BrooklynBills

This is ultimately what needs to happen but I don't think this can be done in-season. No one is trading a cheap OL who is also a good player. They could get an upgrade to Moss for basically nothing though. I also think adding a vet S could be in the cards. Hamlin has been ok but I'm not sure if they are comfortable with Lewis as the 4th S.

Singletary has zero value in this situation. I think it can be inferred from what's been reported that we might have offered Singletary and a 2nd for CMC over the summer or before the draft.

Fournette and Connor are just not in the same RB market though. I'm really only into this if they can get him on some lower cap hits for his age 26/27/28 seasons. And I'd be willing to trade a 1st in this upcoming draft where it likely is the 28-32 range if we can get some cost certainty - whether that's paying extra for Carolina to eat salary or CMC agreeing to a re-worked contract. The other thing here is that CMC has to agree to any contract stuff. If he doesn't want to play here, he could simply not do any contract stuff and get cut knowing that we aren't paying him 12M next year. Then, he can choose wherever he wants to go. He's a big enough star that he can dictate this a bit behind the scenes as well.

Not sure why you are hung up on the 3rd contract thing. He'll be 27 next year. Aaron Jones signed a 4 yr deal at 12/yr at 27YO Nick Chubb - 26YO - 12yr/yr He'd be right in that market.

Well, they could tear it up and give him a new contact for sure if he agrees to that. The re-structure is just one of the options. But if you look at recent RB contracts 12/yr is right around where his value is. But the 3yr, $36 million contract does exist in the sense that CMC has that to negotiate off of. And he's likely not getting cut during the season so he is also likely to earn the $12 million so I think you have to guarantee him AT LEAST $12 million in year 1 in terms of bonuses and salary. And he is definitely getting that or more in FA IMO. If I'm the Bills, I'd be willing to pay extra in draft picks if CAR would take on some of his salary to make the money work.

It's more like trading McKenzie, Epenesa, Moss, Singletary, and a late 1st or 2nd for CMC. Except they'll let you keep McKenzie, Epenesa, and Singletary for this season

Turn $11 million of his $12 million salary into a bonus leaving him with a 1 mil base salary and the bonus prorates over the final 3 seasons at roughly 3.6ish million per season. So that year 1 cap hit is about 4.8. Raises his final 2 years but the Bills have alot cap flexibility (relatively) starting in 2024. Cap will also start to rise in 2025. If I have time, I'll do a future cap post because there's a lot of doom and gloom going on about the cap and it's just not accurate. Some guys will have to be sacrificed but such is life in the NFL.

They are not on the verge of maxing out their cap. They have several re-structure options available starting next season with Diggs, Miller, and/or Tre White. Knox and Allen in 2024 and Allen probably again in 2026. Hyde and Morse likely aren't on the 2024 team.

This makes it seem that proper compensation would be a pick in the 30-50 range which would put it at a conditional 1st which is where I think the Bills would be willing to go. Also would mean that there would have to be some kind of agreement on a re-structured contract because they aren't paying that for a pure rental.

ESPN Charlotte reporter says could happen in the next 48 hours. The fact that this intensifying this week tells me that we could be the major player here.

CMC gives you another element to win.

It won't cost $12 million per year though. What is a number that makes sense? Singletary will probably costs around $4 mil/yr. There are a bunch of FA RBs next year but the going rate for average RBs is about $4 mil. Moss and Cook are not options as starters. So you are already looking at spending a day 2 (or day 1) draft pick on a RB and/or spending significant cash on a player. They absolutely cannot go into next year with Moss, Cook, and 2 JAGs. So bare minimum you are looking at spending $4-6 million on the RB position next year in FA or re-signing Singletary and at least another 2nd or 3rd round pick. Moss is gone. Cook is an unknown. Any of the cheap options out there are going to be ??s. For a team in a Super Bowl window, you cannot afford to have a such a low-floor at any position that could sink the season. CMC is on a non-GTD contract. And he's 26. They can easily re-structure this deal to put him in favorable cap situation. With zero GTD money they can essentially just sign him to a brand new backloaded deal. Even if they give him something at the top of the RB market, those first 2-3 years are going to be cap numbers in the 4s, 5s, 6s. So would you spend 6 mil and 2nd round pick on an proven All-Pro RB who is an x-factor in the pass game? Or would you rather spend those same assets on Singletary and an unknown rookie? I think when I finally broke it down like this - my choice was a lot clearer.

This is incorrect and not how NFL contracts work.

His cap hit won't be that high though. Carolina absorbs the bonus money. And that's if they don't do anything to the contract. If we are dangling our 1st, which I doubt any other team is probably prepared to do for him, it could entice CAR to additionally eat a good chunk of his salary. IF this happens, I think it will be because we are getting the player at a significant cap discount.

Singletary is gone after this year and you are likely using another day 2 pick on a RB next year so I think the cost is justified for if it comes with CAR eating some of the future cap hit. That said I think Moss and a conditional 1st based on playing time makes sense.

After this year with basically no cap hit, he's on a 3 year $36 million contract with 0 GTD $$. There's so much funny math you can do with a contract with zero GTD money. The cap isn't real.

We can debate the semantics of malicious v. negligence. But I do think he was just more than ok to just let bureaucracy and protocol override common sense and reason. Which means he took all humanity out of his decision making. I don't think that reflects well on him as a HC.

I completely agree and think it's a major error from a rookie HC. I don't think it was malicious but was clear negligence. Don't take this to mean that I'm absolving McDaniel here.

Definitely learned a lot more about the concussion protocol through all this. I think learning that the team doctor still has final say allows us to make a few logical conclusions. I don't think there is some grand conspiracy here but I do think this exposes a huge crack in the system. Some facts that have become clearer: 1. The Independent Neurologist administers the baseline tests. HE DOES NOT DETERMINE IF HE IS CLEARED TO PLAY. 2. The Team doctor has final say and can make a determination that a "no-go" symptom is caused by an orthopedic issue. In the Bills game, Tua stumbling after the hit would TYPICALLY result in the "no-go" policy that is established. This is the reason that Mahomes was pulled out of that game two years ago. He had a head collision and was wobbly getting up. He passed the concussion tests but the doctors would not let him go back in because of the "no-go" policy. With the Tua situation, if the team doctor had determined that the back injury caused the wobbliness and Tua passed the baseline test, then the protocol allows him to go in the game AND not have to be in concussion protocol(because he passed the test). **This is where it gets very tricky because the we don't know the team doctor's motives.** The HC can completely isolate himself from the situation because he just plays who the doctors say can play. We all know that players can have concussions and pass the baseline test (Andrew Whitworth described a situation with himself last night). I would assume guys have passed the baseline test and were kept out because of the "no-go" situation (like the Mahomes situation). Ultimately, EVERYONE (Players, Coaches, NFL execs, fans) wants these players on the field. It would seem players/coaches have a general culture of not being overly concerned about head injuries. I don't think Miami maliciously tried to circumvent the concussion protocol. I do think the they found a loophole in the process which allowed Tua to return to what was a massive game for the Dolphins. And I think the HC isolated himself away from the decision making process by simply "trusting" the doctor.

Hyde ran a 4.56 Poyer ran a 4.58 Pretty incredible how similar they are. Both were mainly CBs in college but I think Hyde might have played all DB positions. I think Hyde had better overall athletic numbers. Johnson ran a slower 40 but his 10 and 20 yard splits were actually a bit faster than Hyde. I think they are all similar athletically.

Spinal stenosis can absolutely develop over time in collision sports and not necessarily have obvious symptoms until discovered. It is absolutely likely that a doctor would recommend not playing contact sports if this was discovered. I'm not saying that this what is happening with Hyde but getting a 2nd opinion usually means that big decision needs to be made. Off the top of my head, I can think of several players that retired because of this condition. And due to Hyde's age and previous neck issues, they could be just saying that the next hit could paralyze you. It's all speculation but it's not completely misinformed. By the way, the Pegula Jet (which I still follow sometimes when news pops up) flew someone to Morristown, NJ today and they are flying back tomorrow. Just so happens one of the more well known Orthopedic Spine Surgeons and Centers is located there. Let's assume its not a career-ending situation because I actually think that in this type of injury situation there is probably less of a gray area in terms of what could be career ending. I would guess that the initial diagnosis was to have surgery, maybe the ACDF that we should all be experts on now after the Eichel situation, which would put him out for 9 months minimum. If Hyde is seeing an Orthopedic spine surgeon, then he is likely trying to see if there is a conservative path of rehab and/or non-surgical approaches that wouldn't put him out for the whole season.

This is exactly what I'm feeling as well. Same as Eric Wood. Seemingly innocuous injury that with certain eyes looking on it find a high risk for a future life changing injury. Hyde has been a Day 1 guy so it would be really disappointing for him to not be a part of the team's journey this year. On the Xs and Os side, part of the scheme is how Poyer and Hyde can be very interchangeable but I do think Poyer would shift a bit more to that FS role with Johnson being more of a SS type player. Long term, I was kind of under the impression that we were due for a bit of a changing of the guard at S overall. Hyde restructured his deal recently and it includes void years starting in 2024 so I was under the impression they would eventually be forced to move on after next season. Obviously, Poyer is a FA coming up but a Hyde retirement could force the Bills hand a bit.

It was the middle of the 3rd Q

It's all speculation but it's somewhat informed by Hyde's player history and what has happened with other players

*I'M NOT A DOCTOR* IMO the only reason you'd get a 2nd opinion is if: a. Rehab vs. Surgery b. Career-threatening injury. We know that Hyde went to the hospital. Very conceivable that they did precautionary/exploratory scans/MRIs and something pre-existing injury popped up and they are advising Hyde that he can't play anymore. Much like the Eric Wood situation. Hopefully it is not that but serious neck issues can be nebulous and can go undetected. He could have a minor injury but a serious risk could have been detected.