Hapless Bills Fan

Question for the OL aficianados here: Has the NFL really moved towards tall tall guards? I thought the idea was "low man wins" and that a lower center of gravity was a help in blocking.

PSLs probably

Especially that first. We need a better OL. And I SMH at McDermott sometimes. Anyone else remember the presser in 2018 (I think it was after the Green Bay game, where we got torched) when he said rather plaintively "I thought we would be able to run the ball". And I'm like "SMH, McDermott: what part of OL of Dawkins-Ducasse-Bodine-Miller-Mills said "capable run blocking" to you?" McCoy was always a back who could make a play - AFTER he got a hole to get through the line. Want a better run game? Get a better OL. A lot of folks here are crediting Bates with the emergence of the Bills run game at the end of the season. I like Bates. I'm willing to buy in that Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown was the best OL we fielded last season. But I think the improved run game had too much to do with using Josh Allen on designed runs. It worked, but the idea really needs to be to spread the offensive load a bit away from the QB with the run game, not to add "best running back on the team" to his job description.

This. Plus the trade partner can negotiate for the Browns to keep part of his salary as the Rams did with Von Miller, and they can even try to renegotiate as part of the trade. Yes, his salary is fully guaranteed.

I could be wrong, but I doubt Beane allows emotions to influence his GM decisions If a decision to re-negotiate a contract or release a different player is involved in the match, I can easily see it taking 5 days to pull all the pieces together If a decision to pursue another player if the match hits a certain target is involved, I can see it taking 5 days to pursue another player (and if they don't succeed, does the decision change?) Anyway, I kind of doubt Beane is sitting in an office chair with a smirk on his face twiddling his thumbs.

TBH, I thought Bates was gonna be his apprentice but, maybe in what they've seen of Bates at C the Bills really don't see him that way

I understand your point, but the trade partner could renegotiate with Baker. Another possibility is the trade partner gives up a pick in exchange for Browns keeping a portion of Baker’s salary

The consensus opinion seems to be that Saffold is an upgrade at LG and that Kromer is an upgrade at OL coach. You’re entitled to a different opinion of course, but it would be helpful if you cared to explain it

No.

17 has spoken. No.

Everyone on the DL is a rotational piece. There's a confliction in what you say. We signed a DT for arguably more than $6M/season, but he took 60% or more of the snaps at DT his last two seasons, so he wasn't by any stretch a 4th string. We signed a DT who was arguably #2 on the depth chart all season, but we didn't sign him for $5M a season (try half that) So I'm really not sure who you're talking about It also seems like you're defining a guy who started the season down the depth chart but may have moved up it and started a couple games as a "4th string" on another team, but a guy who started the season as #3 on the Bills depth chart at G as a starter. Not a problem, just seems kinda inconsistant I don't think McDermott in any way shape or form keeps guys whom he views as his "best hand" on the bench in favor of milking vets. I think he does sometimes make mistakes. Peterman was one of them. IMO (no evidence for this) sometimes I think they promise vets like Gore or Sanders a certain amount of playing time if they sign here.

Rise every year, just like the price of fuel right now. If you plug the numbers into your argument, and say OK so for $1.6M more we could have Bates - does it look the same to you?

Neither are correct https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl-franchise-tag-values-rfa-tenders/ Bates ROFR tender is on the Bills cap right now for $2.4M 2nd round tender is essentially $4M, or $1.6M higher For $4.2M cap charge this year, Bills signed Rodger Saffold. They evidently think Rodger Saffold is worth $0.2M more than Ryan Bates at LG. The question of course is who do we play at RG

The "agent called to let me know what happened" thing doesn't quite jive with other versions out there

Where did this $3.3M figure come from? Has someone come out with figures from the Bears offer sheet?

I think the Levi Wallace signing was one reason Beane was so P/O'd at the Washington Commanders over McKissic. I think the root issue is that based on recent history, if there's one place where fans have reason to mistrust player personnel evaluation decisions or resource committment, it is on OL. I think Bates did look really good when he played, but whether that suits the direction Kromer and Dorsey want to take the line, or no - can't tell you. At this point, the Bills seem to feel that for $4.2M cap hit this year, Saffold is an upgrade to Bates at LG so it makes sense that they wouldn't want to put almost the same amount into a 2nd round tender ($3.986M, basically almost $4M) Or to put it another way for those clamoring for a 2nd round tender on Bates, for $0.2M more against the cap, the Bills signed Saffold. I can't tell you whether they think Bates would be just as good at RG as he showed at LG. He says he can play any position on the line, but the sample size is small.

Dude, you've presented yourself as knowing OL and having serious cred in OL evaluation, but IMHO this is a straight up "listen to the fans, wind up sitting with them" revisionist history take. We all know that high RAS doesn't make a functional NFL OLman. It indicates potential. They need to have blocking technique. They need intimate knowledge of all the protection calls and their variations for different defensive looks. Anderson was signed off our PS by Philly after Game 2, where we thumped the Dolphins 35-0. Feliciano was starting at that point. No aspect of Anderson's preseason play led any of the press or fans watching at the time to flag him as an immediate NFL starter. Nor did it impress the coaches that way, since they cut him and put him on the practice squad to develop. He was neither the starter, nor the 2nd nor 3rd string at that point and no one watching the pre-season from the fan seats had a question with that based on what we saw. Anderson went on to start one (1) game for the Eagles, Week 17 where they were resting some starters and lost to Dallas 26-51. Other than that, he got 7 snaps a couple weeks previous, I don't know whether that was as a 6th OL or substituting for an injury. There's a very valid point that the Bills should have upgraded on OL last season more than they did. Very valid. But to suggest cutting Feliciano (a guy who has proven he can play at an NFL level at both OG positions and at C, albeit not at the level we want) to elevate a 7th round draft pick to the active roster after week 2 this season because he has a better RAS - C'mon Man, that's not rational knowledge-based OL e v a l. Again, as others have said - we need to use a high draft pick on an OG regardless of whether or not Bates leaves. We arguably should have done so last off-season. (I'm not going to say 1st or 2nd round because I don't know what the general assessment of depth in the draft at OL may be) Saffold for 1 year is NOT a long-range IOL plan.

It's hard in general. We started the season with 3 guys who had played well down the stretch, until the last game, not playing as well: Dawkins, Williams, and Feliciano. But last season, we struggled to run the ball and it seems like this season, we expected something to be different by doing the same thing. Was a healthy Ford supposed to make a difference? But my understanding is in college, Ford was a good run blocker in space, not in a zone scheme. A healthy Feliciano? There was a disconnect, somewhere. In part, IMHO, the poor OL play had less to do with the OL per se and more to do with strategic decisions on the offense - fundamentally, the decision to become a spread offense and abandon the run some weeks. That really allows the defense to just tee off on the OL as they abandon any need for gap integrity in favor of overloading one or the other side of the OL. IMO McDermott is 100% correct when he says 'there needs to be at It follows that the better OL play had to do with more commitment to run, a return to the gap and pin-and-pull blocking that succeeded in 2019 so that the run game was more successful, use of 6 OLmen and/or a fullback to block and other changes, as well as using more designed runs by Josh. With Feliciano, there's also the "dents and dings" argument - Feliciano came back Week 8 last season and provided a spark, no question. Whether he didn't play as well to start this season due to a feeling of entitlement, due to weight loss, or something else (more time watching conspiracy podcasts and tweeting about them, less time watching film?) - who knows? Anyway, my point is: 1) the OL problems against Pittsburgh, Mia, the Jaguars weren't all on the OLmen starting those games 2) the OL looking better at the end of the season wasn't all on the OLmen starting those games Bates looked very good to finish the season and I'd like him back, but I can hear it now if we pay him $5M or $6M and he fails to look as good next year under a different OL coach.

I’m not sure what you mean by “perhaps the plan is” and “fill the other with a vet” One of our first FA signings was Rodger Saffold, released by Tenn as a cap casualty (they saved $10M). So it’s been very clear from the start of FA that the plan at LG was veteran Rodger Saffold. It’s not so clear what the plan is at RG, but since Bates has very few snaps at RG, it’s not clear he’s the plan their either

Do you know where you read that? Thanks.

Bates played well, the concern is that the sample size was small. It's one thing to play well for a few games, it's another to hold up for a 17 game season. Please to note that the "play together" = better argument 1) doesn't always work out - the Bills essentially brought back the same OL as last season and the play was much worse at the start of the season. Dawkins, Feliciano, and Williams all played worse. 2) is moot from the Bills signing Saffold to play LG. Bates would be returning to play a different position, RG, so they would be changing things up already Nothing Beane said in the offseason indicated he was content to "run it back" with the same OL. He referred to it as "a starting point" and mentioned several times needing to protect Josh, and that a better run game was part of protecting Josh. With Josh's new contract taking effect, McDermott is going to have to "Get Over It".

Anyone aware yet of what Bates offer sheet is from da Bears?

Just Stop, guys. Or if you MUST continue, explain that if Edmunds is so bad we want to trade him, why will our trade partner take him on a 1 year rental for $12M fully guaranteed? Then explain what your plan is for the Bills to assure competent MLB play with minimal cap space, and how this doesn't just leave another big hole for the Bills to try to fill in the draft along with OG, CB, and a shot at upgrading TE or WR

That too. But he also said something about signing a few more guys for vet minimum. I think Crowder is the only one who has signed above vet minimum since that presser (where Beane specifically mentioned he had a backup QB included). So who knows if Crowder was also included or whether he's the "exception to the rule".

Hi. If the NFC is "bye" for Brady to the "Big Game" then who repped the NFC in it last season? How did that happen?