Wide Receiver Train Full Speed Ahead- CHOO CHOO!

[Alphadawg7]

18 hours ago, Pete said:

And there has been a huge void since.  They never replaced Diggs, and failed at their few attempts 

 

Where is this heir apparent replacement for Diggs?  2024 draft, NO player after we took Keon is a bonafide WR1 starter - literally none.  The guys who are were Nabers, Odunze, and BTJ with MHJ a disappointment, and ALL taken BEFORE our pick and none of those teams ahead of us had any interest in trading as far back as we were.  

 

The only 2 players who had any success from where we picked Keon were Ladd and Pearsall, both slot guys for a team who had nothing but slot WR's on it.  Neither of those guys are outside WR's.  The other argument is Worthy, also proven not to be a bonafide outside WR1 already whose stats are pretty pedestrian despite having more target opportunity, starting as a WR1 a bulk of his career due to injuries and suspensions, and playing the the greatest offensive mind and arguably the best QB in the league the whole time.  

 

So where is this "Diggs Replacement" we passed up?  Its clear, it wasn't in the draft, so the only other option would have been via trade.  The only 2 options were DK and Pickens.  DK got a disgusting contract that would have cost us multiple players and prevented us from resigning Cook for a guy who is one dimensional and whose contract would have been problematic for a cap moving forward too.  Pickens cost 2 draft picks and is going to cost a hefty contract to retain, but the bigger issue was we just got rid of one bad locker room guy whose me first attitude wore his welcome out here.  Pickens whole career was marred with me first issues, team suspensions, and a team desperate for WR's decided he wasn't worth keeping.  So not a surprise he wasn't a target.  MOST IMPORTANT, is that BOTH of these guys were traded in an offseason where the Bills offense was coming off scoring the most total points in the NFL last year, led the AFC in PPG in both reg season and postseason, and saw its last time on the field end when the defense surrendered 32 points to a team that never broke 30 the entire season and was down 31-0 by the 3rd quarter in its next game.  

 

Not really a surprise Beane didn't feel he needed to give up both a 2nd round pick and a cap choking contract to a one dimensional WR or needed to gamble on a guy who had been a locker room issue his whole career to where his own team gave up on him despite desperately needing WR help, and so bad they were the ones to over pay for DK.  But Steelers also don't have long term cap issues at QB either like the Bills have.  

 

So I am still waiting for someone to show us where the "savior" to post Diggs woes of the Bills WR was, because it doesn't exist.  No one is arguing to not have a top end WR1, the point is that there has not been an opportunity to draft one and there has not been an opportunity to acquire one that made sense.  I would not have been mad if DK or Pickens landed here, but its pretty clear why they didn't too at the time they were available.  

[Riverboat Ritchie]

I can’t believe we have not traded for a WR yet. 

[Mikey152]

10 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Where is this heir apparent replacement for Diggs?  2024 draft, NO player after we took Keon is a bonafide WR1 starter - literally none.  The guys who are were Nabers, Odunze, and BTJ with MHJ a disappointment, and ALL taken BEFORE our pick and none of those teams ahead of us had any interest in trading as far back as we were.  

 

The only 2 players who had any success from where we picked Keon were Ladd and Pearsall, both slot guys for a team who had nothing but slot WR's on it.  Neither of those guys are outside WR's.  The other argument is Worthy, also proven not to be a bonafide outside WR1 already whose stats are pretty pedestrian despite having more target opportunity, starting as a WR1 a bulk of his career due to injuries and suspensions, and playing the the greatest offensive mind and arguably the best QB in the league the whole time.  

 

So where is this "Diggs Replacement" we passed up?  Its clear, it wasn't in the draft, so the only other option would have been via trade.  The only 2 options were DK and Pickens.  DK got a disgusting contract that would have cost us multiple players and prevented us from resigning Cook for a guy who is one dimensional and whose contract would have been problematic for a cap moving forward too.  Pickens cost 2 draft picks and is going to cost a hefty contract to retain, but the bigger issue was we just got rid of one bad locker room guy whose me first attitude wore his welcome out here.  Pickens whole career was marred with me first issues, team suspensions, and a team desperate for WR's decided he wasn't worth keeping.  So not a surprise he wasn't a target.  MOST IMPORTANT, is that BOTH of these guys were traded in an offseason where the Bills offense was coming off scoring the most total points in the NFL last year, led the AFC in PPG in both reg season and postseason, and saw its last time on the field end when the defense surrendered 32 points to a team that never broke 30 the entire season and was down 31-0 by the 3rd quarter in its next game.  

 

Not really a surprise Beane didn't feel he needed to give up both a 2nd round pick and a cap choking contract to a one dimensional WR or needed to gamble on a guy who had been a locker room issue his whole career to where his own team gave up on him despite desperately needing WR help, and so bad they were the ones to over pay for DK.  But Steelers also don't have long term cap issues at QB either like the Bills have.  

 

So I am still waiting for someone to show us where the "savior" to post Diggs woes of the Bills WR was, because it doesn't exist.  No one is arguing to not have a top end WR1, the point is that there has not been an opportunity to draft one and there has not been an opportunity to acquire one that made sense.  I would not have been mad if DK or Pickens landed here, but its pretty clear why they didn't too at the time they were available.  

 

In case you haven't learned by now, context doesn't matter in these discussions. It's the beauty of the internet...you can post on a message board all your ideas that make you smarter than an actual NFL GM or head coach without any way of ever really being proven wrong. 

 

I think it is absolutely hilarious that people on this message board think they could do a better job at running the Bills than Brandon Beane (or even want him fired for being incompetent). It's completely insane.

[Toledo Bill]

7 minutes ago, Riverboat Ritchie said:

I can’t believe we have not traded for a WR yet. 

Beane still trying to defend himself.... so damn frustrating.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

The comical thing about "everybody eats" is that noone is really eating.  We just throw to Keon when he is constantly blanketed up and down the sideline.  How slow is the guy seriously?  Is he close to 4.5?  Or more 4.6-4.7?  He is never open on the sideline. How many throws per game are we sending to Shavers Moore Samuel and Palmer?  And how many to Shakir 5+ yards past the LOS?  Seriously, these are your WR's who are dressing each week, and we barely throw to any of them.  

 

As for TE's, Kincaid got 6 catches against NE.  He should have had another 6 targets.  And with him out, why did they not try and get Knox or Hawes doing similar things?  Or call Latu up from the PS.  Instead we just run run run with a generational QB, and that great runner we have isn't even on the field on 3rd or 4th down!!  And the results are scoring a total of 34 points in two weeks against 2 middle of the pack teams.

 

This coaching staff is absolutely maddening.  Nothing they do makes any sense.  Are they really as stupid as they seem to be?  I have never met McDermott, Beane or any of the other coaches, or been in meetings with them.  (there was no candor talk on Hard Knocks between the coaches about the players, like on most other teams on the show over the years)  But do any of you know where their intellect is relative to other NFL coaching staffs.  We seem to have regressed to a 1970's based offense, but worse because at least back then teams were throwing deep quite often.  

Andy fired Sean....Sean hired all these guys over the years....that should tell you everything you want to know.  And yes it is extremely maddening. Kim is out of the picture and this was her team. Terry sees continuity and stability as he approaches the stadium open.  Unfortunately even if this season goes south,  nothing will change.  And all the pitchforks and billboards in the world won't make a difference. 

[ngbills]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Where is this heir apparent replacement for Diggs?  2024 draft, NO player after we took Keon is a bonafide WR1 starter - literally none.  The guys who are were Nabers, Odunze, and BTJ with MHJ a disappointment, and ALL taken BEFORE our pick and none of those teams ahead of us had any interest in trading as far back as we were.  

 

The only 2 players who had any success from where we picked Keon were Ladd and Pearsall, both slot guys for a team who had nothing but slot WR's on it.  Neither of those guys are outside WR's.  The other argument is Worthy, also proven not to be a bonafide outside WR1 already whose stats are pretty pedestrian despite having more target opportunity, starting as a WR1 a bulk of his career due to injuries and suspensions, and playing the the greatest offensive mind and arguably the best QB in the league the whole time.  

 

So where is this "Diggs Replacement" we passed up?  Its clear, it wasn't in the draft, so the only other option would have been via trade.  The only 2 options were DK and Pickens.  DK got a disgusting contract that would have cost us multiple players and prevented us from resigning Cook for a guy who is one dimensional and whose contract would have been problematic for a cap moving forward too.  Pickens cost 2 draft picks and is going to cost a hefty contract to retain, but the bigger issue was we just got rid of one bad locker room guy whose me first attitude wore his welcome out here.  Pickens whole career was marred with me first issues, team suspensions, and a team desperate for WR's decided he wasn't worth keeping.  So not a surprise he wasn't a target.  MOST IMPORTANT, is that BOTH of these guys were traded in an offseason where the Bills offense was coming off scoring the most total points in the NFL last year, led the AFC in PPG in both reg season and postseason, and saw its last time on the field end when the defense surrendered 32 points to a team that never broke 30 the entire season and was down 31-0 by the 3rd quarter in its next game.  

 

Not really a surprise Beane didn't feel he needed to give up both a 2nd round pick and a cap choking contract to a one dimensional WR or needed to gamble on a guy who had been a locker room issue his whole career to where his own team gave up on him despite desperately needing WR help, and so bad they were the ones to over pay for DK.  But Steelers also don't have long term cap issues at QB either like the Bills have.  

 

So I am still waiting for someone to show us where the "savior" to post Diggs woes of the Bills WR was, because it doesn't exist.  No one is arguing to not have a top end WR1, the point is that there has not been an opportunity to draft one and there has not been an opportunity to acquire one that made sense.  I would not have been mad if DK or Pickens landed here, but its pretty clear why they didn't too at the time they were available.  

You are kind of contradicting yourself. On one hand you start with tell me who the Bills replacement options were and then go on to say "most important" the Bills did not think they needed to do anything on offense. So if they didnt think they needed to do anything, how can you answer who the potential replacement was? If they value a WR more then maybe they do use more resources to move up in the draft for BTJ or even further. Maybe they do use more $ to sign or trade for someone. They instead have made the bet that they dont need a #1 and ran with it. So its not really fair to say there was no replacement because we dont know what could have been if they took a different approach. 

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Riverboat Ritchie said:

I can’t believe we have not traded for a WR yet. 

 

Last year at this time we had just lost to Houston (very similar to this year where we had a 2 game losing streak). We played the Jets the following week, scraped out a win, and then traded for Cooper. So if we trade for a WR I'm guessing at this point it will be after the Carolina game.

[Warriorspikes51]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

 

Last year at this time we had just lost to Houston (very similar to this year where we had a 2 game losing streak). We played the Jets the following week, scraped out a win, and then traded for Cooper. So if we trade for a WR I'm guessing at this point it will be after the Carolina game.

Honestly we may as well just sign Tyler Lockett tomorrow and toss him out there this week to see if he can still generate some vertical separation.

 

Moore has been upsettingly disappointing

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, ngbills said:

You are kind of contradicting yourself. On one hand you start with tell me who the Bills replacement options were and then go on to say "most important" the Bills did not think they needed to do anything on offense. So if they didnt think they needed to do anything, how can you answer who the potential replacement was? If they value a WR more then maybe they do use more resources to move up in the draft for BTJ or even further. Maybe they do use more $ to sign or trade for someone. They instead have made the bet that they dont need a #1 and ran with it. So its not really fair to say there was no replacement because we dont know what could have been if they took a different approach. 

 

No disrespect, but you just did what everyone else does...you provided no answer to who was the heir apparent we passed on to Diggs?  You said not trading up for BTJ - look I agree, I would have loved to see us trade up for BTJ, and thought we would if he got close enough.  While my opinion is that we did not try to, no one actually knows if we did try or didn't try.  And no one knows that we could have even successfully traded up if we had tried.  So at no point was he a real option for us to take, it is nothing more than speculative move we may or may not attempt, or may or may not even been able to if we had tried.  

 

So again, where is the actual player we for sure could have had that was the heir apparent to Diggs?  2023, we tried to trade up and got rebuffed and all the WRs went off the board before we finally found a trade partner and took the best pass catching weapon still on the board in Kincaid.  2024, there was literally 0 available at any of our picks that have gone on to be legit outside WR1 players.  In fact, Keon has been the best of the guys available in terms of outside WR's, and he has not been that good.  

 

You said maybe they use more $ to sign or trade for someone.  What WR1 that would solve our issues was available that we could afford in FA?  Which WR should we have traded for?  The only 2 guys that got traded that fit the description were DK and Pickens.  And I already covered why they didn't make sense at the time they were traded.  We couldn't afford 1, who got a deal far above his real value, and the other was only available for being a locker room problem and a "me first" guy, the exact thing we took a $31M cap hit to get rid of in the first place.  And both those trades happened coming off the best offensive season in Bills history where the offense scored more points than it ever had with a high priced top 5 WR in its previous 4 seasons.  So the "need" to over spend on a DK or gamble on a guy with locker room and selfish issues wasn't really there.  

 

My whole point is context matters.  Its easy to say we should have gotten a Diggs replacement - its much harder to prove where we could have actually done that since he was traded.  

[Allen2Moulds]

3 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Where is this heir apparent replacement for Diggs?  2024 draft, NO player after we took Keon is a bonafide WR1 starter - literally none.  The guys who are were Nabers, Odunze, and BTJ with MHJ a disappointment, and ALL taken BEFORE our pick and none of those teams ahead of us had any interest in trading as far back as we were.  

 

The only 2 players who had any success from where we picked Keon were Ladd and Pearsall, both slot guys for a team who had nothing but slot WR's on it.  Neither of those guys are outside WR's.  The other argument is Worthy, also proven not to be a bonafide outside WR1 already whose stats are pretty pedestrian despite having more target opportunity, starting as a WR1 a bulk of his career due to injuries and suspensions, and playing the the greatest offensive mind and arguably the best QB in the league the whole time.  

 

So where is this "Diggs Replacement" we passed up?  Its clear, it wasn't in the draft, so the only other option would have been via trade.  The only 2 options were DK and Pickens.  DK got a disgusting contract that would have cost us multiple players and prevented us from resigning Cook for a guy who is one dimensional and whose contract would have been problematic for a cap moving forward too.  Pickens cost 2 draft picks and is going to cost a hefty contract to retain, but the bigger issue was we just got rid of one bad locker room guy whose me first attitude wore his welcome out here.  Pickens whole career was marred with me first issues, team suspensions, and a team desperate for WR's decided he wasn't worth keeping.  So not a surprise he wasn't a target.  MOST IMPORTANT, is that BOTH of these guys were traded in an offseason where the Bills offense was coming off scoring the most total points in the NFL last year, led the AFC in PPG in both reg season and postseason, and saw its last time on the field end when the defense surrendered 32 points to a team that never broke 30 the entire season and was down 31-0 by the 3rd quarter in its next game.  

 

Not really a surprise Beane didn't feel he needed to give up both a 2nd round pick and a cap choking contract to a one dimensional WR or needed to gamble on a guy who had been a locker room issue his whole career to where his own team gave up on him despite desperately needing WR help, and so bad they were the ones to over pay for DK.  But Steelers also don't have long term cap issues at QB either like the Bills have.  

 

So I am still waiting for someone to show us where the "savior" to post Diggs woes of the Bills WR was, because it doesn't exist.  No one is arguing to not have a top end WR1, the point is that there has not been an opportunity to draft one and there has not been an opportunity to acquire one that made sense.  I would not have been mad if DK or Pickens landed here, but its pretty clear why they didn't too at the time they were available.  

You're not wrong, but there are still some counter arguments.  I for one still think, that for the right price, BTJ could've been had.  Beane has proven, that if he really likes a guy, he'll find a way to go get him, and I think that if serious efforts were made, we would've heard about it by now. Strictly my opinion. 

 

For those that always balk about the price, we ended up spending our 1st pick on Coleman, and then an in-season 3rd rounder for Cooper.  Most on here would jump at the idea of trading for Olave, if he was realistically available (2nd round pick +).

 

As it stands now, we still don't have a capable outside receiver, that can vertically stress opposing defenses. We have this one of a kind (WMD/Bazooka) but have failed in investing in ammo.    

 

We took the 2 2nd rounders, our own, and the one from the Diggs trade, and turned it into TJ Sanders and Landon Jackson.

 

I for one, would like to see some serious draft capital, to land a difference maker or 2.  In these post season showdowns against KC, where it always comes down to a couple plays a game, Josh has had very little help in those moments, outside of maybe Cook last year.  

 

Don't get me wrong, overall Beane has made a lot of good decisions and is considered one of the better GMs, but he is far from maximizing/unlocking what peak 17 could do.   

 

Lastly to your point about the defense allowing a subpar KC offense to score 32, I would say that for 2 years in a row, we had the ball with a chance to close, and we failed both times. Not arguing that our defense sucks, or has been poor, but we continue to spend.....spend..spend on defense, to the detriment of our offense.  I would like us to balance that out a bit more.

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Allen2Moulds

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

No disrespect, but you just did what everyone else does...you provided no answer to who was the heir apparent we passed on to Diggs?  You said not trading up for BTJ - look I agree, I would have loved to see us trade up for BTJ, and thought we would if he got close enough.  While my opinion is that we did not try to, no one actually knows if we did try or didn't try.  And no one knows that we could have even successfully traded up if we had tried.  So at no point was he a real option for us to take, it is nothing more than speculative move we may or may not attempt, or may or may not even been able to if we had tried.  

 

So again, where is the actual player we for sure could have had that was the heir apparent to Diggs?  2023, we tried to trade up and got rebuffed and all the WRs went off the board before we finally found a trade partner and took the best pass catching weapon still on the board in Kincaid.  2024, there was literally 0 available at any of our picks that have gone on to be legit outside WR1 players.  In fact, Keon has been the best of the guys available in terms of outside WR's, and he has not been that good.  

 

You said maybe they use more $ to sign or trade for someone.  What WR1 that would solve our issues was available that we could afford in FA?  Which WR should we have traded for?  The only 2 guys that got traded that fit the description were DK and Pickens.  And I already covered why they didn't make sense at the time they were traded.  We couldn't afford 1, who got a deal far above his real value, and the other was only available for being a locker room problem and a "me first" guy, the exact thing we took a $31M cap hit to get rid of in the first place.  And both those trades happened coming off the best offensive season in Bills history where the offense scored more points than it ever had with a high priced top 5 WR in its previous 4 seasons.  So the "need" to over spend on a DK or gamble on a guy with locker room and selfish issues wasn't really there.  

 

My whole point is context matters.  Its easy to say we should have gotten a Diggs replacement - its much harder to prove where we could have actually done that since he was traded.  

We could of easily traded up ,for Brian thomas.  Jack Bech.  DK.  Pickens.  Get on the phone, make it happen.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Falcons release him a week after sending him home on a "personal matter". He does double as a returner. And has ties to Buffalo. Not saying I would, because I wouldn't....but Beane does like bringing home low cost guys he knows 

[Alphadawg7]

20 minutes ago, Pete said:

We could of easily traded up ,for Brian thomas.  Jack Bech.  DK.  Pickens.  Get on the phone, make it happen.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

You see this is the made up stuff that irks me.  We could have "easily" trade up for BTJ?  With who?  Jags had offers to trade down and didn't as they wanted BTJ to replace Ridley.  

 

So where is your evidence we could have "easily" traded up to get him?  Steelers loved Fautanu, they were not "easily" moving off that pick.  Miami was at 21, and they badly needed a DE, and trading with divisional rivals is already more complicated.  Not sure Miami was going to "easily" hand Josh Allen a 6'5" WR with 4.3 speed.  Eagles loved Quinyon Mitchell, and there were teams between us and them that also needed a corner where he could go, like Lions 2 picks later who also took a corner.  They were not "easily" going to trade down and lose their guy.  

 

So please, lay out this "easy" route to BTJ that quite frankly likely didn't exist.

 

Jack Bech?  He wasn't even in that draft, he was in the 2025 draft.  And he has done exactly what in the NFL so far besides nothing?  He has 7 catches in 7 games played lmao.  Keon has been way more productive than him even when he was a ghost after coming back from injury last year.  But somehow Bech is the missed heir apparent and WR room savior post Diggs era?  And more importantly, in the 2025 draft our offense was coming off a historically great season while our defense was horrific again in our AFCCG loss.  Hard to fault a GM addressing the weakest side of the ball in the draft when the offense was literally the best offense in team history the season before.  

Edited 4 hours ago by Alphadawg7

[DuckyBoys]

Beane and McDermott must firmly believe the problems are in execution not scheme/talent  We'll see if the last two weeks were just bad sloppy games or the wheels falling off.  Most bothersome is Josh hang dogging it on the sidelines  

[ngbills]

28 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

No disrespect, but you just did what everyone else does...you provided no answer to who was the heir apparent we passed on to Diggs?  You said not trading up for BTJ - look I agree, I would have loved to see us trade up for BTJ, and thought we would if he got close enough.  While my opinion is that we did not try to, no one actually knows if we did try or didn't try.  And no one knows that we could have even successfully traded up if we had tried.  So at no point was he a real option for us to take, it is nothing more than speculative move we may or may not attempt, or may or may not even been able to if we had tried.  

 

So again, where is the actual player we for sure could have had that was the heir apparent to Diggs?  2023, we tried to trade up and got rebuffed and all the WRs went off the board before we finally found a trade partner and took the best pass catching weapon still on the board in Kincaid.  2024, there was literally 0 available at any of our picks that have gone on to be legit outside WR1 players.  In fact, Keon has been the best of the guys available in terms of outside WR's, and he has not been that good.  

 

You said maybe they use more $ to sign or trade for someone.  What WR1 that would solve our issues was available that we could afford in FA?  Which WR should we have traded for?  The only 2 guys that got traded that fit the description were DK and Pickens.  And I already covered why they didn't make sense at the time they were traded.  We couldn't afford 1, who got a deal far above his real value, and the other was only available for being a locker room problem and a "me first" guy, the exact thing we took a $31M cap hit to get rid of in the first place.  And both those trades happened coming off the best offensive season in Bills history where the offense scored more points than it ever had with a high priced top 5 WR in its previous 4 seasons.  So the "need" to over spend on a DK or gamble on a guy with locker room and selfish issues wasn't really there.  

 

My whole point is context matters.  Its easy to say we should have gotten a Diggs replacement - its much harder to prove where we could have actually done that since he was traded.  

I get where you’re coming from, and I actually agree with parts of what you’re saying, especially around context and the fact that there wasn’t an obvious, slam-dunk Diggs replacement sitting there at the Bills’ draft slots. But I think you’re still missing the broader point of what “passing on a replacement” really means.

 

It’s not just about identifying one specific player they could have drafted or traded for but it’s about whether the organization prioritized that need enough to create the opportunity. Saying, “there was no one available at our picks” ignores that front offices routinely move up or structure cap space around a position they deem critical. The Bills clearly didn’t see WR1 as that level of priority.

 

If Beane and McDermott had viewed replacing Diggs as a foundational need, they could have approached the offseason differently, whether that meant freeing up cap to pursue a higher-end veteran, packaging picks to move up for BTJ, or even structuring a trade before the draft. Instead, they made a conscious bet that their offense and Allen’s playmaking could sustain itself through scheme and depth rather than a true WR1. That’s a valid strategic choice, but it is a choice.

 

So when people say “they passed on a replacement,” it’s not necessarily saying “they passed on Player X who was guaranteed to be better.” It’s saying “they chose not to make replacing Diggs a top-level investment priority.” That’s fair to debate.

 

You’re absolutely right that there weren’t obvious perfect options, and that DK and Pickens came with baggage or cost issues. But you can still fairly question whether the Bills’ overall philosophy, essentially deciding WR1 wasn’t worth aggressively targeting, was the right call for a team trying to keep its Super Bowl window open.

 

In short:

You’re right there wasn’t a sure-thing replacement sitting there.

But that’s partly because the Bills didn’t put themselves in position to get one.
That’s the real debate, not who they literally passed on, but whether they should’ve prioritized finding a true WR1 more than they did.

[FireChans]

4 minutes ago, ngbills said:

I get where you’re coming from, and I actually agree with parts of what you’re saying, especially around context and the fact that there wasn’t an obvious, slam-dunk Diggs replacement sitting there at the Bills’ draft slots. But I think you’re still missing the broader point of what “passing on a replacement” really means.

 

It’s not just about identifying one specific player they could have drafted or traded for but it’s about whether the organization prioritized that need enough to create the opportunity. Saying, “there was no one available at our picks” ignores that front offices routinely move up or structure cap space around a position they deem critical. The Bills clearly didn’t see WR1 as that level of priority.

 

If Beane and McDermott had viewed replacing Diggs as a foundational need, they could have approached the offseason differently, whether that meant freeing up cap to pursue a higher-end veteran, packaging picks to move up for BTJ, or even structuring a trade before the draft. Instead, they made a conscious bet that their offense and Allen’s playmaking could sustain itself through scheme and depth rather than a true WR1. That’s a valid strategic choice, but it is a choice.

 

So when people say “they passed on a replacement,” it’s not necessarily saying “they passed on Player X who was guaranteed to be better.” It’s saying “they chose not to make replacing Diggs a top-level investment priority.” That’s fair to debate.

 

You’re absolutely right that there weren’t obvious perfect options, and that DK and Pickens came with baggage or cost issues. But you can still fairly question whether the Bills’ overall philosophy, essentially deciding WR1 wasn’t worth aggressively targeting, was the right call for a team trying to keep its Super Bowl window open.

 

In short:

You’re right there wasn’t a sure-thing replacement sitting there.

But that’s partly because the Bills didn’t put themselves in position to get one.
That’s the real debate, not who they literally passed on, but whether they should’ve prioritized finding a true WR1 more than they did.

Correct.

 

the Bills drafted a first round pick, paid a mid tier FA and signed a vet minimum backup to fill the CB2 position this offseason. 
 

They did nothing close to upgrade WR. 
 

It is what it is.

[All_Pro_Bills]

Tampa lost Evans to injury. While the Bills overthink it and do nothing, watch the Bucs move in a day or two to add Ridley or Lockett to help Mayfield. 

 

[DuckyBoys]

Curious to see if Josh finished up his career with Diggs as the best wr he had to work with by a long shot  Its looking likely with all the holes they will be patching up on defense and where the Bills tend to draft

[ngbills]

53 minutes ago, Pete said:

We could of easily traded up ,for Brian thomas.  Jack Bech.  DK.  Pickens.  Get on the phone, make it happen.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Based on the value chart and what JAX received for 17 from MIN. The Bills in theory could have gotten #17 for

1. #28 and #60

2. #28, #128 and 2025 3rd rd pick; Maybe a 4th as well. 

Edited 4 hours ago by ngbills

[Pete]

21 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

You see this is the made up stuff that irks me.  We could have "easily" trade up for BTJ?  With who?  Jags had offers to trade down and didn't as they wanted BTJ to replace Ridley.  

 

So where is your evidence we could have "easily" traded up to get him?  Steelers loved Fautanu, they were not "easily" moving off that pick.  Miami was at 21, and they badly needed a DE, and trading with divisional rivals is already more complicated.  Not sure Miami was going to "easily" hand Josh Allen a 6'5" WR with 4.3 speed.  Eagles loved Quinyon Mitchell, and there were teams between us and them that also needed a corner where he could go, like Lions 2 picks later who also took a corner.  They were not "easily" going to trade down and lose their guy.  

 

So please, lay out this "easy" route to BTJ that quite frankly likely didn't exist.

 

Jack Bech?  He wasn't even in that draft, he was in the 2025 draft.  And he has done exactly what in the NFL so far besides nothing?  He has 7 catches in 7 games played lmao.  Keon has been way more productive than him even when he was a ghost after coming back from injury last year.  But somehow Bech is the missed heir apparent and WR room savior post Diggs era?  And more importantly, in the 2025 draft our offense was coming off a historically great season while our defense was horrific again in our AFCCG loss.  Hard to fault a GM addressing the weakest side of the ball in the draft when the offense was literally the best offense in team history the season before.  

No disrespect, but you just did what everyone else does...you provided no answer to who was the heir apparent we passed on to Diggs? 
 

🙄