Hapless Bills Fan

I kind of missed this - I assume you mean GB GM Brian Gutekunst? Edit: just found this https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33356458/green-bay-packers-gm-says-never-promised-trade-aaron-rodgers As far as anything Aaron Rodgers says, whatever else one thinks about his opinion,s he has unambiguously shown he is willing to shade the meaning of words to serve his personal convenience. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to him if 1) other people in his life (his GM, his CEO) are willing to do likewise (Sauce, Gander, Goose) 2) maybe Rodgers is doing that here, the GM told him they'd sit down and talk about it and he is interpreting that "but you promised"

Agree

Not at me, personally, No, but "only comedy is coming from the crusty old timers who for whatever reason are deeply threatened by the idea of crypto trading and think any returns above your large cap index and bond fund must be a ponzi scheme" is very inclusive brush, would you not agree? The point is, many people who think crypto is a ponzi scheme are not "crusty old timers" Nor are "crusty old timers" generally (IME) threatened by other people's returns above large cap index Other than these points and the above-mentioned caution to 2 guys to avoid extended 1:1s in public threads, I have no dog in this fight If you want to make this personal and continue to tell me I have "issues to sort out", that can, of course, change.

I put some links up earlier from a bunch of young techie types who feel crypto is a ponzi scheme. I haven't been back because it's not "a hill I want to die on", and "crusty old timer" does, in fact, describe me, although it would be problematic to identify in what way I am "deeply threatened" by the idea of bright young people making money, or making more money than I. Frankly, IME wealth envy is a young person's game, most of the "crusty old farts" I know regard successful young people as a Good Thing vs. young people in need of rehab services and/or debt counseling. But to describe all those who are sounding an alarm on crypto as "crusty old timers" who are "deeply threatened" is not correct This guy is not a crusty old timer and he has a lot to say, some of which may be exaggerated but much of which is, as far as I can tell, true. And there has definitely been fraud involved, which the nature of crypto makes challenging to address https://www.vice.com/en/article/epxakz/crypto-co-founder-revealed-to-be-infamous-fraudster-investors-shaken?fbclid=IwAR0TzejZTyPbMzBP-Fk_YDlTvdtXU4A-_N8IpYHxYc7fOBS__wk18mZt9Qw https://thewalrus.ca/bitcoin-widow/ Bit your coins at your own risk

I respectfully suggest that when folks go 1:1 back and forth more than 2 or 3 times, they either 1) drop it, because usually the rest of the thread doesn't want to read your back-and-forth 2) take it to PM, for the same reason Thanks

He doesn't have a $7.7M dead cap if they designate him a post-June1 cut It drops to $5.2M with $4.1M savings this season and a $2.6 dead cap next year https://overthecap.com/player/star-lotulelei/2282/ I don't know. But I do know that in looking for cap space to make our own moves in FA, Star isn't where the Bills will look, because the only way he has significant cap savings is if he's post-June 1 (in which case, his savings don't count until wait for it...post-June 1)

Its possible, For A plain yellow pumpkin to become A golden carriage, Its possible, For A plain country bumpkin and A prince to join in mariage, And four white mice are easily turned to horses, Such fallerall and fiddledeedee ofcourses. I mean, Levi was an UDFA. But he also took several years to reach his potential Dane Jackson was drafted in the 7th It's POSSIBLE to get guys who can play in the league in later rounds than the 3rd or 4th or in FA But most of the guys drafted (including in the 3rd and 4th round) aren't upgrades if we want a guy who can play this season, it's possible, but unlikely. Will the Bills bet the season on it? Don't know. The other problem with small fast twitchy guys is that they can't be asked to play press and jam big guys like Kelce on the line. It doesn't surprise me that someone here would "float" the idea of trading an actual free agent, Mitch Trubisky It does, actually, surprise me that you would repeat this silliness.

Your statement I was responding to was that he had skipped 2021 “camp” He did not

He calls it a cleanse. The rest of us call it "self-inflicted Norovirus symptoms" People I know who've suffered through Norovirus typically feel intense gratitude when the puking and ***** taper off I don't know anyone who has intentionally set out to create those symptoms in themselves though Memo to Josh: if you must, take Brady as a mentor, eating Avocado ice cream and avoiding sugar sounds way healthier than this A-Rod (literally) *****.

? Lotulelei was here for 2021 Training camp. Also mandatory minicamp https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2021/08/bills-star-lotulelei-explosive-in-practice-on-day-10-of-training-camp-efe-obada-continues-sack-party-8-observations.html You may be thinking OTAs?

I don't think Joe B is correct, if those numbers are from him (please link when referencing articles It's not something "just learned" it was known since 2020 when he renegotiated Spotrac and Overthecap both have info Star has a cap hit of $9.226M. Of that, $7.7 is dead cap, meaning there would be a $1.5M savings for cutting him pre-June 1 (not $700k as you state and imply is Joe B's work. The dead cap consists of $2.5M guaranteed salary from this season, $2.6M signing bonus amortized to this season, and $2.6M signing bonus amortized to next season. So if the Bills are willing to eat $2.6M of dead cap next season, they can designate him a post-June1 cut and save $4.1M ($1.5M + $2.6M of 2023 amortized bonus) against the cap this season. I don't know how Beane/McDermott/Frazier feel about Lotulelei, but I'm not a fan of guaranteeing him more money. And if Star feels he's worth more than $2.1M on the open market, then if he wants more $$, he has little motivation to re-negotiate for $4.65M salary. He can just say "cut me, I take my $2.5M and go see what someone else will pay me" If he doesn't have offset language in his contract (in general, his contracts seem to take the Bills to the cleaners, so that's my guess) then if another team pays him more than $2.15M he gets more by being cut and adding it to the $2.5M the Bills guaranteed him. I'm not sure who $4.1M of cap hit this year would sign us, but that's starting to get into serious money, especially if it's someone to whom we are willing to offer a multi-year deal (caveat: a post-June1 designation means the cap savings don't count until after June 1)

I'd like to send this one out, dedicated to Aaron Rodgers from all the Fans in Green Bay

If you want to watch Josh Allen running at the combine, I prefer this clip That's what Josh himself said. In one appearance on the Pat McAfee show, one of the guys asked him if he were sandbagging or actually trying at the combine? Josh said that he was trying, but that when he's playing and he's got people chasing him trying to hit him it's "extra motivation". He also said on the same show, that as he's gotten bigger he's actually gotten more athletic and faster, which the McAfee crew said something like "that's a dream situation" I think he had all the coaching he wanted, he just wasn't focused on the 40 yd dash. He was focusing on improving footwork and his throwing.

I think the Panthers beat the hell out of him in 2019 when he had 403 touches and 2392 yards from scrimmage, and he hasn't recovered yet

Can't tell ya We didn't go the Slut!

Yes they did. I did note the "leave at your own risk" thing.

You called it! Yes he did!

That would do it!

~1965. Watching games as a small child with my grandfather. Winning 1965 AFL Championship "The Comeback" Darryl Talley, Micah Hyde I think it is self-explanatory expressing the nature of being a Bills fan through the late '60s early '70s, mid-'80s, and then through the drought. But, as many here know, I used to be "Hopeful". Changed Sept 11 2016 (Season opener Rex Ryan 2nd season)

Well, there's a couple questions there. 1) Do the Bills see Davis as a legit #2? He's had a couple of fantastic games, but many folks here like to remind us that just because Isaiah McKenzie has had a couple of great games, doesn't mean he's a top WR in the league if he were starting. Sometimes a guy has a great game because the D gameplans to take away receivers they see as bigger threats, or doesn't account for them properly. Maybe they would see Kirk as that #2 2) as posted above, how do the Bills see Beasley? And a point - Beasley managed to rack up 82 receptions for damned close to 1000 yds in 2020, even while Diggs caught 128 for >1500 and the combination of Brown and Davis (playing when Brown was injured) racked up >1000 yds on 68 receptions. If the offense is clicking, there is probably room for 3 1000+ yd receivers on the Bills

I think they were all at the WM Phoenix Open. Josh played in the Pro-Am side last year, doesn't seem to be playing this year but may want to watch. Also pretty sure Christian Kirk trains as a WR with someone who works with Jordan Palmer. So I wouldn't chalk it up as a "recruiting visit" at this point

I think Washington is one of those guys who looked good in college (looked great in college, I really wanted him - LOL there's a reason I don't pipe up in the "draft this guy" threads) but he just can't adjust and gain separation in the pros I think a lot of it depends upon how the Bills see Beasley 1) someone they really want to keep on the team - #2 in NFL for receptions out of the slot, equaled his career high with 82 receptions and a >70% catch rate 2) someone the Bills are a bit "over" - whinging about fans on SM, getting fined $100K by the league, being injured and less effective for a handful of games mid-season (but unwilling to sit and heal up) - plus Father Time comes for us all 3) an unfortunate cap casualty If Beasley is 2), then I can see Beane wanting to make a moderate "splash" in FA at WR, in a similar vein to what he did last season signing Manny Sands for almost the same amount we saved by cutting John Brown, as well as drafting a guy

You really want to call John Miller at RG and Jordan Mills at RT "solid around him"? Now I'm not going to argue that Richie Incognito >> Vlad Ducasse But I think we have to factor the difference between Aaron Kromer and the blocking scheme we were running with Roman as OC vs. Juan Castillo and the blocking scheme we were running during Daboll's first year - which frankly, I couldn't figure out except that whatever it was, the guys we had couldn't do it And Groy was actually better than Russ Bodine, just as putting Teller in over Ducasse and Miller in over Sirles improved things somewhat on the OL Still I take your point let's not bet the OL on Bates right now.

So first off, I sanity-checked and on the Bills roster currently there are 17 undrafted guys, 13 of whom were on the 53 man roster during the season. That would be 24-25% of the 53 man roster, and if multiplied by 32 teams, would be 424 players. Bills signed 8 UDFA in 2019, 8 in 2020, and 6 in 2021. Of them, Cam Lewis, Tyrell Dodson, Reggie Gilliam are on the team; Antonio Williams is in the league; Q Morris Olijah Griffin and Nick McCloud are still around. 15% if you just count the ones on the roster. How I think it happens is just a numbers game. The team has 7 draft picks (we know that number varies, but let's say it averages 7). If the team averages 7 UDFA a year, even if the retention rate for UDFA is 1/3 of the retention rate for draft picks, over time they're going to make up ~25% of the roster?

Whisky tango foxtrot on that last bit, it seems gratuitous? I don't think it's going to affect the drafting of the top picks. It may affect where they're drafted, which matters to them more than the NFL - seems every year a dozen or so players see their stock rise after a great combine performance. I read that 486 undrafted players made Week 1 NFL rosters and that there are more undrafted players in the NFL than 1st and 2nd rounders combined. That's ~1/4 of the NFL. They still get a rookie salary of $660k. But it's still a big deal to the players to get drafted, because 6th and 7th round draft picks get a signing bonus of $76-200k. They keep that if they don't make the 53 man roster, and because there's a bit of a "sunk cost" in them, they may get more chances to make the roster. So the combine is a big deal to the players who fall outside the first 4 rounds - it has a huge effect on what signing bonus they get, or whether they get a bonus by being drafted.