GunnerBill

He's wrong.

I am not closed to extending Dion. But he would have to have a career year for me to extend him early. Otherwise I am with @BADOLBILZ I'd let this contract play out and then take a view. But OT would be high on my radar next offseason, both guys that become available for trade or as FAs and/or Draft.

The Head Coach is ultimately accountable. I don't think I have blamed a number of our playoff losses just on lack of performance. I have blamed the Cincy loss on that. We just sucked on the day. I put 2022 Cincy overwhelmingly on the players. I put KC 2021 overwhelmingly on coaching. In 2020 and 2019 we lost to teams that at that time were better than us.

That's where he mainly played in college. He did a bit in spot duty as a rookie for the Rams, not sure he has done it since.

I like the Edwards pick too. But I'm gonna go for James Cook. I expect him to tear up camp and pre-season and go into the season as the undisputed #1 back with Harris and Hines very much just playing spot roles.

That's a bad stat, however, be good to know if it means games that were 1 score at the time of the turnover or 1 score games at the end?

Leyton Orient's ground, Brisbane Road, is also famous for having two corners filled in by supposed "luxury" apartments with views over the pitch from the balconies. At one point one of those apartments was rented by someone who basically ran a brothel from there and the home fans would be treated to scantily clad women coming out onto the balcony for a smoke between clients. I believe it has been closed down by law enforcement now. It's also the closest professional club to my current address. I went a couple of times last season.

I am NOT evading. I am disagreeing. You don't like it when people don't agree with you so you accuse them of doing something else. You think coaching was the main reason that we lost that Bengals game. I don't. It played a part, sure. But it played about the part coaching plays in most NFL games (about a 3rd). Two thirds is almost always down to the players on the field and the Bills (both in the Miami game and the Bengals game) made way too many basic mistakes. Yes, there was some off coverage that people hated. But that was not close to the main reason we lost the football game. As for a review of Beane's drafts - I point you towards @JGMcD2 - who has done the analysis on this. And many people will change their perceptions of Bills coaches and GMs after they are let go. Defend them while they are here, attack them once they have moved on. I get that there is a core of fans who are like that. The new guy is always the best guy... but I am not and never have been one of those fans. I'm not a homer. I don't always think the Bills and the people currently on the team or on the sideline or in the box are the right people. I actually watch the games, I watch the all22, I analyse what I see and I form a view. I'm not defending Sean McDermott because he is the Bills Head Coach. I am defending him because I don't think he is at fault for many of the things you think he is at fault for. I was the biggest critic of Dick Jauron and Rex Ryan when they were here. I called Chan Gailey a glorified college OC. Again, I watch the games, I watch them again. I watch the all22. If I think someone is making consistently bad coaching decisions I say it. McDermott screwed the pooch at Kansas City in the 2021 playoffs. But the coaching generally in the playoffs has not been the reason for our defeats.

I don't know why 2009-2017? But do I think McDermott would have got Alex Smith led Bills teams to the playoffs? Yes. He got a Tyrod freaking Taylor led team with much less talent than the Chiefs team Reid and Smith had to the playoffs. Even the year Reid arrived with the Chiefs they had the #1 pick but at the same time 6 pro bowlers on a team that finished with the worst record in football.

Do they? I know you do. But do "most people"? This past the playoffs the team did not play well. Of course coaching gets some blame for that, but I don't think "most people" think they get the majority of the blame. And even if "most people" do.... I think they are wrong. It wasn't coaches that kept turning the ball over against Miami. It wasn't coaches that blew coverages and left Benglas wide open for touchdowns in the divisional round. Nor was it coaches that made an absolute mess of execution on the first 15 on offense. I get it they played some off coverage fans didn't like. Whoopie do. That seems to have skewed the perception of some as to why we lost. And stop accusing anyone who doesn't believe they need a Head Coaching change of being "happy making the playoffs." That's nonsense. I want the Bills to win a Championship. At this moment in time I don't think the best way to achieve that is to change the Head Coach. As for how much longer do we wait to find out.... you are right, that is a question that everyone has their own answer to. If there was another debacle exit - 13 seconds style - then I'd make a change, almost regardless. Otherwise I have long since been of the view that 2025 is the turning point. That is currently when Allen's cap hit maximises (and then starts falling again) but you likely have to begin thinking about a re-negotiation at that point. 2025 is Josh's age 29 season. If by that point this regime hasn't got it done then I think you clean house and given another regime the second half of Josh's career. I think at that point it is less about do you think McDermott and Beane are good at their jobs - they are - and more about you have to try and inject some new impetus from somewhere. Nine years of a regime is a long time in the modern NFL.

Definitely a fair point, but there are plenty of snaps where your left tackle is basically in a 1v1 situation and you are going to need them to hold up there. You can still evaluate those without necessarily needing to consider the play of the guys inside. But he didn't get a lot of help, that's true.

And Aaron Rodgers in the back half of his career has half assed football. He has still been really good for the most part, but I honestly don't know how much his heart is in it.

I say again, he is actually 14th. The Spotrac list for some reason is missing Ronnie Stanley and the Eagles guy. But you are right on the market. You can't say to be the 10th best left tackle "sign a new deal that makes you the 10th best paid left tackle" because they all know there is year to year salary cap inflation. So if you sign for 4 years at the 10th highest AAV by year 4 they will be 20th highest. So you put them top 5 knowing they will quickly fall down the list. I actually think at 14th Dion is a bit of a bargain. Cam Robinson (Jags), DJ Humphries (Cardinals) and Garrett Bolles (Broncos) are all inferior players who are higher in AAV than Dion and Orlando Brown (Bengals) and Kolton Miller (Raiders) are also higher and are at best equivalent level - lots seem to love Miller, I don't. However, giving Dion another big pay day isn't something I'd be keen to do at this point. Not with the weight fluctuation issues and his inconsistent level of play the past two seasons. That said, our line goes as Dion goes currently. When he is at his best our line looks passable. When he is not it looks a shambles.

That is beat reporter speculation. Nobody from the Bears is quoted. Here is Eberflus.... the Bears actual Head Coach... naming Edmunds the starting MIKE https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/bears-matt-eberflus-names-tremaine-edmunds-mike-linebacker#:~:text=In Matt Eberflus' defense%2C the,creating havoc in all facets

The information I have didn't come from links.

For sure but is has been a legit concern with Dion and the fluctuations in weight are part of that picture IMO. Like I say, the team has had concerns. I don't think it is crazy for fans to. Even if one picture in OTAs isn't a reason to freak out.

And with Dion the consistency hasn't been there the last two years. When he has been good he has been very good. But his performances the past two years have been up and down..... not as much as his weight but up and down all the same.

No more moves before camp. I wouldn't be stunned if we added one of those vets on the eve of camp.

To an extent that is true at WR but I feel a hell of a lot better about it than I did this time last year when we were one injury away (and it happened in week 2) from Jake Kumerow starting actual NFL football games as an outside receiver. That is the currently unsigned Jake Kumerow. Harty and Sherfield would still be downgrades if they were starting outside but they are at least bona fide NFL depth receivers. Kumerow wasn't even really that.

While I know that is true it is more than that with Dion because he has a history of these fluctuations. It isn't so much the size he is that concerns me, it is whether he can properly control it between now and January. That has been a bigger challenge for Dion than for other OL on the Bills let alone around the league. I hope he can control his weight throughout the year and have a really consistent season because I agree with you at his best he is a top 10-12 type left tackle. But the fans with concerns about his weight are not just overreacting. As I said earlier the Bills have been concerned in the past with his tendency to fulctuate.

He is 14th. That list misses Mailata ($16m AAV) and Stanley ($19.75m AAV).

The point here isn't about Dion compared to a normal person. It is Dion compared to Dion. I am surprised so many here don't seem aware of the weight fluctation issues he has had. I thought it, and the team's concern about it, was pretty common knowledge.

Who has told you he is switching to the WILL in Chicago. That's not my understanding.

Dion has an issue with his weight. That isn't a secret. The Bills are aware of it. Definitely fair to say most lineman come to camp carrying a few lbs they can afford to lose but Dion has had weight fluctations in season the past two years too. In 2021 that was easier to overlook given he had two bouts of covid but there has been concern internally about his weight yo-yoing. I think it has begun to affect his play in a way that when he was younger he could get away with it. At Dion's best he is a borderline top 10 left tackle, but we have only seen his best form in snatches the past couple of years. He had a really good ending to 2021 and a really good start to 2022 but he has struggled for consistency and I have to wonder if the body struggles are part of it. I have long thought that as he aged the natural move was to slide him in one to left guard where him carrying a few extra lbs won't matter so much. That does require you to at least have someone as good at left tackle before you make that move and the Bills don't - but it has been a position that the last two offseasons I'd have been looking at. In 2022 I liked that draft class and of one of the top guys had fallen to us I wanted to take them - they didn't. This past offseason I speculated about trading for a proven vet (Jake Matthews was my particular target - maybe using Ed Oliver as bait) before they made the moves at guard in FA. The decision on Dion is coming at some point soon in any event. As alluded to above he is a FA after 2024. I am not sure paying Dion again when he is going into his age 31 season and has these known weight issues is a particularly smart move. But I disagree with those who say he is currently or has been overpaid. Yes, he was top 5 left tackle when the Bills did the contact but he is currently 14th. And that is without the likes of Slater and Sewell (I know he has played more RT so far) being paid yet. It's just year on year market inflation. He was a top 5 paid left tackle for less than a year.

Again, straw man. That was not what I said. But it wasn't "a debacle" nor the main reason for the loss. The Bills players laid an egg. It happens. It sucks but they played their worst game of the year. It was a players loss first and foremost.