BarleyNY

The Bills can sure use that cap room so I can totally see them parting ways with Mario. Restructuring is pretty pointless unless he is extended and I don't know why they'd do that. I can't count the number of people who just blurt out "restructure him" like its a solution. Please be specific about it. If you try, you'll quickly see there isn't much to be done. Why not trade him? There are certainly teams out there with plenty of cap space that could use him in a scheme that's a better fit for him.

Taylor is valuable. The Bills don't have their backs against the wall at QB next season because of him. He's better than serviceable and you can win with him. There's a chance he hasn't hit his ceiling so he might get better. That's the good. Then there's the bad. His style (he needs to run to be a successful QB) and size mean he is always going to be an injury risk. He doesn't read the field nearly as well as I'd like. And his accuracy is inconsistent. The good news is that he's under contract next season and we can see if he progresses before investing further. With the almost certain end of the EJ Manuel era coming fast there's also plenty of room for another young QB prospect - and maybe even a veteran - so the door is wide open for competition.

Agreed. I hope we haven't seen Taylor's ceiling, but I'm afraid we have.

Yup.

Two men enter, one man leaves!Two men enter, one man leaves! Two men enter, one man leaves!

Lol

I don't think there's anything all that insightful in that article. An interception might be the result of a bad throw, a mis-read by the QB , a route run incorrectly or failure of the receiver to change his responsibility. Or maybe just a great defensive play. I think most serious football fans understand that and realize that they're not always going to know who's fault everything was. That can be true of almost any aspect of the game. But sometimes things can be worked out and when a particular player seems to be involved in breakdowns a lot of the time you can bet he has issues.

Agreed. You could see how Shady was emotional in his interview and how that led to him saying some things he really shouldn't have said. Hopefully he learns from it and moves forward better prepared.

I am very concerned about the lack of a deep threat across from Watkins. This offense relies on running the ball then hitting the deep ball to not only score, but also to keep defenses honest and open up short and intermediate routes. It's going to be a problem when playing good teams.

I agree with everything Herm - and the others on the video - said. It is a different game/world today, but Herm is still correct. The absolute best way to handle things is how they get handled in NE by Belichick and Brady. Get in front of the mic and cameras, talk about how much you respect the other team and coach and how tough they are to play and then go kick their collective asses. Even when playing crappy teams they find something on which to compliment their opponent. The focus is always on the team first and there is zero room for personal agendas. That's what's known as a winners mentality.

The problem with not signing players before their contract is up is (obviously) that you wind up dealing with the market. We saw that with Hughes last season (although he appeared to give a slight hometown discount). Glenn will fetch a premium on the open market because competent LTs don't come available that often. I don't think the Bills can compete for his services if he hits the market. They just don't have the cap room unless they make some moves beyond the obvious. And the lack of decent LTs in the typical FA market as well as the premiums they typically demand means the odds of signing one are slim. The "just sign somebody else" argument doesn't really work out. Incognito should be easier to get done, but who knows what would happen if he hit the FA market? He's an excellent OG who's one screw up from never playing again. He's a guy with a long history of screwing up, but who has kept his nose clean this year. An important consideration with him is that he seems to have pissed away the money he made before getting here so he is probably looking for the biggest payday on what is almost certainly his last chance at a reasonably big one. Personally I find his case the most interesting of any impending free-agent on any team. Such a wide range of possibilities.

I've been pointing to this as a big issue too. Incognito and Glenn are 2 of the 3 best OLmen on the team, maybe the best 2. There's still time to re-sign them (obviously), but its concerning that nothing serious seems to be in the works yet. I know that there was talk with Glenn's agent at one point, but the sides seemed pretty far apart. I've heard nothing on talks with Cogs.

The rule is that an NFL owner can't own another sports franchise in a different NFL city. IOW, it's okay for the Pegulas to own the Bills and the Sabres, but they couldn't own the Bills and the Avalanche. It's a competition thing, they don't want owners competing with other owners in NFL markets.

The XP rule changes really help keep people watching. Last year the time between a score and 1st play from scrimmage was brutal. Replay of TD (immediately off to bathroom, beer fridge or kitchen), commercials while TD is reviewed, then automatic XP, commercials, kick off through the end zone, commercials, (back from bathroom/kitchen/beer fridge) and play from scrimmage.

This lady does a great job with all of the U.K. accents: Sorry, I can't imbed the video.

Absolutely hate the Yinzer accent from Pittsburgh/Western PA. "Yinz gahn dahntahn ta Danzi's?" Aaaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhh!!! It's just brutal. The Jersey accent sucks, too.

Love me some Lawyers, Guns and Money.

Chip is an excellent college coach. He's a poor NFL coach and an absolute dumpster fire as an NFL GM.

Most games in the NFL are very close, so close that one or two plays usually determines the outcome of each. Unless a team is good enough to play a wide variety of offensive schemes, they have a vulnerability. The main vulnerability of the ground and pound, like the Bills run, is that it almost always relies on completing deep passes at least a few times a game with a relatively high success rate. I think we all have seen what failing to do so meant in some of the losses. It's also why the Bills took such a big chance on Harvin and gave him the contract they did. They had to have a guy like that opposite Watkins. Just look at how teams are beating the Bills now that he took a powder. The KC game is a perfect example. 1st half: safety help was consistiently late helping the CB covering Wakins (our only deep threat). 2nd half: safety lined up over Wakins with CB playing bump and run on him. Acquiring a deep threat (or two for depth) will be a priority in the offseason.

Yup. Plus a lower seed means less of a chance of home field advantage.

Totally agree.

Absolutely

Cincy was bland. Big meh, but they weren't good at the time. The stadium is odd in a disjointed kind of way. Really didn't like it at all. Cleveland is a lot like Buffalo in the game day experience respect. A lot of it has to do with how the team is doing. Stadium is good, not great. Pittsburgh's stadium is a notch above Cleveland's. Liked it. Good experience overal.

If structured like Wilson's deal and assuming the same numbers, you'd be looking at an outlay of about $44M over the first two years, including a SB of $31M. And you've committed to him for 3 years minimum since you won't be able to cut him before then if he doesn't perform well. I don't think he's earned that kind of deal yet.

$22M in 2017 plus about $2M (depending upon starts) in 2017. That's 2 years at an average of $12M per year if he isn't signed long term before then. It's also only $2M or less for one season if he doesn't work out. So, again, I'm certainly open to deals where TT gets some money and has his chance to earn big dollars, but could be cut loose early without breaking the bank. That's fair. But I'm not discussing it until after the season concludes and I'm negotiating from the standpoint of knowing I could have him for two years for $24M. If his demands aren't reasonable, then he can play under his contract next season and we can go from there with the tag on the table.