BarleyNY

There are a lot of Constituationally protected, yet very stupid, things that people can do. That was one of them.

Well said. I'd be a big value pick so no complaints here. I don't think he will make it close to there though. There's a good chance someone will fall though and I'll be delighted if they get a steal in the second just like last year.

Yup. It takes real cluelessness to think this is something he should be doing. Not a great sign when your employer needs to issue a statement that distances itself from you.

http://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/bills-without-watkins-for-start-of-workouts Anyone know why he's absent?

To add: I'm sure that Houston tried to trade him and apparently got no takers at any price. If no team gave up a 7th round pick or even offered a conditional pick then no one was interested in paying Hoyer $5.25M for one year.

I like Roman as a coach and I think he's done a great job. Coaches should be graded on how much they get out of what they have to work with. He definitely didn't have an optimal situation in 2015, but that squad over performed in my opinion. His coaching and scheme was a very big reason why. I only wish I could say the same for Ryan and the defense.

Adding any player at the salary Hoyer will receive would be easier after Glenn and/or Gilmore are extended. But if the Bills really wanted to sign a player with his salary requirements they could structure a contract to have a low enough cap hit in 2016 for it to be feasible. I'm not advocating for the Bills to sign Hoyer, just saying they could if they really wanted to. For reference his last deal was for 2 years, $10.5M and he only got through the first year of that. He made $5.25M for that one season.

He's 31 and had bounced around the NFL a lot. The Bills are his 6th team: Career history Tennessee Titans (2008–2012) Pittsburgh Steelers (2013) Carolina Panthers (2014) Tennessee Titans (2015)* Carolina Panthers (2015) Buffalo Bills (2016–present) * Offseason and/or practice squad member only https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Velasco_(American_football) He's depth and can start if needed, but there's a reason he hasn't stuck anywhere. He's a veteran stopgap player for the short term and I'm not complaining about the Bills signing him, but I don't think his presence eliminates the need for interior OL help.

Yeah. I don't see the point of keeping a guy that won't be here beyond this season and who you don't want to see play in a game anyway. As soon as another decent option is acquired you move on. Until then you keep him around though. Would anyone around here care about Nassib if he didn't play at 'Cuse?

Agreed. The Bills either have two or three starting quality interior OL. Incognito was way better than "solid". He was exceptional, but he's not got many more years left. Wood was very good as well. He sucked in 2014 when the two OGs next to him sucked and he was very, very good in 2015 with Incognito (who was great) and Miller (who sucked) next to him. Oh, and Miller did suck. If year two is his year for improvement and health, then we might be okay at RG. I think that's charitable and optimistic, but even if he's solid I see big trouble should Incognito or Wood go down with injury. A decent OG or OG/C prospect needs to be added for depth, competition for Miller and/or to be groomed as a future starter.

Yeah, they know who they're taking. The only thing I can come up with as to why they're being coy is that they're trying to make it tougher for SF to work a deal for the other QB.

I would agree. Lots of teams are very interested in the Browns #2 overall pick with Wentz being the target of most. Offers from multiple teams are already in. It looks like the Browns are going to move the pick and take a developmental QB later to go along with RG3 and McCown. One thing is for sure - QBs are going 1&2.

Couple thoughts: - Depends on your metrics. I was going by yardage and points allowed. More advanced metrics rates them better. - It is incredibly difficult to rank a defense with any kind of metric when the offense is so poor. When teams don't have to score as much to win and run the ball a greater percentage of the time to run the clock and minimize turnovers the metrics get skewed. - There is definitely some talent on that defense so there's hope for it. Maybe with a competent Rams offense they'll be in a position to perform better. We will just have to wait and see on that, but there's no way that's a top 10 defense the last two years.

Lynch is liked much more by NFL teams than he is by the media at present. He's going much higher than most think. The Bills would need a substantial trade up to get him. He won't be ready for a year or two. He's raw and certainly a bust risk, but his ceiling is sky high. He will never be a read option QB, but his ability as a vertical offense QB is actually a very good fit for the Bills.

Same here. I predicted the same and that they'd get the last WC spot, but lose the first playoff game. My floor was 10-6, but missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker. My ceiling was 1 playoff win. They weren't a Super Bowl contender, but I thought they could make the playoffs. I don't see it this season.

Yup. Growth of existing players, familiarity of offensive and defensive systems and better utilization of talent are the main areas for hope of improvement. In theory at least. I just don't see it happening though. The level of talent on the roster will almost certainly be a bit less than last season, even with a good draft. It's up to Rex and Co. to prove me wrong and they'll get that chance. I hope they do.

That's not a kind schedule. No way do I see 10-6. 7-9 is what my head tells me, give or take a win. My heart says a little better than that, but it's usually an idiot.

The Rams roster isn't as bad as its offensive (last) and defensive (lower middle) rankings, but it isn't as good as you're making it out to be either. They've got some good, young talent - which would be nice to have on the Browns someday. The Rams have a good start on their defense, but their offense is a long way off.

She's absolutely right. I don't care about stuff like this or 99% of the personal interest stories about players, but I still get into the draft, building rosters and cap management. There's some drama there. But nowhere near the drama that pretty much every sports magazine sells almost exclusively. There's so little actual sport related material in an SI or ESPN the Magazine it's pitiful. It's all stuff that could be from a soap.

Seriously. I'm shocked he made it through waivers. He's got to have real issues.

Yeah, quitting and retiring do look a lot alike. I notice that he waited to retire until it was clear that no team was going to pay him anything to play. He made his money. No vet minimum deal is getting him back on the field even long enough to quit again.

It's only talk until Tyrod holds out. Hopefully the Bills can acquire some other QB to hedge against that. But even if they don't, I have a tough time thinking Taylor has any leverage or that a hold out is a real possibility. A hold out would really poison things in Buffalo and make it tough for him to prove himself. He's got questions that he needs to answer and he's got to be at practice and on the field for that. His best bet is to worry about nothing other than being the best QB he can be in 2016. If he steps up, then the money and everything else will work itself out. If not, then he'll still have another shot to compete on another team next season. There's worse jobs than backup QB in the NFL and that gig pays pretty well too.

Never mind my thought about the Rams playing the two QBs off of each other. It can't happen. They have the same agent. Ouch

That's just it. They'll want to get favorable offset language, which is still a big deal for that high of a pick. Just getting offsets for the last season of the contract is a big deal. Plus then they'll know he'll be in on time.

Could be. There's not any point in the Browns doing anything until the Rams' choice is known. They really can't do anything. I suspect that the Rams will announce only after they get a contract worked out so they can play them both off of each other. Probably a day or so before the draft. Edited: Nevermind about the Rams playing the QBs off of each other. They can't do that as the QBs have the same agent.