thurst44

I'm gonna say the same thing I say when people moan about how clearly terrible our schedule is going to be. You never can tell how bad it is until the season starts. Also, we might think their schedule is easier by the same logic that makes us think ours is harder than it is (we'll tend to posit that every team that was good last year is going to stay good, that every usually good team that had an off-year is going to rebound, and most teams that were terrible just got good draft picks and this is the year the Jags/Browns are going to break through).

Don't you mean one pick . Ours is gonna be 32!

They were labeled the Bickering Bills the one year between 1988 and 1994 that they made an early exit from the playoffs. They had enough chemistry the rest of the time that many still live in the area and they seem to still hang out together on the reg almost 30 years later.

The point is more that there's zero confirmation that this story is true. It's run about the same path as mccoy-to-be-traded story. Yet, we Eeyore-y Bills fans are running with it and just buying it wholesale. If it's true, then he's a true jerk for claiming he's leaving inspired by a noble cause. That does not sound like Boldin to me. This sounds like a Pats reporter patting themselves on the back for being great and taking a swipe at the Bills. Maybe it's an inside scoop. I've definitely been wrong in the past. However, I would be very disappointed in Boldin both for the crassness of the lie and the bandwagon-jumping.

I don't get this move either, but it has nothing to do with winning this year (if it hurts them, it's as much down the road as it does now). Hopefully the OP is right in his Banyard love. He'll be easy to root for. And it's not like we haven't had luck with older seemingly-journeyman running backs in the past.

Keeping Jones has nothing to do with running backs. They like him at gunner. That one makes sense. We get bent out of shape about them keeping players for ST abilities (at least some here do), but when we have bad special teams, that's no fun. While I like Banyard, I don't get keeping him over Jonathan Williams. Letting Gillislee go made sense b/c you had a young player ready to move into a spot that has been historically plug-and-play, and grooming Williams for McCoy's spot should he slow down made sense. I'm wondering if maybe there's a running back who got cut elsewhere that McDermott has his eye on. Or, I guess, they'll be taking an RB with one of their hundred picks next year. All that said, I'm pretty close to my tipping point too. John Miller being cut or traded, which seems almost likely now, would make me feel like this whole roster churn had more to do with a near-obsession with getting rid of recent picks that were not his. I've been denying this up til now, but this move is just peculiar....doesn't really hurt the team next year that much, but seems out-of-line with the other moves.

First off, this is all conjecture. However, as good a guy as he's been, if he lied in a way that made him look heroic, that's messed up and he made his own bed. I'm with you on getting something from NE, but while maybe not a ridiculous demand, they should get a little more than normal for him for their troubles, maybe up that 6th to a 4th. Again, hopefully, this is just a fake story. Also, can we quit it on the woe-is-us "this is a lost season." This team is not as historically bad as most people are making it out to be. They're likely even not bad. Let's try to enjoy the season.

Felt is the key word there. That still seems like a lot of talent and I don't think it is as underwhelming as you give it credit. These are the players we know: they are our players, so we'll either overestimate them or take them for granted. I doubt if you looked at the Falcons this time last year with all their first and second year players, you would have expected all that much from them. Let's see how the season plays out. I honestly don't get the feeling that this team is particularly any worse than last year's. Also, this whole scenario plays out every year where they get predicted to be awful for no apparent reason and they're usually mediocre. I'm excited for this season and have nothing to lose believing in this team. As for the draft picks, they were players I was hoping they would take, so I like the picks. Then again, I also wanted them to take Darby and Watkins at the time.

No, if this is true, he lied in a ghoulish manner. Why should we help him, while sending them to the rival whose strategy has been to deliberately mess with us. Hopefully, this is yet another dumb rumor.

Again, really?!?! I didn't love the Sammy or Darby trades, but the former was injured most of last year and the latter was awful last year. Gilmore was the TBD whipping boy until he was gone and last year he was lights out in half his games and torched in the rest. I liked Gillislee, but he was more than likely aided by the strong overall run game (Karlos Williams put up almost identical stats and J-Will is looking just fine). I don't really get letting NRC go, but Leonard Johnson/Shareece Wright/EJ Gaines are in the same category. Kevon Seymour was a 7th round rookie who showed flashes, but wasn't exactly irreplaceable. Can you really say last year's safety situation is better, particularly if Poyer's pre-season indicates how he'll play in the regular season...and that reminds me. When listing talent, I forgot: Micah Hyde - on almost every list of best FA acquisitions I saw.

Can we dispense with the hyperbole: Lesean McCoy - Top 3 running back, likely future HoFer Cordy Glenn - Above average LT Richie Incognito - Perennial pro bowl guard Eric Wood - Severely underrated here Tyrod Taylor - Say what you want about him, but analytic sites call him vastly underrated, 47 tds to 15 ints (how many better have we had since Kelly, really) Marcell Dareus - Sure he's got off-field issues, but when active he's one of the best DTs in the league Kyle Williams - Ok, he's 34, but has the perennial pro bowler slowed down? Jerry Hughes - Has had off years, but inarguably talented Shaq Lawson - Considered by many to go as high as 11th last year in draft Lorenzo Alexander - A ton of tackles, and third in the league in sacks Tre'Davious White - Extremely promising rookie Zay Jones - All-time NCAA Div I season and career leader in receptions I'd also argue that Preston Brown is looking as he did in his rookie season, John Miller was PFF's most improved, Dion Dawkins had a hell of a spring, and Jordan Matthews has 200 more yards than Sammy in the same amount of time (is he the same potential talent, not by a longshot, but on a run-first team that led the league in rushing by 15 ypg, he's not nothing), and Charles Clay, while underwhelming so far, is not untalented. Could this team have a disastrous year? Sure, but I don't really get this sudden rush to declare them one of the worst in a sea of truly awful teams this year. On paper, this looks like a team that should hover around the same .500 they do every year, and who could have an influx of talent in the upcoming years. Sometimes these teams catch lightning in a bottle, or something clicks. I mostly love what McDermott's been doing (save Ducasse-Miller battle) and am going into the season with an open mind. However, to call this a low talent team is simply absurd.

No, I'll never get over Macho Grande.

Good! He's a great depth pick who had 10 sacks over the course of 2014/15 before an off-season with Dallas, and looked solid in pre-season from what I watched. And I suspect we don't have to release 3 players to get the comp pick. That logic is going off of a construct that has Justin Hunter as the last person to not count and EJ Manuel also close but not counting. There's a decent chance both qualify (unless Hunter, as is quite possible, is released today) as even the people at Sportrac and other similar endeavors will tell you it's an inexact science, especially when you get down to the 7th rounders, plus supposedly their play during the season can have an effect.

Chances are we haven't noticed him because he's been doing his job.

Exactly! That's what they got Tolbert for (to drive it through on 3rd and short), and he's done nothing in the pre-season to lose that job. Holmes and Ducasse I'd be fine with being cut, between comp pick possibilities and not showing much in pre-season/camp.

They really aren't. They still have the likely best running game in the league by a wide margin. The D-line could be dominant and the secondary has actually been looking good against the first teams. I'm in NYC, trust me, the Jets are terrible. The Bills could still go either way, no matter what you think.

He also was pushed back on the run before that. That's gotta be a wrap on Vlad Ducasse.

Or he gets his act together, has two seasons at the top of his ability, and we're all happy. So, I guess I don't agree and agree (hopefully he grows up and makes us have to keep him).

We go through this almost every year. The only year they were right was the 0-8 start year. I honestly don't get why people think this team is particularly bad. Mediocre, I get, but there's still one of the best rushing attacks, and the D-line/linebackers look good and deep. We'll see how the defensive backs play -- that's a definite wild card. However, why this team is supposedly much worse than last year's is beyond me (but both local and national press seem to do this every year, save the rare years we are a chic pick).

You mean with an over 60% completion rate with a QB rating of over 100 in four of his last five games? 47 tds vs. 15 turnovers bad? Yup, terrible...the absolute worst.

He looked like a pretty solid fit into the scheme flying around the field as the first team defense was pretty close to shut down, so not really quite sure why he would be cut.

On the Dolphins, don't be fooled. As in sync as the offense seemed, it's still Cutler who has a tendency to be uneven to say the least, and the defense looked abysmal. By the third drive, the Eagles took out their first string and were still barreling over the Fins D. In any case, it's pre-season. I can definitely also see 7-9 or 6-10. This team is not hopeless, nor free of flaw. As it stands now, they may have every starter playing Week One, or an untested QB and rough line. A tough year is neither out of the question, nor guaranteed. It always strikes me how certain people are about what the season will be when every year shows how unpredictable it can be (ok, the Patriots have been fairly predictable, but...).

This chicken little post is hopefully sarcasm . Matthews has more yards in his career than Sammy, Zay Jones set the record for yards in a season in college and looks great in practice and pre-season, Glenn is likely back Week One, hopefully Miller is starting and Ducasse is gone (or a back-up), and O-Line is still mostly looking like the #1 running offense it was last year. And you didn't mention the defense for a reason. Honestly, it looks like the epitome of an 8-8 season to me, something which could break either way.

Or "burning it down" can be an extreme and unnecessary overreaction, when you can effectively build for a stronger future, while still retaining what good you have to make it even better. To escape the metaphor: why trade good players for one draft which may not have all the answers, particularly when many of these players will not bring back in trade anywhere near the value that they would bring for the next season or, in many cases, seasons. Plus, for McCoy and Dareus, you're pointlessly putting yourself in extra cap trouble for next year. We already have 6 or 7 draft picks for next year. Let's try for the best possible season now and build upon that next year.

Well, pretty much every NFL analyst disagreed. There's also multiple scouting reports I saw which suggested he would do fine in the 4-3.