BrooklynBills

I've always thought a good comp for Shakir was Hines Ward. Similar size right down to the short arms.

It would depend on how he tested physically but there are plenty of high end WRs at that height-weight combo. Chris Olave is the same size. McConkey was compared physically to Garret Wilson.

Oregon's WR coach is probably one of the better WR coaches in college football although I don't think Franklin was recruited by him. He's coached Kupp and Nacua at the collegiate level and he's responsible for recruiting Washington's stud WRs. You have to think though that he's entering the NFL with a very good base of knowledge to build on.

I think part of the reasoning here was also to prevent minority hires from becoming a way to accrue extra draft picks which could easily be something that teams exploited. The main argument that teams/owners typically provided for the disparity in minority coaching hires was experience (either playcalling/coordinating/or at the player personnel level). The best solution isn't to incentivize teams to hire minorities for high level positions. Its to develop minority coaches into qualified candidates.

McD and Wilks don't necessarily have the same defensive background. SF was banking on marrying Wilks coverage with the front that their DL coach Kris Kocurek employs. There were reports of issues and miscommunication throughout the year and not just in the SB. SF notably loves Kocurek and basically chose him over Wilks in this case. I feel like alot of teams are somewhat employing some version of trying to marry fronts and coverage from different minds especially if you don't have an experienced defensive mind in the DC or HC spot. I would guess that SF will now either hire Kocurek to the DC spot and bring a passing game coordinator type on defense to oversee the coverage OR hire an experienced secondary coach that has ties to Seattle scheme or to the Schwartz scheme, both which are a part of SF has been doing defensively for a few seasons now.

The RB thing is also a bit misleading and I think we need to keep in mind the state of the roster that they inherited, especially on offense. They spent 2 3rds and 1 2nd on RBs since they've been here but the Bill hadn't selected a RB before the 5th round since CJ Spiller in 2010. They inherited a team with an aging McCoy and basically nothing behind him. Even looking at the best offenses in the NFL, they have all spent multiple day 1 and 2 picks over a period of 5 years. The age quotient of the position means that you cannot continually keep trying to go to the FA well or give RBs 2nd contracts. The whole idea of not giving RBs 2nd contracts means that you've likely drafted them and have them on a rookie deal. Look at SF, who runs an offense where everyone thinks that anyone can get production at RB - they have spent a 2nd and 3 3rds (and a 4th) on the RB position. LAR - as soon as Gurley fell off, they immediately went RB in round 3 and then again in round 2. Also spent a 4th on Sony Michel trade. Another thing to keep in context here is that the Bills did spend a high 2nd round pick (Zay Jones) and a 2018 3rd (Benjamin trade) on WR right before drafting Allen. After drafting Allen, the Bills have done the following at WR: 2019 - signed John Brown and Cole Beasely as starters; drafted Knox in the 3rd. 2020 - traded a 1st (and a 4th) for Diggs; drafted Davis with a 4th. 2021 - signed Emmanuel Sanders It's not like they haven't spent capital there and they also had some entrenched starters at the position throughout. They did neglect it from a draft standpoint in 2021 and 2022, but again those years they had some entrenched players at the position. Was anyone upset with the WR depth chart in 2021? No. It wasn't a great situation heading into 2022 but what WRs did you want them selecting in the first 3 rounds that year? Is this team that much better if we have Skyy Moore or Christian Watson on it instead of selecting Elam? Marginally.

They would likely just process the trade after June 1 if that is what they decide. Could be a scenario where if the writing is on the wall - might be best to just rip the bandaid off. If I'm reading the contract details correctly, his base salary guarantees in March but that would just mean that whoever is trading for him would need to be able to fit that salary in their cap after the trade. Which would make it more likely that a trade would be worked out pre FA so that the acquiring team would be able to plan their cap structure. Although not ideal, there are alot of reasons why a post June 1 savings of 19M off the cap is something that the Bills could use. Signing draft picks, summer FAs (Leonard Floyd signed in June), and in-season trades. Not to mention that the Bills could look to rollover the new savings into the 2025 cap which could facilitate making a bigger splash in the FA market next offseason. Whether we like it or not, this version of the Bills window is closed. The defense is aging and some of their best players are coming off major injuries. They could look to take some medicine this year and play younger players on defense, re-tool the WR room, and look to come out of this season with young players gaining experience and some cap room in 2025 to make some moves in FA. I realize that "the window" is always open with Allen but that doesn't mean that they can't or shouldn't rebuild. This is exactly what KC has done and they are still contending because their stars and coaching is carrying them through. Having Allen means that they can rebuild to try to make the team stronger in the future and still be playoff contenders or even go on a run. They can't simply keep trying to run it back as much as possible because eventually that going to lead to more and more watered down versions of this team that simply just didn't really win anything. Its OK to take a step back (or two) to try to ramp up in the future. Other teams are doing this successfully. KC is not the only example.

I thought Shakir improved greatly especially his play from the slot.

It will be Michigan DT Kris Jenkins

It would be criminal if they didn't try to extend him.

It was just a feeling that I got when he signed from his presser and now combined with how he's looked a bit slower this year.

I think Poyer is going to retire after this season. We could ALOT of changeover in the secondary next year.

Unfortunately, I also think White is likely a cut. The average return to play for Achilles is 11-12 months but that isn't peak performance. If he returned to form, we would likely see that in the 2025 season (which is his last under contract anyway). I just think even a paycut doesn't make sense when you could possibly find an FA with a lower first year cap hit than White's potential paycut. And a paycut won't get his salary down that much. Even if he takes a paycut to the vet min of 1.65M (don't think they would touch the bonus money), his cap number would be 9.9M. His dead cap for a regular cut would be 10.4M. I'm not too worried about the Bills getting under the salary cap to start next offseason so lets just to play with some contract math here. Lets say the Bills signed a pretty good CB in FA (Like a 14-16M cap hit - Jaylon Johnson please?) and cut Tre White. That player's potential year 1 cap hit is likely in the 6M range. So you could have a questionable Tre White at 29 signed for cap hits of 16M in 2024 and 16M in 2025. Or you could have a much better and younger player signed to cap hits of 6M in 2024 (plus White's dead money of 10M = 16M so thats a wash money wise) and likely less than 16M in 2025 and then signed to your team beyond 2025. It really becomes increasingly hard to justify not moving on from White (which sucks and is a tough decision but likely a necessary one). And that doesn't stop you from extending Douglas for a year or two.

This is an 8 hour work day with an hour lunch break, otherwise know as a JOB. I'm on Team Fire McDermott but this is such a soft ass critique.

It was not a strange process. It is very common to hire the HC first. The Bills interviewed other candidates when they interviewed Beane although I think it was thought that Beane had an inside track because of his working relationship with McDermott. I think the Bills were at a point after Rex/Whaley where the whole situation needed a complete overhaul. That is not the case now IMO. It would really depend on the HC that they were looking to hire as each candidate would have differing degrees of influence on what they would want done at the GM position. I see no reason why the Bills would currently be in a situation where they'd be hiring a HC that would demand a completely new front office structure. I doubt the Bills would be looking for someone completely overhaul the whole football department as they were when they hired McDermott. Yes - alot of times NFL teams do a clean house situation of both the HC and the FO but I don't think the Bills are in that spot. Plenty of successful examples of HCs with roster control power or perceived de facto football czar status being fired with the team retaining the GM/front office and hiring a new HC: LA Rams - fired Jeff Fisher, kept Les Snead, hired McVay Philly - fired Chip, kept/promoted Howie Roseman, hired Doug Pederson, fired Doug Pederson, hired Sirianni

I think they were worried about being on the hook for next year if he went down with season ending injury. It's a brand new coaching staff. I think they just wanted to get it over with.

Not sure where you are getting the 42M number from. We are 29M over the cap fro next year. And yeah, there is going to be some significant turnover in the secondary. You have White (29 next year - multiple major injuries), Hyde (34), Poyer (33), and now Douglas (30). Hyde has a cap hit of 3.5 next year because of the void years so i could them working out a contract to bring him back. Douglas is a 9M hit and I could see them giving him a short extension to lower his number. I don't see how White is back on a 16M cap hit. They save 5.5M cutting Poyer. Yes, cutting guys creates holes but they will need to fill those holes with draft picks and mid tier FAs, and maybe some re-signings. FAs will have cheaper cap hits in year one than alot of these aging defenders will have next year.

They aren't going to bring in another DC to run a different system. They will likely promote from within and I would expect Babich to be the guy. The defensive side has alot of veteran coaching support on staff already. I'm just not seeing a full coaching staff overhaul at all after this year. Maybe that is a year or two away.

To preface: I don't think they will be firing McDermott after this season. I think they will likely have to go with a younger group on defense based on the salary cap and simply where guys are in their careers. They have 10 picks in the draft and I think that is something that wasn't an accident and I would expect alot of the picks to be dedicated to supplying that side with youth and cost controlled players. That said, this is a historically good WR draft and I'm expecting that to be a high priority pick. If they finish 7-10 or 8-9, that would be roughly pick 12-16 which would a great spot to draft or even move up to take one of the top WRs in this class. They are currently 30M over the salary cap for next year. I would expect the following changes: Cuts/retirements: Mitch Morse, Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Deonte Harty, Siran Neal, Nyheim Hines, Rasul Douglas Combined with restructures to: Ed Oliver, Connor McGovern, Tyler Bass Gets us to roughly 20M in cap space. Guys who won't be released or traded before June 1 because they would cost more to cut/trade than to keep on the team: Dawson Knox, Stefon Diggs, Von Miller, Kaiir Elam They could also do things like extend Taron Johnson to reduce his cap hit (or cut him) which would free up more space. So I would predict roughly 24M-27M in cap space heading into the offseason with 10 picks in the draft. And thats without touching Allen's contract which I would hope they hold off on for now. I think thats plenty of cap space and picks to make some roster changes in the offseason and, if I'm being honest, I don't think they are losing much in the way of cuts as White hasn't been on the field consistently in 3 years, Poyer has aged, Hyde has aged (although I'd entertain him back on a modest contract), Douglas just got here (I'd also consider giving a new contract that lowers his cap #).

Comp picks for players aren't officially awarded until after the season/before the draft because I think there are certain in-season things that can factor in to the formula. I don't think we'll have to worry about getting that pick for Edmunds though. The comp picks for minority coaches/management hires aren't dependent on any other factors so I'm guessing they are just awarded right away.

I'm not saying it's a guaranteed cut and maybe 2025 is the more likely release but you can get a younger player and save money on the cap simply by releasing white and signing a good FA. They are going to have to make tough decisions cap wise after this season.

I'm not 100% that White is back. Big cap #, age, significant injuries. And this will be 3 years now that they've played a significant portion of the season without him so you aren't really losing anything. They need to find cap space next year as is. I think he's a prime target for moving on. Not restructuring him at any point in the past 2 years let's you know that the Bills are at least considering it as well.

Trading for guys that can help beyond this season would not be mortgaging the future. They will likely need to add a starting CB to the roster for next year. Trading for a player that you can extend is probably preferable to the draft or FA

It's actually not a bad idea. You probably aren't seeing anymore 2 high coverages with Henry on the field. I don't hate it.

The "Andy Reid didn't win right away" take is embarrassing. He also didn't win a SB with his 1st team but took them to the NFC title game 4 years in a row and the SB. The farthest the Bills have gotten is the AFCCG once and that wasn't a close contest. More importantly on Reid, once the peak happened in Philly, it was mostly all downhill from there. And it ended really badly. There is rarely a "phoenix" moment for coaches staying with the same team. The only one that comes to mind is Sean Payton in NO. I'm not saying they should fire McDermott but if this has peaked it's likely that it won't be turned around by him.