Mister Defense

Wow, extremely enlightening. So many of us likely thought that the reason the Bills have not taken the next step in the playoffs, and especially intelligent analysts like Shannon Sharpe, was that Josh Allen was stinking it up in the playoffs. Now, thanks to your detailed breakdown, we all now that is likely not that case. Thank you!

Actually, not a bad idea. 3 million base salary, with some modest incentives. And a clause in his contract that if he complains about anything behind the scenes or in public he can be immediately cut with no compensation.

Nope No Ezeiruaku. NO more 'undersized' defensive lineman. It is a running league again, as it was destined to be when most teams went smaller and faster. Duh. The teams that run and stop the run best will win. The teams that have the big beasts on the D and O lines will be the dominant teams in the coming years.

Overall I agree with your last point here. But the Bills have a very solid O Line, and a great trio of running backs, though under-utilized this year in both the rushing and passing game. As they did in the Championship game, of course. The Bills, after searching for a difference maker at running back since McCoy left, have that player in James Cook. I cannot imagine them now saying, "Let him go, let's roll the dice again--and again and again. Rather than paying the man a good, deserved salary. It would be a huge step back for the Bills, as they add another significant need, weakening them, making it less likely they win it all next year. IMO.

Hopefully the front office has learned its lesson, as the league is doing now overall. Just watch the Super Bowl again to see how detrimental a poor running attack can be, even to the best quarterbacks. The best Josh Allen and best Bills are based on how good the running game is. We saw it several years ago, after they lost to Tampa and then started running and running, becoming the #1 running team in the NFL and looking unstoppable. And ditto last year post dorsey, and this year, clearly much more focused on the run. I think the front office will put their money where the logic is now, and not discount the value of a great running game to Allen and the Bills. You would not consider getting rid of a great lineman and the same logic applies to a great running back, both very difficult to find.

I had thought it was sarcasm, it's such a bizarre and ridiculous thing to say, an old worn out cliche that has no more legitimacy than if you added any other position to that phrase-see below. It is like people hear something and then just repeat it over and over and over, no matter how out of date it is and nonsensical it is. The facts be damned completely. Don't pay wide receivers. Don't pay cornerbacks. Don't pay safeties. Don't pay linebackers. Don't pay defensive tackles. Don't pay slot receivers. Don't pay tight ends. Don't pay kickers. See how each phrase is as stupid as the others and without any merit? That kind of stupidity has forced Cook and others to do extraordinary things to get payed what they deserve. You would have thought the last few years would have put an end to the devaluation of running backs..

Seems strange to offer several more extremely bad examples/comparisons here to support his point, the bad comparison! Jonathan Taylor had the 4th most rushing yards this past season, rushing for over 1400 yards. To you, he is "absolutely not" 'that guy' anymore? Did you see him in any games this year? Healthy again, Taylor was a beast again, and clearly in the conversation as one of the top backs in the entire league. And then you throw in another bad comparison, Breece Hall, a player who has never been, not yet anyway. Then you say 'these guys are just very up and down', I think implying that most running backs are that, extremely inconsistent, and also if the Bills give him a big extension it may seem like a total disaster' if the OL suffers a rash of injuries. To sum it up, here you imply that the Bills should not sign Cook to a big extension because he may flame out like the once great, now clearly not great, Taylor, who had over 1400 yards and 11 TDS this year, and that the Bills should be extremely wary of a contract extension because, for some reason, their O line may suffer a rash of injuries limiting Cook's effectiveness? Not very fact based or logical points made there to support your point, in fact you seem to undermined it considerably with your examples and analysis. With that logic literally almost any good or great player, and at any position, should never be offered a big extension. Seems like an awful way to build, and maintain, a great team, throwing sense and logic out the door completely.

Umm, how is this in any way relevant to James Cook and the Bills offering him a good contract now?? Mostert is 32, turning 33 in April. James Cook is 25. And furthermore, Mostert had over 1,000 yards rushing, at 4.8 yards per carry and 18 touchdowns--in the 2023 season. Cook is just getting started and clearly one of the top backs in the league already. So, you need to offer a dramatically better comparison than Miami not bringing back the 33 year old Mostert next season, to the Bills not signing Cook. The comparison is comically bad, in my book..

Exactly. That is why this stupidity, call for this horrendous move by the Bills, is so much like what some ignorant posters were saying about Lynch--he is a thug, and not that good anyway, look at home many yards he has this year, and that Fred Jackson is very capable, even better probably, so let's get rid of Lynch. We don't need him, easily replaceable... And then, with so much nonsense guiding their 'thought' 'process', most were quite pleased by the fact the Bills got a 4th round and conditional pick (5th round) for by far the best player on the Bills, one of the best running backs and players in the NFL. Ignorance often makes for supremely bad analysis and conclusions and this is a very clear example of that. If we Ignore all kinds of facts and reality, and are okay being guided by nonsense, fabrication, then yes, let's get rid of Cook. Easily replaceable, as Lynch was.

Yup, what happened with Lynch was as dumb as what some are calling for in the case of Cook. The things Lynch did were not huge red flags, but the actions by a young player new to the league making stupid mistakes. He was not used well at all by Gailey, and that is why the Bills had to showcase him in the game before the trade deadline when, of course, Lynch showed he was the best player on the team, field, and one of the top in the league. He was soon traded for almost nothing. He lead them to several Super Bowls and is a sure fire first ballot Hall of Famer. Cook did the same kinds of thing this year, and looked better and better, as all great players at his age tend to do. He is one of the top backs in the league, one of the best at running and catching, with elite speed, vision, and toughness. Many used the fact to support the Lynch trade that we had a good running back in 30+ year old Freddy Jackson to be the featured back. Lynch, like Cook now, was disposable to the ultra dumb fans who could not see the forest through the trees. Sad how some people, who don't use facts much, cannot see beyond their own misguided thoughts and strange whims. But I am confident the Bills pay Cook very well, and soon. If not, they will look as dumb as those who traded away Lynch.

It's a tired old, worn out cliche, that maybe had an iota of validity for 2 years. (But is your post a joke on that, or real?) It is pure stupidity today. Would be just as ridiculous to say never pay cornerbacks, wide receivers, lineman... just as ignorant--no basis in facts or reality. It is the same philosophy that the WORST teams in the NFL still rely on to make their awful decisions. Please see the Giants, Raiders, Titans, Bengals... and see how their belief in that dumb cliche, with no basis in reality, worked out for their teams. And then look at the teams those misguided mega dumb teams they traded with...

Someone more ambitious than I am should go back to some of the threads before and after the trade of Marshawn Lynch. They should look at all of the immensely ignorant and flat out stupid things that were said in regards to unloading by far the best player on the team, how that would be a good thing. How many of the same yahoos saying we should unload Lynch, and for some of the same type of mega stupid reasons, are now calling for Cook to be let go? And what kind of mega stupid reasons did people have for that bizarre move, the worst the Bills have ever made. I think we'd, at the very least, see the parallels in the level of arrogance, idiocy, and stupidity.

They will likely sign him for @12 million a year, with some extra incentives. I cannot imagine any Bills fan thinking that is overpaying for what is likely the 2nd best player on the team, one of the best running and receiving running backs in the league, and a big difference maker on this offense. Yes, underutilized this year, but that will not be the case next year.. To not do so would be a phenomenally ignorant and stupid move, creating a big hole in the offense as you lose one of the most dynamic play makers on the team--and in the league. At 25 years old. It would go down in team history as one of the worst moves ever. That is what the old, ignorant Bills would do--not this incarnation of the team. I have significant confidence that they pay Cook very well, and lock him up for 4-5 years.

?? You obviously did not hear that running backs are a dime a dozen? In fact, about 20 or so geniuses on this board have been saying that for year, and still, despite what everyone else has seen with their own eyes. 'Let Cook walk'! But why would the Bills trade away either of their two top players right now, creating more needs to fill in the draft and off season?

Well, one of the biggest Bills' busts ever was their first round pick (#19) out of Clemson in 1982, wide receiver Perry Tuttle. He had 107 yards his first year, then 261 in 1983, by far his best year as a pro. Then, cut or traded, and in his 3rd best year in the NFL he caught 1 pass for 7 yards. Went on to have a good career in the CFL, but no one cares, at least in our country.

You retire and go out in heap, which is very fitting for such a bad guy. Or, you beg another team to take you on, hoping there is another team as dumb, dysfunctional, and short sighted as the jets. Either way, as pathetic an ending as one could hope for such a guy. He thought he would go out like Brady did! But to someone like rodgers, all of that work that Brady put in, mentally and physically, were not even on his radar. Too arrogant and crazy to think he needed to step up his game if he were to play well into his 40's.

A sad day for Bills fans, as the jets never had a chance with that washed up nutjob. I had hoped he would never leave. But all good things come to an end sooner or later. Part of life. Hopefully they continue being the jets and bring in someone with the same kind of skills and leadership ability as our boy, forever, aaron rodgers.

You should go back and read the many super ignorant posts in this thread (and in other similar rb threads). It seems clear that a bunch of people would not want that either, would think that is overpaying for our 2nd best player, 25 year old back, who scored over 20 touchdowns this year.

Wow, you think that poster is unrealistic!!? He got that many yards only because the Bills did not use him the way other teams have used their top running backs. He was the 6th best back this season in ypc with 4.9. Cook became a (more) elite back this year, with amazing vision, speed and, with added size and strength, a back who consistently broke tackles. And he scored over 20 touchdowns. "Let him walk"!!! Come on, it is a flat out preposterous thing to say about the 2nd best player on the team. If the Bills' leadership ever shows this kind of supreme ignorance, like a previous leadership group did with Lynch, it would make me lose hope for the future, this team's potential.

I cannot disagree more with the comment, now in bold, above. It would not be wise, but on the contrary, would be a huuuge mistake, and one based exclusively on significant ignorance and stupidity. Get rid of one of the top players on the team, a man just starting to come into his own, and, to this point, very underutilized? Would be so unwise, it would go down in the team history, like the Lynch trade, as one of the biggest mistakes the Bills have ever made. Amazing how many in this thread are just casually saying it is fine, a good thing for some, to just cut ties with what is likely the 2nd best player on our team. And one of the best all around running backs in the league.

Hmm, I was there for his last game when the conventional wisdom was that he was just being used then, after not getting consistent carries, because the Bills wanted to showcase him for trade value. For an out of shape guy he looked like the super fast, bruising, unstoppable force that he was then, and that he would be for years, leading to several Seattle Super Bowls and Hall of Fame career. I think that out of shape crap was just the Bills, or media, covering their backs, knowing what an amazing player he was.

Honestly, those just throwing Cook overboard and somehow still suggesting that good running backs are a dime a dozen, easily replaced, are spewing some of the most ignorant, outrageous football nonsense imaginable. How outrageous? One poster comparing the loss of Cook to the loss of Gabe Davis last year, somehow equating the two players and their value to the Bills. Yikes, yikes and more yikes. Scary ignorance, making me so happy that none of those crazy thoughts are likely shared by any sentient leader at One Bills Drive.

Yikes, as if the last few years never happened in the NFL. Same kind of shocking ignorance that had posters railing against Marshawn Lynch and thinking his trade to the Seahawks was a good move. Good, great, elite running backs are NOT a dime a dozen. Please watch the last season again... and with open eyes. He won't get 20 million but likely 15 on average. And nope, he will cost more than a dime. Sorry. It is just like the McDermott haters, and often the same group. You cannot change their views, no matter the clear trend in the NFL the last few years, and the immense value of a high level running back to creating a championship contender. They just close their eyes and repeat the cliches about running backs and the running game not being that relevant, that so many ignorant people have been saying for years. They believe that repeating others' ignorant thoughts makes theirs legitimate, sharp.

I would say no way in he*l would Tomlin ever let this team wrecking, culture destroying player even near his team, let alone leading it. rodgers would undermine him every step of the way, just like he has done to his coaches for years. People often get more crazy as they age, and rodgers has clearly demonstrated he is on that train for good now. He will be extremely lucky to get any serious job offers, unless the jets are footing almost the entire bill. More likely that he is done, and heads off into the darkness hopefully.

Oh well. Was hoping for one more comically inept, disastrous year for him and the jets. It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully the jets will need to eat a huge salary for him this year. Someone should go back and count all of the Bills' fans in this forum who were scared of this washed up has been, wicked head case, leading the jets. I heard the Cam Newton is looking to make a comeback. If not, possibly Kirk Cousins? In any case, I have confidence the jets will pick that caliber of player for rodgers to hand the reigns of the team over to.