Judging Beane’s decisions so far

[BobChalmers]

13 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Didn't we complain for 15 years that no regime wanted to do what needed to be done to set us up for long term success? There is no one year fix for a team that was so bad for so long. Last year was year 0 - we cleaned out the stink of 15 years and yes it left us with a lot of dead cap. This year is year 1. We will not be a very good football team and whoever we start at QB is a question mark at best. Next year we will have a full draft and $65 million to spend in free agency, plus one year of experience for the hopeful franchise QB. Beane finally tore it all down and he did that part of the rebuild very well. In a couple years we'll see how he did with the 2nd part of the plan.

 

Thank you.

 

Honestly - what is wrong with so many Bills fans?  A lot of these people whining here now really don't deserve a winning football team - they'll push out all this stupid, ignore what's been stated publicly about where this plan is going (thanks HappyDays for reminding the troll-sheep, not that they'll listen) and just go on bitching, because I guess years of frustration has taught them that bitching is THE value to being a Bills fan.

 

It has been stated REPEATEDLY in local and national media both that pushing all this dead cap into 2018 has been THE POINT all along.  Complaining about the 2018 dead cap is like shouting "I am ignorant and wish to stay that way!"   Lots of dead cap this year, LOTS of cap space in 2019.  

 

I've been around long enough to see them get good, and bad, and good again, and bad again - it happens.  We're waiting for the good times, and yes, making the playoffs (and yes even with needing help to do it) is the beginning of some more good times.  Waste your energy bitching if you must, just be sure to own up later when you're wrong.

 

[STILL waiting for the naysayers who call "2-14" every damned year to pony up a bet with me]

 

 

13 minutes ago, Agent 91 said:

Honestly no. That's not good enough for me. 

 

Good news for you, then, that Beane and McDermott have repeatedly stated it's not good enough for them either.  TRUST THE PROCESS

Edited September 2, 2018 by BobChalmers

[BADOLBILZ]

50 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

This is clearly a three year plan. Last year was getting rid of contracts and numerous players that didn’t buy in. They still managed to sneak into playoffs which was great.

 

This year is the real painful one. Getting Josh some experience without being able to give him weapons or protection. Some of his offensive signings were dreadful on paper and on field so far. We are weak or pitiful at all but two of the seven positions. We will see soon how well it turns out on field. Josh could surprise. 

 

Next year, with all the money and few guys to get rid of will be the true test. He needs to fill over ten positions with solid starters. He set himself up to do it. We will see what he spends his huge resources on. Then we will know what kind of GM he is. 

 

Yes.

 

And as usual.........we will know what kind of GM we have after their 3rd season.

 

He's accelerated the time-table with his aggression that a third draft won't be needed to understand whether he has the field vision to build a championship team.

 

If hording cap room and draft assets doesn't result in the Bills having a talented roster going into 2020 then Beane's plan wasn't good or was just that poorly executed.

 

What concerns me is this all star cast of personnel people Beane supposedly assembled............where are all of the gems these hot-shots are supposed to be mining?    Definitely not one of the better looking groups of UDFA's and unheralded free agents the Bills have fielded in recent years.   The inactive 6 on this roster are practice squad level......they gotta' do better than that.

Edited September 2, 2018 by BADOLBILZ

[Batman1876]

So far this rebuild has gone amazingly well.  Got 2nd round value for an injured LT that we had a replacement for.  We got 3rd round pick for a QB who we needed to get rid of.  Got a 2nd round pick for a WR who under preformed and was going to leave at the end of the season. And Got a 6th round pick and dumped a stupid contract for an overpaid D lineman with a bad attitude. Those are all good moves. 

 

Tyrod, Marcel, and Cordy cost us 30 mil in dead space but I don’t think any of us want them back on the team. We were moving on and got value for all of them.  

 

The next phase is still up in the air how do their draft picks pan out and who do they bring in when they don’t have to battle the cap. 

[Boatdrinks]

1 hour ago, Kelly the Dog said:

This is clearly a three year plan. Last year was getting rid of contracts and numerous players that didn’t buy in. They still managed to sneak into playoffs which was great.

 

This year is the real painful one. Getting Josh some experience without being able to give him weapons or protection. Some of his offensive signings were dreadful on paper and on field so far. We are weak or pitiful at all but two of the seven positions. We will see soon how well it turns out on field. Josh could surprise. 

 

Next year, with all the money and few guys to get rid of will be the true test. He needs to fill over ten positions with solid starters. He set himself up to do it. We will see what he spends his huge resources on. Then we will know what kind of GM he is. 

Yep, this year is the painful one. Last year was a tear down with no expectations, surprisingly resulting in a playoff berth. That created new expectations, but this year is the “ cap purgatory” year resulting from jettisoning all that dead wood. Including an average to slightly above average QB that wasn’t good enough for “ the process”. The goal is being set higher than an odd playoff appearance here and there. This year is really about getting Allen some live game action and seeing if Peterman can be a long term backup while hopefully honing McDs defense. Next season the cap jail is over , quality FA can be added while using retained draft picks to find studs at cornerstone positions. It’s a tall order, but I’d rather see a swing for the fences than a team that can make a solid double now and then. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by Boatdrinks

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, Kelly the Dog said:

 

Next year, with all the money and few guys to get rid of will be the true test. He needs to fill over ten positions with solid starters. He set himself up to do it. We will see what he spends his huge resources on. Then we will know what kind of GM he is. 

 

It will be interesting to see how many quality FA's actually come available.  Most teams (those not named Raiders, anyway) seem to find the money lock up their guys.   Still, based on this Bills roster, it wouldn't take much to improve the talent...

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

9-7 last year, playoffs, two first-round selections in the top 16...10 picks next year and over $60M in space with your presumed franchise QB under cost control for the next 5 years. 

 

Seems pretty good to me so far

 

Its amazing how simple that is and yet so diffiicult for these unrealistic arm chair QBs to grasp who think you can overhaul an entire roster at every position, clear cap space, etc all in 1 season

[jahnyc]

Way too early to make judgments about Beane, but the amount of activity, trades for draft picks/players, moving up in the draft, and player releases, has been incredible.  One thing I do believe is that the Bills do not have a talented roster.  For a number of reasons, including all of our dead money, we are starting players that should not be starting and we have reserves that would not make most NFL rosters.  We will have better resources next year (i.e., cap space) to improve the roster, but this may be a tough year, particularly if we have injuries since we have no quality depth at most positions.

[Heavy Kevi]

There are arguments on both sides.

 

He has done "fine" so far be my definition. 

 

For the sake of continuity, if it was my decision, I would leave Beane and McDermott in their post for 5 years. At the end of that time, re-evaluate and change if neccesary.

 

The NFL seems to run in 2 year coaching/GM cycles nowadays, but then nobody ever really gets to implement their full system with players who are a fit. I would like to see it be more routine to keep coaches around for much longer, so long as they show promise (as McD and Beane obviously have).

 

For these reasons, I contend that any attempts to fire Beane OR McD now would be nothing short of foolhardy.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

2 hours ago, Scott7975 said:

Cant judge him on dead cap space.  He was weeding out the bad contracts left by the former GM.  That's how its done.  Having poor cap space this year wont hurt.  Next season lets see how he spends it.  We are inline to have the 2nd most cap space next season.

 

...and I believe 10 picks.......the two combined make it a pivotal year long term..............

[ProcessAccepted]

3 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

9-7 last year, playoffs, two first-round selections in the top 16...10 picks next year and over $60M in space with your presumed franchise QB under cost control for the next 5 years. 

 

Seems pretty good to me so far

 

If you are here to lay out facts and give rational responses then you've come to the wrong place. This is the place where keyboard GMs come to propose trading multiple first round picks for Mack or paying Dez Bryant when we've got over $50M is dead cap to get off the books. ? 

 

It'll be a bumpy year but a necessary one. We've got the drought behind us, a hell of a QB rookie to develop, a ton of $$$ to spend next year as well as great draft picks. I'd say the mess is being cleaned up and problems are being solved. 

[vorpma]

2 hours ago, simpleman said:

Everything listed is Beane. He was hired over a year ago. Did he get a one year free vacation before he started his job? These are the  solid facts, not some alternate reality. You are judged by your actions, not your future fantasies.

 

And you are judged by your total lack of understanding of the modern NFL! After 16 years of horrible drafts, coaching, FA signings, and scouting, you want to throw a temper tantrum because Beane has not fixed things overnight! You must be a relatively new fan to the NFL, try to have patience!

[purple haze]

This ish is insane.   Folks are really complaining and Beane has been in the job not even two years.  After a 9-7 season?  After he said, up front, it was going to take time to build the program up the way he and McD envision it?  After he said, up front they needed to address the cap?  Okay, carry on then...??‍♂️

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

33 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Its amazing how simple that is and yet so diffiicult for these unrealistic arm chair QBs to grasp who think you can overhaul an entire roster at every position, clear cap space, etc all in 1 season

 

Like I said...people here are like squirrels. 

[vorpma]

3 hours ago, SoTier said:

I think the lack of talent, excluding rookies, on this team and the huge amount of dead cap space pretty much says all you need to know about McDermott/Beane and their personnel skills: they're in over their heads.  McDermott is a good game coach.  He seems be a great coach at getting the best out of the players he has, but you cannot coach talent.   All the coaching in the world is not going to turn a JAG defensive end into Khalil Mack or turn Vlad Ducasse into Dave DeCastro.  McDermott is neither Bill Belichick nor Andy Reid; he should stick to coaching, have input into decisions on players, but he should not be charge of selecting player personnel, which it seems he is.

 

Beane seems to like to trade for injured players or players he and McDermott knew from their time with the Panthers,  and he wastes draft picks -- as in he wasted a seventh round pick on Corey Coleman when he could have picked him up as a FA 2 weeks later.   He also gambles too much.  He traded up to take both Allen and Edmunds, both of whom are "projects" rather than players who are bonafide Day 1 starters, although Edmunds is starting because there's nobody else and Allen may start for the same reason.

 

For all those fans salivating over the $90 million in cap space next season, consider that the Bills have so many holes -- mostly made by McDermott and Beane -- that there's not enough talent available in FA or in the draft to fill them all.

Your right, with the Whaley/Nix/great drafts/great scouting/great coaching we were a Super Bowl contender; what is the color of the sky on your planet? The color of my sky is blue and the Bills were putrid for almost 20 years but keep shaking those poms poms for DW and ole Buddy! Let's see, EJ just cut again, Aaron Maybin, DW is now sought after by every NFL team due to his eye for talent.........

 

[fishgrappler]

3 hours ago, SoTier said:

I think the lack of talent, excluding rookies, on this team and the huge amount of dead cap space pretty much says all you need to know about McDermott/Beane and their personnel skills: they're in over their heads.  McDermott is a good game coach.  He seems be a great coach at getting the best out of the players he has, but you cannot coach talent.   All the coaching in the world is not going to turn a JAG defensive end into Khalil Mack or turn Vlad Ducasse into Dave DeCastro.  McDermott is neither Bill Belichick nor Andy Reid; he should stick to coaching, have input into decisions on players, but he should not be charge of selecting player personnel, which it seems he is.

 

Beane seems to like to trade for injured players or players he and McDermott knew from their time with the Panthers,  and he wastes draft picks -- as in he wasted a seventh round pick on Corey Coleman when he could have picked him up as a FA 2 weeks later.   He also gambles too much.  He traded up to take both Allen and Edmunds, both of whom are "projects" rather than players who are bonafide Day 1 starters, although Edmunds is starting because there's nobody else and Allen may start for the same reason.

 

For all those fans salivating over the $90 million in cap space next season, consider that the Bills have so many holes -- mostly made by McDermott and Beane -- that there's not enough talent available in FA or in the draft to fill them all.

I rarely post but I strongly disagree with your perception. They have had to do an awful lot of clean up from the past regimes that were not able to put together a group of athletes that could work together.

They've done a lot with very little thus far. They're smart, calculated, and high character leaders. They're preparing for sustained success. I.e. they didn't get caught up in selling the farm for Mack.... Past leadership may have. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

This just in, most GMs fail too. There might be  a connection. 

 

I would strongly argue that there isn't a connection or at least there shouldn't be.  The problem is there simply are not enough top level QB's to go around for all the teams.   There's many things you can blame GM's for but not finding a franchise QB shouldn't be one of them as half the teams in the league are doing no better at this. 

 

And if you fire the GM for this reason, all you're doing then is bringing in some other guy who truthfully has no better chance of finding the answer at QB than the guy you just fired.  Hey lets bring in someone from Greenbay, they found Farve and Rodgers.  Was it really that they were smarter than everyone else or just got lucky.  You certainly wouldn't want to bring in anyone from Atlanta at that time as they must have been completely clueless for letting Farve go.  In reality, nobody has much of any ideas on QB's and which ones do succeed and which ones don't because if they did everyone would be doing it too.

 

I will agree that GM's will sometimes take chances on risky QB choices again only because there aren't enough good ones to go around, but I  think it's a mistake to be penalized or fired for that.  Nor should you be penalized for not taking a chance on a risky one, but then the team will likely never become good either.  So GM's do need to take chances, but likely will fail more than succeed when it comes to QB's.

 

I think the bigger reason GM's fail is for giving out bad over paid contracts more often to non QB's as usually with QB's by the time the 1st contract is up, they've figured out whether this is the guy or not, but position players is where they get in trouble.  (see MD)  and then often doubling down and pushing money down the road until eventually it all blows up.   And the other area of failure for GM's is multiple bad draft picks.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Ed_Formerly_of_Roch

[reddogblitz]

4 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

It really comes to to Josh Allen, who I think will be great, if Allen fails, then Beane fails. 

 

Not necessarily. Depends on what else he does. If he finds someone better relatively quickly all is forgiven.

[DuckyBoys]

The judgement will come from what he does with all that cap space and picks plus Josh Allen.  Clearing all that cap space is nice but if he whiffs on all these free agent moves he'll be gone and we'll be rebuilding yet again.  Realistically what is the core of this team right now going forward?

[Paulus]

McBeane>Gruden

 

Honestly, there is some bad, mixed with a lot more good, IMO. Drafting the defensive and offensive QB of the future this year says a lot. Being able to draft them says even more.

 

That said, the O-Line losing Wood and Richie, unexpectedly really hurt, and I think there could have been more done. Far too often do I see coaches/GM try and ignore certain positions, for whatever reason. 

 

 

[reddogblitz]

I seriously question trading up to 2picks in first, taking a QB project at 7, and then not seriously improving the WR position.

 

everyone likes to talk about Andy Dalton. The year he was drafted they also took AJ Green.