Do not trade for anyone else, or pay any top FA's. Draft well for once.

[SoonerBillsFan]

Fans wanting to trade two 1sts or anything at this point for Maxx Crosby , let me remind you of something. He was picked in the 4th round.  4th.   NE drafted last or near to last for nearly 15 years and still made superbowls. We have the QB, start hitting on our own draft picks like they did for once.  

 

Trade down, its a deep draft that isn't top heavy. Get back our 2nd, pick up a 3rd or 4th and for once Hit on these guys.  All Pros can be found outside of round 1, you just got to be able to scout well and pick them.

[Buffalo03]

Just now, SoonerBillsFan said:

Fans wanting to trade two 1sts or anything at this point for Maxx Crosby , let me remind you of something. He was picked in the 4th round.  4th.   NE drafted last or near to last for nearly 15 years and still made superbowls. We have the QB, start hitting on our own draft picks like they did for once.  

 

Trade down, its a deep draft that isn't top heavy. Get back our 2nd, pick up a 3rd or 4th and for once Hit on these guys.  All Pros can be found outside of round 1, you just got to be able to scout well and pick them.

They made Super Bowls because of Brady. Their drafting was terrible during the Belichick era

[SoonerBillsFan]

Just now, Buffalo03 said:

They made Super Bowls because of Brady. Their drafting was terrible during the Belichick era

We have Allen.  We need a defense like they had.  

[ColoradoBills]

Beane put a lot of cap in the offense with Moore, McGovern and Anderson.  About $40M AAV.

That's much more than I would have thought.

With the exception of some vet minimums, UDFAs and a pick or two in Day 3 of the draft, that's it.

I'm all for re-signing Cooks.

 

Special Teams needs a punter to come to camp and maybe look for a punt returner.  That's about it.

 

Defense:  There is limited cap space (I don't think they want to restructure Dawkins) for any big D splashes.

Beane and Leonhard need to find some serviceable players and hit on the draft.

See how that goes this year and adjust accordingly for next year.

 

That's how I see it right now.

[Buffalo03]

1 minute ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

We have Allen.  We need a defense like they had.  

I don't know if I can trust Beane to make the right call on defense. He has drafted a ton of defense to this point and can't seem to put together anything good

[ColoradoBills]

3 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

I don't know if I can trust Beane to make the right call on defense. He has drafted a ton of defense to this point and can't seem to put together anything good

 

Well, we have no other choice.

[hondo in seattle]

In theory I think @SoonerBillsFan is right.  Draft picks are far cheaper (versus the cap) than FAs.  Once a team has locked in its franchise QB on an expensive contract, it's hard to be a big player in free agency. 

 

So the ideal strategy is to find difference-makers in the draft and supplement the draft with good value acquisitions (think moneyball) in free agency.

 

The problem with that approach is that Beane hasn't found many playmakers in the draft since hitting on Josh with his first ever pick.  Roughly 3-5 Hall of Famers are drafted each year and 10-15 All Pros, often outside the first round.  I'm trusting Beane to get us none of them.  

[PoundingDog]

5 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

The problem with that approach is that Beane hasn't found many playmakers in the draft since hitting on Josh with his first ever pick.  Roughly 3-5 Hall of Famers are drafted each year and 10-15 All Pros, often outside the first round.  I'm trusting Beane to get us none of them. 

If that statement is true, then Beane should not be the GM for the Bills, heck not an NFL GM period. I see this argument a lot - "I don't trust Beane to draft this, this and that." To me, if you think a GM doesn't draft well, he should not be in that position because draft is the life blood of a team.

 

If there is 3-5 HoF players from the draft every year, with 32 teams, on average every 10 year or so, a team should get one. Beane got Allen 8 years ago. So I guess he has 2 more years to get another one to be average by that standard.

[SoonerBillsFan]

11 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

In theory I think @SoonerBillsFan is right.  Draft picks are far cheaper (versus the cap) than FAs.  Once a team has locked in its franchise QB on an expensive contract, it's hard to be a big player in free agency. 

 

So the ideal strategy is to find difference-makers in the draft and supplement the draft with good value acquisitions (think moneyball) in free agency.

 

The problem with that approach is that Beane hasn't found many playmakers in the draft since hitting on Josh with his first ever pick.  Roughly 3-5 Hall of Famers are drafted each year and 10-15 All Pros, often outside the first round.  I'm trusting Beane to get us none of them.  

We have to hit on the draft. Fans still cant get when you pay what we are paying Allen, we are restricted in FA.  Cinci didn't pay Hendrickson, they most definitely need defensive help, but they can't afford him.  KC doesn't have a ton of FA's they pay for, can't afford it.  It is what it is.

[BillsFanForever19]

30 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

NE drafted last or near to last for nearly 15 years and still made superbowls. 

 

The difference is - New England had the Super Bowl win (and later wins). 

 

You want to coast off of not even having an AFC Title to our name?

[Jauronimo]

Draft some All Pros dummy!

[TheBrownBear]

I agree we need to find players in the draft, but Beane has "hit" on plenty of 2nd and 3rd day players. (Brown, Cook, Bishop, Benford, Shakir, Torrance, Knox, Williams, etc.) We just haven't had the right mix or just couldn't make that one extra play at the end of the game to get us over the hump (whether that's coaching or players can be argued and we've addressed coach).  

 

Yes, he's struggled to find a true all-pro stud at Edge, but outside of the two we were pursuing (Hendrickson and Crosby) how many of those exist after the first 25 or so picks over the last decade?

Edited March 11 by TheBrownBear

[notpolian]

You can't expect to draft HoFs or even all pros that often.  But pro-bowlers is not that high a bar (at all).  We barely have any.  We need a good draft more than anything. 

 

I'm not optimistic, but if anything is ever going to change under Beane, this is the year for it to happen.

[KOKBILLS]

49 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Fans wanting to trade two 1sts or anything at this point for Maxx Crosby , let me remind you of something. He was picked in the 4th round.  4th.   NE drafted last or near to last for nearly 15 years and still made super bowls. We have the QB, start hitting on our own draft picks like they did for once.  

 

Trade down, its a deep draft that isn't top heavy. Get back our 2nd, pick up a 3rd or 4th and for once Hit on these guys.  All Pros can be found outside of round 1, you just got to be able to scout well and pick them.

 

Exactly... Scout well, trade down, Draft well... Rinse and repeat...

[hondo in seattle]

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but if I was Terry after the season ended I would have been dismayed with both Beane and McD.  Between back luck, bad health, inadequate rosters, and some questionable coaching decisions, we haven't made the SB.  But because we'd been close, I wouldn't have automatically fired either.  I'd rather fine tune than start over.  

 

I would have demanded improvement plans from both McD and Beane.  I'd want to hear from McD how he'd shore up the defense (particularly in the playoffs) and improve the downfield passing game.

 

And I'd want to hear from Beane how he'd improve in both the draft and free agency.  Either his evaluation process needed to change, or his staff, or maybe both.  And he needed to get better at cap management.  If Beane made excuses and told me he didn't think he needed to change anything, I would have fired him. 

 

He's not a bad GM but I'm not confident he has the ability to build a SB roster.  He's been meh in the draft since Josh - not enough playmakers.  And in FA, he's gotten some nice contributors, but his big contracts haven't worked out particularly well and, again, we're not getting enough playmakers.  For example, most of the Pro Bowlers on the defense during Beane's years were Whaley picks and acquisitions.  On top of that, it seems like we're in Cap Hell every offseason.  

 

But Terry didn't fire Beane, he promoted him.  So I'm expecting more of the same mediocrity from Beane that we've witness over the past few years. 

 

But who knows - maybe Beane had some kind of epiphany during the past season.  Maybe he understands his mistakes and now sees clearly how to build a Lombardi quality roster within the restraints of the cap.  As a fan, I live in hope.  

[Thrivefourfive]

36 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

In theory I think @SoonerBillsFan is right.  Draft picks are far cheaper (versus the cap) than FAs.  Once a team has locked in its franchise QB on an expensive contract, it's hard to be a big player in free agency. 

 

So the ideal strategy is to find difference-makers in the draft and supplement the draft with good value acquisitions (think moneyball) in free agency.

 

The problem with that approach is that Beane hasn't found many playmakers in the draft since hitting on Josh with his first ever pick.  Roughly 3-5 Hall of Famers are drafted each year and 10-15 All Pros, often outside the first round.  I'm trusting Beane to get us none of them.  

Our draft excitement actually takes place in March. When we resign guys, that’s peak thrill time here in Buffalo.. In the 2020s, the only excitement in FA has been V Miller. And the only drafted guys that peaked my interest were Kincaid and Hairston. It’s sad actually. 

[mjt328]

The problem is that we still have massive holes all over the defense side, both in the starting lineup and with depth.

Edge Rusher.  Defensive Tackle.  Linebacker.  Safety.

 

Although I agree that we shouldn't be panicking and overpaying for the first wave of guys, we do need to have a legitimate plan to fill all of those key spots BEFORE the draft.  That means having starting caliber players at all 11 spots.

 

Going into the draft with a glaring need (which seems to be every year now) is one of the main reasons our drafts turnout like garbage.  You can't just sit there in the #25-30 range and say "we need an outside WR."  That's a recipe for ending up with a player like Keon Coleman, instead of letting the talent fall into your lap.

[fergie's ire]

I kind of agree, but also think that part of drafting well is filling needs with free agency. That doesn't mean the big splash player (though sometimes that IS the need) but just plugging holes so that you can truly draft the best player available. 

[Thrivefourfive]

1 minute ago, hondo in seattle said:

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but if I was Terry after the season ended I would have been dismayed with both Beane and McD.  Between back luck, bad health, inadequate rosters, and some questionable coaching decisions, we haven't made the SB.  But because we'd been close, I wouldn't have automatically fired either.  I'd rather fine tune than start over.  

 

I would have demanded improvement plans from both McD and Beane.  I'd want to hear from McD how he'd shore up the defense (particularly in the playoffs) and improve the downfield passing game.

 

And I'd want to hear from Beane how he'd improve in both the draft and free agency.  Either his evaluation process needed to change, or his staff, or maybe both.  And he needed to get better at cap management.  If Beane made excuses and told me he didn't think he needed to change anything, I would have fired him. 

 

He's not a bad GM but I'm not confident he has the ability to build a SB roster.  He's been meh in the draft since Josh - not enough playmakers.  And in FA, he's gotten some nice contributors, but his big contracts haven't worked out particularly well and, again, we're not getting enough playmakers.  For example, most of the Pro Bowlers on the defense during Beane's years were Whaley picks and acquisitions.  On top of that, it seems like we're in Cap Hell every offseason.  

 

But Terry didn't fire Beane, he promoted him.  So I'm expecting more of the same mediocrity from Beane that we've witness over the past few years. 

 

But who knows - maybe Beane had some kind of epiphany during the past season.  Maybe he understands his mistakes and now sees clearly how to build a Lombardi quality roster within the restraints of the cap.  As a fan, I live in hope.  

Terry doesn’t understand the game. He trusted McDermott. And he trusts Beane. It is what it is. 

[dave mcbride]

53 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

They made Super Bowls because of Brady. Their drafting was terrible during the Belichick era

This is wrong. Between 2001 and 2014, they had a half dozen great drafts: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/draft.htm. So many good players across all rounds.