FireChans

Seriously. We could have found multiple WR1's for 2025. BTJ was gettable. Pickens was available. DK was available (and for the same price we basically got when Diggs left) We could have traded Diggs, got a second, used that second to get Metcalf and still had a WR1. No Justin Jefferson required and basically a net zero transaction despite a gap year in 2024 where we had to eat his cash. Diggs was great in his time in Buffalo. Had the greatest 4 year stretch in franchise history by a WR. Maybe JJ would've been just as good, who knows? But trading for Diggs isn't the reason we don't have a WR1 today. He's just not.

Our team philosophy is "protect our defense from being exposed at all costs." We don't want to get in shootouts where our defense could potentially look bad, even when we have the best QB in the league. So, we run a boring, clock chewing system on offense to limit both teams' possessions, despite that undermining our own ability to rack up points. We don't want the defense to have to step up in the face of adversity. So, potential turnovers are avoided at all costs, even if it shackles said QB and neuters his greatest gifts. We don't want our defense to ever feel undermanned. So, we dedicate the lion's share of our assets and draft capital and cap space to constantly re-tooling that side o the ball, while we ask said QB to run through linebackers in week 5 in order to generate offense because he's playing with Fisher-Price weapons.

Agree with your first bit, not so much the second bit. I'll break it down. "In 2022, we extended Diggs and had an ascending Davis (coming off his 4 TD KC game), but they needed a future Slot guy and the signed Crowder and drafted Shakir (who has been a big hit for them out of the 5th round)." 100% true. The corollary to the ascending Davis + Diggs extension meant that the clock was ticking on losing Davis almost assuredly after his rookie deal. Which was only 2 seasons away. And Diggs was extended well before the draft. This left us EXTREMELY top heavy at WR. We had Digg+Davis with a 2 year window and basically nothing behind them. Now, DURING 2022, we famously, desperately, brought back Beasley and Brown midseason to give the WR room more juice. This is the most damning piece of evidence that WR needed to be addressed. Our own GM was dumpster diving with former Buffalo players well past their era. It would be like if we brought back Jordan Poyer/Tre White this year and then didn't address the safety and CB positions in the draft next year. Unconscionable, but exactly what happened prior. "In 2023, Diggs was on his first year of his extension and Davis left some real question marks about his long term future as a WR2. They start looking for a Davis replacement in that draft, and they tried to trade up more than once and got rebuffed which led to a 4 pick WR run in front of us. They went with the best pass catching weapon on their board still in Kincaid." This is true, but there's other rounds besides round 1. Jayden Reed was a second rounder, Rashee Rice was a second rounder, Marvin Mims a second rounder, Tank Dell a third rounder, Josh Downs a third rounder, Tre Tucker a third rounder etc etc. Again, they know they likely aren't backing up the Brinks truck for Gabe Davis at this point. Shakir has proven nothing thus far. They are completely top heavy, again, and they bring in two jokers that are somehow worse than the corpses of Beasley and Brown in Harty and Sherfield. The train is coming down the tracks. We are 1 offseason away from our backs against the wall in terms of needing to basically nail a starting WR pick. Also minor point, but 2023 Diggs was not on the first year of his extension. He was extended with 2 seasons left. He didn't play a snap on his extension for the Buffalo Bills. "2024 - the Diggs relationship with the team deteriorated to the point that not only were they not going to pay Davis to stay, they had no choice but to eat $31M in dead cap for an "addition by substraction" move with Diggs. This resulted in the team unexpectedly needing to replace both WR1 and WR2 in the same offseason and in a draft where they were already missing a 3rd round pick, and had a lot of turnover on the defense too with cap cuts aging guys out. " So this was all pretty predictable. We knew guys would get old and need to be replaced, this happens for every team. Sure, the Diggs disaster was probably not expected BUT Diggs or no Diggs we put ourselves in a scenario where we needed a boundary WR desperately in the first 2-3 rounds. And post-Diggs, we needed 2. Brandon Beane, draft night, knows we need two starting WRs. We still only took one, and that after trading BACK for more picks to shore up the defense (and that pick was a disaster in Carter and Coleman ain't looking too hot right now.) As for the rest of your post, I agree he saw Allen make lemonade and basically rolled the dice he could do it twice. But he was and is wrong. He can't have it both ways, although he often gets it. He got to play the "we couldn't bring anyone in because Diggs was unexpected and was a massive cap hit" card for one year, then the next season when the books clear and we still have a Diggs-shaped hole on the roster, he gets to say we can't afford to pay big time WR's. The fact of the matter is that massive WR salaries are new, but not that new. 2022 and on had massive money being thrown towards superstar pass catchers. Part of the GM job is being proactive instead of reactive when it comes to restocking an expensive position group. We should have had 1-2 more Shakir-types who may not have been major contributors in year 1 but waiting in the wings preparing for life after Davis. Combine that with him consistently building maybe the thinnest WR unit in the NFL after Sanders retired. You say that WR wasn't a massive need early, but we had Diggs/Davis and basically nobody until 2023 when Shakir burst on the scene. What if Diggs or Davis got injured? We had nothing behind them. Josh Palmer just got hurt and I think Tyrell Shavers is next man up to start and play 70% of the snaps? With massive needs at WR the last 2 offseasons? That's criminal lol. There's a reason teams roster 5-6 WR's. The fact of the matter is that the Bills have been very proactive for other groups except WR. We have AJE/Bosa's, Ed Oliver's and Daquan Jones' and Matt Milano's potential replacements all on the roster already, they were all drafted before they needed to st art immediately. I do not agree that Beane was unable to apply that philosophy to WR over the last 4 seasons.

correct. His hit is accelerated. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/25222/taron-johnson If you click the scissors, it tells you.

We didn’t need Justin Jefferson in 2020 to have a WR1 in 2025. JJ was like the fifth WR off the board. No one could have known that he was going to be arguably the greatest WR ever. We traded for a known commodity in the league to help propel Josh to superstardom and it worked swimmingly. I have zero complaints on that aspect. The problem is that Beane has a vendetta against all great WRs because Diggs left on acrimonious terms. That’s it. He’s had plenty of chances to find the next WR1 and refused to do so.

You had him probably 30 spots too high. He is the worst passer I have ever seen. He’s like watching TMobile if TMobile had macular degeneration. He refuses to throw the football.

Especially to nitpick, but we can cut TJ next year for a 2026 dead cap hit of 7.75 and no cap hit in 2027, with roughly $3M in savings. It’s why he will be in the take a pay cut or get cut camp. We will tell him that we save $3M if we cut him so he can either give us that money back or he can take his chances in FA. The problem for Taron is that last year was quite shaky as well. Its a consistent thing for him over 1.3 seasons now.

I have personally been impressed in Maye’s physical talent and ability to make big time throws all over the field and showcase his athleticism. Tua’s limitations have been unfortunately kinda more obvious imo. It’s always too early to anoint young QBs until it isn’t imo. CJ Stroud is looking like the gold jacket has to wait, and Jayden Daniels is giving Washington fans RG3 flashbacks. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but my money is Maye is closer to being the next Justin Herbert than the next Trey Lance.

Taron Johnson may be washed folks. He was honestly kinda shaky last year (he notably got eaten alive by the Rams) and this year he, well, hasn’t been good. Some startling 2025 stats for one of our most steadfast Bills and perhaps the last very good player from our 2020-2021 team. Missed tackle rate - 8.7%(highest since 2021) QB rating when targeted - 102 (highest in his career) Obviously NCB is a tough position and at his peak, TJ was up there for best in the business, but I’m afraid those days are coming to an end. I think he is next up on the “pay cut or be cut” block in 2026 with a cap hit of $11M.

Pointing at a dude who all but admitted he quiet quit during the season as proof of anything is foolhardy imo.

Legitimately ANYBODY. Drafted Shedeur and let him sink or swim. If he’s good, great, if he sucks and you lose a million games, well, that’s where they are anyway. Who were the Jets competing with to give Fields $20M AAV????

Young and old fans are both capable of realizing we had a revolving door of HC’s and GM’s because we didn’t have a QB. The #1 reason we stopped being a clown show was Josh Allen, not the buttoned up Carolina boys. The history of the NFL is littered with “kinda crappy franchise, then somehow coincidentally incredible when they got a great QB, then immediately back to crappy when they lost their great QB.” Indy without Manning and Luck was a horror show. The Broncos were a joke until Peyton came over. The Pats with the greatest coach in history were a bottom 3 team after Brady left. Culture and continuity is set by the guy throwing the football. Always and forever.

Aaron Glenn picked the wrong QB by a mile. Justin Fields is quite possibly the most horrific passer of the football I have ever seen with this many starts in my entire life. He’s a physical specimen and makes like one great play a game, enough to sucker in the next NFL team to give him a chance. Matt Eberflus deserves a retroactive coach of the year nod for winning 7 games with this dude under center. I would rather start Deshone Kizer off the couch next week than Fields. @Kirby Jackson I know he’s your boy, but he’s a trash can. He is quite literally getting Aaron Glenn fired by like week 7. Give me my flowers!

Nah. Doug Martin was only called Muscle Hamster by a small contingent of fans, he caught wind of it and famously said he hated the nickname, and boom. It stuck. RIP, far too young.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Maybe the next coach rattles off 4 straight Superbowls and becomes the greatest coach in history. i don’t think there’s a coach alive who could only manage 4 wins with Josh at QB. I really don’t. So when we are talking downside, I see it more as if we hire a demonstrably worse HC/GM than our current ones, we will likely be similar to the Bengals the last two years. A .500 ish team that is in the hunt all years and is still exciting. Is that much different than an 11 win team that we all know is dead in the water when the Chiefs come to town? to me, it’s not. I am basically okay with the small potential risk of barely making the playoffs as a WC or just missing in pursuit of the large potential upside of finally being able to beat KC and get to the big game. Some folks may not be. But I’m there and I’ve been there.