hondo in seattle

It's not like we went on a big spending spree. We lost some players Beane probably wanted to retain and signed mostly marginal starters and depth players. The challenges of managing the cap are real. Of course, Beane doesn't publicly telegraph his offseason strategy. But he never said we wouldn't make any moves. He just acknowledged there were limitations to what we could do. Signing a big-name WR, RB, DE, or CB wasn't in the budget.

As a war veteran myself, I have a huge soft spot for those who served, especially those who served and paid the price. I think about Kelso every Memorial Day. He could have gotten a deferment and didn't. Wanted to serve and truly cared about his men. I'm proud he was a Bill. I'm so happy to see he's got a statue. Kalsu is exactly the kind of person that ought to be honored with a statue. I never liked seeing statues dedicated to Confederate, slave-holding traitors. And I'm not happy with some of the people we lionize and valorize these days. As a country, we need the right heroes - selfless, caring, honor and duty-bound guys like Bob Kalsu. Btw, I love BBFL's idea about a special section at Canton for players who served.

Most expensive sports stadiums in the world... 1. SoFi, $5.5 billion 2. Allegiant, $1.9 billion 3. MetLife, $1.7 billion Tied for #4 at $1.5 billion are Wembley, Mercedes Benz, AT&T, and Yankee stadiums. And, of course, the new Bills stadium when complete. Even when you adjust for inflation, the Bills stadium will be in the top twelve or so. I think it's pretty cool that the Bills will have such a nice home in a city that doesn't even rank in the top 100 in the world in population or GDP.

When you have a great QB, you ought to supply him with dynamic weapons (i.e. receivers) and mauling bodyguards (i.e. OL). I'm happy with either.

The average NFL career is 3.3 years. An average NFL player, during his short tenure in the league, will play for 2.4 teams. Roughly 1 in 7 players will sign with Carolina at some point. There are 32 teams each with a 53-man roster. 1,696 players start the season on a 53-man roster. But those rosters change and evolve over the course of the long season. Let's estimate that 2,100 different players are on NFL rosters at some point during a season. Roughly 300 will have Carolina somewhere on their resumes. When Beane goes shopping, there are a lot of ex-Panthers to choose from. Additionally, a vet with more than 3 years of NFL experience will rotate typically rotate through more than 2.4 teams. Williams, for example, has been on 6 professional football rosters including a short stint with the Stampeders. Our old friend, Fitz, played on 9 different teams before hanging up the cleats. The chances of an experienced vet having been at Carolina at some point are fairly good.

That's her uncle. Big fitness guy.

It's bad for players. And it's bad for my family. On Xmas, I'm totally devoted to the wife and kids and whoever else shows up. But if the Bills play, my attention will be divided.

I'm a traditionalist. I don't like rule changes. Except when they promote player safety like this one (hopefully) does.

Sure. But when you tackle, do you think, "This is a hip drop" as opposed to "This is a swivel hip drop"? I understand the risk of injury and the need for a rule. But I also think most defenders are just trying to get the guy down, not trying to hurt anybody. And the NFL rulebook keeps getting longer and more complicated.

Shaw66 is a knowledgeable and respected poster. Calling him Mrs. McDermott isn't respectful. I think as brethren fans who have suffered through a 17-year drought and other trials together, I think we can do better.

When Beane talked about Hyde and didn't rule out re-signing him, my conclusion was that he still wants another safety.

While I think the roster right now is worse than last year's, I'm not a complete curmudgeon. If we enter the playoffs healthy, I believe we have a chance to make a run even with this squad. The best team doesn't always win the Lombardi. Sometimes being healthy and hot make the day - though that's not anything I've ever personally experienced.

Obviously, it depends on need, players available, and so on... But I generally like trading back. Talent evaluation is an imperfect science. There's no certainty in the draft. It's a crap shoot. So the more rolls of the dice, the better your chances of getting someone good.

Doc, I know McGovern is the starter. He was already on the squad last season, so I don't know how Morse's departure makes us better as the OP asserted when the OL roster clearly got worse (Morse released, Clapp signed). Maybe McGovern will be a revelation as a starting center and play better than Morse. And maybe Edwards, who seems likely to take over McGovern's vacated guard spot, plays guard better than McGovern. But it's too many maybes. And for DE... Floyd gave us double digit sacks last season. If you want to think about it this way, his replacement as stud DE is Von who's coming off a significant injury and hasn't had double-digit sack production since 2018. Overall, I'm just not seeing a better roster - yet. Though I'm hoping for the following: * Our key defensive players are healthier this season than they've been the past couple of years. * Beane finds some impact players in free agency and the draft. * Brady turns out to be a lights-out OC who gets the most out of his offensive players.

That's the right question. Offense. WR - maybe a slight step forward. OL - I'm not sure how shedding Morse and picking up the Clapp makes the OL better. OC - I don't know if Brady will be better this year than last year. I hope so. But saying so is just hope and speculation. Overall, the O seems about the same. Defense. We lost some good starters and gained some low-end starters and back-ups. The secondary, in particular, doesn't look as stout as it did back when Poyer, Hyde, and Tre were all in their primes. I'm not seeing a better roster. But health is a factor here. If Milano and the D stays healthier this season than it has in past years, and if Von returns to form, we could perform better defensively than last year. The offseason isn't over yet but - other than Mafia Optimism - I see no reason to believe the roster is better than another top eight finish.

I really hope I'm wrong, but I think when he's done, Beane will make the 2024 roster about as good as 2023's. And that's fine - if the goal is to reach the playoffs.

I disagree that DE is not being talked about. People mention it in "What starting spots still need to be filled?" and other threads. I do agree it's a concern though I guess it depends on how you feel about Von. If he returns to form, we're okay. If not, it's a problem. In today's NFL, you need to pressure the QB and I don't trust Epenesa and Groot to do enough of that. And this isn't our only concern. I'm worried about this being another playoff year that doesn't end in a Super Bowl appearance. Good but not good enough.

The goal of a business is to maximize revenue while minimizing costs. If I owned the Bills and wanted a new stadium, I'd absolutely threaten to follow the Braves to San Diego even though I had no real intention of going anywhere.

Looking at the current roster, all 22 expected starters are legit. They could all start on other teams. My concern is that this fact doesn't make this a SB roster. I worry about the secondary. It was once anchored by Poyer, Hyde, and White in their primes. It's not elite anymore. I think Samuel is a legit replacement for Davis. But I'm hoping we don't go into 2024 with a wideout group comparable to 2023's. I want something noticeably, significantly better. Josh deserves that. So does the mafia. IOL/OL... When you have a QB as talented as Josh, you want a talented bodyguard upfront to give him time to throw and keep him healthy. The current OL is okay, but I'd love to see a couple of Pro Bowlers up there. Edge. Considering it's a passing league, if I was a GM these might be the first four positions I'd prioritize: QB, WR, CB, Edge. If you have a superstar in each of these roles, your odds are pretty good. Depending on Von's health, we have some decent DEs but we lack a difference-maker. RB. I'm fine with Cook as the starter but a bruising Cookie Gilchrist/King Henry type back for short-yardage situations and light boxes would be an excellent complement.

Yeah, me too. 44, 444, 4.

Threatening to leave is just part of the negotiation process. The fact that the Davis family moves their team whenever they want a new stadium forces cities to take the threat seriously.

I like Blackmon because he's versatile. He can play free, strong, slot... McD loves versatile safeties (like Poyer and Hyde) because they help him disguise his defensive calls. Opposing QBs are uncertain who's doing what. The chart shows performance from 2019 to 2023 and actually rates Blackmon better than Poyer or Hyde at "Separation Prevented" which surprises me. In fact, Blackmon is rated among the best in the league.

I think Samuel may do well here. I think, in some ways, he's better than Gabe. But his production will depend on the mysterious rookie. If the Bills draft a wideout in the first or second rounds and make him the starter, Samuel's production will suffer. Brady is the other wildcard. I wasn't overly impressed with Brady's first half-season. But maybe with a full offseason to tweak the playbook and implement his own offense, he'll show us something good. It'll be interesting to see how he makes use of Samuel, Knox, and his other weapons.

Good news.

I don't think they're paying Samuel to be the 5th or 6th target though it depends a lot on the speculative rookie. We'll see.