Logic

I agree that the jury is still out on most of them. However, I'd also say that just about all of them have shown promise. Promise is more than we saw from a lot of previous era Bills players. I'm all for playing the "wait and see" game with regard to Beane's players, but so far the early returns look promising.

The reason this rebuild seems to be progressing well and giving us all hope is that after jettisoning the "old guard", the current front office has been capably re-stocking the cupboards. To wit, the current core players for the Bills going forward: Josh Allen Dion Dawkins Wyatt Teller Robert Foster Zay Jones Tremaine Edmunds Matt Milano Tre'Davious White Levi Wallace Taron Johnson Micah Hyde Jordan Poyer Harrison Phillips Star Lotulelei That's a pretty darn good job setting a new foundation. They seem to have already found quality players at most key positions: QB, LT, CB1, Mike LB. They just need to draft a young, heir apparent edge rusher to complement/replace Hughes and Lawson. And on top of all of the above, as we all know, they'll be adding 10 or so new draftees and some free agents. Great work by McDermott, Beane and co.

I'm having a really hard time narrowing down who I want the Bills to sign. I want to try to be realistic because I know the Bills aren't just going to go on a spending spree. On the other hand, the team has tons of needs and there are MULTIPLE quality free agents on the market. Everybody has already mentioned that we need a Center and an OT. Morse and Paradis are the big names for the former, whilst James, Williams, and Brown are the big names for the latter. Everybody also knows we need WR help, and given how young that room is already, we could really use a veteran. I happen to think Tyrell Williams is the best fit and the only guy worth paying decently big money to. I think an offense with Williams on one side, Foster on the other, and Zay in the slot would be mightily effective. One position I don't see many people mentioning is DT, specifically a 3T to replace Kyle Williams. Of all available players, it would be absolutely AMAZING if the Bills found a way to add Grady Jarrett. He is just now coming into his prime and is an absolute beast. The only problem is that I sort of doubt the Bills would commit big money to the position, given what they're already spending on Star. While I'm at it, there are some great LBs on the market that would be a solid fit in McDermott's scheme. KJ Wright, Shaquille Barrett, and Anthony Barr could all play the Lorenzo Alexander role after he retires. Last but not least, I know the Bills are "set" at safety. I also know McDermott loves 3-safety formations and defensive versatility. I know the Bills WON'T sign Landon Collins, but I sure wish they could find a way to do so. He is a total monster and, like Grady Jarrett above, is just now coming into his prime. Having him in the fold would free up the very versatile Hyde and Poyer to move all around the formation and give McDermott unrivaled versatility in his defense. Quite the free agent crop. Hard to narrow it down.

Agreed. Not sure what's up with that.

Am I the only one who finds these Mock draft generators to be a little unrealistic? I always see people winding up with three 2nds, three 3rds, three 4ths, as well as getting players in the middle rounds that have no chance of falling that far. Perhaps the player rankings update and become more realistic as the draft approaches?

Saw this on Twitter and thought it might be a handy thing to reference during free agency season. If this is in the wrong place or has already been posted, I apologize. I couldn't find it anywhere on here. By the way, this free agency class is STACKED! I'd love to see the Bills sign a veteran DT to replace Kyle: Grady Jarrett or Sheldon Richardson would be awesome. And even though it's not a "need", I would be thrilled to add Landon Collins. Dude's a beast. Anyway:

Even though it was a losing effort, this was my favorite game from Allen. The dart to Zay in double coverage for a TD, the throw from his own end zone to convert 3rd down, running all over the field and giving Kiko Alonso recurring nightmares, the drive at the end...it was awesome. All that was missing was a Clay catch for 6 at the end.

I sincerely doubt he drops out of the first round, and there's virtually 0% chance he drops out of the 2nd round.

Bills are definitely drafting a TE early. Good thing it's the best TE draft in at least a decade.

Dope.

Dareus is the perfect example of a player with all the talent in the world, but who completely lacks the motivation and common sense to harness it. The level of play he displayed that led to his huge contract extension was off the charts. He had the potential to be a perennial All Pro. What a waste.

Right on. I didn't mean to bust balls, I just sympathize with the plight of the dying journalism industry and want to support the awesome people at The Athletic.

I enjoyed the article and I love the Athletic. But aren't we, um...NOT supposed to post full articles from pay sites on here?

Used to park at Kettle's all the time. Fine place to park. Never tried eating or hanging out in there, though.

Outstanding post. What Beane walked into was an absolute mess. He has done a TREMENDOUS job of turning things around in short order. If people's position is "I need to see more", then I'm okay with that. But the people whose position is "he stinks, he's not doing a good job"...well, I just can't even BEGIN to understand that line of thinking.

If we're talking Beane witchery, can we add in the fact that he just signed a player for 1.2 million that JUST LAST YEAR signed for 9 million per year? I realize said player fought through injuries last year, hence the reduced pay level on his new team, but still. Beane got a GREAT deal with Spencer Long who, if healthy, represents a starting level guard or center in this league and is a definite improvement over what the Bills had in 2018.

After seeing these contract numbers, there really shouldn't be a single Bills fan that's still upset about his signing. That is an OUTSTANDING value for a player of Long's talent (when healthy). And if he doesn't remain healthy or is unable to win a starting job, the Bills can easily cut him with no negative long term ramifications. Awesome job by Beane. Also, with these new numbers in mind, I no longer feel that Long's signing will preclude the Bills from signing other quality o-linemen.

Lots of griping about Trent Murphy in this thread. While I agree that his health struggles were disappointing, I felt he DID make an impact when he was on the field. He and Shaq Lawson had exactly the same amount of defensive snaps at 440. What I want to know from the people that don't like Trent Murphy, and Star Lotulelei, for that matter: Do they not get any credit for the Bills' #2 ranked defense? They were both on the field for between 40-50% of the defensive snaps on the season. I find it hard to reconcile our defense's success against the "failures" of these two key acquisitions.

Imagine saying "stats are for losers" and then also CITING STATS FOR A FREAKING 1T/NT in the very same post. ?

LOL. Talk about a subjective opinion being presented as objective fact. At least Star's signing helped contribute to the 2nd ranked defense in the NFL. You must have slept through the signings of Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker, Larry Triplett, Kirk Morrison, Vontae Davis, Peerless Price (second edition), Andra Davis, Andre Davis, Melvin Fowler, Mark Anderson, and Philip Gaines.

I love the fact that the Long signing actually motivated a couple of Jets fans to come over and post their opinions. As I see it, the Jets' below average GM overspent on an injury prone player who is average to good when healthy, watched him get injured, saw that he wouldn't necessarily be a good fit with the scheme Gase wants to run, and had to cut their losses. The Bills have now signed him to a much more reasonable contract with the hopes that he can return to health and, thus, effective play. Time will tell. And now, a live look at new Jets coach Adam Gase: He wasn't below average on Washington. His only below average season was in NY. Let's hope a return to good health and a better scheme fit help him return to his previously high level of play. As has been mentioned, he represents an upgrade over what the Bills had, at the very least.

That's the money line right there. If Spencer Long is even average, the Bills have found an upgrade. To have found a likely roster upgrade (let's be honest, his best film with Washington showed a player who is superior to Miller/Bodine/Groy at this juncture) in February, for such a reasonable cost, has to count as a win for the Bills. If he gets hurt again or his level of play doesn't return to what it was in 2017, then he's a good depth piece and, again, isn't tying up much cash.

I just don't think the Bills are/were in a place in their rebuild where it made sense to part with multiple 1st round picks. The Bears were a dominant pass rusher away from "finished product" as far as team building goes. The Bills...not so much. To not have 1st round draft picks in EITHER of the next two drafts, when the team is in need of as much talent across the board as it is, would not have been a good thing. Additionally, you're looking at not only two 1st round rookies instead of Mack, you're also looking at two CHEAP LABOR PLAYERS instead of Mack, who would have commanded a huge salary. Not only that, I think Beane wants to make darn sure he doesn't get the Bills into the same bad salary cap position they were in when he arrived. Paying Mack the highest contract ever awarded to a defensive player in league history could definitely qualify as a big step down that path. All in all, I wouldn't have been MAD if the Bills had traded for Mack, but I'm not sorry that they passed. Priority number 1 for the Bills is to protect Josh Allen and get him weapons. Trading all those premium picks for Mack and giving him huge money would have significantly affected their ability to achieve the "help Allen" objective.

Maybe so, but I don't think he's wrong here. I think the Bills DO look at Long as their probable starting center in 2019. Beane's recent quote about it being "easier to sleep at night if you have a veteran center" has me thinking Long will be the guy. They may draft a protege in the mid rounds, but it wouldn't shock me in the least if Long is starting at center come opening day.