BarleyNY

Initially I was concerned that the NFL would start too soon and be canceled mid season. Now I honestly don’t think that waiting would help. Things aren’t getting better except for the possibility of scientific advancements like the saliva tests and a vaccine. So the NFL is just rolling on as best it can. I get it. There’s way too much money at stake to not give it a go so that’s what they’re doing. I’m just sitting back and watching it all unfold now.

Just to put a finer point on the bolded text, by 2022 the Bills will be paying Allen very, very large if he’s still here. Right now the Bills have the relative luxury of a QB on a rookie deal and can spend more freely elsewhere. In two seasons that won’t be the case and Allen will have to carry more weight for the Bills to be successful. So is 2020 make or break for him? No, but it’s getting very, very close to it. It’s the season that will determine if he gets his very expensive, fully guaranteed fifth year option picked up. We are all looking for Allen to take a step forward this season, but I’m even more interested in something else. I want to see him in a tough spot In the playoffs again. He did very well during the season when games were on the line and he did well for most of the Houston playoff game. But he folded pretty badly after his fumble. I need to see him handle that a lot better next time around. Without that step forward almost nothing else matters, including an improvement by him during the regular season. I’m going to enjoy this season. I fully expect the Bills to make the playoffs, but it’s the 4th quarter of our next close playoff game that I’m really waiting for. I want to see Allen (and the Bills as a whole) step up this time. I don’t know what’ll happen, but I’m already excited for that moment.

Agreed. Darnold’s biggest issue coming into the league was turnovers. The Jest really haven’t done a lot to help him there. That OL is shaky. McGovern and Van Roten should be fine, but Becton is really it after that. I don’t think he’s a sure thing by any stretch, but even if he works out they’re still fielding a LG and a RT that are back up level IMO. As soon as one of them gets tossed into the legs of one of the good three and takes him out for the season that line is going to fall apart. And Darnold is going to go with them.

Big time. I don’t know what he had a chance to be, but he’s going to be completely ruined as a QB when the Jest are done with him.

The new CBA changed 5th year options to fully guaranteeing at the time the clause is executed. The first season that goes into effect is next season so Allen’s option year would be fully guaranteed immediately.

Yup. If it doesn’t get done this offseason, it’s nearly 100% that it’s due to Tre’s side. I couldn’t begin to speak to his actual thoughts on it. Sometimes a lot of what is said is just posturing. I don’t blame a player for betting on himself and trying to maximize his contract, but it would be nice to see it get done soon.

While it’s not a problem for Tre to get his deal done after the season there are advantages to getting it done early: - a bit of a discount on his contract in exchange for more cash earlier - freeing up some cap space in the 2020-2021 block which could help with a lowered cap in 2021 - improved clarity regarding what can be done for other players like Milano - heading off the possibility of any problems with him It's important for the Bills to engage with him and his agent now (and I’m sure they have) even if a deal does not happen right away. The main reason a deal would not be reached soon is if Tre is trying to maximize his contract and is willing to wait to do that. If so, that’s fine. I am sure the Bills would keep in touch and that they let him know that they’re willing to deal now or later.

Agree on Milano, but Tre has no reason not to do an extension now if he wants to stay here. Elite players aren’t taking discounts due to the (probable) cap dip next season. My bet is now that Dawkins is done Tre will be next up. I’d like to see the Bills find a way to keep Milano, but I don’t know that they are planning on it. One thing that hasn’t been brought up is the Klein contract. I know that $6M (3/$18M) isn’t huge money in the NFL, but I think they’re covering themselves in case they can’t keep Milano. Or maybe they have accepted that they won’t be able to keep him. I dunno. I’d need an honest talk with Beane to know that. If Milano is extended, then I’d expect Klein to be one and done here though. Teams don’t usually pay their third LB even that much. I guess we shall see how it plays out.

Here is a link to Spotrac’s $13M AAV estimate (4/$52M). I knew Milano would be the toughest decision going forward. Lots of contracts at more important positions coming due soon. Also there’s the matter of having a lot of cap space tied up in the LB corps in a few seasons once Edmunds is extended. I’m not too worried about a one year dip in the cap as long as it comes roaring back as expected in 2022. I am worried about affording Tre, Allen and Edmunds in addition to Milano though. My heart says see if he’ll take a bit of a discount on an extension now and get it done. My head says to extend Tre now and have Milano play out the season, test the market and give us a last look to match what he finds. Then hope it’s not a great market for him and we can afford to keep him.

My bet is that you’re self regulating your intake better than many others. That’s usually pretty easy to do with beer if that’s your inclination. Maybe do an experiment and stay totally sober next time and see what you think of everyone’s behavior. Pretend to be drinking or just make up some reason you can’t that one time.

It probably has a lot to do with this (though he was with Carolina last year). Going to NE didn’t help:

Long had too many years in the league to be subjected to waivers at this time of season. The Bills had to outright release him.

That’s my thought too. I didn’t see details of his contract and can’t find even a dollar amount in the internet. Between moving, Cali taxes and cost of living in SF maybe it just wasn’t worth it to him for a one year contract that was probably heavily incentivized.

He was answering a reporter’s questions when he said that. That’s being ignored by many. The reporter didn’t ask about his family. He could’ve lied and given a canned answer like most every player and coach. He probably should have. But it’s certainly possible that he was truthful to the reporter about the game atmosphere as well as in his statement as to why he left. Heck, it seems way more likely to me that a guy who’s stressing about not being with his newborn, wife who just recently gave birth and other children would let things like no fans at games get under his skin rather than a guy simply getting pissy about no fans at games using his family as an excuse not to play.

Yeah, you’re right. It was probably the boredom of playing in front of no fans and had nothing to do with him being away from his newborn child, wife and the rest of his children. Jeebus.

What a waste of $3.8M by the Bills.

Or maybe he was torn between his obligations to his teammates/job and his responsibility to his family. That seems a whole lot more likely than anything else, especially since his family is the reason he gave and the empty stadiums angle is just speculation.

According to the article he made that comment in response to a question by a reporter the day before. Seemed like he was just being honest. I definitely can see how it could’ve had an additional impact on his decision though. Seems like he felt that he should have been home with his family and newborn, but that he was shirking that responsibility for playing in front of no one except cameras.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29666909/boston-bruins-goalie-tuukka-rask-opts-ahead-game-3 There’s some info for those of us who need it. Nothing to forgive. The man is going home to take care of his family, including his newborn. Seems like the team was not exactly blindsided by it either so obviously there had been some discussion. Also I can’t believe people are giving him crap for saying that it didn’t seem like a regular playoff atmosphere this year with no fans at the games. Well, duh.

This isn’t as crazy as it looks. Kenny Clark isn’t your usual one dimensional run stuffing NT who comes off the field in passing downs. He is a three down NT/DT who’s forte is providing an interior pass rush. That’s what they’re paying for.

1. My usage does not change. I swap out the roll. I do this if it’s even close to running out as I do not want to be inconvenienced later (paper towels) and because I assume my teenagers would rather have crap on their asses rather than take 30 seconds to put on a new roll. 2. Over. I’m not a monster. That’s for TP, obviously. For paper towels I have a stand holder that’s awesome. I think it was recommended by America’s Test Kitchen. Makes one handed tear offs easy.

I do not see a one year decline in the cap having a big impact on long term contracts of elite players like Tre. The mid tier players will bear the brunt of that. But I definitely agree with you that we’d get a discount signing him now versus waiting. What those numbers are going to be can be debated, but a player getting a large chunk of cash up front as well as additional guarantees justifies some discount.

I expect that he will deserve to be extended when the time comes, but I also think that a lot of fans have gotten a little ahead of themselves. Flash plays? Yup. Talent and raw physical ability? Big time. Consistency with the mental side of the game? No, not yet. Edmunds is still very young so I expect that to clean up - and if/when it does then I expect him to be one of the top few LBs in the league. He has enough potential to even be the best of his era. But he just isn’t quite there yet and it’s a mistake to simply assume that it will happen, especially if that means tying up a lot of cap space for several years on him. All I’m saying is let him earn it before giving him credit for earning it (along with the contract). I think he will and he has time.

One additional point of concern is the OL moving forward. Take a look at the Spotrac link above and scroll to the OL section. We are not set up to have much of an OL in 2021 at this point. Morse (very good starter), Spain (okay starter) and then Ford (sketchy starter) is it except for developmental players. Signing Dawkins to an extension now makes putting together a quality OL next season very workable. I see real problems - or a franchise tag - if we don’t. Dawkins is a good player, but I don’t think he is worth a contract based off of a franchise number. I don’t want us to go down that road and have to decide between overpaying him by a fair bit or losing him. As bad as that would be, letting him play out his deal and hit FA would probably be worse. We’d be in a bad negotiating position and we’d have to contend with other teams bidding up his price. Quite possibly we’d lose him to one of them, especially if he feels slighted by not getting an extension from us. Just extend him now and focus on filling the OL out in the offseason.

Agree on Dawkins and Milano. Edmunds is a ways away though. My opinion is above. He can’t have his contract extended until after this season is over anyway. As @Gambit said, he was drafted the same year as Allen. Unless Allen flames out and we are parting ways, I‘m not extending my MLB before my QB. I’d really like to hold onto Milano, but I don’t see spending large on two LBs. I barely like the idea of spending big on one. Just like safeties, only do that for the very special ones - and only one at a time. Let Milano test the market after this season and set his price. If it’s not too bad, then maybe we can keep him. If he gets paid big, then good for him.