Einstein's Dog

I don't see how you can hold only Beane culpable for the WR mess. This is an organizational philosophy. Beane/McD/Brady are all liable (and hopefully not Pegula). McD has replaced the offensive influence of Dabol with OC's who are just grateful to have the job. Dorsey kept Dabol's style but was slowly drained of the WR personnel to pull it off. And it seems Brady has adopted a style McD likes of a YAC, complementary football. If you don't like the style or where this looks like it is headed, it would seem the whole Beane/McD/Brady team would need to go.

Tua potentially missing out on the $24M will get him $40M+ the next time he hits the field. And that is what his agent should be telling him. And if Miami doesn't pay the $40M+ they can watch the serious drop of the Vegas odds for them to make the playoffs. Tua is worth the new Trevor rate - which happens to be Josh/Mahomes territory of yesteryear. And while the Dolphins would love to have outs, the agent needs to bring home a huge guarantee for Tua. Tua should be listening to his agent, and his agent should be sending him weekly repeats of video when Tua got up in that Bills game - and the Fins sent him back out there in the second half.

And if I'm Tua's agent I'm telling him he's not to take the field until he gets over $40M guaranteed. That's the range he is in and he shouldn't play until he gets it. If Miami doesn't want to pay it, trade him to someone who will. Of course, in the mean time, Miami is screwed this season. But that should not be Tua's concern, the Fins weren't concerned when they ran him back out there with "back spasms".

But from Tua's angle, he had a concussion and the team put him back out there. So while the team (like you + me) may not forget it, I don't think Tua (or his agent) will forget that treatment either. Tua owes no favors to the Fins. And right now is when Tua holds huge leverage. Miami would have a lost season without Tua this year. This would be the time to squeeze Miami, you do not wait.

But what about style? You've mentioned prior about the lack of WR investment and development. And it looks like for the upcoming season the regime has hit a new low. This regime of Beane/McD/Brady look to have jointly determined the emphasis on this team to be the conservative, YAC, run, complementary offense. While we wouldn't know if Ben Johnson could beat KC, we do have a good idea he would be supplying Josh with much better WR weapons than we currently have. Look at what the OC turned HC B Callahan has done in Tenn, got C Ridley + Boyd to go with DHop + Burks.

Chase Claypool. Seemed like a total out of character type addition. Could serve a real need.

For me the problem is seeing the priorities of this regime. When the resources are scarce the WR room suffers. For change for that Beane/McD and Brady may need to go. As you mentioned above, I doubt B Johnson would have the same priorities. Also B Belichick would be intriguing. But like you, I fear that Pegula is on-board with lowered expectations. I just hope the plan is to replenish the WR room with a quality acquisition next year.

Another potential problem is with no top tier WR the defense can switch who a top CB1 can cover, like Sauce could cover Samuel on one play and Kincaid on another making it harder for the offense to scheme plays. For me a disappointing and frustrating part of this off-season is coming to terms with your last paragraph. It appears the Beane/McD/Brady combo adopted this run more, move the chains thing, as the new 2024 strategy.

On the positive side, under almost all scenarios there should be a significant spend next off-season. It makes sense from a business perspective. What would be interesting to know is what expectations Pegula has for the current season. What's it going to take for the Beane/McD/Brady to keep their jobs.

Yes, the 5th year option is a minor issue. But it certainly will not look smarter if K Coleman is 5th year option worthy and they don't have it. It looks like Carolina traded up just to get this 5th year option. If Leggette goes big Carolina will look smart. But you touch on the larger issue, "no current WR in the pipeline". That's a problem whose cause goes directly to our FO. Most of us feel WR will be one of the top priorities to fix next off-season. This is not good planning.

Speaking of the WR debacle, don't you have any blame for McD here? The Brady/McD/Beane team has chosen this path. Based on the past I like McD, but looking ahead I am not pleased. When the times get tough and the resources are limited the offensive weapons are down on the list. Look at what someone like B Callahan is doing at Tennessee - C Ridley/DHop/Boyd + Burks. I wonder what that guy would have surrounded Josh with. I think priorities would be different with a Ben Johnson regime. I bet B Belichick would love the opportunity to clobber NE a few times and get a ring here.

That's only if Tua will play for them. He could do a Le'Veon Bell. Tua shouldn't play another season until he gets Trevor money. If Miami isn't going to pay it he should hold out and wait because someone will. Any season Tua plays could be his last so he should do it at a high rate of pay.

I agree with what you have written. But you make the case for Tua to get paid now! Waiting a year allows Miami to find that cheap 2nd or 3rd round prospect that can run the offense. For this year, Miami would be toast without Tua. Remember how short lived Mike Whites reign was after the Bills exposed his weaknesses with the Jets. And that is thinking M White could last more than 6 games. As to the fragile part, I too, think he is risky. But that too should be reason to get your guaranteed $40M now, one serious injury (concussion) and it's gone. And lets face it, Tua is putting a lot on the line when he goes out there - long term damage is a possibility. From the Dolphins perspective I can understand not wanting to pay him. From Tua (and his agents) angle, I would think a big guarantee for this season would be needed. If I were Tua's agent I would be sending weekly emails with the clip of him getting up in the Bills game a little before half time. He was staggering in a way that at first I thought was so exaggerated he was trying to draw a flag. But then I thought that wouldn't be smart he'll have to sit the whole game. The Fins ran him back out there.

Please don't make it personal. But my opinion is starting to change drastically to wanting the whole Beane/McD/Brady ouster. It's on style. I want to see Josh and the offense flourish with investments and game plans that prioritize the 25-30 yard laser pass that separates Josh from the field. It seems when we lost Daboll we lost a strong voice for the WR investment. We carried over the exciting have Josh create/scramble for extra time and then fire a 25-30 yard laser down field. Other teams didn't have the ability to do that. Because of that, half the time we would blow teams out, it wouldn't be close. However without a strong influence for investment this offense lost weapons. Dorsey was trying to accomplish this with G Davis which was a disaster. J Brady switched to using more Shakir/Kincaid/Cook which brought us back into playoff contention. That looked like better use of what personnel they had. Now it looks like they are tailoring their scheme and personnel to this style and foregoing even an average investment into the outside WRs. I don't want that.

This is another fear of mine - the significant drop in spend. I hope this is not a change in business philosophy related to Kim's departure and business change. The addition of Laura (the business woman) over Jessica (the competitive athlete) makes me a little nervous. And this can be related to the fear of no top tier WR. Pegula may have had a say in going this route because of the nice bottom line in brings. And if Pegula was involved in the decision he might give Beane/McD/Brady leniency in a less than stellar season.

I'm sure his agent is advising him now is the time, hold strong. Tua made it through all last season. Big bucks now or don't play. Right now he is certainly in the Trevor class, If Tua suffers a major injury or career ending concussion he loses financially big time. He's already experienced the business side of things when they sent him back out in that Bills game after his concussion. His agent must be reminding him of this regularly. Tua has a strong negotiating position right now. It would be foolish of him not to use it.

But it's up to Tua to not allow the Dolphins to do the waiting game. Hold out now for big bucks or come back and play the last what 6? games to have the season count- some RB did this. The Dolphins 2024 season would take a huge hit without Tua.

Also for the quote "the so-called elite #1 outside WR is not commonly found in Superbowl winners in recent history", what about Cooper Kupp or if he doesn't qualify OBJ, then there is Mike Evans, and a little before that Tyreek Hill. It's certainly not like having a good outside WR is going to hinder you in winning the SB. As to the bold above, my fear with hoping it works out is it might become a deliberate strategy going forward - like cheap investments in RBs, this could be a trial run by the FO on a "dime a dozen" WR theory. It's frightening to think about.

I agree that generally the draft is for the future and you shouldn't draft for immediate need, but sometimes they do. I would have much preferred a large investment into a top tier WR. I also like using the early picks on premium positions with high ceilings. Hopefully they've done that. But if you do that you would generally value the 5th year option. I have difficulty with that little move down - especially when we ended up with extra draft capital for next year (picked up another 4th along the way). Looked like Carolina valued the 5th year option for Legette.

I'm with you. There is no doubt net investment-wise in offense there was a huge step back. This is not like other years at all. Diggs $22 + Davis = approx $25M, C Samuel + K Coleman = approx $11M, and they netted money with getting rid of Morse. I like K Coleman as a player, I think his attitude is great but have a hard time understanding the thought process. Coleman seems by almost everyone's account to be a young, athletic, raw prospect. But with the current state of the team we need a pro-ready somewhat immediate player. From that perspective it made more sense to move out of the first round and get the more pro-ready, lower ceiling player (McConkey) over the high ceiling young player (Coleman). If they were taking the higher ceiling player why didn't they get the 5th year option? I can only think this WR transformation was vetted by Beane through Pegula/McD/J Brady + Josh. Expectations have probably been lowered.

Lets not group last year with this year. Up until this year it looked like they were moving towards better offense. And it was showing- Kincaid/Shakir+Cook are exciting. But this year, it looks like a major back-slide in offensive investment, especially in the WR room. They got rid of a 1st round pick, $20M+ (Diggs) and replaced him with a second round $3M player (K Coleman). They got rid of G Davis a 5th round $13M player and replaced him with a $8M FA (Samuels). They got rid of somewhat expensive depth WRs (Sherfield/Harty) and replaced them with bargain misfits MVS/Claypool.

For me the frustration has come in feeling the Bills have a lot of potential in many of the offensive playmakers - Kincaid/Shakir/Cook. They were going to replace/improve G Davis and that could be with the rookie/Samuel. That just left getting one top tier expenditure. So close, but they didn't pull the trigger. Now the fear is this philosophy might turn long term. If they can be a playoff team with no expensive WR, maybe they keep doing it. It'll kill me. Great QB with rocket arm will be schemed by OC/FO to distribute the ball.

This is the fear everyone wants not to be true. The possibility that the business executive type Laura - not Kim's offspring- now has "business influence". The Bills had several years where it looked like cash wasn't an issue. This year not so much. We're operating a lot more like Cincy now than Philly. It makes good marketing and business sense to wait until next year before the opening of the stadium to do your big signing. The downside is that your WR room looks horrid for a year.

For me, there is making sense of moves. I don't mind the pick, it's just the process that is confusing to me. They like K Coleman but moved down twice. With both outside WRs from last year gone, they take a WR that by most accounts is young and raw, and should be given some time. And building on above, getting a young, raw, high ceiling WR, they gave up the 5th year option.

This is a major reason in my change in opinion of Beane, doing a rebuild during a prime Josh year is wrong. Plus these: The rebuild is not rebuilding the WR room. The future of the WRs for 2025 remains a mystery and will need work next year. Why not take two - like T Franklin. Or what would have been better is to address it this year for multiple more. If rebuilding why K Coleman? The young, raw prospect over the more pro-ready prospects. Why give up the 5th year option by moving down one year? K Coleman is supposed to be the young, raw, higher ceiling player. I know draft picks but we had plenty, so much so that we took an extra in 2025. I don't want the strategy of the Bills going forward to not include good outside WRs. This trial period makes me nervous.