GunnerBill

They will have to make some decisions once they pay Purdy. I'm the biggest cheerleader for "the salary cap is just accounting" because it's true. But it doesn't mean you can avoid getting to some difficult decisions at some point. Especially with Purdy you have to remember what most teams do when a franchise Quarterback comes off rookie money is they find a way to make a new contract actually lower the cap hit in the first couple of years. That isn't going to be the case for the 9ers because Brock Purdy is a 7th round draft pick.... he is due to make $1.1m in 2025. Any extension after this season is adding $$s to that number. So it is $39m over BEFORE Purdy. The two obvious decisions for San Fran are to make this the final year of Trent Williams's HoF career. He will be 37 by the time next season starts. They save $15m by cutting him... though it leaves $19m dead cap. Malik Collins is the other easy decision $10m for a rotational DT and 0 dead cap if cut. Every other lever you might want to pull either comes with a big dead cap number (and they already have $12m dead cap from Charvarius Ward's void year on the books) and/or significant roster losses. To me the 2025 Niners will look a lot like the 2024 Bills. A team clearly in a re-set with some talent that will keep them competitive but also some holes. I suspect in the next two years Williams, Kittle, Samuel and Hargrave are gone and that is a LOT of talent to take off that team. When Williams, Samuel and McCaffrey missed time together last season you saw their offense not look the same. None of that is to say they can't still be good. They have a good coach, a good GM, and still have in Bosa and Aiyuk two prime age stars at two of the most premium of positions. But I think this is the last year they are going to be able to have a stacked roster in comparison to the competition. It gets tougher from hereon in.

Not true that everyone else wants man corners. Or that the Bills are "#zone for life." Let's bring some evidence to the party.... the Bills ran the 6th highest percentage of man coverage in 2023 at 32.2%. Most of the league plays zone most of the time and the Bills are certainly not some outlier team stuck almost entirely in zone.

You are way, way, way too low on Green Bay.

Is the scepticism about McDermott's ability to develop safeties? I read it as being scepticisim about the ability of the safeties we have. If they have it, McDermott will find it. I am not sure they have it. Saying I don't think McDermott is going to be able to much with Rapp and Hamlin isn't a reflection on McDermott. It's a reflection on Rapp (who was mostly bad when he played last year) and Hamlin (who was mostly bad when he played the year before). I do, however, like the Cine pickup and hope they can get him up to speed and he makes his way eventually to the 53.

This is a bit of a "one more throw of the dice" year for the 9ers. This squad, which has been together for 4 or 5 years the bones of it, will have to be broken up after this season. I expect 2025 for then to look a bit like we all think 2024 will be for Buffalo. Eat some dead money, move on some older players, try and re-set a bit.

What a shock. Not.

Yea. And the aqueducts.

I am generally out by 1 as well. Been out by two a couple of times. I think 11 wins as well. 11-6 and enough to win the AFC East.

Not all of us. I liked Dean the best of that group and had a 1st/2nd borderline grade on him. The rest I was lower than the consensus on all of then. Was an overrated group. EDIT: not so say Cine isn't a good shot for a team with safety questions like the Bills to take just for the avoidance of doubt. I like it. Just never thought he was a first round talent. EDIT2: I just checked actually was a late 1 on Nakobe Dean. Of that group I had Cine (2nd); T. Walker (2nd/3rd); Dean (1st); Q. Walker (3rd); Tindall (5th); Ringo (4th). I also had 2nds on Devonte Wyatt (who I think has justified it so far) and Jordan Davis (who hasn't).

And with the Jones and Neal duo now both gone he is by far our best gunner. How important a gunner is with the new rules we will find out this season.

53 or PS?

Completely right. It was always a low percentage dart but if it landed you were hitting the bullseye. There should always be space in your draft for a risk or two like that. I slightly disagree with Grable's college tape though. I hadn't watched him pre-draft (despite my spies at the Shrine Game saying he was a practice standout all week). But when I went back post draft and found some 2023 UCF tape.... he was pretty good especially in pass pro. Previous years I didn't get into and with the late transition to tackle (he tried QB and TE before landing at tackle) very possible they were messy. It's hard to grade objectively after the fact but I think had I watched him pre-draft I'd have had higher than a 6th round grade on him. If he hits there are going to be a lot of teams asking their scouts how they missed on him.

I genuinely would watch it. Maybe that makes me sad, but those end of roster decisions are always fascinating to me. I understand the people who say "don't care, has very little impact on the W-L record" I get that. But roster construction and the decisions that underpin it are part of what makes the NFL so interesting.

I agree. It is now. With the elevation rules and the allowing of vested vets the Practice Squad is an extension of your roster. It matters more than it used to. Is it something for people to freak out about, no, but it isn't a complete irrelevance these days in the way you could argue it was say a decade ago.

I get that on Jonathan. And I agree with it. But for Toohill??? That is the bit I don't understand.

Me too. I am also surprised by Toohill over Jonathan even though I know Jonathan had a mixed summer and was probably on the bubble. If they'd kept five ends and used that spot on another position I wouldn't have been at all surprised. For Toohill who has been hurt and looked rough on Saturday to jump him surprises me.

Interesting. They will certainly feel like their gamble paid off.

Yea. Did I expect Shorter would work out? No. The history of those speed, size guys without the college production in the pros is bad. But is that a pick to hate on them for? No. Plenty of picks I'd question the strategy and the thinking behind. This wasn't one of them even though the results were not good.

Except the Bills over the previous 4 years lead the league in players claimed. The only one I thought there might be a shot there was Gore and that is as much about legacy and name He has been there once though.

I don't think that is as safe an assumption as you do. That said, I agree the Bills have tended too far towards depth and not enough towards stars but as I said to @Chaos the other day it is a little bit chicken and egg. Have they spent less on stars because they spent more on depth or have they spent more on depth because they haven't had enough stars to justify paying them. In the Bills case over the last 5 or 6 years it has been a bit of both at different times. Agree with the Collins comment. I said when they signed him I thought it was a silly signing he was washed.

Give them a chance they couldn't sign anyone until 24 minutes ago.... were you hoping they'd be waiting there pens in hand?

Toohill is DE6 actually. Groot, Von, AJE, Smoot, Solomon, Toohill. I agree Toohill over Hardy makes no sense as a decision. But if he is hurt it comes down to Evans over Hardy. Which also makes no sense to me.

He has scored 10 tries over the past two seasons for Racing 92 one of the biggest clubs in France. He has returned to England to play for Gloucester this upcoming season.

Tasker has said it and I think he is right it is now less about pure speed and more about contact balance. I have no ide if this guy is good or will work out but I am pretty confident the answer wasn't Hamler or Isabella. If Hardy is fully healthy I'd have been happy to ride with him even though his decision making was questionable in pre-season but if he is not they had to make a move.

Lewis is really a safety who plays some nickel at this point rather than a corner.