BarleyNY

Depends on Rousseau’s contract. If I’m him I hit FA next offseason unless I get the bag from Buffalo. He’s not worth $20M-$25M, but some crappy team will do it (just like with Edmunds). The Bills shouldn’t do it, but with the Bernard extension it seems like they probably will. The Benford deal tells me that there is pressure on them to not backslide in 2025. They aren’t looking to take unnecessary risks that could cause a backslide (even if there is upside to doing so).

IMO Benford should have been first.

Agreed. I was hoping the Bills would upgrade MLB. Extending him after his 2024 season is a very, very tough sell for me. He in no way earned an extension. I will wait on contract details before I finalize my opinion, but I don’t see how this could make sense.

It would equal out for this season, but there’d be an additional hit next season.

At the end of the day everyone understands that it’s a business. Can there be hard feelings with the player that gets tagged? Sure. But so what? It’s the rules the players agreed to and it’s what everyone has to live by. As for whether it’s good business. Often it is. Teams that abuse it are the Bengals of the league. It’s not the defining issue with them, it’s a symptom of how they do business.

It’s worthwhile to hear what the “company men” in the media say about such things. Listening to Tasker, it’s not the way the Bills are going to do business. They want backups that get along well with Allen and can help him prepare for games. I think it’s worthwhile to draft and develop a later round backup. The Bills aren’t going to do that anytime soon. It is what it is.

The reason isn’t because teams are afraid of hurting players’ feelings. Teams have been smart enough to get ahead of signing their quality players and have been getting that done early. Cap considerations are certainly part of that. Players get security and teams get a cheaper deal. The huge jumps in the cap have been very helpful because it’s provided the space for teams to keep more of their own players. Probably. But how much depends on the contract amount and structure. Also that’s IF we franchise tag him next offseason. There’s the transition tag for less. Or maybe he falls off and we sign him for a lesser contract - or not at all. Or maybe he goes off and we do franchise tag him. That’s fine too.

Okay. Franchise tag. a) that’s a long way off and a lot can happen in a year and b) it might piss off Cook, but I do not see it impacting any other player’s opinion of the Bills.

So who thinks that the culture and general appeal of the Bills will be significantly impacted if the Bills hold firm at a number they deem appropriate and a deal doesn’t get done? I sure don’t. I thought I was clear about that aspect of the discussion.

So you’d just give every player everything they want? lol. And do you think that team option restructures aren’t baked into virtually every contract these days? Talk about amateur GMing. Players are happy when their teammates get paid, but they all take care of their own business. Whether or not Cook gets paid means nothing to them when it comes to their own money.

Can’t say I know much about him other than he’s a OLB/Edge, but this is odd on its face. They have plenty of cap space and plenty of needs. He’s still in his prime years and has two seasons left on his contract. $17.5M each, no guarantees. So either he isn’t living up to that and he’ll likely be cut or he is and wants a contract extension with some guaranteed money and TEN doesn’t want to give him that. Anyone have any insight? Edit: Looked up his 2024 PFF grades (for what that’s worth). Excellent against the run and very good in coverage, but poor in pass rush. That would explain TEN wanting to cut ties. If that’s accurate, hard pass.

I disagree on your point about what you hope many rookie players can become. Take Henderson for example. He not only has been an excellent runner in college, but he’s also been excellent in pass protection and as a receiver. The hope for him is that all three phases translate to the pros and he’s an excellent all around back, something Cook isn’t. Some other rookies will be expected to shoulder a high workload and be on the field for short yardage situations, also things Cook can’t do effectively. I hope we can work something out with Cook. He’s an excellent runner and he helps this team, but he is limited in several areas. There is no way should he get close to the $15M AAV he’s asking for.

They won’t care as long as they get their cut.

Agreed. He’s still playing very well, but you have to worry about where the cliff is for him. He’ll be 33 in November. I believe in the saying “It’s better to move on from a player a year too early rather than a year too late.” Looks like KC believes that too.

I don’t want to give up on Kincaid either. It’s not the smart move here. That said, it’s not what you paid for something that defines its worth, its value determines that. Right now Kincaid is not worth more than a third - and we would probably have trouble getting that. His struggles and injury last season and him being halfway through his cost controlled rookie contract both factor into that. So it’s not worth it to trade him because his upside outweighs his trade value. The same was true of Brown and that worked out. Maybe it’ll work out with Kincaid too. It’s certainly worth that chance IMO.

The big question for Kincaid is whether or not he can get into good enough condition physically to prevent these kinds of injuries. Beane already brought that up. It’s football, injuries can happen to anyone. But if a player isn’t in NFL football shape, then they’ll almost always be injured.

In addition to @Billl’s good point, look at it this way: Once a team is paying a true franchise QB a veteran contract, they have to make some hard decisions about who else gets paid big contracts. Pass rushers, corners, OTs and WRs are all vying for those dollars. If they’re paying a lesser veteran QB - Tua, Dak, Cousins, Baker, etc. - then paying an elite WR makes more sense. Hopefully they didn’t overpay the QB, but even if they did (haha Dallas) then paying an elite WR can help maximize that QB and give them a chance to win more games. The other part of the equation obviously is supply and demand. There aren’t enough quality WRs to fill out the league so the baseline for a quality starter is already high. Elite WRs get premiums well above that. That’s what sets it apart from the RB market that is so flush with starting quality players.

We change it up a lot, but we’ve landed on pepperoni, mushrooms and banana peppers as our go to. Left to my own devices I’d swap out the banana peppers for roasted fresh jalapeños, but that’s a bit much for the wife. Straight up pep or shroom is always good too. Charcuterie meats are fantastic on pizza and some specialty pizzas are great too. I can’t believe you weren’t more tactful. lolz

I have always been the same way, but wish I could change for the worst of it. Prices are just so high in so many cases that I feel ripped off. Instead I just don’t go back. A few years ago I started to send significantly flawed beer back. I haven’t judged beer in a long time, but I am still certified to do so and still pick up on most flaws. But now I don’t order beer out much and I usually stick to what I know is good or ask for a taster first when I do.

I think GR does what he’s usually asked to do very well. He’s an excellent complimentary edge. But he’s never going to be that twitchy, flexible bend-the-edge and get to the QB fast kind of DE. That’s the high value skill set. I really like having him on the team. He’s a quality player, but he’s not a difference maker and you can’t pay him like he’s one.

I highly doubt that it is misinformation. From a former scout who spoke with current scouts and FO people at the combine, including some who were in the room for interviews with those two. Obviously that does not mean it is written in stone, but don’t be surprised if it goes down that way. One additional note of no surprise - there is a very strong and active machine behind Sanders hyping him up. Edit: Another legit source corroborated that Sanders interviewed poorly, but did not elaborate.

Some QB rumblings: - Sanders has gotten himself taken off some boards of QB needy teams due to interviews and board work. No accountability for anything that went wrong and a lot of finger pointing at other players and coaches. Everything that went well apparently was due to him though. Also he had choice routes removed from his offense because he “didn’t like them”. That would be a problem in the NFL. A slide out of the top 10 is very possible. - Dart will likely wind up QB2 after Ward. He crushed in his interviews. Expect him to be a top half of round 1 selection.

I think it depends on his other opportunities. If he has the chance to go to a team where he likely will be TE2 and can get on the field more (on offense), then he’ll take that opportunity. In Buffalo he’s mostly a specials player.

Yep. Due $36.25M in cash this season and again in 2026. No way any team is doing that.