BuffaloBillyG

That would be my guess. My favorite part of the whole Harty signing (other than his big punt return against Miami) was last year as FA began. McKenzie famously goes on Twitter and basically says "C'mon Beane, do something..." and the first move was signing his replacement.😂

No one specific. There are enough talented prospects in this draft that I'm purposely not attached to any one or two specific guys. Where we are scheduled to pick (if we even pick there) there are about 8 guys I would be happy with. More interesting to me is to see what skill sets they end up valuing over others.

I like Mike. But with how deep this draft is at WR I'm more into finding the NEXT guy that can have an Evans like production at a cost controlled price. Yes, the draft is a crapshoot but WRs on the wrong side of 30 rarely stay productive long when they hit FA. So as good as he's been that's a risk IMO as well.

Like I was saying to someone on another thread...I don't think you're going to get what you hope for here. I think this year Beane is going to make moves only when he has to. I can see a few of the obvious restructuring (like Allen) coming soon. I'm willing to bet that come Tampering time places like OTC and SPOTRAC still show us as in the red. Those aren't accurate. Matter of fact it was reported last week that the NFLPA has the Bills will under the -$40M those places show. Beane has mentioned before that what's out there isn't at all what he's actually working with. He has a complete other list that already has the work done on what they can do and where they are "actually" at. I'm sure there's still some work to do but for all intents, most of the work is done (sans any extensions or contracts they have to add void years or pay cuts to) and saved on his desk.

Yea, there's definitely an entertainment and click bait element to a lot of mock drafts. For sure. McCarthy is an interesting one for me. I think he's better than most give him credit for...but no where near a slam dunk. The Mac Jones vibe is real as in if McCarthy lands in a good situation he may turn out ok. But if he lands in a Patriots type place where he's asked to start early, has little to no coaching and not much around him he can't succeed on his own.

We just hired his former position coach from Tennessee a few weeks back. Would likely be out of the Bills price range but something to at least keep an ear out on.

Especially before FA starts. Can change drastically. And mocks have zero reflection on any teams actual board. It's fan fiction for football.

Weight is subjective. If he was 6'1", a tad slender framed yes 366 would concern me. But the dude holds that weight on a 6'4" wide frame. And like you said, is still athletic, moves well and makes plays. And to boot actually played over 55% of his teams defensive snaps last season...team leader among his DL group. Could he be a weight struggle candidate? Sure. He could also be a guy that an NFL weight plan helps and he ends up in that sweet 350 range. Depends a lot on the kid and his work ethic...and by all appearances he seem to have that down.

Last year my draft crush was O'Cyrus Torrence. Was elated he fell to us in the second. This year Sweat is that guy for me, only I don't see him dropping. Actually, the opposite. I'm seeing anywhere from picks 35-50 as his window. But I expect that to change leading up to the draft and for him to end up in the top 32 taken. Someone is gonna fall in love with this kid and grab him. Even though I believe that to be the case I'd be skeptical about taking him at 28. However depending on what the board looks like when we're up and who else is there I'd be open to moving out of Rd 1 all together, picking up another value pick and grabbing Sweat if he's there in the later window.

I don't think we are going to see a "final product" of cap space before FA starts. I get the impression that this year especially, Beane isn't going to make moves on restructuring contracts until he has to. So more of a "I want this guy so I'll rework this deal" pay as you kinda thing. He'll I'm sure do the work to get back to even and even have a small bit readily available. But as far as seeing a grand total big number I don't think that happens.

Alexander Mattison is about to be released by the Vikings. I've always liked him as a #2 back. He's not fit for the lead role but can fill in if Cook misses a week. Plus being a release, he wouldn't count against any possible comp pick formula and should be pretty inexpensive.

Honestly, if it makes Beckham and Brown over priced for us, that's a double win as well. Did you see Beckham play last year? Brown has speed but a lot of speed in the draft at a much better price. I'd also encourage anyone to keep an open mind about any WR drafted this year. Don't get too attached to that one or 2 certain WR. There's a ton of talent this year and if the consensus 5th or 6th WR is who we take....maybe they fit us better then someone taken higher. Draft is about staying true to YOUR teams rankings. Not Mel Kipers.

To highlight an example of just how all over the place the "experts" can be one has to look no further than the first one you mentioned: Mel Kiper. The granddaddy of them all, so to speak. He was a HUGE Josh Allen supporter. Loved everything about him coming out and was one of the very few that were in Allen's corner. He was right. Kiper also tried famously to say at one time that he would walk away and retire if Jimmy Clausen didn't turn into a franchise QB. He was wrong. And he lied.

Agree. And yet every off season it starts the same. Everyone pines for the big name guys that end up tagged or re-signing with their original team.

Not a big surprise. Was expecting this if it came to it. How does this impact the Bills moving forward? IMO it slides a few things around. While Pittman himself wasn't likely in the plans due to cost, it slides another FA WR up the list a bit for teams that did have him (Or Tee Higgins who was also announced as tagged). Thinner pool. It also makes it even more unlikely that Gabe Davis has a colder than expected market and does in fact end up signing elsewhere. And with the (IMO) 2 best young WRs out of the FA market it increases Davis's value on the open market. Bigger contract=Better comp pick. Hopefully, the Buccaneers tag Evans who is likely out of our price range as well to keep Gabe's value moving up.

The way I see it, however is that everyone's draft boards look different. And the deeper it gets in the draft the more variance there will be. So, say there are those 150 "draftable players" out there. I'm sure there there is somewhat of a consensus on who the top 50-75 are. Then you would have teams looking more into specific things. Scheme, positions of need, impressions on any interactions they have had, and even just difference in scouting grades on a team by team basis. So out of that backend 75 players it may involve a pool of 100-150 guys that are draftable to some team but not others.

You're not fooling us, Mike Tannenbaum. We know it's you.

Well, as I said Thomas is one of the WRs I take in that spot if there. The real big crapshoot on draft night is how the board falls. And of course what needs have already been filled in FA. Basically, it really has little meaning to me if the WR they pick is consensus 12th, 15th or 501st. What matters more is the fit, how they will be used and where the BILLS have them ranked at. Truthfully, from what I'm seeing the 12th ranked WR this year may have easily been in the top 5 of last year's draft. There's value there this year. Not as much value at someplace like DT.

My picks right now (depending on who ends up re-signing right before FA starts with their current team): Darnell Mooney: Young, fast and unlike Harty or Sherfield actually has had some success in the NFL. Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Should be extremely inexpensive. Has experience with Joe Brady and his system. Has played on large stages before in the NFL. Good receiver, decent pass blocking and would take over the Murray/Harris role rather well. Geno Stone: Solid player. Truth be told Kyle Dugger is my top choice here, but even if the Patriots let him hit FA, will likely be too expensive. AJ Epenesa: I'm seeing about $5.5M per year on him for projections. At that price I keep him around and structure it wisely. DJ Chark: Good size and speed. I've wanted him here for a few years now. Think he would thrive with Allen

This is the sneakiest way to get Edmunds back I've seen yet. We gotta do it. He's still so young ..

I'm on team "WR in round 2". That said there are a few WRs I would be good with round 1. BT is one of them.

Exactly. Having Douglas was a key in even making the playoffs IMO. The move gave us a chance. Hate having to pay the price now with the pick, but that's the cost of business sometimes. Fair to point out as well that at the time of the trade Green Bay was playing terrible and it looked like that 5th would have been a much higher pick than it ended up being. Darn Jordan Love not getting that turkey leg on Thanksgiving and going nuclear the rest of the year burned us as well.

We essentially gave up the comp pick that we would have had extra from Edmunds for Douglas. Long term, yes that's a loss. Over the short term and what the team needed for last year it was an acceptable gamble IMO. Going into this season, we really could use that almost $10M in cap space. I like Douglas, think he could have a great year this season but am OK moving on.

They didn't give up much. They gave up a 3rd (turned out to be pick 91) for Douglas and a 5 (ended up as pick 159). That's not nothing, sure...but in the grand scheme of things that's not a whole lot.

I may be in the minority, but I do feel like Elam could do well with extended snaps. Even in limited work he flashed a bit after coming off IR. I don't know if his play will ever reflect his draft status but we will never know that if we don't let him on the field. At this point the kid needs some real NFL week to week experience. It's weird to me though that if Butler and McD had different opinions on Elam that McDermott didn't over rule and play the kid. I thought he was some sort of control freak?