Billsfan1972

I love the anxiety surrounding the draft and how you all come back here year after year complaining about choices and why the Bills don't make the right picks. I have no idea, but I usually peek afterwards at draft grades & most years the Bills have drafted well according to experts. Now 5 years later obviously more misses then hits, but I don't see the bills making off the wall picks (i.e. drafting someone 10th, who was ranked 40th, or someone in the 2nd that was projected in the 4th). They are drafted where they should have been and then up to the coaching to get the best out of them. That's where the Bills have failed. Prove me wrong if someone has stats.

No it's terrible. Don't you understand these fans excitedly hoping for a 3-13 years so that they can start playing with their draft board and then complain when the Bills draft the wrong player and then again prep for next seasons draft.

Seemed to make sense, but the staff wants 4-12 (though will pay lip service to making the playoffs).

Good a year where I have minimal interest in my team with a GM and coaching staff who has assessed the talent and decided it is no up to their standards (and really they know that?). Yes they traded away their best young player and another good young player in hopes of what? And if they don't get that star QB and build around him? Again as a coaching staff shouldn't they be the ones protecting TT and saying that he was hurt by the OC and bad playcalling? Isn't this the worst passing team in the NFL for years now incapable of a 300 yard game? Shouldn't they be able if competent to rebuild the core defense who was near the top of the league just 2 years ago? I want coaches & GMs that make the team better, not worse. Those happy to be 6-10 or worse and dreaming of the draft are just losers.

The only way it is a push is if Watkins is injured. When you trade the best players (as they did in both trades) you are weaker for the short term. Now of course if Mathews now on a non passing team puts up better #'s then he did on a team that PASSED the ball, and Gaines becomes a great everyday player, then the Bills win the trade. And with the draft picks they choose starting NFL players, then absolutely right they win.

Wow get paid what you're worth........ Why would anyone want that. The Bills could have tied him up for a 5th season but decided against it claiming injuries. If he isn't injured and performs they weren't going to pay him. Sounds really really stupid. But let me guess how many excitedly waiting to post if he is injured.

You'd have to be an idiot not to realize you need to get Watkins the ball 10X/gm and I watched the Bills and saw the playcalling and it was asinine the # of times Watkins had single coverage and you'd see TT at the LOS not even look his way. It had to be coaching and playcalling. If not then yes TT is to blame.

And I blame his coaching and the OC. Can't be hard to say or create situations to target your #1 10X's/gm.

Again why all the love for this thread? While I agree with much, Flip has not addressed the Watkins & Darby trades that made the Bills worse and yes is waving the white flag for 2017. Draft picks do not guarantee success in the NFL. Belichek sorry could be a bust if not for Brady (we just don't know). Almost every successful team over a prolonged period is due to the QB and while TT may not be the QB, I do maintain a significant factor was the OC and play calling. The offense is much worse without Watkins. A healthy Watkins and innovative O could have turned the team around. I was ready to give the coaching staff & GM a chance, but they showed their colours with the moves and now expect the fanbase to be okay with growing pains...... 18 damn years and no playoffs is pathetic.

So what side are you on? I am confused. Those games I remember vividly and continually point to them as why Sammy is so valuable and a great player. The first half they targeted him and he made every play and then they forgot about him the second half and the Bills lost. The Houston game they threw him maybe a third time and otherwise didn't look his way. The New York game he torched Revis and was a joy to watch. I blamed the OC and had hope that this staff wasn't so STOOPID.

Because I expect a competent coaching staff to properly use their best offensive player.....

Now this is a good post. The OP was okay until commenting on Watkins. The loss could potentially be huge as he is a proven talent and could be a superstar if two things happened as a Bill. 1. 10 Targets/game, which is in line with what #1 receivers with his talent get 2. Stays healthy Sorry to me that was not a stretch. Trading him and Darby resulted in a worse team. Heck as I state it is a crapshoot and look at how lucky they got with Lorenzo Alexander, who was almost out of football and now better then many drafted Bills.

I blamed it on the OC and the inability to call plays at the line or be allowed to change them. You watch and TT seldom looked at the defensive scheme (as opposed to Manning and other QB's). The old chicken or egg and just wonder if it would have continued. Watkins was targetted 3 less times then other elite receivers and that in a full season is probably 30 catches..... Math is pretty simple. I used Cleveland because that was the trade and those were their picks. I shows that picks in football are exactly like going to vegas and betting..... A crap shoot.

And made two trades that made them worse this year..... When you give away the best player in any trade you are trading down. How is that trying to win????

So what you're saying is embrace a team that will again not make the playoffs, made trades that have made them worse and won't get them in the top 5 and trust rookie coaches and gm's to make the right decisions. Good thing all 32 teams can play in empty stadiums, turn a profit and sell WNY fans on hope...... How about 2-3 tweaks, swinging for the fences and actually making the playoffs. Already the longest drought in the NFL and already anticipating another 3-4 years to get this regime acclimated and give them a chance? And this was a great post?????? Wow, just wow......

I see a lot of threads regarding the trade and don't understand it at all as a FAN....... Now draft nerds are another story and build on hope. There is no way the Bills are a better team for trading Watkins in 2017. We punted on 3rd down the season away imo. Add to that Watkins was the player I wanted to see healthy and the ball thrown too, but I'm sure this coaching staff probably had him penciled in as a decoy........

Draft Day baby.... Draft Day will be huge, forget the regular season...... Who's up for a tailgate April 26th!!!!!

And wait to see what he gets paid (and by the Giants).....

Nope too many to read through, just saw another thread complaining as to where Watkins was drafted. And to those saying the Bills wouldn't pay him if he was successful the idiocy of that comment defies logic. No good players in the NFL should be paid money because they will ask for too much. Julio Jones should be on his fourth team now because Atlanta were suckers to pay him. Then of course there's Tom Brady...... If only Watkins was married to a supermodel making $40,000,000/season (and who loves Buffalo), then maybe he'd have taken a discount....... Now I get it......

And let's look at those draft picks Cleveland got..... They used #8 on Justin Gilbert, who was eventually traded for a 6th and released after 2016 by Pittsburgh. BTW they chose Johnny football @ 22. Then that great Buffalo pick in 2015 is Cameron Erving who I can't find anything on ESPN or Wikipedia...... Proves my point that the draft is a crapshoot. So yea Cleveland fleeced us.......

and explaining the trade to non-football draft-obsessed fans. Yes still pissed and explain to people why Watkins was traded so the new regime can roll the dice on another draft pick and the lunacy. Yes reading threads and people just refuse to get over the fact Watkins was drafted 4th and that it is somehow his fault. When healthy and targeted Watkins definitely lived up to the #4 pick (and yes OBJ I'm convinced would be called a bust in Buffalo with the Bills Offensive playbook). So friends (non Bills or obsessed fans) ask why he was traded and I say the following. The "Brain trust" (yes sarcasm) refused to extend him for a 5th year based on his injuries and didn't want to keep him since there is no doubt if healthy he is a star and thus the Bills wouldn't pay him. So the Bills aren't tanking and definitely got worse for 2017 from the trade(s) and as fans we can blissfully hope to hit the jackpot in the draft next year. The idiocy to me defies logic.

It's a given that Goff & the Rams are going to highlight Watkins, and yes barring injury it will be sickening to watch as Bills fans........ You can not trade away the better player in two trades and then claim you are not tanking. I bet the new regimes is hoping for key injuries as they have no interest in doing well and have shown it by the trades.

Again stupidity. This team had the ability to compete in a league that is set up for 8-8 seasons. You have to be inept or consciously try and lose and the Bills now are 2 games worse on paper. What that means as usual is a pick in the 8-12 range and their track record is lousy. If they are looking at a rookie qb that means 2018 is a wroite off too, along with 2019 & 2020.... Great.......6-10 or 7-9 and I'm supposed to be excited???? Maybe all will fall into place & TT or Shady are injured too and miss half the season.

I go to 2-3 games/yr (2+hour trip and border). I watch every game and am a true fan. I used to listen to pre and post shows too and during the week. Don't do that, but am a fan and yes a huge of Watkins. You don't trade potential franchise stars in their 4th year.

Just reading the original now 89 page reaction to the trade and more and more pathetic. 17 years no playoffs and not really a meaningful game in December and this is the way the sh$t on the fans...... Trade their most dynamic offensive player and explain it all away that they acquired draft picks!!!!!! This staff has proven nothing and told everyone that 2017 is a write off after tickets have been sold and the team has already locked in their profits. Only the Draft geeks are excited, and don't worry they'll be pissed come draft day when the Bills don't select their player....... Great at least now I don't even have to bother with the September-November games and all the annual false hope when the Bills are 4-3 or something and playoff possibilities, because we know that isn't what they are playing for.