Bills sign QB AJ McCarron

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[BillsFan4]

3 hours ago, lookylookyherecomescookie said:

Maybe this has already been addressed, and if so, sorry, but I didn't feel like going thru 30 pages-

While I'm good with this signing, love the cheap contract, I can't figure out how good  he might be when apparently nobody in the league seemed interested in paying him more than 5-8 million/year. Maybe he was looking for more earlier in the day, and got left standing when the music stopped, but it certainly seems that the gm's around the league don't think much of him.  I know-they can be wrong, but still.  Again, definitely a bargain, great signing for a clipboard holder, just wonder about his actual ability. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but it seems league-wide, the other gm's don't seem to think much of him

It seems like all of the QB needy teams went with experience first and foremost. They went after guys with proven track records of NFL starts - chose the known quantity over the unknown. 

 

And McCarron is kind of an unknown. It's always a gamble going with the unknown over the known, even if the known may not have the same potential (not saying McCarron necessarily has more potential...). 

 

 

In the end, the Bills only seemed interested in a cheap bridge/insurance policy at QB and that's what they got. They seem all in on getting their QB in the draft IMO.

McCarron could be a nice surprise at starter, or he could just end up as the backup (which is likely why his contract is based on playing time) if the rookie shows he's ready. 

 

 

4 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

Seems like a very smartly written contract. 

 

And IMO is just more proof that the Bills are all in on their QB in the draft. I think they've clearly identified 1 or 2 QBs in this draft that they think can start by year 2 the latest.

 

They even bought themselves a nice little 5 day window next year to potentially trade McCarron before his salary becomes guaranteed (and after the dust settles on the opening of free agency). 

[BigBuff423]

51 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I also like Cover1 and Eric a great deal, but I think he was pretty harsh on McCarron.  There's a reason why McCarron was drafted in the 5th, and it's primarily his weak arm.

He's basically saying that McCarron doesn't have the elite ball placement skills of a Brees or a Rodgers, and that's true.  But it's also true that QB/WR pairings can take weeks of practice to build those skills.  And at least McCarron appears to have a sense of his own limitations, which is important.  He made some mistakes in that Pitts game, and while they didn't shut him down, they did seem to activate that little neuron circuit that says "you can't do that!"

 

McCarron got the ball there, and his ability to move around in the pocket was much better than I thought it would be.  And he clearly was able to read the defense quickly and well, and to understand who he had to manipulate one way or the other.  It's going to be up to his OC to scheme for him what he does well and his GM to give him enough quality weapons and OL.    He's clearly helped out by having AJ Green there. 

 

In terms of absolute productivity he may be a downgrade on Taylor, but he's clearly a better match for the pocket passer Beane has been steadfast in saying the Bills want.

 

I agree with BigBuff that while we both like Cover1 and Eric Turner, we don't think he's the "last word.  @danorlovsky has some good stuff on his twitter.  Maurice Jones-Drew and Bucky Brooks did a nice Xs and Os breakdown here showing both some good plays and 2 ugly picks

 

My bottom line, really like the signing, like the contract, and Bills would be foolish not to continue to go all-out in the draft for the QB(s) they think suit them because AJ McCarron is not "money" to be an answer at QB. 

 

Bills MUST upgrade the OL because inexperienced QB make mistakes under pressure, and Bills must continue to look for that big-catch-radius "give him a chance" WR as a target for both the rookie and for McCarron, because McCarron doesn't have that pinpoint accuracy that can make ordinary WR look good.

 

 

 

Hap, agree with most of what you said as well....although, I thought one of the things folks liked about AJ was his arm strength...not elite, ala Stafford or Josh Allen, but good...like a Mariota or Tannehill....I'll look some more on that and try to get back to this by the end of the day....thanks for all of this, good stuff.

34 minutes ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

Viable responsible? Maybe with McCarron but with Murphy, Star & Ivory we will have to see. I think those 3 were overpayed. Some might think otherwise.  I know one thing Star and Ivory are arrow down players and Murphy is coming off of 2 tears in mcl/acl and ped suspension. 

 

People here forget some the players in the past regime brought in for basically veteran minimum and overperformed even in some cases made the probowl. McBeane has yet to prove this yet . Yes Mcd was here for Poyer and Hyde but those were guys that Whaley and his staff brought to him.  

 

I'm just saying here people tend to overdue the job these guys have done and are quick to forget what others did in the past.  I feel bad for Whaley he put a very talented roster together to bad he never got to hire his lockstep guy or have the chance to take Mahomes or Watson last yr like some reports indicate he wanted to. 

 

Completely disagree....McD and what staff he had were running the Draft, you really think he would let Whaley choose his FAs for him too? That makes no sense....I'm tepid on Whaley, I think he certainly accomplished some nice things, mainly in Pro Personnel acquisitions, but he also had some real issues with the Draft and it's the Draft that builds a team. As for the others, Ivory is a change-of-pace, Murphy has real potential based on production and yes injuries are an issue but could it be that the injury and the PED are tied to the same thing? As in he was taking the PEDs to heal faster? I'm not excusing it, but making it sound like two separate issues may not be a fair way of characterizing the situation. As for Star, the entire Carolina team took a step back, and you don't think it's possible for a DT who liked playing for his former coach had a bit of a transition in adjusting to the new staff and scheme? Maybe he excels in only McD's Defense, but thankfully he'll be playing in that again....

[Hapless Bills Fan]

35 minutes ago, Tyrod's friend said:

If the consensus view is correct - that there is one guy (Darnold, presumably) and the rest are clustered - it makes so much sense to stand down, fill out the roster. I could easily see Evans and taking a QB as late as #65 - or even later! Once the first wave of QBs leave the list of availables, the rest will tumble.

 

Why do you see that as the consensus view?

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

My bottom line, really like the signing, like the contract, and Bills would be foolish not to continue to go all-out in the draft for the QB(s) they think suit them because AJ McCarron is not "money" to be an answer at QB. 

 

Bills MUST upgrade the OL because inexperienced QB make mistakes under pressure, and Bills must continue to look for that big-catch-radius "give him a chance" WR as a target for both the rookie and for McCarron, because McCarron doesn't have that pinpoint accuracy that can make ordinary WR look good.

 

 

Cap dollars are getting short, I want to see an OL signing soon myself.

[Dante]

15 hours ago, PolishDave said:

 

Thanks.  (I'm out of thank you's and likes for the day because I spent way too much time here today.)

There are reality shows on Bravo or one of those channels called W.A.G.S LA, W.A.G.S Miami, W.A.G.S Atlanta. 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

What a deal for a guy that is probably better then the guy we had. Wonder what number he will wear. I want to order a road AJ

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Anyone else think this move opens up the possibility of taking a QB at 22 or later and using 12 on a defender?

[Tyrod's friend]

10 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Why do you see that as the consensus view?

Basically - what I hear/see. Looking at NFL Tracker, as an example - their top rated QB has in fact been picked first/second since 2012, so there's that. And they do in fact rate Darnold considerably ahead of any other QB in the draft. The dispersion between the #1 rated QB and the #2 rated QB has never been greater. It's one data point, not the only thing.

Nobody puts Rosen with the Browns, and at most it winds up Allen v Darnold. Darnold is consistently at least the #2 guy; the deviation of opinions on Allen is much greater. So it seems quite likely to me that Darnold goes #1. (Browns being Browns, nobody knows.)

At the end of the day, at MOST you can say there is no clear QB. If this is the case then it makes my point very strongly. If there is no difference, the smart play is to let all the other fools stumble all over themselves to getting basically equal talent. By time the third round opens, there will be at least four different options available. It will be sort of like the McCarron deal, all over again.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

As a reminder Benoit isn’t a big Tyrod fan 

fan or not ....  is he wrong?  

26 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Cap dollars are getting short, I want to see an OL signing soon myself.

yup.  the cap sites are taking their sweetass time updating the figures.   

 

plugging in estimated #'s I got down to $10.   

Edited March 15, 2018 by ShadyBillsFan

[Figster]

4 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

What a deal for a guy that is probably better then the guy we had. Wonder what number he will wear. I want to order a road AJ

Or possibly even better then anyone in the upcoming draft class.

 

Funny after over a decade and a half of trying to find the next franchise many Bills fans are so certain our guy is waiting right around the corner they fail to see whats standing right in front of them.

 

I get the excitement of a top 5 QB from the next draft class , but the top two will in all likelihood be gone and hanging your hat on more of an unknown then A J McCarron doesn't make much sense to me at this point in my humble opinion.

 

albeit my opinion is tainted crimson...

[gobills1212]

24 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Cap dollars are getting short, I want to see an OL signing soon myself.

Agreed, ESP if the target is Rosen.

I think we will be in for a rude awakening with out tyrod in one (and only one) sense and we got a sneak preview to a degree last year in LA.

We have gotten use to his escapability and with out arguing about how many sacks were on him holding the ball too long etc. Itd be nice to not have the kid turn into David Carr (exaggeration of course) but you get the idea. 

That said, if they emphasize 2/3 step drop and out (something TT couldnt do) maybe itll cut down on him getting killed. 

Regardless of who, and their talent, we dont wanna get the kid killed ESP if for some reason he needs to be rushed. 

[hondo in seattle]

[NastyNateSoldiers]

1 hour ago, BigBuff423 said:

 

Hap, agree with most of what you said as well....although, I thought one of the things folks liked about AJ was his arm strength...not elite, ala Stafford or Josh Allen, but good...like a Mariota or Tannehill....I'll look some more on that and try to get back to this by the end of the day....thanks for all of this, good stuff.

 

Completely disagree....McD and what staff he had were running the Draft, you really think he would let Whaley choose his FAs for him too? That makes no sense....I'm tepid on Whaley, I think he certainly accomplished some nice things, mainly in Pro Personnel acquisitions, but he also had some real issues with the Draft and it's the Draft that builds a team. As for the others, Ivory is a change-of-pace, Murphy has real potential based on production and yes injuries are an issue but could it be that the injury and the PED are tied to the same thing? As in he was taking the PEDs to heal faster? I'm not excusing it, but making it sound like two separate issues may not be a fair way of characterizing the situation. As for Star, the entire Carolina team took a step back, and you don't think it's possible for a DT who liked playing for his former coach had a bit of a transition in adjusting to the new staff and scheme? Maybe he excels in only McD's Defense, but thankfully he'll be playing in that again....

First off Rivera runs that ship and they usually hire from within like they did with Wilks to keep continuity on D and No! They didn't take a step bk. Matter of fact they took plenty steps up by going from 24th ranked D to top 3 and they made the playoffs going 11-5 . Star on the other hand he was sharing his job stuck in heavy rotation only had 19tackles on season that's pretty average if u ask me. 

 

Back to Whaley u say he had nothing to do with the draft that's absolutely insane.  It was his scouts his staff and him that put that board together.  Whaley might of made mistakes in past drafts i agree with u on that but what GM doesn't ? Whaley put talent on this team he did his job the problem was the coaching he had never shared his vision with him.  We all know here that he didn't personally hire or even choose his coach to lead this team. 

[YoloinOhio]

37 minutes ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

fan or not ....  is he wrong?  

yup.  the cap sites are taking their sweetass time updating the figures.   

 

plugging in estimated #'s I got down to $10.   

I don’t think anyone knows whether he’s wrong yet, but I don’t really think it matters. I think the Bills would prefer that AJ never even has to play a meaningful game because they are targeting someone else for their starting QB. He’s much cheaper for that role than TT was.  I mean one of my Browns fan buddies texted me last night and asked if I’d rather have TT or AJ and I texted back with a GIF of Josh Rosen. They are both just placeholders.

 

one thing I’ll say about AJ is that he has more upside, potentially. Because we haven’t seen him play enough to gauge his ceiling. I can’t remember who it was (may have been Benoit) that said AJ is just a younger version of Kirk Cousins. Having watched both on college, I didn’t think that was too far off.

 

if you are going to add a Qb to your  roster when you don’t gave a franchise guy yet, it’s a good idea to get one that may have a “chance” to become a franchise QB, if that makes sense. I think they know TT is not that guy. And have doubts that Peterman could be. 

Edited March 15, 2018 by YoloinOhio

[Boca BIlls]

44 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Anyone else think this move opens up the possibility of taking a QB at 22 or later and using 12 on a defender?

Not even close

[Figster]

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I don’t think anyone knows whether he’s wrong yet, but I don’t really think it matters. I think the Bills would prefer that AJ never even has to play a meaningful game because they are targeting someone else for their starting QB. He’s much cheaper for that role than TT was. 

I don't think the Bills prefer that at all in my humble opinion Yo.

 

Best case scenario for all concerned is McCarron can hold down the fort until the rookie is up to speed and has a good understanding of the O IMO.

[PromoTheRobot]

Any word what number McCarron will wear? Hope it's 5. I have a Taylor jersey to recycle.

[Success]

I know YouTube highlights are often the best throws - but I got pretty stoked watching them.  He’s a real gunslinger and has some nice touch on the  ball when needed.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Success

[Sig1Hunter]

51 minutes ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

Anyone else think this move opens up the possibility of taking a QB at 22 or later and using 12 on a defender?

While I don't think it is necessarily likely,  it wouldn't shock me and I'm not sure I would be upset with it.  The draft is always full of surprises.