BillsFanForever19

In some situations, I hear what you're saying. But since we were only talking about Crosby in particular - I've never seen a player say "ya know, I wanted out but I don't think I do anymore" as part of the game of being traded. I don't understand the advantage of that kind of rouse. And as a fan favorite player, I wouldn't think the GM would want the fans thinking "yeah, Maxx wanted to be here - but I wanted him gone". I don't see the advantage of it either way.

Later in the Draft? Have you met James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Christian Benford, Spencer Brown, Terrel Bernard, and O'Cyrus Torrence? Not to mention Dion Dawkins and Matt Milano coming here a couple weeks before he arrived. And Tremaine Edmunds in Round 1, who went on to sign a 72m contract with the Bears. Greg Rousseau has exceeded where he was picked. Ed Oliver is not nearly the failure this board makes him out to be (truly feel that Jones being completely washed this year played into his being neutralized with double teams). Yes, Elam was a miss. Yes, Kincaid had a disappointing Sophomore season. But this idea that this regime is terrible at Drafting is overblown. Josh Allen or not, we wouldn't be consistently competing if we didn't have hits. And every team has misses - that's the nature of the Draft.

We're 10+m over the cap. You're talking about signing 3 of the Top 10 Free Agents available. You act like that's something that other GM's pull off. When do you ever see that? Osa Odighizuwa is a DT, not a DE. And he's expected to cost 90+m by himself - https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article300983019.html Even with restructures, void years, and lowering the hit in Year 1 - we're still paying a big cap hit in Year 1 for each. It's not realistic.

That's fair. Compensation for veterans always seems either way too little in the case of most or ridiculously high in the case of premier talents. And there seems to be very little middle ground. I think Deebo is a much better player than this board perceives his talent to be.

He's on a 1 year contract with a massive cap hit and he's coming off a bad year. I'm not surprised the return isn't much.

How are they instant contenders? That roster is in shambles. Sticking a 41 year old Aaron Rodgers on the team doesn't change that.

You do know it's not easy to hit on Blue Chippers when you're consistently picking in the mid 20's to 30, right? If they're "blue chip" - they're off the board by the time we pick. It takes a lot of luck to turn a basically 2nd Round Pick into a blue chipper at the NFL level.

We've already done that, financially speaking. That's why we're in the position we're in. We started last year 54m over the cap. We're starting this year 10+m over the cap. There's only so much we can "mortgage the future with" when it comes to playmakers. You can lower a cap hit in Year 1 by pushing it down the road. But the big ticket items will still carry a decent sized cap hit in Year 1 even with most of it pushed down the road.

I don't want to speak for them, but my feeling is that it's bc those types of moves don't happen often league wide. There's this idea that "well if you offer up x amount of picks, you can just get anybody". And that's not the case. For example, for all the noise that Myles Garrett made, the Browns have said they're not trading him under any circumstances and thus far reportedly have turned away people who have called. Just because you want a big trade doesn't mean a big trade can be done. It takes two teams to do that, not just Beane. And knocking him for moves that you perceive he could have made without knowing if he actually could have is kind of an eyerolling situation.

The problem is that even if you put together a package that works on the Trade Value chart - teams high up on the Draft board *VERY* rarely want to move all the way down to 30.

We may not have the option to do something big. Garrett seems to be in a stalemate that won't end anytime soon. Crobsy doesn't appear to be actually available. Bosa may or may not be released. Hendrickson wants to be paid or traded, but the GM doesn't seem interested (https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/duke-tobin-weighs-in-on-possibility-of-bengals-trading-trey-hendrickson-01jn4p98zq6h). The only known available players that could be obtained that would be a bigger move is Eagles DE Josh Sweat (if he isn't franchised tagged) and Khalil Mack.

I think if a National Reporter puts their name to a player and the Bills, it's worth mentioning. Random joe schmo's on Twitter, absolutely not. But reporters from ESPN (like with Hollywood Brown) or Sportskeeda from the Combine when teams and agents are talking, sure. Does it mean anything? Maybe not. But it's worth looking into the player and their possible fit. These types of reporting don't happen "daily". Brown and Smith are the only names i've seen thus far linked to the Bills by a National Reporter.

Maxx Crosby doesn't seem to be a real possibility. He's gone from doing some cryptic stuff last season to saying he's never been more optimistic about the Raiders since adding Pete Carroll: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/maxx-crosby-ive-had-doubts-in-past-but-this-is-the-most-optimistic-ive-been-about-raiders The Owner doesn't want to move him and the GM has never seemed interested in moving him and spoke of him being a Raider for a long time at the Combine: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/john-spytek-i-envision-maxx-crosby-being-a-raider-for-a-long-time-here

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/nfl-insider-s-notes-justin-fields-steelers-future-mekhi-becton-s-free-agency-dolphins-draft-plans Wouldn't be a huge move like Garrett and maybe more of a replacement for Von Miller than a definitive starter. Smith was a 2nd Round Pick in 2015 and has recorded 70.5 sacks throughout his career. He had 25.5 sacks from 2021-2023 before being traded from Green Bay to Pittsburgh at the deadline last season.

We might not be able to get even a 3rd. The problem is Running Back's have really low trade value. Players with only one season on their contract get really low trade value. And players who are angling for a massive new contract get really low trade value. So a Running Back, on the last year of his deal, that is publicly angling for 15m per year? Unlikely we're going to get much. I wondered before - maybe that's part of the reason he and his people are doing this. It effectively destroys his trade value to a point where the return wouldn't be worth Beane moving him to another team over keeping him. Making it so that we either pay him what he wants or we let him hit an open market in Free Agency next year.

That's confusing - as is him wanting to continue to play when teams like the New York Giants or Cleveland Browns may be his only options to start.

"He's at least been willing to listen" sounds like more of the same. Teams approaching him and not the other way around, like in the Draft and the Trade Deadline last year. Though "at least willing to listen" might indicate that he was just straight hanging up on people last year and this year he's at least hearing things out. Maybe a small step forward. The Packers offering a high pick and a young receiver is a big offer to beat though. If they're offering a 1st (which is better than ours) and a Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs (if they want a WR in return) - I don't know that we'd be able to (or willing to) top that.

Josh Allen, the entirety of the Offensive Line, Mack Hollins, Taylor Rapp (unfortunately injured against KC) Then you've got guys who were on cheap Rookie deals like James Cook, Khalil Shakir, Christian Benford (who was also unfortunately injured), Greg Rousseau, and Terrel Bernard who all performed well over what their pay should provide us. We had the NFL MVP last season. But our roster wasn't anywhere CLOSE to the roster Philly had. You forget last season was considered a soft rebuild. We didn't have the cap to build a team that should have even got to where we got. Side note: Have you been in a coma since the KC game ended? Most got this out of their system in the first few days after the game...

"Punching above their weight"? The Eagles are probably the best built roster in all of the NFL.

The issue with extending Rousseau to me is two fold: 1.) Everyone is clamoring for a big name DE. And if you're paying big money for a Garrett or Crosby or Parsons, etc. - you're not then going to turn around and pay big money for Groot too. 2.) If Groot were playing at a level worthy of the contract I expect he'll command - people wouldn't be clamoring for a big time DE this offseason as they are.

I had a thought when I was on the silly "would you trade James Cook to the Chiefs for a 2nd" thread. @Billl brought up that no one is going to give a 2nd Round Pick for a Running Back that is publicly angling for a new 15m a year contract. Which is true. Running Backs have a decreased trade value to begin with. Add in that it being publicly known that he's looking to be paid an astronomical amount and that trade value is close to nothing. Which made me wonder - maybe that's part of the reason he and his people did this? To destroy his trade value for the Bills so that he either gets paid by them or hits the market next season.

It is. I was just talking to my Dad about when it comes to Beane's words, he's always going to give a diplomatic or non-answer and that you have to read between the lines. This isn't much of a read between the lines situation. Like you've said, I've never heard him flat out say "we're not on the same page right now". To me, that seemed like he was putting it out there to see if it would illicit other GM's approaching him about a Trade. Not to say that Cook can't or won't be retained. But it felt like something he threw out into the ether to get a look at all of his options.

I don't think the Poll matches the Title. You ask if it's Trade or Disappointment and then the poll is address via Trade or Draft. I think the Offseason can go without a big DE trade and not be a disappointment. But it would depend on what they did instead.

*Some fans* are pissed. Most fans just look at it as a pretty common thing players do when negotiations aren't going well or just in general in the offseason and feel like 15m is too much to ask. The small percentage of fans that are for some reason pissed off and personally insulted and especially the ones that are hurling insults - do need to get a grip.