GunnerBill

Oh he definitely has a say. But Brandon Beane is the guy who runs personnel. He has the final call. It is his decision. And as I have said elsewhere the drafting tendencies Beane has now are the ones he grew up with in Carolina, even before McDermott and he met. Worth adding the one draft that we know McDermott ran he drafted a receiver in the 2nd round.

Pegula's record hiring people isn't great.

And nor can Kyle. That is the exact point. That is where they are comparable.

They could have brought him up in that window. Once they didn't he stayed on IR for the year and they couldn't have him active in the playoffs. They never really made clear why they didn't activate in that window. Maybe they just couldn't find a spot, maybe they didn't think he was fully healthy. Frustratingly his window closed then Gabe immediately got injured so we never got to find out.

Some interesting food for thought. The complexity of the offense is definitely a consideration. Gabe had production as a rookie though even if he wasn't an every down player. They obviously think it is a comparative value thing. But as I said before this is consistent with how and where Beane was brought up in this business. Carolina did not draft receivers early very often in his time there. They drafted DL, LB and RB earlier that most other teams. Beane is following that trend here.

I am fine people having different views about McDermott. I am fine with people who want to fire him. I don't agree but they are entitled to their views. It is the proliferation of LAMPs masquerading as something new while trying to re-hash the same old points and the number has shot up again the last two days. If people want to engage in honest, mature debate those arguments exist already in other threads without the board being spammed consistently. At one point this year the Bills had nearly a 3rd of their total cap send unavailable to them. That hurts any team. I said it somewhere else the other day but I can't think of a team who three years in a row have lost key defensive first team all pro level guys to severe serious enders of the likes Tre, then Von, then Tre and Matt have suffered. Because those aren't even "miss the rest of the season but go again in camp" injuries. They are injuries that have impacted the following year too. It sucks. We are due a bit of luck on that front in 2024. Here's hoping.

There is a comparison. You only see one side of it.

I agree to an extent that the have no holes be solid everywhere focus is the wrong approach. Although as I have explained elsewhere in recent days their Dline rotation really isn't out of sync with the other good teams. It is the way the NFL is going. Nobody plays their best 4 guys 75/80 % of the time. The issue for the Bills is they have ONLY had high picks and decent FA vet contracts in that rotation with the exception of Justin Zimmer. The dline is not a spot where they have taken any day 3 shots in the draft as a result because they have been "well stocked" and as Beane always says once you get into round 5 and beyond "where does a guy have a chance to make the roster?" becomes a valid part of your selection process. The single biggest change I'd make to the way they have drafted is to re-allocate some of the earlier assets on dline and running back to wide receiver. But equally I am not shocked they haven't - in the 10 drafts that Beane was in a senior position in the Carolina front office they spent a pick in the top 3 rounds on wide receivers just three times. When Beane arrived I did a breakdown of what they valued in Carolina and what they didn't and it has pretty much stayed true. Don't take WRs and OTs early. Do take Dline, running backs and linebackers early. They took NINE DLine in the first 3 rounds in those 10 years. But to that being said I still don't think the issue is whether it is defense or offense. The issue is elite level talent. I have consistently felt like we are 1 or 2 guys short of the other competing teams in that regard. I think we have been deeper in a lot of spots. Arguably more complete. But our best 21 around Josh doesn't have as much very top end talent as other best 21s around Mahomes, Burrows, Jackson, Hurts, Purdy, Prescott etc.

I don't have any disdain for Shanahan. I have called him possibly the greatest offensive play designer of all time. He is the best Quarterback hider in football. He needs less at that position to win than any other coach. He was one of the guys I wanted here in 2015 but he screwed up the interview. I just think there is a level of cognitive dissonance that goes on when you discuss him.and his success from people who only look at that. I a) don't think Josh in his scheme is the slam dunk some do; b) think he makes at least as many (probably more) poor in game decisions as McDermott has in the playoffs; c) also hasn't managed to get past Mahomes and KC. So some of the extrapolations people are making are reaches.

A million. People need to grow up.

It goes back further. Buffalo and Tampa have both gone since 2017 without drafting a day 1 or 2 wide receiver. It is ridiculous. And Beane should be held to account for it.

I don't think Josh in the Shanny scheme is the slam dunk everyone thinks. He hates ad libbing and Josh loves playing out of structure.

I didn't say that. If you have Josh Allen you don't have all the pieces.

When you play for Kyle Shanahan you don't have the authority to change plays at the line beyond the very strict set rules. You paint by the numbers he draws or he dumps you and gets someone who will. In Kyle Shanahan's offense the Quarterback is an extension of Kyle's brain. That is how it has to work. It is non-negotiable.

Depends how much they are willing to kick the can. I actually like where they are cap wise this year. Can they go and trade for AJ Brown? No. Probably not. But they can probably bring one free moderate FA ticket in. I actually wouldn't be stunned if they went for Gabe Davis.

I think both will stay. The Chiefs have some cap questions, sure. But I can get them to $48m in cap space without a single "difficult" cut. That is more than enough for a relatively front loaded deal for Jones and backloaded deal for Sneed.

This is what I mean @Alphadawg7 when I say it is at least a good hypothetical compared to others.... the idea that Elam has equal trade value to Sutton is nonsensical. At least Elam for Burks makes some sense.

Most of the time (not quite always but most of the time) a player is cut by a team they never see another penny from that team let alone $1. The reason teams have dead money is because you have to account for every single penny you pay a player on your cap somewhere and the money that is dead is long since paid - normally in the form of a signing bonus.

And most of them should make Free Agency. Dugger, Blackmon and Stone are the three questions for me but I think the rest will.

Both of these are spot on IMO.

Does he get the rest of the San Fran roster too? Because we saw who Brock Purdy was when Williams, Deebo and McCaffrey missed 3 games didn't we? And that was with Aiyuk and George Kittle and all those guys on defense.

I wasn't saying do it. But most hypotehtical trades on this board make zero sense. This one does. Two first rounders who after two years are stuck in the bench and bad scheme fits. That is the kind of swap you could see happening. Not the usual omes floated.

I am not sure he would re-sign here would he? But I wouldn't hate the idea of Tyrod. I actually like the idea of Mason Rudolph if he shakes free. If you get the cut loose version we saw for the Steelers this year that is a guy you can win some games with if needs be.

I think this IS a draft to take a shot on a day 3 rookie. But most of them don't pan out. So you have to have a vet as well. If a rookie goes to camp and wins the #2 job, great!

Joe Schoen was the big Boogie Basham booster. No surprise he traded for him with the Giants. He LOVED the kid that year.