GASabresIUFan

As a fellow Bulldog backer, I think the plan should be to trade out of the first to the early 2nd rd picking up an extra 3rd and maybe a late 4th as well. I'd then use the early 2nd on Adonai Mitchell, and the late 2nd on Bullard (or other available safety). I'd have zero problem with grabbing Ladd in 3rd.

Fairburn at the Athletic says if we cut Diggs after June 1st we'd save $20 million in 2024 but get hit for $20 million in dead cap in 2025. That might be worth it. I agree with Neal. Cutting Martin doesn't move the needle for me. You can accomplish twice as much by dumping Gilliam. McGovern is young and did a solid job. Might as well extend him for 2 more years and lower his cap cost that way. Same goes for Douglas, especially if they move on from White. I'm not sure about Thompsett's restructuring amounts, but it's good to know it's possible to get under a cap and add some flexibility. To add more cheaper talent, I'd love to see Beane trade out of the first and get more draft capital. Buffalo currently has the 28th, 60th, 99th & 128th picks in the first 4 rounds. I'd like to see Beane trade out of the 1st rd and pick up at extra draft capital. For example, the Bills could trade our 28th pick to GB for their 1st 2nd rd pick (41), their 3rd (89 or 93), and a 4th rd pick (126). GB has 2 2nds, 2 3rds, and 2 4ths to play with. If the Bills made such a deal they'd have 2 2nds, 2 3rds, 2 4ths, 2 5th, 3 6ths and a 7th. I would like a higher 2nd than 41 to get the WR we need, my example is just to show what's possible.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap/ I’d suggest clicking on the above link to begin to see where Beane can find 50 million in cap savings. Diggs, Miller and Knox have terrible deals, but all have dead cap cost larger than their salaries. Unless restructured there is no savings to be had. White has a 16 mill salary but only a $10 mill dead cap. He is likely gone. Finding a way to restructure Diggs, Knox and Miller’s deals will go along way toward getting under the cap. Morse, Poyer, Harty, Gilliam, and Hines all carry much lower dead cap cost vs Salaries. Harty, Gilliam, and Hine will all be gone. I doubt Morse is let go, but extended to save cap. Poyer may also return. Moving on from White, Hines, Harty and Gilliam saves about 16 million. I wish Beane luck finding the rest of the needed cap savings.

Don’t let facts get in the way of an argument. If we follow his rationale, the Bills should fire McD, fire the coach who replaces him and then maybe we’ll win a SB with the coach after that 5 years after letting McD go. Geez that makes sense.

5 years and two coaches later.

Do you think that is what they said in Philly about Andy Reid? Do you think thought Reid was the best coach in the NFL when they ran him out of town like the poeple here are attempting to do with McD?

No Milano was out, Tra White was out, Benford and Benard were out, Douglas was clearly not 100%, Taron Johnson was also injured. Heck, we were starting AJ Klein against Kelce. Do I think if the Bills D was mostly healthy would we have won this game? Absolutely and easily!

With what money?

So it's McD's fault that he lost 2 all-pros on Defense for the season and D Jones for most of the season. It's also McD's fault that Bass missed kicks he has made easily the last few years and most of this year. It's also McD's fault that we lost 4 key D players against Miami and then another 3 key D against Pittsburgh. Honestly, McD did a great job with a patchwork D even getting us this far. The real issue was the offense and that is on Beane. We lacked quality WRs all year and our franchise QB turned the ball over more than he ever has. If Josh plays well earlier in the year, the Bills are probably the 1 seed this year and it's a very different season. Even in this game bad Josh showed up and tried to force it down the field when a shorter pass for a 1st down would have done the job. Yes, Shefield and Diggs should have caught those balls, but that is who those two players were this season.

Within the next 2 seasons if we can ever find a way to stay healthy.

I may be in the minority, but I like where I think this team is headed. We are old along the D Line and Safety, but those are not insurmountable problems. I think there are very good pieces on this team, but a lack of good depth at WR and injuries on D ultimately ended the season. We have a franchise QB, a good RB, a good O Line with some good young players. We have a top young TE who is going to get better and an emerging slot WR in Shakir. Knox should also be better next season. I also like what I saw from Ty Johnson. On defense, I like Milano, Oliver, Rousseau, Douglas, Benard, Taron Johnson, and Benford. That's a really good core D with some very young (and cheap) talent. I'd like to see Jones and Floyd re-signed. I believe Dodson, Spector, and Williams will give us strong LB depth next season. I can also see Poyer returning for a final season. The off-season priorities are safety, WR, and D Line, and I think Beane should be able to address those needs early in draft with possible instant starters. I would love to draft Adonai Mitchell early. He is big and fast with excellent hands. I also think there will be 3-4 safeties available late in the 2nd rd who could start immediately like UGA's Bullard. The other priority is finding 40 million in cap space to get under the cap. $6 million likely comes from releasing Tre White (10 million dead cap). $9 million could come from moving on from Mitch Morse, but I don't see that happening. I can see an extension to lower his $12 mill cap hit. $4 million comes from dumping Harty Dumping Gilliam saves another $2 We can also save some $ by extending or restructuring Taron Johnson's deal. The team is currently paying stupid money to Diggs, Miller, and Knox. Finding some savings here will go along way to fixing the payroll. Also Josh counts $47 mill against next year's cap (or about 19.5%). I also have zero problem with bringing Brady back as OC. I think he'll have a better handle on the offense next season with a full off-season to prepare for the job and if Beane gets him better weapons at WR.

In the Hamler thread, I wrote about our desperate need for WRs and was ridiculed for criticizing the future deal for Hamler. I guess people failed to realize that the guy who has caught 12 passes over the last 3 years (Including none this season) isn't going to move the needle. The Bills have 2 WRs; a declining Diggs who we are paying $30 mill and a nice No. 3 in Shakir. That's it. Diggs would be better if we had someone on the other side who could keep the defenses from keying on him. It would also help if the OC had an idea of how to use formations to get him open and if he didn't have the dropsees. The goal this off-season will be to get 2 WRs in the draft. Admittedly we also need safeties and more CD help.

My gut is telling me that the Bills win 28 - 17. Game is close into the 3rd but Josh makes a Superman play late in the 3rd to put the Bills ahead for good.

What are the raw numbers? Josh 66.5% completions, 4306 yards, 29 TDS, 18 Ints, plus 524 yards rushing, 15 TDs, 7 fumbles Lamar 67.2% 3678 yards, 24 TDs, 7 Ints, plus 821 yards rushings, 5 tds, 11 fumbles Purdy 69.4%, 4280 yards, 31 TDs, 11 Ints, plus 144 yards rushings, 2 TDs, 6 fumbles Dak 69.5%, 4516 yards, 36 TDs, 9 ints, plus 242 yards rushing, 2 TDs, 4 fumbles Mahomes 67.2%, 4183 yards, 27 TDs, 14 Ints, plus 389 yards rushing 0 TDs, 5 fumbles Josh leads in Total yards and total TDs, but also turnovers by a wide margin.

No, but it may have prevented us from drafting TE depth. Between taking Knox in the 3rd in 2019 (and the failed Sweeney in the 7th) and last season's draft of Kincaid, the Bills didn't draft a single TE. As my posts have stated, I think the Bills must draft a WR, but that isn't going to fix a huge need at WR. Davis is gone after this year as his play has diminished. Harty and Sherfield are ineffective and also should be gone and defenses have seemed to have caught up to Diggs. Shakir right now is our only consistent and effective WR. He has 16 catches in his last 16 targets. It's pretty friggin sad when a small 5th rd receiver is your best WR option. Go compare what GB has done at both WR over the last 2 drafts and compare it to Buffalo over Beane's entire tenure. GB WRs - Jaylen Reed (2nd 2023), Donta Wicks (5th 2023), Christian Watson (2nd 2022), Romeo Dobbs (4th in 2022). Those 4 combined for 2500 yards and 25 TDs this season. Buffalo - Shorter (5th 2023), Shakir (5th 2022), Stevenson (6th 2021), Davis (4th in 2020), Hodgins (6th in 2020), McCloud (6th 2018), Proehl (7th 2018). Outside of Davis (who will be gone after this season and who drops as many as he catches) and Shakir (who took a step forward this season), none of these guys have made an impact on the Bills and we haven't been able to build a good receiving corps. Adding Hamler is just another hope and prayer to build cheap depth instead of properly investing in the position and building a real group of weapons for Josh like GB has for Love. So celebrate this brilliant signing. Maybe it will work out, but the odds are against it. Maybe Beane will invest draft capital at WR, but given his history, I doubt that also.

That would be incorrect. All GMs look at their commitments and roster before they look at their draft needs. Having this guy in the organization will change how Beane looks at his WR depth and will change his draft strategy, especially as he has to pinch pennies as he is 40 million over the cap.

Have there been a Marv Bateman or Spike Jones sighting?

In have an idea, why doesn’t Beane actually invest our draft capital in talented WRs instead of castoffs from other teams? During his tenure, Beane was never drafted a WR higher than the 4th Rd (Davis). Is it any wonder why we continually bring in guys like Sherfield, Harty, and now this mini WR. This is not what the Bills need. The Bills need two good receivers, one to replace Davis and one to eventually replace Diggs. We need someone with size and speed. Someone like Adonai Mitchell for example. These guys are found high in the draft, not from the Walmart clearance bin.

Given our cap situation, whomever is cheapest.

Diggs isn’t going anywhere for the next 2 years so we better hope he isn’t “done”. Our OCs need to do a better job of scheming him open and he needs more help from the other guys in the WR room. Shakir has stepped up, but who else is an opponents DC really worried about Davis? Harty? Sherfield? Time to move on from Davis, Harty and Sherfield, and get 2 WRs in the draft. Adonai Mitchell would look great playing the No. 2

I’m an IU alum and a UGA season ticket holder. I watched UGA terrorize Nix when he was at Auburn, and Penix get beat up at IU with a porous O Line. Both Nix and Penix better go to teams with great OLines, because both hold the ball to long and get rattled when their rushed. Penix has a terrible injury history. I wouldn’t take either in the 1st rd and wouldn’t take Nix in the 2nd either.

The Bills have 11 draft picks; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(2), 6(4), and a 7. I’d love to see Beane maneuver in the draft to end up with an extra top 3 round pick. The Bills need 2WRs, at least 1 S, and a DE or DT. My thought is trading back from the 1st rd into the 2nd and picking up and extra 3rd in the process. With 2 2nds and 2 3rds, I think Beane could get a safety and WR in the 2nd and then a WR and DE/DT in the 3rd. Former Bulldog and Longhorn AD Mitchell would be the WR I’d target in the 2nd rd. He is big and very fast with very good hands. Jerry Rice’s kid Brendon (USC) would be another really interesting big receiver in the 3rd.

By the way, Bass’ deadcap for 2024 is 7.38 mill vs a salary of 4.42. He will be returning next season.

I like Shakir. He has been one of the best developments on offense this season, but the Bills need to invest in some WRs in the draft. We need to replace Davis next season and a long-term replacement for Diggs. I like Shakir as the 3. We need a big WR who can go up and get 50/50 balls. We also need someone who can actually run the correct route and that’s not Davis. Go compare our receiving core to the one GB has developed for Love over the last two years. They added Watson (2nd), Reed (2nd), Wicks (5th) and Doubs (4th) plus Musgrave (2nd) and Kraft (3rd) at TE. The four WR’s accounted for nearly 2500 yards receiving and 25 touchdowns. Diggs, Davis and Shakir only accounted for 17TDs. Harty was our 4th WR and had only 150 yards. Do you realize that Davis (a 4th rd pick) is the highest WR pick in the Beane era? We can do better.

This has to be the best job McD has ever done as a coach. The GM lets “star” linebacker walk in Edmunds. You lose two all-pros for the season (Milano and White). You lose DT Jones for much of the season. You then turn to kids Benford, Benard, and Dodson, who all step up. Beane adds Douglas at the deadline who plays like an all-pro and the team charges into the playoffs. However in the last two games, you have lost 4 players in the secondary and 3 Linebackers, including 5 key starters (CB T. Johnson, CB Douglas, S Rapp, CB Benford, LB Benard, LB Dodson, and LB Spector). Next Sunday is a major step up in competition. What are McD/Beane going to do? We have no practice squad linebackers left. Klein and Williams did an amazing job at LB considering the situation, but are they up for stopping Pacheco and Kelse? How does the secondary handle Rice? Douglas said he could have played this week if necessary and that is great news for next week, but what about who plays the opposite side? Elam? Who steps into the Taron Johnson role if he can’t go? Can the offense run the ball well enough to keep Mahomes on the sidelines? Beane and McDermott have their hands full on this short week. Hopefully there will be good news on the injury front. I did search the practice squad for possible LB signings. Joe Giles-Harris (NE) is the only one I could find with Bills experience. There are two very experienced LB’s out there Dameon Wilson (Dal) has 73 career starts and was a 2 year starter for Reid in KC. Also Jaylon Smith (Pit) has 69 career starts including 11 last year for the Giants.