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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, LEBills said:


The Bills actually have one of the highest amount of players under contract for 2026 at 40. 9 of them are on IR currently so it is easy to forget them.Ā 
Ā 

Knox, Samuel, Rapp, and Ty Johnson are almost certainly not returning on their current contract. Maybe Bass as well.Ā 
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Starters that will need to be resigned or replaced are LG, C, DE, LB and Safety. DT and CB we already drafted replacements this year. I think you may be counting K and P as starters that need replacement - those positions don’t require a large investment. In any case, the roster status is not that dire that we couldn’t afford to make a trade without crippling ourselves.

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We will never know what conversations were had. If I was Beane I probably would have tried really hard to land someone to try and improve the roster, even marginally, this year when the path to a Super Bowl seems less daunting than any year I can remember during the Allen era.

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The IR point was a fair and good one. But even with the IR guys figured in, the number will probably still be around or close to 20 bodies needing to be re-signed or replaced. We're looking at:

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QB:

Josh Allen

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RB:

James Cook

Ty Johnson

Ray Davis

Ā 

WR:

Khalil Shakir

Joshua Palmer

Keon Coleman

Curtis Samuel

Tyrell Shavers

Ā 

TE:

Dalton Kincaid

Dawson Knox

Jackson Hawes

Ā 

OL:

Dion Dawkins

O'Cyrus Torrence

Spencer Brown

Sedrick Van Pran-Granger

Chase Lundt

Tylan Grable

Ā 

DE:

Greg Rousseau

Michael Hoecht

Landon Jackson

Javon Solomon

Ā 

DT:

Ed Oliver

Deone Walker

T.J. Sanders

Dewayne Carter

Ā 

LB:

Terrel Bernard

Dorian Williams

Joe Andreessen

Ā 

CB:

Christian Benford

Maxwell Hairston

Taron Johnson

Dorian Strong

Brandon Codrington

Ā 

S:

Cole Bishop

Taylor Rapp

Jordan Hancock

Wande Owens

Ā 

ST:

Tyler Bass

Reid Ferguson

Ā 

As you said, that number includes guys like Ty Johnson, Curtis Samuel, Dawson Knox, Taylor Rapp, and Tyler Bass of which a number of them will be released to create cap space. Also Brandon Codrington (who could be cut at any point but definitely by next season), Dorian Strong (who is likely to not be on the roster bc of long term IR or outright Retirement), and Wande Owens (an UDFA who is only on the IR roster bc he was waived while injured and went unclaimed and is unlikely to be in their long term plans).Ā  Ā 

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I still think it's not going to be a small task to replace all of these players, re-sign important pieces, and/or upgrade positions with the amount of Draft Picks we have and the amount of space we have (even with the money we'll come up with from releases and restructures). As while we may be in decent shape as far as players under contract - we aren't in great shape in both cap and amount of Draft Picks.

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As for potential trades it really comes down to what we wanted to do. For example - the one player that made the most sense that we were linked to that was traded was WR Rashid Shaheed. The cost for Seattle was a 2026 4th & a 2026 5th. Many have said "why couldn't you pay that?". The issue there is that even though Seattle has the same record as us, New Orleans would view our pick as more likely than not coming in below Seattle's pick (given our history and, well, Josh Allen). So we'd have to beat it. Which since we don't have more than one 4th - would require a 3rd and a 5th. So now we'd be costing ourselves 2 replacement bodies in the first 5 Rounds, as well as as an added cap allotment - if we wanted to have him beyond this year. A steep price to pay in the grand scheme of things for a player like him.

Edited by BillsFanForever19
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Posted
1 hour ago, BillytheKid said:

Knox is Allen’s best friend on the team and they like having the 3 TE’s. I agree business is business but if Allen says to keep him then they will keep him.Ā 
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It would be one thing if he sucked but he doesn’t so….
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They aren’t going to piss off the most valuable player on the team.Ā 

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He doesn't suck. But he also doesn't perform at a level where we should be keeping him instead of saving 10 million in Cap Space. Like I said, on the open market at 29 years old with the kind of production he gives us - he'd be lucky to make much more than a 3rd of that.Ā 

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If we were in better shape cap wise or Draft Pick wise and didn't have the kind of Free Agents we have - I could understand a pay cut that would have us paying a little more than he's worth and saving a little less than what we'd get cutting him. But we're not in that shape and 10 mil is just too much to pass up.Ā 

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People said the same thing about Tre. He's too loved by everyone in the locker room. That only goes so far in business.Ā 

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Posted
9 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

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And have spent time in the Defense (especially Kingsley) - so there shouldn't be too much transition in learning what McDermott expects of them and getting the Defense down. Which is why they probably brought them in. It's getting late into the season for bringing guys in cold on that side of the ball.

Exactly.Ā  Ā This is not high school football.Ā Ā 

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Posted
5 hours ago, BillytheKid said:

Knox is Allen’s best friend on the team and they like having the 3 TE’s. I agree business is business but if Allen says to keep him then they will keep him.Ā 
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It would be one thing if he sucked but he doesn’t so….
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They aren’t going to piss off the most valuable player on the team.Ā 

Josh was close friends with Gabe Davis when they let him walk. Josh is good buddies with Tanner Gentry and they let him walk.Ā 

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They are not allowing Josh Allen to dictate who they keep and who stays, especially when they guy eats up a sizable chunk of cap space.Ā 

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Here's the thing. He's the QB, the team leader and he's friends with a LOT of guys on the roster and a lot of guys that are no longer on the roster.Ā 

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Posted
11 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

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Mentioned this in another thread - but the shape we're in after this season definitely was a major factor in being hesitant to move picks for players.

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As usual, we're in rough shape cap wise. While we could come up with more money, it's still only going to go so far with all we have to do and freeing that space would add to the number of bodies we'd have to replace.

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We have *TWENTY ONE* players currently on our 53 man roster that we'll have to either re-sign or replace with limited money and just 7 Draft Picks - including 9 starters and key ones like 2/5 of our OL and our best Pass Rusher. The list includes:

Ā 

Ā 

Ā 

All this to say, we weren't in a position to willy nilly trade away Draft Picks or take on largeĀ amounts of money in 2026. Which complicated things.

Ā 

It's definitely fair to argue Beane shouldn't have put us in this position to where things were this complicated - but it doesn't change the position we're in.

Ā 

So is the bottom line the Bills will have to, in the near future, simply have a "we aren't going anywhere year" so they can get out of cap hell or is this perpetual until they tear down after Allen retires? Real question-I like your summary just don't know what the answer is.Ā 

Posted
12 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

Ā 

Mentioned this in another thread - but the shape we're in after this season definitely was a major factor in being hesitant to move picks for players.

Ā 

As usual, we're in rough shape cap wise. While we could come up with more money, it's still only going to go so far with all we have to do and freeing that space would add to the number of bodies we'd have to replace.

Ā 

We have *TWENTY ONE* players currently on our 53 man roster that we'll have to either re-sign or replace with limited money and just 7 Draft Picks - including 9 starters and key ones like 2/5 of our OL and our best Pass Rusher. The list includes:

Ā 

UnrestrictedĀ Free Agents:

Ā 

- DE Joey Bosa

- C Connor McGovern

- G David Edwards

- LB Matt Milano

- DT Daquan Jones

- DE AJ Epenesa

- CB Tre'Davious White

- LB Shaq ThompsonĀ 

- FB Reggie Gilliam

- DT Larry Ogunjobi

- WR Elijah Moore

- QB Mitch Trubisky

- CB Cam Lewis

- S Jordan Poyer

- S Damar Hamlin

- S Sam Franklin Jr.

- DT Jordan Phillips

- K Matt Prater

- P Mitch Wishnowsky

- P Cameron Johnston

Ā 

Restricted and Exclusive RIghts Free Agents:

Ā 

- G Alec Anderson

- OT Ryan Van Demark

- CB Ja'Marcus Ingram

Ā 

And again, that's not taking into account players that we'll most likely move on from to free up space like Taylor Rapp, Curtis Samuel, and DawsonĀ Knox. The number grows to 23 players currently on our 53 with that.

Ā 

You can say "who cares, let most of those guys walk". But we'd still need to replace them on the 53 with limited cap and just 7 Draft Picks (as we made traded away no one and won't have any comps).

Ā 

All this to say, we weren't in a position to willy nilly trade away Draft Picks or take on largeĀ amounts of money in 2026. Which complicated things.

Ā 

It's definitely fair to argue Beane shouldn't have put us in this position to where things were this complicated - but it doesn't change the position we're in.

McGovern and Edwards are the only guys you need to sign there. The rest get replaced with draft picks and guys already on roster who are backfilled with UDFAs and Vet minimum guys.

Posted
1 hour ago, entropyrules said:

Ā 

So is the bottom line the Bills will have to, in the near future, simply have a "we aren't going anywhere year" so they can get out of cap hell or is this perpetual until they tear down after Allen retires? Real question-I like your summary just don't know what the answer is.Ā 

I thought we already did that last year? How bad did beane screw up the salary cap that we go through this every year? Piss poor management.

Posted
7 hours ago, BillytheKid said:

Knox is Allen’s best friend on the team and they like having the 3 TE’s. I agree business is business but if Allen says to keep him then they will keep him.Ā 
Ā 

It would be one thing if he sucked but he doesn’t so….
Ā 

They aren’t going to piss off the most valuable player on the team.Ā 

Allen has more "best friends" than I have bottles of whisky. He'll get over it.

Matt Barkley was his "best friend" too. As was Tanner Gentry.

Why can't he be best friends with someone that can play? May I suggest Justin Jefferson?

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Posted
12 minutes ago, IYKYK said:

I thought we already did that last year? How bad did beane screw up the salary cap that we go through this every year? Piss poor management.

Welcome to being a competitive team.Ā  We pay Allen close to 20% of our cap space, and Beane tries to make the roster as good as possible each season without truly mortgaging the future.Ā  We're always going to be right up against the cap, because if we aren't, we're not trying hard enough.

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Posted
7 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

Ā 

The IR point was a fair and good one. But even with the IR guys figured in, the number will probably still be around or close to 20 bodies needing to be re-signed or replaced. We're looking at:

Ā 

QB:

Josh Allen

Ā 

RB:

James Cook

Ty Johnson

Ray Davis

Ā 

WR:

Khalil Shakir

Joshua Palmer

Keon Coleman

Curtis Samuel

Tyrell Shavers

Ā 

TE:

Dalton Kincaid

Dawson Knox

Jackson Hawes

Ā 

OL:

Dion Dawkins

O'Cyrus Torrence

Spencer Brown

Sedrick Van Pran-Granger

Chase Lundt

Tylan Grable

Ā 

DE:

Greg Rousseau

Michael Hoecht

Landon Jackson

Javon Solomon

Ā 

DT:

Ed Oliver

Deone Walker

T.J. Sanders

Dewayne Carter

Ā 

LB:

Terrel Bernard

Dorian Williams

Joe Andreessen

Ā 

CB:

Christian Benford

Maxwell Hairston

Taron Johnson

Dorian Strong

Brandon Codrington

Ā 

S:

Cole Bishop

Taylor Rapp

Jordan Hancock

Wande Owens

Ā 

ST:

Tyler Bass

Reid Ferguson

Ā 

As you said, that number includes guys like Ty Johnson, Curtis Samuel, Dawson Knox, Taylor Rapp, and Tyler Bass of which a number of them will be released to create cap space. Also Brandon Codrington (who could be cut at any point but definitely by next season), Dorian Strong (who is likely to not be on the roster bc of long term IR or outright Retirement), and Wande Owens (an UDFA who is only on the IR roster bc he was waived while injured and went unclaimed and is unlikely to be in their long term plans).Ā  Ā 

Ā 

I still think it's not going to be a small task to replace all of these players, re-sign important pieces, and/or upgrade positions with the amount of Draft Picks we have and the amount of space we have (even with the money we'll come up with from releases and restructures). As while we may be in decent shape as far as players under contract - we aren't in great shape in both cap and amount of Draft Picks.

Ā 

As for potential trades it really comes down to what we wanted to do. For example - the one player that made the most sense that we were linked to that was traded was WR Rashid Shaheed. The cost for Seattle was a 2026 4th & a 2026 5th. Many have said "why couldn't you pay that?". The issue there is that even though Seattle has the same record as us, New Orleans would view our pick as more likely than not coming in below Seattle's pick (given our history and, well, Josh Allen). So we'd have to beat it. Which since we don't have more than one 4th - would require a 3rd and a 5th. So now we'd be costing ourselves 2 replacement bodies in the first 5 Rounds, as well as as an added cap allotment - if we wanted to have him beyond this year. A steep price to pay in the grand scheme of things for a player like him.


I agree with you that Beane didn’t want to give up multiple picks. I expect Knox to take a very large paycut to stay. He seems happy here, realizes his role, and seems to be best buddies with Allen. Anderson and VanDeMark are essentially ours if we want them and really there is no reason not to come yo an agreement with Anderson particularly if McGovern and/or Edwards doesn’t re-sign. I think Bosa gets re-signed. Seems to really enjoy himself here and wants to win and knows his time is short.Ā 
Ā 

I think clearly our biggest need heading into the offseason will be LB. Yes we’ll have Bernard and Williams but nothing behind them, I would expect a high draft choice there.Ā 
Ā 

Well probably need to draft a CB and a Safety especially with Strongs status uncertain.Ā 
Ā 

7 Draft picks I have:Ā 

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1-2 LBs

1 CB

1 SĀ 

1 DT

1 WR

1 IOLĀ 

1 DEĀ 

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Posted
33 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

Allen has more "best friends" than I have bottles of whisky. He'll get over it.

Matt Barkley was his "best friend" too. As was Tanner Gentry.

Why can't he be best friends with someone that can play? May I suggest Justin Jefferson?

Neither one of them got a boat load of cash as a mediocre player in the league. So who's REALLY the best friend?

Posted
14 hours ago, ROCBillsBeliever said:

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Indy: Takes out multiple credit cards to buy bottled water at The Bellaggio.

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Buffalo: We found this really cool yard sale in North Elmira... Hear me out!

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:bag:

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Nice! We out here smuggling snacks into the movie theater, while the competition is buying the refillable large popcorn.Ā 

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