BarleyNY

Not really. A bobbled or fumbled snap resulting in a block or failure to get a punt off (therefore on the punter), a shanked punt resulting in field position that gives opponent a score or a mishandled snap/hold on a FG/XP can all do it. Job 1 for a punter is avoiding those mistakes.

Agree on the cap and roster mismanagement. I am not a believer in Dak so I would’ve moved on already. I can’t blame them if they just take their lumps and cut bait after another disappointing year. Lamb is a stud tho. I think they have to pay him - or use him to acquire a FQB. It is worth noting that their coaching has been pretty horrific too. They’ve had some amazing talent that they could not win with. Between that and playoff Dak they squandered some great opportunities.

One difference between JJ vs Adams and Hill were their contract situations at the times of their respective signings. JJ got his while still having to play on his 5th year option. Hill got his as part of the big trade and Adams had just been tagged a second time. That difference in leverage probably factored in. I think I’m remembering all of that correctly. I think some people react emotionally to these dollars rather than looking at them more clinically. Also some haven’t dug into the economics of it all. The NFL and owners are making tremendous amounts of money, the players are getting their negotiated share and those enormous dollars are allocated primarily to the biggest difference makers. That’s just how the economics works. A long time ago I had a graduate level econ class. My prof’s specialty was the economics of MLB/baseball. It happened to be during the last MLB work stoppage. I learned so much about how the economics of baseball works versus the other leagues like the NFL. Those are the teo most different leagues so they were his usual examples.

I listen to the Over The Cap’s podcast sometimes. It’s definitely not for everyone, but there are some great insights. About a month ago the host was talking about Jefferson’s contract. That the Vikings would want a longer extension of 5 years and JJ would want 3. Then he talked about the AAV for those deals before concluding that the best compromise might be something like a 4 year extension at $35M AAV. He was exactly correct. This is where the market is.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2316/10-nfl-ota-holdouts Interesting that there are/were 6 WRs holding out of voluntary OTAs along with a QB, an OT, a DT and (double checks notes) a PK. Jefferson signed so he’s off that list. Lamb will likely get a similar deal soon. Aiyuk will get a big deal, but not quite what they got. Higgins likely will have to wait until next year for his payday. Slayton is looking for a bump and Sutton wants paid to stay in the crapfest that is the Broncos or be traded away. I don’t blame them. Tua has been discussed. Interesting that Miami locked up their WRs first. That was smart IMO. Wirfs wants paid - and deserves it. I think TB would be smart to do that sooner rather than later. Can Heyward doesn’t want to stick around Pittsburgh and their mediocrity unless he gets paid. Don’t blame him. He’s 35. And last, but certainly least, on the list is Eddie Pineiro, the Panthers place kicker. That takes real brass. I’ll just say that.

Punters aren’t going to win you any games. You just need them not to lose you any.

Honestly this why I don’t care where it’s played. It’s not like I’m going and the vast majority of people who do go can afford to go no matter where it’s held. Time zone differences could obviously be an issue though.

Disagree on Elam. Inconsistent equals bad as a CB. He has made some plays, but he also can’t be counted on to not screw up. I hope the light goes on for him. But right now he’s just a first round pick who can’t earn his way onto the field.

The thing is that they actually HAVE a super elite WR so whether or not to extend him was their only choice. Also Jefferson’s agent did well to get the 4 year length as much as he did the $35M AAV. With NFL revenues continuing to skyrocket he’ll get another big contract in 4 years or so.

If Beane didn’t recognize that Elam was a risky pick - even more so than a typical draft pick in that range - then he’s not nearly the GM I think he is. And if Benford wasn’t on the team then we’d have picked up a reasonably priced vet.

You make a good point about Beane not taking a second WR in the draft this season. I think it was a mistake not to do at least that. As for a post 6/1 trade for a top level WR like Aiyuk, I’d love it. But I will believe it when I see it. That doesn’t seem to be the plan this offseason. Next offseason I think may be different though.

I think Beane is a good evaluator overall, but he’s painted himself into a corner a few times. It bit him with Elam. But he did something that good GMs do. He knew Elam was a big risk so he hedged and took Benford in the same draft. That’s worked out very well and mitigated Elam not working out (yet).

True. This pig f***er has a SB ring though! Got signed to KC practice squad in January, which qualified him for a ring.

Agreed. It’s a positive that it is legal. I just don’t see how there won’t be people cheating. Just too much “easy” money to be had. Prop bets seem ripe. I’m sure most offenders will get caught though. On a semi-unrelated note, team ownership by institutional groups has the potential for some seriously negative consequences for the NFL. I’m much less a fan of that than the cozy relationship the NFL now has with legalized gambling.

I don’t have any issue with legalized gambling in general, but if the NFL were to ever find a way to destroy itself this feels like a good way. It’ll probably be fine overall, but when there’s this much money at stake basic economics tells us that people will try to find a way to get more than their fair share.

Diggs did to Buffalo what he did to Minnesota. It is what it is. Things obviously broke down last season and his half-assed effort and performance - especially in the KC playoff loss - were the end of the relationship. I don't think he’s at his peak performance-wise, but he’s still a quality WR. The Texans obviously believe that since they gave up Minny’s 2025 2nd for him plus a 2024 sixth and 2025 fifth back. I also give Beane credit for getting that much back for Diggs. But he doesn’t get a victory lap. In 2022 Beane also extended Diggs for three seasons (2024-2026). That cost the Bills an additional $20.8M in cash and cap the last two seasons than if he’d have just played out his contract. We’d have gotten a 3rd or 4th round comp pick for him in that case. So effectively we paid $20.8M to improve that comp pick to Minny’s 2nd, less the two picks we gave back. That’s not a win.

My issues were your condescending response to posters legitimately voicing concerns about a player doing their job while at the same time giving said player a pass for their substantial underperformance. There’s a huge difference between a first round pick being buried on the depth chart for two seasons and a productive player figuring out some of the finer points of the game. I think most here can distinguish between the two. Acting like they are the same is ridiculous.

Thanks for the inside info. It’s worth a shot as they’re paying him anyway. It’s not like there isn’t some talent there.

I cringe every time I read something as unaware and ridiculous as this. Elam isn’t some child trying to learn to ride a bike or a junior high schooler struggling with algebra. This is a grown man who is being paid millions of dollars to do his job. I’m sure he’s trying and getting help from his team, but the adults in the room understand what happens when a team member can’t do their job and holds his team back.

His college film had a ton of grabbing at the top of routes. That tells me that he doesn’t have the agility to stay with quick WRs. I think it’s that rather than a loss of focus, though a lack of confidence could contribute. I don’t know that this is fixable. The situation is made worse by his poor feel for zone so we can’t hide him there. He feels like the CB version of a talented WR who doesn’t run his routes correctly or understand his route options. That all said, I think the Bills’ plan is to try to coach him up and get him on the field to see if he’s salvageable.

We should know soon, but at this point I’d be very surprised if they make a big move this offseason.

There are restructures that the Bills can still make to add cap space this season, but I don’t see them doing that. They’ve certainly had ample opportunity and have punted. I’ll adjust my expectations when they adjust their strategy.

Exactly. It was a necessary move based on the circumstances. It certainly was not what the team envisioned happening when they traded for him and when they extended him. That extension remains the biggest mistake in all of this. You can’t fix issues like Diggs had with extra cash. And he is getting insane money for this season. Between the extra money the Bills paid Diggs to extend him for three seasons and what Houston is paying him for this one season - he is making $43.1M for 2024. That’s so messed up that he can force his way out of here and cash in like that at the same time. Explanation of $43.1M figure.

Creative blitzing and simulated blitzes. We don’t have DEs who can get to the QB quickly and efficiently on their own so we will have to scheme pressure like last season. Without Floyd it’ll be more difficult, but the Bills had excellent sack numbers last season despite the DEs (other than Floyd) not getting many. It’ll be an interesting defense to watch.

Yup. Per OTC and in rough numbers we have $2M in space now. It’ll cost about $3M in space to sign our picks. So with the $10M from Tre that leaves us $9M. Transition to the 53 plus practice squad is at least about $4M. That takes us $5M. So not any more than we would need for in season moves. Looking at the cold, hard numbers - and reality of the situation - we have no room for anything but near minimum signings unless we decide to create more space somehow. Haven’t looked at that in a while.