HappyDays

Luckily we'll never again have to contend with a KC offense that has Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in their prime. Back then a ferocious pass rush was the only way to slow them down. These days the script has changed. Now you stop them by making Mahomes hold the ball and compressing the pocket around him.

Funny enough we've only had an above average outside CB on the field vs KC in the playoffs once. White and Benford collectively have missed our past three playoff matchups. I think getting two high level CBs on the field in combination with a disciplined contain rush is the best avenue to forcing more than two punts for the first time ever.

I think Beane's track record with late round CBs has been somewhat oversold. Our best CB in the McDermott era was of course White who was a 1st rounder. Benford is obviously the big late round success story. Wallace and Jackson were replacement level. A bunch of other CBs we drafted in the late rounds ended up just training camp fodder. Just to be clear I'm not criticizing Beane's picks in those late rounds - objectively the CB value he's found there has been amazing, probably better than any team in the NFL. But if this team wants to find a high level outside CB their best bet is still an early round draft pick. I for one am done with the Wallaces and Jacksons of the NFL world because inevitably they become a massive vulnerability that you can't hide in the playoffs. And one success story in Benford over a 7 year period doesn't mean you can exclusively rely on that strategy.

The NFL loves creating new rules that would have helped the Bills a month ago.

I love this time of year. Every NFL team begging for some dumb team to take their most overpaid player off their hands before they inevitably cut him. The framing is always good for a laugh. "We're changing defensive schemes!" Or "We're trying to help him find a home!" like it's a rescue puppy.

It would be nice for LV to be at least a little competitive against KC.

I'll say this - I am more interested in adding a top talent to the secondary than I am to the DL this offseason, because I think that was our biggest problem vs KC. So of all the trades floated so far this one intrigues me the most. I just don't trust Alexander's ability to stay on the field. He's averaged 8.5 games played per season over the past 4 years so he's basically been missing half a season every year. To take on a risk like that I wouldn't want to part with more than a 4th regardless of where the money ends up landing. And Benford has injury problems of his own so it would be a really shaky duo.

I doubt he'll get anything close to that in return. He's been healthy for just 34 games over the past 4 years. According to OTC the trading team gets a $17.5M cap charge. Presumably an extension would be part of the deal to reduce the hit but it's still a big risk for an injury prone player.

That's a pass for me. Benford is going to get a big extension and I don't believe in paying two CBs at once. Draft a CB somewhere between rounds 1 and 4 and let him compete with a baseline vet for the CB2 role.

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.

We are much closer to fulfilling the first strategy. Probably two legit pass catchers away. The second strategy we are a legit pass rusher, a legit 1-tech, and two legit secondary players away, not to mention better coaching. I've laid out my thoughts elsewhere but I'm still not convinced we are one elite pass rusher away from getting over the hump.