BarleyNY

Yeah. Until the team is 100% on Allen we can’t give up 1s or 2s in moves like that. The DE position on this team is definitely in need of attention though. I do not know what up with the Bills and Hughes. Not a peep about an extension, which worries me. Hopefully it’s happening quietly. No Shaq next season which leaves us with nothing at DE except a middling, very well paid Murphy. So for 2019 we’ve got one difference maker and two very average players. For 2020 right now all we have is Murphy. Ugh. The DE position is going to cost some cap space and/or draft capital to fix. Two difference makers would be preferable to one if we are serious about the playoffs. We also need at least one good depth player and, again, two would be better. Murphy could be a guy who can continue to start while a rookie is brought along. If we are confident in Allen, then making a big draft or trade move for such a player would be reasonable. If Hughes also can be extended we are well on our way. To round out the front 7 we will have to replace or re-sign Lorax. Also Milano will be entering his fourth season in 2020 so it’ll be proper time to give him a long term deal. We seem set for a 3 DT rotation with Oliver, H. Phillips and Star so nothing to do there except look for our #4. That’ll be J. Phillips this season but we will be looking for a cheaper alternative next.

Yeah. I think it depends on that veteran’s roll with the team too. A backup who has been around and knows that he’s there to be the backup and also mentor the highly drafted rookie is one thing. A veteran who is brought in to be the starter or to compete to be the starter is another thing entirely. His job is to prepare and win games, not help a rookie take his job.

I don’t have any issue with a fan adopting a “show me” attitude. That’s where I stand. But you can’t blame the failures of past regimes on this one. You can question their moves, including the salary cap/player purge, their selections, etc. but only the ones they’re actually responsible for - and it’s only fair to take into consideration the circumstances they inherited. Personally I haven’t loved all of their moves (but I have loved some of them), but there does seem to be a plan being executed (even if I haven’t liked parts of it). How about starting with giving them credit for the moves you think are good?

My first thoughts were: big gambling debt or drugs. Some real money on the line for that kind of message to be sent.

I think he means “Bichon”. You know how they get......

Agreed. An angle that doesn’t ever get discussed regarding this type of thing is what the coaches want. If I were the QB coach, OC or HC, then I’d probably want the rookie listening to us and asking us questions rather than asking the guy whose job he’s trying to take.

I think our OL will be in the middle of the pack this season - and that will be a massive improvement over last year. I’ll (probably attempt) to do backflips if we get to above average. That is possible if everything falls into place and would reflect some excellent coaching. If we’d have had an OL ranking in that 13-18 range and had even an average WR corps last season I believe we’d have been over .500. Hoping for that this season.

That was fair though. He should have been employed before Peterman. Still, I don’t have any feelings at all toward him. He’s just another person in the world to me.

I guess he makes sense if they think they need an extra pass blocker in for deep throws. Except that this is an option. I wholeheartedly agree with this post. TEs who are viable blockers as well as receivers help an offense tremendously.

Can someone link that? I have two PFF links for 2018 TEs. 5 best blocking and 10 best red zone, but he shows up on neither. https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-the-nfls-top-five-blocking-tight-ends-in-2018 https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-the-nfls-best-red-zone-tight-ends-in-2018

Front loaded deals are player friendly, not team friendly. That is because they pay out money more quickly than back loaded deals of the same total contract value. That means that if released before the end of the deal, the player will make more money per season than the average across the whole deal. Star has a deal like this. So did Clay. Lee Smith’s contract is not huge, so it isn’t THAT big of a deal. But we still are overpaying for a 31 year old TE who is only good at run blocking - even if he is very good at it. I just don’t see much value in TEs who aren’t productive receivers, which is what I’m really having an issue with here. 8 seasons, 392 yards and 7 TDs. Those are totals, people, not yearly averages. Ugh.

He was not on PFF’s list of top 5 run blocking TEs last season. https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-the-nfls-top-five-blocking-tight-ends-in-2018

That is ridiculous. WTF?!

Yeah. If he isn’t going to get paid that &7.5M salary this season, then he’s going to hit the market and see what kind of signing bonus/contract he can score. Minny has no choice but to release him. They can’t sign their 1st round pick until they do.

Yes. He is definitely one of the uninspiring names. He could be a situational/depth DT in the league. I wouldn’t want to depend on him to be a starter though.

Sam was a stalwart of the craft beer industry. Few have the level of respect that he does among brewers and true craft beer enthusiasts. Props to him for not selling out to one of the big conglomerates. In all honesty, it was probably the right time for this move and he sold to a much better option. Cheers, Sam!

Don’t see the point in even looking at Smith unless we owed his agent a favor or something. If we want a decent all around TE then we could go after Rudolph after Minny releases him.

I think it stems from having a QB whose strength it’s the vertical game. You gotta have an OL to effectively pass block while receivers get deep. One of my biggest complaints early last season was about the OL. It wasn’t just that they were bad in general and bad at pass blocking in particular, it was that the coaches quickly stuck a raw rookie QB behind it. A raw rookie QB whose strength is the deep ball. The defense and Allen’s athleticism carried us to those 6 wins. Without him buying time for throws and scrambling for yards after the pass pro broke down we wouldn’t have made it close to 6 wins. I've said before that Allen needs to get the ball out in rhythm on his drops more. He does, but the think I don’t mention is that he got a very raw deal last season and that he still found a way to produce. That is highly commendable. It was far from the learning environment he should’ve been afforded. This season should provide a much better situation for Allen and I look forward to seeing what he can do with it.

Is this our old friend Leroy?

I agree that a first and Lawson is reasonable, but I am not sure our first will be. A lot depends on the expectations for the team - and Allen - this season. If they are confident that they’d be trading away a pick in the 20s, then it is an easy deal to make. If they’re worried it’ll be a top 10 pick again, then they can’t pull the trigger. There is a lot of optimism here for our record, but Vegas doesn’t share that. Only 4 teams have an expected win total lower than the Bills. And two more have the same at 6.5. That would put us between picks 5 and 7. There’s no way I’d give up that for Clowney. I’d use those low expectations and offer Lawson, our 2020 second plus our 2021 3rd. Those two picks would put us in the equivalent range of a low first. This regime isn’t on the collective hot seat so I don’t see them taking the chance of offering our 2020 first and Lawson unless they are very confident that our record will exceed outside expectations and have us drafting in the 20s. Still, it’s a risk. Allen is big but he ran a lot last season. What if he gets injured early and the season tanks?

Looking at what he made during his career and what he was being paid by the Bills, I was surprised that he even took the job last season.

Yeah. Add in a women’s league with tight fitted uniforms and they’ve got a gold mine.

That’s where I work out. It’d be quite the commute for you though, AF.

I get that older players making a lot are the usual suspects for cap savings. But I think you might be underestimating how good Calais Campbell is. He’s been an absolute freaking stud for the last several seasons. I think you have a good list overall, but the Jags probably are not letting Campbell go at all. If they were to, it’d be for significant draft value. As for their cap issues, I really don’t think things are that bad for the Jags. They only show being over the cap if you count all contracts. They have over $14M available under the rule of 51. The draft picks will trim that down, but they won’t have to make any cap moves to accommodate them.

It’s the Jags so you never know. He’d be an incredible pick up for anything less than a premium draft pick.