dave mcbride

New England is odd because they HAVE to spend money. Going into today, they had the most cap space in the league ($71 million).

Yeah, but Watt was actually pretty darn good last year. He was the most double-teamed player in the league and for what it's worth had a significantly higher PFF grade than Barrett last season (85.4 to 70.7).

Lotta historical family context with Hunt, by the way: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/chiefs/2018/12/14/ex-chiefs-star-kareem-hunt-family-criminal-history/2289525002/. His family's catalog of criminal episodes is ... impressive.

The Spotrac projections seem to be uniformly wrong (as in overestimating value) so far.

Everyone seems to be taking discounts, which ... means they're not actually discounts. The spotrac projection estimates seem way off to me so far given the reports coming in from around the league on signings.

Just to clear things up, it’s a $5 million base salary with $9 million in incentives. It’s backup pay. https://www.nbcsports.com/video/could-49ers-trade-sam-darnold-while-keeping-jimmy-garoppolo?ls=pftvod

There are a ton of rumors out there about Jimmy G heading back to NE. Garappolo is a good QB, but he has an undeniable injury history and Newton is a good backup option to have. I assume their starting qb is a) in the NFL now and b) not on the Patriots at present. Last year was their "down year"; this year can't be. They'll be in it to win it. They have a mountain of cap space, excellent returning opt-outs, and a lot of picks (9). I hate to say it, but they're the divisional opponent I worry about the most next season.

It's not $14 million. It's $8 million with a ton of incentives that he'll only meet if he starts and plays well.

Why do you say that? Virtually every report about Cam this season in NE regarding his contribution to team chemistry was highly positive. He also presumably knows what rung he occupies in the great QB hierarchy now after multiple low-level one-year deals.

These are all great points, but it may be the case that after what happened in KC (and in Buffalo vs. Indy), McDermott agrees with you and figures his road to being more multiple is playing guys like Milano, who can do a lot of different things well. McDermott is not perfect, but he's a very good coach/coordinator who presumably self-scouts.

They have so much cap space it doesn't really matter. In fact, they probably need to overspend just to reach the floor. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

These are good points, but I have a bad feeling NE's defense is going to be elite this season. They are getting some excellent players back (Hightower, Chung), and Gilmore will be healthy. And Belichick is the greatest defensive mind in the history of the game. Don't sleep on them.

It's an $8 million deal with a ton of incentives. He has to be the starter to reach them.

In all seriousness, he's a .500 qb who is a great backup option. Backup QB is a very important position! He's better than what the Bills have.

He is a bad option as a starter, but he’s a phenomenal backup option.

Good points, but there is also the issue of him becoming even more instinctive over time because he understands the bills D, which is relatively complex. I think we tend to overlook how guys like poyer and hyde hardly ever seem to make mental mistakes. That comes with time and innate football smarts, and i think milano has that attribute. This is all to say he may get even better.

Fisher was going into the last year of his contract and is going to miss the season! This story is being overinterpreted. As i said earlier, this combined with a big guy with a bad back = easy decision.

My take on that: Culley said something dumb to the reporter, meaning he was way too forthcoming about the fact that Watson is a goner. Now he's walking it back because he doesn't want to depress the value of his trade asset. It's bad press management, but we all know that can happen given Doug Whaley's performance in the last year he was in Buffalo. I mean, Culley said he had no idea that Watson wanted out, which is Baghdad Bob-level laughable. I just don't see how Watson will come back to Houston.

yeah, the Jets definitely have more to offer. The one thing that Carolina brings to the table is a borderline elite edge rusher (Burns) only two years into his first contract.

Bridgewater isn't any good and is the sort of player who is regularly on the trash heap come free agency. Maybe McCaffrey, Burns, the #8 pick, and next year's 2 and 3? This is a franchise QB, after all.

Seems like too small of a haul, although Burns, who is still 22, is a good get.

And here we go--Watson will be traded, it seems. @BADOLBILZ, I told you this would happen: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/03/11/david-culley-suggests-texans-may-be-willing-to-trade-deshaun-watson/. I'm not saying it's smart, but this outcome was fairly predictable.

Ertz seems to have entered the injury phase of his career, and he doesn't increase team speed.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The Bills clearly have a preference for FA/vet WRs (Brown, Diggs, Beasley), and in this scenario they're not adding any experienced pieces to the unit that actually wins them games (the offense). In fact, they're subtracting. I'm increasingly interested in adding someone like Curtis Samuel, who strikes me as a perfect fit for this offense.

He is an appealing player regardless. He's an extremely good fit for Daboll's scheme, and he is lightning fast (4.31 40). He'll turn 25 in August too.