Reed83HOF Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/03/19/kirk-cousins-minnesota-vikings-free-agency-guaranteed-contract-mmqb-peter-king TL;DR = got to point #4 on this list (about trading up for a QB) 1.) Bills wanted McCown: But Buffalo also was seriously interested in McCown, so the Jets put their best contractual foot forward there and ensured they’d keep the trusted veteran who played so well last year, at 38. 2.) Colts aren't done moving down, 70 starters in the draft & we are a partner to move to 6 Colts aren’t done trading yet. After dealing from three to six, I could see them moving down one more time before the April 26 first round. GM Chris Ballard said as much to his team’s website Saturday, and I can add a confirmation to that. Ballard’s going to try. Ballard got a lot of “attaboy” calls/texts over the weekend, and rightly so. I had one GM tell me his team has about 70 players on its draft board rated as starter-quality, which strikes me as about right judging how teams have told me they’re judging this draft. The Colts very much need to maximize this draft. It’s likely their roster is the weakest in the rising AFC South. Ballard knows he needs quantity in this draft. That’s why if he could turn the sixth pick into something in the 10 to 12 range and add another second-rounder, I believe he’d do it. At six, he’d likely have a chance at pass-rusher Bradley Chubb or guard Quenton Nelson. At 11, let’s say, he’d have a chance at a desperately needed rangy linebacker like Roquan Smith or Tremaine Edmunds. A second trade would mean Ballard would have turned the third overall pick into five players who would have a chance to start from this one trade alone. Colts’ picks in the top four rounds now: 6, 36, 37, 49, 67, 104. If I were Ballard, I might trade down from 6 to Buffalo at 12 if the Bills would deal the 53rd overall pick and maybe the 96th pick as well—seeing that the price for a quarterback is more of a premium. But of course, this is probably a night-of-the-draft deal, because the Bills would have to see a quarterback they’d want here. 3.) He likes what the Bills did Free agency is a tortuous process, because even when you think you’ve made a great deal, you’ve got this feeling deep down: What if the money spoils this guy? Or what if we’re overrating him after a small sample size? So take this with caution, Bills Mafia. But your general manager, Brandon Beane, had a good week, from my view of it. To recap: he got the first pick in the third round for a quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, he was clearly ready to move on from; Beane also paid interesting young quarterback A.J. McCarron for two years what the Jets paid Josh McCown for one ($10 million); and Beane gambled that coach Sean McDermott can make talented but meh defensive tackle Star Lotulelei (five years, $50 million) shine again. At the same time, Beane was trying to keep his promise to owner Kim and Terry Pegula: fix the bloated salary cap he’d taken over 10 months ago. He’d do it, he vowed, after two seasons, and so part of his decisions this year included pinching pennies so he could clean up the cap by the opening of the 2019 league year. I spoke with Beane on Friday afternoon about the big decisions he and coach Sean McDermott had made. MMQB: You got Cleveland to take all of Tyrod Taylor’s salary, and got the first pick in the third round. How? Beane: “We wanted to find a spot for him, not to just put him somewhere. We were open and honest with him and his agent. Sometimes these situations can get salty, but here, everybody wanted to do the right thing and not be confrontation. Getting the 65th pick was huge. Patience was the key. I am very happy how it worked out for the Bills and for Tyrod and the financial part was a part of it. When it’s all said and done, we’re going to have about $45 million in dead money this year. That was part of my plan—to eat all of it, or as much as we could, this year.” MMQB: You waited out the quarterback market, from the looks of it, and got McCarron for good value—two years, $10 million. Beane: “We did due diligence there. Every dollar we spend there is a dollar less we can spend somewhere else. We didn’t want to get into chase mode. We had different guys we thought would fit, A.J. being one of them. One word we heard over and over from people who had coached him or known him. like Hue Jackson: competitor. That was music to my ears. He’ll fit here.” MMQB: Star Lotulelei for medium defensive tackle price—was he a target from the beginning? Beane: “I was part of the crew that drafted him in Carolina. One word for him: selfless. Luke Kuechly will rave about Star, because he allowed Luke to run free. For us, I believe Star can be a two-and-a-half-down player, playing some third downs.” 4.) Will we move up again MMQB: Looks like you have the ammo to move up in the draft again and get one of the quarterbacks. Will you trade again? Beane: “The truth? Most of these quarterbacks I’ve only spent 15 minutes with. [At the combine, each team can meet with prospects for a maximum of 15 minutes per player.] I haven’t spent enough time to have an opinion about any of them yet, honestly. I actually sent a little note to our [scouts] yesterday. We got six weeks to get our board together. I am not there yet, knowing if we can or will move up again. I want Sean to get to know all of them. We’re just keeping an open mind. Where we’re at, we’ve got the picks, we've got the draft capital. I’m not ready to pull the trigger.” Edited March 19, 2018 by Reed83HOF 13 7
Reed83HOF Posted March 19, 2018 Author Posted March 19, 2018 2 minutes ago, Virgil said: Good read. Thank you NP & it is... Trade from 12 to 6 with a second rounder sign me right up...Here you go NYG 6, 22, 65 and whatever else Sean meet Josh, Josh meet Sean you guys are going to get to know each other very well over the next 15 years.... 3
Inigo Montoya Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 It would be great if our guy dropped to 6 and we could trade up and get him at that spot. I would rather wait and see what happens at 6 than spend all of our draft capital on trading up to 2. There is also a smaller chance that we can trade up to 4 with the Browns if they are game. I'd be OK with that too if the cost wasn't too high and our guy is sitting there. I'm sure Beane will be on the phone with the Brown's and Colt's GMs repeatedly between now and draft night building possible frameworks for trades. I'm sure he'll be calling Elway too to get a sense of what they're willing to do. Any trade up the Bills make will have to be predicated on who is left on the board when the 4th, 5th, and 6th picks roll around. No way Beane deals before the draft, he won't pull the trigger on any trade up until he knows which QB falls out of the top three. 1 1
NickelCity Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 21 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said: NP & it is... Trade from 12 to 6 with a second rounder sign me right up...Here you go NYG 6, 22, 65 and whatever else Sean meet Josh, Josh meet Sean you guys are going to get to know each other very well over the next 15 years.... As long as that's Josh Rosen. 1
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 32 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said: It would be great if our guy dropped to 6 and we could trade up and get him at that spot. I would rather wait and see what happens at 6 than spend all of our draft capital on trading up to 2. There is also a smaller chance that we can trade up to 4 with the Browns if they are game. I'd be OK with that too if the cost wasn't too high and our guy is sitting there. I'm sure Beane will be on the phone with the Brown's and Colt's GMs repeatedly between now and draft night building possible frameworks for trades. I'm sure he'll be calling Elway too to get a sense of what they're willing to do. Any trade up the Bills make will have to be predicated on who is left on the board when the 4th, 5th, and 6th picks roll around. No way Beane deals before the draft, he won't pull the trigger on any trade up until he knows which QB falls out of the top three. This. Plus he can't say he wants to move up again as this would give the upper hand to our trade partner.
Estro Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 BTW Peter King make reference to the Jets perhaps having their eye on Baker, including the final haiku he wrote in the article: "Not sure it’s true, butmany around league see Jetsfocused on Baker." -Peter King Intersting, as I don't think Baker is the guy the Bills have their eye on. The next obvious question becomes what Josh do the Giants have their eye on.....Allen or Rosen? If it's Allen I think the Bills are in business to move up to get Rosen......if the Giants, otoh, like Rosen, I think the Bills miss out on their guy. I just don't think the Bills would like Allen as a prospect, due to his inaccuracy. Interesting about Baker and the Jets, though, as most right now seem to be speculating they traded up for Allen or Rosen. King thinks differently.
Inigo Montoya Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 Baker would be a good fit for the Jets in the tradition of Broadway Joe. You don't want to draft a shrinking violet in NYC. I think that's why Eli is a bit of a meh QB in NYC despite the Super Bowl win. He just doesn't have a big enough personality for that city and those fans.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 35 minutes ago, Estro said: BTW Peter King make reference to the Jets perhaps having their eye on Baker, including the final haiku he wrote in the article: "Not sure it’s true, butmany around league see Jetsfocused on Baker." -Peter King Intersting, as I don't think Baker is the guy the Bills have their eye on. The next obvious question becomes what Josh do the Giants have their eye on.....Allen or Rosen? If it's Allen I think the Bills are in business to move up to get Rosen......if the Giants, otoh, like Rosen, I think the Bills miss out on their guy. I just don't think the Bills would like Allen as a prospect, due to his inaccuracy. Interesting about Baker and the Jets, though, as most right now seem to be speculating they traded up for Allen or Rosen. King thinks differently. If the Jets pick Mayfield I will puke.
bills522 Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 The Mayfield/Jets combo just feels like a match to me, I think he'd love the big city attention...now whether he'd like the attention over actually playing well? ...I'd hope so 1
N.Y. Orangeman Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 One of the most interesting points in this piece IMO is the fact that Beane admits he isn't ready to move up yet. Unless he is lying (which I doubt), we weren't beat out for the Jets pick.
PIZ Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 Awesome read. Thanks for posting. So, if we don't trade up, then it's because the price was too high or they didn't think any of the guys were worth trading up for. I honestly think when it's all said and done, that McDermott and Beane are going to target Mason Rudolph. It's not what many on here want to hear, but he fits their idea of a QB. You'll start hearing about Rudolph's stock rising, even though it's always been high with the NFL guys. Wouldn't surprise me if the Bills move up a little to get him. 1
CSBill Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, N.Y. Orangeman said: One of the most interesting points in this piece IMO is the fact that Beane admits he isn't ready to move up yet. Unless he is lying (which I doubt), we weren't beat out for the Jets pick. Added to that, while I'm sure he is always going to be very coy in expressing his true thoughts, is that he said he has not made a decision on the QBs, or that they really don't have their draft board built yet. No doubt, what happens in Free Agency influences that. So, apparently with the bulk of FA completed, the next six weeks will be focused on the draft. Personally, I'm hoping they hang on to their picks and get six potential starters in the first three rounds. Edited March 19, 2018 by CSBill 1
Doc Brown Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 1 hour ago, N.Y. Orangeman said: One of the most interesting points in this piece IMO is the fact that Beane admits he isn't ready to move up yet. Unless he is lying (which I doubt), we weren't beat out for the Jets pick. I still don't get why the Colts were so quick to trade that pick considering they could've gotten even more if the Jets and Bills (or the Cardinals/Broncos/Dolphins) could've been involved in a bidding war to move up to that #3 spot as the draft approached. I give credit to the Jets though as they put any team trying to trade up in the top 5 to draft a quarterback in a tough position. 1
Cripple Creek Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 5 hours ago, Reed83HOF said: https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/03/19/kirk-cousins-minnesota-vikings-free-agency-guaranteed-contract-mmqb-peter-king Good stuff, thanks.
TPS Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 An important point I took from this, this is a damn good draft overall--70 potential starters. The Bills have 5 picks in the top 65, so trading up this year has a greater cost than a "normal" year. If they trade up, They better love the guy because it could cost them 4 starters at other positions. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.... 1
PIZ Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 5 hours ago, Reed83HOF said: I had one GM tell me his team has about 70 players on its draft board rated as starter-quality, which strikes me as about right judging how teams have told me they’re judging this draft. This would be a reason to hold on to as many picks as possible. 5 picks in the top 70. We could use 5 starters. Round 1: 21, 22 (from Kansas City) Round 2: 53, 56 (from Los Angeles Rams) Round 3: 65 (from Cleveland),
mannc Posted March 19, 2018 Posted March 19, 2018 5 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said: It would be great if our guy dropped to 6 and we could trade up and get him at that spot. I would rather wait and see what happens at 6 than spend all of our draft capital on trading up to 2. There is also a smaller chance that we can trade up to 4 with the Browns if they are game. I'd be OK with that too if the cost wasn't too high and our guy is sitting there. I'm sure Beane will be on the phone with the Brown's and Colt's GMs repeatedly between now and draft night building possible frameworks for trades. I'm sure he'll be calling Elway too to get a sense of what they're willing to do. Any trade up the Bills make will have to be predicated on who is left on the board when the 4th, 5th, and 6th picks roll around. No way Beane deals before the draft, he won't pull the trigger on any trade up until he knows which QB falls out of the top three. Completely agree. To me, one of the most interesting things about the article was the consensus (sort of) that there are about 70 starter quality guys in this draft. With five picks in the first 65, the Bills are in great position. I hope Beane is patient and they don’t squander it.
Recommended Posts