BillsFanForever19

He wants the best offer. If it were about simply playing with Josh or Mahomes, he wouldn't be taking visits with teams like Tennessee and New England. He wants to find his best money offers and leverage them. Maybe he'd take less than what a lesser team is offering to play in Buffalo or KC, but if one of those teams wants to overpay in their offer (which they'd have to if they want to land him on their sorry @ss teams) - the discount will probably still be more than the Bills or Chiefs are willing to offer at this point in the Offseason.

My issue with that statement is that people can have their own personal concerns about that. But Beane signed him and made him a priority. What posters want is for him to be, at most, the 4th technical WR on the depth chart and the 5th or 6th option in the passing game after Diggs, Hopkins (who fans look at as a "need" and not a luxury), Davis, Kincaid, and Knox. Beane didn't sign him to a 2 year contract worth 10 million to turn around and go out and spend a boatload more to get another guy because he doesn't see him as a "sure thing". He'll already surely be behind Diggs, Kincaid, and Davis on players split out Wide. I don't think he's looking to use him even less than that with the investment he made in him. Which is why I think Beane has taken a stance of "If he wants to come here cheap, sure. Otherwise, I don't really need him" with Hopkins.

Oh man - you've gone and done it now. You've given sound reasoning as to why Beane targeted him in Wave 1 of Free Agency, outbid others to get him, and why he more than likely feels comfortable with what he's done with the Pass Catching core this offseason already. The "he's an unknown" and "he's never done anything in his career" crowd around here that want to dismiss him and bury him on the depth chart at every chance they get aren't going to like that.

I keep seeing people say "If Beane wanted" as if that's all it takes. Just offering a fair market value probably isn't getting it done unless he's offering the highest amount. Hopkins wants money. All that media noise before he got released was all fine and good. But it's pretty clear since hiring an agent, it's all about getting the most money he can.

Wild this guy keeps getting opportunities based entirely on measurables and Combine performance. I don't know how he even got invited to the Combine with his collegiate resume: https://www.si.com/nfl/packers/transactions/packers-give-chance-to-former-d-iii-player-with-meager-history

I would reserve "trash" for people who are actual criminals and menaces to society. Not for players who act out about issues with coaching. Even then, I wouldn't be going around calling people literal "trash". That's pretty damn hateful. And really unnecessary in this situation. Chill out.

What is your major malfunction? He skipped a Day of Minicamp in June and Voluntary workouts and you're calling him "trash" in threads and taking every opportunity to take personal shots at the guy. Take a friggin' breather, man.

I posted last night in the Diggs thread that if 24/7 Sports and Social Media were a thing in the 90's - this would look like nothing in comparison.

He's actually an intriguing prospect and it's unfortunate to see him be put on IR. I figured him to be good insurance in the event they decided to try and sneak Quintin Morris on the Practice Squad and couldn't. He's a 6'7" Tight End that Minnesota drafted in the 5th Round in 2021 and moved on from after only one season. We brought him in after they released him and has been a Practice Squad, Futures guy since September of last year.

Oh, so now he excused him from practice yesterday? Hilarious. Sounds like Beane or Pegula put McDermott in his place for what he said yesterday and told him "you better fix it".

Judging from yesterday's posts, there's probably a lot of people upset he showed up today bc they loved being justified in being able to talk trash about Diggs.

I love the older posters who like to compare situations like these to experiences in their own jobs, as if it's even REMOTELY applicable.

Only Diggs himself or the people running the Bills IG account would know if he blocked them. There's no way for anyone else to know.

If 24/7 Sports and Social Media were a thing back in "The Bickering Bills" days - this would look like nothing in comparison.

I don't think it has anything to do with Josh, beyond him not going against Dorsey's game plan when things weren't working in the Cinci game. Ultimately, I think it's between him and McDermott and maybe Dorsey. I think McDermott probably strong handed Diggs when he arrived because of his actions and it re-opened old wounds and he peaced out for the day. The thing that really has me thinking it's a McDermott thing is that he consistently lies to the press or downplays things to specifically not cause distractions. He could have easily said that Diggs arrived but then was excused for the rest of the day for personal reasons. He specifically chose to throw him under the bus. That's very out of character for McDermott and speaks to a personal issue to me.

It would do the opposite. It would send a message that we're worried about Diggs and may be looking to eat the dead cap and move on. Digg's problem isn't that the team isn't doing enough to win. It's presumably to do with the coaching. Specifically, game planning away from him in both the KC Championship Game and the Cinci Divisional playoff exits. If anything, the problems with Diggs right now makes Hopkins even more unlikely. It would send the wrong message to Diggs and the media. And if they're feeling a headache from 1 Top WR right now, they may not want to take on another who has his own set of Diva behavior (specifically when it comes to practice habits). Also, if Diggs is worried about his targets, bringing in Hopkins on top of everything else would exacerbate that. So, yeah, signing Hopkins does nothing for the situation we're in that would help. It would do the opposite. Which is probably another reason why we haven't pursued him with any urgency.

Do you think it's also unacceptable how the Cincinnati game went? That even after it became clear what we were doing Offensively wasn't working, that the coaches and Josh refused to change anything and just let the trouncing continue and snowball? I think looking at it in a vacuum and just saying Stefon was wrong and blaming it all on him is the wrong way of looking at it. He could have handled it better. But in my opinion, the team could have handled both what led up to it better and could be handling this better now.

I think this could be what it's all about. McDermott wants him to apologize for what he did and he feels that the reason behind his actions were justified. And honestly, I agree with him. Ultimately, I think both were right. Stefon could have handled it better. But he wasn't wrong in his frustration. In both Playoff exits in back to back years, the game plan was use Diggs as a Decoy. And in the Cinci game in particular, it clearly wasn't working and both Allen and Dorsey refused to change the game plan when it wasn't working. Was it unacceptable how he acted? Yes. But was it also unacceptable that we were getting absolutely TROUNCED by Cinci with the game plan we had and then didn't make changes. Absolutely!

Ultimately, whether it was Diggs who attacked McDermott or McDermott who attacked Diggs leading to his walkout - to me it seems pretty clear that the issue is with coaching and McDermott isn't here for it. I was just watching NFL Live and Ryan Clark said "whatever happened to good ole' fashioned lying?". That thought has stuck with me. McDermott time and again lies to the press. He does whatever it takes to downplay things and avoid distraction. But this time, he chose to do the opposite. His doing so even led to his agent publicly stating confusion as to why he said it the way he did. To me, it's clear. He made a choice to throw Stef under the bus for whatever reason. So there's a disconnect between Stef and McD right now. And again, on one hand I understand wanting control of your team and for your players to fall in line. On the other, Stef reported and was ready to roll. Why be heavy handed in a delicate situation if you can avoid it?

I don't know for sure what's going on. But the fact that he showed up and then left, combined with Josh's words - I wonder if the following is what happened... McDermott let sleeping dogs lie after the Playoff game. Gave him space and didn't talk to him about it during the Offseason. Then when Stefon arrived, McDermott started playing "Look at me, I'm the captain" with him. Telling him it was unacceptable, maybe even asking him to apologize publicly to the team... something of that nature. This reopened old wounds and made him say "F this, I'm going home". Totally speculating, of course. But the fact that he showed up and then left says to me something happened after he arrived that ticked him off. And my guess is it was someone, most likely McDermott coming down on him. McDermott then making it public could have been a further flex of power on him. He could have just said "Stef was here but he was excused for the day for a personal issue". But instead he chose to make it a spectacle. Stef's agent saying "I don't know why McDermott said that" leads me to believe it was McDermott further saying "my way or the highway". Ultimately, a coach should have total control over his team. So in a sense, I understand it if this is what's going on. On the other, it's worrisome if McDermott is choosing to be heavy handed with a delicate situation when it could have just been swept under the rug for now. Again, only speculating.

The "Create another DeAndre Hopkins thread without mentioning DeAndre Hopkins" challenge.

Yes, it's more likely than not Hopkins would have better stats. It's not a guarantee though. No one knows how either would work with Josh. But that doesn't change the fact that he already signed Harty to a contract worth 5 this season that would cost more to cut him than keep him. He also spent a 1st and a 4th on a Big Slot WR. He's not looking at those guys and thinking "unproven, better go get Hopkins" like you and others are. He went out and got them because he has a role for them here. Beane isn't going to pay big money for Hopkins. There's a reason he's visiting Tennessee and New England and he hasn't signed with us already. Beane has a price he's willing to pay (if he's made an offer at all) and he's not sweating whether or not Hopkins comes around to it or not. Because he's a luxury at this point.

In targets? No, probably not. But if he proves to be a consistent speed deep threat for Josh, it's not completely insane to think he'd surpass Davis in yardage. And if that role comes to fruition in conjunction with Knox and Kincaid and Diggs as WR1 - Davis could become more of an afterthought anyways. Harty may or may not be a guy to step over Davis if he begins to faulter. But the way he's a complete and total nothing and an afterthought to you and other posters isn't fair. He's a player that Beane targeted in the 1st Wave of Free Agency and one of the few players he actually paid some money for outside of the minimum. He didn't do that to be completely buried on the Depth Chart and with fears of what he brings to the table. Between him and Dalton and then Trent and Shorter on the bottom of the depth chart with what we already have, he's done a lot and built his pass catching core the way he liked. That's why we're not going balls to the wall for Hopkins. He isn't the need here that he is on most other teams. That's fine that's what you want. But, again, the fact is that Beane targeted him very early in Free Agency is one of the select few he actually paid some money for. He didn't do that thinking "not a known commodity". It means that Beane thinks he is a player worth acquiring and paying that for. Whether or not you think he was worth it or is a good player is a mute point.

He is the most realistic chance. But Harty's contract raised a lot of fans eyebrows. And looking into him and the contract he was given, it's pretty clear that us and other teams looked at his 2021 campaign and saw a player that in his first and only opportunity to get any sort of reps as a WR instead of just a KR - proved to be a fairly consistent deep threat on an average offense with an average QB. Is it likely that Harty will become a Superstar? I wouldn't say for sure he will. But with Josh Allen throwing him the ball instead of Jameis Winston on an offense with the other playmakers we have? I don't think you can say there is no chance. And I think fans that are completely writing him off as a nothing signing are misinformed or wanting to discount him because they'd rather have a shinier toy.

How am I moving the goal posts here? I was replying to HappyDays saying "Many of us simply aren't comfortable relying on Davis to once again be the #2 target share in this passing offense which is what he currently projects to be" by saying that he already might not be that. Nothing he or I said had anything to do with last year. You just like to argue things that have little to nothing to do with what i'm talking about and then say i'm "moving the goal posts" when I explain what you're saying doesn't even fit the conversation. I'm saying that Hopkins is the shiny toy everyone wants because they've "heard of him" and all the moves Beane has made and the players who have already been stated to get more reps are sh-t on and discounted to be worthless players by posters who want to justify that Hopkins is a need and not just a want.