Mango

The other thing is we’ve had him say “heal up from the bumps and bruises then work on somethings”. But today he was all about getting right back to work when there are a lot of rumors swirling about an AC joint AND rotator cuff injury to his throwing shoulder. If we can protect him and get a nice rookie piece or two at WR, we could see a huge tear from Josh in 24.

The only way Allen is done in Buffalo is if his arm gives out on him a la Kelly. Granted he has had a couple of injuries to his throwing arm pretty early in his career. But he is not asking for a trade because he hates McD and Co.

This is precisely why I am pro going very conservative in 2024. Any major restructure to clear space is just destroying our cap efficiency. Outside of discontent it is my biggest reason for me advocating moving on from Diggs for the extra $3M pre June 2024 rather than 2025. My one quibble on this is moving on from Knox. It doesn't really provide any relief or any value. I think he could maybe be prime for an extension after 24/25 to lower his cap hit with a lesser value. Dawson will have to decide if he still wants to be apart of this for the future as a secondary TE option on passing downs or does he want to take more money to be a primary elsewhere. I think he stays. EDIT: Speak of the devil. I just found this from Knox after the game.

I like Lamar the QB. What a talent. I am over KC, Mahomes, and Travis Swift.

I think they can get through it this year and basically do whatever they want. But my thing is at what cost? I would rather reset it and move on from hefty vet salaries.

I have been hard on Josh's post season, film, and decision making. But he seemed much different the back end of this year. One notable mention was that he directly said "I am anxious to get back into the lab and start working". Normally we hear "Gonna let the body heal" or "I will take some time to decompress from this" or "We will work on some things this offseason". But this was much more along the lines of "lets get back to work".

What about it 2 years ago? We blew it. Last year we were paper tigers on both sides of the ball. For the most part I was higher on this team at the back end of the year than either of those other two. This one hurt, but this wasn't a "McDermott was protecting his precious defense" game. The defense was a seiv and needed to be kept off the field, Mahomes and co. didn't win by 4 because they took their foot off the gas. They lost by 4 because the Bills kept their possessions to a minimum with long sustained drives. I am confident that Buffalo wins that game fairly easily with a healthy Milano, Bernard, and Douglas.

I would protect the 2025 cap number as much as I possibly can and use 2024 as a mini-reset. Get kids in the building in 2024 that can take a leap in 2025. No need to try and mortgage the future to try and hold this together with elmers glue. The ship can stay afloat without it, and will be a better version for it if they weather the storm.

McDermott or not McDermott, we have no money and we have to get some quality rookies high in the draft this year. Next year the offense will have to ball. That said, for the 2024 playoffs, that defense was a mash unit. We are rolling out with backups/injured players at nearly every back 7 position. And not just backups, guys that were 4/5 on the depth chart at their position. It was brutal.

I think they will have to be. I really believe we have to take a half step back and refuel for a very aggressive 2025. If we time it right we should be able to open another $65M in 2025 cap dollars by moving on from Diggs, Miller, and Tre while an offensive focused draft comes into its second season. But that means we are winning a lot of games because we score a lot of points. The plus side is we should have enough room ($$$) to keep that group together for a very long time, with enough left over to make a couple big signings on the other side of the ball.

Odd to me that all we have is live interviews with Allen and Dawkins at this point.

I think we will get a better idea of his value next year. Floyd had a great year opposite him. He will likely have a lesser partner next year and will have to take a big step. If he makes that step you pay him. If he is still just a guy, then you have a tougher call on his value.

Gabe's value on his rookie contract was great for us. Let him go get an Edmunds contract. He was a good teammate and provided some value to this team. He just proved he wasn't "the guy".

Totally agree. I would protect the 2025 cap space however possible. To me that means either keeping Diggs all year or moving on before June 1. We need one of not two wide receivers, a center, two safeties, and a couple of pass rushers. Clear the deck where we can, load up in the draft, and be aggressive in 2025. EDIT: For reference, the timing of releasing Tre, Von, and Diggs would open up $65M in space for 2025.

I don't think his cap hit is prohibitive in a trade. In that scenario Diggs $18M-ish next year puts him at 15th overall between Ceedee Lamb and Justin Jefferson with the freedom to walk away. I think that would be good value for a team with a young QB and a lot of cap space. If this team wants to move on from Diggs I think they can and even get 'some' return on it if they want.

The delta in keeping Diggs vs cutting/trading Diggs is $3M. That is an important distinction to make. I generally agree here. When you cut a guy, you have to replace him. But Diggs has had the ability to be a distraction. I wouldn't be quick to pull the trigger on this one. But I also don't fall into the "fork no" category either. Both seem to have some cost and some benefit. It all depends on what kind of Stef we get back next year? Do we get this seasons teammate that was a good soldier. Or do we get the Bengals/OTA Stef. If it is the ladder you pull the trigger. If it is the former you ride this out another year.

I think the one thing that makes Diggs an OK trade candidate is that they can risk his cost for the season. But I believe the receiving team can move on from Diggs without any real cap ramification because all that is left is his base salary, roster bonus, etc. Buffalo eats the rest. A team like Houston or Indy could take this risk to help out a rookie QB. If it doesn't work out they move on the following offseason for basically nothing. If he does work out he is certainly worth his cap hit.

I just posted this in the other Diggs thread but it works here: If Diggs can find a way to be reasonably productive this year without causing a scene, the Bills should hold off on moving on and keep the $3M cost savings by keeping him here. Some interesting numbers in relation to Diggs cap. For reference red is bad. But his contract is absolutely workable this offseason if all parties NEED to walk away from each other. People freak out over the $31M as if it is in addition to. The post June 2024 number is interesting, and I think it could make Stef a post June trade candidate this year. 2024 Pre June: -$3M (+$22M in 2025) 2024 Post June: $19M (-$22M in 2025) 2025 Pre June: $5M ($28M in 2026) 2025 Post June: $18.5M (-13M in 2026) There is zero place where discussing restructuring Diggs makes any sense. It should be removed from every single discussion of the Bills cap space from here on out. It didn't make sense 3 months ago and it makes much less sense today.

If Diggs can find a way to be reasonably productive this year without causing a scene, the Bills should hold off on moving on and keep the $3M cost savings by keeping him here. Some interesting numbers in relation to Diggs cap. For reference red is bad. But his contract is absolutely workable this offseason if all parties NEED to walk away from each other. People freak out over the $31M as if it is in addition to. The post June 2024 number is interesting, and I think it could make Stef a post June trade candidate this year. 2024 Pre June: -$3M (+$22M in 2025) 2024 Post June: $19M (-$22M in 2025) 2025 Pre June: $5M ($28M in 2026) 2025 Post June: $18.5M (-13M in 2026) EDIT: There is zero place where discussing restructuring Diggs makes any sense. It should be removed from every single discussion of the Bills cap space from here on out. It didn't make sense 3 months ago and it makes much less sense today.

A 100% healthy Milano, Bernard, Tre, and Douglas absolutely win that game last night by some margin. (I know we don't make the Douglas trade if Tre is healthy. But right now they are both on the roster. Let me have this one today)

And even then, TD for the taking for the lead or risk not getting a TD and get screwed in OT because the defense is a spaghetti strainer. Take the lead. But yes in a perfect/bizarro world, the Bills score a TD as the clock strikes zero.

Totally agree, and for years I have pounded the table loudly on this forum that "Josh should have done this and instead of that". He was an absolute hero last night and I have zero criticisms for his game yesterday.

Agreed here. We were struggling against an opponent we were ultimate better than. A healthy Bernard and Douglass is likely worth a punt or two and we are talking about a Bills 2 score victory today.

There is a grey area with realistic expectations for any NFL offense. On one hand, we can all sit back and generally say "an NFL offense should be able to execute 3-4 plays in a row." But at some point you have to draw the line for what is a reasonable expectation. You can't just keep adding on 4 more plays for eternity. The Bills stalled on a 16 play drive. For reference the average drive length this year is 5.88 plays per drive. It is unreasonable and look back and expect any NFL team to execute a 20 play drive with any regularity at all. For reference, since 2001 there have only been a total of 8 20+ play TD drives in the playoffs or the regular season. Saying this was "part of the plan" isn't reasonable.

As a very slowly decompress from last night I find myself remembering how frustrated I was in the second half. Cook was getting stuffed often. KC had adjusted to the run. The situation was prime for play action, bootlegs, and screens. Allen picked up some tough yards as the game went on.