BarleyNY

A couple decades ago my wife took a job where she was going to have to travel to Brazil. She went through all of the training - including what to do if you are kidnapped, bought a cheap wedding ring, etc. She never went because the business demands of the Brazilians were setting the company up to be victimized by fraud and the deal fell through. That all made me never want to go there.

Agreed. You’d have to disguise it somehow, like loop someone back as soon as everyone started to go after the ball carrier. Still. unlikely. Probably would be better off faking the Hail Mary and letting Allen take it up the sideline and then throw it back to a player coming back out of the EZ. Still low percentage, but maybe better than a HM.

Exactly. A) Highly unlikely the player is uncovered. The offense will have (at most) 5 players in the EZ while the defense will have 8 (plus or minus one). B) Even in the unlikely case that a player does break open, the defense will have time to get there while the ball is in the air.

Thank you. I have looked into the cap a fair bit (probably too much) and I think the Bills are going to be okay with the cap next season. It isn’t a stellar situation, but at first glance it looks a lot worse than it is for that season. I’m less optimistic about the added pain in 2025 and/or 2026, depending on how the team manages the situation.

I don’t disagree with any of that, but it’s important to look at things realistically too. Diggs has been a top WR in this league. Top 5. Top 8. However you want to slice it. I lived the trade for him at the time and love it still. But he’s 30 now and he’s more of a top 16 WR now. (I like to use 4/8/16/32 due to there being 32 teams.) I’m still very happy to have him on the Bills. Looking forward, the big fall off for WRs tends to be around age 31. I expect Diggs to have another good, top 16-ish WR season next year and I think he’ll stay a Bill through that season. But you have got to look at the money going to him too. His AAV is still top 5 among WRs. While the cap and contracts continue to increase, it doesn’t take a math major to see that Diggs will soon be very overpaid for his contributions. One last point: people have mentioned that he doesn’t rely on stellar physical tools to win as a WR. That’s true. That may extend his career as a productive role player, but not as a top flight WR. He likely will have the role of savvy vet on a SB contending team. But he won’t be paid anything like the Bills are scheduled to pay him. There will likely be a transitional period where he gets released by the Bills and overpaid elsewhere so I don’t expect him to stay here with a pay cut. After that he will have the option to chase a ring again if he doesn’t already have one.

A second cousin of mine was on a country road near Penn State when he was home from college. He was alone driving his pickup at night. He hit a mailbox that was set in a 55 gallon drum filled with concrete. That impact did not kill him, but he was not wearing his seatbelt. So he was halfway out of the driver’s side window as the truck rolled over him and crushed his chest. It was his only significant injury, but was enough to kill him. Never any word if alcohol was involved or not.

I was wondering that about the car too. Also he was not wearing his seatbelt. That’s a good way to get dead.

Or a bad tuna net

Beef ribs or Texas style chili (no beans) are also great options.

I’ve pointed this out before. Just look at all of the coordinator hires from within. In and of itself a hire from within is not a bad thing, but the situation with McDermott has been nothing but hires from within (plus him taking on DC duties himself). It smacks of tighter control and micromanagement. The lack of interest by those outside the Bills to want to work for him is also a very bad sign. It’s not like the coaching staff could not have used some fresh talent and ideas.

Sticking with an inadequate HC because of fear of choosing worse the next time around is a coward’s mentality. It imposes a ceiling of above average on a championship caliber roster.

Exactly. It gets Morris off the field.

I have dreamt of an OL with Torrence and Dawand Jones on the right side. Now I am adding Humphrey at C to that dream OL. What could have been…..

I feel ya. I’m frustrated. I can no longer hope against reason that McDermott can lead this team to the promised land. If I’m honest, I knew after 13 seconds. No big Von Miller addition this season to give hope that we have the talent - and confidence - on the roster to overcome his coaching either. This team has played like they know they can’t win it all with this HC. It’s no surprise that many of the fans feel the same. That sucks particularly badly this season since the AFC is so ripe for the taking.

The business side of this issue is straightforward. If the league does nothing, then the Bills are stuck with Miller due to the guarantees in his contract. If the league suspends him and his guarantees void, then the Bills can move on from him. The Bills have little choice but to let it play out.

The cap is not a myth, it’s just that most people do t understand how it works. Many just look at the bottom line number for next season and nothing else so their understanding is very incomplete. I think it is worth looking a little deeper into Tompsett’s work. Let’s take the $56M under point. The Bills would have 33 players under contract - 9 of whom play on the OL. Our roster would be: QB -Allen RB - Cook FB - Gilliam WR - Diggs, Shakir, Shorter TE - Knox, Kincaid, Davidson OT - Dawkins, Brown, Doyle, Van Demark, Anderson OG - McGovern, Torrence, Bates C - Morse DE - Rousseau, Miller, Jonathan DT - Oliver LB - Milano, Bernard, Williams, Spector CB - Douglas, Elam, Benford, Johnson S - Hamlin K - Bass P - LS - Ferguson There is a lot of work to be done there to field a competitive team. Even with kicking the bigger cap hits down the road on the bigger FA signings we will have to spend wisely and get at least a little lucky.

Personally I would not go so far as to say salacious…….

Me either. Good to see you, Yolo. Glad all is well with you.

Jack Duffin, a sports writer who does a lot of cap and contract analysis, put this together for Desean Watson’s contract. I would expect something similar with Allen’s:

Been thinking about this too. Pegula will do whatever he needs to do to keep interest high for the initial PSL sale.

While the Bills aren’t flush with cap space to burn they aren’t in that bad of shape either. 2024 is easily put into order. I’d start with the following: Restructure: - Allen - Diggs - Oliver Release: - White (w/post 6/1 designation) - Hardy - Poyer Per overthecap that would put the Bills $31.17M under the cap. That doesn’t include any rollover or additional moves.

I would count on White and another player being designated 6/1 cuts. That will kick some of their hits out another year. They will restructure Allen and others to create more space. It’s not great, but it is a lot more manageable than it looks at first glance.

If he violates his contract and it voids the guarantees then the Bills can get out after March 1st by designating him a 6/1 cut. We would no longer be on the hook for any of the 2024 compensation. They might even be able to suspend him for the remainder of this season, which would be another $430k. Next season he already has $10.71M guaranteed with another $6.435M guaranteeing on March 21st. He has another $255k in active roster bonuses in 2024. That adds up to quite the savings - over $17M. I’ll take it if we can get it.

Kelce moved before Phillips did. I think he was reacting to that. For the record, I do not know for sure that it was a false start as he may have still been settling into his stance. But it was at least borderline if not a false start.

You never want to see something like what is alleged happen. But it would be quite the lucky break for the Bills if they can void the rest of his guaranteed money, including the remaining salary this year and next season.