thurst44

Ha. Sal was adamant Beane told him the Bills weren't pursuing a UFA QB a few hours before we signed McCarron, so I'm not even convinced we're done with free agency and are "100% focused on the draft." That being said, he might NOT be certain he's going to move up--he strikes me as a "game theory"(-ish) type of guy who may wait to see how it all plays out or jump if a team wants to move back and makes HIM an offer. Who knows?

As to 13., would you also draft Vincent Adultman before Josh Allen

Lamar Jackson, apparently

Don't mean this in a mean way, but I'd suggest you take the advice of your screenname . While the initial frenzy may be done, there's still almost all of the free agency period left to go and many, many LB left, and as time goes by, the prices will go down. Go to any free agency tracker and look at the names. Somehow, I doubt Tanner Vallejo will be starting middle linebacker in Game 1.

Why would we get "priced out of the market"? Last I checked, with the trades of Tyrod and Cordy, Bills are actually in the top half of salary cap space, and Pegula is the 7th richest owner in the NFL. Beane may decide not to pay these initial prices (and that's probably smart), but we're nowhere near salary cap hell.

Me too, on both counts. It truly feels as if Beane/McDermott has a plan.

In that case, I'd much rather we try to work him at RT or RG this season (or work Dion Dawkins at RT). Between our run game and the likely potential of having a rookie QB, we should not be quick to move on from a player who, when healthy, is above average, and about whom many have speculated has some potential ability at other spots on the line, unless the assets acquired make it absolutely worth it (to me, that would be at least a 2nd rounder).

Is Gibran Hamdan not available. I miss the Chroise.

I'm pretty sure he meant to write Fitzgibbon

If the Bills don't get a QB in draft, it would likely mean they didn't trade up and there was a run on QBs, so it means they could get a bunch of great high draft picks at other positions to build on a team that already made the playoffs last year.

The cap hit is a difference of about 1.5-2m and they are well under the cap, so will probably not have that much impact in the scheme of things.

Not according to Sportrac. The first link is about how retirement affects the salary cap, which would make it essentially the same as a cut. https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-features-news-blog-long-form/2016/3/5/11158958/nfl-101-how-cuts-retirements-and-trades-affect-the-salary-cap http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/eric-wood-5637/ Not sure where you guys are getting the $10m number (actually curious -- i'm no expert and recognize i could very well be wrong), but according to what I've read, it's 5.5m. It would have been an 8.5m hit if he were still playing. Wish it were an 8.5 mil hit and he were still able to play next year, but these appear to be the facts.

Really people?! This is where we are?!?!?! You do realize we beat two then-winless teams at the beginning of the season with Tyrod at QB? If you listen to many of the fans here, we have a useless QB, a team full of holes, and terrible management that gets nearly every decision wrong ... yet, somehow we have a winning record since 2014. Is it magic? Voodoo? When we win, we're "lucky," but when we lose, all our flaws define us. That's not a healthy way to be a fan. I can get lack of trust in Tyrod to a degree and I like Peterman and would be zen about him being named QB after his gutsy, impressive performance in the snow, but this is getting absurd. This is reminding me of when we thought going with a QB who had played in 2 games, at least one meaningless, was a better bet for the playoffs than the veteran who had been 10-5 on the season and had been through 7 or 8 post-seasons. If we are playing important games, I want the QB with three years full-time experience and a winning record and one of the lowest turnover rates of all time over the fifth-round rookie who's never played a full game and one of his starts was arguably the WORST game a quarterback has ever had. Also, it's not like teams have ebbs and flows on the season. The Dolphins ALWAYS play New England tough in Miami (Brady is now an unfathomable 7-9 in Miami if the stat the announcers gave out yesterday is correct). They are not that great a team. Remember how great the Broncos were looking before we played them. Yes, they may sweep us and we may go 0-3, but I'd say we still have the upper hand, especially in this game. Also, this week's win may have sparked more than if we had won 38-3 on a sunny day. They truly appear to be a team that loves playing together. Only one way to find out. Right now, I'm just hoping we beat Miami this week at home, the Steelers pull off a win at home against the Pats, and then Christmas Eve is a whole lot of fun as all the narratives are the spiraling Pats and the fact that they still haven't clinched the division. Even I doubt we win that game, but the ramp up would be a lot of fun. And I plan to enjoy this week as well instead of getting pointlessly fatalistic (an instinct i understand and secretly inside i know there's a good chance this sunday will not go well, but if that happens, it happens). This^^

"is any good"? we're 4-2 having played mostly hard teams.

Have you been watching the same Kyle Williams? He's looked pretty solid to me. And their opponents' lack of rushing yards kinda hints that the DL might not exactly be in shambles...

They are on pace for 160 yards rushing

The point above is that you probably wouldn't have thought of Mike Gillislee the same way either before he started doing well for us (or Fred Jackson for that matter). It's amazing on this site, how even when we're 3-1 beating two otherwise undefeated teams in a row, there are more chicken little and negative threads than positive. Yes, it's fine to be concerned or start threads like this, and I apologize if I'm sounding like I think I'm an arbiter (with a whopping 500 posts or so, i'm certainly not). Another way of looking at this is we've gone 3-1 (and almost 4-0) with only one ostensibly easy game (and even they are above .500 playing other teams) even though what we thought was the strength of our game has been mostly silent.

It's hard to believe, but the facts bear it out. How else are they going to rank a team who just beat two otherwise unbeaten teams? Should they rank us lower because some of its fanbase is surprised. Perhaps Carolina is ranked too low, but the fact is the Bills have a 3-1 record against teams who have been playing well otherwise. 10-15 would put them as the lowest ranked 3-1 team, which would be silly based on what they have done on the field. There's really no other way to look at them in the power rankings unless the creators simply diss them for being the Buffalo Bills. If they aren't for real, they will prove it. But let's give them the chance to determine that instead of tearing them down pre-emptively. For now, we are what the record says we are. No, this is simply reflecting what they've done on the field. What exactly are we "doing" to ourselves? I think we all know the recent history of the Bills and anyone with a brain is prepared for a possible fall, but if we can't at least get some enjoyment when we win against powerful teams, then what's the point of being a fan? Besides, as Yolo said, these are meaningless. Heck, even I find it all a bit silly, but why drag down the team you root for because they get some meaningless praise.

Hardly insane. We beat two teams in a row who have lost to no other teams, one of whom were within an incredible choke of winning the Super Bowl last year. How else would you parse it? There are two sides to a football field and right now we've got the top defense in football and have a 3-1 record against teams who are 10-2 otherwise. Maybe they'll prove you right. I hope not. We'll see. But really, what's your point?

Great observations. Bills haven't turned the ball over since the first drive of the season (and were about to set a record for fewest turnovers in a season up til the EJM game).

That's one of the most hopeful things in this start. This defense has been practically lights out in the second half, which had us fingertips away from 3-0. They have allowed 5 ppg in the second half in their first three games. The Falcons in Atlanta will be one hell of a test for this defense.

For crying out loud, can't you just enjoy a win?!

Want to rethink this?

But Taylor's played an above average game in six of his last eight games (with two absolute clunkers in between), which is a pretty great rate for a starting QB...51 tds, 16 turnovers! (heck, team has only allowed a single turnover and that was on their first drive).

Ha! And many thanks to you for that. And hopefully the Bills surprise us. Prediction: Buffalo 28, Denver 20 (or am i going off-topic)