BillsVet

Who'd they cut to get to $100M? The foundation on offense is extremely suspect: aged at RB, 3-4 new starters needed on OL, WR is an unknown or thin at best, and almost nothing long term at TE.

Fake News brought to you by the sports media. Their cousins in news can teach them a thing or two.

Bills fans haven't been faced with sustaining a winning team since the 90s, and that was during the infancy of free agency. Things are way more complicated, but that's what guys like Beane and the front office are for: developing innovative solutions to emerging problems like cap management. First, it's important to identify the players you can't live without and then build around them. Drafting well is absolutely necessary to avoid needing to spend in free agency. The better teams use UFA sparingly. Prioritize the positions in the draft which aren't typically found in UFA: QB, DE, WR, perhaps OT. You can find RBs, interior OL, LBs, interior DL and safety in free agency. As Beane has noted, once your're drafting well, then re-sign your own guys, especially at the in-demand positions. Move players who show signs of regressing. Better to get rid of a player 1 year early than 1 year late. Have a player in place ready to step up, again through solid drafting.

I think it's ironic that in the early 20th century when football was far more brutal, the forward pass was a big part of the solution to making it more humane. This is a quote from an article I posted earlier in the thread from the 5/29/2014 edition of the Washington Post: "The new rules allowed for forward passing of the ball - adding the position now known as wide receiver and turning football into the sport we're now familiar with. Allowing the forward pass opened up the game, spreading the players out across the entire field. It was a change designed to eliminate packs of players scrambling and viciously vying for the football, which is where many injuries were sustained. The new rules stopped the game when a player fell on the ball in order to eliminate heaps of men trying to get the ball, and allowed the ball to be kicked down the field. It took a few years for the rules to shake out, Miller said. In 1913, a university in rural Indiana cemented its football legacy by demonstrating a proficiency at the passing game, establishing the gridiron legend of Notre Dame. In 1920, the National Football League was founded." The more things change, the more they remain the same.

When did OBD add Baghdad Bob to their PR department?

Good to know. Seems the sports media is intent on taking down tackle football, which is odd considering it's such a huge source of income. I don't understand where the self-righteousness comes from. Safety is paramount and this isn't the first time the game has received so much attention for injuries. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/29/teddy-roosevelt-helped-save-football-with-a-white-house-meeting-in-1905/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.45d6427d5e76

Conspiracy theories again? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-some-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/

During the first two years of Nix and Gailey, the Bills didn't spend big in free agency and talked about building through the draft. Nix said it was a 3-4 year rebuild. Then, in 2012, they spent big on Mario and Marc Anderson. Something had changed, specifically, that the pressure was on to win after a 10-22 start. It forced them to dramatically change course. I see a lot of pressure, albeit not as much, on McBeane to win in 2019 primarily because they have no excuses now. There's no more cap issues or problem players from previous regimes. They got their QB and implemented their defense. Whatever "the process" is, it has changed and if they decide to spend big in UFA it wouldn't shock me. No GM gets credit at the end of a season for not using 20-30M in cap space for that year. They may have a big move planned, perhaps not like the Mario signing to make a splash, but to move the rebuild into high gear. That said, it's not going to be an Antonio Brown or Le'Veon Bell type guy. It's going to be someone who buys into McCoach's way and adheres to that. Because, this is Josh Allen's team, but their leadership, at least on offense, isn't particularly strong. I see them going with some less heralded types who aren't going to rock the boat who might challenge their hand-picked QB.

Except, McBeane had another option in 2018 with Allen. Chan and Buddy did not acquire anyone other than what they inherited in 2010-11. That is, unless you count Tyler Thigpen.

Maybe let's judge this group when they've got more than anywhere from half to 2 full seasons of NFL experience before getting excited. Posts like this were all the rage back in 2006-07 after Marv's first drafts and the end result is expectations didn't meet reality.

I tend to believe Nix and Gailey thought they could win with Fitz after 2010 and never seriously considered getting a QB. That was the fatal flaw of their 3 years together. As forward thinking perhaps as Gailey was with offense, neither he nor Nix had much of a clue on building a modern NFL roster.

It's a sign of the times when someone like Kiper puts out their first mock and the response in this thread from a select group of posters is to angrily malign the writer and not debate the pick. Why is there so much anger? Why are people intolerant of other's opinions? Chill out for a second and stop being so bitter. I don't understand the vitriol directed toward Kiper and other draft types. Kiper doesn't "hate" the Bills and for those saying he doesn't know what he's doing as evidenced by mocks, well, he's been employed by ESPN for something like 35 years. He may not be able to predict the future, but no one does. He does know the prospects and has an opinion on practically all of them. You can debate whether he understands each team's needs appropriately, but his knowledge is up there. It's also funny to watch people trying to disprove every draftnik's opinion by saying their prognostications are inaccurate. As if the standard is perfection and anything less totally disqualifies their opinion or mock. People need to be a little more patient, a little more interested in debate, and a lot less prone to arguing.

Joel Buchsbaum had some great descriptions of players back in the day. Still, Gary doesn't strike me as a McDermott type player if there are truly questions about motivation. The other issue is, where does he play in the NFL? If he's a base end in a 40 front that isn't much value at 9. Drafting defensive line, it had better be someone who has demonstrated an ability to get to the QB and not someone who essentially sets the edge.

If they're going defense and it's waaaay too early, but I'd like to see a pass rusher if they remain at 9. Hughes is 30, Shaq is not a pass rusher, and so far Murphy has been too banged up.

Actions speak louder than words. McCoach says a lot of things, but at his heart he's a defensive guy and his UFA signings the last 2 off-season demonstrate he wanted that side of the ball fixed first. Foster is a UDFA and McKenzie they took a late season flyer on by plucking him from a practice squad. Neither is a significant investment and only got playing time when they realized their receivers weren't separating because each was a possession type. And this occurred after having drafted a big armed QB. This is not a deep offensive draft in the first round, so the narrative should stop there. Most mocks

If they spend 3 off-seasons rebuilding with the goal of merely making the playoffs that's a low bar. (Cue the person who tells us Buffalo made the playoffs in 2017). Lots of ifs and hopefully's. Josh had very little to work with, but I wouldn't pronounce him a franchise QB. Encouraging signs yes, franchise quality no.

They've taken 2 years to remake the defense with multiple UFA signings and high draft picks. And defense is typically the easier side of the ball to get up to speed, albeit harder to maintain. For that reason I'm not convinced that they'll get the offense in one off-season even with that cap space and the usual complement of high picks. Particularly when UFA offers less and less skill players and this draft is thin on top offensive prospects. And, throw in a coach who doesn't seem to embrace that games are won and lost by scoring points and having enough defense. He seems the opposite of that.

A hockey comparison? When does Free Agency start again? Heck, I'd take a discussion about the Combine or even the Pro Bowl at this point.

I don't see anyone saying defense doesn't matter, just that it's reduced in importance. Defense now is more about defending the pass and having more athletic defenders who can remain on the field for 3 downs. No offensive shootouts? I'd say 3 of the 4 games with a team winning by scoring 30 or more points shows something. Not completely definitive, but one weekend's worth of games cannot ever be. As far as running the ball, it's a lot different when guys like Gurley aren't facing heavy fronts and can run from the spread.

Effort doesn't count. Results do and teams don't get trophies for showing audacity. They have 90M in cap room as of right now, and despite what Beane says, they're going to spend. You don't get extra credit for having cap space when the season starts. Some fans don't recognize the expectation to win that the HC and GM know is there in off-season 3, but it's there.

So are a lot of people on this board. Play 200 NFL games hitting a defensive lineman dozens of times a game and see where your back or any muscle/ligament/bone is.

No. I'm saying that you take a QB when one is available and don't delay that decision because the timing isn't perfect. Decisions made out of desperation are typically not good.

In other words, when a QB was available in '17 (actually 2), McCoach decided a CB and the 91st pick was the best decision. And, they could get the QB later. Deferring on QB has plagued this organization going back years. It leads to being backed into a corner and taking a QB out of desperation (See 2013, 2018 drafts). As in, after 2012 when Fitz was DFA'd and in 2017 when TT proved he wasn't starting material. Year after year I'm amazed at the verbal gymnastics some fans will exhibit to defend their team against accusations of ineptitude. Buffalo essentially gave up on the 2018 season to enjoy cap flexibility in the future. Pretty gutsy strategy when some teams are firing HC's after 2 or even 1 season. Trust the process, right?

Andre has only said what a lot of reasonable fans are thinking or have said themselves: that McBeane have gambled their moves during the previous 2 off-seasons to clear cap will get them into the playoffs and win succeed. The jury's still out on this new regime. Because even though they've identified and acquired their QB, there's newt to nothing around the guy right now. And usually you don't build an offense in one off-season. The cost to clear the cap in 2018 was a 6-10 record and a weak roster. If they're not 10-6 next season or better, the "process" has been inherently flawed.

Today, the Patriot's short passing game is neutralizing the Chargers' pass rush. I haven't seen Bosa or Ingram really force Brady into doing much bad.