GASabresIUFan

That’s why I made the list. Not a ton of real net savings to be had without June 1 designations or other restructuring. I’m actually in the camp of Miller returning at a greatly reduced contract value. Maybe down to the 8 mill range. I don’t know how that works with the cap or CBA, but getting him down to that kind of $ unlocks most if not all of a June 1 cut without creating another roster slot to fill. FYI: Jones already has a 3.724 million dollar dead cap hit in 2026. Besides Miller, I’m cutting AJE because he was awful last year at the pass rush and RDC convinced me to at least consider trading Edwards. I do believe Beane unlocks most of the cap savings this season through restructuring Dawkins, Milano and others.

Those numbers are directly from Spotrac and the 8.4 savings before June 1 has been widely reported. I also doubt they’ll cut either Jones or McGovern. The savings aren’t great enough and you can’t replace them for the little money saved. I can see some type of restructuring to reduce their cap hit this year. If we learned anything from last off-season, Beane has a plan and no one except Josh is safe.

Besides the obvious cutting or restructuring of Von Miller, who are the other potential cap casualties? The Rochester paper thinks David Edwards could be cut. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/sports/ Their rationale is with a $4.9 mill price tag and only 875K dead cap if released he’s a likely candidate because of young talented depth on the roster like Anderson, SVPG, and Grable. IMHO this is an unnecessary risk to the strength of the roster. I also think if they wanted to open a space for one of the kids, Edwards would be traded, not released. The Bills received a 5th for Bates last year and he wasn’t even a starter. Surely Edwards is worth a 3rd rd pick. Given our lack of a 3rd rd pick in the draft, a trade makes significantly more sense. Other potential cap casualties (I’m not saying any of these are likely, just possible) Miller - Cap 23.814 Dead Cap 15.417 - Savings 8.397 D. Jones - Cap 9.408. Dead Cap 7.632 - Savings 1.776 McGovern - Cap 9.385 Dead Cap 7.74 - Savings 1.645 AJE - Cap 7.487 Dead Cap 4.1.48 - Saving 3.339 Edwards - Cap 4.905 Dead Cap .875 - Savings 4.03 Bass - Cap 4.67 Dead Cap 3.06 - Savings 1.61 Rapp - Cap 3.667 Dead Cap 1.333 - Savings 2.334 Trubisky - Cap 3.25 Dead Cap .750 - Savings 2.50 Martin - Cap 2.485 Dead Cap .400 - Savings 2.085 Lewis - Cap 1.969 Dead Cap .213 - Savings 1.756 Obviously most of these cuts won’t occur, but Beane could restructure guys like McGovern or Jones through a void year or two to create more current savings and push the kick down the road. Also some of the cuts create little savings when you factor in the cost of the replacement. For example Martin (P) who was solid last year costs 2.485. His dead cap is 400K, but Camarda, a potential replacement on the roster costs 1.1 mill. The net savings is less than $1 mill. Not sure it’s worth the hassle unless Camarda really outkicks him in the pre-season. After putting together the list, I can see why the RDC focused on Edwards. A potential $3-4 million dollar savings is worth exploring if management feels Anderson, Grable or SVPG is truly ready to start. As the article pointed out Edwards was the 6th OL in 2023 before starting. Maybe Anderson is ready to replace him after being the 6th OL in 2024. The real question is do we really want to mess with one of the strengths of the roster?

@SoTier good rundown. Much nicer than my previous comments. I don’t put much stock in the opinions of a former Bills’ exec from a failed administration who hasn’t sniffed an NFL job since.

I'm sorry what was I thinking. I sincerely apologize.

Coleman is the X receiver. Amari Cooper played the Y last year. If we had draft DeJean, we'd be missing both the X & Y receivers for 2025. Instead we are only missing the Y receiver.

Your argument is only that we'd have better results this past season. That is why this whole exercise is silly. I love Ladd and wanted him drafted by the Bills, but that doesn't mean 3 years from now Ladd would ultimately be the better draft choice. I also had Bullock higher on my board over Bishop, but that again doesn't mean Bullock will be viewed as the better choice 3 years from now. You cannot evaluate a draft after year 1. Lets look at 2022 after the first season. Elam - (23rd overall) - 13 GP, 6 GS, 41 tackles - Not a bad start for the rookie, but he's had 40 tackles and 4 starts since. Cook - (63rd overall) - 16 GP, 0 GS, 687 YFS, 3 TDs - solid 1st year, but didn't look like a starter - Since 33 GP, 19GS, 2834 YFS, 24 TDs - 2 Pro Bowls Bernard - (89th overall) - 16 GP, 1 GS, 22 tackles - Looks like a depth LB - Since 30 GP, 30 GS, 247 tackles, 5 Ints, 4 FR, 7.5 sacks Shakir - (148th overall) - 14 GP, 2 GS, 161 yards on 10 catches (50% of targets) 1 TD - talk about forgettable - Since 32 GP, 19 GS, 1431 yards on 115 catches (79% of targets), 6TDS, - Was 2nd in the NFL in YAC in 2024 Benford - (185th overall) - 9 GP, 5 GS, 24 tackles, 1 INT - just another depth CB after year 1 - Since 30GP, 29GS, 118 tackles, 4 Ints, 4 forced fumbles, 2 FR and graded as the 5th best CB in the NFL by PFF. 2022 looked like a very mediocre draft with Elam arguably the best of the lot with 6 starts and 41 tackles as a rookie. Instead he's the bust and the core of the team (outside of the Josh) is the other 4 guys listed.

or Cook or Shakir or Brown or ..........

lol. They lost Cine to Philly. Had Jackson or Hyde been good enough they would have played.

Ok you take DeJean, who plays boundary WR, who is your depth at S? Remember you had no cap space to go buy big $ FAs. BPA is a fantasy early in the NFL draft. Also Philly took 2 CBs in the 1st 2 rounds of the draft because they lacked depth at CB last season which was a primary reason the Eagles 2024 stank. So in your world if Beane drafts for need like last season at WR and S he’s wrong, but if he goes BPA in 2023 and grabs Kincaid in 2023 he’s also wrong? To me these last 2 drafts prove that Beane is flexible in his approach. 2024 was a need draft because of the re-tooling and 2023 was more BPA because he didn’t have obvious needs. WR wasn’t a need as Diggs and Davis were under contract and Shakir was developing nicely.

This fact kills all other arguments. Dejean was never going to be our top pick (or apparently anyone else’s) and he was gone by the time our next pick came around.

So Monos had a high position on the Bills from 2013-2017. No playoff appearances, no division titles. Beane and McD 5 straight division championships and playoff 7 of 8 years. Thanks for your input Jim, have fun in the UFL. Best of luck with your new venture. ‘Go do what Philly did” “load up on DL in the 1st rd” LOL. Davis and Carter are top 10 or 15 picks. Bills haven’t had one of those in a while. The worst Philly drafted in the last 5 years was 22nd. The Bills best pick was 23rd. Now you know why Monos is in the UFL.

Lol. Cooper Dejean. Holy hindsight Batman. If Cooper was such as sure fire pick, why did he drop to 40? That means every team passed on him at least once. The Bills, with Benford and Douglas locked in as starters and 1st rd pick Elam as depth, were never ever going to use their top pick on a CB. DeJean was never going to be an option. The 2024 draft was also heavy on good WRs and Safeties the two areas on biggest need. Given the Bills retooling last season and limited cap space, need was always going to play apart in the draft. We can argue about which safety or which WR, but Beane didn’t “reach” for either player as both were where they were drafted. Personally I would have taken McConkey and tried to move up to get Bullard, but was fine with Bishop after I read what Kincaid and other said about. This year will be a biggest test for both players assuming they stay healthy.

We should re-title this thread, I hate Beane thread no. 147. None of the early picks were reaches. None. For example Kiper had Coleman at 33 (He was pick 33). Kiper had Bishop 61 (He was drafted 60th). Kiper had Carter at 93. (He was drafted 95th). Davis wasn’t a reach either and SVPG was a bargain pick. With the exception of Bishop and Coleman, none of these guys were expected to start. They were nearly all drafted to be developmental depth, but nearly all played. Grable and SVPG were effective OLine depth. Solomon shows spurts on good play as did Carter until he got hurt. Coleman, despite everything had decent rookie stats but the concerns on draft day about separation came true and we’ll see if he progresses in year 2. Bishop was fine. I’m not sure what people expected? He was in a competition for the starting job with Edwards and Hamlin. Bishop and Edwards got hurt and Hamlin won the job, but by season’s end he has pushing to be the starter. We’ll see what happens in year 2. I honestly find in hilarious that this board is trying to evaluate last year’s draft class after one season. It often takes 3 years before guys become starters or significant contributors. We also didn’t have starting slots available to be won by rookies outside of WR and S. Even there Beane brought in vets to have adequate depth in case the rookie wasn’t ready such as keeping Hamlin, and signing Edwards at S, and signing Hollins, Samuel, and all the other WR spaghetti he threw at the wall. @Pete Did you really expect rookie OL to supplant any starter on the OL? Did they expect a 5th rd draftee to supplant Milano, Bernard or Williams at LB, or Davis to supplant Cook at RB after Cook had a 1500 yard season? Was Carter expected to push Groot, Oliver, Jones or AJE out of the lineup? I don’t think so. I think we all hoped that Bishop and Coleman would have done better as rookies, but it’s hardly surprising they struggled. Remember Shakir and Cook had about 150 yards each as rookies.

To many circumstances to have any idea where Beane will go at this point. We need veteran help and youth all over the defense especially on the line and in the secondary. Same can be said for WR as well. If we don't trade away the pick, DT, Edge, WR and CB should all be on the table. WR - Egubka would be my top choice at 30 if he falls to us despite our other needs. I like Golden as well. Bonds and Royals in the second round. Kyle Williams later in the draft. CB - I think we can wait here. Hairston is the 2nd and Quincy Riley later. DT - Any of Nolen, T Williams, Grant or Collins look good on paper early. Pegues looks interesting later. Edge - Stewart in the 1st. I'm biased but sack master OLB Jalon Walker in the 1st would be a steal. I haven't research the depth at edge, but Princely Umanmielen is supposed to have a big motor and a talent for getting to the QB.

Steelers - Bradshaw, Harris, Swann/Stallworth Fish - Greise, Csonka/Morris, Warfield Dallas - Staubach, Dorsett, Drew Pearson

It won't be over until the Bills beat the Chiefs and win a Super Bowl.

The 5 teams with the lowest passing % were Philly (44%), Baltimore (46.5%), GB (49%), Buffalo (51%) and Pitt (51.5%). Det was 8th (53%) and Wash 7th (52.5%). All playoff teams. Even if 65% of the passing plays are to WRs, that equates to about 33% of our plays. Considering we tend to have 3-4 WRs in the pattern, is it really worth 20-25 million to just one of those top 3-4 receivers? I'd rather give Cook 15 mill for 3 years as he is critical to both the rushing and passing game.

I agree. There will be circumstances where a 2nd contract may be justified, but after the Diggs forced feeding I'm no longer willing to become so one dimensional when throwing the ball. In my the mock drafts I've done for this draft I'm keep drafting Bond early and then Kyle Williams later. Here is a link to info on Williams for those who aren't familiar. https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Kyle-Williams-WR-UNLV

Sounds to me that you draft a couple WRs every year and don’t give anyone a 2nd contract.

The answer is actually the same - DL, WR, S & CB CB - We need a starter to replace Douglas. Our only real depth (especially when they move on from Elam) is Ingram and Lewis. I expect Beane to draft 1-2 CBs in the draft and sign at least one value vet with some starting experience. A couple of draft names UK's Hairston early and Louisville's ball hawk Riley in the middle. DL - We need to be better at stopping the run and a getting to the QB. We need a vet edge rusher to rush from the right side (Crosby, Garrett or ???) and we need stud young DT to replace Jones in a year or sooner. I don't think AJE returns and Miller will either be restructured or waived (50/50). How much of an emphasis Beane places on this position in the draft may depend on how much he likes Solomon and Carter from last year's draft. In the Draft Shemar Stewart (Edge) looks interesting, as do DTs Ken Grant (U of M), Alfred Collins (Texas) early and Miss' JJ Pegues in the mid draft. WR - We need a WR on the boundary who can get separation. I think Beane uses the draft to get such a player and re-signs Hollins in free agency. I'd also like to see Beane draft Kyle Williams from Wash St with a mid-level pick. I like Texas' Bond in the 2nd round. S - Bishop and the injury prone Rapp are the defacto starters, but veteran depth and a draft pick or 2 would help depth considerably. Bama's Malachi Moore looks like a interesting late rd flyer. Iowa's Castro in the middle rounds. Outside of Lewis we have no depth behind the starters. Other draft needs might be RB (if Johnson leaves), TE (if Morris leaves), and a backup QB. I'd take a flyer on UGA's Etienne if we need a RB.

Missed Branch. I was looking at the 1974 draft and Pittsburgh drafted Swann, Stallworth, Lambert and Webster.

Piss poor draft overall. Only Franco Harris made the Hall from that entire draft. Don't forget about greats Phil Dokes and Tom Ruud.

I rarely (if eve agree with you, but Elam has to be in the top 10 worst Bills ever especially given his draft status.

I’m all in on getting Crosby or Garrett or ( fill in vet DE in his prime) to play opposite of Groot. My one caveat is that we need to keep both 2nds to be used on a corner and WR. This strategy may depend on what management thinks about 2nd year players Carter and Solomon and whether they want Miller back as a situational pass rusher. I think there is a 50/50 chance Miller returns at a significant decrease in salary and cap cost. Remember if they cut him they save 8 mill, but then have to find a replacement. I’d rather cut AJE whose pressure % was terrible. If they bring back Miller and acquire Crosby, the line looks something like this. Starters - Groot, Oliver, Jones & Crosby Backups - Miller, Solomon, Carter plus a rookie middle rd pick like Pegues who has good upside. This frees up the 2 2nd rd picks to add a WR like Bond and a CB like Hairston.