is manageable, but if they cut him, it's 7M in dead cap next year so they're limited by what they can do then...at that price. Which means they'll have a 1T at that cap hit while being 7-9M over cap on an expected 229-231M cap next year. This team cannot afford Jones at his position at 8.6M for 2023. Not when they need another WR, probably 1-2 OL, and both starting safeties aren't signed for 2023. Not to mention no MLB either. There's a macro level there that needs to be talked about. I know people want to revel in feeling good, but this off-season is gonna be something Bills fans haven't seen since 2000.

Bowers has been excellent this year and leads DLinmen this season(with 60%) in snap count. But it's guys like Bowers who are a luxury on this team and, as a 1T, the question is he worth it at 8.5M for a cap hit next season? Especially when you consider they have upgrades across the offense to make for 2023 and less cap room to work with now that Josh's contract is kicking in. The cap will change, but they are almost 9M over in 2023 if the cap is 231M and have 2023 contracts of 107M in defensive players. The best teams in the NFL do not maintain an 8-9 man DL and Buffalo has 8 under contract for next season at almost 47M. At some point they'll need to consider how much spending on defense in total inhibits their ability to surround Josh with better talent.

Don't mess with Aretha Franklin...if you do you'd better think about the consequences of your actions.

I guess when they bring back Duke Williams it'll be like the Blues Brothers getting Murph and the Magic Tones out of the Armada Room.

RIP Coach Leach. He was a true original in the game of football and will be missed. There was a noted poster on TBD, "The Senator" who used to talk him up as a Bills HC candidate that is also no longer with us. RIP Senator as well.

Remember when they were forced to play DT Spencer Johnson at OLB in 2010? Or Wrecks dropping Mario Williams into coverage? The current staff isn't perfect, but the embarrassment that this franchise was in those late RW years is hard to forget.

Tell me about it...all my solid posts over the past 15 years and nothing to show for it. Oh well, I like being here. That's payment enough.

Nah, the material from click-bait/copy and paste-type OPs isn't worth it. OTOH, there are some members who do make TBD what it is though.

Just say Dallas signs TY Hilton and be done with it...no one's paying you here for clicks.

This is what people don't seem to get...you're not going to be able to keep a defense together for very long. It's a costly and ineffective strategy just like the Seahawks demonstrated about 6 years ago. Invariably there are injuries and guys want raises. Look at their 2023 cap room and then explain to me how you're going to extend those 3 guys? What cuts are you making to get there? Is this franchise gonna keep doubling down on defense to keep that unit together, or is it more cost-effective to have a decent defense with an elite offense? The long-term negative effect of continuing to invest in defense is a shortening of Josh Allen's career. That guy needs to be clean and not depended on to run the ball so often while having the time to make throws downfield. Who had expectations of McKenzie? And Davis was someone that a deeper analytical dive showed was not as good as OBD wanted him to be this season.

Wouldn't surprise me if CBS told him to be less X's and O's and more goofy to satisfy the lower-intelligence fans. Some of us may like that sort of analysis, but most don't. Makes one wonder if John Madden could be successful today.

The only thing in common between Edmunds and Rousseau is they were both taken by the Bills in the 1st round. Their NFL careers are at different junctures and the former may not even play on the team next season.

No...and it tells me you don't know how the game is played.

Funny that he's already initiated process to sell the team, ergo they got him out. But they're still going after him for a..."toxic work environment." NFL must have some friends in Congress, but not surprising given how the anti-trust exemption just never seems to get up for a vote. Snyder is no angel...but this is how the power players operate: to destroy enemies.

I doubt any franchise is going to go for a defensive coordinator who is 64 when next season starts. EDIT: It's ageist, yes, but the NFL is a young man's game. Defensive coordinators as HC's are fewer because it's an offensive game. Almost 2/3rds of HC's who began the season were not from the defensive side. It's also a consideration that this is McD's scheme that Frazier manages for him. Whether that's fair or factors into hiring him. And, to @BullBuchanan's point, he'll be evaluated on whether that prospective team will invest in defense as much as the Bills have. And when you're at or near the top in many categories it's hard to quantify how much better he made that unit. Teams will consider that as well. Perhaps Houston will hire him after they inevitably fire Lovie Smith and before that David Culley.