Many Bills Starters Still FAs

[DrDawkinstein]

25 minutes ago, PoundingDog said:

I found it funny that some here mentioned "based on advanced metrics", that Tre and other vets are still good.

 

What "advanced metrics" should the Bills personnel department look into? Those guys played for the Bills last year. We know EXACTLY what they were supposed to do and what they actually did on every single play! We even know exactly how they did Monday to Saturday. Why would we need to look any outside "advanced metrics" to judge if they are good or not?

 

Because most of us fans, myself included, dont really know what we're looking at when we watch games. We dont know actual assignments, and things are moving so fast we certainly dont see the small things players are doing well that add up.

 

Yes, most of us can watch the games last year and see those guys were past their prime due to age. Doesnt mean they were horrible either. Especially when compared to all the other players throughout the league (that we do NOT spend time watching or over-analyzing). Tre, for example, struggled for us down the stretch. But he'd still be one of the better CBs on some teams.

18 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Honest question - why do you say that? I think that (oddly) there are still more people here hating on McD than sticking up for him. Let it go already!  It was never personal! It’s not a healthy obsession. Let’s all move on.

 

I think once the games starts it’s going to be all about football….unless Brady is underwhelming.  We were told the expectations are higher than our previous success, so all eyes should be on Brady with McD now out of the picture. The pressure is on Brady is not a McD fanboy thing. The only way the McD fans get loud is if Brady only gets 9-10 wins and an early out in the playoffs. Then it could get noisy. 

 

If you think Einstein wont be parading around here trying to rub peoples' noses in the first Brady mistake, then you havent been paying attention this spring/summer. 

[quincy]

McD "taking a year off" means that a lot of "his guys" would be retired or on the verge of retirement or coming back from retirement if he is a HC again in 2027. Given that he is a coach with a reputation of preferring veterans over younger players it feels like a risk that McD is taking in having the year off, another factor being if the Bills actually shine brighter without him his stock might fall with only dumpster fire teams considering him versus middle or upper tier teams.  

 

It will be interesting to see how he will function and identify "his guys" because some were drafted by McD (and/or Beane), some were FA's, some were Carolina players, it really was a mix. Maybe some of those FA players would like a shot at coaching or scouting under McD, will he end up in a situation where he can pick his own GM (again) or have to deal with an incumbent GM.   

 

I just don't see any of our old free agents coming back here now with Leonhard as DC, I feel the only possibility might be Tre White because he did play well last year and to have one last ride with Josh and the guys (I may be too sentimental lol).

 

Bosa might have an Eric Weddle type of comeback - stay in shape play 5 or 6 games, try and get a ring somewhere if you are still good to go in December and then have a happy true retirement.   

 

 

 

 

[Augie]

3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

If you think Einstein wont be parading around here trying to rub peoples' noses in the first Brady mistake, then you havent been paying attention this spring/summer. 

 

OK, you might have me on that one!  😂 

 

But I honestly think he’s smart enough to not paint himself into a corner and then starting digging too deep of a hole. But that does go back to my point that there are far more people still showing unsolicited McD hate than there are staunch supporters like Einstein. I’m somewhere in the middle again seeing both sides of it, and it’s time to move forward. 

 

It will be interesting to watch the honeymoon. How long before Brady starts to feel some wrath for one thing or another.  With “THROW THE DAMN RED FLAG!!!”  being screamed by people who loved him just before the kickoff.   Gotta love this place! 

 

His grace period will be shorter with some folks than others, but like a new restaurant I like to see things play out before jumping to serious conclusions. Even if this season is a little disappointing (last year’s goal was Super Bowl or bust) I want to look at the direction of the team. W/L is important, but what were the extraneous circumstances over which Brady had no control. It’s only fair to consider everything. 

 

It’s time for us to see something, ANYthing. I don’t ever remember being more curious before a season. 

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

Bro there are people on here who react whenever somebody says anything about McDermotts defense having anything to do with lack of playoff success. I don't usually engage in the McDermott stuff, he built a successful culture, end of story for me. I agree let's move on. Just tell the few like GunnerBill to move on too. He takes every perceived McDermott slight personal and has to give a disagree or eyeroll. It's not me.

 

It sounds like he didn’t dislike the guy enough for you. Does that bother you? 

[Buffalo ill]

2 hours ago, quincy said:

McD "taking a year off" means that a lot of "his guys" would be retired or on the verge of retirement or coming back from retirement if he is a HC again in 2027

I'm sure there will always be undersized LBs and defensive ends in every draft class.

[Thrivefourfive]

Cool, this gives me a chance to state my claim again about the direction of this team. No old players. We’re not going to settle for experienced players that “know the system”. If there were Super Bowls on the shelf with these guys, sure. But watch Beane and Brady and Leonhard fill the roster with young upstarts instead of used-up scar-tissued has-beens that can’t cover a bum WR with a playoff game on the line. Those days are in the past thank god. 

[Victory Formation]

On 7/6/2026 at 6:41 PM, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

I read Von had 9 sacks with the commanders last season despite only playing 37% of defensive snaps.

 

I realize Beane wants to go with the young guys but what if they can't put up numbers like that ?

I wonder if Beane will sign him to a 5yr $150M contract????

[BillsVet]

11 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

The McDermott group (which is pretty small really) is going to be insufferable this year.

 

Just wait until he returns to the league as a position coach.  The excuse making will be epic. 

[uticaclub]

43 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

Just wait until he returns to the league as a position coach.  The excuse making will be epic. 

I thought McDermott should have been fired right after 13 seconds, but he’ll at least be a DC somewhere 

[BobbyC81]

On 7/6/2026 at 7:20 PM, BuffaloBillyG said:

I'm really surprised some team didn't take a chance on Milano or Thompson. They are capable of some really good snaps. 

They had to play him more due to injury to others. Unfortunate, but that's life. My biggest problem with Boss was if he put 20 good plays on film, he had 20 bad ones. He was terrible helping against the run. And so many of the long QB runs we saw last you were due to him flying upfield and taking himself out of a play. All a QB had to do was step up and run through the gaping hole he left behind. 

Yes, I don’t know how many times Bosa made the wrong move, usually going inside the block, and runners had an easy time going around the edge.  At his age, he wasn’t quick/fast enough to recover, if he ever was.  Those were surprisingly poor plays by a veteran defender.

 

As far as LBs, I like Milano, but if it’s going to be an attacking defense, I don’t know that he has the feet quickness for it.  Williams will b3 interesting.  He tends to over commit and be out of position but he can fly.

[BobbyC81]

13 hours ago, quincy said:

I just don't see any of our old free agents coming back here now with Leonhard as DC, I feel the only possibility might be Tre White because he did play well last year and to have one last ride with Josh and the guys (I may be too sentimental lol).

 

 

On the defensive side, we may see ex Wisconsin and Broncos players.

[Nuncha]

On 7/6/2026 at 6:41 PM, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

I read Von had 9 sacks with the commanders last season despite only playing 37% of defensive snaps.

 

I realize Beane wants to go with the young guys but what if they can't put up numbers like that ?

How many of Von's 9 sacks made an impact on a game that helped the Commando's win?  Zip zilch nada.  Von is great in trash time now; when you need him, he is invisible.  Dude is done.

[Jimmy Harris 69]

On 7/6/2026 at 6:59 PM, Steptide said:

I think I'd take Thompson and Milano back as depth. Both are still good players. Tre had a good year last year and I'm honestly surprised another team hasent picked him up. 

Curious how many of those sacks were garbage time 

The Bills pro scouts are looking at other teams now and throughout the summer. They will find men who played their scheme, or some version of it. Athletes who will develop and become better players. Thompson fit because he knew McDermotts scheme, Milano’s contract kept him on the team in spite of his short comings. We can and should be better, or why fire Sean?

[BuffaloBillyG]

7 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

Yes, I don’t know how many times Bosa made the wrong move, usually going inside the block, and runners had an easy time going around the edge.  At his age, he wasn’t quick/fast enough to recover, if he ever was.  Those were surprisingly poor plays by a veteran defender.

 

As far as LBs, I like Milano, but if it’s going to be an attacking defense, I don’t know that he has the feet quickness for it.  Williams will b3 interesting.  He tends to over commit and be out of position but he can fly.

From what I have seen, Bosa was never spectacular against the run. And I understand that you don't bring a guy like him in for run defense. He's a QB headhunter. But you have to at least expect him to not be a weak link on running downs. 

4 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

On the defensive side, we may see ex Wisconsin and Broncos players.

I had thought this too before this off season. There was a pretty long list of guys that had either played for Leonard at Wisconsin or in Denver and a lot of them would have made sense. To my recollection, we brought in zero. Now, we don't know it the Bills went after those guys and struck out or if Leonard just didn't think they would help here. Will be something to keep an eye on during the season if we have injury issues and they need someone with knowledge of the system to step in. 

[Gunsgoodtime]

10 hours ago, BillsVet said:

 

Just wait until he returns to the league as a position coach.  The excuse making will be epic. 

I love the he is taking a year off line. Truth be know there are not many teams in the Nfl that's goal is to not win a Super Bowl.  If their goal is to win a SB then McDermott is out of the equation, he couldn't do it with Josh Allen as his qb for 8, 9 years?  There will be very little interest in McDermott as a head coach in the Nfl, outside of maybe a select few teams maybe that need a culture change (Browns, Jets, etc)

9 hours ago, uticaclub said:

I thought McDermott should have been fired right after 13 seconds, but he’ll at least be a DC somewhere 

With the benefit of hindsight, he should have been.  I thought he deserved another year after that at the time, but I was wrong

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 7/6/2026 at 5:50 PM, DapperCam said:

Joey Bosa, Tre White, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson, DaQuan Jones, Poyer, Von Miller (one year removed)…

 

Kind of an indictment of our personnel on defense recently.

 

 

Bosa - Torn groin, Foot issues, calf issues, hip issues.  

White - Torn acl and achilles 

Milano - Torn bicep, broken leg/knee injury, torn pec 

Shaq thompson - Torn achilles 

DQ - Torn pec, and constant ankle/calf injuries

Von - ACL and ankle tendon injuries, 37 years old

 

6 players with significant injury histories, all have probably have earned 50+ million, and all are on the wrong side of 30.  

 

At this point - 

Cap space is at a premium for a number of teams.  Money is dried up

Draft has happened so a massive influx of roster players.

Want to get a look at younger players, rookies, UDFA's.

Camp injuries haven't happened yet. 

 

It's unfortunate, because they are better than a lot of players on rosters currently.  But end of the day - teams either dont expect you to finish the season becasue of injuries, or don't want to pay you anywhere near what you think you are worth.  They're all looking down the barrel at 1 yr 1.3M, and significantly less on the practice squad.  Why put yourself through training camp?  

[BillsFan130]

1 hour ago, Gunsgoodtime said:

I love the he is taking a year off line. Truth be know there are not many teams in the Nfl that's goal is to not win a Super Bowl.  If their goal is to win a SB then McDermott is out of the equation, he couldn't do it with Josh Allen as his qb for 8, 9 years?  There will be very little interest in McDermott as a head coach in the Nfl, outside of maybe a select few teams maybe that need a culture change (Browns, Jets, etc)

With the benefit of hindsight, he should have been.  I thought he deserved another year after that at the time, but I was wrong

I do think he will get a head coaching job again if I had to bet. But I do think he will have to settle for a less than ideal job and he definitely wont be that sought after like a lot of people have said.

 

It wouldn't shock me if he doesn't get another job, but I would slightly lean towards he will just because some teams will value the experience IMO

[Don Otreply]

11 hours ago, uticaclub said:

I thought McDermott should have been fired right after 13 seconds, but he’ll at least be a DC somewhere 

On a middling team, everyone knows his defense is stale, 

[Thurman#1]

On 7/7/2026 at 6:50 AM, DapperCam said:

Joey Bosa, Tre White, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson, DaQuan Jones, Poyer, Von Miller (one year removed)…

 

Kind of an indictment of our personnel on defense recently.

 

 

Nah, not really. Depends on the reason.

 

Some guys like to sign late to skip as much of the off-season stuff as they can. Others might easily get a contract at a lower figure but they're waiting to see if more money might be available as the off-season passes. Others might just not want to play anymore. None of those are indictments.

 

Others who would like to play in the league this year might not be thought to be good enough. Is that an indictment or the opposite that even with those guys we were not just functional but solid? Could go either way, really

 

Since we don't know which guys are not on rosters for which reason, it's not really an indictment. Legit to say it raises interesting questions, though.

 

 

32 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

On a middling team, everyone knows his defense is stale, 

 

 

Yeah, everyone holding that opinion knows it well.

Edited July 8 by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, Gunsgoodtime said:

I love the he is taking a year off line. Truth be know there are not many teams in the Nfl that's goal is to not win a Super Bowl.  If their goal is to win a SB then McDermott is out of the equation, he couldn't do it with Josh Allen as his qb for 8, 9 years?  There will be very little interest in McDermott as a head coach in the Nfl, outside of maybe a select few teams maybe that need a culture change (Browns, Jets, etc)

 

 

 

That's nonsense that because he hadn't won a Super Bowl in a good situation that he can't. It's just bad logic.

 

By that logic Andy Reid could never win a Super Bowl in KC because he didn't win one in Philly.

 

Nineteen of the last twenty-eight Super Bowl winning coaches were on second teams. With a quick look through, I don't see a single one who won a Super Bowl with his first team.

 

Hell, McDermott himself should have made the Super Bowl last year if Josh hadn't dropped that ball within field goal range before half last year.

 

He'll be a very popular choice among any teams wanting new coaching. Not that everyone would choose him. But he'll be one of the top two or three candidates and will get a lot of interest from pretty much everyone searching. And for good reason.