BillsFanForever19

I have the same roster down to your 52 and 53rd - except for one thing and it's a pretty important one: Dane Jackson out and one of Codrington or Shenault in. This roster has no Return man. Edit: @ganesh beat me to it.

Samuel's already returned to running routes and practicing. McDermott has said he wants to see some urgency from him so they can see how he fits in the Offense. Unless he gets hurt again, they can't return him to action and then IR him. It's either Samuel is traded or he'll be on the 53. If Hairston was someone they felt was going to be a long term thing into the season, they'd have PUP'ed him already. By all accounts, he should be ready to roll by Week 1. Even if they sat him as a precaution for Week 1 - he's far too important to shut down for 4 weeks if it isn't necessary. And with SVPG most likely sticking on PUP and Hoecht and Ogunjobi being Roster exempt, it's not really necessary to do things like this with Samuel and Hairston. If you look at the 53 projections or do your own, you can pretty easily fit everyone who should be here on to the Roster.

It's not an insane idea. But I think that would require both Tre looking terribly and Hairston looking less than after recovering from his injury (who should be ready to roll by Week 1 or not soon after).

That's not true. He played 16 games in 2023 and 17 games in 2022. In 2021 he battled COVID that had him only play 5 games. 2020 he played 15 games. 2019 he played 16 games. He wasn't some sort of Joey Bosa type or a guy that had people worried about his health in Free Agency. He was one of the more sought after WR's (especially on this board), who went in the first wave of Free Agency and we had competition. He was not damaged goods. I understand being down on him after dealing with the injuries last season and then seeing him be banged up this off-season. But I think saying "by keeping him you are just limiting the WR room with a guy that is likely to be out or limited for more of the season than the guys you would likely cut" is a little much. I think he is a very talented WR with speed that we just got unlucky with last year with the Turf Toe (which is a kiss of death with a WR) during a time he was trying to get acclimated to the new Offense. He tried to play through it but it lingered. At the end of the year, he started looking healthy and provided some spark. I know he's been injured and the brass is frustrated. But I personally wouldn't give up on him. His Training Camp injury is relatively minor and I'd expect him to be ready to roll Week 1. And as for cutting him limiting us, I pretty easily fit all of Samuel, Moore, and Shavers on my own 53. All that said though, listening to Beane and McDermott, I'm not sure they agree with me. And I think the shape of the cap has a lot to do with it. Like you said, cutting him is a lot of Dead Cap. To a point where you're essentially paying him to not be here. However, a trade gives us some relief. I think at this point they'd like to trade him. Even if it's just a deal where they take on over 7m and in return we swap a 7th for a 6th. But I don't see them outright cutting him.

Too soon for Hancock. He's learning two positions at once and Safety isn't his main spot. Like it or not, if it's not Bishop - it will be Hamlin again.

He returned to Practice today and will undoubtedly be working to stick. He isn't on PUP right now either. He'd need to have another injury for that. You can have work done on a minor ailment that shuts someone down or put someone on a list for something minor and keep them there for a bit. But you can't just PUP or IR a healthy player.

I've been in the camp of keeping Samuel. I think he's too talented when healthy and we don't have a whole lot of that in the WR room as is. That said, I have noticed a couple things over the past couple days. First was Brandon Beane talking about the WR room on the Pat McAfee show and mentioning everyone but him. Then today, McDermott specifically talked about him needing to have a sense of urgency in these next couple weeks bc they need to see where he fits into the WR room. I'd still hold on to him if it were me. I think last year was a situation where he was new to the team and dealing with injuries. Down the stretch, he started to show up and I'd like to see that continue. That said, it seems like he is in danger. And at the moment, I feel like unless he gets 100% fast and really shows up in Practice and the Pre-Season - I'm leaning towards him being traded and then keeping Shakir, Palmer, Coleman, Moore, and Shavers (potentially Shenault as the 6th "WR" for Returns).

An AJ Trade is absolutely not happening until Hoecht is ready to return. We always keep at least 5 DE's. Until Hoecht returns, we only have 5 rosterable DE's in Groot, Bosa, AJE, Jackson, and Solomon. Unless for some reason you're a believer in UDFA Rookie Paris Shand or fresh off the street Nelson Caesar. In Bosa, we have a very good player who's shown it's a big ask for him to stay healthy. In Solomon, we have a late round 2nd year player who's a big question mark. In Jackson, we have a Rookie who's going to need some time to get his sea legs under him and didn't look ready for Primetime in Week 1 of the Pre-Season. AJE right now is unquestionably our 3rd DE. And given that we probably want to limit Bosa's reps, may even be 2nd in snaps. A single injury before Hoecht is ready and we're down to 4. Which with how we rotate, would have us relying on a couple of those guys more than we should. And that's *with* AJE. Without him you're down to 3 guys with a single injury. Which is a situation we can't put ourselves in. Especially given the things I said above. Trading AJE now is frankly a terrible idea. It shouldn't even be a thought until after Week 6 and only if every member of the DE room has stayed healthy, which is far from a given. You don't make room for Hoecht (or Ogunjobi either) until you have them.

Same here. I agree with the sentiment from posters. But thus far, whether it's the Depth Chart, Practices, or Pre-Season Week 1 - Codrington is above Shenault and starts in Returns before Shenault. Until I see some semblance of that changing and Shenault take the lead in some way or be put out first, I'll believe it when I see it. Right now, if Shenault is making it, I think it's more likely that they keep them both than it is that he makes it over Codrington. And I don't feel great about that possibility either.

It doesn't sound like that's going to happen. The last update from McDermott is that he's "unlikely" to make it back by the last Pre-Season game.

SVPG is already on PUP. I don't believe you can switch him from PUP to IR. So I think he'll just stay there. With Hairston, if they felt he was going to miss the first 4 weeks or more of the season, they'd have already put him there. From all accounts, he should be ready by Week 1. Even if they sit him for Week 1, he's too valuable to the team to shut down for the first 4 weeks if it's likely he'll be back before then.

Had seen some people allege that we opened a roster spot for him by cutting Justin Hollins and Jalen Virgil but only signing Nelson Caesar. We just filled that roster spot:

No joke. If what Mary Kay is saying is true - then that means he announced he was signing with the Browns and thanked them for the opportunity based on a visit that he hadn't even taken yet 🤦

No need to apologize, never a bother 3rd. But yeah, even after the suspension, it's unlikely. No one's giving us anything to have Larry Ogunjobi for 11 games and pay for him on top of it. I'm not surprised they liked him. I'm not even surprised they decided to sign him after they found out he was suspended. I am surprised that they did so and guaranteed 5.4m of his 6.6m contract. If it were me, i'd have pulled way more guaranteed money than that and if he didn't like that, I'd have said "go see what your options are now and give us a call back".

I mean, maybe? Training Camp depth charts don't mean a whole lot. But combine that with Codrington starting the game and it's hard for me to say right now that they view Shenault the #1 Returner. Things can change and Shenault could be the lead Return man at some point in the Pre-Season. But again, until I see that, and perhaps Codrington being showcased later in the final games, I don't believe they view Shenault as above Codrington.

I wanted to hear Adonai Mitchell. As he continued to slide, word came out why he slid and I thought "okay, Keon makes sense then". Bc as far as what we needed, Keon and Mitchell were the only two worth taking there and then I felt there was a drop off after them. I was shocked to see Ja'Lynn Polk go 4 picks later but it just went to show how slim the pickens were if you wanted an Outside guy at that point.

My thing with this is Codrington is above him on both the Official Depth Chart and was the Main Returner to start the game in Pre-Season Week 1. Until I see him leading the charge for Kick Returns in the Pre-Season and/or making a serious impact there, i'm not ready to say he's going to be the guy there.

I'm not panicking. I don't expect Rookies to be finished products in Year 1. Things happen with injuries and slow development. But that's the point. With our cap situation and so much delegated to retaining so many guys (who should or should not be retained, depending on the situation) in the window we're in, we rely on these guys in Year 1 to be big time difference makers to take us over the top. Bc we can't afford to get known commodities. Guys like Coleman, Bishop, and Carter are crucified for not being ready quick enough bc we're *relying* on them. When a little more fiscal spending on the number of people we retain could get us players who we KNOW will be an impact instead of not being able to afford to sign or trade for them - as we have for the past couple years. Cook was one of the 3 I would have re-signed, but doing all 5 to me was too much.

First off, are you okay? You're reviving dead threads to rehash and argue a dead issue based on quotes from the player and randos, that is just time and again factually proven incorrect. But to move on to Ladd's point, of course he doesn't want to be thought of as a Slot. When the time comes for a new contract, they get paid less. But the answer to his statement is really simple - the "slot stereotype" comes from his usage. The stats definitively show, he's a Slot. Khalil Shakir is our Slot. No one questions that, right? Well his snap percentage from the Slot was 70% last season. No one takes 100% of their snaps on the Outside or the Inside as a WR. So our unquestioned Slot was at 70% and what was Ladd McConkey's Slot snap percentage? 65% There's a difference between a guy who "can play outside" and an Outside WR. He took 35% of his snaps on the Outside or out of the backfield (as Shakir took 30% of his snaps on the Outside or out of the backfield). That doesn't mean he can live there. He's a Slot like Shakir is a Slot. If the Chargers felt McConkey was an Outside WR, he'd be taking 65% of his snaps on the Outside and 35% on the Inside instead of the other way around. And likely more than that, as Keon Coleman took 89% of snaps from the Outside. If the Chargers felt he was an Outside WR, they wouldn't have spent another 2nd Round Pick on a True Outside WR this year to replace Joshua Palmer. They'd have just slid McConkey over and then Drafted a Slot instead. We didn't need a WR you "can play Outside" in certain packages. We needed a guy who could live there. We needed someone who could take 89% of snaps on the Outside, not 35%. Because we had 3 guys who were Inside or Inside/Outside guys, but no one to replace Diggs or Davis, save for Mack Hollins. And in both College, his evaluation coming into the League, and how he was used in his Rookie season, Ladd McConkey has not been that or done that.

The problem is you need to hit on those guys. The HOPE is that your Picks will be great. But to rely on them to take you over the hump is a big ask. Seldom do we take a guy in the first few Rounds that we don't feel good about as prospects, just as we feel good about Hairston (who's already hurt and who will miss Rookie Training Camp and Pre-Season, an integral part of Rookie development), T.J. Sanders, and Landon Jackson (who looked not ready for Primetime in Pre-Season Week 1). But we still have had misses, slow development, and injuries there over the past few years that have kept us from getting us to the Promised Land. You can disparagingly drop "names" to discount the importance of known commodities. But they're names for a reason. We know they're difference makers. With the current format that Beane applies to, it's maintain the core that hasn't gotten us there and relying on unsung FA's and lottery ticket Draft Picks. And again, I'm not advocating "blow it all up". But I do believe he goes way too hard on the "Draft, Develop, Retain" mantra. There's some players that we've delegated a fair amount of cap space to that could have been moved on from.

They're wrong. But the other side is wrong too. We can't just rely on Drafting well and hoping the low to mid tier FA's and FA's coming off injuries or down years will out perform the contracts we signed them to every year. Every year we approach the off-season and people are clamoring for difference makers. And every year we bring in the Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore's of the world - while most of our cap is tied up on retaining everyone. When I would discuss the issue of the cap for a major move in terms of the big 5 players that were coming up to be renewed, I'd often hear "let em all walk if you have to". I would say Beane's not going to do that and we shouldn't do that. But even I didn't foresee or advocate for retaining *ALL* 5 of them. That said, James Cook was one of the 3 players I would have retained. I think what he brings isn't as easily replaced as "just grab another RB". We spent years Drafting, signing, and trading for RB's that left us with a subpar Running game. But I am frustrated that the mantra of "Draft, Develop, and Retain" seems to be an all consuming thing. Especially when a fair number of Draft Picks at the top lately aren't working out and that the core team he's hell bent on retaining hasn't been enough on it's own to get us over the hump.

He's a lock. We signed him to a 6.6m contract with 5.4m of it guaranteed *after* we found out he would be suspended. We could have easily walked away from that contract after it was revealed he would be suspended for 6 games. Instead, we signed him and guaranteed 82% of his deal. There's no point in releasing him now. He's roster exempt until Week 8 of the season. We keep a minimum of 5 Interior DL on the roster. Which is all we have until Week 8 - unless you think Casey Rogers, Zion Logue, Marcus Harris, or Devin Brandt-Epps are Week 1 rosterable players (which I don't). If there's a single injury at DT before Week 8 (which is very possible), we're down to rostering one of those PS level players and relying heavily on a guy like DeWayne Carter (who looked awful last year). Long story short, he's exempt from the Roster. The difference between having him on the roster helping the team and not having him on the roster and weakening our depth is just 1.2m in salary. He isn't going anywhere.

No one's giving us anything for a guy under a 1 year contract with 5.43m in guaranteed money that's suspended for the first 6 weeks of the year.

No, KJ Hamler isn't making this roster. After Shakir, Palmer, Coleman, and Samuel - there's only really 3 WR's in play for the 53. Elijah Moore, Tyrell Shavers, and Laviska Shenault (only for his potential to be our Returns guy). If Moore doesn't make the team, than that means either one or both of Shavers and/or Shenault made it - depending on if we keep 5 or 6. I do think his speed, experience, return ability, and familiarity in the building makes him a favorite for once again sticking as one of the 2-3 WR's on the Practice Squad. But the 53 isn't happening unless something catastrophic goes down between now and Week 1. I don't think SVPG is going to be put on Season Ending IR. I'm not even entirely sure if you can put a guy on PUP (as he is now) and then switch them to season ending IR. He'll stay on the PUP list and they'll revisit the situation when he's healthy. When it comes to Hoecht and Ogunjobi, there's really no point in wondering how they'll make room for them now. Week 8 is a lifetime away in Football. And the odds that we'll have a completely healthy team and won't have a player or two that need to be made roster exempt by way of IR by then is unfortunately pretty slim. There may even be injuries along the DL that will allow them to seamlessly be brought on without anyone leaving. And I wouldn't be so quick to move Thompson off the roster. He offers a lot of flexibility as far as Outside, Inside, and even Big Nickel. He also provides a lot of experience and leadership to a relatively young LB core. And like you alluded to, we aren't particularly deep at the position. Especially after the release of Baylon Spector. The only way I don't see him making it is if they decide to keep only 5 LB's and they aren't ready to move on from Olofoshio.

We have the exact same roster 👍