Hapless Bills Fan

That makes sense to me So Bills have no motivation to tip their hand with IR or PS callups until Saturday Oct 30th, by which time they will have a lot of info on how Knox hand is healing. This is where we find out if Beane & Co knew what TF they were doing when they kept Sweeney over Hollister.

MLJ Sighting!!!! So we have a good Miami ESPN reporter who cultivates sources saying "Nope!" and a Houston reporter of some distinction putting the info out there.

Why pull the trigger right now? I will say in case anyone else was interested, the recent moves to cut Andre Roberts (now a Charger) and Whitney Mercilus (now a Packer) were NOT cap saving moves for the Texans to "make room" for an estimated $16.2M cap hit from Watson's roster bonus (though maybe they can put some of that off until next year now). As far as I can tell, both moves are at best about cap-neutral - both players had "voidable years" amortizing their signing bonus into 2022, but (assuming they have offset language which prevents them from double dipping) the savings from their remaining salaries roughly equals next year's signing bonus at this point. If they don't have offset language, then the Texans lost a couple million of cap space.

Can you refresh my memory how they got those? No, Please.

Anyone know when a team has to place a player on IR in order for the next game they would have played (if not on IR) to count?

I feel the same was true earlier in the game - there was a 3rd and 5 in the RZ I think where he wound up throwing the ball away. He had Moss in the flats with a ton of green grass in front of him. Moss gets up a head of steam and even if he's tackled behind the line of gain, chances are good he churns his legs and gets the 1st down. Josh needs to learn to take what the defense is serving up to him on a fine China platter I think your interpretation is accurate, but there's a ***** ton of good stuff in there about a bunch of the good things Allen did. Yeah, Kubiak doesn't say this, but it spotlights the Elephant in the Room - that the real problem was that 31 points wasn't enough.

This week's Jim Kubiak Analysis from TBN https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/jim-kubiak-how-bills-used-unique-rpo-concepts-how-titans-made-josh-allen-uncomfortable/article_74cf078c-3136-11ec-81e1-7f49b77924f9.html Some interesting breakdown of Daboll's use of RPOs early in the game. Key assessment of the 4th and inches play (Kubiak incorrectly calls it "fourth and goal"): For those who say it never should have come to that on the 2nd to last drive, Kubiak appears to agree with you: Kubiak ends "Allen and the Bills were still the better team, despite the loss." I don't know that I can agree; game has 3 phases and our D was a sieve. We need to be better there. The article has great video clips and play diagrams and is well worth the trial subscription IMHO. (Full disclosure some people have complained it is an ad-riddled, slow to load bad website but it behaves perfectly for me. I do use ad blockers on my 'puter and the latest iOS on my idevices.)

He won't, but I do appreciate the sentiment. I hate like hell that we lost that one.

This is great. Knox "shot putted" the pass to Allen!!!! https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3389633/ultimate-football-guy-move-bills-te-dawson-knox-broke-a-bone-in-his-hand-didnt-leave-the-game-until-he-threw-a-successful-2-point-conversion My favorite part of that film clip is Mike Vrabel's expression after the play.

I would take the word of people on the Bills or who are in contact with Knox over Dr. David Chao. Upthread we heard 3-4 weeks, which does not make IR unreasonable. Yolo just posted a bout a similar injury with a timeframe 2-4 weeks. So it's a tradeoff between having him possibly miss a game he could play (that 3rd game), vs. having another player on the roster for 2 games Knox will miss if not IR'd and able to make the earlier timeline. Chao has an...ahem.."colorful" past: "he had two alcohol-related driving incidents, was subject to a DEA investigation, was reportedly sued 20 times between 1998-2011 and the NFLPA demanded he step down as a result of repeated negligence" "In 2010, DEA agents searched Chao’s offices because they alleged he had written 108 prescriptions to himself since 2008. The probe eventually closed without charges when he was, “now in compliance.” "In 2013, two San Diego-area hospitals barred him from performing surgery on the premises." (I don't think hospitals ever revoke a physician's privileges without strong cause) Whether or not you're troubled by the new celebrity status of someone with that past, the point remains that he's "diagnosing from afar" with "not getting any leaked information from people inside the league." Details make a difference in the timing of return from injury. The Bye week doesn't count in either case, so I expect the Bills to wait until after the Bye and see how he's progressing, they don't have a need to make a decision until they decide if they need space on the 53 man roster.

Looking over at "Bye Week Update" (Thanks @YoloinOhio) we already worked a guy out today - though I wouldn't call him a veteran backup exactly, but he's kicked around the league a year or so.

Just might be *g* No seriously - paging @Mr. WEO, this is to his lane, and just my understanding subject to correction. There are two major reasons to have immediate surgery on your hand: 1) you smashed the ***** out of the thing and need surgery to put the pieces in the same zip code with each other and keep them there 2) you're an elite athlete and you hope to speed healing by fixing the bones in optimal alignment and providing extra strength and support while they heal Everyone else gets stuck in a cast for a couple weeks while the swelling goes down and a better assessment takes place. Given what's been said about the timeline I'm guessing Knox is in the 2nd category. I've heard of athletes getting back on the field in as little as 2 weeks post surgery, but that wasn't a sport with as high, violent contact as football. We heard 3-4 weeks, but I'm guessing he'll maybe be able to take the cast or brace off and start doing PT in 2-3 weeks and he'll need a couple of weeks to strengthen and recover - and he'll probably have to figure out how to play in some kind of a brace or support for a few weeks longer. My kid had a custom-molded hand splint that was made to allow her to play the flute when she broke a finger playing volleyball. She successfully auditioned for State band that year, wearing the brace. No worries, like I said the other thread had drifted............... into an argument about Lamar Jackson (of all things)!

?? Which 2?

Negative.

I think Vrabel felt he had all the intel he needed from our former champion sideline cape-twirler That...was a Good one. Not limited to this thread: https://heavy.com/sports/buffalo-bills/bobby-hart-titans/ Tennessee Titans Steal Veteran OL From Bills’ Practice Squad: Report But then there's this, written with the author's tongue firmly impacted in his cheek: https://thebuffalofanatics.com/universally-beloved-buffalo-bill-bobby-hart-signed-by-titans/ That had nothing to do with it. People who pull crap like that get smacked down promptly and 26CB knew it.

Don't take this as a problem as the thread had kind of drifted, but the info is already here: Let the record show we had the gouge that Knox was in surgery and expected to be out 3-4 weeks while McDermott was giving his Tuesday interview, waiting for updates. 👍

Is that before or after they trade for Deshaun Watson this week? Oh, DID they now? He's still listed on the Buffalo Bils practice squad on their website as of, when I posted. Guess the Bills media guys too busy ragging Nick Wrong https://titanswire.usatoday.com/2021/10/20/tennessee-titans-sign-greg-mabin-bobby-hart-larrell-murchison-return-ir/

Interesting. UB guy. Cut by the Falcons at the final roster cutdowns in 2020 Spent the 2020 season on the WFT practice squad, played in the Spring League Was brought into OTC/training camp by the Vikings and waived in late August. If he's had any looks or tryouts since then, I can't find them https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/2184379/evin-ksiezarczyk https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2021/09/evin-ksiezarczyk/ https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/2184379/evin-ksiezarczyk PSA: we currently have two OLmen on our practice squad: Jamil Douglas 6-4, 309, 4 year vet Bobby Hart, 6-5, 310, 7 year vet More than in the Dawson Knox thread? I'd say we have better gouge than McDermott seems to at this point!

My understanding is that the league has standard trade language and a standard proviso that anything outside of that must receive league approval. I recall that being a factor in several other recent trades where the trade was reported, there was a delay, and it was later reported that the NFL didn't approve the original contingency language and it had to be revised. Anything in the US can end up in court anyway. As far as the NFL not taking action, worth reviewing Mike Florio's take (Florio is actually a US-trained lawyer, a former litigator I believe) https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/09/11/nfl-isnt-taking-action-against-deshaun-watson-because-it-doesnt-have-to/

I say that because to people who watch the game carefully, Davis is out there on 35% of the offensive snaps (range: 25-51%) and when targetted, his catch % has gone up this season. He's being targeted less because he's not taking the snaps for an injured starter as he did in 8 games (2 by this point) last season, and because the Bills are running less 3 and 4 WR sets and more 2 back and 2 TE sets, but he's out there a similar percentage to what he was last year when not filling on for a starter, Doing His Job. In most of the games where Davis wasn't replacing a starter, he saw 1 or 2 targets last season, just like this season. I have no question that Davis is a solid NFL-quality WR. He might not be Manny Sands Jr, then again, he might be - Sanders didn't see much playing time until his 4th year. Epenesa has shown flashes, but I have questions as to whether he can maintain the body the Bills want him to maintain to do what they want him to do, and I'd like to see him actually making some tackles. To date in 5 games he has 2 assists, 5 QB hits, no TFL and no sacks. If the Bills didn't still feel he was a "work in progress", he wouldn't be inactive as he was last week.

"Incredibly disruptive" to most of us, would be "disruptive like Aaron Donald" or "disruptive like Vita Vea" and (maybe I should say IMHO) Oliver just isn't on that level (and may never be). But he's unquestionably a solid NFL DT IMO.

Kill the trade? Well, rumor has it that when the trade was discussed previously, the trade partner wanted contingencies in the trade. Anything unusual like that, I believe the League would have to approve.

I don't see this at all. The League is like the question of where the 2,000 pound polar bear sits? (Anywhere it wants). That said, IMO: the league isn't going to actually suspend Watson until the legal action is resolved. Plenty of precedent for the league waiting for legal matters to play out before taking action. On the other hand, the league has an action available to them - putting Watson on the commissioner's Exempt list PENDING resolution of the legal matters, in which case, the team which has Watson on the roster gets to pay him, but can't play him. The league has no reason to take that action while Watson is being paid and not playing for the Texans. But once he's traded and his new team wants to play him, if there's enough outrage I bet that's just where he goes.

That's basically my question. McCain says that: On the other hand, earlier and even in this report, supposedly Caserio hasn't budged in what he wants for the trade: but then: So what's changed? All that has been simmering quietly in the face of Watson sitting on the bench and no news on the legal front. But I think it's a pretty safe bet that if Watson is traded and is lined up to start for a new team, that lawyer for the 22 women is going to do his best to create a huge stir about the pending allegations and try to get the NFL to act (put Watson on the Commissioner's Exempt List pending resolution) I mean, on the one hand, it *is* the Dolphins. On the other hand, what team would trade away a 3 year fortune in draft picks without a resolution to the legal matters or some kind of contingency assuring them of protection should the legal matters go badly and result in a suspension by the NFL?

Just a note here that while I believe you are using "rotational DT for us" as a negative, ALL DLmen are rotational in McDermott/Frazier's system. So it really shouldn't be a "knock" on Oliver to be a "rotational DT". All GMs hit and miss in the draft, including on high picks. The success rate to get a good player (not a superstar, just a solid NFL-caliber player) is something like 50% at the top of the first round, 30% in the bottom half and top of the second, and goes down from there. This is going to be exacerbated for Beane because he has a pattern of going after high ceiling/low floor guys who have gaps in their resume. I "get it", it's a way to cultivate disproportionate success at a lower draft slot, but it will mean a higher "miss rate". Anyway, one reason for the relatively low "success rate" with top picks, is that it's hard to predict who will really stay focused and dedicated on improving as a football player once "generational wealth" lands in his lap. So if you look at our picks in the first 4 rounds from the "draft a solid NFL-caliber player" perspective": 2018: Allen, Edmunds, Harrison Phillips, Taron Johnson. I would say 3 out of 4. People diss on Edmunds, but he's plainly doing what McD and Frazier want for the most part or they wouldn't have picked up his 5th yr. Phillips is looking like a "Does Not Meet Expectations", Taron Johnson is looking like an "Exceeds Expectations". 2019: Oliver, Ford, Singletary, Knox. I think they like Ed as a solid DLmen, the question will be is he showing the consistency and development they want? I "get it" that at #9, people want Aaron Donald or Khalil Mack, but they were drafted considerably higher than #9. This kind of looked like 0 of 4 last season, now 2 of 4, maybe 3. 2020: Epenesa, Moss, Davis. I dunno about Epenesa's benching last week (never a good sign) but I also think it didn't work out like the Bills wanted. At least 2 out of 3, maybe 3 out of 3. And I would call swapping our 1st round pick for Diggs a total Slam. 2021: Rousseau, Basham, Brown: Early to call, but at least 2 out of 3 and Basham looks to be a contributor, just needs to grow into the role they're asking of him. JMO.