2025-2026 Schedule Leaks/Rumors

[eball]

1 minute ago, BruceVilanch said:

Dominique foxworth exists

 

MJD makes Foxworth look like a Mensa member.

 

[boyst]

1 hour ago, streetkings01 said:

We don’t match up to beat the Jets???

That's usually a good defense. Intra conference. 

[buffblue]

24 minutes ago, eball said:

Maurice Jones Drew may be the dumbest ex-professional athlete to ever appear on national media.

 

I agree. Dude is absolutely clueless

Edited 19 hours ago by buffblue

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, eball said:

Maurice Jones Drew may be the dumbest ex-professional athlete to ever appear on national media.

 

Emmitt Smith once used the term “escape goat” on an nfl broadcast 

[BillsFanForever19]

22 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Bosa replaces Miller. That should hopefully be an upgrade. Depends a lot on Bosa’s health. I kind of think he might be on a snap count to save him for later in the season.

 

Hoecht is in the same tier of player as Toohill and Smoot. Probably a slightly better pass rusher than those guys. Not a huge difference maker, but a nice rotational piece.

 

Ogunjobi is just a rotational depth DT. He’s paid the same as Epenesa. Steelers fans say he’s very inconsistent.

 

Hairston/Dane Jackson/Tre White might be better or might be worse than Rasul Douglas (and he was pretty bad last season). That’s a big question mark. Rookies don’t usually step in at boundary CB and light the world on fire, and usually when they do they are top-10 picks.

 

We are crossing our fingers that Forrest or Bishop can step up at safety. Basically hoping players that have never played a certain role can step into that role and excel.

 

The Bills defense might be good, and it has changed some, but it’s a huge question mark to me. There is a good chance it’s not any better than last year. Our UFAs were rotational guys (out of necessity due to cap), and most rookie defenders don’t really contribute much. How sure was everybody that Bishop would step into a starter role day 1 last year? Never happened. Basham never got there. Elam never got there.

 

"Basham never got there. Elam never got there."? 

 

For every Elam and Basham, there's been a Josh Allen, Tre White, Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Matt Milano, Greg Rousseau, Tremaine Edmunds, Dion Dawkins, Ed Oliver, James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Spencer Brown, Terrel Bernard, or O'Cyrus Torrence who have stepped into a starting role in Year 1 or Year 2 (like Bishop) and been solid to much more than that.

 

That's not to say that our Year 1 or Year 2 players will all definitively be stars right out of the gate. But to point to just guys like Basham and Elam (I'll give you Ford too) and ignore all the successes is really looking at the glass (less than) half empty. 

 

Again, I go back to my original point. We're bringing back everyone on the roster from last year's Defense - except for Rasul Douglas, Von Miller, Dawuane Smoot, Kaiir Elam, Austin Johnson, Quintin Jefferson, and Jordan Phillips. Those guys were so bad that two weeks after the Draft, every single one of them (save for Elam who was traded for peanuts) is currently not on an NFL Roster.

 

Do you really think that Joey Bosa, Maxwell Hairston, Tre White, T.J. Sanders, Michael Hoecht, Landon Jackson, Larry Ogunjobi, and Deone Walker aren't going to be able to fill the shoes of that murderer's row list above? They'd have to work hard at being bad to not be an upgrade over those guys.

 

Given where we were at Cap wise and where we were picking in the Draft, I think Beane has done a masterful job of rebuilding this Defense. 

Edited 1 hour ago by BillsFanForever19

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Zay Jones dropped a catchable deep pass for what probably would have been the game winning TD if you recall.

 

Bills offense was trash in 2017.

 

He didn't drop it. He didn't get hands on it. His route wasn't perfect but nor was Tyrod's throw. 

Other than my personal life admin grip I actually love the way the schedule sets up for the Bills. 

 

I honestly think they have a really strong shot at the #1 seed. 

[BillsPride12]

10 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Emmitt Smith once used the term “escape goat” on an nfl broadcast 

Was he talking about Barry Sanders?

[BearNorth]

13 hours ago, boyst said:

Seems like it's more than that. I remember two in buffalo, one we escaped with the win just barely.

It was not at all beautiful. It was way hot and muggy. Just awful. 

My son's mother in law kept saying it was a beautiful fall day.  I had to be gracious and agree.

[DapperCam]

8 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

"Basham never got there. Elam never got there."? 

 

For every Elam and Basham, there's been a Josh Allen, Tre White, Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Matt Milano, Greg Rousseau, Tremaine Edmunds, Dion Dawkins, Ed Oliver, James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Spencer Brown, or O'Cyrus Torrence who have stepped into a starting role in Year 1 or Year 2 (like Bishop) and been solid to much more than that.

 

That's not to say that our Year 1 or Year 2 players will all definitively be stars right out of the gate. But to point to just guys like Basham and Elam (I'll give you Ford too) and ignore all the successes is really looking at the glass (less than) half empty. 

 

Again, I go back to my original point. We're bringing back everyone on the roster from last year's Defense - except for Rasul Douglas, Von Miller, Dawuane Smoot, Kaiir Elam, Austin Johnson, Quintin Jefferson, and Jordan Phillips. Those guys were so bad that two weeks after the Draft, every single one of them (save for Elam who was traded for peanuts) is currently not on an NFL Roster.

 

Do you really think that Joey Bosa, Maxwell Hairston, Tre White, T.J. Sanders, Michael Hoecht, Landon Jackson, Larry Ogunjobi, and Deone Walker aren't going to be able to fill the shoes of that murderer's row list above? They'd have to work hard at being bad to not be an upgrade over those guys.

 

Given where we were at Cap wise and where we were picking in the Draft, I think Beane has done a masterful job of rebuilding this Defense. 

Most of those drafted guys you listed didn’t have great rookie seasons, even if they did eventually develop into solid or great pros. I’m talking about this upcoming season.
 

The UFAs we added are depth guys except for Bosa. That’s not on Beane, it’s just the way it is with the cap. The UFAs we added are pretty similar to the UFAs we lost.

 

Draft picks are a hope and a dream in terms of rookie production. Likely no draft pick will be very productive this year. That’s just how it usually is for rookies. I hope it’s not the case, but it’s the most likely scenario.

 

Our defense was middling last season, and I kind of expect more of the same this season. We could become a top 10 defense with some luck. We could become a top 5 defense with a lot of luck (every Beane gamble pays off).

[Ethan in Cleveland]

26 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Most of those drafted guys you listed didn’t have great rookie seasons, even if they did eventually develop into solid or great pros. I’m talking about this upcoming season.
 

The UFAs we added are depth guys except for Bosa. That’s not on Beane, it’s just the way it is with the cap. The UFAs we added are pretty similar to the UFAs we lost.

 

Draft picks are a hope and a dream in terms of rookie production. Likely no draft pick will be very productive this year. That’s just how it usually is for rookies. I hope it’s not the case, but it’s the most likely scenario.

 

Our defense was middling last season, and I kind of expect more of the same this season. We could become a top 10 defense with some luck. We could become a top 5 defense with a lot of luck (every Beane gamble pays off).

Im not one to defend McDermott but he got White and Benford to start and play significant roles in their rookie years.  Hairston can hopefully do the same.

As for the DL McDermott is not going to change his ways. He believes in a heavy rotation of 8-9 guys that dress and 9-10 roster spots. They just need the rookie ends to be better than Epenesa ( not a hard ask) and Carter and the rookies to be equal or an upgrade to DQ. 

 

I'm more worried about the WR/TE group. Palmer has to be a guy that can stretch the field and create seperation. The metrics say he can but he still didn't produce much with Herbert. Hopefully Coleman's floor is at least as good as Hollins was last year.  And Kincaid needs to be more of a downfield consistent threat. He needs to be an 80 reception guy. 

[PromoTheRobot]

BREAKING! All Bills schedule leak rumors were wrong!  Carry on and prepare for mock drafts.

[Dillenger4]

On 5/14/2025 at 2:03 PM, turbo044 said:

9W and 8L - JFC - too funny.  Do you either (a) have Buffalo losing every game that they're not favored by 7+, (b) envision Josh getting hurt, (c) Both (a) and (b) or (d) Are an attention *****?

Nope - it was my fault. The original tweet only showed up to week 15. I didn't see that last few games on our schedule until I clicked it later. So now I have us at 11 wins.

[BillsFanForever19]

2 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Most of those drafted guys you listed didn’t have great rookie seasons, even if they did eventually develop into solid or great pros. I’m talking about this upcoming season.
 

The UFAs we added are depth guys except for Bosa. That’s not on Beane, it’s just the way it is with the cap. The UFAs we added are pretty similar to the UFAs we lost.

 

Draft picks are a hope and a dream in terms of rookie production. Likely no draft pick will be very productive this year. That’s just how it usually is for rookies. I hope it’s not the case, but it’s the most likely scenario.

 

Our defense was middling last season, and I kind of expect more of the same this season. We could become a top 10 defense with some luck. We could become a top 5 defense with a lot of luck (every Beane gamble pays off).

 

What would you have had us do differently though? Who was traded or available in FA on Defense that would have been significantly better - while still being able to address all the holes we had?

 

We don't need the young players to be great in Year 1 or Year 2. We need them to be better than guys who were a dumpster fire last season. It's really not a big ask. And for each guy you're questioning, there's at least some moderate veteran insurance that can bring at least the quality of guys we're replacing from last season. Worried about Bishop? Well we still have Hamlin to fall back on. And we brought in Darrick Forrest (who has starting experience) as well as Drafted Jordan Hancock. Worried about Hairston? We signed Tre White and Dane Jackson as vet insurance and also Drafted Dorian Strong as double down Rookie insurance like in 2022. 

 

We had 7 guys leave the Defense. Between FA and the Draft, we've brought in 13 new players to replace them and to upgrade depth from some guys who are still here. We've kept everyone of value last year. Again, given the money we had to play with and where we were Drafting - I think he did a phenomenal job. I can't imagine looking at all the work he put into the Defense and thinking "we're cooked". WR is a different story 😛

[SoonerBillsFan]

11 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

"Basham never got there. Elam never got there."? 

 

For every Elam and Basham, there's been a Josh Allen, Tre White, Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Matt Milano, Greg Rousseau, Tremaine Edmunds, Dion Dawkins, Ed Oliver, James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Spencer Brown, or O'Cyrus Torrence who have stepped into a starting role in Year 1 or Year 2 (like Bishop) and been solid to much more than that.

 

That's not to say that our Year 1 or Year 2 players will all definitively be stars right out of the gate. But to point to just guys like Basham and Elam (I'll give you Ford too) and ignore all the successes is really looking at the glass (less than) half empty. 

 

Again, I go back to my original point. We're bringing back everyone on the roster from last year's Defense - except for Rasul Douglas, Von Miller, Dawuane Smoot, Kaiir Elam, Austin Johnson, Quintin Jefferson, and Jordan Phillips. Those guys were so bad that two weeks after the Draft, every single one of them (save for Elam who was traded for peanuts) is currently not on an NFL Roster.

 

Do you really think that Joey Bosa, Maxwell Hairston, Tre White, T.J. Sanders, Michael Hoecht, Landon Jackson, Larry Ogunjobi, and Deone Walker aren't going to be able to fill the shoes of that murderer's row list above? They'd have to work hard at being bad to not be an upgrade over those guys.

 

Given where we were at Cap wise and where we were picking in the Draft, I think Beane has done a masterful job of rebuilding this Defense. 

This Defense by season's end can be a top 5 defense.  If the offense is top 5, it's superbowl time.

[DapperCam]

Just now, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

What would you have had us do differently though? Who was traded or available in FA on Defense that would have been significantly better - while still being able to address all the holes we had?

 

We don't need the young players to be great in Year 1 or Year 2. We need them to be better than guys who were a dumpster fire last season. It's really not a big ask. And for each guy you're questioning, there's at least some moderate veteran insurance that can bring at least the quality of guys we're replacing from last season. Worried about Bishop? Well we still have Hamlin to fall back on. And we brought in Darrick Forrest (who has starting experience) as well as Drafted Jordan Hancock. Worried about Hairston? We signed Tre White and Dane Jackson as vet insurance and also Drafted Dorian Strong as double down Rookie insurance like in 2022. 

 

We had 7 guys leave the Defense. Between FA and the Draft, we've brought in 13 new players to replace them and to upgrade depth from some guys who are still here. We've kept everyone of value last year. Again, given the money we had to play with and where we were Drafting - I think he did a phenomenal job. I can't imagine looking at all the work he put into the Defense and thinking "we're cooked". WR is a different story 😛

I’m not saying Beane did a bad job. He is operating under cap constraints, and we are always picking at the end of the first round due to our success.
 

I’m just not understanding the notion that our defense will be much better than last year. Based on our additions I think it will be about the same as last year (which was kind of average league-wide, and below average compared to most of the playoff teams).

 

If the following happens, our defense will be excellent, but it depends on a lot of bets paying off.

 

1. Hairston steps into a starting boundary corner spot right away and plays well.

2. Bosa stays healthy all year and is a step up from the corpse of Von Miller.

3. Milano is healthy after a full offseason and is back to his Pro Bowl form.

4. Taron Johnson regains his previous All-Pro level of play.

5. Rousseau, Benford and Bernard don’t regress at all after securing the bag. Some guys just lose their hunger (see: Oliver, Ed).

6. Hoecht provides some nice pass rush, similar to Leonard Floyd when we signed him.

7. Benford doesn’t regress at all after multiple concussions.

8. The Safety position has some pairing stand out and play well. It can’t be Rapp and Hamlin as a pair again. Beane seems to be betting that some combination of Forrest, Bishop, Hancock and Rapp will work. That has yet to be seen.

9. Some combination of Carter, Sanders, Walker and Ogunjobi can outperform Daquan Jones.

 

Beane has done what he can with limited resources. Basically trying to put guys in positions where they can grow into a role. But it’s a big question mark to me.

[corta765]

10 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

This Defense by season's end can be a top 5 defense.  If the offense is top 5, it's superbowl time.

With Josh the offense can be top 10, you need the defense to actually be good so for one post season come KC/CIN/BAL the offense is not expected to put up 27-30 pts and the defense can hold an opponent to 20 pts or less.

[SoonerBillsFan]

27 minutes ago, corta765 said:

With Josh the offense can be top 10, you need the defense to actually be good so for one post season come KC/CIN/BAL the offense is not expected to put up 27-30 pts and the defense can hold an opponent to 20 pts or less.

Agreed.  I think this is a 14-3 team with a possible #1 seed.  I want everyone healthy for once come the playoffs.  If so...I think we have a great shot