TigerJ

A three year player at 22 this year. He's probably gonna be president at 35.

Could they, with a release after June 1, spread the cap hit over a couple seasons as teams can do with signing bonus money? That doesn't jeopardize the player's income. There wouldn't seem to be any reason the league couldn't write the rules that way. I just don't know what the rules are.

Good thought. I'm not sure I'd call it a hole as Buffalo had a pretty good defense without a true big nickel last season Siran Neal played the role last year. He's not an undersized DB, but he's not a 220 lb thumper either. That kind of big nickel would be a potential upgrade to an already solid defense, but the lack thereof doesn't seem to be hurting the defense all that much.

Agreed. I don't think we have any holes per se. We have positions that can be upgraded. AJ Klein is probably the weak link at the linebacker position considering Milano and Edmunds may perform at a near pro bowl level or better, but he's not a terrible starter. We aren't even certain who will start at cornerback across from Tre White,, but we have 3 candidates who all have starting experience and have at least been adequate in the past. We have a tight end who dropped some passes last year, but he's a young kid who was underutilized in college and has the potential to become MUCH better. We have an offensive line comprised of mo0stly adequate to pretty good players, aside from center which is very good. My understanding of a "hole" is a position where your starter is an inadequate player, whose substandard play is such that it presents a significant risk to team success. We don't have that.

In case you haven't noticed, every one of Buffalo's draft picks is fairly articulate. This suggests they pay a lot of attention to interviews, and probably value football intelligence very highly. In light of that, it's not surprising to learn Moss is a film junkie.

Language is fluid and changes over time. The change depends primarily on usage. in essence, if enough people are saying something in a certain way, eventually it will be accepted and finally regarded as correct.

I think Stidham has better athleticism than Fromm. He may not quite have Fromm's grasp of the game, but he's no slouch either. He certainly doesn't have the ability to do everything Brady does mentally on the field. Belichick might have attempted to sign a better QB if the Patriots had a better cap position. Since they don't, I think he decided to continue to rely on the running game and build an even more formidable defense.

Sometimes it takes a while for the younger players to buy in to the process.

I think Epenesa and Jefferson will spend more of their time on the left side of the line and inside second. Addison will rotate in mostly for Hughes. Murphy may be lucky to hold on to a job, or he may get traded. Epenesa's game is not about speed and bend. Rather it is about leverage, power and balance. I suspect in the pros, he won't be any more than a single digit sack guy, but if he's good versus the run, that may be enough.

On the offensive line, Buffalo currently has: Dion Dawkins, Quinton Spain, Mitch Morse, Jon Feliciano, Cody Ford, Ty Nsekhe, Spencer Long, Evan Boehm, Darryl Williams, Ryan Bates, Victor Salako and Ike Boettger. That's 12 players. Buffalo will keep a max of 9. Besides the five most common group of starters from last season, Buffalo seems to like Bates for his versatility and Nsekhe for his effectiveness when healthy. Salako and Boettger are likely cuts because they would have little to no trade value. Between Long, Boehm and Williams I think there may be one trade candidate. On the defensive line, Buffalo currently has Jerry Hughes, Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Trent Murphy, , Harrison Phillips, Darryl Johnson, Mike Love, A J Epenesa, Mario Addison, Quinton Jefferson, Jonathon Woodard, Vincent Taylor and Vernon Butler. Again, that is 12 defensive linemen, and the Bills will keep a max of 9. I think Jerry Hughes, Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei (for one more year) Harrison Phillips, A J Epenesa, Mario Addison and Quinton Jefferson are virtual certainties to make the team. Mike Love and Jonathon Woodard are little more than camp fodder (even though the Bills seem to like Mike Love). I doubt Darryl Johnson or Vincent Taylor have any trade value if he fails to make the team. Vernon Butler probably does. Looking at the defensive line additions, it does seem like Epenesa and Jefferson are both going to be more at home on the left side of the line than anywhere else (though both can move inside on passing downs). That does seem to make Murphy the odd man out, and as good a trade candidate as anyone. If a team were to fork over a high enough draft pick, Buffalo could conceivably cover part of his salary.

He can't go back and visit once in a while?

The pertinent part of the article for this thread is the fact that the Houston Texans and LA Rams traded for players (Laremy Tunsil and Jalen Ramsey) at the end of their contracts. That led to a sense of desperation by the Texans and Rams to extend the two players, and they ended up overpaying. That distorted the pay scale for tackles and cornerbacks, and teams trying to extend good young tackles and cornerbacks coming off their rookie contracts (like the Bills (Dawkins and White) may have to likewise over pay.

I'm not able of copy and paste the article. If I could I'd save it, hope the bills crush the Patriots on the way to a division title, and then email his own article back to him next year.

The real question is still, how much will Josh Allen improve? In particular, can he rediscover his range of deep passes? Buffalo has ample deep speed now, and receivers who can get open all over the field. I think Josh became afraid of being intercepted on deep balls some last year, and also got sloppy on his footwork. I know he's been working with his QB whisperer, Jordan Palmer and supposedly will have that licked. Beane provided Allen with all the weapons he should need, and if Allen can take a big step forward, the Bills offense should be scary good.

It's pretty weird to think Buffalo drafted three of his 2020 first round picks in his way too early draft, and Buffalo didn't even have a first round pick.

The roster during the Super Bowl years was very strong, which is kind of an obvious thing to say. The current one is very good too, but I agree that some of the young talent on this roster has unrealized upside/potential. It would not shock me if they fail to make the Super Bowl this year as there are a few other very strong rosters in the AFC (mostly Baltimore and KC, though the Titans are no slouches either). The nice thing about the Bills roster is it looks like a window is just opening this year to be a Super Bowl contender. We need to see if the young talent continues to get better. If it does, that window should stay open for a while, and may open even wider.

That's not a prediction anyone could have made with absolute certainty unless Dugger were at the very top of Buffalo's big board, which is impossible in the real world.

There's no accounting for taste.

The interesting thing about Epenesa, is that not only did he have a poor 40 at the combine, he also tied for the worst results in the D-line group in the bench (17 reps). Yet he's always seen as a power end. The film, and the comments of his opponents don't lie. He's obviously a handful for opponents to deal with. I'm assuming that he understands how he can use his attributes (length and mass) to gain a leverage advantage. Then it's all about technique - hand fighting, balance etc. I'm assuming he's pretty polished as far as his technique is concerned, though I'm sure ever rookie has things he can learn. I think, however, that he probably has a lot of room to grow in terms of strength and explosion. He's never going to run a 4.5 40, but neither did Kyle Williams. Williams was explosive because he worked on his first step. He was explosive in spite of his physical limitations. I think Epenesa can do some of that too.

The injuries are the big factor for me, especially with an older player like Green.

After opening this thread, I googled Andy Dalton. The first reference to his leaving Cincinnati was at NESN (New England Sports Network), so the vultures are circling. The article, however, did say that the betting favorites to sign Dalton are not New England, but Jacksonville and San Diego. I would not rule out New England, but their cap situation would make it difficult to get into even a modest bidding war if there is competition to sign him.

Oh the irony. His dad sure took the Buffalo - Miami rivalry personally. I think Brian Sr. has matured since then. I don't mind the signing. I don't hold grudges, and I certainly don't blame kids for what their dads did. That said, he's a long shot in a very deep defensive line group. I'm actually guessing he's having a good laugh.

If the Bills thought like that back when OJ Simpson was drafted, I probably wouldn't be a Bills fan today.

I'm assuming the league has an internal policy about how early they will allow it to start. It's always going to start on a Thursday, under the present policy. Maybe that internal policy says "not earlier than April 23." It's kind of like the first day of spring, which was the earliest it can possibly be this year.

Beane is going to try and trade somebody from this group in August, probably Trent Murphy. He'll only get a late round pick, but that's better than cutting a guy who will end up playing elsewhere.