BarleyNY

Could be that he just wanted to try to win in these last two or so seasons and it was obvious it wasn’t going to happen in NE. It could also be that he saw his salary as a sign of respect (or disrespect). That’s not unusual either. I have to think that if Hopkins or Diggs was the difference between him staying or going, then the Patriots would’ve made it happen. Unless they wanted to move on.

No. A bank with a Cleveland-Buffalo connection. Just confirming that it is happening and that at least one bank a lot of Buffalonians have mortgages with is on it. Just might take a little while to work through the details of setting it up, but it is coming as fast as they can get it done.

Yup. 1 year, $3.5M with incentives that can take that up to $6M. Seems like he’ll have a similar role there. Nickel mostly. But he can rotate on the outside if needed.

My wife has been WFH and has been on conference calls today discussing exactly this. She just told me about it. Lots of moving parts to get it implemented, but it’s a huge priority.

I don’t get the Murphy hate at this point. He took a long time to come back from his knee injury. Everyone (pretty much) gave him a pass on that in 2018. Now after the 2019 season, when he finally looked good, many are hating on him. Oh, and this season he had a gimpy Hughes across from him. Kudos to Hughes for gutting out last season, but it wasn’t like he was drawing attention away from Murphy. So do what? Open up a huge hole at DE to save $8M? And these same people wanted to give Shaq $10M-$12M a year. SMH. I just don’t get it. Edited to add: Murphy had 2 sacks, 2 additional QB hits and a tackle for loss in the playoff game. He might not have been our best defensive player, but he certainly was an asset.

Converting roster bonuses and salary into a signing bonus only kicks the cap hit down the road to future years of the contract. If the player is released, then the portion of the signing bonus that has not been accounted for accelerates into the current year (or the following year if it’s after 6/1). So that would not have done the Rams any good at all here.

Really? He played in 6 games and had 8 catches, 5 of which were in the week 17 scrub fest against the Jest. I’m not even saying that you’re wrong, just that I have no idea what information you could be basing your opinion on. Sweeney got some limited exposure in the first 5 games, then right to the bench until week 17. It’s not like Kroft was keeping him on there with his 6 receptions in 11 games. I get that some players are raw and need to be developed, but give me something specific here.

Why?

Thanks. I certainly would be happy with a quality prospect at any of those premium positions.

Out of curiosity, what is the deal? Why the PT?

We draft at 54. I don’t expect to get an immediate full time starter there, outside of RB at least. I think the TEs come off the board in the second round and if we want one that can contribute, he’s a good target. I also hate our TE group outside of Knox. We have bodies, but no one else of quality. Smith is pretty much an OT. This move would shove Kroft out the door no later than after this season, and I’d be a fan of that. That would allow Trautman time to get up to speed and his ceiling is as high as any TE in this class. We are not going to want to be in 11 personnel all of the time even if it’s our strength. Another quality TE would make 12 and 22 a strength. Plus we need insurance in case Knox goes down.

I do love JK Dobbins. He won’t make it to us though. I’d like a flex TE for this offense so someone like Trautman from Dayton would be a nice addition.

Ah, the Tom Brady argument against trading away any pick. Every pick is precious! Every pick is going to be an All Pro! That’s as lazy and poor of an argument as anyone can make. I’m playing the odds here, which is way more realistic than cherry-picking the exceptions. Crunch the numbers and take a look at the real odds of finding a stud WR at 22 or in the 2nd round or the 5th, much less one that can contribute at that level immediately. You won’t find many players like Diggs and Thomas. Oh and the Bills don’t have Brees at QB either. I thought Michael Thomas would be a very good NFL WR, but not nearly what he has been. Of course he’s a perfect fit for Brees and wouldn’t be as good almost any other QBs. Look at the real odds and get back to me.

This is the kind of move I wanted them to make too. On the picks though, that package doesn’t even get you to 20. Maybe if the team trading back is really motivated and knows they can slide for the same player they were taking at 20 anyway, but that would be very rare. I’ve harped on this in my “trade up for Lamb” posts, but I’ll say it again. We need difference makers on offense and #1 WR is our biggest skill position hole. This move accomplished what pick 22 wasn’t going to: acquiring a difference making #1 WR who is ready to be that kind of player out of the gate. Finding an elite player at 22 is rare. Finding an elite WR at 22 in any given draft is pretty much impossible. And expecting that player to be elite from day 1 is the stuff of Disney films. Beane really did an excellent job here. I still graded it a B because I think we got close to exactly what we needed and paid a fair price for it. My nitpicks are that I’d have preferred a bigger WR with no locker room concerns. I reserve my A grades for near perfect fits and/or bargains. Still, this is damn close to that. I’ll take this every day.

I am surprised we got Jefferson for that too. He is a guy I wanted in FA. He can play DE and drop down to DT on passing downs to get pressure from the inside. Notably he led Seattle in interior pressure rate the last two seasons. He is an upgrade from Phillips in that regard IMO, though his overall job will be a bit different.

Really? Dude is a stud. $13.25M AAV for 4 seasons? Sign me up. I’d have done it in a heartbeat. DTs who excel as interior pass rushers and run stoppers are so rare. Him and Oliver would’ve been a great interior tandem.

He had 4 catches on 10 targets for 49 yards. And yeah, he failed to catch a TD pass that would’ve won us the game. Yes, he flashed at times, but was not good at others. A player can’t be inconsistent in the NFL.

It is not remotely the same. Whaley was sitting pretty in that draft to get a blue chip WR prospect. He gave up the 9th overall pick and the following year’s first and fourth round picks for Watkins. There are a ton of differences there. Some differences are that Whaley: - gave up a lot more draft capital than Beane did for Diggs - gave up a future 1st when the QB position was a need - acquired a blue chip WR prospect rather than a proven top 10 (or top 15 at worst) NFL WR Admittedly Diggs is being paid more than Watkins was, but that certainly seems minor in comparison. Especially when you consider that any rookie WR the Bills could reasonably acquire this season would not be able to hit the ground running like Diggs will be. They’re are never likely to be as good as him, but they will take time to develop regardless. That’s hugely important this season. Every game will matter if we want the division title. Also there’s the matter of determining if Allen is our guy moving forward or not. There won’t be questions about whether it’s the supporting cast that’s the problem. He’ll step up and we are off. Or he won’t and we will be an attractive team if a FA QB should happen to come available or we will have all of our picks (except our fourth) to package to find one.

Honestly, the Diggs to Buffalo trade feels an awful lot like the OBJ to Cleveland trade. Two similarly talented WRs who made waves with their teams because of football reasons. Easy for casual fans to see what they want to see without diving deeper. Similar trades too. The takeaway on both is that if the offense runs well, then no worries. But if there are similar problems in the future, then expect more of the same. That happened to a degree with OBJ last season. I am not criticizing Beane for this trade. Quite the opposite. Well done. The Bills needed a bona fide #1 WR and he got us one in a very reasonable trade. And let’s face it, if Allen takes a step forward then Diggs won’t have any reason to gripe. If Allen doesn’t, then Diggs unhappiness won’t really matter as much because it won’t be derailing anything.

A terrible trade? Oh yeah. It should be mentioned on worst ever trade lists. But the funniest thing is that it’s not even his personal worst with the Texans. BOB’s handling of Clowney was to franchise him, then trade him to Seattle for a late third round pick plus two backup LBs while picking up half of his salary. It’s going to be tough to top that.

WOW! ?

That’s crazy. I’m glad the Bills didn’t get into the middle of that nonsense.

Hope so. That would be a beautiful luxury.

The clock is ticking on Hughes. He gutted out last season with a significant injury and he should be commended for that - as well as everything he’s done here. I don’t expect the Bills to part ways with him before this season, but I don’t think he’ll see the last year of his deal either. The DE position is getting revamped big time this year and next.

Truth. He’s got the goods, but I’d like to be more comfortable with his attitude. The ONLY thing that scares me about him is that I don’t want off the field problems that seemed to be brewing in Minny.