I’d like to see the Bills bring back Shaq Lawson and pay him fairly.

[Manther]

On 4/4/2023 at 10:53 AM, Beck Water said:

 

Last year the league minimum for a player with 6 credited seasons was $1.035M

Last year Shaq Lawson's contract with the Bills was for $1.035M with a $152k signing bonus

 

And in fact, he only counted $1.047 against the Bills cap instead of $1.187M (salary plus bonus) a situation called "Vet Salary Benefit" where teams sign a vet but he only counts what a 2nd year player would count against their cap.

 

So I'm not sure what's "idiotic" about thinking Lawson is a league minimum player, when in fact, last season, that's what he was.

 

I think part of the question is to what extent Lawson is, indeed, a "good soldier"

When a team makes a guy a substantial FA signing, then trades him out the door a year later, that's typically not the sign of a good soldier.

Then when the trade partner trades him off for a late round pick before the season, that's also a sign something's amiss

Then when the 3rd team cuts him just before the end of the season - That's a kick in the pants saying we'd rather elevate a PS guy then keep you in the building.

 

He seems to do well on the Bills though. 

 

He's not the dominating player we hoped for when Rex drafted him in the 1st round in 2016, but he has football talent. 

A good fit for Shaq Lawson and a good fit for the Bills, win, win.

[Beck Water]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:19 PM, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 I think Von has a good shot at playing week 1. He said at the end of January that the doctors gave him a time-frame of returning by August and he was hoping to beat that by a month or two to show teammates how hard of a worker he was. Almost like he had something to prove. On top of that I believe McDermott recently said Von was ahead of schedule in his recovery.

 

 

 

Wellllll…..do his ligaments and cartilage know about how hard he works?  Certainly there are factors the individual can control, but there are others where body parts heal at the rate they  heal.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Beck Water

[Magox]

Shaq Lawson is a very serviceable rotation guy, I'm hoping the Bills can bring him back at somewhere around the league minimum.

[T master]

I was glad to see him back last season & he did a good job but i think they may wait until after the draft seeing as it's getting closer & who knows they may go with a younger pass rusher at some point in the draft but Shaq is a dependable D end that can help for sure .

[John from Riverside]

I would like to pay him as unfairly as possible
 

And I like shaq

[machine gun kelly]

On 4/2/2023 at 4:58 PM, oldmanfan said:

I suspect you will see this right after the draft

I’m not sure what Tipster thinks is a fair price, but I agree Beane will work his magic on the cap to get Shaw back.

 He’s not a top $ talent anymore, but a viable cog and sets the edge well.  I like Shaw at a reasonable price.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

10 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Wellllll…..do his ligaments and cartilage know about how hard he works?  Certainly there are factors the individual can control, but there are others where body parts heal at the rate they  heal.

 

 True. Buuuut, there are other factors that work in his favor. As he explained on the Pat Mcafee show this was his 2nd acl tear with that knee. There are holes you have to drill through bone when performing the surgery among other things. Because all that was still in good shape they didn't have to do it. It reduces recovery time because you don't have to wait for the bone to heal up. You can start rehab immediately and go at a quicker pace.

 

 He said he hardly had to use crutches and a brace this time around, stopping after a few days. He went on to say he was able to go up and down stairs with a normal gait within a week without the aid of a brace or crutches. He was ahead of schedule from the start compared to a 1st time acl surgery and still is per McDermott.

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

I would like him for closer to a vet min deal......sucks for Shaq but it works out good for the Bills present and future.  I do agree he played well last year and deserves something but this just shows how tough a business the NFL is at times.

[GrimboG]

 

[C.Biscuit97]

He was pretty good last year. Welcome back but man, what a boring off-season. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Brandon Beane to his staff entering the offseason:

 

[78thealltimegreat]

Well you got your wish one year deal doesn’t have an impact on the comp pick could do much worse 

[SCBills]

Defensive Line construction is.... interesting.... to say the least. 

 

We currently have nine players that odds would predict make the team.  A spot for, maybe, one more DT? 

 

We have a handful of PS level DT's on contracts, along with Kingsley Johnathan at DE. 

 

After the '23 season, we have the following under contract:

 

Von Miller

Greg Rousseau

Boogie Basham

 

That's it. 

[JoeF]

Welcome back, Shaq!!!!!

 

The standard Leo D. video....NSFW

 

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

3 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Defensive Line construction is.... interesting.... to say the least. 

 

We currently have nine players that odds would predict make the team.  A spot for, maybe, one more DT? 

 

We have a handful of PS level DT's on contracts, along with Kingsley Johnathan at DE. 

 

After the '23 season, we have the following under contract:

 

Von Miller

Greg Rousseau

Boogie Basham

 

That's it. 

I think they want it that way. It’s also setting up for possible major changes after the season if they don’t advance past KC/Cincy.

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

19 minutes ago, GrimboG said:

 

 

Shaq Lawson is always welcome on my team.

 

Same thoughts here as with Jordan Phillips. Both of these guys bring a swagger to the team that no one else seems to. Glad they are back. Will be interesting to see how they fair in a more aggressive D with McD calling the shots.

[Yantha]

Amazing.  Happy to see him back.

[nosejob]

4 hours ago, T master said:

I was glad to see him back last season & he did a good job but i think they may wait until after the draft seeing as it's getting closer & who knows they may go with a younger pass rusher at some point in the draft but Shaq is a dependable D end that can help for sure .

I think the question will be How many D Limen can we keep? Certainly gonna be a while for that to get figured out.

[Simon Says]

Just announced on One Bills Drive; Shaq returning to Bills on a 1 year deal

[MrEpsYtown]

16 minutes ago, nosejob said:

I think the question will be How many D Limen can we keep? Certainly gonna be a while for that to get figured out.

 

I think you can add 1 per category probably, especially with Von's injury. 

 

IDL:

Oliver

Jones

Settle

Phillips

 

Edge: 

Miller

Rousseau

Epenesa

Basham

Shaq

[strive_for_five_guy]

@Tipster19 Who is next on your wish list?

[NewEra]

I’m glad he’s back.  I think Shaq and Phillips should’ve alternated “more than the minimum contracts”-  Shaq is getting just over 2M for his 2 years- while Phillips got around 8 for his 2 years. Shaq was a much bigger contributor in 2022 and much more dependable.  

[nosejob]

2 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I think you can add 1 per category probably, especially with Von's injury. 

 

IDL:

Oliver

Jones

Settle

Phillips

 

Edge: 

Miller

Rousseau

Epenesa

Basham

Shaq

Say we draft an Edge and DT? Can we carry 11... or will our picks get poached from the P.S.?  They need to pick the 1st 3 or 4 guys this draft that have a high possibility of helping this year, reaching be ok....IMO

 I'll start with Campbell.

Edited April 10, 2023 by nosejob

[MrEpsYtown]

15 minutes ago, nosejob said:

Say we draft an Edge and DT? Can we carry 11... or will our picks get poached from the P.S.?  They need to pick the 1st 3 or 4 guys this draft that have a high possibility of helping this year, reaching be ok....IMO

of contributing. I'll start with Campbell.

 

Last year they carried 9 to start the season and had other guys up and down from the practice squad. Any edge edition will probably push Basham or Shaq off the roster. Any IDL guy is probably pushing Settle and Phillips. 

 

The guys who are safe locks are: 

Miller

Rousseau

Oliver

Jones

 

Everyone else is expendable imo if someone better comes along. 

[John from Riverside]

Now that they brought Shaq back, they might be able to go a little bit later into the draft and get a guy with measurable’s
 

Do we really want them to spend another pic at 27 at edge?

[DC Greg]

2 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Now that they brought Shaq back, they might be able to go a little bit later into the draft and get a guy with measurable’s
 

Do we really want them to spend another pic at 27 at edge?

 

Hell no to edge at 27. They've tried to hit in that range repeatedly and have largely failed. All the Rousseaus, Epenesas, and Bashams aren't the game changing players we hoped they may be. They're important players for the team, but they've neglected offense in the draft for too long.

 

I think they just need to focus on protecting Allen by drafting o lineman and/or finding him a useful skill player or two. On D, hopefully Von is back at 100% and helps create a viable pass rush. In any case, I think they have to roll with what they have in that area for the most part and try to build up an offense that is good enough to overcome what will probably be a defense poised to get passed on a lot more than the past few years. There's no sure thing edge that late in the first that's worth the pick anyways... almost always, all of the premium, NFL ready pass rush talent is gone in the first 20 picks. Great interior o-lineman, RTs, and solid WR prospects will still be there at 27, however. They need to build this team around Allen now.

[Tipster19]

5 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I’m not sure what Tipster thinks is a fair price, but I agree Beane will work his magic on the cap to get Shaw back.

 He’s not a top $ talent anymore, but a viable cog and sets the edge well.  I like Shaw at a reasonable price.

Whatever makes him happy and gets him to re-sign. Where he liked a tweet stating that he was’t getting paid peanuts, whatever that offer was, to where he finds it satisfactory. Like Poyer I suspect that they may have over valued themselves and when they looked around the league they saw that Buffalo was more in line to what other teams perceived them. Either way I’m glad to see Shaq back, I think he provides an important piece to our DL. Phillips and Shaq have an attitude that I like and that nobody else on this team provides, I’m real happy to have both of them back. Go Bills!

[Buffalo Dude]

1 hour ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I think you can add 1 per category probably, especially with Von's injury. 

 

IDL:

Oliver

Jones

Settle

Phillips

 

Edge: 

Miller

Rousseau

Epenesa

Basham

Shaq

 

That line is made up of the following picks:

 

Four 1st rounders

Three 2nds

a 4th and a 5th

 

[nosejob]

1 hour ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

Last year they carried 9 to start the season and had other guys up and down from the practice squad. Any edge edition will probably push Basham or Shaq off the roster. Any IDL guy is probably pushing Settle and Phillips. 

 

The guys who are safe locks are: 

Miller

Rousseau

Oliver

Jones

 

Everyone else is expendable imo if someone better comes along. 

Didn't they sign Phillips and Shaq? Everybody's under contract.

[MrEpsYtown]

20 minutes ago, nosejob said:

Didn't they sign Phillips and Shaq? Everybody's under contract.

They did. I don’t think that makes them locks for the roster. Phillips maybe. Shaq less so

[Beck Water]

3 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

And there are ways to make body heal faster, legal and illegal, and having money for basically unlimited doctor, therapist, masseuse, nutritionist and exercise support as well home equipment such as Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) when sleeping.  

 

Well let’s hope he doesn’t go the PED route, I don’t think that pays off for guys in the long run

 

But I would think that just about any pro football player would have that stuff - Tre White for example, or OBJ. - and yet their rehabs took longer

Even a lower-paid player like Harrison Phillips had access to pretty much all of the above and a hyperbaric chamber at the Bills facility

6 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

They did. I don’t think that makes them locks for the roster. Phillips maybe. Shaq less so

 

Looks like they gave Phillips a decent guarantee - $1.2M or something, an amount which for a cash-strapped team kinda indicates the team sees him as a lock

Shaq, haven’t seen or heard details yet.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Beck Water

[Pirate Angel]

11 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

Last year they carried 9 to start the season and had other guys up and down from the practice squad. Any edge edition will probably push Basham or Shaq off the roster. Any IDL guy is probably pushing Settle and Phillips. 

 

The guys who are safe locks are: 

Miller

Rousseau

Oliver

Jones

 

Everyone else is expendable imo if someone better comes along. 

I dont believe Oliver is a lock, he carries a huge cap hit and hasn't impressed. Some of his tweets earlier give me the impression that he heard whispers he was being shopped. As tight as they are on they cap and still need to sign draft picks it just seems logical to try and unload him.

[Tipster19]

19 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

@Tipster19 Who is next on your wish list?

Bijan Robinson.