BillsFanForever19

I would believe it. Initially, it was supposed to be a 4th and a 5th for them. A 4th for Davis and a 5th for Floyd. My guess is it dropped to a 5th bc Davis ended up being lost for the season in Week 11. The Edmunds pick dropped from a 3rd to a 4th last year bc they changed the rules of the compensatory formula on a dime to take into account void year money and carefully written contracts that skirted comp pick cancellations. That in conjunction with Edmunds missing a couple games made the pick come in less than expected. This years projections took the new rules into account when they were made. We're already getting less than expected bc of Davis' injury with 2 5th's instead of the initial projection of a 4 and a 5. I really don't see us getting less than that or them changing the rules to be more strict on a dime once again. It was too much of a headache for the league last season dealing with all the appeals. And generally when they make an unpopular change that makes things more difficult on teams one year, they take it easier the following year (ie Cap figures coming under unexpected one year are made up for the next). Currently, our expected picks are as follows: Round 1 Round 2 Round 2 (from Minnesota Vikings for Stefon Diggs and our 2025 5th Round Pick) Round 4 Round 4 (from Chicago Bears for a 2024 5th Round Pick) Round 5 (Compensatory for Gabe Davis) Round 5 (Compensatory for Leonard Floyd) Round 6 Round 6 (from New York Giants for Boogie Basham and our 2025 7th Round Pick) Round 6 (from Cleveland Browns with Amari Cooper for our 2025 3rd Round Pick)

Could very well be. But the "in a few weeks" line is eyebrow raising. Makes me wonder if he knows that they're talking contract right now. I know general smart thinking is you don't pay a Running Back. It's a line of thinking that I generally subscribe to. However, over this past year i've found myself thinking Cook is an exception. You can find a decent Running Back in the Draft if you have a good Offensive Line. But the things Cook does is not something you find easily. We spent years Drafting Running Backs like Devin Singletary and Zack Moss and signing inexpensive guys only to have an average to below average Running game. In Cook, we've found the most explosive RB and Running Game we've had since at least Marshawn Lynch (albeit a very different Back and running style). There are games that he takes over without Josh needing to do anything, or much of anything. This year's running game and Cook in particular is a large part of what has made our Offense the best it's ever looked this season. He was a Pro Bowler last season and was honestly robbed of the Pro Bowl this year. If we can do an extension that is backloaded, keeps his number next season the same, has a couple low cap hit years in the beginning with bonuses, and an out after 2027 - i'd honestly be all for an extension for Cook.

Yay! We're playing the "go get Yannick Ngakoue" game for the 3rd time in less than a year! 🙄

He will be. Whether it's us winning a ring and him retiring on a Super Bowl win or us releasing him - his contract was always viewed as a 3 year deal. Cutting him this past offseason would have done us more harm than good and after he gave us the option to rework his deal, WAY more harm than good. This is why your original post is getting universally downvoted. Opining that he shouldn't be here and that the incentives are stupid is actually quite the opposite of the situation, given the circumstances surrounding his being here v. not being here this year.

He volunteered to take a massive pay cut this past offseason. This act saved us significantly more cap than cutting him this year would have. Releasing him instead of keeping him on the reworked deal for 2024 would have been cutting off our nose to spite our face.

Since he's been signed, over the past month, we've needed to do four Safety call up's. We've had both starting Safeties out in back to back weeks. They called up Kareem Jackson twice and Lewis Cine twice. When asked of Hyde's role on the team after the signing, McDermott verbatim said "not much". After that he's repeatedly said his role is to "help the team". You look at the Patriots game as a "meaningless game". That's the exact situation you would get him out on the field to evaluate where he's at. Waddle, as you said, was an extreme case of practically not having a choice. If they had the opportunity to get him some reps before the Super Bowl, they absolutely would have. As long as he's on the roster, it's not a *total* impossibility. But this is an extremely conservative staff. The idea that they'd just put him on the field in the Playoffs a year removed from being on the field (where he performed poorly btw), when they desperately needed help and didn't play him, and now have essentially a Pre-Season game where they can get him some live action to get his feet under him with this year's Defense, as well as evaluate where he's at, and still won't play him - seems pretty far fetched to me. I guess we'll see. You seem to really want it, so I hope you get to see it. But I'm far from the only person who's reading this writing on the wall.

Really not that weird. He/they saw how the season was going and the level they were playing it. A Super Bowl ring looked at the time (and still could be) a very real situation. So sign on at the end of the season on the PS just to be a part of it. Be in the building and the sidelines. Help bring along Cole Bishop and the Safety room. Boost team morale even further by being there. Get a ring. It's not about money. If he really planned on playing and they really planned on him being a significant part of the team, he'd have been here sooner, would have been given a spot on the 53, and would have put him on the field by now or at least this weekend.

I just looked it up and you're right. Is this a new rule over the past couple years? I thought it was always twice? Well, now I stand corrected. I was wrong. It's actually 3.

Mike White has also been elevated twice already as well (12/1 and 12/15). Kind of puzzling they didn't save one for Week 18. But it's going to have to be Josh back in just handing the ball off or an emergency QB if Trubisky goes down.

Cine's already been called up twice (same as Jackson). Hamlin needs to get play coming back from injury and Bishop needs more reps. So they'll go with Hamlin, Bishop, and Lewis at Safety.

Good point. I brainfarted and just thought TD instead of receiving TD. My bad 😄

I think Hamler might be the only WR who can be called up. Shavers has been called up twice. I'm pretty sure Virgil has been called up twice as well, in between his stint on the 53. Samuel has been out for a couple weeks now and appears ready to go. So i'd expect him to be taking most of the snaps to get him back. Hollins and Coleman (who's also just getting back in the swing of things as well after injuries) will also probably get a lot of play. White makes a lot of sense. But I think he's also been called up twice. So that might put us in a precarious situation where we have no choice but to put Allen back in if Trubisky gets hurt. That's not going to happen. I took a lot of flack for suggesting Hyde is likely to not see the field at all and was just brought on as a player coach and to possibly get a ring. As time has gone on, it really seems that's the case. Our Safety core has been decimated with both starters injured at the same time. Kareem Jackson and Lewis Cine were both called up twice since Hyde's been brought in. If there's a Safety injured in the Playoffs, I really think you'll see one of them come in. If you read between the lines of things both McDermott and Hyde have said, it really doesn't seem like playing him was ever in the cards.

We've only got 2 Practice Squad Call-ups. I'm pretty sure James Cook will be active so that he can get his 19 yards to reach 1k rushing before being shut down. So Frank Gore being active isn't a given. And when it comes to the PS WR's, Shavers has already got a TD and been called up twice. I'm pretty sure Virgil has been called up twice. So the only WR I think that can be called up that doesn't have a TD is KJ Hamler. Again, not a given he'll get a call up as we only have 2 and Samuel is probably going to get a lot of play as he's missed time. So all that said, I think Gilliam or Trubisky on a goal line sneak are much more likely as we know both will definitely be active and will get a lot of play.

I mean - if it's a matter of just expecting the worst and hoping for the best, I guess resigning yourself to it makes sense in that scenario. But personally, I don't understand resigning yourself to it. They have the least chance to get in and I'm quite thankful for it. If the Broncos win against the Chiefs - they're in. The Chiefs are resting Mahomes and a number of their starters, so it's very possible. Even if the Broncos lose - if the Dolphins beat the Jets, they're in. And the Jets are a broken team. They're in pack it in and go home mode. I don't see the Dolphins with their season on the line losing to the hapless Jets. And even if the Broncos lose to the Chiefs backups AND the Dolphins lose to the Jets - the Bengals still have to beat the Steelers who will not be resting their starters.

I don't think he'll be 5 either, but honestly it wouldn't surprise me. He's def earned at least a 1m raise. I'd imagine he'll have offers in the 4m range from other teams. I think he'll want to stay here. But offering him just a 400k range is a bit of an insult. Has to be 3.75, at the least.

He's on a 1 year 2.6m deal now, coming off a 0 TD year as a journeyman. You think he's only earned a 400k raise?

Not to pick on you or anything bc I've seen this from a lot of posters on a number of players. And him being "just fine" isn't a ringing endorsement. But you say Terrel Bernard is performing better in the past month. Gunner says the past couple weeks Ed Oliver has been performing better (clearly he did in Detroit). Kaiir Elam has staunch defenders saying he has performed well in the past couple weeks in Douglas's stead. Yet with all of these players supposedly performing better, the Defense during this past month has looked worse than it has all season. And by a large margin (save for Baltimore). I'm not saying Bernard is awful. I'm not saying it's all on him (as it could be Babich's scheming with him v. McDermott). But he was great last season. He was popping off the screen on a regular basis. This year, he's not doing that nearly as much and the middle of the field is a civ.

I know he was excellent against the Lions. Didn't notice him as much against New England. I share the same sentiment in hoping he plays like he did against Detroit throughout the Postseason.

Do you think he hasn't been scheming to contain the run? Do you think when we played the Ravens and they ran all over us that Babich looked at the tandem of Lamar and King Henry and put out a plan to all out contain the pass? I don't think Babich is the main problem. It's poor execution in missed tackles and being beaten by blockers that's the problem. It's players not performing at the level they played last year.

The Defense gave up 44 against the Rams and 42 against the Lions. Then continued to look just as bad in the first half against one of the worst teams in the league in a game where we needed to push for a first down to end it with a 3 point win. It's Week 17 and we're heading into the Playoffs against the best teams in the league with the most powerful Offenses. Including one in the Ravens that whipped us on both sides of the ball. The goal is no longer to be happy with a good record, a Division win, and getting a Playoff win or two. The goal is a Super Bowl win or at the very least an AFC Championship. And the Defense we've put out on the field for the past month isn't going to get that done. If you're not at least a little concerned with the play of players like Bernard, Oliver, Jones, Milano, and Douglas - you're simply being a homer.

I like that they're doing Blue Jerseys and White Pants and White Pants and Blue Jerseys this year. Even the Red looked better with White Pants. Never been a fan of the Blue on Blue, White on White, and Red on Red.

Ain't no way the O-Line is pooling together to get Josh a Sterling Silver chain.

Hopefully all the publicity this is getting doesn't turn off MVP voters.

There's been a lot of posts regarding extensions that should be made when it comes to upcoming Free Agents in 2024 and 2025. I was a little taken back by how high on the list Bernard was by most people in the conversation that included Christian Benford, Greg Rousseau, Khalil Shakir, and James Cook. But he did have a very solid 2023. This year though? He's taken a pretty big step back in visibility. The middle of the field has been consistently in play and the Run Defense has been extraordinarily bad. He finished the 2023 regular season with 143 Tackles, 10 Tackles for Loss, and 6.5 Sacks. This year, to date, he's at 98 Tackles, 5 Tackles for Loss, and 1 Sack. To be fair, last year's stats included 17 starts. This year to date, he's only played 12 games (due to injury and the season not being over yet). But the drop off in numbers, specifically in TFL and Sacks is pretty staggering. As is the amount of times he's popped off the screen compared to last year. His PFF score reflects this: Overall Score: 51.5 (Ranking 147 out of 181 Graded LB's) Run Defense Grade: 67.5 (#74 of 181) Coverage Grade: 41.9 (#150 of 181) Pass Rush Grade: 56.9 (#100 of 181) So what do we think the cause in the step back has been with Bernard? Injury? The play of those around him? Or is Babich not putting him in as good of a position to succeed as McDermott did when calling plays? We really need him playing his best Football in the Playoffs and this hasn't seemed to be the same Bernard I saw last season. Especially of late.

I agree and disagree with this post. The Ravens scare me more than the Chiefs do. And it's not just bc we beat the Chiefs earlier this season and got spanked by the Ravens. We simply don't match up well with the Ravens. Even at full strength, we struggle against the run mightily. Good run Defending teams have a hard time against the Henry/Lamar combo. We're simply no match for it and that's not all they have. I don't think Week 4 was a mirage. If we're matched up with the Ravens, I don't like our chances right now. We'll have to get back to full strength, Milano miraculously return to form, have perfect Defensive play calling, and Josh play the game of his life with all of his Receivers catching anything and everything. I hope they're upset in Round 1 and we don't have to deal with them. If we do face them and they do best us, I don't think the Chiefs will "handle them easily". That's where I disagree. If they can beat us, they'll take down the Chiefs.