Magox

Zig seemed more unequivocal on the trade up than the for whom.

I was listening to Sirius XM NFL radio this weekend and Zig Fracassi one of the hosts of this particular show seemed pretty certain that the Bills were going to try to trade up to get a player. He stated that his source hasn't let him down before. When the other co host pressed him on who it could be, he implied that it could even come from a position that is not viewed as a need such as a LB. Just thought that I'd share.

Same argument applies. I tend to think of their decision making often times as one in the same.

Beane was absolutely right to let him walk at that time. Gilmore didn’t want to be here which is not what the team was looking for at the time, he was going to get paid elite dollars which the Bills at the time didn’t want to spend because they were not contending and they wanted a fresh start with players who would have full buy in. Now that 5 years have gone by, the culture is secure with the team, and now Gilmore may have a different view of the team, not to mention he probably will be a lot cheaper and can possibly be had on a short-term contract, the timing and situation is different and could be had.

Was his personality kinda crappy? Yep Did he appear to be aloof at times? Yep Was he a top 5 Cb in the league at his peak? Yep He would be a huge upgrade and would undoubtedly improve our odds of winning it all. With that said, I don't see how the Bills will be able to match whatever the top bidder can offer and I'm not so sure he would take a discount to be on a Super Bowl contender.

Josh should definitely run less in the regular season and do whatever it takes in the post season. His regular season running should consist of scrambles which typically on scrambles you take big hits. The called runs should be only in crucial game impacting situations and inside the 5 yard line. He is too much of a weapon to abandon his unique running qualities when the team needs it most.

When I look at the schedule it doesn’t scare me one bit. I think the Bills are the best team in the NFL and barring any catastrophic injuries, the Bills go 14-3, win the Division and a conference, get home field advantage, go to SuperBowl and win it all this year. This is the year!

Yes Khalil Shakir can play on the boundaries but also in the slot. I think the slot is where he will be most effective. Seems to really have a knack for driving the ball upfield right after he makes the catch. Could be Crowder or McKenzie’s eventual replacement. I like him a lot. I also really like Alec Pierce. Definitely a boundary guy, has great size 6’3 213lbs. Phenomenal speed 4.33 40. Great hands, smooth effortless runner who is deceptively really fast. Intelligent route runner. Had 8 TD’s this past year. I think he could end up being a 3rd steal. Will definitely help stretch the field.

He’s dedicated to his craft, no doubt. However, he hasn’t been a fitness freak or for that matter that dedicated to having a great diet. Allen has alluded to this and it looks like something that he is considering in regards to having a well-balanced diet and O believe he said he was considering a full time chef to help him with these goals. I think he needs to do this soon if he wants to extend his career, Brady did it and I think it would be smart of Allen to emulate it as well.

Right, I do think he needs to put more air on the long balls even though he has become relatively accurate. I'm more referring to some of the post routes, I remember seeing quite a few that were thrown high BUT CAUGHT and in a few instances outright overthrown that led to interceptions, even though I think a couple of them there were miscommunications between the receiver and Josh.

I hope and suspect it's true that he is refining his game. The past two years Palmer and Allen both pointed out in interviews what Josh had worked on the, the season before last it was the deep ball and this past year it was a specific slant pattern. The breakdown will be interesting to read. In my view the area he needs the most improvement on is that he sometimes tends to throw the ball a bit high. Often times they are still successful plays but it impedes on the receiver being able to get additional YAC and in worst case they are overthrown and the ball is picked off. I think there is something in his mechanics still that are producing some of these high throws. I'm being nit picky because his overall game is already elite but there are still areas of improvement.

Many ways to analyze this: Who are the potential players that could be moved? Diggs- Probably at most fetches a mid first rounder (low likelihood due to the Bills chances at winning it all and they could hold off another year before they make the move) Edmunds- Probably fetches a low to mid 2nd round value (low to mid likelihood, He probably isn’t worth what he will command on the open market, this would be the year to trade to get some value for him, however trading him does create a hole and it could be difficult to replace with similar level of play) Poyer - probably fetches an early 3rd value ( Likelihood low, he’s a team veteran and popular with the team and the trade value won’t most likely net a suitable replacement) Motor - probably fetches a mid 3rd to early 4th round value ( likelihood is low to mid. If they love one of the top two backs in the draft and they think they need it to move up a couple spots it could make sense, but without replacing him I don’t see it) Epenesa - Probably fetches a mid 5th to 6th round pick (likelihood is mid, DE room is getting crowded, his production wouldn’t be missed, but he wouldn’t net much of a difference in terms of moving up for a 1st rounder) Moss - Probably fetches a 6th rounder ( Likelihood is mid to high, can easily replace his production but his net value wouldn’t assist with moving up with a 1st round selection.)

He is a warrior, hopefully Crowder can come close to matching what Beasley did for this team.

I think it will end up being better because I believe that abates will be the long-term answer but I also believe that Beane would have liked to have seen him play more before committing to this sort of contract. Both things can be true at the same time.

Maybe, maybe not.

Because if you’ve been a career backup all your pro life and now you are being offered a 3-4 year contract with millions on the table, you become very tempted to take the deal.

If they did before the tender then they would have offered him a contract. Their hand was forced once the Bears offered him one. With that said, I still think it ends up being a really good value signing because I believe Bates will be our long-term starter.

Personally, I think this is better because I believe Bates will be the long-term option. But, I think in a perfect world they would have wanted to see one more years worth of production before committing to the $8m, hence the 2nd round tender.

I think he miscalculated. If he were to do it all over again he would have given him the 2nd round tender.

This would be excellent news if this holds up. I mentioned it earlier but the sample size doesn’t worry as much as other posters. Bates performed at a high level against key opponents. His pass protection was nearly elite and his run blocking wasn’t too shabby either. Very mobile with heavy hands, I think at the end of the day the Bills will have found a reliable starter for the next few years at a good price for what I believe will end up being a quality starter. One less hole to fill, now we just got to get that quality veteran DB, and serviceable swing tackle to compete against Doyle and the Bills are set going into the draft.

I'd be shocked if he got half of that. I see him more as a $5m a year sort of player

My hopes are the Bills draft something like this: Round 1 WR Round 2 CB Round 3 CB Round 4 IOL Round 5 IOL There are really good WR’s to be had in the first round, potentially Diggs replacement in a couple years.

Levi had arguably his best year as a Bill this past year and always wins out the DB position battle. With that said, I would have still wanted to pick an early round DB to compete and hopefully replace Levi at some point. There is a really good chance that as of right now, the opening week boundary starting CB's will be Dane Jackson and ???. White may not be ready which leaves the Bills with some potential FA CB acquisition and/or a rookie DB. I would have liked to have kept Levi as the short-term guy who we know will give good steady DB play and then going after a rookie DB. In regards to Bates, I think they miscalculated and didn't believe he would garner this much interest and hoped that the tender was going to work. I bet if they had to do it all over again they would have given him the 2nd round tender. What you are implying for both Bates and Wallace is a hope that the Bills will address it with something better. A hope that either a rookie or FA acquisition will be better than two players who provided above average play last year. That is a lot to ask for, specially so out of a rookie. If we don't get two FA acquisitions to replace those two guys that are not viewed on paper as upgrades and go into the draft hoping that the draft choices pan out to be above average players as a rookie, then I think we will come to regret it.

This would be one loss that would hurt. So far, the off season on paper has been a success but I do think there are two potential mistakes/miscalculations Beane has made. Letting Levi Wallace slip away when he could have been had for $4m a year was a mistake. And the other is here with Bates, I think there are too many putting an overemphasis on "too small a sample size". Yes, it's true that the sample isn't that large, but he was really good during that stretch. He gave up by far the least amount of pressures, very mobile and it's not a coincidence the O line began playing much better once he was inserted. This loss would stink and I absolutely believe the Bills would end up regretting it.