BarleyNY

The article is correct, but Beane’s methodology is pretty standard roster building in the NFL. Filling needs with high priced FAs or short term band aid players that are capable of starting while you draft prospects you plan on becoming long term starters is how most GMs operate. I also agree with Cover1’s prediction that the Bills will look to draft a CB, RT, Edge and LB in the draft (particularly the first 3).

If there’s someone in this thread (or any other) rooting for Allen to fail, then by all means call them out by name. Making snarky accusations aimed at no one in particular is always going to come off poorly. You’re not the only one that has done it, but the same thing seems to get said anytime Allen gets any criticism - and it is rarely (if ever) aimed at anyone specifically. I’d just like to see the posters making those comments man up and name names rather than go the whiny, passive aggressive route. I’ll leave it at that.

This is a big part of it IMO. No way is Cam going (almost) anywhere he can’t compete for a starting job. Maybe KC to play for Mahomes if he gets injured for a few games and possibly win a SB. It’s a short list though. No way would he come to Buffalo to back up Allen unless he thought he’d take the job from him. And it would certainly be a slap in the face to Allen and almost guarantee a QB controversy. That likely would not be good for him. Even if he took that kind of competition in stride, it could divide the team if some players would clamber for Cam. In particular, Diggs wasn’t shy about making his feelings about his last QB known. All for a QB at the end of his career? A guy who hasn’t stayed healthy the last couple seasons and hasn’t been able to play at the level he once did. But with his years of starting experience, his #1 overall draft status and the hype that would follow him I see some fans (and possibly some players) clinging to that. It likely would be a disaster. I’m very happy to see Beane publicly disavow any interest.

There are few things I hate to see more than this. The garbage argument that the people who question Allen are doing so because they’re bad people. That they’d rather be able to say “I told you so” rather than see their team win and that there couldn’t possibly be any rational reason why they’d question him. That’s just lazy and juvenile - and it says a lot about the people who make that argument. I absolutely didn’t want Allen in the draft and he still shows the traits of why that was. I can appreciate that he’s the Bills QB and I’d love to be wrong about him. He’s already hit the top end of the kind of QB that I thought he would be, but I can still (happily) acknowledge that he can still improve (and I hope he does). But is there anyone that thinks that Allen has consistently played as well as we need the starting Bills QB to play? I sure hope not. While there is certainly a wide range of opinions about his odds of becoming that level of player, who here is openly rooting for him to fail? Trolls aside, I think that we’re at about 0% on that one.

Probably a good fit, but they have no cap space and no good way to create more.

Arnett. It’s not even close from a talent and position standpoint. No way should he even make it close to 54. He’ll probably be a first rounder.

Where are people saying they want a WR in round 2 or 3? It’s a deep draft and we sure could use a WR or two for depth and development, but who’s saying it should happen on day 2 of the draft?

Wanted to chime in here with this. The Bills have spent to the point where the specifics of their cap situation are important to look at. Here is Spotrac’s yearly salary cap breakdown: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/yearly/cap/ The first thing that I see (on the main page for 2020) is that the Bills are going to spend up to or just above the base cap of $198M. Their remaining cap space is all from carryover and it’s likely that we will be eating into that a bit. Now from the linked page the Bills should have $45M-$50M in space plus $15M-$20M in carryover for 2021. That might seem like a lot, but scrolling down the list of players show a lot of holes. Needs in 2021, in order from the site: - backup QB - RB besides Singletary - FB - 2 starting OL (Morse, Spain & Ford are under contract) plus depth - 1 starting DE - 2 starting CBs (including Tre’s 5th year option or new contract) - punter Some of those openings will be filled through the draft, but several of them are going to cost. The upshot is that the Bills are not in any cap trouble, but they’re pretty well done with big spending - except where they’d be extending or replacing players.

You can be as big of a Josh fan as you want. I prefer being a Bills fan.

Oh, if that’s not what you meant then why can’t fans question the actions of GMs and HCs?

Because NFL GMs and HCs are never wrong?

I really disagree that all of the Bills eggs are in the Allen basket. Why wouldn't the Bills be able to attract a franchise QB like Watson if they have their team built otherwise? In that case Buffalo would be highly desirable. As far as keeping the team together, we only have Allen under a cheap contract this season and next. Fifth year options for QBs are not cheap. We are going to have to pay him or someone else by then (unless we were to draft someone else).

Kelly was certainly elite. My point is that your previous post was packed full of misinformation. If someone has to blow smoke or outright lie to make a point, then they’re almost certainly wrong. Also, Josh didn’t do anything by himself. The Bills as a team are responsible for their record. At times Allen helped the team win and at others he hindered it from doing so. Watch the games without bias or look at metrics and either way the situation is pretty clear. Right now Bills are a much better team than Allen is a QB. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to improve. Again, I hope he busts out and becomes elite - and the path forward is pretty clear if that’s the case. But I’m not into hero worship and I’m willing to think about contingencies if he doesn’t. That’s all the Watson thread was about.

You should check out their boards. By and large, Browns and Jets fans are saying that their QBs need to play better. They aren’t calling for them to be replaced today, but acknowledge that they need to be better or that’s on the horizon. Really similar talk to that of the majority of Bills fans.

Some corrections: - If there’s one guy who got the Bills out of purgatory, it is McDermott. - Even if Watson were to get $40M/yr next season, that would still be less than 20% of the cap even in year 1. That’s about what elite QBs will make. Even middling QBs won’t be far behind at around $30M/yr. - Sure, the optimum situation is draft and keep an elite QB that you win Super Bowls with. But it’d be really dumb to stick with a poor or middling QB just because you drafted him. The next best situation is to find that elite QB some other way. I don’t think anyone in New Orleans is upset that the Saints didn’t draft Brees. Or anyone in Green Bay was pissed off that they didn’t draft Favre. - Allen is only one season behind Watson in being due a new contract. If he steps it up and becomes an elite QB, then he’s also going to get that $40M/yr deal. I hope he does prove himself worthy of that. But if he doesn’t, I’d rather the Bills have a different elite QB that they have to pay rather than a middling one that they have to pay almost as much.

Bill O’Brien. That’s the only thing that makes me pause. You’re right though. It’s incredibly unlikely that Watson would come available through FA. But I could see another Clowney situation happening with Watson. BOB is already poisoning that relationship. If the Bills are built to win except that Allen hasn’t gotten to where he needs to be, then I’d be 100% on board with being aggressive and going and getting Watson (or any other top QB that might become available).

I kinda think that’s what they’re doing. I think that BB wants a ring without Brady to further prove his greatness. A stud QB would go a long way toward that.

That is a good strategy in general, but in seasons when a team is signing a lot of qualifying FAs it is especially important.

Wow! He has not played since 2015?! I actually had to look up his list of offenses, which is a laundry list of DUIs and DV incidents - including some as recent as 2019. I don’t see how he gets reinstated to play, but it is a very Cowboys move to bring him in.

I do not see that a firm offer was made. It sounded like they were at a point where they were getting into specifics, but not finalizing anything. The real telltale sign is that the Bills didn’t circle back to him before executing the deal for Diggs. They had time to make a phone call to his agent to see if he had made up his mind. They didn’t. Juat because Sanders found a better situation after the Bills traded for Diggs doesn’t mean that the Bills hadn’t moved on from him. He wasn’t out in the cold long and he found a real warm place. Good for him. He is still a Very good WR and it worked out for him. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a little hurt that the Bills moved on without that phone call.

I don’t think this was any special kind of maneuver by Beane. Just straightforward and competent dealing. He really couldn’t show his hand to either player. The Diggs deal came to a conclusion and Sanders was left out in the cold. As Diggs is the better and younger player I have to think - even with the trade compensation factored in - that Sanders was the backup plan.

I agree. People talk about how good Singletary was last season. He was. But then I think about what adding another back who is even better than him. Someone like Dobbins. Damn. That would be awesome for this offense. They could split the workload almost evenly. Always a fresh, high quality back on the field to wear down defenses. That would also alleviate a big worry: that we don’t get a second quality back and the workload gets Singletary injured so we are left with zero good RBs by the end of the season and playoffs. Another quality RB is definitely my top need for this offense at the moment.

That’s pretty close to my dream draft. Dobbins would be killer in the Bills offense and an absolute steal anywhere close to 54. I am a much bigger fan of his than of Taylor. Ball security has been an issue with Taylor, but not at all with Dobbins. As for scheme, Dobbins is the RB I want in the gap scheme the Bills run. He’d probably do pretty well in zone or even a power scheme too, but he is perfect for gap. Taylor is best suited to a power scheme. He’d lose a little effectiveness in gap and would be terrible in zone. Hall would be a really nice fit for the Bills C3. I like several of the day 3 developmental players and their expected fits with the Bills too.

I do not think Cleveland is a good fit in our gap scheme. He’s a zone scheme OT only IMO. A good case can be made for the other three. I took Taylor because I see him as the safest choice and the most substantial immediate contributor of the three remaining. I wouldn’t argue with any of those three though.

Gauche!?! How dare you! Well, actually that’s fair point if it means we’d be taking a lesser prospect because we forced the position. But I really didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that we should look to find a DE that can develop into a good starter in the third or fourth round range. There should be worthwhile prospects in that range and we can always move around a bit if needed. If it doesn’t work out, then so be it. But we should be proactive at the DE position if we can be.