Florida Bills Fanatic

The league has communicated that they are in the process of changing some future games of the Steelers and Titans in order to schedule their postponed game. This will impact a number of other teams. Until they release these changes to the public, it isn't necessarily a done deal that the Bills will be playing the Titans in week 5. We all just need to chill at this point.

McD's big nickel defense is susceptible to off tackle runs to the slot DB side. The Rams ran there repeatedly with success. I think T. Johnson had 11 tackles shortly after half time. Edmunds did not appear to be moving well. His best plays were made when it didn't require much lateral movement. Hopefully another week to heal will help him. Hyde looked bad again this week. He has been slow to react to the intermediate passes over the middle. He was playing pretty deep against a team that doesn't have a real deep threat. The Rams also took advantage of the DE's that were crashing down on the running plays. Even after giving up a couple of bigger gains on sweeps, they made no adjustment. In general, the defense looked like they were content to play soft pass coverage, avoid big plays, rely on the big lead, and watch the clock run out on the Rams. Two turnovers made that strategy look like a poor choice. Even with all of that, McD will make the right moves to correct the issues.

My point was that I doubt that the Bills had high expectations for Kroft when they signed him (and over paid him). They were desperate to fill a glaring hole with no good options. Stats didn't tell the whole 2017 story but the game film did. He's an average receiver and below average blocker. I do agree that they probably expected more than they have gotten from him. Staying available to play has been his biggest failure.

They paid him because there was competition to sign him. He was the only free agent that offered any sort of upgrade to the existing roster. If they were confident that he was as talented as you suggest, he would not have been signed to a shorter term deal. They had no great expectations but they were desperately trying to fill a significant void in the roster. His signing was criticized at the time by several different sources in the sports media. Kroft was viewed as an average guy that just got over paid because of supply and demand. It was also interesting that the Bills continued to bring in other guys to evaluate/try out even after the Kroft signing. As we all know, they eventually went on to draft Knox and Sweeney.

We need to remember that Kroft was signed when the Bills had nothing at TE and the free agent market was void of any real talent. He was the best option available. That's why his original contract was as good as it was. He was never viewed as a guy with the talent to be a viable long term starter. If Daboll has no confidence in him, we'll see more four WR sets or more H-back/fullback formations or a steady diet of Lee Smith. I suspect that the Bills will run the ball more than they have in previous games. LA has been giving up some decent rushing yardage.

As we all hoped and you astutely observed. Kudos

Exactly...should be a no brainer

Given the pathetic state of the Phins, McD may be taking a calculated gamble to protect some key pieces of the defense for the long haul. They already play a lot of "Big Nickel" and Miami is not much of a threat to run the ball. Their best offensive weapon is hurting and will be a game time decision. I expect to see a lot of single high safety coverage and Poyer being in the box most of the time. Klein and company don't need to be spectacular, just solid with no blown assignments. The Bills have some tough games in upcoming weeks and will need Milano and Edmunds healthy for those games. I also expect the Bills offense to run the ball a lot given Miami's weak front seven. Hopefully get a lead, burn up the clock, and play solid pass defense.

You couldn't be more correct. The o-line was terrible. Maybe just as poor as last season, despite all of the new additions. His receivers were bad as well. Between the drops and short arming attempts in traffic, Darnold was always behind the chains. Darnold's situation is more of a function of the lack of surrounding player talent, poor coaching, poor front office, and an owner that apparently doesn't care. We shouldn't expect a young QB to overcome all of that, regardless of how much help Palmer provides.

Looking at league wide statistics can be misleading. When you group guys punting outside with the dome punters and the guy punting in Denver, there is an advantage bias. No doubt he has messed up some punts but so do some of the other guys out there. I believe he is on a short leash and can be gone in the wink of an eye. For right now it's his job to lose and I have no doubt that Beane will release him if his performance is not what they want.

Sometimes it has more to do with doing a favor for an agent than it does with real interest by the team.

I'd say you did better than a B. You should go with a B+. You were certainly better than some of the dart throws I read here.

What I like about this contract is what it does to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. It resets the non-Mahomes market and the expectations that Dak will have for a long term contract. It will cost them much more than the $31 M that they offered. Did I mention that I really dislike the Cowboys? Fortunately for the Bills, Allen's rookie contract will get them past the reduced cap in 2021. Beane's formula for drafting well and using lower cost free agents will allow the team to pay the 4 or 5 higher priced guys on the team. Unless Allen completely flops, we should all get our head around a QB getting $40 M/yr. I'm actually surprised that the last collective bargaining agreement didn't set a percentage of the cap ceiling for starting QB's. A $40 M/yr contract must cause some hard feelings throughout a roster.

He's had some injury issues. The guy was a beast in college. She'd be included in the deal ( as a future consideration ).

I heard a report today that Miami has been contacted about trading Rosen. Chicago was the first team that I thought about. Their QB situation has to be one of the worst in the league.

That trade seems to have been a waste of a second round draft pick. I guess they were desperate to make that last run for another SB before the wheels fell off. Let's hope the wheels are off and they crash and burn.

The owners would have to be okay with it because of the no strike/ no lockout provisions that exist in the collective bargaining agreement. It would be extremely costly for the players to do it unilaterally. Fan reaction would probably be a mixed bag. At this point nothing would surprise me.

I'm not sure that any of our potential WR cuts will even be considered elsewhere. None of them are the kinds of players that can carry a team. If picked up, they are more than likely to end up as depth players on a bad team or on a practice squad. I doubt that Beane is worried about it.

Good point. I think knowledge of all of that is around the league and it may help in attracting free agents to Buffalo also. As others have pointed out, something changed with the Bills in a positive way.

Nice rewrite of history. Go back and watch some games. He took plays off and was slow when he did decide to exert some effort. If he was a decent player and not a locker room problem, he would be on a roster. He developed a reputation that eventually ended his time in the league. He got paid and fell off a cliff. As far as the money, the Bills saved the unpaid non-guaranteed portion of his salary. I understand why the Bills didn't want to throw more cash at the guy. Being in cap hell didn't mean much because the roster was in bad shape and required a complete rebuild. We now see the results of the rebuilding process. It looks pretty good from where I sit. In keeping with full disclosure, I was a draft Dareus guy and was glad when the Bills selected him. I turned out to be really wrong about that.

Potential landing spots could be Miami, Chicago, Chargers, Detroit, and Washington. It seems to me that Washington and the Chargers have the most need. He would be an immediate upgrade over Howard. Breida is a third down guy and the rest are unproven. Fournette could provide a real running threat to protect Tua when he finally gets out there. I would hate seeing him go there.

Don't forget Cam Phillips. Some were ready to leap from a tall building when he was released and I believe he was better than Duke.

You may have just coined a new nickname for Oliver. Mr. Ed may just catch on. Perhaps you should copyright it and register it as a trademark.

I agree with you. I think there will be a lot of contracts restructured around the entire league before next season. Owners and GM's aren't going to destroy their rosters if there are workable alternatives. The Dawkins contract was a good indicator of Beane's approach at least through 2021. I think there are some veterans that will be on the roster this year but will be gone for 2021. You mentioned Star and I would also include DiMarco, Kroft, Murphy, Lee Smith, and Yeldon. Beane's done a good job handling the cap up to this point and I believe he will continue to do so. Teams like the Eagles ($86m over next year) have a much bigger problem than the Bills.

I think you may be correct. I think o-line and d-line trades are plausible because of the Bills depth and the number of season ending injuries around the league in these position groups. We all know how Beane likes to stock up on extra draft picks.