Inigo Montoya

My post says the team will be ready to make a run in years 3-5 of Allen's rookie contract. I do expect Allen to be much improved this year just like he was improved after he returned from injury. I still don't think the roster will be in a position to start making deep playoff runs this year. We should definitely add some talent this off season, but I don't know if it will be enough to truly contend for a Super Bowl this year. Still too soon for that I think. I do think a Wild Card is definitely possible this year and I would be a bit disappointed if we don't make the post season. I think this season McBeane will fill in most of the remaining gaps in the roster and our young roster will benefit from one more year of experience. In 2020 we go into free agency looking for a couple of key veteran pieces that we need to make us real contenders, and then it's game on. Of course, this is just my opinion and it is based solely upon speculation, conjecture, and spilling the entrails of a chicken and reading the portents.

I guess I could tolerate Bell, Brown, and Beckham if they were Bills... ?

I don't want Bell, Brown, or Beckham in the AFC east....

I think Terry and Kim will give Beane and McD all the time they need. If Allen becomes a legit QB, Beane and McD will both be in Buffalo for a long time. The Pegulas know that if they pull the plug on them they are looking at another 2-3 year rebuild and no one wants that. (Especially when they are trying to build a new stadium). Unless Allen is a disaster and McDermott just craps the bed, I think the Pegulas will keep Beane and McD around and let them build something here.

Complete BS? You go off on a tangent extoling the virtue of offensive lineman like I just threw all O-linemen under the bus when the whole point of my post was how I believe O-linemen are vital for a team to be successful. According to you, I guess the Bills are good at the O-line position now. Juan Castillo was the only problem with our O-line last year. It was all just the scheme. Now that he’s gone and we have a new O-line coach we should just stand pat with our current O-line and let our new O-line coach with a better scheme turn Miller, Ducasse, Bodine, and Groy into All Pros.

You under value the effect of good veteran leadership in a locker room full of young players. If we were strapped for cash your case to cut Shady might be stronger, but we’re not going to be able to spend all of the cap money we have now. To use a military analogy, the coaches are the officers, a good veteran player who accepts a leadership role is like a good NCO or sergeant. They keep the young bucks in line. They set the example of how a professional prepares for a game and how a professional carries himself. Great NCOs are the backbone of a military unit and veteran players who believe in the team’s Process are the backbone of a successful team’s locker room. I think you might underestimate how hard it is to lead and motivate a room filled with 21 year old millionaires, and how vitally important it is to have the right attitude in a locker room. The coaches can only do so much, it’s the veteran players in the locker room that really hold the young guys accountable. The veterans provide positive peer pressure and lead by example. This is how you show up everyday to work, this is how you practice, this is how you prepare for a game, this is how you watch film. This is how you have long term success in the league, watch what I do. Leadership 101. Any organization, no matter how skilled the individual members are, will fail without the right leadership. That’s why McBeane is willing to pay Shady this year, and why I respectfully think you’re wrong.

I think Shady stays as veteran leadership on an offense that will be revamped this year with many new players. Who is the veteran leadership on offense if not Shady? Allen has great leadership traits but is only a second year player. Is there a solid veteran leader on the O-line? Nope. Who’s the veteran wide receiver? Ummmm.... You need to have veteran leadership and by all accounts Allen and Shady have a great relationship and Shady has bought into the Process. Shady is not the player he once was, but he is still respected in the locker room and around the league. Keep him as a third down back and keep him for veteran leadership. It will be money well spent.

I think you're right, Beane seems to favor seniors and especially team captains. I hope they continue that kind of profile in this year's draft. Unfortunately, there are very few seniors with a 1st round grade this year. According to CBS Sports draft rankings there are only five seniors in the entire top 32 ranked players in this years draft. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospect-rankings/ My two favorites for the Bills to grab in the first round, offensive tackles Jonah Williams and Jawaan Taylor, are both juniors. I'd draft one of them and then heavily weight the amount of playing experience someone had in college in determining who to draft. There is so little practice time allowed by the new CBA that it is a lot harder to coach up a college player with raw talent but who needs work on technique than it used to be. Getting a player with a full four years of college experience is more important than ever.

Over the last several years in the NFL there has been an obvious and marked decline in the quality of O-line play, and there are a lot of reasons for that, and it gives those teams able to cobble together a great O-line a tremendous advantage over the rest who can't. An example of the dearth of good offensive lineman out there is that in the new AFF league the defense is only allowed to rush five people because the quality of the o-line play is so poor the offenses couldn't function otherwise. I think having a solid O-line is as important in today's NFL as having a true franchise quarterback. For the Bills, building a solid O-line is more important than getting wide receivers, a tight end, or a running back. All those other positions, and the health and development of our (hopefully) franchise QB, depend on the big guys up front being able to do their job. The bottom lined is that you simply can not have a successful offense without a solid line. Any other position group can be weak and you can still win in this league You can even put an average QB behind a great O-line and have success. I know Metcalf, Hockenson, Fant, and other skill position players are tantalizing in this years draft, they're flashy and exciting, but they will not have success without an O-line that can run block and pass protect. You can argue that Hockenson can block, and I'd give you that, but we need o-lineman and if Hockenson is being depended on to block he's not in the flat catching passes which limits his effectiveness. Our defense played well last year and even if we stand pat on the defensive side of the ball we should still have a defense that can play with anyone this season. They need to grab at least one and hopefully two blue chip O-lineman in free agency even if they have to pay a premium for them, and I would also love to see the Bills grab either Jonah Williams or Jawaan Taylor with their first pick. O-linemen are not sexy but they win games. Last year McBeane focused all of his energy on putting this franchise in a position to be able to draft our franchise quarterback. This year he needs to apply that same focus on fixing our O-line, it is this team's biggest weakness. Let's use this year's free agency and draft to turn it into one of our biggest strengths. It will pay dividends. Get it done McBeane! Below are some links to stories about the decline in NFL O-line play, the first from last season, the second from the season before. They are not long and worth the read. The second goes into the problem in a little more depth. https://www.fieldgulls.com/2018/2/26/17052800/seattle-seahawks-offensive-line-degraded-nfl-since-2006-visual-pff-pbe-pass-blocking-efficiency https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2017/11/2/16596392/offensive-line-crisis-league-midseason

The rapid deterioration of this thread into political rock hurling is why the NFL was smart to settle this case for any amount of money. No matter where you stand on Kap, he is forever going to be a lightening rod and it’s best for football if this whole mess just goes away. Football has always been something that brought every Bills fan together in the stands no matter what you looked like or who you voted for. We need to get back to that. There needs to be one place we can all go to be a community and leave our politics at the door. I hope that can be the NFL again someday.

I feel better with Barkley in the backup roll heading into this season, but I think any NFL team that loses it’s starting QB to injury is screwed, not just the Bills. That’s why I said I’m hoping Beane’s primary focus this year is on the O-line to help keep our new franchise QB on his feet and developing. I think Josh Allen with a pocket is going to be a scary thing for the rest of the league.

Decent point and we’ll taken, but I’d argue letting Dareus go was the right move for this team. Dareus had a huge contract that he wasn’t living up to and it would have been a mill stone around this team’s neck for years. I thought we traded Sammy at the tail end of his rookie contract knowing we weren’t going to resign him for the money he would demand heading towards free agency. I don’t think the cap hit was that big, but admittedly don’t know the number off the top of my head. Dareus was given Aaron Donald-like money at the time and never produced anywhere near Donald’s level. It was a bad Whaley contract for the franchise and Beane decided to eat it. I would still contend that Beane walked into a huge salary cap mess and Dareus’ bloated contract, that he was way underperforming, was just another part of the mess that had to be dealt with.

LOL! It's an old football term of endearment for offensive linemen. ?

Hey Success, I'm hoping for 9 wins this season, 10 would be miraculous. That would put us in the Wild Card hunt. I still don't know if it would be enough to catch New England. The Pats will probably come out of the division at 5-1 (that's based on us stealing one from them). Even If we do split with New England and they are 5-1 in the division, they only have to be one game over .500 for the remainder of their schedule to get to 11 wins. I just don't see 11 wins for us this season. I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

Good morning BADOLBILZ ? I'm not dismissing any mistakes. They certainly made some. Every GM and coach make mistakes, especially first time GMs and coaches, but I'm not ignoring their good moves either. On the whole, I think they have been doing a pretty good job with the hand they were dealt . Beane wheeled and dealed to accumulate the draft stock to go and get Allen last year, someone who has the potential to be a franchise QB. So far that is looking like a good move. As for free agency, I don't know what you expected Beane to do in free agency last year with the worst dead cap space situation in the league that he inherited. I liked Beane's approach to just rip the bandaid off and take his lumps in one year of cap space hell instead of paying the debt down over several seasons. It has resulted in a robust $87 MM in cap space this year. Looks like a solid GM move to me. I'm hopeful the team takes a step forward this year too. I guess I disagree with you that I am willing to accept another year of mediocrity if it tees us up for a run in 2020. I think I have a longer timeline that you do on this one, that's all. Our roster and our cap situation, hell everything about this franchise has been a dumpster fire for such a long time, I think it's just going to take a bit longer to get it turned around. So far, McBeane has earned some good will from me and I'm willing to give them some time. The off season seems sooo long, I am already anxious for kickoff. One good thing about the off season this year is that I'm only two hours from Nashville and my son and I will be there for the draft this year representing TBD. If the camera pans on a Bills fan with a Steve Tasker jersey on who looks just like Matthew McConaughey, except for being bald, a little more fat, and way more ugly, that's me!

I think a lot of people on this board are getting too far over their skis with their expectations for the Bills this season. I think we can be in the mix for a Wild Card at the end of the season but we are not going to be making a playoff run this year. McBeane knows that. McBeane is still working on setting the table this year. He is not building a roster in this year's free agency and draft to win in 2019, he is looking at least one more year down the road. That's why I'd be surprised if McBeane goes TE shopping in free agency this year. This is one of the deepest TE drafts ever and we have boatloads of picks. Why burn a big chunk of cash on a middle of the road free agent TE when you can get a good one on a rookie contract and let him develop on a team friendly deal for the next four years? I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bills grab two TEs in the draft this year with Clay being released. I do hope he goes after O-linemen aggressively in free agency this year. Talented "Hog Mollies" are really hard to find and need some time playing together to really gel and become a solid unit. Realistically, years 3/4/5 of Josh Allen's rookie contract are when we will have a team ready to start making deep playoff runs. That is not this season. If Allen continues to develop this year he will be ready to roll and we should have a roster built of young and talented 2nd , 3rd , and 4th year players with a few key veterans on each side of the ball ready to take that step along with Allen. I think Beane and McDermott feel like Terry and Kim have their backs and will give them the time they need to build a roster the right way for long term success. I'm a long suffering Bills fan just like everyone else here but I'm willing to wait one more year if it will help create a team capable of sustained excellence like in the Kelly Era. I think that is the type of roster McBeane is trying to build. I think McBeane's offseason moves this year are designed to bear fruit in two or three years when the Bills are in their playoff window, not this year. I think McBeane is looking at this year's free agency and draft with a different timeline in mind compared to many here and it will color every decision McBeane makes.

https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2019/02/14/NFL-Mock-Draft-Jaguars-trade-up-for-Haskins-Dolphins-draft-Murray/6691549914158/?rc_fifo=2 Two QB's go in the top ten with the Jags trading up into the Jet's slot at 3 grabbing Haskins, and the Giants taking Lock at 6. The Bills grab Jawann Taylor, Tackle, Florida at 9. I'd be happy with that. I'm hoping for some Kyler Murray-Mania to take hold over the next couple of months and see Murray go in the top ten as well giving the Bills more options or another possible trade-back partner. Best case scenario for the Bills is three QBs going in the top ten. In this mock, Murray goes to the Dolphins at 13. It might be hard for McBeane to trade back and pass on Jawaan Taylor or Jonah Williams if either of them are sitting there at 9 with the state of our O-line.

The only designed runs I want to see Allen do is on 4th and 1, and on the goal line.

Couldn't agree more Rc2catch. If we can put an All-Pro tackle on our OL for the next six years I'd spend $10MM a year right now to get it done. In three years the going rate for a solid O-line tackle will be $15MM a year. Lock him up now. Great O-linemen don't make it to free agency very often. How many times did we watch our best players walk because we had no cap space to resign them after their rookie contract? The Panthers only have $23MM in cap space this year. They can't afford to keep him unless he takes a huge hometown discount. Let's take advantage of their cap mismanagement and steal this guy from them. It's nice to finally be the franchise with some salary cap mojo.

It has always been easy for Brady to turn down more money to increase his chances of winning another Super Bowl because he is not the primary bread winner in his household. His wife and super model Gisele has always made more money than him. His pay checks are just a little extra coin to them. Lifetime Earnings Tom Brady; $197 MM Gisele Bundchen $386 MM. Simply put, Tom is a kept man and doesn't have to worry about bringing home a lot of money, Gisele pays the bills. ?

I guess I just don't understand the reason people reply in a message thread just to criticize the thread. If you don't like the thread, move on to another thread. No one put a gun to your head and made you read the thread against your will. NEWS FLASH! This is the dead time in the NFL year. Nothing will happen between now and the Combine on the 26th except for a handful of player arrests in the offseason (hopefully no Bills). That means that most threads that are started now will be heavy on opinion, speculation , conjecture, and projections that you may not be interested in or that you may disagree with. Go ahead and discuss your difference of opinion if you care to, or don't. But why post that the thread shouldn't have even been started, like you have been deputized as the TBD Thread Police. This won't be much of a message board if people don't start threads. In this instance, I don't see anything wrong with someone stating that the Bills should look at picking up Vallejo. I think it's a reasonable thread topic. I personally don't know enough about Vallejo to add anything meaningful to the discussion. If people want to offer some facts about Vallejo and their opinion on the matter I'll read them and hopefully by the end of the thread I'll have more of an informed opinion on Vallejo based on what people have contributed to the discussion. That's how this whole message board thing is supposed to work. If you like a thread, jump in. if you don't like a thread, move on. But what's the point of jumping into a thread just to say you don't like the thread??? I have just never understood why people feel the need to do that...

How in the name of Roger Goodell are the Jags three positions ahead of us? (Surprisingly the TBD website filter allowed me to write "Roger Goodell" without changing it to something less offensive)

Not that I put much stock in this, but it still pisses me off. The bottom line is that until the Bills start to win, they will continue to get no respect. 2019 is going to be a huge year for this franchise, free agency and the draft are going to be critical. If McBeane can do a solid job these next three months and Allen continues to play like he did during the second half of the season, I think we grab one of the Wild Card spots in 2019. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25879183/2019-nfl-power-rankings-way-too-early-offseason-poll

I think Philly still feels their window is open for another Super Bowl run. Wentz can't stay healthy and Foles has been the best backup in the league at the most important position on the field. It goes without saying that Philly doesn't win the Super Bowl two years ago or even make the playoffs this season without Foles under center. I think it's a smart move to hold onto him one more year as insurance if Wentz can't stay healthy. This can only be good news for the Bills as it makes it more likely that Foles if off the free agent QB market. One less free agent QB makes the QBs in the draft more valuable and it would be great to see more teams fighting to jump ahead of us or trade with us to grab their QB. Either way the Bills win, the more QBs selected ahead of us the more likely a non-QB prospect McBeane covets will drop to us at 9, or we can trade back and pick up some extra picks and still find a quality player in the middle of the 1st round.

The Texans will have $70MM in cap space this season. I don't see them letting Clowney walk with J.J. Watt's back in the shape it is. Watt is going into his ninth season, that's already a long career for a defensive end. You have to wonder how much gas he has left in his tank especially with him already having had multiple back surgeries. I could see Watt hanging it up in the next a year or two. Clowney won't make it to free agency.