DrDawkinstein

Agreed. Every camp I've been to, though not many, Pegula has been there. Off to the side, talking to Beane or McD, but not intruding. Why wouldnt he be there? Frankly, as an owner who is relatively new to the NFL, and who struck oil (or natural gas) hiring McBeane, he needs to be listening to them so he knows the type of guys to hire when he eventually replaces them. No job is forever in the NFL, and even if they are wildly successful, you end up replacing them eventually. Even Kraft had to replace BB. If I were the owner, I'd be tagging along as a fly on the wall. See how people operate, what works, what doesnt. Gotta be able to steer the ship a bit.

Another to note We've come a long way from "Cash to Cap"

There is a lot of content in this 30min interview. I've seen pieces discussed in other threads and thought we could consolidate here. And at least give everyone a chance to watch it. Crazy graphic...

jfc you guys are no fun

Take yourself to bed

Enjoy!

Caught that on McAfee as well (usual great interview by Beane). Interesting they cut out what is usually one of the more interesting parts of HK, but I totally agree and get where they are coming from. And even more so, the PLAYERS probably appreciate more than anyone. It's worth it for the Bills to build that trust with the players versus airing out their most vulnerable moments for some HBO show.

I think those are the likely starting points. I'd imagine with the Bills already tight on cap, it took some doing to get Beane up to $12M, and then an even heavier lift on getting the guaranteed money up. I'd also be interested in hearing if Beane started at 3 years and came up to 4, and how the Cook camp felt about that (there's pros and cons for both sides). We'll never know any of it tho.

You absolutely are. And he still isnt.

Who tf is Walter Cherepinsky? And has anyone seen him and @SoonerBillsFan in the same room?

How will we afford to re-sign McGovern now?

Sure. And for the record, Im not assuming the worst or saying its a huge problem and folks need to be fired. It's just offseason discussion. The team is pretty good, so we dont get the chance at those in-depth armchair-GM discussions we used to have through the drought. Its just for fun. 32 scenarios a round! At least!

We literally traded up for Kincaid in one scenario, and traded back for Coleman in the other. Plenty of deals being made. Especially back half of the 1st round.

Sure, that's the classic line. But in one of those situations we traded up to get Kincaid, and in 2024 there were a ton of trades in the back half of the draft. The Jags picked BTJ at 23 after trading back with the Vikes who wanted to trade up. There were plenty of deals made. We just went the wrong way.

I'm totally with you on points 4 and 5. It isnt for lack of trying to get Josh weapons. We just cant seem to get the right ones. My abstract point was, using hindsight, packaging our 2 1sts to trade UP for a WR would have been better than what we got. And also keeping in mind we traded UP for Kincaid. Even though it's hindsight, it still supports a lot of posters who were banging the table for a LEGIT WR like BTJ. Not a TE turned WR, and not a basketball player turned WR. No, but we cant bash Cook anymore since he re-signed, so we've moved on to the next whipping boy.

But we could at least start by packaging those 2 picks. Which in fairness means we're looking at the WRs in the 2023 draft, not BTJ and 2024. So 2023 #25 and our 2024 1st (which was #28). Maybe we couldve moved up and got Zay Flowers or Jaxon Smith-Njigba. I realize this. My point was packaging (at least) 2 picks to move up to get him. Would have been worth trading both those 1sts to get him imo, compared to what we ended up with. Maybe, but BTJ has impressed on the crappy Jags with Lawrence throwing to him. Sky is the limit in Buffalo compared to that. Either way, just sayin...

Or DE or WR. I'd take any of that (including DB) over a 1st round RB. One of those picks isnt the 1st round, and the other isnt listed as a WR. Does anyone think Brian Thomas Jr wouldnt be contributing more than Kincaid and Coleman combined right now?

Cook is better in the ways that separate normal players from game changers. Williams is a volume back who you can keep slamming into the line and who can stay in the pocket as an extra blocker. A more athletic fullback practically. Cook is a dynamic athlete with great vision and elite speed who can create holes that arent there (per testimonial of Dion Dawkins), and then break it and take it to the house and change the game in one play. Playmakers are valuable and usually get paid more.

Except for his thc testing levels!

Are you hitting on me? (Because it's working)

Fair enough as a general cap question looking at the whole roster. Cook's new deal is an extension and wouldnt change his 2025 number unless Beane specifically designed it that way. Which I'd be surprised since we were already in cap trouble. NONE of the other extensions signed this offseason changed the players' 2025 numbers. Currently, the cap number is based on our 51 highest contracts. If any of those guys get released in our cut down from 99 to 53, then we're likely under cap immediately. In looking at our "top 51", we have some guy names Kendrick Green at #50 making $1M with no dead money if cut. Cut him and we're immediately +400k. Shenault and Hamler in the same boat and I doubt both will be kept. WR Kristian Wilkerson is at #47 with $1.1M, and he's likely gone. So short answer: Cuts will get us there. That is a bad assumption right now. It shouldnt. It's an extension.

Agreed, and it's my response to "he doesnt pass protect well". Fine, DONT leave him in the backfield to chip a blitzer. Have him pop out and have Josh hit him fast as the hot route. Now you have Cook in space. Defenses will have to decide if blitzing is worth leaving Cook wide open.

Got any extra sanity to divy out to the fans?

He only reads 50% of the threads! And he cant pass protect!

No new money added this year so this contract isnt the issue. I know Josh is worth every penny, but he makes more in a single season than Cook's entire contract is worth and counts for 20% of the total cap. Between that, his nut farm, and the millions upon millions in endorsement money (not to mention the millions and millions his wife already has), it would be nice if he would pull a Tom Brady and think about taking a little less in order to keep his OL together. Just sayin. If you're worried about the cap, there are lots of other places to look than this new contract. Additionally, Beane shouldve thought about this when he handed Hoecht $7M/yr to sit out with a known PED suspension.