Bleeding Bills Blue

Well now they moved the testing window to a 2 week period, and there are no suspensions. If you pass during that 2 week period you have 50 weeks of no testing for weed. I think it can become an issue when bored players can't do anything else and just smoke all the time. Hell, it may have already become an issue for guys during social distancing. Just don't want your guys being fat and lazy - it's professional sports.

Right - how many teams rely on fans to ya know... pay the players. Or for loans for stadiums in LA that are 3 BILLION dollars over budget. I feel like 90% of the licenses and season tickets in that stadium were purchased by brokers for 30 cents on the dollar. And now brokers are all cash poor, so eventually you have to give them their money back if the seats can't be sold. That's a big problem when you may have already spent it paying contractors to get your giant empty stadium ready. Ticket business is a mess right now. Ticketmaster has no money coming in, so they can't cancel anything. Brokers likely had an insane number of chargebacks so they have no money to give ticketmaster, so they probably have to do chargebacks too (a big no-no in ticket biz).

On a chartered flight... with just them on it. Where they get picked up by a bus, with just them on it.... taking them to a hotel. If anything i think players will have to be more focused on football as a lot of the distractions aren't going to be there. Only thing i'd be really worried about this season is weed. I don't think buffalo has a big weed problem, but with no clubs and weed not being tested in season? I think it could be an issue for teams.

I was just trying to play that devils advocate of trying to convince someone why they could still win the division. Belichick wrecks young QBs... the AFC east has allen, darnold, tua.. thats not ideal. There's a lot of factors in there that can get the patriots to 9 or 10 wins imo. The big thing on the team is at QB - but Pittsburgh had the 30th ranked offense last year and won 8 games. I think NE has a better offensive coaching staff, and will try to play as turnover free as possible (pittsburgh turned the ball over in every game last year). I think for them - their likely path to a division requires dominating the divisional opponents (6-0 or 5-1) , and hoping that the other 3 teams beat each other a few times and everyone else is in that 7-9 to 9-7 range and they win on tiebreakers. Buffalo had a lousy offense last year and won 10 games (probably 11 if starters play week 17).

Levi brown and Cardale Jones... Killin it.

At WR - Full offseasons for Harry and Sanu - as well as a small addition of Lee at WR. Last season they had Gordon and Brown be disasters and get suspended. They still have Edelman. At TE - Gronk retired in 2019, that sucked as they had nothing behind him. Now they have 2 players they drafted this season who are likely more talented than anything they carried last year. At OL - Wynn was banged up all year and they started newhouse. David Andrews missed the entire season. This had a huge effect on the play of their line. At RB - Still rolling with Michel and White, with Burkhead and Bolden mixed in. 2 years ago Michel avged 4.5 per carry. Defensive losses were at LB - but they added Dugger (their chung big nickel type), Uche, Jennings in rounds 2 and 3, with Winovich drafted last year. They lost Flowers the year before and actually improved on defense. They were also a better defense than buffalo last year by a fairly considerable margin. They took the ball away much more, and allowed fewer yards and points... first downs... 3rd downs... whatever. Kicker - they won 12 games with one of the worst kicking game in the league last year. 27/34 on FGs, and 39/45 on XPs. So yes the BIG one - they lost brady at QB. Which will hurt their YPG and PPG values a bit i would think. What are they looking for from Stidham? Something like what Rudolph/Hodges were able to do with fewer turnovers? Trubiskey's numbers? Could they win with that? Smaller margin for error, but do-able. And the defense will probably put them in some good situations. Also - If they put up the same points as buffalo last year (good for 23rd in the league) and yards (good for 24th), theoretically they should do similarly in standings.

At least allen adds a fair amount of value running the ball? Barkleys probably in his ear after a pick going - i would've done the same thing

I think making a move for Tannehill in 2012 would've been beneficial. It wouldn't have been a commitment to fitz - but lets be real... no one should commit to fitz. They lacked any foresight at the most important position on the team. It would have also had a roster strategy other than "lets go into a horribly weak QB draft... in dire need at QB". That's how you end up forcing yourself to commit to EJ manuel despite him not being that type of prospect you commit to. They also could've more aggressively pursued alex smith. Try and build a strong defense, and an efficient offense. Still draft someone in 2013-2015. Instead - they did nothing... signed kevin kolb. A sub-60% passer with almost as many INTs as TDs. Woof. Even if he didn't get hurt - woof.

Edelman is better than our #2 and 3 WRs and Harry was a rookie who was banged up all year. They tried to invest in other WRs (gordon, brown) and it bit them all year long, who really thought Sanu was going to come in in October and immediately contribute. Their defense was better than buffalos in pretty much every category, however so was their offense even with all of the problems. 2 misses at #1 WR as well as injuries to 1st round pick, all-pro TE retired, LT missing time getting fill ins from Marshall newhouse, Center Andrews missed the entire year.

Teams scored 14 or fewer points against them 11 times. They scored 6 D/ST TDs last year, and that likely won't carry over YoY. However they ranked #1 in yards and points allowed, so they weren't just some turnover dependent team. They lost collins and van noy - but a lot of me thinks their sack #'s are inflated by the scheme in a way. They lost flowers last year and actually improved on defense. I think Dugger is going to be a solid add for them as well. On O - At WR they have Harry (who everyone here liked but has i guess been labeled a bust after 1 year), edelman (best slot receiver in NFL), marqise lee (injury prone, but solid), and sanu (solid #2 who was a midseason pickup and gets a full offseason there). Their oline is really solid across and they have 2 new TE's that will help as blockers and pass catchers. 4 deep with running backs who do different things. They're going to need some decent play from QB - but lets not act like their offense was good last year with Brady and injuries at WR, LT, C etc. They played the same easy divisional schedule we did last year, and won more games (as well as beating buffalo twice). If they split with buffalo in 2020, they probably still clean up nyj and miami. Theres 5... home games against the rams (gutted roster) and chargers (tyrod or rookie - bad either way), away games against denver (2nd year QB) oakland (gruden) and arizona (2nd year QB). There's 10 wins.

Whaley in 2016 was pretty brutal. Flowers was a miss, at least lawson turned into a player. I think Murphy either stays or gets cut - its a pretty large cap hit. I'd also consider Williams or Long too.

I vaguely remember him complaining about his role in the rotation too. I know he had issues playing nose tackle in the 2 gap scheme under rex - but even as a 1T in this defense he didn't seem to care much.

I mean - butler did a pretty good job for the most part. I think he hung onto the super bowl guys a bit too long, but Rob Johnson was the big killer to his buffalo tenure. Everyone after that was pretty terrible. Polian also didn't have to deal with free agency, but he obviously had a great eye for talent. I like Beane's strategy - use the draft to get studs, and fill out the roster with lots of depth. I've never seen a bills team so deep as they continue to build here.

That or paying him too much to begin with. We drafted 1 QB while Fitz was here - Levi Brown. I wonder why this team never made the playoffs.

They were a weird team last year. Bad kicking - really poorly timed turnovers - and a defense that didn't take the ball away enough. But yards wise, points wise, they should've won like 10 games at least. Part of why i don't think Jones going to Miami isn't as big a move as others - he has 2 picks in 5 years. I know INTs aren't everything, but watching their games - he doesn't jump out as even a blanket stop corner.

I just remember in 2012 feeling like we waited too long to find a QB and that Fitz wasn't the answer. I also felt like for 10 years we were incapable of moving around the draft effectively because our GM had no network of contacts in the NFL. I feel like Tannehill would have actually had a chance here especially with a Gailey style of offense. 2014 was probably too soon, but they were both probably better prospects.

In any case - Dak had a career year last year. 4th in the NFL in passing TDs, 2nd in yards. He's also made 5 million dollars over 4 years. If you don't want to pay him, someone will. He's not Russell Wilson, but he could become a version of him. He's 26, has improved year over year, never missed a game, made playoffs in 2/4 years and was close the other 2. He should get similar compensation to at least kirk cousins shouldn't he? I don't agree with some of the things that the Cowboys have done - but the Dalton moves a smart backup plan if Dak decides to play hardball. But if Dalton comes in and has a good year - hes going to want 20+ next year anyway. QB money is constantly escalating so the longer you wait the more you pay anyway.

RG3, Tannehill, and Cousins in addition to Wilson in 2012. Even Foles would've been a decent option. There were Jimmy G and Bridgewater in 2014. Goff/Wentz/Prescott in 2016.

Right? Once we got Allen I think i truly understood the failure of Nix/Whaley. You can get your QB in a variety of ways - they settled.

I think at the time - with Tyrod's refusal to throw 50/50 balls, maybe they thought KB could jumpstart the offense a bit?

Yeah - Dareus was not without problems either. The suspensions, drug arrest, drag racing... I don't think that Beane and McD like wrote him off either - I believe he was given every chance to play and contribute, and he just was not buying in. Scheme fit doesn't really make sense as a complaint either, I think he should have been able to play a phillips like role as a 3T - but they had him at nose because he was way too heavy. He didn't want to be here so... trading him for nothing allows you to accelerate cap penalty into 2017, and dump the guaranteed salary in 2018 and beyond. Double win. With Watkins, I think a lot of it came down to availability from injury - and maximizing a previous investment. They had no intention of re-signing him, and getting the pick they got was much better than forcing yourself to work the comp pick formula. Ragland wasn't a scheme fit. Darby wasn't either.

I know they paid him his base salary the rest of 2017 and i think they restructured 2018/2019. Either way, IIRC 2018 was a fully guaranteed base salary so i assume it was a lot. 2 and a half years for about 40something million from buffalo. Jags paid him about 23 for 2 and a half years. Now hes a FA and no one wants him.

Buffalo struggled with man coverage last year. It was also not all on receivers/TE's.

From what i can tell - this puts pressure on Dak to report/play under the tag/negotiate a new deal. Dak lost a bit of leverage when the cowboys signed a backup with 133 career starts. If he holds out - cowboys can still retain his rights, and they aren't wasting a year of the roster they put together. If Dak doesn't report, there's a good chance Dalton has one of his better seasons, and comes into free agency in 2021 looking for some tannehill money.

Yep - basically if they don't throw a guy over there you just throw it right off the snap and you can get like 6-10 yards. NE does this with Develin sometimes. You split him there so they have to adjust the coverage to edelman. I'd be willing to give the rookie a long hard look though. Depends on his hands, blocking, special teams ability etc. He did block a few kicks in college though - he's also most likely bigger, stronger, and faster than Dimarco. Also a high character fella. We'll see i guess.