Rocky Landing

Perhaps not an apples to apples comparison, but Cook's actions are reminiscent of Diggs behavior, and they were willing to eat $30M+ to let Diggs go. Beane has a history of rewarding players who show themselves to be good teammates, along with being good players. Cook is engaging in behavior that I don't believe Beane, or McD will tolerate. It's a precedent that they have not allowed to be set, and as good as Cook is, I don't believe they're going to set it now.

Man, if when I was that age, we could have been arrested for putting a family member in a choke hold, we would have had a helluva lot of legal bills...

He's not elite, but he's a solid starter, and I think he still has plenty of potential to improve. And, I don't care how much he gets paid, I only care how it affects the cap. I like this move.

There are varying measures of what people consider a "successful season." One of those scales (the one held by the OP) holds that a successful season ends in a Super Bowl win-- period. Others might consider making it to the Super Bowl some measure of success. Miami Dolphins fans are currently talking about, maybe next season, making a "deep playoff run..." as a successful season. Jets fans would just like a return to relevancy. During the drought years, before Allen showed up, I used to joke on this site about how we would perennially win the offseason. Personally, I don't share @Hermes perspective. I'm not sure where I fit on the scale of what I would consider a "successful season," but I will say that I consider this last season-- one in which few pundits, and media analysts had us winning the division, much less getting one score away from the SB-- to be successful. I think any season where a team far exceeds expectations should be considered successful. This last season has made me especially optimistic for the next. And I certainly don't think there is one successful team, and 31 failures per year. That's a glass 31/32 empty. I can't live like that. I'm definitely a "glass half full" kinda guy (even if it is half full of sh!t...)

I think it’s a good idea.

Not Encino-- that's in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. He has a house in a gated community in Dana Point, which is South of Huntington Beach. If Josh Allen lived there year-round, he would not be playing football (unless he didn't mind driving about 3 1/2 hours every day).

Of course not. Neither does Josh.

Are you suggesting that Allan would only be willing to play for the Chargers, or Rams, and that he would go out of his way to engineer a deal in one of those franchises? Seems like a stretch. He doesn't have a home in LA now. And there really isn't a reason for Hailee to live there full time, either. Motion picture production is way down in LA, but even if it were booming, it's a part time gig for someone like her, and a lot of the productions she would be involved with wouldn't shoot in LA anyway. Even animation voice work is largely done remotely these days. There's no reason to live in LA full time. Plus, the city is a sh!thole. Trust me-- I live here.

Especially now that there are three wildcard teams, and only one playoff bye per conference, getting the #1 seed is huge. It's not unreasonable to say that it was one of the largest factors that got KC into the Super Bowl.

40 is the new 30. And 50 is the new 40. And by the time Josh is 40, that 40 will be the new 30 from the previous 30, which will be the new 20. Probably by the time Josh hits Social Security age (which will have been raised to at least 70 by then) That 70 will be the new 60, at least three times removed, meaning that Josh should be a dominant NFL quarterback well into his "Golden Years," which by then will be "the new 80" which will, of course, be around 90 years old. Math.

Boobs.

I would be happy if you're right.

In year-two of his career, I don't believe his draft position matters at all. If he's ready to start, he will. But, frankly, he looked like a liability on Sunday, and he was targeted often. And, honestly, I don't really feel like Hamlin is starting quality, either. IMO, Rapp is the only starting quality safety on the roster. Safety is definitely a position in dire need of upgrades to my mind.

I don't picture him starting the season, unless he really improves in the offseason. Him starting in the AFCCG was a clear function of our lack of depth at the position. But, I certainly don't think he'll be cut. Do you?

Just my opinion On Offense: I think on offense we need one, speedy boundary receiver who can consistently get separation.. and that's it. The Bills have an opportunity to enter the '25 season with almost the same offense they finished with, and that's not a bad thing. The familiarity, consistency, and culture on that side of the ball shouldn't be underestimated. Maybe Cooper can be that boundary WR? But, we sure didn't see it this season. But, I wouldn't be surprised if they re-signed him (although, I suspect most would disagree with that...). But certainly, our O-line, RB, and TE, and QB rooms should, as much as possible, stay the same. Maybe Zack Davidson for Q Morris. Maybe sneak Tyrell Shavers on there-- minor tweaks. On Defense: Quite the opposite. The only players I would feel strongly about holding onto are, Groot, Oliver, Benford, Bernard, Milano, Taron Johnson, Rapp (that's right, I said it), and maybe Epenesa, and Dorian Williams. I would imagine we hold onto Cam Lewis (who is important for depth, and ST), Carter, Solomon... keep kicking the tires on Cole Bishop, I suppose... Maybe not a complete overhaul, but a minimum of four new starters, and a lot more depth.

That ignores a lot of factors, including the concept that McDermott can improve as a coach from season to season. I think we probably both agree that the defensive roster in '22 was far better than in '24.

I don't have to look forward, no. I choose to.

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I am looking forward to what McDermott, Brady, and Babich can achieve with a significantly upgraded roster, especially on defense, which I fully expect the Bills to have next season.

IMO, there is one WR missing from this team.

I remember at draft time last season, numerous posters (some of whose opinions I actually respect) say things like, “ every pick should go towards offense…” or, “the first two picks, at least, should be for a WR…” But anyone going into this season not understanding how thin this defense was, simply wasn’t paying attention. I recall Beane at a press conference in the offseason defending the roster by saying, “we’re not giving up on the season. We still intend to win games.” And win we did. We were one score away from the Super Bowl, and if Kincaid had caught that pass, we would have been in a position to take the lead. I have no doubt the defense will be overhauled this offseason. I believe that was always the plan.

Just what do people think the NFL actually is??? it’s not some cabal, or secret society. It’s not even a corporation. It’s a trade association run by 31 billionaire owners, and Green Bay Packer inc. I haven’t read its charter, but I would have a hard time believing that it doesn’t prohibit giving one team a competitive advantage over another, and I have an even harder time believing that 30 billionaire owners would all agree to give up their chances at a Super Bowl. And if their hired representative, Roger Goodell, decided to secretly hatch a plan to promote one team over all others, it would be a far-ranging criminal undertaking, that would include fraud, conspiracy, antitrust violations, and interstate commerce laws. And to what end? To promote some feel-good narrative? To pull in Swifty viewership? As much as fans want to believe that the cards are stacked against them (ALL fanbases feel this way— even Chiefs fans), at its core, it just doesn’t make sense.

I appreciate this thread, especially in contrast to several other threads that are advocating for the Pegula's to blow the whole thing up. It is in this light that I'm going to add to the list of outstanding performances the coaching staff that during a "soft-rebuild" year, that was flushing over $60M in dead cap, and started the season with the thinnest roster of the McDermott era (with the obvious exception of JA17), managed to bring us to within one score of the Super Bowl. Anyone who doesn't think this team far exceeded expectations is wearing some heavy blinders.

At the beginning of the season, a majority of media analysts didn't believe the Bills would win the AFCE. There's a 170 page thread (and multiple others) on this site debating how bad the WR room was, with the departure of Diggs, Davis, and every other WR other than Shakir. We lost multiple defensive players, and started the season with the thinnest defense of the McDermott era. With limited draft picks, and over $60M in dead cap (half of that from Diggs alone), Beane had very few resources to field a competitive team. And yet they made it to the AFCCG, and one score away from the Super Bowl. Sean McDermott, and Brandon Beane's jobs are safe.

It was a helluva fun season-- one that most people did not expect. What I don't expect many people to acknowledge is that just getting to this game in the first place far exceeded the expectations of the vast majority of analysts, and exceeded the expectations of most of the Bills fans who post on this forum. Beane and company have a lot to work with in the offseason, and it's reasonable to expect that the Bills will field a deeper, and more complete team (especially on defense) in the '25/26 season.