BillsFanForever19

While I think people are generally overlooking Michael Hoecht - this idea that "Our upgrades at DL are suspended 6 weeks" isn't true. Especially along the Interior. T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker is where the major improvements were made. Larry Ogunjobi is an upgrade over some of the depth we had. But I don't think anyone's looking at him as the real game changer among those three additions. And like I said, I expect bigger things out of Hoecht than was thought when we signed him - especially after the impressive off-season he had. And we'll be better when he is in the lineup. But Bosa is where the major upgrade is. The only "wild card" about Bosa is whether or not he can stay healthy. And there's also Landon Jackson, who was hot and cold in the Pre-Season. All this to say we made 6 additions along the Defensive Line to improve it. We have 4 of those 6 on hand now and they're most of where the improvements are expected to come from.

Not surprising. Beane calls on everything. Even if he knows it isn't something doable. Bc you don't want to be the team looking back saying "sheesh - that's all it took? I would have done that". But as is the case most of the time and was clearly the case here, it was probably a "what are you looking for and what's he looking for?" and then an "okay, let me know if that changes, thanks for your time". Even if we could come up with that kind of money to take on Parsons' current deal and then signed him to the deal Green Bay did (which would take some Olympic level cap gymnastics) - we still would have had to beat their offer of 2 1sts (when their picks are thought to be marginally better than ours) and Kenny Clark (who is probably worth more to the Cowboys than Ed Oliver). Then if we were able to do all that, we'd be *so* up against the cap, we'd need to rely on our Draft Picks for replacements - which after this year includes 19 of our 53, 7 of which starters. And we wouldn't be picking before around Pick 60 the next two seasons. It just wasn't feasible. And that's why it was only "explored".

Not only are they not signing someone to the 53 to bring up 3, not only are they not bringing up a DT - they aren't bringing up a CB either. DT isn't a surprise as I've always said 4 DT's are enough and Carter would have been inactive anyways. Relying on just Christian Benford, Dorian Strong, and Ja'Marcus Ingram on the Outside is a bit of surprise though. But I'm guessing they feel like they can use Cam Lewis on the Outside if someone gets hurt. Kendrick Green makes sense as they probably feel SVPG isn't ready to throw into the lineup so soon from injury, if Connor McGovern gets dinged up.

I think if Prater is Perfect in his stead, it will be hard for them to justify pulling him out for Bass coming off injury. If Prater starts missing kicks and Bass is ready to go, he'll be back.

At least his 6th Round Insurance Policy immediately made up for it and he was able to get something out of the mistake. We got a 5th this year and a 7th next year. We turned that 5th into Jordan Hancock - who looked very impressive and could very well become a Starter as soon as next season as a Nickel or a Safety.

We do. We signed Matt Prater to the Practice Squad. He'll replace Bass until or if he's ready to come back. Just haven't put him on the Active Roster yet bc they can elevate him from the PS this week and put him on the roster next week and this avoids having his contract guaranteed for the whole season.

Yes, that was your point. But that isn't what's happened. There was no corresponding signing to the 53 as is the norm when someone goes to IR. Just Bass to IR. We can only elevate two players. There needs to be a signing for all 3 to happen. And as of now, it appears they just decided to IR Bass now and add Prater to that roster spot, but after this week so his contract isn't fully guaranteed for the whole year. Again, I believe Carter would have been inactive anyways even if he were healthy. So there's no need to elevate a DT. If they felt they needed one, they'd have brought up Logue instead of Franklin for ST. Things could change, but right now all they've done is move Bass to IR.

I agree that big time injuries at the worst times cost us games against the Chiefs. Even the :13 second game, I feel a healthy Tre White would have made the difference between winning and losing. But while having Benford and Rapp may have gotten us to the Super Bowl, we still wouldn't have won against that Eagles team and the kind of game they were playing. Ultimately, I wasn't as upset as others about the Chiefs loss. Given the kind of soft rebuild team we had last season - I think it's a miracle we were able to make it to where we did. But that team wasn't built to take on the kind of Offense and Defense that the Eagles had.

Yes and no. Your overall point was they can't afford to wait to put Bass on IR because they'll need to sign someone to the roster as they'll need a K, CB, and DT. But unlike most IR moves, there was no corresponding move. Just Bass to IR. My point was they're going to elevate Prater from the PS this week, so as to not guarantee his contract for the full season. And that if they felt they needed a DT, CB, and K instead of just a CB and K - they'd have used Carter's spot for a DT instead of Franklin. As of now, I believe what I said to still be true. They're going to elevate Prater from the PS this week and after this week, they'll sign him for the spot they opened up by putting Bass on IR now. I assumed they'd just make him inactive but there must be a financial benefit to having him on IR now instead. I still maintain that Carter would have most likely been inactive on Sunday, so his injury doesn't require a call up. Dane Jackson and Matt Prater will be out call-ups and we'll be good to go with Prater signing after the week is over. If a signing is announced between now and Sunday, than you're right. But as of now, you're both right and wrong.

This doesn't surprise me. Him signing with the Raiders in the first place did. From everything I was seeing last season and the scuttlebutt coming out from anonymous sources (probably from within our building) - he was done with Football. My guess is the signing was a Kyle Orton situation. The money and the opportunity seemed too good to pass on. But unlike Kyle, he got in the building and realized he couldn't tough through it for the money even for one more year.

I don't disagree that's it's played out But if you look at the original Sam Franklin signing post, there's a ton of that same comment. But the Chiefs fan says it and it was like "get 'em!". Kind of felt like a "I can make that joke, but you're not allowed to" scenario.

I don't think it will be an issue. Carter likely would have been inactive anyways. They've known about the injuries they're facing and chose to sign Sam Franklin to the roster. If they felt they needed 3 elevations, I think they would have signed one of Phillips/Logue or Jackson instead of Franklin.

So is this a Bills fan version of one of those "I can make that joke, you can't" situations? @Billl just doing the same joke countless others on this board do when a Panther move happens.

Starting to think that too. I think they either pushed him too hard and there was a reaggravation or it's just not coming along bc he's been working before it's fully healed and they just decided to fully shut him down for a while. Probably want to do an elevation for Prater this week, then move Bass to IR, and sign Prater after this week - as signing him prior to Week 1 would guarantee his contract for the entire season. And they're probably hoping Bass returns at some point.

Prater used to be a Superstar Kicker. He's 41 years old at this point though. But he was perfect on Kicks and XP's before he was injured last year, which he's now healed from. We tried out a bunch of guys this off-season and brought in Caden Davis for a game. But Prater's a bigger name with more experience. This kind of move combined with Bass going from Limited on Wednesday to DNP on Thursday has me wondering if there wasn't a reaggravation and they expect he's going to miss some real time.

We're 3 days away from Week 1. We've brought back our entire Safety room from last season. Bishop is entering his 2nd year and we have to see if he's the guy or not. It's a repeat of the Bernard situation to a T. Imagine if we never gave him a shot bc he was an unknown. We Drafted Jordan Hancock, who we used as a Safety during the Off-season way more than I expected and he looked good. So we have a long term, developmental fall back if Bishop isn't the guy. With Hancock in the fold, we're already carrying an extra Safety compared to last season. Technically, we're carrying two extra Safeties now for a total of SIX. Though Franklin is a Special Teamer and Safety in name only, there's no way we carry 7 Safeties. Damar Hamlin's contract is fully guaranteed and they trust him. Cutting him would cost us 750k in Cap and we're only at about 1.5-2m under the cap total. He's not going anywhere. Neither are Rapp, Bishop, or Hancock. And for that sort of veteran break glass role, the option they decided to go with was Jordan Poyer. Jabrill Peppers isn't happening. The only way it's thought is if he's still floating out there in the middle of the season and we've had multiple injuries. Even then, i'd be surprised as our Safety room and even emergency plans are totally set.

It's the same thing as Hoecht and Ogunjobi - there's no point in thinking about that now. By the time that Davis is ready to go, it's entirely possible, if not likely, that one of our 6 WR's has been lost for the year or at least is dinged up enough to go on short term IR to return. Look at DT, for example. The season hasn't even started yet and we can already just slide Ogunjobi on. You worry about making room for Davis when the time comes, if room has to be made at all.

Funny, I made a post about this a few days back and was ridiculed for insinuating we could be Over the Cap as was suggested by Spotrac and that a restructure was coming.... With all the moves today by teams to free money, it appears they had a leeway period that ended today. Spotrac had us as very over the cap before this move. After it, they have us at being 1.5m under. Over the Cap lists us as 6.3m over the cap still which must mean they haven't figured in the Dion restructure yet. So they'll have us a few thousand higher than Spotrac. Wouldn't surprise me if we did another cost saving move bc 1.5-2m under isn't much of an in season spending pool. Either way, this wasn't a move to clear space for "PePpErS?". This was just to get us out from the hole we were under.

They still haven't placed him on IR decided what they'll do with his Roster spot. Sal suggests it's possible they may just roll with the 4 they have, make DeWayne Carter inactive, and revisit the situation after Week 1. Odds are whomever the 5th DT is would likely be Inactive anyways. They must still be weighing the decision on who to bring up between Logue and Phillips and/or whom they'll sign to the PS to replace them.

Hamlin took one hit of the super hot wing and was ready to release National Security Intel if it meant he didn't have to do it again.

Poyer will be released so that they can fit Davis on to the PS - as we can only carry 6 vets on the Squad at one tine. Once Davis is on the PS, they'll move him to a PS/Injured List. Then they"ll re-sign Jordan Poyer.

I wasn't expecting it and I wasn't surprised. They're only going to showcase players who made or didn't make the roster from the guys who they've already focused on in the show. That's why you saw what became of Jimmy Ciarlo, K.J. Hamler, Joe Andreessen, Ja'Marcus Ingram, Shane Buechele, Frank Gore Jr., Casey Rogers, and Zach Davidson on cut down day and their responses to making or not making the team. They were guys that got focused on in the show. It wouldn't have made sense from a dramatic television show storytelling standpoint and/or for people watching that aren't Bills fans to go "here's Tyrell Shavers, you've never heard of him and he wasn't on the show at all - but he made the team".

It was a lot more than injuries that did Watkins in. He would party hard with Drugs and Alcohol all night into the morning and show up to Training Camp practices still drunk and high. And he had undiagnosed mental health issues. What he was able to do for a few years with the problems he had and knowing how talented he was, it's a wild thought to think of how good he could have been.

I don't think it's HBO's fault that it was "lame". The Bills have final say on what goes into an episode and what ends up on the cutting room floor. Knowing how tightly knit this brass likes to keep everything, combined with the fact that they didn't even want to do the show in the first place - are you surprised we didn't get much? It's funny to me seeing a number of posters (not you specifically) who complained and worried about this being a distraction now complaining that the show lacked drama or anything of excitement. Of course it did. That was by design. The team wanted to make it as little of a distraction as possible, which is what people said they wanted.

I think that depends on how literally the Depth Chart is taken. Elijah Moore is listed as a Slot. If his role on the team is mainly that, I don't know that's the role Gabe would play. Though I suppose Samuel could pick up the slack (as I doubt he'll be strictly on the Outside) alongside some slot reps for Coleman.