Brand J

Josh Sweat looked like a man amongst boys in that SB, he whipped Joe Thuney over and over. Rousseau and Sweat mirror one another in production, except that Sweat is forecast as $19M/yr and there are talks of the Eagles letting him walk and going with Jalyx Hunt as his replacement. Rousseau would look better with a stronger supporting cast, of course, but I’ve never seen him look as dominant as Sweat did in that SB. Well, with the exception of the opening game against Kyler Murray, but that was against Murray in game 1 of the year, not Mahomes in the playoffs.

Could easily be trading James Cook for the next Boogie Basham or AJ Epenesa.

Let them draft the unproven guy, no guarantee he works out as well as Cook. Also of course no guarantee we hit on the 2nd rounder we get in exchange. We know what Cook is, we don’t know what these rookies are or will be.

No way, Cook would run all over the Bills. With the lack of foot speed in the secondary a few of those plays would be big plays, making Mahomes’s job that much easier.

Can’t speak for others, but I don’t solely stat watch. If Rousseau was a constant disruption, always playing like his hair was on fire, but just wasn’t getting the sacks, I’d put it on others around him to step their game up. Like I said there’s far too many times where he’s completely invisible and ineffective. When Beane selected him and Basham back to back, he said his goal going into the draft was to “disrupt the QB.” Rousseau is a high end run stopping DE, not the monster pass rusher that Beane wanted and that’s not worth going north of $20M/yr.

Aside from the first game of the year where he piled up 3 sacks against Murray, Rousseau had a total of 5 sacks in the other 15 games (he sat out the finale). He’s above average against the run but an average pass rusher. I’m just not comfortable giving him the higher end of his contract projection. Too many games I forget he’s even out there. I’ve said the same about Oliver in the past, but they got Oliver at what I thought was a fair deal. I was happy with that signing even though others weren’t. I think he and Rousseau are similar impact players with Oliver maybe being a tick higher.

They’re a billion dollar organization, they certainly have the money to build a plane if they wanted to.

Thanks for the find. I was sitting home screaming “watch the QB boot!” I remember that’s what the Chiefs went to in their crucial 4th and 1 play against the 49ers in the SB, same side too - always to Mahomes right. That falls on the coaches and the player for situational awareness. I didn’t study an ounce of film and knew a boot was a high probability in that situation. I’d still pass at anything more than $18M/yr, that’d be my ceiling. I imagine the team will be drafting multiple DEs, not just because “affecting the QB” remains a huge need, but they have to have a contingency plan if Rousseau walks.

As for travel, it’d be cool if the Bills incorporated something like players of the game (those who get game balls) get to sit in first class on the way back and on the way to the next game, even if it bumps multiple coaches to coach.

He’s also supposed to be an all world edge setter and on that crucial 4th and 1, Mahomes went right around him as he was caught looking inside at the RB. You need your $23M/yr defensive end to make that play.

My misunderstanding. You said Khalil got the deal because “it’s not easy to find players like him” and then later stated it’s easy to find RBs like Cook, just not the elite ones. I took that to mean you believed Shakir was elite since “players like him are difficult to find.” Of course there are going to be more swings and misses on WRs, there’s 3-4 of them on the field at any given time versus 1 RB. Volume wise they have to be selected at a higher clip. I love the deal Shakir got, but nothing you said has convinced me there’s not an inequity between WR and RB contracts. Cook will likely sign for less than $15M/yr, but it isn’t because his value to the Bills offense is less than Shakir’s, it’s because the market value between the two positions are out of whack.

There has never been a point in the NFL where WR has been more bountiful as it is now. It’s the inverse of RB, where the league used to be filled with good backs and the emphasis was on the running game. The best athletes used to play RB, now receivers get the money. You can find a Shakir in the 5th round relatively easy now. I mean, Amon Ra went in the 4th. Nacua, Adams, Hill, Diggs, all in the 5th, etc. WRs are even easier to find than RBs. I’m happy with the re-sign, but Shakir is not some elite, hard to find player. A deal got done because it’s a good contract for all parties, perhaps even a bit of an underpay for Shakir. My whole argument is that there’s an inequity between WR and RB contracts, but that may begin to change with the amount of receivers coming in and immediately contributing and the defense’s goal to defend the pass.

Relative to his RB peers I would agree, I think his value slots around $12M/yr. But relative to his impact on the team I think he’s easily worth $15M/yr. People have argued that a great RB isn’t the driving force to SB appearances. Well, a great WR is even less of a driving force, yet an upper echelon receiver makes 2-3x more than an upper echelon RB despite touching the ball 2-3x less and without the added responsibility of blocking for the QB. There’s a great inequity between those two positions. With the way defenses defend nowadays, a Saquon Barkley is arguably just as valuable to his QB, if not more so, than a Jamarr Chase or J Jefferson. And we just saw Barkley reap offseason awards to prove that point.

Because you need a great QB and teams with those QBs were loading up on WRs as the league turned into an aerial assault. Now, teams are seeing the value of pairing a great RB with a great QB as defenses continuously run cover 2 to limit explosive plays. A great RB makes your great QB’s job much easier. As you referenced, KC was so keen on stopping Barkley, Hurts had little resistance through the air. I’m for replacing Cook ONLY if we get another explosive RB in his spot. I don’t think Ray Davis or Ty Johnson as lead backs would get you the same amount of explosive plays if their workload was bigger. Less explosive plays = more of a struggle to score.

Hope it happens, I thought he did some good things this season. Marino had him at 6 sacks and 30 something QB pressures on a low snap count. It is concerning he only played around 20% of the snaps against KC in the AFCCG. That usually doesn’t bode well.

Beane said Ron Rivera called him up and told him he was going to coach at the collegiate level. Sounded like the two were on good terms. Wasn’t Rivera HC of the Commanders the year JD McKissic reneged on the Bills and stayed with Washington?

Just like the RB is dependent on the OL, the WR is dependent on the OL and the QB delivering a catchable ball. When offenses became pass heavy, WR contracts went up while RB contracts stayed the same. They didn’t inflate with the salary cap. Now, you’ve got a disproportionate value between RBs and WRs where Gabe freaking Davis makes more than Saquon Barkley and King Henry. Sure, the Ravens can roll with Justice Hill and be fine in the rushing game, but Hill ain’t Henry. Ditto for Kenny Gainwell and Barkley. Those are high end RBs, but their importance to the team is not reflected in their salary. Saquon was just an MVP candidate and won offensive player of the year. There aren’t many other RBs who could produce at his level. Same argument could be used for WRs, but their importance in a passing league has inflated with the cap. As more and more NFL WRs come out of the draft ready to go, I would expect for WR contracts to regress. Supply and demand.

Not to mention RBs are asked to pass protect. You’ll get no arguments from me, RB and WR contract differences are out of whack. J Jefferson can’t be worth $35M/yr while Saquon Barkley ($13M AAV) and King Henry ($8M AAV) are that much less.

No, he needs to work on his route running first and foremost. The difference in a 40 yard dash between a 4.61 and a 4.41 is 2 yards. We don’t need Coleman to be a deep threat. If he learns how to run routes properly, like countless other productive (and even Hall of Fame) WRs before him, you’ll see a night and day difference on the field. He needs to study Davante Adams, Tee Higgins, Puka Nacua, Mike Evans, etc, WRs within his range of speed who know how to maximize their talents. Steve Smith excoriated Coleman for his bad route running, I hope someone sent him that video. Link up with Steve in the offseason, learn from him.

I agree with shelf life, but the production high end RBs give is difficult to replace - if we’re talking about explosive plays. CMC, Barkley, and King Henry level production you likely won’t get in the 3rd+ round. If we can get Cook back at about $12M/yr he’s def worth that. I’ve got Cook in that second group with Brandon Jacobs, Gibbs, Bijan, etc., except some of those guys are more complete players. I remember how the running game looked with Zach “grows on” Moss and Devin Dingleberry. I’d rather not go back to those days.

The week before that Dolphins game Coleman was ascending and making big plays. He was playing with a ton of confidence. I don’t know what it was about that Dolphins game (dwindling confidence due to Ramsey locking him up?) but he was never the same afterwards. It started early too, the drop on the goal line that led to an INT. Even if Poyer hadn’t hit him, he would’ve dropped the perfectly thrown long ball as well. Everyone points to the injury in assessing his before and after performance, but the downward slide started with that Fins game as a whole.

I’d stick with Bishop because he isn’t likely to get you value in a trade. His ultimate potential is also untapped, so we still don’t know what he is or what he will eventually be. Not worth trading him for a 4th+ rounder.

College still has the traditional kickoff. Wonder how they get away with it.

Man, I was just coming here to say exactly the same. It’s damning to hear “the Bills have no talent” or “it’s a middling roster” which is somewhat justified with only 1 All Pro and 2 Pro Bowlers, yet the team is over the cap mostly every year. This with Allen being dramatically underpaid in relation to his peers. The money management has to get better.

Wow, a 5’10” 270 lb offensive lineman is on the list. No doubt that guy gets converted to FB in an Alan Ricard type of role. EDIT: Oops, meant Patrick Ricard.