Bills, Denver & Titans interested in DJ Reader (signed with Cin)

[atlbillsfan1975]

43 minutes ago, freester said:

Also Trent Murphy is definitely gone next year and possibly this year and this will be Jerry Hughes last year with the Bills. Shoring up DL for future is key. 

They are not signing Clowney. I’m hoping they resign Shaq and draft Espensa

I don’t think he is really best suited for a 4-3 defense. 
If they do bring back Shaq I would rather see a faster explosive DE prospect. 
‘Interest’ is a very broad term. A call is made probably about most FA’s. Could be the Bills want to drive the price up on him for an AFC opponent.

Edited March 8, 2020 by atlbillsfan1975

[YoloinOhio]

12 hours ago, NewEra said:

I’d rather pay him than phillips 

One of the best DTs in the league and only 25. Git er done. I remember Eric wood saying after the playoff game that he was a guy the Bills were really  Having to game plan against and they respected him a lot on that Texans D

[MAJBobby]

47 minutes ago, Rock'em Sock'em said:

Not likely this year, where Star's contract is now fully guaranteed for 2020.

Ok do it next year. No big deal. Star taking his paycut made sure he was on the roster this year. 
 

go get Reader 

 

1 Tech - Reader and Star

3 Tech - Oliver and Harrison 

Edited March 8, 2020 by MAJBobby

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

1 hour ago, Buffalo03 said:

I don't know about George Clooney. He's kind of old and has probably never played DE in his life. I don't see it

Along those lines, I figured ‘DJ Reader’ was a rapper who encouraged kids to read.  Didn’t LeVar Burton interview him on ‘Reading Rainbow’?

[SoTier]

2 hours ago, First Round Bust said:

dont see this happening, I meanafter you keep Dawkins, Milano, White and pay Tremaine and Josh next season ?  Ever hear of a budget ?  Live and die by the draft and coaching them up

 

Oh, just stop with the "we can't afford to acquire talented players" bull manure!  The Bills have $82 million in cap space, so they can certainly afford to upgrade the team, especially when it might mean the difference between another one and done in the WC round team and a Super Bowl appearance.   If Beane is the GM that so many on TSW claim he is  then he'll be able to bring in the right FAs on good contracts that will enable the Bills to take the next step this coming season -- like actually winning a playoff game -- not wasting another two or three years or decades making excuses.  Other teams -- Kansas City, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minnesota, not to mention New England -- all manage to regularly win playoff games, including conference championships and even sometimes a Super Bowl, by bringing in key FAs on good contracts. 

• Dawkins and Milano aren't going to get huge pay days.  They are second tier FAs -- solid players in the right situations -- but not going to break any team's bank unless they're up against the cap. 
• White is the real deal but he's a CB not a QB or an edge rusher and the best DBs come a lot cheaper than QBs or edge rushers.  
• As first rounders, Allen and Edmunds have two more years to prove what they are worth as FAs as at present, they are both worth picking up their fifth year options.   Without upgrading the offensive talent around Allen, the Bills will never figure out if he's a $10 million a year QB or a $30 million a year QB.   The same is true with Edmunds on the defensive side, although top LBs cost about half what top QBs cost.

Edited March 8, 2020 by SoTier

[Coach Tuesday]

Reader would make Edmunds an All-Pro.

[BeastMaster]

I would be fine with this.

 

And as far as Star goes...it doesn't matter much. We are most likely moving on from him next season. We can pay both this season. It shouldn't stop us from getting a player they feel is an upgrade for this season and after.

[BillsFan17]

Reader is one of the best young DTs in the game. Reader can move up and down the line and brings some juice for a man his size.

 

Star is not good, and Phillips is a third rounder coming off an ACL injury. Neither one of these players should in anyway, shape, or form preclude the Bills from adding a 25 (will be 26 when the season starts) stud to their team if the opportunity presents it self.

 

[Bronxbomber21]

Sounds like a good move if we're moving  Star

[buffaloboyinATL]

12 hours ago, PIZ said:

Reader and Clooney.  Get an OT. Then draft a few WRs and a RB. Super Bowl. 

Clooney May be a bit undersized...

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

We'd be paying Reader and Star both for maybe one year. By this time next year the D line is gonna look very different. Might as well start planning for it now. We have Reader instead of J Phillips I almost guarantee we win that 2nd Patriots game where they ran all over us. Stew on that for a minute.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

Ok do it next year. No big deal. Star taking his paycut made sure he was on the roster this year. 
 

go get Reader 

 

1 Tech - Reader and Star

3 Tech - Oliver and Harrison 

I’m liking this more today than I did yesterday. However they still need two or three edge players. Maybe a mid level free agent and a few draft picks. 

[Clyde Smith]

I rather Beane go after Calais Campbell.

[Reed83HOF]

 

 

[NewEra]

3 hours ago, freester said:

Also Trent Murphy is definitely gone next year and possibly this year and this will be Jerry Hughes last year with the Bills. Shoring up DL for future is key. 

They are not signing Clowney. I’m hoping they resign Shaq and draft Espensa

What I really want to know:  If we draft Aj EPENESA, will half of the TSW call him Aj Espensa/Espenesa for his 4 years as a Bill?

 

if so, we can’t draft him.  

[Shaw66]

I think what Beane and McDermott do, which is different from what most of us do, is they look at the roster as fluid, multi-year proposition.  We tend to look at it as a static, 2020 thing.   

 

So for example, we look the roster as current people, how they fit, and current holes.   We see Oliver, Star and Harrison Phillips and we think "the Bills need a 3-technique guy."   We think "the Bills have Star, they don't need another 1-tech starter."   I don't think McBeane think about it that way.   They are looking at getting the best players they can get and thinking about how they might fit over the next 3-4 years.  

 

So, without knowing at all what McBeane are actually thinking, and how they might value Reader, on the assumption that Reader is the kind of talent they'd like to have on the team, how he fits on the 2020 roster isn't a huge consideration.   Beane isn't going to say no to Reader simply because the Bills would have too much invested in the 1-tech position in 2020.   The Bills have the cap room, and question Beane is asking himself is "how does my roster look for the next 3-5 years if I sign Reader."   The answer to that question probably is "I like it."   Reader's fairly young and apparently a talent.   

 

Yes, "but," people say.   But they already have Star, but what do they do with Harry, because he isn't a 3-tech, but it's too much money, but, but, but.   I can't answer those questions, but my guess is that those questions are less troubling to McBeane than to you and me.  They have a good idea of how Harry is recovering, and they have a good idea of how well he might play the the 3-tech.   They understand the cap and how they want to manage it much better than we do.   They clearly seem to have a good handle on what they think Star's future is and when he's going to have outlived his usefulness.   So I don't think the things people are talking about here are going to stop Beane from going after Reader if they think he's the 31 1-tech guy, either this season or over the next couple of seasons as Star approaches the end of his contract, and probably his career. 

 

One other thing, which I think some people touched on:   The NFL is always changing, and the coaches' jobs are too change with it.   People say it's a copy cat league, but the good coaches aren't just copying what works, they're creating new things that work.   We've clearly seen a resurgence of the run game in the NFL - running the ball isn't enough to win, but the pass-happy that seemed to be evolving in the NFL has created opportunities for coaches to take advantage of the run game.   

 

McBeane's response to the passing game (like a lot of coaches) has been to get more speed and quickness in the back seven.  Edmunds and Milano are the primary examples, and as well as the defensive backfield depth they're always looking for.  The problem with that approach is that you give up some ability to stop the run.   When you don't have three old-school linebackers on the field, you're at risk of getting gashed by the run games that teams are developing.   So McDermott knows he has to respond.  He has to stop the pass and still not be vulnerable to the run.   He needs pass rush to help him stop the pass, but d linemen who can pressure the passer also typically have give up something in the run game.    The need for gap control in the run game tends to limit the pass rushing abilities of your edge rushers and your 3-tech guy.   Look at Jerry Hughes - good all-round player, probably more valuable to the Bills today than he was when they acquired him.   He's had to dial back his pass rush to maintain gap control.  Gone are the days where he's finding any way to beat the tackle and get to the quarterback, but also gone are the days when we'd see him crashing inside while the ball carrier was sprinting untouched around the offensive left tackle.  

 

Enter the 1-tech guy.   Seems to me that now that the run game has re-emerged, the 1-tech may be one of the most important positions on the field.   The key to playing the defense McDermott and Frazier want may be knowing that on every play your 1-tech is going to demand a double team, and on any play when he doesn't get double teamed, the offensive isn't running up the middle.   I think that's why last year we heard McBeane defending Star from time to time.   The fans didn't like Star because the fans rarely saw him do anything, but that doesn't mean he wasn't doing his job and wasn't important.   

 

If I'm right about that, Reader may be more valuable to the Bills than we think.   That is, if the McBeane are going to be worried about managing the lack of depth in the interior of the d-line, they may prefer to manage lack of depth at the 3-tech than the 1-tech.   They can coach around the 3-tech problem more easily, cover more easily the gaps in the defense created by having Oliver and Harry be the 3-tech than cover the gaps created by having two decent but not great 1-techs in Star and Harry.   

 

Remember, McDermott very much wants his team to be strong from the inside out, and I think Bean is completely on board with that.   Poyer, Hyde, Edmunds, Star, Oliver, Morse, Allen, Singletary, Gore.   Their focus clearly has been up the middle.  

 

Reader wouldn't surprise, even at a price that some might think is eye-popping.     

[Sherlock Holmes]

14 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Why?  He's a true NT, maybe a 0 -1 tech.  Doesn't fill  Jordan Phillips role. 

 

Unless they expect to move Harrison Phillips to 3 tech?  Would that work?  Anyone?

Yes, Harry Phillips has versatility even though we haven't gotten to see much of it. He is very smart and assumed the onfield pass rush calling duties from Kyle... Those are some big shoes to fill

[Magox]

3 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

Ok do it next year. No big deal. Star taking his paycut made sure he was on the roster this year. 
 

go get Reader 

 

1 Tech - Reader and Star

3 Tech - Oliver and Harrison 

I'm totally down with this.

 

Would give the Bills one of the best interior Defensive Line's in the NFL and shore up the Run Defense which would allow all sorts of flexibility from a scheming perspective.  They would still have plenty of money to go for an upper tier Edge Rusher in FA and could get another one in the first few rounds.   Don't sleep on Darryl Johnson either, I think Beane and McDermott are very high on his future and if he can continue to develop he could end up having a very significant role in 2020.

[PIZ]

3 hours ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

Clooney May be a bit undersized...

 

This is so awesome that I’m not going to edit my post. 
 

 

[gonzo1105]

I think if they are looking at it. Star makes good money for 2 more years then is gone. Reader will take his salary, and we’ll still have 2 years to pay Oliver. I think it makes sense long term but if your looking 2020 only it leaves you a little confused