purple haze

He wants his value. He's willing to go to the wall, apparently for that value. That's business. Nothing out of the ordinary, or different than anyone else walking the earth would do if they had the leverage to do so. He's said absolutely nothing about the situation, the Raiders, Gruden or anything else. He's been quiet. All people have seen is him working out. Quiet and working. Sounds like a McBeane dude to me. But if that's not enough to convince you... McBeane has stressed production. Checkmark for Mack: NFL Defensive Player of the Year. 2x First team All Pro -- 1 year at two different positions. DE and OLB. 3 Pro Bowl selections. Finalist for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. McBeane has stressed versatility. Checkmark for Mack: 2x First team All Pro at two different positions in the same year. DE and OLB. Great pass rusher, but also able to drop into coverage. McBeane has stressed availability. Checkmark for Mack: Has started 16 games every season of his career. No missed games. Mack, just entering his prime at 27 years old, has done all of this in four years, and in spite of being doubled teamed on a weekly basis. That's a Hall of Fame start to a career. You don't think he's a McBeane type of guy? Stop it. His Buffalo roots are just an added bonus off the field. His brother playing at UB is an added bonus for him as is his familiarity with the city and region. Match that with the bounty of cap space coming available in 2019 the only question is how far McBeane is willing to go before tapping out. But Mack would be perfect for the Bills, especially if they didn't have to give up Hughes in the process. (Hughes who is WAY UNDERVALUED on this board.)

Mack can play anywhere. And you can rotate Murphy in and put Mack at OLB for stretches too.

Yep. Terrible.

I don't, but I used to, and as a general point, it was something one might have learned in a school setting back in the day. Which is not saying much.

True, but we could say that about 99% of NFL GMs because trades of this magnitude are rare. Out of all the GMs currently in the league, how many have made the number of trades Beane has in the same short time period? Beane will wheel and deal at his price.

It is a cultural issue; an American culture issue. We play fast and loose with the future. Not even getting into the depths of education, schools teach various types of Math, Science, English, various languages. Why? Because at the various levels of education they are seen as building blocks for success and well roundedness. There are even vocational classes for kids who are electronically or mechanically inclined. So pragmatism obviously has a place in our education system. Why is financial literacy, which helps a citizen throughout their life, but especially as they near retirement, not taught as well? I don't blame the school, I blame the Dept. of Education and local school boards. In a capitalist system that will spit out so many, especially the elderly, finance should be the one necessity that all schools teach. But then that might level the playing field a bit... ?

One can imagine that the parents are also products of the same or similar education system. If that is the case, then what is not known cannot be taught, whether one is a parent or not. Being a parent doesnt imbue one with all of the answers. I would dare say most people are not taught more than basic finance (how to balance a checkbook). The questions are why is something that is so supposed to be so important not taught? And who benefits from that?

You can get Mack and still invest draft capital and cap space to the offense. The Bills are not cap strapped in 2019. I think folks are overthinking the theoretical possibility of Mack. If it were possible you do it. Mack plays an impact position, has a long history of high-end production, and will just be hitting his prime years when an extension kicks in. I'm not saying get him at all costs, but I don't think it would take all costs. The longer he stays away the worse it is for the Raiders; on field and off.

Beane's method got rid of high status players, with injury histories or a perceived lack of buy in; players he did not draft nor sign. Beane is aggressive. And we will see him spend $, but it will be on his guy: drafted, traded for or chosen as targets in Free Agency.

The starting o-line was pretty good against Carolina. Pretty bad against Cleveland. That could be a function of Cleveland doing more stunts up front. Game 3 will be a better indicator bc both teams will game plan a bit.

This. As he is one of the team leaders he is most likely speaking for a majority of the locker room (specifically, the vets). They see "it" w/Allen. If 17 plays decent against 'Nati, he is starting week 1. But if he lays an egg, nah.

Starting O-line was fine against Carolina. I wouldn't panic yet. See how they look against the Bengals. First game they will do a bit of game planning.

Not necessarily. Webster is a good player who can be had for cheap. No reason not to take a look. Davis is fine. Gaines-Pitts-Borders-Wallace would be the ones on alert if Webster signed. Especially Gaines, b/c he's the vet.

The Raiders can be had because they probably think there is a good chance the Anika pick will be high. I don't see it. I have a strong feeling this team will shock a lot of people. It will come down to QB play. But the rest of the team is not discernibly worse than last year, and the D should be improved.

Always and forever the Game winning GIF ?

People are too emotional. It's one game. Let things play out.

That's what folks said last year. The Pats, nor any other team came for him, and had an entire season to do so. Reilly hasn't proven to be Hogan x 4, and in actuality, Hogan is just "OK" himself. Brady hasn't made him all anything. Hogan's the same "OK" he was with the Bills. But he does play those Special Teams well. I saw #89 make a tackle on a kickoff return on Thursday so good start for him. We shall see.

I doubt we would get an 80,000 seater. It will be smaller, like Heinz Field, Mid-60,000's. It would create more demand with less supply. Aesthetically, I would love to see a stadium like Seattle has. Or like Yankee Stadium, but built with a football configuration. Both buildings are unique, and both "looks" would fit into downtown.

He flashes talent. He's an underdog. And he reminds some of themselves most likely. I thought he should've made the team last year. This year? After the Bills trading for Coleman, and Ray Ray (a draft pick) playing well, I don't see it, unless he's standing out on Special Teams. I can see him back on the practice squad.

You answered your own question. He is a mediocre WR, but year after year he's on a roster because he performs well on special teams. Every team has a few players they keep for ST's even if they aren't near the top of their position group. Holmes is one of them. But Daboll seems to like him at WR too.

Come on, man. I liked how Allen looked too, but 10x's the prospect? Nah...

There is nothing about Beane or McD's method of operation, since they took over, that would suggest them ignoring anything. They took a chance on Allen because they believe they can develop him. OBD is a confident group. You don't like the Allen selection, cool, I get it. But they didn't ignore anything.

All of the backs looked good. Ivory included. Murphy played longer so he had longer to make plays. If folks remember the Miami game at Miami he looked good then too.

That's because they needed other teams to see Sammy was healthy.

I don't recall any whispers about Sammy and Darby getting shipped on the same day. Beane is a serious dude. If he told folks surrounding whatever might be going on to stay quiet or he will walk away, I could see that being honored. All that said, Mack, Donald or Dez are the most obvious something big's that could happen. Although, with Beane it could be something else totally out of the blue. What if it were OBJ? ?