BillsFanForever19

That's great that you'd rather have Hopkins than Oliver. But that's a totally moot issue. There's two massive problems with that - 1.) There is close to a zero possibility that Brandon Beane feels that his #1 DT is worth less than another WR that he surely looks at as a luxury item at this point and 2.) Even if he did, there's also a close to zero possibility that a team is going to take him on his 1 year 10.75m guaranteed contract. It would have been difficult at any point in the Offseason and a near impossibility now. In a vacuum, I see some of the points you and others are making. But the means to make that a reality for us and for Hopkins is as the reporters are saying, extremely unlikely. Doubly so when you take into account as I said that after moving on from Hopkins and Beane addressing the pass catching room with a 1st and 5th Round pick in Dalton Kincaid and Justin Shorter, and signing Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield to go along with Stefon Diggs, Dawson Knox, and Gabe Davis - Beane more than likely looks at Hopkins as a luxury and not a must have like you and other posters do.

Lot of fans showing telltale signs of being in Denial. It's not just "Timmy Graham" saying this. I's also ESPN reporters and simple common sense. If he's taking on an agent, going on a tour of the country, and taking his time - this is completely about the money. And if Hopkins was interested in that contract and Beane was interested in giving it out, we would have traded for him. And if both of those restructures were something Beane definitively wanted to have done, he probably would have done them earlier in the Offseason. Or at least by now. I get people wanting him here. I want him here too. But when you have to say "if we do these restructures, if Beane is willing to do a deal that is uncharacteristic of him, if Hopkins is willing to accept a backloaded deal with dead years, if Hopkins is willing to accept less to come here - he could still be a Bill" - you should realize that while that's a possibility, it's a very slim one. If this had happened earlier in the Offseason, before the Draft where we made moves on weapons because we moved on from Hopkins and had some more money - it would be more likely. Now, while it is technically possible, it's just not very likely.

We keep 9 OL with 5 IOL max. Between Mitch Morse, Connor McGovern, O'Cyrus Torrence, Ryan Bates, and David Edwards - we're more than set already.

Making something out of Hopkins in Toronto Part V - Toronto Strikes Back

This is true. He was unhappy in Arizona because he wanted a new deal that paid him up front. Reportedly, he wasn't interested in renegotiations with teams that wanted to trade for him (surely us included) that wanted to backload deals and get creative to make it happen. He hired an agent to create a market and get him the most money. Surely if money wasn't a factor, he'd be a Bill. But regardless of what he's said about Josh and the organization, that's secondary to who is going to give him the most money. And honestly, it should be. It's easy for us to say money shouldn't come first. But any employee in any field of work is always going to go for who is offering them the most first.

I buy that just as much, maybe even less, than they have Hopkins info. Just a bunch of homers that are hoping Josh gets that cover, see it as a realistic chance, and want to "break" a story like all social media "insiders".

I don't doubt it's a possibility - if not this year, then one of these years. But these guys are homers that have no inside information with anyone. Especially not the Madden Franchise. I don't believe it until someone more reputable announces it.

Buffalo Fanatics claim to have heard something that they'll post later tonight. I'm sure it's worth about as much as your random Twitter account post. https://instagram.com/stories/thebuffalofanatics/3115106099346972426?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

In the past year Brandon Beane has: - Spent a 2nd Round Pick on James Cook - Spent a 5th Round Pick on Nyheim Hines and gave him $4m up front in a restructure to keep him. - Signed Damien Harris - Signed Latavius Murray How exactly do we "need" another RB?

Or just the same one except with video.

Awesome to see the "take that with a large grain of salt". You've come a long way 😛

Again, it's not just between us and the Chiefs. The Chiefs being handcuffed worse than us just means it's less likely they'll get him than us. Those 4 teams may be who's in it now as far as the talking heads now. But I doubt they're the only 4 who are involved right now and especially when everything's said and done. As you said, this will probably be a long process. And I'm willing to bet neither of us get him. Though I'm hopeful it is us.

In a vacuum, I'm sure they want him. And if money wasn't a thing, I'm sure he'd prefer to be here. But getting the most money (as it is with any player or employee anywhere) is the most important thing. And when it comes to 31 options, he and his agent are going to choose the best team fit offering the most amount of money. It's not as simple as just "we either want him and he's ours or we don't and he's not" like fans of this board like to make it out as. We have to make it work in a fiscally financial manner and he also has to choose us over 30 other options.

This has always been the case. I've been called a pessimist and someone who "rationalizes" him signing elsewhere. Truth is, I want him to sign here and be on the Bills. But realistically, the means of doing so don't seem to add up with Beane's motus operandi and Hopkins is less about wanting to play on the Bills and more about money than fans want to admit to themselves. I remember watching this from the Rich Eisen show earlier this week. It's mentioned that his main issue with Arizona was wanting a deal that paid him big money up front and that he wasn't willing to renegotiate his contract with other teams that involved back end language to facilitate a trade: As I said in earlier posts, this magical Cover 1 offer that fans think would get the deal done with him is the same exact deal he wasn't interested in doing via trade. So why would he want to do it now? Also, it's not the type of deal Beane traditionally does. He's hyper focused on the condition of the cap years ahead of time. He may put himself over in future years, but he does so around plans of restructures, extensions, and releases that can get us under the cap when the time comes. He seems to have done as much as he's comfortable with already. I can't see him adding more hits, especially that far into the future. Fans got punchdrunk on listening him talk about Josh and the Bills and thought that means he was willing to make things easy on us to come here. But it appears his main motivation (as it is and honestly should be) is money first. As I've said from the beginning, the only way he's coming here is if wants to be here bad enough that he's willing to take less and have an incentive laden deal with back end language. I never saw that as realistic. I personally don't look at his hiring an agent as a good thing, as @HappyDays alleges. I don't see that as his offers suck and so he's hired someone to navigate language. Agents are about 1 thing and 1 thing only, the bottom line. He's hired him to get him the most amount of money and create a market. Ultimately, the Chiefs situation may make them less likely than us to get him. But there's 29 other teams in the league, not counting Arizona. And my guess is neither of us get him. He listed the Ravens, Chargers, and Eagles in the same breath as the Bills and the Chiefs. And all 3 teams have cap space in the double digit millions. If this is about the most money he can get up front and not back loading his deal, we can't compete with other teams. Him liking us and Josh is nice. But it's not the bottom line. It's not over until it's over. But realistically, what Schefter is saying makes the most sense.

Solid depth signing and further insurance should Brown falter or get injured. We generally keep 9 OL on the 53 and I think this move makes things pretty clear what it's going to look like - OT: Dion Dawkins Spencer Brown Brandon Shell David Quessenberry IOL: Mitch Morse Connor McGovern O'Cyrus Torrence Ryan Bates David Edwards Tommy Doyle tore his ACL and played an entire game on it. He will start the year on PUP. If not put on the IR entirely. I think they'll look to get Ike Boettger and Nick Broeker back on the Practice Squad. And at least 1 OT between Richard Gouraige, Alec Anderson, and Ryan Van Denmark.

Hilarious that there's all these insiders on the board who have been told stuff in regards to contracts and where he's going when he hasn't even hit the market yet.

Not gonna be able to trade up into the Top 5 when we're picking at 32 😉 Terrible f'n luck. No one could have foreseen either happening. Luckily, the Mahomes move (plus moving Cordy Glenn) facilitated us getting Josh, Tre, and Edmunds (who we got 5 years out of) and Jefferson got us Diggs. So it still worked out fairly comparable.

I think Hopkins is still an Elite WR. And I would like us to get him. But these ideas that there is absolutely no pitfall to the type of contract it would take to get him and that if Hopkins himself chooses to sign elsewhere that it's Brandon Beane's fault and he needs to pay are ridiculous.

The cap is real. You can't just spend whatever, whenever. It isn't "just a guideline". When you have a team of stars, spending and pushing the can down the road time and again comes at a cost. And yes, as many like to point out, the cap is going to increase. But you know what else increases when the cap does? The price of contracts. Teams spend more to compete with other teams for players when they have more.

Yes. The deal being floated around is for 2-3 seasons with up to 3 dead cap years tacked on to the end until 2028. Do the math.

Really going out on a limb there saying Hopkins signing with the Chiefs wouldn't benefit us 😆 Whether or not it's something anyone here wants to see happen, it's unrealistic to think it's impossible that he would choose them over us.

No, he's not. There is no post from Schefter like that recently. @KyleTreats is stirring the pot. That's a truncated image of a post from 3+ years ago.

And adding 2-3 dead cap years where he isn't on the team. Which is what he's talking about. Players like Dalton Kincaid, James Cook, Kaiir Elam, etc could become superstars in the league that we have to pay a premium for and the belt will be tightened by a deal we made this season for a player who will probably no longer be on the team.

But again, what does that have to do with the possibility that Hopkins simply chooses to go to KC over us? It's not as simple as Beane just wanting him and making the Cover 1 offer and he's ours. Has Hopkins talked about Josh and us? Yes. But he's also talked about KC and Mahomes in the same conversations practically every time. Josh was the first name out of his mouth. But if you think it's absolutely impossible that he could get on the phone with Mahomes and Reid and like what they're saying more than us, you're being a homer. Side note because I missed it in my first reply: your "nuclear" idea isn't a simple snap your fingers and make it happen option. The odds that there's a team out there that wants to take Ed Oliver on a 1 year deal for 10.75m guaranteed contract this late in the Offseason is EXTREMELY unlikely. Do I want to see that happen? Absolutely not. Do I want to see him in a Bills uniform? Absolutely. But it's not reality to think there's absolutely no way we won't get him. It's not an impossibility to think he could prefer KC over us when push comes to shove. If the poster that facilitated these kinds of posts is to be believed, it's not only a possibility, it could be a reality.

Again, CAN we do that? Yes. It is possible. But just because we can doesn't mean there isn't issues with that. That includes adding dead cap hits over 2-3 seasons longer than he'll be contracted to the team. Which means, we may not be able to afford players down the road because we're paying for someone who isn't even on the team anymore. Just because it's something that can be done and it's something you, I, or other fans are comfortable with doesn't mean that it doesn't come with pitfalls and that there's no reason for Beane to not want to do that.