DrDawkinstein

Agreed. At that point the tag is essentially a 5th year option on a guy we got in the 2nd but is a 1st round talent. The RB franchise tag is $13.6M this year, likely to be around $14M next year. So still a deal for the Bills compared to his $15M+ asking price. If he leaves after that because we can't afford him, then it is what it is. I can understand when people say they dont want to pay a RB $15M-$17M as a general philosophy. And if that is how Beane is going to operate and build the team then so be it. What I dont agree with is when folks try to devalue Cook and say he isnt worth $15M. I also start to question Beane "wasting" that 2nd round pick on a guy who he knew was already a big name from a major program, who just won a Natty, and if he was successful with the Bills would be wanting big money, but knowing he wasnt going to re-sign him to big money. 2nd round picks are too valuable to waste on 1 contract rentals, and more so for Beane who has whiffed bigly on most of his other 2nd round picks. But I'm glad (and not surprised) to see Cook at camp and participating. I hope he has another amazing season.

Interesting. Especially since Marcus West had been a Defensive Asst/Asst DL Coach under Washington for so long before getting the job outright last year. And now Nielsen is listed only as a Defensive Assistant as well.

DL Coach was Eric Washington 2020-2023, then Marcus West took over the spot last year.

The day Saquon signed his new deal. This is one of the tweets that some fans are so upset about.

Glad he has a sense of humor about constantly being in the news for horrible things like beating women. Real cool that he can laugh about it. I didnt see any humility in that clip. Certainly no contrition. I'll believe he's "grown" when he can go an entire 12 months without another violence transgression.

Can't blame the kids. Also, the statement that his kids sit on Youtube nonstop is pretty much exactly where I expect his parenting to be at...

He definitely lived a full life. Good for him. He will be missed. RIP you crazy sob

At least the Jets are relevant on one thing over the last 50 years

The final regular season game ever at the Ralph. Very nice. (Hopefully the last game ever is the AFC Championship)

There you go. Everyone rejoice!

I think Beane has enough precedent set on getting guys paid well enough before their contracts expire that he can do one-offs in certain situations without affecting the way he normally likes to operate. Kinda like how at this point, the locker room should be able to absorb a "bad attitude" guy if we needed to bring in a Free Agent.

Ha for real, hopefully someone whose judgement we dont rely on during games. Good luck in that thing this winter

Ah man, this is a big bummer. I really feel for his daughter too. RIP Theo. Cockroach and I will miss you...

Yeah I cant disagree with any of that. Especially the Exec part and that's why I mentioned it above. I think its very telling that so many current players love Beane and talk about it all the time, whereas so many former players HATE Whaley and spent a lot of time at the Fred Jackson Roast talking mad ***** on him. Fitz, FJ, Wood, Aaron Williams, etc... HATE Whaley. And those are some good dudes too, so that really says something. I do wonder what the team would look like if we could've somehow convinced Whaley to work for Beane. I know it never could have happened, and they might not have even gotten along to work well together. But on talents and specialties alone, it would have been interesting.

WRT Benford (who I love and agree he's s solid triple), Bills fans keep saying he's a top-10 or even top-5 CB. And I'm sure his is top-5 in our hearts... But if that were true, those top guys always reset the market at their position when their contract is up. Myles Garrett topped the DE market, only to be trumped by Watt a couple months later, and they'll both be topped by Parsons when he finally gets his deal done. This happens at every position. We're all very familiar with how this works. Even if they arent #1, the next guy up gets to be the highest paid when they are in that top group. Benford just signed his big new contract and it made him... the 19th paid CB. In a matter of months he wont even be top-20. Now I know that isnt the biggest factor, and other things play into it all, but it does tell where he fits in.

Pegula and the Bills know that everyone wants to see Josh and the boys in the 90s throwbacks. I'm convinced they are trying to wait until AFTER this team wins a Super Bowl, and then trot them out the next season in the 90s unis to put those 4 SBs behind us. We might get them in 2026 with the new stadium even if they dont win the SB this year.

I think Beane is one of the top GMs in the league. Probably top 3. That isnt the discussion. Nor is anyone (at least not me) saying Beane isnt good or should be replaced or anything like that. Nor am I comparing him to other GMs, since there is no point because he's better than most. We're discussing his past drafts and drafting trends/habits. That little sliver of space between AFC Championship game and Super Bowl. It's a good spot to be in and a good problem to have. Dont think I mean anything else.

We already know exactly what happened. McD worked with Whaley and his scouting crew to draft the guys he wanted. Nothing more. I know this because if anything else went down, it would have been obvious to at least Doug Whaley, who has since tried making a career out of bashing the Bills FO, and never misses an opportunity to do so. If McD was in there making picks of guys that werent on Whaley's radar, Doug would have sniffed that something was up right away, and that bombshell would have been revealed by now. I also dont think McD or Beane are dumb enough to have Beane giving info to another team while he was working for the Panthers. If that comes out in any way, and it would have been a huge bombshell, it immediately ends their new jobs and likely their entire careers in the NFL as no team could trust them ever again. The idea that Beane was somehow feeding McD info before he was hired is ludicrous. The obvious thing happened. McD and Whaley worked together and put out a nice draft. Not surprising given Whaley's evaluation skills and McD's vision for the team he wanted to build (and how much better it was than whatever Rex was doing).

That's doing his job well. A game changer is able to make a play all on his own that completely changes the course of the game. Interceptions would be the big thing for CBs there. To that point, Derek Stingley Jr has averaged 5 INTs/year. Benford has 5 total career INTs. Benford is a solid pick, especially in round 5. And I love him on the Bills, dont get me wrong. But he isnt that home run talent I'm talking about. And yes, I'm being very tight and stingy with my rating.

That's fine and fair. Not a Beane pick. If you want to credit McD for that, go ahead. But he was using Whaley's scouting. I'd argue that while Beane is a much better Executive at GM overall, Whaley and crew were better scouts/talent evaluators. Whaley got stuck with a carousel of Head Coaches and (especially) Defensive Coordinators always changing schemes, yet always found guys to fit in. Dawkins wasnt a Beane pick either.

He didnt draft Milano, that was Whaley's crew. And given his injuries, and therefore lack of consistent contribution the last few seasons, it's tough to label him a home run. Benford and Shakir are nice players, but despite what us homers think, neither are game-changing superstar home runs. Solid triples for sure. Maybe home runs if you consider Josh a grand slam... The only other player close to it, the only other player he's drafted to receive All-Pro honors, has been Taron Johnson. But time may be catching up to Taron.

Same thing we say every offseason about Beane's drafting - He's good at hitting singles and doubles, but hasnt hit many home runs. Really need a couple more home runs.

Seems no one wants to admit the obvious, the only Bills skill position player to make NFLN's Top 100... Another year running behind the same line, in the same system, that helped take him to his best season yet. If he does it again it will be known as his breakout year. James Cook.

The craziest part about all this is if they just DIDNT REACT, or just actually even kissed, the whole crowd moves on and it never makes the news or twittersphere. It was their immediate and guilty reaction that caught everyone's attention. To the point that the Coldplay singer even called it out like "Whoa, what was that? Someone having an affair?" Which made everyone post it.

I took it to mean Watt is a better DE than James Cook, to which I cannot disagree.