BarleyNY

The players, yes. But their contracts complicate matters as Knox is on year 3 of his rookie deal and Njoku is on his $6M 5th year option. I don’t swap them straight up with that considered. Also I don’t think trading for Njoku this offseason is realistic, but I’d take a look at him next offseason if we are still looking for a TE. Contract demands, any TE acquisition in this draft and Knox’s development all to be considered in that. What I think is important for the Bills is getting another quality TE on the roster. Knox has shown flashes, but I’m not comfortable with him being our only real option at TE. I want another for competition and depth. Realistically that’s probably a draft pick in a couple weeks.

While I don’t disagree, it’s actually very smart in that the Ravens can know with near certainty what they have in Lamar before they hand him a huge contract. I think we probably all know now, but it would really remove any question in the matter.

Totally agree. Singletary has to step up as a pass blocker and receiver or he’s not much good to any team - particularly a team like the Bills that passes so much. Tick tock

Yup. He’s in no man’s land wrt trades. Teams won’t give up a high enough pick to make it worth it to the Browns to trade him. Not with one year at $6M on his deal. The only things that make sense is if a team would be looking to sign him long term (which I don’t see happening) or a player for player deal. And that’s not happening with the Bills because they’ve got the same top needs - Edge, CB2, speed X, DT - as the Browns. If the Bills were flush with CBs and had a decent one on the bench on the last year of his contract it might make sense, but I can’t see any fit. That all said, Njoku would very much help the Bills and would be the best TE on the roster the day he was added to it. He’d be a guy I’d look at next offseason when he’s a FA if the need still exists.

I just don’t see a team giving up much of anything for him. Player for player, part of a bigger trade (which isn’t happening) or a flip of picks maybe - but not a straight up pick. If that’s the kind of RB that a team seeks, then why wouldn’t they just draft someone on day 3 and have them under contract for 4 years?

No. He is on his 5th year option which is now fully guaranteed. He would not be cut anyway as he’s got a role on the team. The Browns are not actively shopping him anyway, it was just speculation. He was named as part of a player for player trade that didn’t happen (Gilmore, NE) though. Also I doubt the Browns care to get a 2021 mid round pick for a player as they’ve got 9 picks already - and he will net them a late comp pick eventually. Sure, the Browns would trade him for a decent return, but they aren’t looking to dump him for next to nothing.

I know Houston just visited the Browns as well. Looks like things are heating up and he wants signed before the draft, which is smart. I have nothing on contract offers or expectations though. I’d bet that he’s going to take the best offer from a competitive team.

That’s a better way to say it

I remember seeing the blindside penalty called more than once during that season and thinking they were ridiculous calls. Likewise I felt that way about Ford’s. But it just seemed to be how the refs were told to call it at the time - and therefore it was in line with what one would expect. Coaches and players have to adjust to how the game is called and, ridiculous or not, we didn’t.

What the NFL considers “forcible contract” has obviously changed. The enforcement of the Ford penalty was in line with how the penalty was enforced during the rest of that season. They are now making the threshold for what qualifies more reasonable.

As I said at the time, it was a bad rule properly enforced. Now it’s a better rule.

I get that. But I doubt the Bills got an admission of fault from the league around the same time that same league were fining Ford. Ofc now the league may just say something like the interpretation of the rule has been changed since that game. Honestly I doubt they ever even address it.

Thanks for doing another one of these. Browns please. Backups are SF or Detroit.

The funny thing is that the NFL has not even directly said they were wrong on the original call. I mean, sure, they are now using it as an example of a legal block, but I’m missing the actual mea culpa.

Way to really go out on a limb there. You’re really all over the road in this thread.

That’s a pretty good synopsis. My only changes: RB: A difference maker here would be huge IMO. I’d like to see an upgrade OL: Need a C of the future and could really use an upgrade at OG DB: Agree but also would like to see that Big Nickel safety added WR: A speedy X should be on the shopping list

One of his TD catches was against DiCaprio Bootle.

I had a pretty serious sex addiction. It took marriage to break me of that. Been clean and celibate for years now.

Lol. So can you give me a list of all of the sure fire guys in this draft?

That wasn’t Whitner’s fault. I am a lifelong Buckeyes fan and was still living in Ohio when the Bills drafted him. I was like “What are they thinking? Good player, but that high? Crazy.” Then we all watched the Browns GM, Phil Savage, hand Haloti Ngata to the Ravens and lost our collective 💩 Oh and F Kelvin Benjamin.

I was born and raised in Cleveland so I’ve watched the Browns issues closely for a long time. Up until this recent reboot they’ve really ticked off most (all?) of the boxed when it comes to how to screw it all up so you’re way off there. They’ve had meddlesome ownership. The Haslams went against a unanimous vote by the brass and hired Hue Jackson instead of Sean McDermott. They also made Ray Farmer trade up for Manziel and insisted on other personnel moves. Lerner stuck Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel together despite being from totally different defensive philosophies. GMs demanded that coaches play certain players. Coaches uneducated on draft prospects demanded certain players (Jason Gilbert, Gerard Warren over Richard Seymour). The list goes on and some of it is much worse than that. But I digress. It looks like you are making a common error here. You think you can pick the players that’ll be elite. No one can. There’s a limit to how good GMs can be. A conclusion of an analytical study I read is really interesting. It is that after enough of the correct kind of work is done on prospects - so that the effectiveness of more work is negligible - the main change is an increase in the overconfidence of the decision makers, not anything useful. As for Julio Jones, that is just 20-20 hindsight. How certain were most fans and people in the Bills FO that Sammy Watkins was going to be an elite WR? Similar trade, both incredibly highly ranked WR prospects and a similar injury history in college too. Similar expectations. But vastly different results. It is worth it for a team to put a lot of draft capital into a good chance of finding their franchise QB. A case can be made that it is worth overspending draft or financial capital to get the last piece for an otherwise elite team for a SB run. But beyond that you really only want to move up for a player that is “sticking out” and then only within reason. Otherwise spread that draft capital around and make trades with desperate teams to acquire more.

Yes and no. Yes, one big hit is worth a lot of draft capital. But no, you can’t ever trick yourself into thinking any one player is a can’t miss prospect. There are percentages attached to every last one of them. Don’t fall in love with any of them. The hit rate for successful players drafted in the first round is 50%. That includes the Shaq Lawsons of the league as successes. 50% bust outright. And players that are real difference makers are a much smaller part of the 50% of successes. Then it declines in every round after. More ammo equals more chances to hit big. Those cold, hard numbers are why it was so smart of Beane to trade for Diggs. He traded draft capital for a much better, surer WR in Diggs than he could’ve drafted there and the only premium he paid was the contract difference. It’s why I loved that trade so much.

Sure, but this one’s 25 and might be a bit old for him.

I agree that the Bills pass rush needs improvement, but DBs can’t cover for 4-5 seconds either. No one can with any consistency. TEs were still a particular issue last season and it should be addressed. Maybe a healthy Milano is what we need, but that’s still thin. There will be dings and two TE sets. Even with an improved PR (if we get that) helping everyone I still want a big nickel that can cover TEs. It would sure be a boost to the defense IMO.

I do like me some D’Wayne Eskeridge and Tyler Shelvin.