HappyDays

I think it's very possible to have one mid-tier WR contract and one upper tier WR contract. If anything that should be the goal. Philly is doing that right now. $15M AAV (and by reports it will actually be less than that anyways) is just not that much under the modern salary cap, especially since the new cap hits won't kick in until 2026 when the cap will likely be around $300M. As recently as 2022 his contract would have been equivalent to a $10M AAV based on that year's salary cap. The cap is rising so rapidly I don't think fans are keeping up with it so we still get the sticker shock of the $15M number. And for the Bills especially it should be easy because we have no upper tier contracts to hand out. Allen will get extended but that will actually lower his cap hits. Benford I think will get $20M. Rousseau TBD. If we can't fit say a big DK Metcalf extension into that picture, Beane isn't doing his job well at all.

Re-signing your own never gets you closer. But Shakir is the only pass catcher we have that is clearly part of the core of the team. If we were dealing with a Ja'Marr Chase situation then it's an easy decision to let him walk, but in an offense where very little money is being spent on skill positions it's a luxury we can afford IMO.

Benford doesn't have a "history of scary concussions." He has two concussions in his entire career, both of which happened in successive weeks. I don't see that as evidence that he is concussion prone. I see it as evidence that the Bills medical staff (with the blessing of the NFL) rushed a player through the concussion protocol for an important game. In retrospect I feel guilty for hoping he would clear it and play. No way he should have been back on the field so soon, but he'll be fine for the long term.

A lot of fans are taking the wrong message away from our loss and the Eagles Super Bowl win. My concern is that Beane is one of those fans.

So you feel good entering the season with Worthy as your presumed #1?

This is what boggles my mind. Last offseaon there were a bunch of videos like this. And already early in the offseason he is working with a private WR coach taking no time off. And like I said I had heard he has a good work ethic which is part of why I liked him as a prospect. So what happened after his injury? The comments from Beane and McDermott indicate that he didn't put enough effort into his rehab. He went from being a player that had a video clip of his physical dominance in Seattle go viral, to a player that was getting pushed around by small Trent McDuffie. I really just don't understand it but hopefully he'll get his upwards trajectory back on track after a focused offseason.

They haven't made made a concerted effort to really invest at the position. Last year's draft and FA class was a prime year to really rebuild the room and they blew it. The last time they made a real effort was the 2019 and 2020 offseasons, and unsurprisingly that resulted in the best passing offense of Allen's career. But since 2020 they have neglected the position more than any team in the NFL and now here we are with just three WRs on the roster and zero that can definitely start outside. I keep waiting for Beane to learn his lesson but he hasn't. He let the pipeline run dry after 2020, handed Gabe Davis a role he wasn't worthy of, then took just one WR in a historically good class despite losing the top 2 from the year prior. One of these offseasons he is going to have to sacrifice the DeWayne Carters and Austin Johnsons of the NFL world and just over-invest in the WR position to get it right. And after it's in a great spot, keep investing. And then invest some more.

It finished a few minutes ago.

Major takeaways - Cook and the Bills are not close in their discussions. Beane saying directly they "aren't on the same page" is telling. Von is 100% going to be cut as expected.

It's unheard of for Beane to come out and say directly to the media "we aren't on the same page" with a player's contract expectations. This quote is telling.

At least with Coleman there was a two game stretch before his injury where he flashed his potential. Bishop never flashed at all.

You know what I'm happy with this. I had been leaning towards not re-signing him because of positional value. But that is a very fair AAV and I can't complain about investing in the passing offense. He's only 25 years old too so there is still some upside there, and he's got established chemistry with Allen. Good work Beane.

I would bet Coleman was the biggest catalyst to firing Eric Ciano. Maybe they felt he had gotten too comfortable in the position and the conditioning had gotten too lax. Or if nothing else send a message to the players that people lose their jobs when you don't put in the work.

I liked Coleman as a prospect not for the player he is, but for the player I thought he could be. Part of my evaluation was that I had heard he had a strong work ethic and a desire to cash in to help his family (which I consider a positive trait). With his physical tools that was a very appealing package for me. This comment from McDermott makes me more nervous than anything about his performance: I'll criticize McDermott when warranted but I can't criticize him for these comments. Ultimately it IS on Coleman to take the next step. We have this conversation a lot about Josh Allen. Many on here give McDermott and Daboll credit for developing him. I don't. They laid the foundation of culture but Allen himself had to put in the countless hours of work to transform himself as a player. With Coleman I take the same view. Nobody on the Bills can force him to put in the hours. It's a neverending grind and many extremely talented players have failed to reach their potential because they didn't fully commit to it. I hope all of these comments from McDermott and Beane this offseason are because they know Coleman has that fire inside of him and they are trying to kindle it. If they had no hope for him at all they probably wouldn't be so direct.

That's exactly right. Cooper's production ended up being disappointing for what we gave up for him, but it was still a trade that HAD to be made and had a measureable effect on the passing offense. Any other take is revisionist history. We had zero legit boundary threats until he walked in the door. And we have zero legit boundary threats on the roster right now. Hopefully Coleman can become one but you don't count on that. This time around let's get that WR on the roster in March instead of waiting for a forced desperation trade in October.