MasterStrategist

Highmark is a Pittsburgh based health insurer, they also have offices in WV, Central PA (Camp Hill near Harrisburg), DE, and NY. They also acquired a large health system in 2013, Allegheny Health Network. So a large integrated delivery system that competes with National Payers, but in the Pitt region its Highmark/AHN vs UPMC (another large integrated system, who is more known for their excellent hospitals/doctors). Could definitely do worse. Great marketing for Highmark, who would be competing with Independent Health and Excellus in the WNY market.

Yes on the Mahomes vs Tannehill cap, but kicking the can will eventually catch up. Check back 2-3 years from now when your top 10 players already eat up almost all the cap. Regarding Reed, I think he is still an above average player inside. Solid signing.

Incentive reads: $3m if you don't pull your hamstring all season.... Fuller is very good when healthy, but he's always got a soft tissue injury. That's a decent price tag, and interesting scheme fit (Tua's arm/deep ball doesn't impress me)

To me, explosive playmakers who can make our offense require less 8-10 play drives and just take it to the house. Outside of the Diggs trade, we haven't spent a "premium" pick at a skill position (talking a 1st rounder). If that's a WR or Rb, works for me. I can't see WR though, after the Sanders signing. But that said, I think a 1st round DL makes a bigger impact for this current team. If we want to keep the 8-10 play offensive drives, that is also fine. I'd then focus on a TE who can be reliable to extend drives and free up others. Holding out hope for Knox, but I'd be more comfortable if we got Ertz.

Downgrade how exactly...bc of avg yrd per punt, or another metric? Bojo had a good yr, but that was just 1 during his time with us. Granted he improved greatly this yr, but the inconsistency could have still been a concern and field position. Bojo rarely pinned punts, it was a coin flip if he'd kick a touchback or a fair catch at the 15. With the offense that we now have, a specialist pinning the ball deep is much more valuable than a guy who kicks a 60-yr boom every 10th kick. Bojo bigger leg, Haack will prove much more valuable when those frustrating drives fizzle at midfield.

Considering Ertz and Grugier-Hill are good friends and former eagles....dream is still alive boys! March 16th....Beanes favorite trade day....Diggs in 2020, night is still young

Certain teams want to treat the salary cap like a "credit card", or loan, that is their prerogative. Eventually everyone pays up, some teams are realizing that the hard way this season (ie: Steelers and Saints). Eventually players begin to decline and that investment quickly turns into sinking costs, ie: Steelers continued to re-do Ben Roethlisberger's contract and now likely regret that decision. Sure the Chiefs of the NFL are happy now, just wait 3-4 yrs. Beane said on day 1 they were building the team for sustained long-term success, and balancing the win-now approach vs mortgaging the future. It should be no.surprise Buffalo is managing the cap, like a well disciplined person/family doesn't over spend their means. It will lead to what we had last yr, without having to roster purge. Quick ppl forget the mess that Beane walked into, regarding cap issues. I think it's easy to get caught up with what everyone else is doing. Best approach will always be to build.through the draft, and sign your successful players to 2nd/3rd contracts...we are seeing that play out over the past 2 offseasons and that will continue.

Agree, with all of this. And others above made good points. So if Star is washed up, and who knows what shape he is in or his mindset, but him retiring might work in Bills favor financially.

Maybe taking personally was the wrong choice of words. I should have said you missed my point. No matter, again the post wasn't directed at you or the masses, simply replying to a poster who decided to list every decision Beane made this week and say each was wrong. To each our own. I feel strongly that Milano was a great resigning and Addison, Morse, Butler pay cuts were the right thing to do.

Calm down. You took that personal, when not even directed at you. I was just saying it's bold to say Milano was a bad signing and so and so should be cut, when our GM has done a solid job getting us where we're at. Everyone question things, but picking every single offseason move is what is crazy Haha OK. So to prove your point you will get a 1sy yr cap hit of $5m then 4 yrs later, when said player is likely over the hill, you will have a $40m+ cap hit. Interesting management of the cap, talk about going all in and kicking the can. To each our own, everyone hoping for thr best and think they know the best method right now (me included 😉)

$5m is enough cap to get a stud player at defensive end, hahaha really? Show me 1 contract (not a rookie deal), where a stud player is at that level. 1. Addison is slotted about 30th, before free agency begins, in terms of pay at the position. Only way we can afford to get better, is cut Addison and someone else at another position (downgrade another position), OR draft someone early, which we might do anyhow. Yes, I want better production too, but $2m pay cut is significant 2. Everyone has an opinion on Milano, that's fine. To me, it comes down to Mcdermotts scheme. He needs certain type of players there, and Milano fits it to a T. We also groomed Milano and have seen improvement year to year, yes injuries are a concern, but if you look at all FA and draft, we weren't going to.find a better option. Good price and resigning IMO. For the rest of your message, continuity is important on the lines. Butler was forced to play out of position, imo. He's a better fit at the 3-tech. We are no longer paying Butler or Morse high end contracts, yes we'd save cutting them, but you act like it's some guarantee the next guy signed or drafted is going to be an improvement. We need a better push/pass rush, and likely 2 more offensive weapons. But this team just made the AFCG, i think Beane and McDermott have earned some trust and leeway not to 2nd guess every move

Roster Bonus: money now, cap hit now Signing Bonus: money now, amortize/spreads cap hit to remaining # yrs left on deal To Mahomes, no difference unless there are some clawback provisions if he retires (but that's not happening anytime soon). To the chiefs, save cap now and kick the can to future years where the cap will likely go up (possibly huge jump in coming years)

X receiver isn't typically the #1, rather refers to alignment. Receiver lined up on the open side, ie: on the line. Typically your X, is your speed guy. Davis filling that role isn't surprising, he is more of a down field type, has deceiving long speed and obviously great tracking/size to go get the deep passes. We do need more speed, so won't be surprised to see us go after 1-2 wrs again

Excellent post. You hit 2 key points for me: 1. As some have said, Beane/Bills have done a very good job drafting (17-current). 2. Mcdermott alluded to this after KC playoff loss, we are multiple years behind them, from the perspective that Reid/KC have had more time to finetune and construct the team. We will be there, some will say we already are, but likely 1-2 years away from being a dominant force for a while. I think the other major point, and I think Beane will get this done, is we are basically a TE and stud DE (or collective DL) away from being the team in the Afc. I'd say less pressure to find the stud TE, maybe Knox eventually grows into a very good one. But we have other weapons. The DL is the key piece, we get that group more disruptive then it literally impacts every other spot on the defense...same could be said about OL, but I think we have 3 key pieces (if we resign Williams) and a potential solid G (Ford coming back), so way way further along. Would really like to see us shed Addison, Butler, and Jefferson. Sign another DT, use our 1st on a DE, then maybe another late (to compete with DJ). Depending what they think on Star, I'm ok going after 2 new DTs (sign or draft).

Just my opinion, but he doesn't have a big arm. And despite good size, comes across as soft. Maybe Steelers see something, like you. Mason is on his last year too, so should be intersting how they handle

1. they didn't "sign him back", just changed some financial obligations 2. basically steelers got themselves into this ugly deal, so best they could do was create a fake 4yr voidable extension, convert salary to signing bonus, and spread that cap. On top of this, Ben takes a $5m pay cut So all in all, Steelers continue to kick the can. They will "void" his contract next yr, and have a $10m dead cap hit. Not much else Steelers could do. Although Mason showed up well in that last game against Cleveland, he's not the future. I also.dont think Steelers are fixing all their offensive issues in 1 offseason, given they are already in cap hell. Pouncey retired, Villenueva is a FA, as well others. I will give you better o-coordinator, but that defense will likely regress without Dupree (either gone in FA, or not fully healed)

Coming off a torn acl in December 2020 or late in November, if I recall. I think he could play Jerry's spot, but huge gamble, given he's not a lock to be fully healthy by start of season. I'd pass. At some point this team needs to develop their own defensive line and stop signing FAs. Epenesa, Oliver, and an early selection this yr. Develop and cut the dead weight (ie Jefferson, Butler, Addisson), and hope Star returns to form. Then focus on finding 1-2 rotational backups

Considering Daboll won Ap Coordinator of the year, I don't think he's overrated by fans. Recent history includes Roman, Fangio, Pat Shurmur, and Wade. All very good coordinators, who got HC looks. Your other points are valid though.

Great points. I agree, but 1 area that I'd comment on is the tradeoff (your final paragraph). I think Beane and group have done wonders, but they have also eaten up a good chunk of cap in very avg players (ie: Murphy, Winters, Jefferson, Butler, Addison, Norman). Yes, Williams did work out, and Feliciano to a degree, for us and also fits this category.. But I'd rather see them sign a JJ and give up these type of acquisitions, and better develop our draft picks. For that reason, I'd leave Milano out of the comparison. So to me, it comes down to maximizing value (roi) at each position group and they've done a poor job on the DL, slightly better at OL. They've knocked it out of thr park at Safety, and also WR. Of course Qb has been a great return. But they need to start hitting on the trenches, and I guess they tried but haven't had a "diggs" like impact guy there.

Morse is still very good. He is not a mauler, but is excellent pass blocking and elite movement/open space blocking. We could be using more screen game, pulling him in space if we had a quicker RB. But that is all fine, since he's here to protect Josh and we are a pass first offense. Understand his concussion history, but every player is 1 misstep or 1 play away from serious injury. As far as Feliciano being the best guard, I think that honor goes to Ford. Not saying a ton at this point, but he's the most talented and if he can stay healthy he will be real good

To me, Feliciano is a great "insurance policy". I don't want him starting anywhere on the OL, but if he's our top backup that's fine. Now that said: 1. Beane and staff need to assess, and figure out if they want him as a backup or starter 2. If backup, they need to carefully look at this team and stop wasting too much money on backup types (ie: Norman, Winters, Murphy, Kroft, other DL guys pick 1). These cap moves add up to wasting $10-15 mil, per season, and could have been used elsewhere. If it's my decision, I let Feliciano walk. Keep Morse at C (restructure salary to bonus), Dawkins at LT, Ford at LG, and either resign Williams or go after a RT in FA. Then tender Boettger, and keep Bates as your 2 primary backups. Draft a RG (possible versatility to be future C) with the 1st or 2nd round. Then go after another OL late as a player to groom.

Bump... Tampa playing great, I'm sure rest of afc taking notes...Tampa has the Lb mcdermott dreams of, comparable to kuechly/davis

Yes this x100...much more physical team and faster. I would say this fits the type of upgrades McD said in his last presser

Looking forward to seeing how Tampa attempts to contain/shut down the KC offense. I think the Tampa defense is one of the most balanced, good front 4, solid LBs, and young developing secondary. I think Tampa has pieces at LB and safety that will cause issues for Kc. Also KC o-line banged up against a real good group up front.

Agree about alot of what you mentioned. I just don't think Milano does anything "great", but he's just good at everything (blitzing, coverage, etc). That coupled with injury concerns, at times, and it makes a difficult decision where to land with a contract offer. I dont think we end up adjusting our defense, and don't think Milano is an alpha dog MLB, unless that was a typo. There will be Milano caliber players early in the draft or other options in FA. I'd rather spend the money on DL, and cut the fat up front to help provide additional cap money. Milano and Edmunds would both look a lot better, with a better front 4. Given our cap, I don't know if we cap pull off improving both (and giving the OL help). So I'd prefer investing in the DL and go young in the draft