fergie's ire

I just looked it up. He needs one more to get a million dollar bonus and needs to get to 4 sacks for 2.5 million.

Does he need one or two more to hit his bonus?

Anyone seen the details of the Jalen Ramsey extension? Saw reports he is now the highest paid corner in the league. Dolphins have a LOT of money tied up in old and/or injury risk players (assuming that a lot of the money is guaranteed).

AND THERE IT IS!!!! (Been waiting so long for this.)

Hee hee...."hard launching Josh" Oh, I bet she did.

I also think he was drafted to fit a niche. We didn't have big strong receivers who would be good endzone targets. So, we took a flyer on a big physical receiver probably hoping that, at best, he would be used situationally but more likely be a guy on the practice squad who you could call up against teams where such a receiver would be useful (like we did with Hodgins). Then, this past offseason we went out and got a ton of big physical (and better) receivers so his niche no longer exists.

I haven't seen a complete breakdown of the 53 man roster and just putting pieces together, sounds like we are DB heavy and thin at WR. Could it be that Isabella is the "wink wink, we're cutting you but will re-sign you in a couple of days" guy and is signed after Hardy goes to IR? I don't love Isabella...but this staff seems to like him and he gives them another returner.

Could it be that they think Cain is able to fill their needs at the position?

Yeah, I typed that before I saw you made the correction. I think what is confusing is that there is the new rule (can IR two before cut-down) but still the old rule (can IR for return up to 8 during the year).

Only if it's before the season. If you cut Reid Ferguson (as another poster suggested), or only keep 1 QB as I mentioned, and then wait until cutdowns are complete, you can then put another player on IR for return. Say, for example, they have Trubisky and Edwards listed as the two who are eligible to return but not on the 53 man roster. They "cut" Reid Ferguson and keep Spector on the roster. Then, later this week, they put Ferguson on IR for return and re-sign Ferguson. Spector would have agreed to do this and to re-sign before they even cut him. They have a total of 8 IR for returns for the whole year (including the pre-cutdown ones). So, in the above scenario they would be down to 5 left for the rest of the year.

Agreed. I remember the Patriots doing it a few years ago and if you don't have a backup that you like, I think it's a smart move...but they seem to like Trubisky too much.

Do they keep 2 QBs? If they are unhappy with Trubisky or put him on IR, I could see them just keeping Josh and then once the 53 is set they could move someone else to IR or maybe more easily stash them on the practice squad and sign a backup from those who have been cut by other teams.

And just a programming heads up. I have YouTubeTV and Sunday Ticket and I DO have live coverage of the game.

My YouTubeTV account says it's going to air today at 1 on something called NFL ST. We'll see. Ahhh...just realized that the ST is Sunday Ticket. I guess there are some Sunday Ticket preseason games?

Yes...which was smart. No need to dive into an oncoming defender.

The reason these players didn't return investment is that they played. Other teams saw what they were. When QBs don't play...or better yet appear in just a few games when teams don't know how to prepare for them, people can become convinced they are great....like Gardiner Minchew or Jake Browning. Daniel Jones threw for over 300 yards in his first game and looked GREAT. If that game came in a substitute role and he went back to the bench you could end up with teams giving multiple firsts to get him....but once you see enough of him that's when a Matt Cassel becomes meh.

Exactly. That's why I would love for the Bills to take a flyer on a QB in the later rounds of the draft every few years. Yes, you are grooming a possible replacement in case the worst happens, like an Andrew Luck situation. However, I think the bigger reason is as an asset. Having a young unknown QB is the best way for good teams to collect on investment. Yes, Matt Cassel is an example and if Bellichick hadn't done Garropolo a solid and traded him to SF, he could've gotten a mind for him from Cleveland or a similar team. Look at what we paid for Rob Johnson, or what the Seahawks paid for Matt Flynn in free agency (and what GB could've gotten for him if they still had him under contract). Teams fall in love with backups on great teams who appear in pre-season and a few spot regular season games. It's a great investment. If Josh goes down, this teams going nowhere so have a backup who you could flip for some picks. Could you imagine what we could get for Nathan Peterman if he were drafted two years ago?

Someone mentioned cutting Gilliam and using a TE as fullback. How about 3 TEs with Knox in the backfield? I think you'd need to have one set back off the LS like a wingback but if you did that you'd have all that size that you could pass to...or hand off to Cook and nobody would be able to find him amongst the trees.

The one thing that gives me hope for Cook is that last year in training camp Shakir was "Hold My Breath" team captain.

Over 30 speed receivers' production can suddenly drop off a cliff. Miami better hope that doesn't happen.

I thought it was good on first watch, too. However, after going back and re-watching it I have to agree that the second one was probably incomplete. He bobbled both catches which is not surprising since it was contested. On the first, he clearly comes down with a knew in bounds. On the second one, though, you can't see the sideline when he catches it, but he goes to ground right after and at that point you can see the sideline behind him. He's probably two yards out of bounds so if you extrapolate where he was when he caught it, he was probably a step out of bounds.

Do you remember how long in camp it took for rookie Ed Oliver to beat out Jordan Phillips? Once the season came, Oliver started and while some may question if Oliver lived up to his draft status, he is certainly better than Phillips. McDermott seems to have a good sense of who needs to be pushed and who needs to be encouraged. He also uses starting position to reward veterans for past service (as with Phillips). At least that seems true on the defense. On offense they seem to want to get players accustomed to playing with Josh. I feel like we have this discussion almost every year with some player.

It can't be taught

Yeah, and it's not just against the Bills. Their offense averages about twice as many points against losing teams as winning teams. They tend to struggle against good teams. It's much like the complaint about the Bills defense.

Yes, I think this was the sequence you were referring to (per Thad Brown): "Josh 3 INTs in four plays in team drills."