BarleyNY

yes. cap=lie no cap=no lie (which is how I’ve mostly heard it from my kids and their friends)

I agree with all of that. I think the Bills had a situation akin to this: Company exec expectedly moves on. Employee who was being groomed to take their place is hired. But there is a huge project that requires a great deal of expertise is just getting underway and this exec will be the lead on it. I’m sure everyone can see the potential for problems there. I will give the Bills brass credit on this front though. they put in place a lot of experience at the positional coach level. It would be interesting to see how that worked out. I’d have rather seen one highly respected and experienced voice guiding Dorsey than several positional coaches with more experience than him reporting to him. Not that the latter didn’t or couldn’t work, but the problems that can arise in that situation are pretty obvious.

I’ll add that the blame for hiring a rookie OC lands at the feet of two of the three people that most TBD posters refuse to criticize. So it’s easier to just blame Dorsey rather than consider that mistakes are being made at a higher level. As for Dorsey, he probably has a bright future. He’s not there yet, but he did not do poorly for a rookie OC. I do question the relationship with Allen though. Mainly it is whether it allows for him to effectively coach Allen hard when needed. I should note that I see this issue with McDermott as well. He hasn’t reined in Allen when warranted either so why would Dorsey feel like he could do it?

You’re not wrong. That was inexcusable. Certainly a fireable offense.

I’m not sure that gets the plug pulled on them, but it might.

A situation bad enough that he’d lose the locker room.

The way that the contracts line up - both key players and McDermott/Beane’s I think they have two seasons. A catastrophe this year would accelerate it to after this season, but the way it looks planned out seems like they have two.

That is a fair point. I’m not sure what Diggs wants at this point though. If it is to be traded, then it makes sense. Not saying that’s it, but things would line up - and it’s obviously happened before. Another possibility is that he came in ready to work and something happened that ticked him off badly enough that he walked out. Dunno. Might have to wait until he speaks on it.

I think he made it clear t the team during and after the playoff loss last season what he’s upset about. Lack of effort by many players and Dorsey. I honestly don’t know if he’s upset with Allen or not. Parting ways now would be very, very difficult. If traded his 2023 dead cap would be $13.2M which would gain the Bills $1.7M in space. But his 2024 dead cap would be $31.1M. Outright cutting him would only be marginally worse this season and the same next. LINK

You said “He'll sign the tender once he realizes the fines are piling up in camp”. I pointed out that your statement is incorrect because he can’t be fined until he is under contract - which he’s not. Also he can’t cost himself any other money in camp because the tag pays in game checks. As long as he signs just prior to week 1 he’ll get the full $10.1M. Same as if he signs it now. OTOH if he signs his tag now, he might cost himself some money as it helps his leverage while he can still negotiate a long term deal, which is a real possibility.

Fines do not apply to a player who is not under contract. Saquon is not under contract until he signs the tag or another deal. Also the Giants have the right to rescind the tag prior to him signing it. They (obviously) won’t do that and he will sign it and play - if a long term deal is not reached. They have until July 17th to get that done. Why should Saquon willingly lose leverage in those negotiations and sign the tag before then? He’s playing this correctly.

Sure, every player wants both - max most money plus a ring. We really don’t know what discount Hopkins is willing to give for a better chance at a championship, but @billsfan89 makes a good point - he will want to know what all of his options are and exactly how much he’d be leaving on the table for a realistic shot at a good playoff run and/or a ring. He’s made over $111M on his NFL contracts so he’s certainly given himself options. He also doesn’t have to be in a hurry. Injuries happen and a contending team could get very motivated if their best WR goes down. I don’t think he’s getting a true multi year deal next offseason though. He might get an effective two year deal this year, but he’s at the end. While I think he could play longer than that in a lesser role, it won’t be for big money.

I love that you referred to the division w/Cincy as the AFC Central. Once in awhile I still catch myself doing that too.

49ers. Have family that roots for them and I think Shanny is a phenomenal offensive coach.

Just wait til he says that they put ranch on their soggy wings.

That’d almost certainly put him in the top 10 players for yards per catch.

Um. Ok? What does that have to do with the assertion that Harty is faster than McKenzie? Or me posting their 40 times that seem to refute that?

Is he? McKenzie posted a 4.42 40. Harty had a 4.48. McKenzie also had better 3 cone and shuttle times.

Low risk? High upside? Come on. Hoe do you characterize him as either? The Bills signed him to a 2 year, $9.5M contract with $5.25M fully guaranteed. That’s not that low of risk. Considering that it’s about half of what it looks like DHop will end up signing for I think the opportunity cost is significant. Dunno how high of an upside he’s got either. He’s a 5’6” 170# WR with one decent season (2021) of 570 yards and three other garbage seasons with 223 yards combined. He is an excellent returner so we’ve got that going for us. He may and even have value as the Bills gadget WR, but that’s just speculation as his 4 year career rushing total is 123 yards. Last season 70 players had more receiving yards than Harty had in his one decent year. So it seems like a stretch to think the Bills couldn’t have found that production for a lot less. Or that he will significantly exceed his best year. Or that the cap space couldn’t have been better spent.

This reminded me of the old “wrap around draw” play. I hope this new rule doesn’t impact the RO & RPO plays. I can’t imagine that is the NFL’s intent.

Yup. I got a back channel tidbit that I’m sure just about everyone has already figured out themselves, but I’ll put it here for validation purposes. To date Hopkins is not happy with the contract offers he has received. However several teams are interested if he accepts the reality of his market. Two of those teams are the Ravens and Browns as Lamar and Watson have both my made it known that they’d like Hopkins added. I would think the Bills, KC, Dallas and the Giants are others, but that’s speculation. No word on the spread of current offers either. Just that all are significantly below what he was expecting. The trip to Nashville makes sense in this context. If he gets a better offer there, then his agent can shop it to his preferred destinations just like OBJ did.

Just want to address the OL piece. Last off-season the vast majority of this board talked up Saffold as a big improvement at OG last year. The handful of us that actually went and looked at his play knew he was done and the contract he got from the Bills was a joke. So I take the glowing expectations of much of this board with a boulder sized grain of salt. That said, I do expect McGovern to be serviceable - which would be an upgrade. He’s been good in pass pro but poor as a run blocker so that’s a concern. You mention Edwards, who I think is being overlooked. He’s one of the players I want training camp info on. I was happy to see an OG added in the draft, but the questions about Torrence’s fit are legitimate. He looks like a straight up Power/Gap OG while none of the rest of our OL looks well-suited to that. Also I think many posters here saw him get mocked to us at the end of round 1 and think we got a steal in round 2, but that wasn’t where he was mostly ranked by draft sites. I saw 2nd, 3rd and 4th round projections for him. Still, he’s got nice potential and I’m happy we addressed the OL in the draft. To me the much more concerning issue is OT. The lack of any move that would improve it could derail this season - just like it did last season when Quessenberry’s missed block against the Jets got Allen’s elbow injured. I think the IOL will be adequate and can withstand some injuries to any of the three spots, but I have no such confidence with the OTs. If Dawkins gets injured we’re looking at Brown and Quessenberry or Shell out there. I just don’t see how that works out well.

I tend to agree that Philly is the most complete team, but KC did beat them in the last SB. The Iggles won their last one, what, five years ago?

It’s effectively a 3 year, $48.4M deal with two optional years after that. The outs after this year and next would be expensive, but the offsets would help if we had to get out early. It’s an overpay, but I very much like the structure.

The heavy DL rotation is philosophical. Draft and cap investments as well as roster construction over this regime’s tenure shows that. Obviously they’ll want their best on the field at the most important times, but the rotation helps keeps those players fresh. Philadelphia heavily employs this strategy.