BillsFanForever19

Oh crap. That's another thing I forgot about. Thanks for the refresher! The girl was underage. So even if it was consensual, it read as a public admittance of statutory rape and perpetuating underage drinking. There is no coverage in law for "well, he thought she was 18". Or "ya know, things happen in college, I'm sure a lot of players have done this and not gotten caught".

The rush to judgement crowd was on him from the jump. But you're just wrong if you think that being released didn't turn the tide from everyone else. College kid having an STD and telling a girl to get tested for said STD means, at the very least, they did have sex. And in conjunction with the pictures that were released of her state the next day, he looked guilty as sin. That's what ultimately got him released. They were ready to stick by him before that stuff came out. After that, they couldn't.

That's not how things work. The NFL isn't going to make an unprecedented roster exemption because a guy made himself look guilty, got released because of it, and later got cleared. If he is truly as innocent as this makes him appear, a team will sign him. Or they won't. But there will be no league mandates.

If you don't think that recorded conversation by Police of him telling a woman who is claiming that he took advantage of her that he has Chlamydia and she should get tested wasn't the thing that made people believe there may be truth to it, especially after clamming up and hanging up - you're kidding yourself. Before that came out everyone was thinking "we'll see what comes of this". After that was released, he looked guilty.

You keep saying "do the right thing". Like he won't have any other opportunities and he's dying to come back here. If he's as clear as this would make it appear, he'll have a better chance to start elsewhere. We just signed a Punter to a long term 3 year contract. It's a shame that things happened the way they did. But Beane's not going to say "sorry Sam, I know you played well for us last year and you've moved your family up here but we're going to eat a bunch of money and fire you". Whether or not they can prove he was there and whether or not he did do anything, his being recorded telling the girl she should "get tested" is really what destroyed him in the court of public opinion. And the Bills, as well as other teams, may still have a hard time overlooking it.

He's a Free Agent. The league has no say in what team he goes to. He wasn't put on any sort of list. There's no "well, the Bills drafted him so they get first shot at him" rule. Even if we want him, which we won't because we've signed Sam Martin long term, he's free to sign wherever he wants.

You would be surprised the amount of people who look at 48/92 and claim he dropped half of his passes or that all 92 targets were catchable.

The rule that you can't go on an exempt list as a Rookie before you played really annoyed me. He should have been able to be exempt until everything came to light. And since he's been cleared, we could have had him and Martin in Camp this year. Now he'll get a chance to be Punt God on another team when he should have been our Punt God

Oh Thank God, I thought this was going to be another veiled DeAndre Hopkins post.

Yes, you are correct. It was Chicago and not Minnesota. Not sure why my brain mixed them up. I edited the post. I do remember putting Boettger in at Center before in a pinch sometimes within the 2018-2021 seasons. Though as my Minnesota to Chicago brainfart would show, I don't know how well my memory can be trusted. It's hard to find info on what position on the line he played in each snap and game he played. But as this article states, he does have Center versatility. https://billswire.usatoday.com/2023/03/05/buffalo-bills-re-sign-ike-boettger-one-year/

This is simply incorrect. Did he have an issue with drops? Yes. But to look at his targets v. catches is an incorrect metric in gauging his drops. In a vacuum, he had 48 receptions on 92 targets. But to really get an accurate figure, you need to look at his catchable target rate. His catchable target rate was 73.9% Meaning that just under 74% of his targets were deemed catchable. That means he really came down with 48 of 68 catchable balls. Making it 70.5% complete on target. And even that metric doesn't mean he dropped 20 balls. The twenty balls he didn't come down with would include catchable balls being perfectly defended on. He actually dropped 9 of those 20 catchable balls. His drop percentage was 9.7% Nowhere near the 50% many fans would like to claim. And of those 9 balls, it doesn't mean they all just hit him in the hands and he cleanly dropped them. Long story short, he did drop some balls and it wasn't a great season, by and large. I think everyone agrees on that. But this idea that he dropped as many balls as he should have caught simply looking at 48 receptions on 92 targets is an oversimplified, incorrect method to say that he was worse than he was in a hyperbolic fashion. https://www.playerprofiler.com/nfl/gabriel-davis/ https://buffalowdown.com/2023/02/13/4-players-not-meet-buffalo-bills-expectations-2022/2/

He started every game he played last season for the Cowboys. He signed a 3 year, 23 million dollar deal with us. If he was as bad as you claim he is, we wouldn't have had to pay that much. We had to pay that much because there was competition for his services. Again, if he was as bad as you say he was - there wouldn't be competition for his services. He played well last season and has a lot of impressive traits and skills. This is a good piece breaking him down: https://theathletic.com/4340812/2023/03/24/bills-connor-mcgovern-deonte-harty/ Long story short, as usual, you're being hyperbolic in your review. I think the Cover1 guys were on to something. The drafting of O'Cyrus Torrence may have been less about replacing Ryan Bates and more about being competition for Spencer Brown. And at the very least, insurance in the event that he doesn't take the next step or Mitch Morse can't stay healthy. I wasn't advocating for the Bills to trade Ryan Bates. I actually would prefer that they don't. But the fact is he is being paid a lot of money at a position where we have 3 starting players already in McGovern, Torrence, and Edwards and will only keep 4. If a team is willing to take his contract off our hands and give us a Draft Pick - he's the only real moveable piece. But again, I'd prefer to simply keep him as he could fill in anywhere on the line.

Before last season started, I remember saying time and again "the only thing that can stop us is injuries". I truly felt that losing Tre to an ACL injury was the difference between us going to the Super Bowl and dropping to the Chiefs in the fashion we did. With him at 100%, I feel, it wouldn't have come down to :13 seconds. When Micah went down when he did, I immediately thought "that could be the difference between making the Super Bowl and not". Then it seemed every single week, we were losing someone. When we'd get someone back, we'd lose someone else. We went from being relatively healthy for years to completely snake bitten last season. It's a miracle we performed as well as we did with all the injuries. And when Von went down for the year before the playoffs, I remember saying "it's over". Then Damar Hamlin happened and I think what that did to our team mentally cannot be understated. All that said, I still expected a better end than what we got. The good news is - this season our depth is better pretty much across the board to handle a situation like we had last year. I sincerely hope we are luckier than we were last season. It would be insane if it were worse.

I think our roster makeup wasn't the main issue for our team not making it to the Super Bowl last season. It was injuries and insane circumstances being too much to overcome. That said, I think the roster is in better shape than it was last season. - We didn't have RB's for every situation. Singletary, Cook, and Hines were all very similar backs. With the additions of Damien Harris and Latavius Murray - our RB core is diversified. - Our Pass Catchers were lacking beyond Diggs, Davis, and Knox. When Davis got banged up and Crowder went down, we had to do things like trot out Jake Kumerow and sign guys who were toast like Brown and Beasley. With the additions of Kincaid (who will be more WR than TE), Harty, Sherfield, and Shorter (as well as Shakir with the training wheels off), we're in a much better position of depth and taking pressure off Diggs. - Our Interior OL was a liability. Bates was fine, but between Saffold's play and Morse's injuries (which had us playing Greg Van Roten on the line) - the middle of the line was a massive problem. With Saffold and Van Roten gone and the additions of McGovern, Torrence, and Edwards - we now have 4 starting quality Guards. If Morse is to go down, Bates will play with Torrence or Edwards next to him. This will help in the run game and protection massively. - Injuries and lack of depth ravaged our D-Line's ability to stop the run. Miller will return from injury this season. Jordan Phillips was a very good run stuffer. But he was injured too frequently. Now we have him back and if he's injured again, we've added solid run stuffer Poona Ford to the mix of what we had last season. - Safety was a massive problem. When you lose Micah Hyde for the year early in the season, you're behind the 8 Ball. Especially when there's a massive drop off in talent between your starters and your backups. And especially with Poyer than getting injured and what happened to Hamlin. This season we get Poyer and Hyde back 100% And now if we lose one of them, we have Taylor Rapp coming into the Lineup, who is an accomplished Starter - as opposed to times last season where we were rolling out Cam Lewis and Dean Marlowe. I don't think it's accurate to say Beane is concerned about MLB. Fans are worried. But Beane's actions in FA and the Draft juxtaposed with what he's said everytime it's brought up says he's done what he wants to do there. He drafted Bernard with a Day 2 pick last year. He wants to see if that investment pays dividends. He signed AJ Klein and Tyrel Dodson back as vet insurance. Then he Drafted Dorian Williams in the 3rd this year, who has the flexibility to play both Outside and Inside. If he planned on doing more than what he's done, he'd have done it already. And if he didn't like Williams in the Draft, he'd have either moved up from the 3rd to get a Drew Sanders or a Trent Simpson or not drafted Williams at all. Again, I think MLB is just where Beane wants it this year. It's fans that are worried about it.

I agree he has too much value to move, in my opinion. But could they? If someone like Chicago (who signed him to the deal) wants to take him on, save us the cap space, and give us a Draft pick AND we're comfortable with Boettger playing backup Center and 4th OG behind McGovern, Torrence, and Edwards - I could see it. But I think I'd rather keep him. And I heard an interesting theory on Cover1. Bates plays Guard and Center, but he started his career in College and the NFL as a Tackle. A big part of Bates' value is his versatility to play any spot on the Line. That said, one of them theorized maybe they look at Bates as the Spencer Brown insurance at RT that fans think we don't have. If Brown begins to struggle again, maybe it will be Torrence and Bates on the Right side.

I think you're misinterpreting that young lady's tweet. She's not saying she thinks it's a bad look. She's saying the opposite.

What I'm saying is if it were "done deal" territory, then it would have happened. That would mean Beane was agreeable to the asking price. The only way that he'd back out is if the price was upped. He's a firm Poker player. He sets his price and doesn't budge from it. Either it was nowhere close to what Ertz is describing or Philadelphia changed the terms.

"It was almost a done deal, but it just didn't get to the finish line" makes me wonder what happened. Beane's not going to get to "done deal" territory and then not pull the trigger. I'd bet Phili got cold feet and upped their asking price in the 11th hour.

Then why even sign him at all? Why make a point of signing him instead of Drafting a guy in the 6th and making a point of doing so during the Draft?

I'm not saying he's an absolute lock. But less than 50, I don't see that. Like I said, we signed him instead of Drafting a RB. We always keep 4 RB's on the roster. Cook, Harris, and Hines will be active on Game Day. But if we try and stash him on the Practice Squad, he's going to walk if given the opportunity to sign on anyone's 53 who has a RB injured. And then we're one injury at the position away from having no one. If Jordan Mims shows out in the Pre-Season, maybe we can feel safe stashing both of them and if we lose one, we still have the other. But I really feel given the way Beane has spoken and the situation that odds are definitely more in the favor of him being here than risking losing him on the PS.

He had ONE game with significant snaps in his Rookie year on Defense. 59 snaps in a Week 9 against the Jets. He had a grand total of 109 snaps on Defense all season. The idea that they would cut a 3rd Round pick after 1 season that he barely played in is ridiculous. There's no way Beane would do that. He's still learning and developing.

He might not be a lock to take the Starting role. But he's absolutely a lock to make the 53. You don't spend a 3rd Round pick on a guy, bring him along slowly as a Rookie, and then cut him before his 2nd season. That's a waste of an investment. Day 2 Picks are going to at least get 2 years and probably won't be cut at all unless there's off the field issues.

There's no way Von starts on PUP. His recovery and what he had done isn't the same as Tre's. By all accounts, he's not expected to miss any time. He's said at worst a game or two. They aren't going to shut him down for a guaranteed 6 games. If Beane felt that was the case, we'd have done more at DE. As for Murray, we've always kept 4 RB's on the 53. Beane called his agents on Draft Day and told them that if he signed with them, he wouldn't Draft a RB. While I see the logic in carrying 3, keeping someone like Morris, and stashing Murray on the PS - I don't see them doing that. Any team in the league could have a player injured and playing time available to Murray and he'd be gone. He wouldn't stick around on a PS and give up the chance to play for someone else. I do like Morris. But I feel that Gilliam could get more reps and cover Morris' role switching between behind the line blocking and on the line blocking when Harris (a solid run blocker) is in the Backfield. While I could see a scenario where Spector makes the roster over a Dodson or Klein, I don't see it as likely. We keep 5 LB's, 6 max. With the uncertainty at MLB, I see us keeping 6. Milano, Bernard and Williams (recent 3rd Round picks), and Tyler Matakevitch (core ST) are locks. That's 4 of the 6. Then I give Klein and Dodson the edge over Spector. I think we'd try and bring Spector back to the PS. But Klein and Dodson are more valuable at the moment.

I get Bernard was a little bit of a reach. I get he had training wheels on all last season, mainly playing ST's, and not looking like a Rookie who had it all figured out Day 1. But y'all are out of pocket voting for Baylon Spector more than Bernard. The competition is really Bernard v. Klein v. Dodson. And more likely either Bernard shows he's ready or they just go with the safe option in Klein. Williams is going to try training at both positions and Beane said if that's too much for him, they'll have him focus on OLB. Doubt with how McDermott brings Rookies along he'll be in the conversation to start at MLB in Training Camp. But who knows, maybe he'll look undeniable. Either way, barring injuries, I don't even see Spector making the 53. We keep 5 LB's, 6 max on the active roster. And I don't see a spot for him with Milano, Bernard, Williams, Klein, Dodson, and Matakevitch (Core ST's) all above him.

This. They drafted Bernard with a 3rd last season. Beane wants to see if he can be the guy and get a return on the investment. They re-signed AJ Klein and Tyrel Dodson as insurance and doubled down in Drafting Dorian Williams (who can play both Middle and Outside). Whether or not anyone thinks that's enough - that's what he's done with the position. A Draft Pick last year, 2 re-signings, and another Draft pick this year. He's addressed MLB a lot more than people think. Posters are acting like Kylo Ren with the "more, more, MORE!" meme across the board. Asking for a top DE, a MLB trade, a WR trade, an OT, a Center, and/or another QB. At this stage, after the Poona Ford and Latavius Murray signings, we need to come up with some money, again, after scraping the well over and over already, just to sign our Draft Picks. Maybe there's a small finishing touch for depth here or there. But until we do something like an extension or two at DT - I wouldn't expect much, if anything more.