BarleyNY

The Browns winning at Baltimore and Buffalo while the Lions win at Dallas and San Francisco would be incredible.

Diggs, Shakir, Harty and Shorter are currently under contract for next season. That’s definitely not great. It’ll be Diggs’ age 31 season so it may be his last as a Bill. Shakir is a useful WR, but I don’t think he’s a starter, at least not yet. Harty should be cut and Shorter will be batting for a roster spot. That leaves a lot of work to be done. Free agency and/or trades have to yield something of value this off-season. I’d have no issue with finding and paying their next WR1 this way as the year 1 (and 2) cap hit(s) can be kept low. The biggest issue is actually finding such a player available. But we did it with Diggs and other teams have done it so it is possible. At minimum a serviceable vet who can start at WR2 while rookies are developed needs to be acquired. Yes, the Bills will need to draft a couple WRs and I have no issue with ant least one early depending on how the corps looks at that point. But it’s not Madden. Rookies rarely make a big impact in year 1. Some take a couple seasons and some never pan out. Drafting one in round 1 certainly improves the odds, but every team in the league knows what we need so we will have to move up for one.

I just checked the Vegas odds and Lamar is a huge favorite at -10000. Dak is second at +1800, Purdy is third at +2500 and Lawrence and Allen are tied for fourth at +3000. https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2023-24-nfl-mvp-odds-and-favorites Stats definitely play a part, but it usually goes to the combination of the best QB on the best team. So it isn’t surprising that the QBs of the two #1 seeded teams are first and (almost) second.

I think that Allen’s chances improve dramatically if the Bills get the number two seed. Still, I think it’ll be Lamar and Purdy for first and second All-Pro. Their teams having the number one seeds being the easy tiebreaker.

Saying Purdy isn’t too 2 would be reasonable, but calling him average is ridiculous. He’s first or near the top of every meaningful statistical category. Sure, Shanahan is an offensive genius, but no other QB has done this in his system. I’m not sure how much more you could ask of your QB.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39216134/nfl-all-pro-team-2023-barnwell-50-best-players-every-position Here is a link. I can quibble about whether some players should be first vs. second team, but the selections are very difficult to argue with overall. Certainly a case can be made for Allen over Purdy, but Purdy is a defensible selection as #2. But that's it. We have some very good players who have done well this season, but not top 4. Oliver has been very good, but he was not a top 4 DT in the league. Ditto Douglas at CB and Cook at RB.

Yup. He may never be a #1 or #2 WR, but he can contribute to the success of this team and he has a place on our roster.

It’s difficult for me to believe that more eyes aren’t on a 2 minute discussion about the game - complete with advertiser logos on screen - versus a set of breakaway commercials.

While I think that you’re correct in general, it’s not an either-or situation. Yes, it’s a business and cashing in is almost always priority #1. The main exception is when we see players at the end of their careers who want a ring. While they all want paid the vast majority also want to achieve at the highest level in their careers. That means winning a championship (as well as individual awards). There also are teams that bond well and those players want to help their teammates and team achieve. Look no further than the current Browns team to see an extreme example of that. From most reports the Bills have that too. I see it as two separate mentalities and seasons. The regular season and the associated contracts are about getting paid well. The postseason is about winning a championship because those paychecks are not close to what players make for the regular season (unless they are making league minimum).

Agree on 1-4 and that #5 is the tough one. I’d throw a defensive player in there, but it’d be difficult to pick from Garrett, Watt, Parsons, Crosby, etc. I think I’d go with Lamb.

My initial thought was 4/$52M with $26M guaranteed, but with the rising cap - and Bosa re-setting the top of the market - I certainly can see him getting your estimate of 4/60/30 on the open market.

A long time ago I was a design engineer at a truss plant. Somehow, someway, I’d get selected for a “random” drug test twice a year during the busy season when they were running extra shifts. Oddly it never happened during the slow times of year when they had one skeleton shift and the odds of an office person being selected were much great. Only during the time of year they couldn’t afford to lose anyone in the shop. Hmmm.

I remember this. I was almost 12 years old. My reaction at the time was that it was better than with the broadcasters. Also I remember laughing at the announcers who all thought it was so terrible. Even at that age I thought that was hilarious. Like they were going to say it was great and they should all be fired. One of my favorite things about NFL+ is watching the condensed games. The garbage announcer filler is dramatically reduced and I can watch a game in about 40 minutes.

Let’s keep it civil.

My daughter waited on Isaiah McKenzie at a Williamsville restaurant many Bills players frequent. She raved about how nice he was to her. I was there that night and saw some of it myself.

I have wondered for years why all teams don’t always match the gloves to opponent jerseys (as much as possible).

Ah, I remember the Before Times.

Apologies for the confusion on my part. I ran everything a year off. The Bills will be fine cap-wise in 2024. Restructures and moving on from overpaid/underperforming players will give the Bills enough room to operate in 2024. The real pain will be in 2025 and/or 2026. I’ve been over it a bunch of times in other threads. I’ll link one. see below) Others, including Tompsett, have done solid work too. Cap management is a lot of work every year for teams that are contenders. Just because 2024 will require that doesn’t mean it’ll be particularly painful. We may part with players like Tre White, which could be characterized as painful. But that’s play related, not cap related. When talking about salary caps and contracts cash and cap are very different. Cash is literally money paid to a player. Cap is the allocation of those dollars. Cash strapped teams are ones where ownership does not have the liquidity to offer contracts (or restructures) with high signing bonuses and/or guarantees. That obviously is not the case with the Bills. https://www.twobillsdrive.com/community/topic/251384-the-bleak-cap-situation-going-forward/page/5/

First, a couple points of clarification: - The Bills absolutely are not CASH strapped. They have some CAP pain coming in the future, but that is a different issue. - As currently constructed, yes, cap hits for Poyer would be $2M to cut or $7.5M to keep, but the only part of those numbers that is meaningful to a discussion of whether or not to keep him on the team is the $5.5M i. new money. To the first point, the 2024 cap will not be an issue, in part because the Bills are not cash strapped. 2025 is likely to see some cap related pain though. That could even be pushed to 2026 or split between the seasons if the Bills are so inclined. It is coming, just not this offseason. To the second point, if the Bills keep Poyer they could push out some of his cap hit with a restructure and void year(s). Still, we’d be adding a total of $5.5M to our cap responsibilities unless he took a pay cut. The other option is to replace him, which quite obviously means paying a FA and/or drafting a player. I don’t see the Bills drafting a safety early this offseason so I’ll cross that off. They could pay a younger safety of near equal talent, but they aren’t saving any money/cap space doing that. Still, I wouldn’t have any issue with this if the team goes this route. The last option is to bring back Poyer (or other short term vet) and draft a mid round (or later) S that can be groomed. I think they’ve tried this, but it hasn’t worked out. It’s a viable option. tl/dr: if the Bills don’t keep Poyer, it’ll be because of his play not his contract.

Poyer is due $5.5M in new money for 2024. I think that makes it worthwhile for the Bills to keep him and for him to play it out and then retire. However, you certainly could be correct. Maybe his body is telling him to step away now. Or maybe the Bills don’t want him back at that price - or even at all. Hyde’s contract is up so having some continuity at safety might play into it. Honestly, none of those outcomes would surprise me.

I believe that Dugger and Poyer play the same SS role so that would mean moving on from Poyer. I haven’t watched Dugger’s play so I don’t have an opinion on him, but I would not mind getting younger at S - especially if the money is right.

While I would have no issue with Davis coming back at the right price and with a diminished role, but ultimately that would not be good for either him or the team. I’m sure his agent will (correctly) steer him to a team where he can get playing time and have the opportunity to earn a bigger contract than what he would get this offseason (especially here). On the Bills side I can see potential for hard feelings and frustration. The locker room doesn’t need that. So I voted to not have him back.

Not that I care personally, but wouldn’t the Bills be in violation of league rules for not including this on injury reports?

CB - Douglas, prefer to extend CB - Benford N - Johnson, prefer to extend FS - FA (or draft pick) SS - Poyer White - released w/post 6/1 designation Hamlin - depth Neal - depth or cut Elam - developmental depth or trade Hyde, Rapp - allow to leave in FA Jackson, Lewis - allow to leave as FA unless kept as inexpensive depth

Highly - as in almost impossible level - unlikely. If the Bills were to trade Diggs in the off-season even if the new team took on all of his future salary, bonuses, etc. his cap hit would increase from $27.9M to $31.1M. Plus they would have to find two starting caliber outside WRs. Davis getting replaced after this season and Diggs after next is what is much more likely. Diggs likely would be designated a post 6/1 cut that season.