simpleman

You are dreaming if you think Gaines is two years 12 million. He will be asking for $12 mill a year and probably settle for 9-10 per year with 9-10 guaranteed.

There is a big difference between the 4th or 5th prospect and the 4th or 5th best NFL QB that comes out of the draft. A prospect is just potential. The 4th or 5th QB drafted may also end up being the best NFL QB of the draft. The draft is a gamble, period!

I didn't say WE should pay him top five money. If he can get it from some team, more power to him. I just think he can get his 12+ from some team. He has nothing to prove. He has been, and is a top 10-15 corner in this league. He has been undervalued and disrespected by the Pats. Hope he finds a team that values his contributions. Would you pay 10 for EJ Gaines or 12+ for Butler? Butler is definitely an upgrade over EJ and has been more durable. I like EJ, but would not pay that much for either. And to think that Darby is rated higher than both, has a Market value higher, and we could have had him next year for about 4.(Spotrac) Great trade.

Is this sarcasm? He has proven himself to be a top 10-15 corner multiple times. He is consistently doing what they ask of him. What do you base your view on that he needs to prove himself any more than most other NFL players have to. Yes, I wouldn't give him top 5 corner money, but he definitely is an excellent player. Never read he had a bad attitude or didn't give it his best effort. What negative actions has he done that you have you read about that makes you feel he needs a one year prove it deal?

I assume this is sarcasm. Most QBs would be ecstatic with Kaepernick's score. Politics aside, his record and stats are above RG3. Again, as a bridge QB, I think he is well above a majority of the possible FA QBs. It is only because of those that have a political bias tainting their reasoning that he is not an NFL starter. Compared to Cousins his worst rated year was 78, while Cousins had a rating of 58. Both have decent stats. Kap -TDS 72 INT 30 YDS 12,271 RTG 88.9 Cousins – TDS 27 INT 13 YDS 4,093 RTG 93.9 I would take Kaps numbers for 1/3 less money in a heartbeat

Actually of the choices out there for a reasonably priced decent Bridge QB, Colin Kaepernick probably would be the best choice based on the skill, price and ability. But unfortunately, there are too many people out there that let their personal, private political beliefs trump the play on the field between the whistles. A sad commentary on the state of our American society today. In a healthy society, we could all agree to a compromise, like he could stay in the tunnel or locker room till the music stops, then come on the field and play. I don't doubt he would agree to that. Make it about the game, not all the personal ideology stuff. Personal ideology aside, I can't think of a better choice that is available on the field between the whistles for the Bills this year as a bridge while we develop the QB of the future. No loss of draft picks, easy on the cap and about as good as all the other available options we could sign without a lot of cap or draft sacrifices.

I still don't think Cousins is the franchise solution for the Bills. I don't see him even worth the guaranteed money that Smith got. I want a bridge QB and a true franchise QB. I want to grow our own QB. Please Buffalo, do not make an even worse move than Washington just did. I liked Smith, but not at that ridiculous contract. I do not see Cousins as > Smith. Give me one of the Minny QBs at a more reasonable price. I think depending on price, that Bradford is now my new favorite for a bridge QB.

Of course I would love a Darnold, a Rosen, or maybe a Mayfield. But not at the cost of multiple high picks. If we can get a White, a Rudolf or other 2nd tier QB and let him sit a year behind a decent bridge QB like a Smith, that would be great. But not at 21 or 22. Trade down with one of the top picks and get whoever you like best when you pick then. Remember Tre was a late round trade down pick. The talent will be there if you pick right. Use the extra picks to fill holes with a BPA at need positions. You have a very good chance of getting a future non QB starter in the 2nd and 3rd rounds this year in certain categories of need. Give the new rookie the chance to duel it out with Peterman behind the decent bridge QB and see if either one has enough to keep around next year. If neither has it, try again next year and draft another promising rookie. I don't want to see us wasting top picks on 2nd tier QBs, or making foolish trade ups that squander your picks. Please no repeats of giving up a ransom to trade up for players and then letting them go for so little like for Watkins. It sets you back years if you gamble and choose wrong.

Assuming you are willing to gamble that you can find a trade partner to make it up, it might make an interesting gamble to do this. You either end up looking brilliant or looking foolish, depending on how the gamble works out \

As I stated, if you believe like me that if none of the QBs that are remaining at your pick are worth a 21 or a 22, and you still want one of the remaining QBs, you can trade down, get extra picks, and still select one of the remaining picks rather than reach like we did with EJ.

Where did I say that? I asked that since we had consecutive picks, would that affect the actual trade values in the eyes of our potential trade partners Thank you. That is a concept I did not think about. Contract value. And I wonder about exactly what you said. Do GMs generally discuss who each will be picking when making a deal, and do they trust each other to honor their verbal agreements and confidentiality as part of the trade negotiations?

Does our first 1st round pick actually have more value to other teams than our 2nd first round pick? I realize the draft points trade chart assigns it more value, but does it have more practical value to the other team unless they believe we will trade both picks, or the trade partner believes we want the same player as them. In a trade down situation, unless we believe the trade partner wants the exact same player as we do, why would we not trade our first pick, rather than our 2nd, and get 20 extra points? I have begun to think that if Mayfield does not magically drop, maybe we should trade down to get a QB. I just can't see using a 21 or 22 pick on the likes of a Rudolph , Jackson, Lauletta. White or others. The top 3 are out of reach. If you really want one of the non top 4 that badly, it seems you could assuredly get them with a very late 1 or an early 2 and get some badly needed extra picks to fill out our many critical needs on offense and defense. Would NFL teams really put much value on the difference between our two picks when they are one after the other?

Vince McMahon = Fake Sports

I would not elevate it to the level of a conspiracy. But yes, there is a not a level playing field. The NFL becomes more like the Old WWF every day. It is a purposeful and obvious choice by the NFL management to favor NE in all decisions for monetary purposes. Brady is the NFL's greatest property and asset. Rules are made and decisions about interpreting those rules are made to protect their best assets. The question will be that when Brady is no longer there, will the Patriots still be favored. What surprises me is that the other NFL owners really feel their own best interests are being looked out for by this favoritism. Obviously they must feel that ultimately they too come out ahead financially as a result of that favoritism, or they would put a stop to it and look out for their own self interests. I do wonder how they are able to be sold on the fact that it is in their long term self interest to allow it to continue. I would love to be in the know of exactly what they tell them in order to convince those business people to allow it to happen.

You realize that you are condemning this team to 3 to 4 years of non competitive play that way. With the major holes this management has ripped into the skill level of the team to get draft capital, then you spend it all on trading for a QB and trading up. You 'might" get a QB, but won't have an Oline or a Dline to support him. Smith needs a strong cast around him to win. He is a game manager, a good one, but still is just a game manager. A rookie QB needs an Oline, TE, and RB to give him the time to learn the game and protect him. Blow all your draft capital on QBs ,and you have nothing left to rebuild a team. It would take another 3-4 to do so without draft capital we have this year. This is a team sport and a QB is only one player. We are not just one QB away from a Superbowl, far from it with all our holes.

If you are trading for him, you already get him for 3 million less for a 1 year contract. If you only want him for one year, you don't need to renegotiate. If you want him longer you renegotiate, or you wait and hope he is released and negotiate a one year contract.

> IF < he becomes an UFA. I would consider him at the right price. But not at the cost of a 2nd and a 3rd. He has potential as a bridge while a rookie develops. But the price would have to be right. An incentive laced performance based contract would be essential. He is less of a gamble than a rookie like we would get without trading up, but he has not proven in any way to be a possible franchise QB. He has proven to be a perfectly acceptable backup with a possible upside, but nothing more. I'd give him his shot at starting, and let him prove he is worth more.

I'd say Smith is a definite step up from any of them. He is not great, but they are all barely average.

I agree. If he was so injured he could not play well, by continuing to start him, it is just yet another case of bad management by the coaching staff. An injury like this that so affected his performance may excuse him for being a gamer and trying to play through an injury, but it offers no excuse for bad management by the Bills.

Do you think that AJ McCarron will get a 1st or 2nd round tender? If not, he might be a cheap rental. He has stats better than TT does in the year he played a number of games as a starter (97.11 passer rating) . I would take him over those below McCown on the list if I was going cheap. I think Smith is better than from McCown down on the list. Bridgewater is a health question.

If we don't "rent" Smith for one year, and we keep TT in 2018 we still will owe TT 5 million in dead cap in 2019 if we cut him then. So in 2019 you will have spent effectively almost 24 million to keep TT on the team in 2018. How is that 50% more to cut TT and have a better QB option in 2018? You mention Cousins as a preferred option. With TT's dead cap and Cousin's guaranteed money and prorated signing bonus you realize having Cousins in 2018 would likely cost you over 35 + million for the 2018 year. Do you really think Cousins will bring the Bills a Superbowl? How many Superbowls has he brought his teams? Cousins in not the future, he is just a much more expensive bridge QB.

So effectively you are saying for about the same cost next year as TT would cost us, we can bet a better QB in Smith. I'm all in on that. Add a first round QB with time to develop as our possible future without wasting day one picks by trading up, upgrade our Oline with a day one draft choice, a Dline guy day one. Add a WR and use the rest of the picks on building up depth. Get a couple impact players in FA, hopefully a Poyer, Hyde type of player that won't break the cap, and we are moving forward. One more year later and another draft and we are finally a legitimate contender. Staying with TT next year is not moving forward, or getting closer to being a legitimate contender.

We have the dead cap if we cut Tyrod. It does not matter who we sign as a Vet QB. We will still have the dead cap. Signing Smith does not affect TT dead cap. I would take Smith over Tyrod any day for a day 2 draft pick. The chances of turning a day 2 QB draft pick into an immediate starting quality QB of Smith's caliber is slim to none. TT is not good enough to advance this team in the 2018 season.

Not sure Smith wins the game, but Smith is a much smarter and much better passer than TT. He would have given us a better chance to win. He is not a Top 10 QB, but he is much better than TT, and is a definite upgrade. I'd take Smith hands down over TT. I'd trade a 2nd for him in a heartbeat as a caretaker QB while our newly drafted 2018 rookie QB gets ready to start when he is truly prepared and ready.

Dennison goes hands down. The last 3 minutes of the 1st half, 1st and goal. The strength of the Bills offense is the running game. You run it 4 times straight at the goal line. You don't stop the clock, you run it down. If you want to be conservative, a chip shot on 4th down for 3 points. The other team has little time to score when you are finished either way. The defense does their job, You get the ball back. You run the clock down, keep the ball on the ground. Kick it away and you end the half ahead of the other team. Again your strength is the run game, and the clock is your best friend at that point. Run, Run, Run. Not passes by a QB you know is not good in the pocket. Later, you know you just got a critical first down on a bad call by the refs. You have the QB snap the ball quick before the other team challenges it. You give them 31 seconds to challenge. Horrible calls and clock management the whole game. Horrible coaching. You know TT is not a good passer, your WR group can't catch. You count on your run game and defense. This is not rocket science, square pegs do not go in round holes, you don't try to just keep pounding them harder. Find a way to fit the players you do have with square pegs into the square peg holes you build into your offensive plans. Adapt! The offense was the weakness this year, get rid of the coaches on the offensive side including the line coach. Major regression there.