BarleyNY

Honestly, this is a reasonable way to look at things. A win against the Cheatriots sans Brady in week 4 is a real possibility. I think the Jest are in real trouble with their current offenseive line. They had trouble matching up against our defensive line last season, which created problems for FItz and was a huge part of the reason we beat them twice. This year we should have more of an advantage so two wins is certainly possible. The Phish have some real talent, but they also some holes and still have Tanny at QB. We beat them twice last year and it's a real possibility to do it again this season. 5-1 in the division would be huge and would go a long way in getting us to the playoffs. We gotta go 4-2 at worst.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/marcell-dareus-7718/ One of the main points I think the article should've delved into is the amount of guaranteed and front loaded money in the large contracts Whaley has signed players to. Players like Dareus can screw up, but they can't be cut for years due to their dead money. It's definitely a risky strategy and while I won't say it's definitely a bad move - at least not in every case - it's certainly something that's worth debating.

The article asks whether or not the large contracts recently given several players will be money well spent - which is a fair question - but then it goes on to list a bunch of failed guys who have nothing to do with them. Pretty pointless exercise IMO. Attempting to answer the original question would've required researching those players and their contracts.

There's nothing official out there about offsets except that they were a sticking point during contract negotiations. He was the second last player of that draft to sign. I wouldn't be surprised if there were offsets, but some team would have to sign him. If you've seen him play, you wouldn't assume that was a given. He's horrific.

That's a lot to ask. I'd throw in Glenn staying healthy for 16 games, too.

That link states that his entire contract is fully guaranteed, including that roster bonus.

In general I don't have a problem with a team throwing a late round pick at the Browns for a low chance/high return 1st round bust, but they are taking on guaranteed contracts. In these specific cases Mingo at least has a chance to be a productive pass rush specialist, but Gilbert has no hope of being productive in the NFL - and he's got two guaranteed years left on his deal.

Cleveland never explored a trade. They just fielded calls. His contract is up after this season, but he'll be a restricted FA. Expect a 1st round tender.

Excellent question. How does such an epic bust get a gig like that. Maybe his frat boy douche personality?

You're serious? Practice is overrated? Even for rookies? Seriously? That's ridiculous. I caught a bit of Movin' the Chains on my way home from work and they were discussing Bosa and how much he was going to be hurt by missing training camp and so much of the preseason. They thought his missed time likely would be a big hindrance due to the big jump from college to the pros. He's right. Lawson may be able to contribute late this season, but expecting much more than that is not at all realistic.

A player on the PUP once the regular season starts may not practice until after week 6. Even if Lawson is ready to return by that point (and that's not a given) he will have had a total of zero NFL practices under his belt, he will not be anywhere close to game shape and he will have had no opportunity to gel with his unit. It's going to take time for him to be able to contribute.

Yup. The time for him to hang it up was a couple concussions ago. I'm not sure why anyone thought the Bills would be a good fit. Even if he was healthy (which he's not), he's a center. We have no real need for one of those.

This is probably all correct, but one thing makes me want to look more closely at Randle. That thing is Doug Pederson, who is an idiot. If anyone has watched Randle play recently, please share. The second round of cuts is more likely to yield a WR worth bringing in.

Ouch. The only surprising thing is that the Broncos ever thought he'd be the answer.

Steve Smith used to be good. Now he's 37 and coming off an achilles injury. Aiken is a solid #2, but nothing special .

Good question. Their offensive skill positions looked terrible outside of TE. Now Watson is gone and maybe Pitta (who isn't a special player). All they have left is Wallace. It's the right offense for him, but I don't know what he has left. He can't do it all himself anyway. Agreed. We may get to see him in the booth though.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ben-watson-tears-achilles-on-first-play-of-ravens-lions-reportedly-out-for-the-year/ Tough break for Ben Watson and the Ravens, but the Bills catch a bit of a break with their week one opponent.

Sheard not being retained was because Pettine's didn't think he fit his scheme - and that was stupid. Sheard has talent. Mingo was a horrific pick by the most hated GM Cleveland has ever had, Mike Lombardi. Honestly, Mingo could be a decent situational pass rusher - if he can locate the QB once in the backfield. He has had trouble with that though. I'm surprised they managed to dump him for a 5th and jettison his guaranteed salary. I wonder if they'd have interest in fellow bust, Justin Gilbert.

Correct.

I think this is his last season here, but I'd sure be surprised if he was let go this season. Karlos was certainly a surprise. I don't know who would really shock me. None of the WRs outside of Sammy and Woods would be a surprise cut. Dray might get the boot, but that would not be much of a surprise to me.

Yes, this is #1. I like to break the season up into quarters to look at direction. Let's see how they do in the first four games and go from there.

They sure would be. If he'd never been in trouble Gordon would be worth in excess of two first round picks. That doesn't get discounted to a conditional late round pick because he's on his last strike. I can see a team not wanting to give up a lot for him, but no way do the Browns give him away for nothing. They'd be way better off rolling the dice on the 2013 receiving leader. The Browns have been contacted by teams inquiring about Gordon, but don't seem inclined to trade him away. There's been nothing of substance there. The Browns are a team to watch for WRs though. They invested heavily in the position in the draft, got Gordon back and are watching Pryor emerge. They're going to cut lose some talent. Keep an eye on Hawkins. He'd be a nice slot WR.

True. And last season certainly validated his upside.

Whaley used a 5th round pick on Karlos. All anyone has to ask about his selection is: Was he worth the risk at that point? It's difficult for me to lambast a guy for taking a chance with a Day 3 pick on a talented player with off the field issues that were serious enough to possibly derail his career. Players available at that point in the draft all have issues of some sort. IMO it was a reasonable decision to take that risk on that player at that point in the draft. It just didn't happen to work out. Sometimes reasonable bets don't pay off. That's life.

You can never tell if a unit is great, or even very good, in the preseason. There is too much experimentation with players and scheme, variation in playbook usage among teams and differences in usage of talent to get a good gauge of how units (or teams) will fare in the regular season. What you can sometimes tell is that a unit or team is going to be very bad. The Bills defense doesn't fall into that category and that is the positive I'm taking away. What they'll achieve beyond that is anybody's guess. Don't get too worked up about the preseason and remember that the Lions went 4-0 during the preseason the year they went 0-16 in the regular season.