HappyDays

That is a cherry picked summary of what Schefter said. Nothing new is really reported here. The Bills and seemingly every other team are unwilling to give Hopkins the contract he wants. It will be a long process to get the right deal that both sides are happy with.

That part of Matt Parrino's recap was certainly exciting.

If $10 million plus incentives is the number, just get it done. Make it $12 million. A lot of detractors to the idea have said no team has the ability to pay two high-end WRs, but $10-$12 million is actually a fair rate for a #2. If anything that is a discount given where the market has gone.

Yeah I take him hiring an agent as a good sign. It's a sign that he isn't getting the offers he expected so he wants an agent to figure out the best offer he can get. If the Chiefs spent their Hopkins money on Donovan Smith that makes us the front runner.

More info from that article: https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/05/30/inside-deandre-hopkins-release-options-bills-chiefs

Fake account, he does not work for ESPN.

He is being "represented" by Saint Omni, the guy that the NFL sent out a warning on to teams because he was working with Lamar Jackson despite not being a certified NFLPA agent. He also helped Laremy Tunsil and Roquan Smith get their deals. Somehow this guy has built a following among superstar NFL players and is basically working for them off the record.

It's because he can't do it. His skill set doesn't lend itself well to routes that require short area quickness. He releases well and can run vertical. That's a great skill set for a #3 outside WR. For a #2 it limits what the offense can do. Do you really think two OCs in a row now haven't had Davis run those shorter routes for no reason?

You don't think it's a problem that our supposedly #2 WR can only run long developing routes?

I know Arizona gave Hopkins permission to negotiate with other teams when they were actively trying to trade him. So I would assume we and other teams at least have a framework in place for what he's looking for.

I wonder if teams have been able to actively negotiate with him since Friday, or do they have to wait until he's officially released?

I can't believe some fans are already trying to rationalize Hopkins possibly going to KC over us. It's an unmitigated disaster if that happens, period. The next time Davis drops a pass that costs us the #1 seed I'll look at our salary cap table and feel better I guess.

My level head tells me that if we have to contend against Kelce/Hopkins and Chase/Higgins for the next two years, we become dark horse Super Bowl candidates. Who knows what happens after that but I'm not comfortable waiting to find out.

Honestly man I don't want to hear the excuses. There are things Beane can do to make Hopkins affordable. The nuclear option would be trading Ed Oliver. Anything is better than letting another AFC team, especially the Chiefs, acquire him.

Nothing new, if I hear anything I will post it.

If Beane lets this happen, especially considering the Chiefs are in even worse cap shape than we are, he will be gone within 3 years. Book it.

For me adding Hopkins isn't about adding production. It's about adding someone that can make critical plays in critical moments. Allen and Diggs were the only two that consistently did that last year. A championship offense needs more than just two guys with that ability. Every Bills loss last year you could point to at least one drop that arguably lost us the game: Dolphins loss: -Davis drop in the endzone, taking 4 points off the board in a game we lost by 2 Jets loss: -Davis drop on 3rd down, forcing us to punt -Davis drop on 4th and forever in the final seconds, ending the game Vikings loss: -Diggs drop on 3rd down, forcing a punt on a critical drive -Knox drop in the endzone in OT right before Allen's game-ending interception (I'll also throw in as an honorable mention that Davis 100% dropped the ball on 3rd down on our game-tying drive at the end of regulation, the officials just missed it) Bengals loss: -Davis drop on a vertical route on 3rd down which effectively ended the game There were of course other plays and other failures that led to each of these losses, but we now have the ability to fix this one glaring issue just by adding Hopkins (and for that matter Kincaid) to the picture. According to ESPN, Hopkins has just three drops on 315 targets over the past three seasons - this 1% drop rate is the best in the NFL over that time span. Nobody will care about the additional 15 yards per game or so that Hopkins may add to the offense, but we will care about that one extra critical catch in a critical game that ultimately leads to us getting the #1 seed. Like you point out we already have the production. We're missing the moments.

So there you go, it is definitely feasible for us to sign him. It's just a matter of Beame deciding to do it.

James Cook had the 2nd highest YPC in the league out of all RBs last year.

We were 3rd in rush YPC last year. That is not the missing ingredient. What the Bills need more than anything is another playmaker. When it's 4th and forever and the QB has a torn elbow and still manages to drop a 70 yard bomb into a bucket, we need a player on the other end that comes down with the ball and somehow turns a hopeless loss into a probable win. That's what championship teams are made of. You're crazy if you try to downplay how impactful the additions of AJ Brown and OBJ were to their respective teams. Even Toney, the reason I brought him up is that his punt return may have won the Chiefs a Super Bowl. It's not just about production, it's about the ability to create moments of magic. Hopkins has the production and the playmaking, as Bills fans know very well.