Logic

I went to a Phish concert last night solely because I thought "Hmmm....Easter? 4/20? Phish? This oughta be interesting". And it certainly was, um....interesting! Everybody around was certainly celebrating one holiday more than the other, by the looks of it.

Swearing like a sailor when ESPN and NFLN both simultaneously cut to commercial when the Bills are on the clock. No but really... Night one I always just watch the entirety of the main coverage. Various draft guides splayed out before me, some cold beer and pizza. Night two is often the same, but I'll do more switching back and forth between main coverage and various online draft coverage, because the main networks start doing a worse job actually talking about the prospects on night two. By night three, I'm typically exclusively watching coverage from one online outlet or another, because the main networks don't really talk about the prospects AT ALL on day three. I do not enjoy ESPN or NFL Network's day three coverage, with all its promotions and live performances and "comedy" bits and recaps. So by that point I'm seeking out ACTUAL draft coverage online.

My favorite Pope Francis quote: "It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help...if I say I am a Christian, but I do these things, I'm a hypocrite". A quote which is very much in line with the virtues espoused by Jesus Christ. Generosity, kindness, and charity toward fellow humans -- particularly the vulnerable and needy. A concept which is worth trumpeting, and which is worth pursuing and adhering to. May Pope Francis rest in peace.

There are grinches saying "bah humbug" for every holiday. I was just being one of those, but in a deadpan and bratty sort of way. No harm or offense intended, and apologies if that was the result. I'm team "let people like things". If Easter brings people happiness or joy or peace or fond family memories, I think that's beautiful. And the fellow that modern Christian Easter is celebrating? I rather like the ideals he espoused. ....But I still think the candy/sugar/eggs sort of cross pollination with Pagan spring celebrations is a little funny. Love ya Mup.

Firm disagree. If you're gonna binge eat at any point in the day, somewhere between 10am and 2pm makes the most sense. This whole "heavy breakfast with greasy meats and eggs, light lunch, heavy dinner" regimen that most Americans are on is ass-backwards. Heaviest meal should come midday -- so heavy you either don't need dinner or can eat something light -- and then you have time to digest. And if the issue is "no time for a nap afterwards" then THAT sounds like the problem, not the meal! Eat big, nap big.

I think your post is generally right on the money. Except for where you said that brunch sucks. That's simply a wrong opinion. Usually, opinions can't be wrong, but you found an exception to the rule. Congratulations. Otherwise, Easter is weird. Amalgamation of Christian ghost story and pagan springtime celebration. Zombie carpenter on the one hand, bunny laying pink eggs full of pennies all over the yard on the other. And what's up with the bare jellybeans in synthetic easter grass? Who likes that? Ditto Peeps, ditto Cadbury Eggs with the bizarre candy yolk. Yuck. Third rate weirdness masquerading as a premiere holiday. Load it into a cannon and fire it into the sun.

Fair. Sometimes one bite at a more premium apple can be superior to three bites at less premium apples. To use 2024 as an example, let's suppose the Bills could've traded up to pick 19 using their 2nd and 3rd round picks. Would you rather have Keon Coleman, Cole Bishop, and DeWayne Carter...or your choice between Jared Verse and Brian Thomas Jr?

This is where I've been at for a few seasons now. I understand why people are risk averse. I understand that, to some people, blowing up half a draft to get ONE guy seems foolhardy. But I look and see a team that has had "depth and balance" for years now, and when the playoffs hit, they invariably get beat by teams who have a star at least one position other than QB. The Chiefs with Kelce and then Chris Jones. The Bengals with Ja'Marr Chase. We don't have -- and haven't had -- that second guy. I think last season proved something to me. It was supposed to be the "necessary reset, purge the veterans, take your cap medicine" year, and the Bills were supposed to regress. But they DIDN'T regress! They came as close to the Super Bowl as they ever have under Beane and Allen. That told me that as long as Josh Allen is quarterback and as long as they have the culture in place that they do, they'll always be contenders. To me, that means that they can take some swings on stars now. It's okay. Blowing up half a draft to land a blue chip talent won't destroy them this year or for years to come. So yes. I'm all for trading up and trying to hit a home run. I'm fine throwing caution to the wind a little bit and trusting the program these guys have built and GOING FOR IT a bit more. Whether it's a star edge or corner or receiver or whatever. If you think he can finally be that SECOND GUY that we have lacked, go get him. It'll be fine. Enough risk aversion.

He fits the "veteran, past-his-prime cornerback" archetype that Beane likes to sign sometimes. Josh Norman, Vontae Davis, etc. Sometimes those guys make game-changing Peanut punches and help you win a game. Sometimes they retire at halftime. Gotta roll the dice to find out which one Bradberry would be.

1. Brandon Beane leaves a critical position undermanned, telegraphing to every other team in the league that we want to draft a player at that position with our first or second round pick and forcing our hand in doing so even if the true Best Player Available plays a different position. 2. Stop me if you've heard this one before: Having only Dane Jackson penciled in as one of your starting outside corners and thus being forced to draft a cornerback late in the first even though there are better players on the board. Two different ways of describing the same problem, I suppose. Good thing there's no precedent for this issue, and that history never repeats...

Great post. Thanks. I actually pretty much agree with you. That last paragraph, about him being a needle mover, but not truly elite hits right to the heart of it. I ONLY want to give a second contract to a running back if he's elite. And if he's not elite, I'd still consider doing it if he's a big weapon in the passing game. I don't view Cook as either elite OR a big weapon in the passing game (if he was, I don't think they'd be giving so much receiving work to Ty Johnson nor re-sign him to the contract they just did). So is he maybe better as a pure runner than I'm letting on? Perhaps. But I'm still not willing to concede that he's elite or a big time receiving weapon, and for that reason, I simply don't want to give him a second contract. And I should note: that's largely a philosophical stance on the running back position and team building in general, not a specific indictment of Cook as a player.

This, respectfully, I don't agree with. In no particular order: Saquon Barkley Derrick Henry Bijan Robinson Jahmyr Gibbs Kyren Williams Bucky Irving Breece Hall Jonathan Taylor Alvin Kamara I would take any one of those guys (age notwithstanding) over James Cook. Not to mention incoming guys like Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Treveyon Henderson, and Kaleb Johnson. Cook BARELY cracked 1,000 yards last year. And the reason people usually given in response to that is "well...he's in a timeshare. He's not a full time back". Right. Exactly. This is one of the reasons I don't want to pay him big money. You have to manage his load because of his size and frame. And again, I'm maybe willing to give a big contract to a timeshare guy IF he's a great pass catcher and third down back, but Cook is neither. I understand the perspective of people that want to pay him, I suppose. But me? I just happen to think that so long as the o-line remains strong, we can replace his production with a Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, and a draft pick. Running back is an extremely replaceable position, and I don't see anything elite or standout enough about Cook's game to indicate to me that he's worth top five money or is a top five back.

Hey man…the K is right next to the L on the keyboard 😝

Jacob Parrish, LSU in round 2.

You may be right. I DO feel like the whiz kid OCs that always get touted as the most creative minds in the league tend to just put a lot of window dressing on otherwise classic/basic schemes. Like...Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan both dress the same group of plays up to look like different things. They can run the same few basic zone run concepts -- and the passing plays that are based off of those concepts -- out of multiple different formations or personnel groupings, but at the end of the day, they're not different concepts than what a lot of other teams run. It's the window dressing and variety that they couch those concepts in that make them unique and hard to defend. In McDaniel's case, I think it's the pre-snap shifts and cheat motions that dress up his scheme. I DO think his scheme has been easier to catch up to and stop than the other two guys I just mentioned, and he hasn't really thrown many effective counter punches as yet. He hasn't adapted. So perhaps even the "long time OC in this league" forecast is generous. Or perhaps he adapts and grows.

I've said it numerous times on this forum: I believe that Mike McDaniel is a sharp offensive mind and probably can have a long career in this league as an offensive coordinator. I do not believe he is a leader of men or is head coach material. His schtick was fun and funny when the Dolphins were winning, but as things have slowly and consistently gone south, his charm has begun to wear off with players and fans, and I don't think he's long for the job. I think he's the offensive whiz kid version of Rex Ryan. In my own mind, I operate on the assumption that Mike McDaniel will not be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins beyond 2025 or, at the latest, 2026.

I don't think there's any universe where the Bills are getting a 2nd for Cook in a year where the running back class is this excellent and deep. I sincerely doubt they could even get a 3rd, but I'm almost CERTAIN they couldn't get a 2nd. The other thing I'll say is...there has been much said this offseason about how the Bills probably won't draft a running back this year because they already have Cook, Johnson, and Davis, but...it sure SEEMS like they're doing a lot of work on day three running backs. At this point, I'll be rather surprised if they DON'T take one. I think the plan would be either a guy who can contribute enough on special teams/returns to warrant being game day active, or to be a gameday inactive for most of his rookie season with an eye toward 2026. But one way or another, it seems the Bills DO have an eye on taking advantage of this year's deep RB class.

Money talks, bull#### walks. I think publicizing that he's "putting his house on the market" thing is a stunt. A ploy. A negotiating tactic. I don't think he's given any indication that he doesn't want to be here. He simply wants to get PAID. If it gets to the point where it looks like the Bills won't be paying what he's looking for -- and I hope they don't, for the reasons I mentioned above -- then they only have two choices: Get one more good year out of him and let him walk and net a compensatory pick, or trade him away for whatever they can get. But as I said in my other post, I don't think the Bills are coming from a particularly strong place in terms of negotiating trade compensation, and I don't think many teams are going to be eager to trade for Cook, given his apparent compensation demands. So if you're the Bills, would you rather have one more good year of James Cook, or would you rather have, say, a 4th and a 7th? Obviously if Cook is gonna be a malcontent and a distraction, then maybe you lean more toward trading him. But so far, he's given no indication that he'll be those things.

Pac Man, is that you?

Asante Samuel said on Twitter today that he believes Ramsey has reached the point in his career where he should become a free safety. I actually think Samuel is on to something. Dude would be a playmaker there.

The problem for Cook and for the Bills -- if indeed a trade is what they want -- is that this is an EXCEPTIONALLY amazing running back draft. Deeper than any year I can ever remember at the position. As such, why would any team want to trade a pick to the Bills and then hand Cook big money when they can just draft a guy instead and have a cost-controlled running back deal for four years? It's a bad year to try to force your way out at running back, and it's a bad year to be hoping to get anything substantial in return FOR a running back. I genuinely can't foresee the Bills getting anything better than a 4th round plus at this point, and I think most people would rather just have him on the roster for 2025 than trade him for that return.

Gotta be honest: Everyone but Bills fans probably looks at the 2017 Bills-Chiefs draft day trade as pretty serendipitous. Bills trade the pick to the Chiefs that they use to take possible future GOAT Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes proceeds to win 3 championships and 3 Super Bowl MVPs before age 30 and singlehandedly prevents the Bills from advancing to multiple Super Bowls. To add a little salt to the wound, in the 2024 the Bills trade their 1st round pick to the Chiefs AGAIN, who then take Xavier Worthy, who then makes a substantial offensive impact for the Chiefs in the AFCCG, where they beat the Bills, whose rookie WR does bupkis. Serendipity.

I don't know about serendipity, but Minnesota letting the clock run out on their pick in 2003 always made me laugh. Like...how does that HAPPEN?!

He's not worth paying a top RB contract to, but not because he's any kind of headache. He's not worth it because he's not elite. He isn't a great weapon in the passing game (he's capable there, albeit with the occasional case of the dropsies, but nothing special), he comes off the field on third downs because his pass blocking stinks, and he's a guy whose load you have to manage. So if he's not a three-down back, he's not a huge weapon in the passing game, and he comes off the field for key third downs, how to you justify handing him a big contract? Simple: You don't. Let him play out 2025 and then walk. Ray Davis and Ty Johnson and a draftee will be perfectly capable replacements. If you feel the need to spend money on the running game, allocate those dollars to Connor McGovern instead.

Not sure if this has been said yet, but: I believe that Eric Moulds was every bit as good as his draft classmates Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison, and that the Bills more or less ruined what would have been a Hall of Fame caliber career almost anywhere else through a combination of bad quarterbacking, bad coaching, and overall organizational incompetence.