BullBuchanan

And I say you're settling for a roster building strategy that's proven to be unsuccessful. A DE whose specialty is stopping the run isn't worth $22M a year. That guy is your Phil Hansen, not your Bruce Smith. You want a run stopping DE? Go get a guy like Shaq Lawson for $1M a year like we did last season. The cheifs completely shut down Barkley and they got blown out. It does not matter in any way that is significant. Groot isn't a bum, but he's not a #1 DE on a championship team. You want to win a Super Bowl in today's NFL? Build a D line that can rush 4 and can't be stopped. That's how the Giants beat Brady and it's how the Eagles annihilated Mahomes. That means letting players like Groot go and bringing in guys like Crosby/Garret and pairing them with guys like Dexter Lawrence. In this case, good is the enemy of great.

If it were up to you, we would have made Trent Edwards the highest paid player in the league.

I think Cook is as much a product of our staff and system as he is an elite level talent. He's gotten significantly better since his rookie season which I attribute largely to his physique and playing style - things which I put under the bucket of development. I can absolutely see Davis developing in a similar, albeit different way. You'd definitely have to make another investment in the position, but I don't see that as a huge concern. Have him play out this year and get his replacement in 2026 if needed.

He's easily replaced in the sense that having a great RB doesn't typically have a big impact on winning Super Bowls. Given that should be our number 1 goal right now. not a lot of sense in doing that. Barkley was the 1st "elite" back since 2013 to win the SB, and he was invisible, rushing for 2.3YPC. I'm sure his mere existance had a big effect on the gameplan, which has value, but he didn't directly. I'd love James Cook for another 4 years at 9M a year, but I'm not paying him more than Barkley, Taylor, Kamara, Jacobs, Henry, or Mixon. Let the Raiders pay him $15M a year and we can keep trying to win a chip without him.

I understand that, but I'm rejecting the deal based on the value of the market vs the return I get for my money. I'd rather trade Rousseau or let him walk and get a comp pick vs lock up that much of my cap in him.

I think it comes down to position group efficiency and the dropoff in talent at the positions. You typically only have 1 RB that gets starting level snaps, but you have 3 WRs that do. The top 3 receivers for the bills last year only combined for ~1900 yards. Jamarr Chase got 1700 by himself. They're maximizing the impact of their limited starting spots there vs a team like the Bills that had Shakiir putting up high end WR2 numbers and then had a logjam of guys putting up 300-550 yards. As far as why you don't just lean on the RB for yards, I think it's harder these days to just run the ball with success all game when the other team knows you're going to do it. Only a couple of teams a year seem to be able to do it.

Where are you getting that is the going rate? $23M would make Rousseau the 10th highest paid DE in the league, putting him just below Crosby and above Chubb. I don't think he's in that discussion as far as talent goes. Every player above him is a legitimate difference maker and there are plenty below him that are as well. It would definitely stand out to me as one of the weaker values in the top 20. Greenard who just signed last year for $19M seems like much better value. Benford has done a very nice job, but you're going to make him the 3rd highest paid CB in the league with his injury history? He's also got a great head start on CTE. I'm not going anywhere near top 3 money.

Hard pass on Rousseau and Benford at those numbers. If I'm paying a DE that money, he better be a game-changer like Watt, Crosby, Hendrickson, or even Parsons. Rousseau is a a guy you want as your #2.

How are you reconciling these two statements? The right pick was probably Cooper DeJean.

We would have been similarly embarrassed. Philly's defense would have had Josh under duress all game, with our receivers blanketed and their offense would have eaten our defense alive.

By 20 votes? He won by 4.

Try to draft 3-4 of them this year. That leaves 3-4 gaps to fill. If they feel like the draft is deep enough, they could keep all 3 4th round picks, but I'd like to see them try to ship the non-compensatory one to get up higher into the 4th or 3rd round. The more top 100 players we have a crack at the better, because we need impact star players, not role players. Beane says they're not going to be spenders in FA. We're not really expected to lose any impact players with Rasul Douglas, Ty Johnson, Mack Hollins, Damar Hamlin at the top of the list. I'd look to bring back Johnson and Hollins at the right price, but neither are critical. I would try to trade Matt Milano If you can get an impact lineman for him. probably an extreme longshot, given his age, injury history, and contract situation. Even though he's my favorite player on the team, I think his best days are behind him, and if you can get something of value for him, now's the time. Williams looked very much improved this year, so I wouldn't be at all concerned about him taking over the job for good next year. With all that will the team be a contender in 2025? No, I don't think so. Not a "real" contender anyway. I could absolutely see them getting back to the AFCCG, but They'll need 2 super stars that can take over the game, who currently aren't on the roster, and a 2nd year of drafts and FA may get us there.

Are you going to trade for 3 starting defensive linemen, 2 starting safeties, 1 starting CB (at least) and first man in on the outside?, and a #1 WR? If not, then don't bother, because that's how far away we are from "winning this thing".

I wonder if they should just play the Super Bowl abroad. no team should have a home field advantage for that game anyway, and what better way to get foreign markets involved than with the biggest game of the year? It would add a lot of spectacle for TV viewers, and it's not like normal people got o the Super Bowl anyway.

I never would have guessed that Mike Evans would become, by far, the best WR in that class, and a likely hall of famer while OBJ would become a journeyman on a slew of 1 year deals.

I am not. There's something about small, fast receivers that oddly have all the pros and cons of red sportscars though.

Tyreek Hill could be a FA if you're willing to overpay a prima donna on the downside of his career with off the field concerns.

Not like there were two more games to play or anything. That's of course forgetting that KC beat us, who was beaten by Cincinnati, who was beaten by the Rams. It's a nice story we tell ourselves, but in reality we were the 5th or 6th best team that postseason.

Why would they? They've proven 4 times in a row that they can't. It's one thing to hope, but actually believing at this point despite the mountain of evidence is just delusion.

I hope you like running backs and special teams, because that's what you're going to get.

5 yards vs 26 yards is a big difference.

When a play is reviewed, all challenge-able aspects of the play are reviewed. No reason is needed.

No. It's fake news. There was no flag on the field. Just a TV error. It's why there are zero pictures of the flag despite 80,000 cameras in the stadium.

Is three points insignificant? Technically it was 4 if you wanted to win the game. To win the Super Bowl and to beat KC for the right to get there, you need to play almost perfectly. We might be closer to not being a playoff team than we are to being perfect. We're near the top where every player, every edge, every decision, every play matters a ton and being able to squeeze every last ounce of efficiency is what determines who is the champion. We lose sight of just how dominant KC is because we've been "close". The fact that they've now knocked us out 4 straight times should tell you that we aren't really close at all. The outcome was never in doubt for them, because they knew they would be perfect when they had to be and we couldn't match them in those moments. We need significant changes in philosophy, execution, strategy, tactics, and personnel to close the gap, because getting those extra 4 points on a team already playing at the top of the league is no small feat.

I'm over it. I thought the team had no chance to win the Super Bowl during this rebuild year and gave them an "official" 5% chance at some point during the season. I didn't see enough star power on this team to carry them over the top to make impact plays when it mattered. They significantly surpassed my expectations, and when they started playing way better the last 4 weeks, I was encouraged that they may be able to do it. Unfortunately, the problems with the team makeup that caused me to have so little hope going into the year were never really addressed, even though the team was firing on all cylinders in spite of it. In my heart I really never thought they were getting past KC until 3 minutes left to go in the game when I let myself hope. In the end, it turned out the way it was always supposed to. They didn't have enough star power on the field, and it showed. Despite the chance to win it at the end, it would've been a pretty big upset as we are still outclassed by KC in each facet of the game, and we would have been significantly outclassed by Philly. This is a team built to go to an AFC championship game every year, because they have Allen and some complementary pieces, but I think we're well more than just a player or two away from being a championship football team. I think we need at least 4 or 5 more star players, unless we get a giftwrapped situation. We need Dorian Williams to become the player Milano was. As it turns out, yea you do kinda need a #1 receiver - it can be a TE, but you need that guy on 4th & 5. (Side note: The Cooper trade was an unmitigated disaster). If Kincaid can't turn the corner, we need to make him TE #2 and find someone who can. We need a 15+ sack DE who always comes through in big games. We need a dominant DE to pair with Oliver. ideally we'd have a gamewrecker at safety too. I'm hoping we have a draft of drafts in 2025 and will be ready to strike in 2026. Hopefully by then Kelce is retired and KC is an easier target.