Mango

I think there is a difference between always having a chance because you have a good QB, and operating in a window as a/the SB favorites. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans always had a chance with Ben, Brees, Rodgers but they weren't necessarily always in their SB window. And they weren't always good teams (especially GB and NO). I think the window is being the favorite, or having the expectation to win the SB. To keep the window wide open both Allen and McD will have to do more less at WR and defensive allocation as we actually start paying Allen real QB money. We need a constant pipeline of young OL and WR to rotate when we can't afford everybody.

Our offensive line is meh at the moment, its pipeline is totally nonexistent, and we have some combination of system/progressions plus a QB with a penchant to hold the ball for a long time. Pair that with pushing the roster salary cap close to and above the max with a still fairly cheap QB ($18M for 2023) and a poor hit rate at the top of the draft, the Bills window is likely smaller than it should be. The Bills will likely have to do a bit of retooling with a step back in the next couple of seasons. That said, we have Josh Allen, so anything can happen, and there is always a chance.

Outside of the Beane stuff I think that Basham was a versatile player who started to come into his own as the season progressed last year. I think I would have rolled the dice on Basham than AJE. He definitely was not living up to his draft status, but he seemed to start contributing. I wish him the best, but if the Giants get good production out of him and Hodgins I will be salty. So to that extent, a small part of me hopes he doesn't work out for them.

I will likely bow out over this because it feels like we are spinning in circles. I don't think the Sabres are suffering from Lafontaine's resignation. I think that is a minor blip in a string of blips, one right after another. PL is no more significant than any other. They have suffered for 12 years because their ownership sucks. The owners sucked before Patty. And they sucked after. I agree there is a pattern. It started before Patty and kept going after. Lafontaine feels significant to the community, I get it. But he hasn't done much of anything since. Not defending Pegula here, but Lafontaine has yet to prove any stickiness with any NHL franchise. He worked for the Islanders for less time than he worked in Buffalo before also leaving in a huff. I would be very quick to point the finger at Pat here had the Sabres done anything over the following decade. But I still think he likely deserves some blame. Comparing a guy who has never managed a professional sports roster for any significant amount of time to Bill Polian is so far out there.

I don't know how the Sabres could possibly be reeling from a guy who worked for them for 90 days 10 years ago. The Sabres have been struggling due to bad ownership pre and post LaFontaine. Terry treated Pat the same way he treated Ted Black/Regier.

TY. I will edit. I forgot Knox. I know about the other players. But drafting those guys don't absolve redrafting RB 3 times in 4 years because you keep missing. Or only re-signing 2 players from the top of your first 3 drafts.

Sort of on topic with the PSE thread. I am frustrated with Beane for his poor drafting overall in the top 100. But honestly, the Pegula's have been maybe the worst owners in NHL history with the longest playoff drought by nearly 2x the length in a league where over half the teams make the playoffs every year. Until the wheels absolutely fall off and the car is in flames I am terrified of what could happen to this team if we have to build out a staff again.

Top 100 picks/prospects is fairly common nomenclature in the NFL. Including their 3rd round picks don't help. 2018-Allen - Great, big QB contract but for all the cap woes that bill has not come due Edmunds - Pretty good, could not afford to keep Philips - Quality DT. Also no longer on the roster do to cost. ($6.8M this season) 2019 - Oliver - I like Ed. But probably over paid. I think part of keeping him is the lack of keeping our top 100 picks Ford - Sucks. Gone. Singletary - Meh. Gone Knox - He has been very good for us. Re-signed. 2020- Diggs. Great. But the Bills get zero rookie contract value. He gets very expensive very soon. AJE - Meh on his best day. I suspect he gets re-signed though. Moss -Not great here. Gone already 2021- Rousseau- Really hoping this one pans out better given our investment at DE. Basham - Gone Spencer Brown - TBD whipping boy. We need to upgrade RT still. 2022- Elam: TBD, but is trending towards a really bad fit at best, and not a great player at worst. Cook: TBD , has flashed. Our 3rd RB taken in the top 100 in 4 years. Bernard: TBD is fairly generous here. But this class is still finding its footing.

I don't think we are saying anything terribly different here. I agree. I don't hate any of them. They have certainly invested a lot. But they have been really bad owners in the NHL. I find myself constantly frustrated by it the longer it drags on. I don't want them gone. I want them to stay but to also to stop sucking.

I agree with this. Taking all the names and specific player story lines out of it, the Bills waste a lot of top 100 picks. Like a lot of them. I don't hate moving on from Basham. I hate that we are moving on from another top 100 pick for what seems like the 100th time. The bill has yet to come due on Josh Allen ($18M in 2023/12th overall), and we are pushed tight against the cap with huge holes at OL, LB/LB depth, and WR. I posit its because we keep missing in the top 100 and keep redrafting the same positions over and over so we spend in FA at all sorts of position groups that don't really pan out when compared to pay grade. The FO needs to get much better at this or it will eventually catch up with this team. I suspect that time is coming fairly soon as the bill for Josh and Diggs starts to get bigger and bigger

That information has to be Terry. Kim was not named president of the Sabres until after Russ Brandon left in 2018. It has been reported that Terry was going around the president to scheme ideas. It was reported that Terry was regularly meeting with Regier and going around Ted Black. He was asked about it and was quoted as something along the lines of "Ted Black does not have a monopoly on hockey IQ". One would think that if it happened again in the next regime (it did), that it was the same guy doing the same thing, that he all but admitted to just a few months prior. Kim had/has her own issues, but by and large from 2018 on the organization found some more stability. Kruger and Co. were a terrible mistake, but we course corrected fairly quickly and also pulled the rip chord on Eichel. I was highly critical of all things Adams, but right now the team is in a good spot. I credit KP with a lot of that stability.

Pegula bought the team in February of 2011. Their last playoff appearance was April of 2011. Pat Lafontaine was hired November 13, 2013. He quite March 1, 2014. He worked for the Sabres for something like 75 days. I want Pegula to keep the team. I want the team to stay. But he has been a really bad owner. Maybe the worst owner the NHL has ever seen. The Sabres current drought is nearly 2x the next longest. Super nice guy, but the Sabres org has been notoriously toxic/dysfunctional since the day he came in. This in no way, shape, or form has anything to do with the date or the hiring/resignation of Lafontaine. It started before that, and it continues after it. Terry has always been really bad at this. I am hoping that without Kim as the buffer as President Terry can stay the hell away from what they are building. I am a fan of the current hockey staff and roster.

Not to derail. But I agree with you on the giant PR issue. I do think Hamlin flashed last year. Jaquan Johnson was absolutely embarrassed last year. Hamlin seemed to at least flash. Johnson felt like a liability every single snap.

Somebody on Sabrespace noted that Terry didn't attend the RJ Behind the Mic night. On one hand you want to be salty. On the other hand they have a lot going on at home. You almost root for the saltiness of it all because the opposite side of the coin means maybe Kim isn't doing great. Something nobody wants to hear.

It would be nice for the Pegula's to keep it all in the family. I think Jessica and Laura are very handicapable and responsible adults. I will be a little salty if he bought the team with the idea of "if I want more money I will dig another well" speech only to meddle for a decade and ruin the whole thing (until recently) only to sell it off.

In hindsight everybody might have been better securing the Sabres here as well with a combined deal for both renovations/new-builds.

Lets not forget the infamous "Maintain lifestyle" (paraphrasing) slide that they presented to the entire company. That may be a totally worthy thing to talk about behind closed doors. But what a major gaffe to show company wide. I really like where the Sabres are heading. Terry has been a terrible hockey owner, but I hope he sticks around to see this current iteration of the team through.

It is insane that the one person to point this out goes by the name "White Linen".

Josh is one of the best QB's in the league. His OL should be better. But sometimes he makes life difficult by holding the ball a little too long. All of these things can be true at the same time.

No never. Not even close. You may never make that money back ever. If you really are good enough to ensure you can make it back, then you are good enough to enter the league as a junior.

And all she gives you is a hand.

Man. This has to be a TBD record. 7 pages and 80% of responses didn’t read the article. Some of you willfully won’t. Wild.

I think the solution in the Ralph is to put Bills Mafia in zubaz colored print directly under the black 12th man. They can share the same tile on the wall.

Kincaid will fill in the slot alright.

At the risk of derailing this thread, I don’t expect Hailee Steinfeld to spend much if any time in WNY. +1 in the Britt Will column. She could have spent her time anywhere and she tried to make Buffalo a second home. I always appreciate it when spouses/players do that.