BarleyNY

Well we KNOW Hochul lied about Austin. San Diego makes little sense too. I am just being realistic about that. I also think we should all be realistic about the necessity of building the Bills a stadium. Something had to be done or the Pegulas would have moved them somewhere. Zero argument there. Ditto WNY getting state funds. But there is a lot to hate about this deal. $850M in public funds for construction plus another $280M for upkeep is very, very steep. Of the remaining $550M in construction costs the NFL is footing $200M and the Pegulas will be responsible for $350M. But that won’t be from their pockets, it will come from fans in the form of PSLs. Their investment will be zero or close to zero. Then there’s the very dirty mechanics of the deal. The state money isn’t coming from downstate, $565M of the $600M is coming from Seneca Nation. NYS is forcing them to pay 25% of their gross (not net) revenue to run their casinos. They had a contract for that where payments ended in 2016 after 14 years. In return SN was supposed to get exclusively on most of their gambling operations. NYS did not uphold that end of the bargain and the period of payment had ended anyway so SN has not had contractual obligations to pay since 2016. NYS contested that and thus the money was put into escrow. NYS did get a judgement in the case, but SN appealed. Rather than allow the legal proceeding to continue SN was forced to pay when Hochul froze all of the SN accounts. Not just the account where they escrowed the disputed funds (which weren’t being spent anyway), all of SN’s accounts. Oh and it’s Key Bank that did that. The same one whose name is on the Sabres arena. Then there’s Delaware North’s involvement. Not only do they run concessions for sports teams, including the Bills and Sabres they are huge in the gaming industry. They have a big interest in the expansion of that industry and the continued payments of SN certainly hinder their ability to compete in that industry. 25% of gross sales is crippling. Oh and Kathy Hochul’s husband, William Hochul, is general counsel and senior Vice President and Secretary at Delaware North. I know most people don’t know any of that (the mainstream local and national medias sure isn’t talking about it) and that most won’t care anyway. And I know how I will get treated here as the messenger. But this really makes me sick. It’s just the wealthiest getting richer off of the poorest people. The big winners here are the Pegulas and Delaware North. The Hochuls are personally going to do very, very well too. The WNY fans get to keep the Bills. That is something at least, but they’ll pay for it with PSLs (I’m guessing about $350M worth) and an additional $250M in taxes. A bunch of poor Seneca Nation people will just have to stay that way though. I was hopeful that Hochul would be better than Cuomo, but somehow she might actually be worse. There’s my rant so I’ll leave this here.

I’m here in Ft. Meyers until Monday.

Draft picks, full roster of 53 after cut downs, practice squad salaries, PS call ups if they have expanded roster again, mid season additions due to injuries, opportunity, etc. $10M is about the minimum you’d what for all of that. But there are still places to add cap space for more signings if needed so there isn’t anything to worry about.

Wonder if this signing will start the WR market rolling a bit. Usually just takes a move or two around this time.

I love that he posted that. @Royale with Cheese has a great sense of humor. He’s a good dude despite his love of the abomination of ranch on wings. It is a great running joke here. The “boneless wings” addition is fantastic.

Was the city’s interest news to the government in San Diego like it was to the one in Austin? This “revelation” is just Hochul playing politics and giving herself cover for a sweetheart deal to the Pegulas. While I am happy that the Bills are staying in WNY, it could’ve been done with a deal that wasn’t nearly this dirty.

My expectations are that Beane will add a serviceable (or better) CB prior to the draft and give himself more options at 25. Then it would be business as usual in the draft. If he doesn’t, then possibly multiple worthwhile CBs make it close to 25 and Beane can stay put. But if the need at CB is as great as it looks now and the draft falls as I expect, then moving up a few spots would be the smart move IMO. And I expect Beane to make the smart move. Or maybe he has something else up his sleeve. We can’t know what is going on behind the scenes. Maybe he has a trade for a CB lined up with another GM that he trusts and both can wait until draft weekend to execute it. Then why not let everyone think you’re in for a CB at 25? I guess we will see how it all plays out.

That was meant to read that “every” team will assume that drafting a CB is our intention and that at least one of those who wants said CB would trade up to get him. I thought that was obvious.

I’ve said it several times before. Right now CB is the glaring need. If we don’t sign a CB before the draft and we want to take one in the 1st round, then it will require at least a slight trade up. That’s simply because every team will expect us to draft a CB and will trade ahead of us if they want that player.

Keyshawn:

I would not make that assumption regarding Edmunds. I wouldn’t have picked up his option, but we did so we are stuck with him this season. I let him walk after it. That makes other decisions a lot easier. DL: Oliver has already had his fifth year option picked up so he will be here through next season. He should be extended beyond that. Von Miller will be here for at least three seasons due to his contract. They are the only two DL players with big contracts. LB: Milano is making a sizable contract, but is worth it and should be kept. If the Bills let Edmunds walk, then Milano is the only big LB contract. I’d draft a player who could replace Edmunds on day 2 this month. DB: Tre has the biggest DB contract and isn’t going anywhere barring catastrophe. Taron Johnson is our Nickel. He just signed a contract that will keep him here. We need a CB2. Hopefully we get a solid, reasonably priced one in FA and another in the draft. Hyde is signed through 2023. I expect him to play it out. Poyer is the only real question mark. I don’t know what he’s asking for so I can’t say if we should extend him or not. If reasonable, then, sure. Do it and lock him up with guarantees for the next couple years. If not, we should trade home before the draft. Regardless the Bills should find a safety that can develop in this draft. It’s all manageable if we don’t squander our cap space.

That is the best case scenario IMO

We will see some FAs sign a week or so prior to the draft. Many will be nervous about signing post-draft after draft picks have filled many of the holes on teams. Good FA pricing now, but even better after the draft. But there will also be less FA talent after the draft too.

That’s funny. I’m totally the opposite with movies. I don't like the “good guys win because they’re the good guys” (usually with the main good guys not really sacrificing anything of substance or growing personally) movies. Too much like Disney for grown ups to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not reading Hemingway every day either, but I like stuff that feels real. Or I’ll take a good, goofy comedy that isn’t selling itself as anything more than that. Still, results count. KC was a phenomenal game. Ditto SB25. Objectively both were some of the best Bills games ever. But Ls don’t make my personal list of “Best” Bills games. Yup. I wasn’t alive yet, but I agree. Championships are at the top.

Thank you for only including one loss in their list

About a month ago I finally decided I was able to watch the end of regulation again. My daughter happened to wake up and come downstairs as I cued it up. She looks at the screen, sees what I’m watching and gave me a “WTF is wrong with you!?” look. I still have not watched it.

Strongly considered Tom a few picks ago. Went with the bigger need. I agree that he’s an IOL in the NFL. I’d have taken him if I thought he was a starting OT.

@NewEra is on the clock

With the 96th pick the Denver Broncos select Greg Dulcich, TE, UCLA.

With the caveat that free agency still offers possible CB2 solutions, I agree that a trade up for a CB is what would need to happen. The main reason is that every team would believe that we are drafting a CB. One team would jump us for any one worth our pick. So it wouldn’t need to be a huge move up, but it would need to be a move up.

The short answer is that I don’t see a realistic path forward where Poyer plays out his current contract. There are several paths forward at this point, but that one will become too ugly if it’s forced. Some context for that: - Poyer fired his agent because he did not get a deal done that was acceptable to him. That points to Poyer’s resolve in getting a deal done. It also tells me that getting a new long term deal done will be very difficult because the sides are pretty far apart. - Poyer hired Rosenhaus. I don’t think I need to go into detail about what that means, but he’s an agent that has gone to great lengths to get his clients higher end deals. Occasionally that’s been to their detriment, but usually he’s been successful in that. - His wife. She’s been quiet up until recently, but it doesn’t look like that has lasted. She can add distraction in a major way. - He plays safety. Poyer has been an outstanding player for the Bills. But he’s a safety, not a franchise QB or a stud WR or a shut down CB or a stud Edge player. Few safeties would be worth a protracted dispute and distraction to a SB contending team. - Timing. The draft is a few weeks away so there is time to move him if needed. There also time to adjust our draft priorities. There are just a few worthwhile FA safeties left, but we could still get a starter there. There are also options beyond coming to an agreement on a LTD or trading him. Another possibility is giving him a nice bump for the season, adding some void years and a no tag clause. He’d get paid more for this season and could get his deal next. But this is already bleeding out into the public, which is not good. The Bills can’t reward that either unless they want to see more of it. This FO is too savvy to allow Poyer to become a distraction.

So just the one safety?

Can’t blame Poyer for wanting to make what he’s worth. Difficult to say what the right course of action is without knowing where both sides are with respect to an extension. One thing I know for sure is that Poyer isn’t playing on his current deal. Hell get a new one here or we will trade him to a team that will give him one there.

So happy this got done now. The right move assuming the contract is structured well. I’m curious to see how much cap space it opened up for this season.

I have no problem with making a bold move. If they can get a real difference maker at a premium position, then the asking price in the article is not too high. Also, Tre will be 32 in 2027 when a rookie would be coming off of his 5th year option. His current deal is set to end in 4 seasons. That’s pretty good timing. The real question is this: Is the difference in players (cornerbacks) available at 7 versus 25 worth the extra picks? My gut says not in this draft. I think that a smaller trade up would be the way to go. But if I thought the difference was that big at 7, then I’d be in.