mjt328

Depending on the asking price, this is a move I could get behind. I just posted a message in the "Tyrell Williams thread" - stating how it's OK to overpay in Free Agency, as long as you are wise in picking your spots. In my opinion, this would be a much smarter place to use cap space. I would rather pay $10 million per year for a Top 5 Guard, than $12 million for a WR that has been buried on the depth chart .

Disagree on the "veteran" angle. We need more talent in the WR room. No doubt. But I would be just as happy with a team full of young receivers. If we are just desperate for experience and leadership, then we can add a vet who commands closer to $3-4 million and helps from the bench. It's perfectly OK to overpay in Free Agency. But you can't get ridiculous with it. You have to pick your spots. This group of FA receivers is mediocre at best, and the teams who pay $10-12 million for any of these guys (Williams, Tate, Humphries) are going to regret it.

There are better uses with our cap space. I understand that Free Agency is about overpaying, but giving Tyrell Williams $12 million per season is ridiculous. Regardless of how the contract is structured. That's not just WR#1 money. That is top-half of the NFL WR#1 money. As I said before. If we are going to get crazy throwing money at players, then do it at the offensive line.

I'm also very skeptical of anybody who comes from New England. Especially on offense. The league is FULL of players who left the Patriots machine, signed big deals elsewhere, and then never lived up to their contract. He's also pretty much the only Left Tackle with starting experience available in Free Agency, so his contract is going to be ridiculous. We definitely need a tackle, but I would rather spend money on JuWuan James or Darryl Williams on the right side. I'm more confident they will continue to play well in another environment. Of course (assuming we are not sold on Dion Dawkins at LT), that puts us into a really difficult position with the draft. We would really need to prioritize an OT like Jonah Williams or Jawaan Taylor at #9. And I'm not sure either will be available.

Like many others, I take this as the Bills looking for versatile players that can give them different rush packages.... as opposed to going after a pure DE like DeMarcus Lawrence or Robert Quinn. With Lorenzo Alexander getting near the end, I think the SLB is a sneaky need they could throw some good money at in free agency.

Josh Rosen still has a chance to be a very good QB in this league. You cannot judge a guy on his rookie season alone, especially with a team as awful as Arizona. With that said, you have to wonder what the heck is going on in Arizona's front office (assuming this report is true). They fired the head coach Steve Wilks after one season. They drafted a QB in the Top 10 and are now ready to move-on after one season. I can't blame Kliff Kingsbury however. Rosen is a very polarizing guy and his personality really rubbed some people the wrong way. His skills are also limited to being a traditional pocket passer. If Kingsbury doesn't believe he's a good fit for what he's trying to build, I give him credit for recognizing that immediately and being willing to make a bold move.

It takes a different amount of scoring to win every single week. Some weeks it may be 21. Some weeks it may be 42. Some weeks it may be 10. No matter what the average comes out to, he was making a generalized statement that his offense needs to be better. The moment they selected Josh Allen, it should have been obvious what their goals were. They didn't draft a safe check-down machine. They drafted the riskiest guy with the biggest ceiling, whose biggest flaw as a rookie was throwing TOO MANY passes downfield.

Just a month ago, everyone was wondering whether Foles was going to take them on another Super Bowl run. The Eagles didn't make it past the divisional round this time. But without Foles as backup, they probably wouldn't have made the playoffs at all. Keeping him on the roster for another season gave them a legitimate shot in 2018. That's all you can ask for. Other teams have given up way more to make a one-year run at the Lombardi.

New England is basically a machine. Belichick's system utilizes average/above average talent for a few seasons, makes those players look like stars, and then discards them to the scrap heap. Other teams try signing those guys to big contracts, and most of the time end up disappointed. Meanwhile, the Patriots get a mid-round pick to easily replace them. A great example is Trent Brown. He was originally a 7th Round Pick of the 49ers, who was a fairly decent right tackle during his first three seasons. Last offseason, the Patriots let Nate Solder walk in free agency (he got a huge contract from the Giants), then traded a late 3rd-Rounder for Brown and moved him to the left side. After a season of playing in New England's offense, Brown suddenly looks like a franchise LT and is ready to cash-in. The Pats will certainly let him go. They will replace him with Isaiah Wynn, who is sitting on the bench. They will get their 3rd Rounder back next season from the compensatory system, and won't miss a beat.

The original intention was to create parity and help out the bottom teams. For example - If a player doesn't want to re-sign in Cleveland, this gives them some help in replacing that player. But instead, it's done the opposite. The better teams generally have more good players, and thus more sought-after free agents. So instead of re-signing them to a big contract, they just let that player leave in free agency. And instead of getting nothing for them, they basically get a 3rd-4th round pick in return. I'm sure that Brandon Beane would love to eventually make the system "work" for them. But it's going to take time to get the roster into a place where they can do that. They need to be drafting well enough that: a) The players they DON'T bring back are signing big deals elsewhere. b) They have enough depth to fill holes without going crazy signing other free agents (which basically offsets the compensatory formula). Since Beane has taken over, the Bills haven't had enough good players on the roster to let walk away in free agency. The ones they have (Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby) were already traded to obtain the capital necessary to move-up and draft a QB. And since the entire roster has needed to be rebuilt from the ground-up, Beane has needed to utilize free agency to fill holes. As it stands, it will probably be at least 2021 before the Bills are in a position to take advantage of the compensatory formula. Maybe even later.

Brandon Beane made his plan very clear. The main reason he purged the salary cap were for: 1. Freedom in pursuing guys they like in Free Agency (not necessarily going on a spending spree) 2. Being able to re-sign their own drafted talent down the road This front office still plans on building the roster through the draft. One of the keys to not getting screwed in Free Agency is in how you structure the contract. For all the complaints about us "overpaying" for Star Lotulelei, we can actually get out of the last two years very easily. We could technically cut Trent Murphy right now and not suffer much cap hit at all.

Running Back is a young man's position. Any team signing a 27-year-old RB to a monster contract is bound to regret it. Especially one who was willing to sit-out an entire season over getting slightly low-balled (in his eyes) on an extension. Hopefully Le'Veon Bell goes to a team who also really needs O-Line. Then we can outbid them for the guys we want.

Bills fans have been through a lot over the last two decades. They are skeptical, pessimistic and easily frustrated. Around the league, we have a reputation as one of the NFL's bottom-dwellers. Each year, we are written-off and expected to suck by almost everyone. When judging my team and making expectations for an upcoming, I try to separate my emotional feelings. I want to base my thoughts on reality. I don't want to get too over-hyped based on what I hope they do. But I also don't want to become too negative, just because I'm afraid of them disappointing and letting me down. With that said -- Even if the Bills were not my favorite team, there are signs that we are moving in the right direction. No front office is going to be perfect. No coaching staff is going to be perfect. Anyone with realistic expectations knew this was going to be a rebuild project. And the reasoning for our lopsided losses, sloppy play, penalties, etc. can generally be attributed to areas of the team where this regime hasn't been able to properly address the position. Where this regime has been able to dedicate Day 1-2 draft picks and free agent contracts, we are looking pretty good.

Disagree completely. Two years ago, Brandon Beane took over as General Manager and immediately began trading players for picks. The majority of people covering the NFL (and a large group of our own fans) said the Bills were tanking and expected them to be competing for the #1 Pick in the draft. Instead, this team ended up winning 9 games and making the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Last year, Beane completed the tear-down. We went into the season knowing our rookie QB would probably be starting a good chunk of games. The same people once again claimed the Bills would be the NFL's worst franchise, and expected us to compete for the #1 Pick in the draft. Instead, this team ended up winning 6 games and was a Charles Clay drop from winning 7, against one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL. So if this team consistently wins 4-5 more games than expected.... then either Sean McDermott is a WAY better coach than anyone gives him credit for, or this team is better than anyone gives it credit for. They are certainly not overrated. Beane, McDermott and everyone in the Bills organization EXPECTS Josh Allen to take a big step forward this season. There is no backup plan for Allen failing to progress. This year will be about surrounding him with better blocking, better weapons, and watching him take-off. We were exactly .500 (5-5) in the games Allen started and finished as a rookie, with one of the worst supporting casts in the league. With Clay making that catch, we are 6-4. Now if we can give him some help, and he improves just a little bit as a passer... is it totally unrealistic to win 9,10 or 11 games? Considering that New England won the AFC East with 11 wins last season... that would by definition, make us a contender in 2019.

Last year's offense didn't use the Tight Ends very much in the passing game. Maybe that would change under Brian Daboll if we gave him a better TE to use. I don't know. If we are going to utilize his skills, then I'm OK with taking a top TE prospect in the late first round. But TE is just not a position that should go in the Top 10, unless he's a can't-miss "next Tony Gonzalez" player who is fantastic at both blocking and receiving.

Ryan Kalil retired. When it comes to Center, the Bills only have two good options in Free Agency: - Matt Paradis - Mitch Morse After that, you only have a handful of guys with any real starting experience in the NFL. And I wouldn't consider any of those guys (Matt Skura, Spencer Pulley, etc.) to be upgrades from Russell Bodine or Ryan Groy. If you don't get Paradis and you don't get Morse (and believe me, there will be a very big market for both), then your only choice is looking to the draft. There are some decent 2nd-3rd Round options like Elgton Jenkins, Garrett Bradbury, Erick McCoy and Michael Jordan. But I never like going into the draft with a desperate need at any position. That's probably why Beane jumped on getting Spencer Long. Because if we strike out on all of the above, Long was probably the next best option.

I agree about Nick Foles. The problem is... before the Flacco trade, the draft placement for Denver was perfect for us. If you are looking for a trade-down, the best place to be is 1-2 spots before a team that needs a Quarterback. Miami and Washington no longer have the incentive to move into the Top 10, unless Denver can still convince everyone they will still be taking a QB at #10.

Brandon Beane did a great job getting a high 3rd Round Pick for Tyrod Taylor. Absolutely no doubt about it. However... the salary cap must be taken into account when talking about trades. Teams aren't just trading for a player. They are also trading for his contract. I've defended Beane trading away Marcel Dareus for a 7th Round pick. Regardless of how much Dareus' fell play off, it certainly wasn't to the level of a 7th Round Pick. Unless you factor in the contract we were shedding.

It's too early to judge 2018. But either way, it's really irrelevant to the point I was making. They did kill the 2017 and 2016 drafts, which has allowed them to overcome the "salary cap hell" they were faced with. For instance - They decided to trade away Brandin Cooks, knowing they would be unable to re-sign him in Free Agency the next season. But they never missed Cooks at all, thanks to them landing Michael Thomas in the second round the same year.

The Saints successfully maneuvered out of "cap hell" through excellent drafting. In fact, you may not find a better drafting team over the past few years. Teams with salary cap problems have trouble re-signing talent, adding free agents and may be forced to cut players under contract. The Saints have been forced to do this. You just don't notice the players they are losing, because they are easily replacing them with draft picks.

I guess the possible Free Agents can be looked at as a positive. But it's definitely a negative for anyone hoping for a trade-down, or for more non-QB talent to drop in the draft. The QB needy teams now stand as: #6 - New York Giants #7 - Jacksonville Jaguars #13 - Miami Dolphins #15 - Washington Redskins Out best bet was for either the Dolphins or Redskins to make a move to get ahead of Denver (drafting at #10). It's still possible that Washington tries to move ahead of Miami. But now they have other teams like Denver, Cincinnati and Green Bay to negotiate with, which drives down the price we can ask.

Free Agency hasn't started. The Draft hasn't started. Beane literally signed the ONLY offensive lineman with starting experience available in February. And people are freaking out like the front office is done adding players and ready to move into training camp. Besides. The best veteran signings are always the ones that fly under the radar. Remember all the criticism after we signed Jordan Poyer? One of the priority moves of this regime was to sign a safety from a 1-15 team with a terrible secondary.

Going into the offseason, we needed (at the very least) starters at Center, Right Guard and Right Tackle. That's assuming Wyatt Teller progresses in his second season, and Dion Dawkins proves his sophomore slump was a fluke. And if the starters are bad, what does that say about our depth? To bring in a guy with 4-5 years of starting experience at multiple positions, at a reasonable contract, more than a month before Free Agency even starts - you really can't hate on this move. At the very least, he's depth and competition. Maybe a center. Maybe a guard. I've said it before. Even if we are VERY aggressive in Free Agency, there are no guarantees we get the guys we target. The market for O-Line this year is not great. And we don't have enough draft picks to address every position we need an upgrade in. It's good to have a solid backup ready just in case we strikeout getting the guys we really want.

Love this.

I agree with this. In retrospect, Brandon Beane's decision to trade AJ McCarron was clearly a mistake. He has readily admitted as much. If people want to criticize him, that's fine. But don't forget that MANY were calling for McCarron to get cut outright, and calling Beane a genius after the 4th preseason game for getting a draft pick in return. Personally, I would rather judge Beane by his entire body of work after some time on the job, rather than nitpick every little move he makes. On a side note, I really find the Nathan Peterman situation puzzling. What is it about the guy that inspired such confidence in both the coaching staff AND the front office. Heck, after the preseason - lots of fans were optimistic that he would start the whole season and bring us back to the playoffs. Think about all the decisions made by the Bills over the last 2 seasons, because of their unwavering confidence in Peterman. There is absolutely no way these things happen if Peterman looks anything in practice like he does in games.