Bills release Elijah Moore

[That's No Moon]

2 hours ago, Buffalo Ballin said:

He was just another receiver. Poorly used? Yeah.

 

Again, that's on McD and Joe Brady.

Poorly used? The only mistake that was made with Elijah Moore was identifying him as someone who could help. He never was that person. Rather than finding a better player they signed him. It's a pattern.

[BigAl2526]

The Bills are betting on Brandin Cooks.  I think as much as anything, Moore is the victim of a numbers game.  He doesn't have enough production to make him indispensable and if they cut Curtis Samuel it's more of a cap hit.  Moore is younger than both of those guys and had Brady figured out how to make effective use of him, he could have been part of some longer range plans, but that's how it goes sometimes.

[Goin Breakdown]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

What is there to know? He was the 34th pick in the draft and cut by his original team after two seasons. The Browns have a bad WR group and they also let him go after two seasons. His career is just about done at this point. He'll bounce around training camps and maybe practice squads for another couple of seasons and then the calls will stop coming. He's a small WR with a low catch radius and never developed the nuance necessary for a physically limited player to be successful.

The part you quoted was more about the "ohh wow they let him go" response that we'd have. I'm saying there's more than we know. Kinda like this. Why hasn't he had much run in the offense or why was he been benched? Like you said. He is what he is and he'll continue to be. I also see it like this. If Brady made Diggs disappear then why would we ever think Moore or Cooks or whoever be a difference maker?  They won't. So for Moore to. It make it on a team that doesn't value talent at WR there must really be something deeper. Idk.

[Pecker]

He was one of the few bright spots at WR.  Makes no sense from a football perspective.  But we can’t cut Coleman Samuel or Palmer for cap reasons 

Edited 1 hour ago by Pecker

[Augie]

7 minutes ago, ***** said:

He was one of the few bright spots at WR.  Makes no sense from a football perspective.  But we can’t cut Coleman Samuel or Palmer for cap reasons 

 

The guy with 9 catches for 124 yards at Thanksgiving was one of our bright spots? Things must be worse than I thought! 

 

How did the Browns use him to average 60 catches? In the words of Josh, “What are we doing here?” 

[ProcessTruster]

26 minutes ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

He was the obvious choice. I was saying so after Gabe's first activation.

 

You aren't letting go of Shakir or Palmer. Shavers has another year on his contract and provides Special Teams and Blocking. Samuel they'll want to release this coming off-season to better save cap. And Coleman you could get something for in a trade this coming off-season. 

 

Moore was always the first player who wasn't active if everyone was healthy. He isn't under contract after this season. So after the next 6 games and the Playoffs (if we make them), he's out the door anyways for nothing in return. And he was the WR providing us with the least. He was the obvious odd man out.

 

With the addition of Cooks, we were at 7 on the active roster and that doesn't take into account Gabe Davis on the PS or Mecole Hardman on IR. Pretty clear to me that this was done to put Gabe on the roster. And it wouldn't shock me to see Samuel moved to IR when Hardman is healthy - if everyone were to stay healthy.

Correct. 

 

Give me Hardman, Gabe, Palmer, Shakir, Kincaid, Shavers and Cooks healthy and full go for the first game of the season-end tournament and I am happy.  

 

That will work.   Just need to go 4-2 over the last six , get healthy, and we are good to go.  IMHO. 

 

Go Bills.   

[BillsFanForever19]

15 minutes ago, ***** said:

He was one of the few bright spots at WR.  Makes no sense from a football perspective.  But we can’t cut Coleman Samuel or Palmer for cap reasons 

 

I'm sorry - in what world was Moore a "bright spot" at WR?

 

He had a grand total of 9 catches all season. Was the first guy on the bench when everyone was healthy. For all his speed, watch the tape, he was practically never able to get separation. He wasn't particularly shifty, as his jet sweeps more often than not went nowhere. On top of that, he provided nothing in the Blocking game and nothing in the Special Teams game.

 

Moore was a failed experiment and far from a bright spot. He was the obvious odd man out in the WR room. If he were anything close to a bright spot, we wouldn't be taking flyers on Brandin Cooks or Mecole Hardman before that.

[Pecker]

17 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

The guy with 9 catches for 124 yards at Thanksgiving was one of our bright spots? Things must be worse than I thought! 

 

How did the Browns use him to average 60 catches? In the words of Josh, “What are we doing here?” 

It’s a low bar.  But Moore was certainly better than Coleman and Samuel.  For the few snaps he was given, he made an impact, getting more separation than any other WR.  
 

Don’t disagree with this? - that Moore was by no means was the worst WR on the roster, and was cut for cap reasons and not football reasons.  

[babulator]

We could release Moore, Samuel, Keon and Brady and we'd be better by subtraction alone.

[MasterStrategist]

38 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

When you have a roster full of WR3s, WR5 absolutely IS an important role because they're going to get opportunities. I made this point in the offseason too. If you have Chase and Higgins you barely need to worry about even your WR3. But the less talent you have at the top, the more important it is that the talent at the bottom can make plays. Moore ended up getting significant snaps at the X spot this year and was a total void in that spot when we really needed him to step up and make a few plays for us. I never expected Moore to be able to do that though and it's criminal that Beane did.

 

The issue is that Beane thought he had a bunch of #2 types to spread the ball to - not unlike GB from recent years.

 

He was relying on Shakir (who he re-signed), Kincaid (former 1st), Coleman (former 1st/2nd), Palmer (more as a complementary role), and Samuel.  Coupled with Knox, Ty and Cook as other pieces.

 

Its been Beanes misguided "vision" on what we had/who he thought these guys could be.  Also on Brady having maybe a bottom 5 passing schematic/design (Brady should be a QB coach/run game coordinator).  McD fault on most of these OC hires -- they have 1 year of success, and the league figures them out.

 

Even on defense, Beane poured alot of resources into re-signing Groot, Bernard, Benford - then spent on injury risks/suspended players and his top 3 picks have contributed very little (yes due to injury).

 

IMO, Beane just doesnt have it.  We are constantly searching for that "missing piece", used to be a pass rush (still is), then it was OL, now its WR and a mess of a salary cap.  I dont trust he will ever put together a complete team/SB caliber roster.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

3 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

It's always going to be someone else's fault with this staff. They'll let one of the kitchen staff go before doing anything meaningful. 

Maybe our lunch lady can rush the passer next week? 🤔

[BillsFanForever19]

9 minutes ago, ***** said:

It’s a low bar.  But Moore was certainly better than Coleman and Samuel.  For the few snaps he was given, he made an impact, getting more separation than any other WR.  
 

Don’t disagree with this? - that Moore was by no means was the worst WR on the roster, and was cut for cap reasons and not football reasons.  

 

There isn't enough separation (no pun intended) between Moore, Coleman, and Samuel to disregard the trade potential in the off-season (a minimal return is better than nothing) or room for growth as a Slot (haven't tried that yet) in Coleman and the cap they'd save by releasing Samuel after this season.

 

Again, I don't understand what you're seeing in Moore. He's been equally as bad as Coleman and Samuel this season, if not moreso. As bad as things have gotten with Coleman - his Week 1 was equivalent to Moore's entire season.

[Alphadawg7]

54 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

When you have a roster full of WR3s, WR5 absolutely IS an important role because they're going to get opportunities. I made this point in the offseason too. If you have Chase and Higgins you barely need to worry about even your WR3. But the less talent you have at the top, the more important it is that the talent at the bottom can make plays. Moore ended up getting significant snaps at the X spot this year and was a total void in that spot when we really needed him to step up and make a few plays for us. I never expected Moore to be able to do that though and it's criminal that Beane did.

 

 

Again, what teams fills WR5 with expensive contracts or high picks?  WR5 is pretty much always filled by every team with developmental rookies or inexpensive and available free agents.  So, we filled the WR5 spot with exactly the kind of player you fill a WR5 spot with, who in reality is like the 8th or 9th target on this team when you factor in Kincaid, Cook, Ty, and even Knox.  

 

So I am not sure what you expect a GM to do, spend, or use on the 9th player in the offensive peking order.  

[HappyDays]

8 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Again, what teams fills WR5 with expensive contracts or high picks?

 

What teams have Josh Palmer as the best outside WR on their roster? We aren't comparable to other teams Alpha. If the plan is "everybody eats" then everybody from the top of the room to the bottom needs to be capable of maximizing their opportunities. Moore clearly wasn't capable of that and there was never any reason to think that he would be. I'm not saying it had to be a big contract or a high pick but the WR5 for this team as constructed needed to be better than a former draft bust still available to be signed in late April.

[BillsFanForever19]

Update to the story - Moore wanted more reps. They obviously felt he either didn't deserve it and/or Cooks had the potential to provide more. Either way, it's now being framed as a mutual parting of the ways.

[transplantbillsfan]

19 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

What teams have Josh Palmer as the best outside WR on their roster? We aren't comparable to other teams Alpha. If the plan is "everybody eats" then everybody from the top of the room to the bottom needs to be capable of maximizing their opportunities. Moore clearly wasn't capable of that and there was never any reason to think that he would be. I'm not saying it had to be a big contract or a high pick but the WR5 for this team as constructed needed to be better than a former draft bust still available to be signed in late April.

 

I actually think Gabe Davis is the best WR on the Bills right now and he isn't even on our current 53 man roster.

[HappyDays]

Just now, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I actually think Gabe Davis is the best WR on the Bills right now and he isn't even on our current 53 man roster.

 

Yeah this is the point right here. We're in Josh Allen's prime and debating if Gabe Davis or Josh Palmer are our best WR.

[Alphadawg7]

19 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

What teams have Josh Palmer as the best outside WR on their roster? We aren't comparable to other teams Alpha. If the plan is "everybody eats" then everybody from the top of the room to the bottom needs to be capable of maximizing their opportunities. Moore clearly wasn't capable of that and there was never any reason to think that he would be. I'm not saying it had to be a big contract or a high pick but the WR5 for this team as constructed needed to be better than a former draft bust still available to be signed in late April.

 

I am just saying, on this roster WR5 is like 9th on the peking order of weapons.  Expecting a team with a tight cap to fill in that spot with anything other than available players like a Moore is a bit unreasonable and unrealistic.  Just because we failed to use him here, like we fail to use Samuel as well, doesn't mean he isn't good enough to be WR5.  And its already come out that Moore wanted to be released as he wanted more opportunities. 

 

Look at Samuel - in his 5 seasons starting for CAR and WAS averaged 796 yards a season.  Yet he remains nothing here in this offense with Brady despite his single best season was with Brady in CAR.  Diggs fell off a cliff production wise despite still seeing high targets under Brady, so much so that Shakir put up more yards on half the targets as Diggs.  

 

At some point, people need to realize its more than offense than the player here.  I am not defending Moore as if he is some pro-bowler getting shafted, I am saying for a position that is essentially not only last in line at WR, but like 8th or 9th in line in usage on this team of weapons you are not going to find much more invested into the position than we did.  In fact, most teams guys at the end of their weapons list are a lot worse than Moore.  

[skibum]

Sorry it didn't work out, but usually it doesn't. 

[harmonkillebrew]

4 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

I really hope we sign Pierce. And draft a couple wrs with our 1st 2 picks

 

This is a very tough lesson for Beane not to be cheap at wr ever again with Allen. 

 

The offense generally speaking needs to take priority. That's the whole point of a defensive hc 

It's pretty damning combined with that DeMeco Ryans was saying about the Bills pass coverages.

They try to get by with minimum pass protect, thinking Allen will just escape guys, largely to compensate for the inability of their pass catchers to win 1 on 1s. 

It's a recipe for disaster and for shortening Allen's career.

Protect him and get guys that can get open!