thurst44

Seymour has played solid football for a rookie, Shareece Wright and Leonard Johnson are actually very respected veterans, and the cornerbacks played pretty outstanding last year. EJ Gaines has played two decent years. At safety, I agree it's a concern, but Rambo played that part quite effectively a couple years ago. If Hyde gets hurt and/or Poyer bombs, maybe one of the unknowns pops up. As for LBs, I'm concerned, but were you concerned when Zach Brown and Lorenzo Alexander were going to be starters? Preston Brown has been stepping up like his rookie season, Humber seems to be playing well. Hodges has played quite well in his career (83 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 ints last year) and I'm sorry but I'm not yet giving up on Reggie Ragland yet. He had a much better pre-season game than people are giving him credit for (or at least less bad), and contrary to some people's revisionist opinions, he was highly regarded and more than just someone "Rex wanted." Sure, a lot of things need to go right to be a great team, but it would take a lot more to go wrong to be historically terrible, and I still am a bit baffled as to a 5-11 ceiling. Side note: before we decide who is a "starting caliber" LB (and without even getting into the tale of the Lorax that's only one year old), let's consider this character study. Let's say you just signed a LB who in his first five seasons had 3 sacks and averaged roughly 20 tackles per year...would you be happy about acquiring him? What if you were told you were picking up James Harrison going into his prime? Ok, it's an extreme example, but LBs with seemingly light resumes having solid or even Pro Bowl seasons isn't that rare. Heck, it happened on the Bills (you could argue twice) just last year.

Let's keep in mind that last year, Watkins had fewer than 500 yards and Darby was lit up like a torch. I really, truly liked the players and it pains me to see them go, but I don't see this as that impactful on this season as people think.

Really? Why particularly this year?! LeSean McCoy's still there and has better blockers. The Bills were the #7 points-scoring offense last year with WRs getting hurt every week (and Watkins mostly not playing)? There's a good chance this defense is better with a healthy Lawson and Dareus and McD/Frazier taking over from the Ryan Family Circus. I can see expecting a 7-9 or 6-10 season, but why would you feel this team is historically bad when it's not much different than last year's, except maybe better (or at least more sane) coaching?!

Do I "like" the moves? No. I can't stand them. I have a Watkins jersey and still feel like when he gets it all going in the right direction, he'll be a top 5 receiver (possibly THE best). I was rooting for Darby to be the pick in 2015 before the draft. Do I believe they are trades that make the Bills better overall? Absolutely...or, well, probably, anyway. The players have huge upside and have shown flashes, but the way the team is made up (especially with the focus on the run game), it doesn't put as much of a dent in the team (Darby may just go the way of Kiko & the Byrd) as people may think for the 2017 season. Plus now they have an insane haul of draft picks. If Tyrod collapses, they can target a future stud QB (although not rooting for that as qbs are such a crapshoot). If he improves his throws up the middle (looked pretty solid at that yesterday...granted most of those were to our former WR) and has a top season, well then we have a good problem to have and hopefully are stocking up with the bevy of picks. Frankly it seemed bemusingly Belichick-ian (surprising people traded, draft pick stockpile, team still at relatively similar position for next season. So, which way should I vote?

I'm sure the convo has gone way beyond this here, but as much as I don't like these moves on first glance (i'm a huge fan of watkins and his was my first jersey after adamantly not getting one for roughly 40 years of my life), it actually feels more Belicheck-ian than tanking. If you start seeing Dareus, Shady, and others on the block, they're tanking. If they were tanking, they wouldn't then acquire a guy who is at the same point in his career with more yards in said person's NFL career.

I don't even know what to say. Finally broke down and bought a jersey with Watkins. These moves are not the end of the world, nor do they seem totally blind, but gotta say I'm pretty attached to Sammy, plus it will be extra painful if he does follow the stat/career arc of Julio Jones...

When we doubt Jonathan Williams, remember Gillislee didn't do much his rookie season either -- in fact, they had the exact same ypc average. I love MG and would rather the Pats not have signed him, but he filled in marvelously when Karlos Williams seemed like a loss, and JWill could very well thrive behind Shady and a line that was one of the best run blocking units in the league and could be even better with the additions of DiMarco and Dawkins (and/or a healthy Cujo or Henderson). I've definitely been wrong before, but I highly doubt that the loss of a backup running back will be the difference during the season.

I'd say I'm mildly optimistic, but don't really fit your metric. I'd say playoffs are a decent possibility as is a bit of a mess to sort out. It looks like a tough schedule, but as we saw last year, that can be an illusion. There's a lot of talent and intriguing possibilities throughout the roster -- really only place I have a hard time seeing a clear path for success is the secondary (which may be the worst place to have holes in a passing-dominant league). If Dawkins and Zay start strong, Watkins and Shady stay healthy, and Tyrod builds on how he was playing in his final 5 starts, this could be a hard offense to stop. Also, as long as players remain healthy, and play at-or-near their potential, I have far fewer worries than most about the front seven. We may be underestimating the impact of our top three picks from last year. While this feels like a .500 to slightly above .500 team with promise, I can see a 14-2 shocker breakout season (see Falcons, Panthers) more than I could see a 2-14 disaster.

Or a tackle whose estranged father was a Hall of Fame basketball player since Demetress Bell

Marcus Sayles kinda fascinates me. Beyond having a very odd knack for blocking kicks, he did run a fast 40 and had a lot of interceptions, albeit at a DII school.

First off, stop labeling people who have watched games and come to a different conclusion as you about a QB with 47 tds and 15 turnovers in first two seasons as a starter "fanboys." (i wouldn't call you a tyrod "hater"). Second, it's funny how when I talk to fans of other teams, I so often hear "you've got a good quarterback there" and most are shocked that so many Bills fans want him gone. Why don't we see how it plays out and root for whoever is at qb to have a great season.

You do realize they also picked up a 1st next year and another 3rd. I did see us taking him at 10 in at least one draft. He was my second pick when someone asked who I wanted.

How so?

I think you are right (but I'm ok with it at 27 and having picked up extra picks) Or Foster. Or Baker. Or another trade back (and guess it's not Peppers)

Funny thing, but Perry Riley (the lower rated LB on that list) was rated 84.4 this year is the highest rated remaining UFA on PFF's list (save 39-year-old Terrence Newman). Zach Brown is next up. Sadly, however, fwiw, Robinson is way down the list -- in fact, the 6th ranked free agent Robinson, but above Manti Teo, D'Qwell Jackson, Zachary Orr (who knocked me out of my fantasy league's playoffs), and our ol' friend Kelvin Sheppard.

Watched the second Miami game at Grand Central while visiting the in-laws in DC and despite the crappy ending, it was still a lot of fun. The bartenders were exceedingly friendly and while it was low-key (except during the comeback), it was a cool group of fans: no obnoxiousness, quietly unified. Only annoying thing was the DC Bills Backers would not tell me where to watch (when the Laughing Man was officially not open or showing the game) because of some sort of internecine dispute of local Bills fans.

The comp picks will be no re-run The comp picks will be live!

Actually, no, he was an RFA (but then you might just be riffing) and doesn't count towards comp picks. His salary likely won't affect the cap either, so really not a downside.

1. Ecstatic 2. Undetermined

Hauschka was released and does not count towards the formula. Neither does Tolbert, for that matter. I believe Dimarco does though.

Not even if it's Lattimore, a guy who's been ranked in the top three overall in multiple draft boards? One thing I'll never get (and i'm not accusing you of this), is that people will proclaim loudly how it's a passing league, then will draw the conclusion that it means teams need a superior passing quarterback to keep up. Not that it's not vital to have a solid QB, but that seems like clearly flawed logic to me; if it's a passing league, you need good CORNERBACKS to counter the stout passing attacks. How your team gets your points is irrelevant as long as you get them. In fact, if the league is skewed towards passing attacks and defenses are adjusting thusly, it would seem a different sort of offensive philosophy would be more likely to catch your opponents off guard. I'm all for picking Lattimore/Adams/Hooker if they fall to us. I tend towards rose-colored glasses, yes, and don't think we should have re-signed Gilmore at that rate nor that considering how often he played we lose much going from AW to Hyde (other than a great team player i'm sad to not still have on the team), but do still feel as it stands our secondary is beyond inadequate. However, it is still the first 24 hours of free agency.

If they're available S Adams/Hooker/Peppers or Marlon Humphrey, and another DB in Round 2. I'd be ok with one of the WRs if they traded down. My most confident prediction: they will not pick at 10. Either Whaley trades up for a perceived "last piece" or he trades down a lot to fill the roster with cheap depth (and probably still get a blue chip defender). This draft appears to be pretty deep in defensive backs and that's our most pressing need, even if Darby rebounds, Gilmore resigns and plays like he did in his better games, and Aaron Williams returns healthy (he should really retire though).

Yes, let's look at the QB rating. It's been over 100 four of his last five games. He was 7th his rookie year. He was 18th this year, but that's far from worst, and one could suggest that he found his footing after a slow start in his second season (which happens to a lot of second year quarterbacks).

Yes, a guy who's 37 and has been injured much of the last three seasons is a must-get to bring us to the promised land, but we need to get rid of the 27-year-old with a 3:1 td/int ratio who also ran for as many yards as any qb in the last few seasons.

Man, I sure hope you're wrong. This would likely be the most regrettable QB move since Rob Johnson.