Rochesterfan

Sounds like he is only signing for this season. I don’t think it will be a multi year deal. The first pick by Allen - I believe that was Davis not completing for the ball or coming back to make the play.

It depends on Stills and what he wanted. If you follow the timeline - to sign him last week would mean about 2-3 weeks ago getting him to agree and then start the protocol. What incentive does Stills have to sign a couple of weeks ago? It isn’t pay as he was paid for doing nothing and being home to work out. From a timing stand point waiting was better for Stills because who knows what team/player gets hurt - he might have had his choice of MVP level QBs to play with. My guess would be since McD said this is something Beane has been looking at for weeks - The agent for Stills and Beane have talked through and maybe Stills wanted to wait - it is a two way street and I am sure deciding on timing was part of the process. I agree it might have been nice to get him in to have some extra practices, but if the player wants to wait - you can’t force him in.

Of course there is a chance because it is not done yet, but why do you think the timeline is strange? There is nothing strange happening here at all. Stills can’t officially sign until he clears 6 days of negative COVID testing (essentially 1 full week) and the earliest they can meet and practice is next Wednesday because of COVID protocol. So the timing makes sense - he came in and is getting tested (probably staying in a hotel near the stadium). He is talking with guys like Diggs and Bills Mafia via social media so it seems he is ready to join (not looking elsewhere). The announcement should come Monday or Tuesday as soon as he clears protocol and the timeline fits to everything Beane has talked about all year and similar to what you saw with other “name” veterans that had to clear protocol - it takes between a week and 10 days from visit to signing depending upon when guys arrive to start the protocol testing. The second part is people keep saying the timing is weird - why not do this weeks ago when Brown was hurt? My answer to that is simple - Stills was under a guaranteed contract from Houston at Brown level money. If he signed before the end of the year (unless someone offered huge money) - his pay was not changing just where the money was coming from. After this week, the players are no longer paid salary- just bonuses for wins/loses - so it behooves Stills to sign with a team he thinks can win the most games, get a small signing bonus (salary doesn’t matter - league minimum as he is not getting paid anyway) and join up with a team right after week 17 - the exact timeline seen here. Since McD talked about Beane having an eye on this for weeks - that tells me that Stills was discussed as a potential Brown replacement in the event Brown re-aggravates his leg injury and that Beane and Stills agent understood the exact timeline they were following. It also has the least impact on the Bills salary cap and allows them to roll over money next year that might have been spent on Stills if he signed in the regular season.

Good Lord - once again prior to signing he must clear 6 days of negative COVID Tests to sign and have entry to the facility. He will not clear until Mon or Tuesday of next week. Stills was waiting until after the season as he was on a guaranteed contract that Houston had to pay. The tweets say it all - a deal is in place once cleared he can sign. The Bills would not have wanted him to sign prior to Miami - they have PS call ups they can use to help supplement the WRs. They will bring him in strictly as insurance for both Beasley and Brown in the playoffs and I am sure he can learn enough routes to be useful if needed.

From past experience - I thought mouth stuff only got you a Kiko Jersey also. Hold out for more. 😂

I think his biggest issue is how fairly early in his career he got that angry run for his play in Cincinnati and he wants to replicate that. He knows physically he can dominate the smaller guys and therefore he takes his eyes off the ball before the catch looking to move upfield. You are 100% correct in that having a Jugs machine (as he did all summer) helps minimally as his hands themselves are not bad as can be seen by the tough catches. Right now he lacks concentration to secure the catch and is more focused on what to do after the catch. This is also the reason I don’t move on yet. He is young with little experience catching balls in a game. He is essentially learning a new position as TE in college versus the NFL is very different - especially in his current role where he can be split out wide, stacked at the end of the line, an inline blocker, an H-back, a full back, and a pitch guy out of the up back spot. He is blocking a variety of players from DL/DE on pulls, to LBs and DBs on blitzes and he sometimes struggles with some assignments because of that, but he has gotten better and learned and there is no reason to assume he can not figure out the concentration issue and become a better receiver.

Please see my string of response to you from earlier on this. The fact that McD mentioned that Beane has been looking at him for several weeks tells you the Bills would of liked him in weeks ago, but financially it makes no sense for Stills to sign any earlier than the end of the regular season. It was not going to have an impact on his pay because of his guaranteed contract with Houston. Now he can get a small bonus and take vet minimum and it does not matter as the players are no longer paid per game. Anything he makes now is extra money - so it was smart for him to wait and find a team that can go far in the playoffs - rather than sign weeks ago and get on a dud team. Most likely any contract they sign right now would just be for the playoffs and they view him as insurance for an injury at any WR position. I just don’t see them giving another year at this point and then they let him walk as a potential Comp pick player as a FA.

It makes absolute sense from the players side - understand his contract! He was on a guaranteed contract about the same money as Brown from Houston - so getting cut meant he kept getting the same paycheck - for doing nothing. His contract had offsets - so if he signed and played someplace unless it was for more money than his Houston contract - his pay would not change the difference is how much Houston had to pay. He was able to double dip and get paid from multiple teams or he might have signed earlier. The players are also only paid for the regular seasons- so it makes total sense that the player would want to wait as long as possible to sign with a team because in the playoffs it is about bonus money (winners share versus losers share) - allowing him to maximize his pay and still get on a talented team with a SuperBowl run. Based on what McD said - I would assume Beane has been in contact and they were on the same page waiting until the season was over to sign up. It would have impacted his pay though.

Not sure there is a reason to assume this. His money from Houston was guaranteed- so right now he is being paid his same salary for not playing at all. I am not sure what offsets he has, but most likely if he signed with any team after being cut - at a per game contract less than his Houston contract - all it would do is lessen what Houston paid him - he would not get more money. I doubt he is set up to “double dip” or I think he would have already signed. Therefore the smart money if you clear waivers is to wait - collect your paycheck and see who is making the post season and sign up as late as possible. The players get paid salary for regular season games only and get “bonus money” in the playoffs - winners/Losers share. I do not think he is holding out for more money (at least for this year) as I don’t think it impacts his pay - he should be looking for a team that is going to win a few playoff games (extra money for him) and maybe a contract for next year also - although I would think he would prefer to be a FA as then you get more of a signing bonus. I don’t see him not signing until now as a negative - I think it is a player that understands the system and is trying to get his money and then sign with the right team.

Yes based on signing a guy that has maintained testing throughout. If a guy is cut or released and misses a day of testing or has to travel by non-private flight - they still all require the current 6 days of testing before re-entry. That would put Stills to Monday assuming he started receiving screening testing the day Schefter announced the visit and it is maintained. Guys like Jennings were brought in around Kumerow’s departure and were not able to sign until this week depending on the day of visit last week. Those visits were all before the Beasley injury meaning they were being evaluated for a replacement of Kumerow. Stills and Gentry came in this week for visits - they will need to meet the days of testing negative requirement and should be available to sign next week. The delay on Stills may have something to do with money or playing time, but as of right now we know he cannot be signed until he clears - so that is the most likely hurdle.

I believe he confused Jennings and Gentry - part of his issue with the timing.

Are you just trying to be dumb in this thread. Read through again - there is a MANDATORY 5 day COVID testing before any FA is allowed to meet or sign with a team. I don’t know if Stills will sign, but stop being obstinate that the reason is because he has not signed yet. Based upon Schefter’s tweet and 5 days - the earliest Stills can sign is Sunday or more likely Monday of next week after physicals.

Read through the thread - this has already been explained and the Bills have not signed Gentry to anything - he came in for a visit (that is where teams start the 5day COVID protocol testing if they think he is going to sign). Jennings - whom they signed to the PS - originally visited once Kumerow was signed by the Saints. He was signed by the Bills 5 days later - which was the reason for the delay between Kumerow leaving and the Jennings signing. Beane has talked about this since the beginning of the year once the NFL shifted the protocol to needing the 5 negative tests to meet with internal staff and get full physicals. He stated that it will take about a week to sign and replace guys - part of the reason for the expanded PS. The difference is a guy like Jennings comes in and is not a big deal - completes his 5 negatives and signs. A guy like Stills is a big name and therefore people immediately see him coming in and it gets talked about by Shefter and therefore the 5 days becomes noticeable.

I don’t get these posts - Nothing official can be done till he clears protocol. Based on timing of the original - his 5 consecutive negative tests to clear protocol and sign will not occur until Sunday at the earliest. Therefore - assuming he needs a full physical and to sign the contract- you are really looking at Monday mostly likely before it is official and we any details. This is similar to the Winters and Jonatthan signings that got talked about, but then took a week to complete. He may change his mind, but the fact that he has followed the Bills on Social Media and the current COVID Rules - suggest this is a routine COVID testing wait. Be a little patient and the info will come.

I think the Bills play the most 10 and 11 personnel in the league- meaning 1 or 0 TEs on the field and 3-4 wrs and even then they spread the RB out wide also. I believe Duke and Kumerow were on the PS as extra gunner/WRs because that is the driver of the offense. I think the Bills want a minimum of 2 WRs on the PS to help as needed. The offense does not run without several WRs available. I don’t think they are looking at Williams as a TE because they already have 4 on the roster and Becker on the PS. That does not mean Williams couldn’t run some of the Knox types routes, but I don’t see him as a strong enough blocker to play the H-Back blocker role the TEs are playing this year. They have also already used up Duke’s call-ups I believe - so much like Kumerow next time he needs to play - he must go to the active roster and pass waivers. Any new guys will have the free call ups the last week of the season and therefore can come up with no roster impact.

I think they liked Kumerow, but he was not a long term answer - he was just another guy at WR. Kumerow was called up twice from the PS earlier in the season with the John Brown injury. When Taiwan Jones got banged up - they had to move Kumerow to the active roster as he was no longer available for call ups. When Brown and Jones were both healthy and the Bills wanted to activate Brown from IR they needed an open Roster spot and Kumerow made sense. Unfortunately you can’t just move him back to the PS from the active roster - that can only be done as a call up for this year. Therefore he had to clear waivers and the WR short Saints decided to take a peek. I don’t think Beane “made a mistake” - Kumerow would have been WR number 7 and you would of had to move and weaken another position to free the spot. The Bills knew they had an extra PS WR already and as has been shown by the signings - there were other options available- it was a chance that made sense. Do I think they would of liked to keep Kumerow - Yeah - of course, but I think Kumerow is a better loss than perhaps an extra Safety or LB or even DLineman.

Agreed, but my guess is the Full Bills staff will do another physical once he clears protocol as part of the signing process.

I believe he was in town from last week after the Kumerow signing. He was tested and finally cleared protocol- then the Bills did a physical and signed him today. Yesterday was most likely is physical and initial meeting. The difference is as a nobody - he was getting tested and no one says anything or notices. A veteran that people follow on Twitter makes it a big deal. Just like today they brought in Gentry - they do this to begin the process because this year with COVID it takes a week to get a guy onto your roster. Would not be the least bit surprised if this new guy gets a call up as a PS player and then is dumped for Stills next week after Stills clears. Depends on special teams and additional injuries.

Really - learn how the system works and then review the posts - they have already explained this multiple times across the board - in multiple threads on the subject. It is really not this difficult to understand the Kumerow situation.

Good Lord - Is this meant to be satire - this cannot be serious right. 🤦‍♂️

I think it is the other way around. He will get COVID tests and once cleared - they can do the physical and finalize the deal. I think the testing must clear first.

I don’t think it is official until he clears COVID protocols to come in and sign. Beane said early in the season - it takes time to sign these guys because they have to clear to sign - if they officially sign him now - they would need to clear space before he clears protocol - so you lose a spot for a minimum of 5 days. Therefore it is a deal in place and once he clears they will make it official. Also - I don’t believe they can do a physical exam until he clears COVID protocol. You do not want him potentially exposing any of the Bills medical staff - which could then spread through the team. The official signing will come Sunday or more likely Monday and then he will begin to get acclimated to the team.

🤦‍♂️ No kidding

Hopefully Simon will be back to give more peace.

I believe a few years ago we said the same thing just before a bunch of money was donated to Dalton’s charity. Truthfully - I agree - see little way they lose.