BarleyNY

Yeah, that has to get addressed. I'm thinking such a player might be a draft target. Either a smallish LB that's fast and quick enough to cover or a bigish S that can tackle and cover fit the bill. I'd love to see a true, 3 down linebacker added. That'd help this defense a ton.

Thus the rise of the hybrid LB/S. That's as important a player as the slot WR and both are effectively starters due to the ever increasing use of the Nickel package these days.

We'll all always have these 130 pages though.

Couldn't agree more. Incognito has been a huge addition to the OL. He's one of the best OGs playing right now and the Bills just got a great deal on him too.

I think he was alluding to there being a difference between being fast and being a deep threat. Goodwin is blazing fast, but he's had three total receptions in the last two seasons. (He had 17 his rookie year.) I'm not sure how anyone counts on him for any production and it's not a good sign if he remains on the roster.

You'd think Gilmore would be first up, but signing one of the two is very important and would likely move things along with the other. If both remain set to free agency in 2017 the fact that the Bills can only tag one becomes relevant. I'm not sure that Glenn would be tagged in consecutive years anyway, but it's still a threat. I'm a bit surprised that nothing has gotten done with either. Nothing has come out in the media which is a good sign. That leads me to believe that negotiations are ongoing, but not contentious. Does anyone happen to know who their agents are? Just wondering if they happen to have the same representation.

This should be in the off topic forum. It doesn't belong here for a variety of reasons. As gross and unsettling as the story is, it's only made weirder by the OP's choice of title and the fact that it's an article from February. Also, who reads the NY Post anyway?

I doubt the kid ever plays in the NFL. His injuries were severe and I doubt he'd have been released if he had a chance to overcome them. I don't think it'd hurt to put a claim in on him and bring him in for a look, but he's a very long shot.

What're you looking to acquire? What would be the plan with that? I don't want to see the Bills trading away position in early rounds for later round picks. They have 8 selections already. I don't know what moving back in early rounds an having 10 or 11 does for them. Or are you looking to make big enough moves back to acquire picks for next season?

I don't think it is unreasonable for fans to say he should be focused on football. He's not some top tier WR who has the NFL game down pat and is doing the Olympics on the side. He's a great athlete who is still trying to become a starting WR on a team that isn't exactly flush with a lot of great ones. Why shouldn't fans question his commitment if he splits his time between track and football?

So you're saying that we are stuck with him because there isn't much else out there - especially someone fairly cheap? That's certainly possible and I touched on that. But the Bills should absolutely be looking for an upgrade to replace him because he's just a cheap player to fill the hole right now and he might cost us wins this season.

Virtually nothing.

I don't have to provide a name to be correct that the Bills FO will - or should - try to move on from EJ this offseason. Heck, maybe they'll try to acquire someone to take his place, but won't be able to manage it. That could easily happen. Keeping him at #2 isn't going to be a good situation though. He knows he'll be in his last year with the Bills and the Bills know it too. At some point everyone involved is going to move on mentally. At those times it's best that people move on physically as well.

That move literally changes nothing about how I view the Bills' WR corps.

Probably a draft pick. I suspect the Bills will take a QB somewhere in the draft, but the other possibility is a pick up during cut downs. Or maybe both. At this point it make little sense to waste time trying to develop EJ. On the off chance he shows significant improvement he will still be a free agent next season and he's not going to get so good that the Bills would tag him. He's gone no matter what. Also the Bills want to avoid having all of their QBs hit free agency next season. They have to sign a guy beyond that for stability and negotiation purposes. They aren't going to commit to Tyrod before seeing how he does this season (or at least part of it anyway) and they aren't extending EJ so they've got to sign someone else. When they do, EJ becomes expendable. The Bills will probably try to trade him during the draft after they draft a QB.

I believe that EJ lasts only until the Bills either find a QB to supplant him or a trade partner for him. It makes little sense to keep him except for his contract guarantees. On that subject here are a couple of important notes: - He only has accrued three years in the NFL so he'd be subject to waivers if the Bills released him. That means any team claiming him would take on the whole $1.6M. - His contract has offsets so if he cleared waivers and was signed by another team as a FA his 2016 earnings would be deducted from the $1.6M owed to him by the Bills. 4th year minimum salary is $675k so the Bills hit would be under $1M if he was picked up by another team for the full season.

Fitzy had a 42.7 passer rating in the second game and 57.6 in the first game. The Bills had 300 and 280 yards of total offense in those two games. The worst YPG average for any team last season was the Rams with 297.6. (The best was Arizona with 408.3.) Buffalo averaged 360.9. So, again, do tell me about all the great/good defenses the Bills offense did well against - because I don't see any.

Once Harvin was gone teams with good defenses seemed to do quite well against the Bills offense. The Bills beat Houston and the Jets - and we can thank the inept offenses (QBs) on those teams for those wins. What other team with a good defense did the Bills beat?

19 is a good place to land a quality LB or OL. Some team would really have to make it worth my while to drop from there. It'd have to be something like a first next year and a second this year for me to pull the trigger. As mentioned already, 8 picks is plenty. I'm not dropping a handful of spots for a 5th.

We prefer to be called "high motor" or "high effort" guys.

It's an offense that's easy to defend unless there is both a threat at RB and at least two deep threats on the field. Right now the Bills have one of each. That's best case if both are healthy and neither is being rested. A running threat at QB certainly helps, but it isn't nearly enough if the other pieces are not on the field. Right now at their best they don't even have the pieces to run Roman's base offense effectively, much less expand it beyond that concept.

The third WR plays more than a FB or the second TE - and that is when no one is injured. I'm concerned with Watkins and Woods as starters - or rather Woods as the #2. The KC game shows what happens when defenses play press with the CB and also line a safety up over Watkins. Woods can't draw off that coverage or exploit it. The Bills need another speed WR on the outside to stress defenses and keep them from keying on Watkins. Woods is Not a bad WR, but he's not the speed guy needed and that's why I don't want him starting on the outside opposite Watkins. If the Bills found that additional speed WR I'd still want them to improve the depth at WR because they'd still be thin. The Bills are a run first team because they have to be. That was their only choice based on their players. If Taylor improves as a QB and talent is added at WR do you really think they'd stick to the run, run, run, throw deep offense? I sure hope not.

My main concern is what the WR corps looks like after Watkins and Woods. I see no WR that I'm comfortable with in the slot. Then I get queasy thinking about one of the depth WRs stepping in if Watkins or Woods get injured. Or even just rotating in to give one a breather.

Same reason the trade with the Browns fell apart. Kap is owed a ton of money and isn't giving it up. Honestly I don't blame him. His salary is guaranteed for injury and he's unlikely to pass a physical by 4/1 so he's going to get paid if he doesn't budge on his contract. I totally understand why teams would want him to take a cut, too. Sometimes things don't work out for reasons like this. Oh, and on the off chance he does pass his physical and SF releases him, he'll be able to sign a contract much like what's being offered.

Then it'll have to wait for a new CBA. The expected yearly increase in the cap is already factored into deals so that can't be used toward a minimum salary increase. No way does the league raise the percentage of revenue that the players get without a fight and/or concessions.