LA Grant

Dirty shots against the Bills is in the fine print of The Patriot Way™️.

They're just filling air & connecting dots. The way the Bills are run today, I'm confident Rosen would be happy to play here. If this was the Buddy Nix/Chan Gailey years, y'know, maybe not.

Pryor could come cheap, has obvious upside.

This. The other thing is they're going to take a guy they know they can work with. I don't think that will be Josh Allen, but if it is, I have some faith they will know what they're doing. I know Allen looks like EJ Manuel 2.0, and he probably will be exactly that... but in fairness to EJ, he was never considered a 1st round pick by anyone except Doug Whaley or Buddy Nix, whoever gets the credit/blame for that one. EJ wasn't the guy that Marrone & Hackett wanted. They took the job hoping for Ryan Fitzpatrick. They said that publicly in one of their interviews. If it is Allen, it will be because there's consensus with Beane & McDermott & Daboll... they've earned a degree of trust, I think. ALSO I've never heard of this guy — Kyle Pernick, I think? Can we draft him?? Looks like a more accurate Allen!

There's no doubt about it. He looks... bad. I just cannot imagine them taking him over Rosen or Darnold, or even Baker Mayfield or Lamar Jackson. The only way I think he ends up with the Bills is if we don't move up, and he falls to 12... in which case, it's going to be AJ McCarron this year and probably next. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway. 100%. The Bills aren't going to do it, IMO. They have set themselves up where the Rookie QB will almost start a some point in his first season, if not Week 1.... Allen just doesn't fit that scenario. He makes more sense to go with a team that has a proper fallback plan or don't need him to play for a few years. Jets, Giants, Browns, even Broncos... he's going to make sense to a team like that, in that position, more than he will make sense for the Bills.

I remember being part of the chorus begging for Marrone/Whaley to sign Richie that season he spent out of the league being blackballed, when were starting whatsisname over Urbik and our line was a disaster. I was glad to see Rex bring him in, even though it meant cringing through the headlines referencing Rex's "build a bully" speech. I wasn't surprised to see him focused and performing to his best ability. What I was wrong about was that he's kept it up. My assumption was that he'd be good for 2 years, then regress both in play & in off-the-field nonsense. That hasn't been the case — he's seemingly improved each season and grown, as well. Have to give him credit for really turning it around. If you'd had to predict, a few years ago, "who's more likely to Instagram a bed full of guns and a threatening message: Richie Incognito or Jonathan Martin?" most of us would've probably guessed incorrectly. Richie is not a guy I'd want to hang out with, but I'm glad he's on the Bills. Hope he keeps up the good work.

I don't think there's much to read into this... But what the hell, it's the offseason. This suggests to me the Browns will do the right thing (for them) and take Barkley at 1. That's good for people who want to see Tyrod/Cleveland succeed & the Steelers fail (I am one of those people). I have been maintaining the view that the Browns would foolishly pass on Barkley and go QB at 1. That scenario could be bad for the Bills, because I think that makes it less likely the Browns trade down from 4. The Giants having their pick of any QB would be hard to turn down, too. The Gettelman connection indicates some possibility for trading, and the Giants have indicated the willingness to move down, I just am not sure that's what makes the most sense for them. If that happens, only the Colts would be a potential trade partner in the Top 5... but, then again, the Bills do have the most to offer in return. In that case, we'd still be getting the 2nd QB off the board (Rosen or Darnold), while the Browns would then get Barkley & the 3rd QB. Ultimately — Who knows. How many days until the !@#$ing draft??

I dunno, there's some character concerns for The Swedish Chef. Rumor has it he has a hard time communicating with teammates.

I hear you. Unfortunately we won't really know until at least 2 years from now how this QB develops and then try to guess why he developed whichever way he did. I'm just glad that we don't have to also worry so much about whether or not Beane/McD will be "on the hot seat" during the next few years (unless things go really bad). Making the playoffs in Year 1 gives them a lot of leeway, for one, but also the fact that they came in together with a unified vision, as opposed to the various shotgun marriages of the last decade), means the Bills should have a degree of "stability" and "consistency" and "not constantly working from a panicky reactionary mindset to keep their job." That doesn't impact the Xs and Os but I do think it has as much of an impact, if not more, on the overall team success. And if the team is successful, it's much easier for the QB to be, too.

True, everything about Peterman is cause for concern. The fact that they thought he was ready is not very inspiring, but at least they didn't try to double-down on that mistake and start him again the next week, or even in the 2nd half of the Chargers game. I don't even blame them for benching Tyrod at that point, or rather, I wouldn't blame them if they had a viable QB2, because the offense was really bad the previous week against NO. But to your point — yeah, the evaluation/preparation/assessment of Peterman is not going into the staff's "good" column. The second point is reason to be optimistic about Culley. I don't know much else about him but that would be a good sign. Daboll bouncing around the league doesn't bother me because, contextually, those were all pretty bad situations where he was close to being a lame duck each time. The philosophy he seems to embrace is a modern passing offense, and we saw him help Alabama win a National Championship with a freshman QB who earned offensive player of the game. I think about the 2004 QB class, and if the Bills picked Roethlisberger and the Steelers picked Losman, how different would history be? It's hard to say. Ben is obviously much better than JP, but he wasn't right away — they were very principled in their approach to bring him along, and he was on a strong Super Bowl-caliber roster. It's possible the Bills & Steelers would've flipped fortunes if that pick were flipped, OR it's possible JP & Ben would've flipped fortunes. I tend to think it would have been the latter — not that JP would be as good as Ben, but he might've had a much better and longer career, whereas Ben might've been bungled in his development with Mularkey & become more of a journeyman. We can't know the future, but the predictive signs that we have, IMO, favor the Bills (for once).

Huh? Why is it a non-answer? Does Beane not get some credit for Cam Newton's success? Our new OC Brian Daboll just won a National Championship with a freshman QB. It might be more reassuring if our coaches were Pat Shurmur, Kyle Shanahan, or Andy Reid but their mere presence wouldn't guarantee results. The organizational stability, IMO, is key in development. It doesn't guarantee anything but the Bills didn't have that for their last two 1st round QB picks, and that was a factor as much as the QBs they picked — EJ was an obvious reach and Losman may not have been as much of a reach, but he was not considered to be the same level of prospect as Ben, Phil, or Eli. The fact that the Bills aren't in "desperation mode" like they have been for the last decade plus, coupled with a virtual guarantee they will get one of the top prospects, should give fans reason to be optimistic that whoever they pick will be the right pick for the team.

There is no "end result." Every season is its own thing. They made the playoffs — back-door, yes, but doesn't change the fact — and they did so in what was clearly the beginning of an overall roster rebuild. The new regime ended a 17 year playoff drought and they weren't even going all in on doing so. If that doesn't inspire some confidence, I am not sure what would.

Cam Newton? But even if you don't credit Beane for Cam, consider that Belichick never developed a QB before Brady either, right? It's more about organizational stability. We have that.

Like many of you, the only QB that I don't want is Josh Allen, who seems to be in that mold of EJ Manuel where he's "got all the tools" but seems incapable of getting the job done with regard to consistent accuracy. Here's my preferences of the QB class, to be upfront. 1. Rosen 2. Darnold 3. Mayfield 4. Jackson 5. Allen HOWEVER, I think the Bills will be good with WHOEVER they choose among those, even Allen. The reason is simple: We finally have a staff in place that can develop the QB. That is the biggest, biggest, biggest factor. The Bills have not had this kind of steadiness in their organization since Bill Polian was running the show. In other words, we can all R-E-L-A-X and Trust The Process™️ The Bills made the playoffs with a strong running game & opportunistic defense. They now have a better OC in place, and they'll have a QB with a higher ceiling after the Draft... but they will still be operating under that same overall philosophy — and that is exactly the right way to develop your franchise QB. You don't ask a lot from them, you let them gain experience, and you support them. I have far more confidence in Beane & McDermott than I ever did with Whaley/Nix & Marrone, or Donahoe & Gregg/Mularkey. McBeane are not making decisions based on desperation, on a "must win quick" scheme to end the drought & protect their jobs... they are making confident choices to support a long-term vision. Joe B & Matt Fairburn calmed the nerves with their podcast yesterday on why Josh Allen is still a legitimate prospect and why he's as likely to turn into Ben Roethlisberger as he is JP Losman:

If he comes cheap... Why not? We need to fill the "speedy Sammie with dreads" sized hole at WR somehow.

Try to consider that they might have a point, and that it is possible that you're not considering it fully because it doesn't impact you. That it's possible that things that don't directly impact you do impact others. You're free to conclude anything you wish, that they are misguided or lying or misrepresenting... but based on your posts, what you think they think, it appears to me you're not giving "the other side" of it the full consideration you're capable of. I could be wrong. You're probably right Kaep won't play in the NFL again, in any case.

I'd wager you have the ability to try harder, but I don't know. Maybe you're already at the maximum level of consideration.

Hi Boatdrinks. Thanks for sharing your feelings. Unless you are God and all-knowing, it is possible you do not know everything. Here is an experiment to try in your real life outside of Bills message boards — for a week, make a deliberate attempt to genuinely consider the thoughts of people who are different from yourself. 7 days of seeking out views you think are wrong, and try to see it from their perspective, without immediately concluding it is BS. Just give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?

My post said there are latent racists on TSW and WGR... and you agree. Dunno why you're saying that "simply isn't the case" if you then agree that they do exist. I didn't say a number. You're right that it's easier to bury Kaep because he is mediocre, yes, that is true. The equally mediocre RGIII did not protest and he is also out of a job. Similarly, Johnny Manziel was both mediocre & distracting, and he's out of football. Perhaps all GMs are viewing Kaep & RGIII & Manziel in similar lights. There is absolutely a valid case to be made in this regard. Let's also consider that it is very difficult to prove intent, the only way to really do so without some direct statement is with circumstantial evidence. There is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence to support that Kaep is out of football for reasons that are different from RGIII & Manziel — from GM/owner comments, to the fact that Kaep led a Super Bowl run and RGIII/Manziel did not. Kneeling during the anthem at a football game is protesting in the community alongside citizens. The issue the latent racists have with it is that it is visible. They'd prefer to ignore it, and Kaep/kneeling made it difficult to ignore. They're so keen on ignoring it that they intentionally tried to misrepresent his views, over and over, rather than just listen & consider. In a utopian world, the NFL would have recognized Kaep's bravery and embraced it on some level.... think of what the Bills & Seahawks players did this season to organize some tangible community outreach efforts to bridge the gap between at-risk kids & police. They might say "well why didn't Kaep do that on his own?" but he did, and he does. The unfortunate thing is not that he "protested the wrong way" — which is patently ridiculous, he protested in the best possible way: it was unobtrusive, impossible to ignore, clear, and respectful. For goodness sakes, the man changed from "sitting during the anthem" to "kneeling" after talking with veterans who told him kneeling was the better way as it represents the flag at half-mast — By kneeling, Kaep was saying, there is STILL systemic violence against people of color in the US and it is a tragedy. That is sad, but it is true, and the most unfortunate and disappointing thing is that it was considered to be a controversial statement at all.

Schopp is the best personality on WGR, by far... I'm so glad he doesn't put up with the stupidity from so many callers. Vic Carucci is the worst one, easily. He gets by on his reputation from the 90s and has been consistently wrong with his predictions/reports the last few years.

Not saying "you" are... but if you don't think this is about race to many of his detractors after he became a protest symbol, you're not paying attention. I also said he's not a good player in the post you quoted. He's not bad, nor good. He's the same as any of the other bridge QBs, in terms of skill. The difference is his status as a pariah.

I'd be thrilled to see them sign Kaep, not because he's a great QB (he's as good/bad as any of the other options), but because it would make the latent racists on this board & WGR explode. And that would be entertaining at least until the draft.

Crap. McCown was my preferred bridge QB. Jets will definitely draft a QB and maybe even move up to do so. HOPEFULLY, they stay at 6, and take Jackson or Mayfield.... while the Bills move to 3 or 4 to take Rosen.

Dayyyyuummmmmm.... well done, duder. I'd be happy with McCarron or McCown as our QB2/bridge. Any of the Mcs! Who are your draft predictions? Annnnnd, there goes my McCown prediction, blown to hell. He's staying with the Jets.

I was wrong about Cousins, but I did call Keenum/Broncos and Cardinals/Bradford. How are your predictions holding up after today????