BillsVet Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 19 hours ago, Albany,n.y. said: When you have a young, developing franchise QB, I'd rather provide him with veteran established WRs than take a shot in the draft. Last season we brought in 2 veteran WRs to replace a horrible group. Considering we were drafting in the 20s, it made more sense to get a proven #1 WR than to take a shot in the draft this year. Minnesota got a good deal & may have drafted a #1 in our spot, but Josh needed to be surrounded by veterans, not unproven players. On top of that we still drafted 2 later round WRs and Davis is looking pretty good for a 4th rounder. I can't find any fault in how Beane has constructed the WRs group from what was chicken poop in 2018. Before Beane got here we drafted White and signed one of the best pair of S in the league as FAs, no problem that we were unable to draft another pro bowler to pair with White. the secondary is pretty good. The draft and free agency should be used as compliments of each other & overall Beane & McDermott have overhauled this team from a playoff non contender to a perennial contender. Once again, with a young QB, I'd rather bring in veteran offensive linemen than taking a shot in the draft. We had far too many holes on the O-line to address with draft picks. They get huge credit for managing to maneuver in the 2018 draft through both luck & skill to not only scout the right QB, who they had as their top QB in the draft, but get him at a reasonable price, not giving up their 2nd first rounder of 2018 or their 2019 1st rounder. The Jets paid a lot more to move up from 6 to 3 for Darnold and I'm sure there is not a single GM in the NFL who would trade Josh for Sam. As for the front 7 on D, you can't fill them all, but we still have to see what the young guys will do. Don't be surprised if the vets we brought in shine in the playoffs. Edmunds has been hurt for half this season & is playing healthier & better in this 2nd half of the season. My point was that using UFA too much is gonna get you into cap issues and inhibit the ability to sign home-grown types. For years on TBD when Buffalo wasn't spending, I recall people saying you don't build a team through free agency. That was true then and it is now, but to a point. Aside from Gabe Davis, the top 3 WR's are veterans who command a significant salary. Buffalo is the 4th highest in the NFL spending on WR's. On DL, after 4 off-seasons and not counting the DL savior himself Star Lotulelei they are 1st in the NFL in spending on the DL at $51.2M which is 5M more than the next team. But they're a long ways from being the best DL in the league. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/breakdown/ They do get credit for finding a QB, which OBD hasn't done since the 1980s, while moving this team out of cap issues. Still, they've (like others have said) brought on new ones with their own players and spending big dollars on all these veterans. Thy need to draft better to reduce the reliance on UFA to make them more capable of signing Josh and likely Diggs to the long term extensions they'll seek. You can't do that spending on all these free agents.
Chaos Posted December 4, 2020 Posted December 4, 2020 Draft Picks are a form of capital. This capital is not distributed evenly. As a sense of proportion, the Bengals were given the cash equivalent of say $10 Million dollars for the last draft. The Chiefs were given the equivalent of 2 Million (ratio based on draft value charts). It is difficult to directly compare how teams given different amounts of capital fare against each other. People like to dump on the Patriots drafting. But the Patriots have been drafting nearly last for 20 years. I think the proper question is not "who is the best drafter" , but rather who makes the most out of the draft capital they are given. The Chiefs have used their draft capital in a way that allowed them to get Mahomes, and to win the most recent Super Bowl. That makes them the unquestioned current leader in the category of who manages their draft capital the best.
JGMcD2 Posted December 4, 2020 Author Posted December 4, 2020 This is a continuation of my research into the topic. My posts are the beginning and end of Page 1 and beginning of Page 2. Curious to hear some thoughts and what this tells folks based on their feelings on the draft, free agency, the Bills and more!
GunnerBill Posted December 4, 2020 Posted December 4, 2020 On 12/2/2020 at 7:01 PM, BillsVet said: My point was that using UFA too much is gonna get you into cap issues and inhibit the ability to sign home-grown types. For years on TBD when Buffalo wasn't spending, I recall people saying you don't build a team through free agency. That was true then and it is now, but to a point. Aside from Gabe Davis, the top 3 WR's are veterans who command a significant salary. Buffalo is the 4th highest in the NFL spending on WR's. On DL, after 4 off-seasons and not counting the DL savior himself Star Lotulelei they are 1st in the NFL in spending on the DL at $51.2M which is 5M more than the next team. But they're a long ways from being the best DL in the league. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/breakdown/ They do get credit for finding a QB, which OBD hasn't done since the 1980s, while moving this team out of cap issues. Still, they've (like others have said) brought on new ones with their own players and spending big dollars on all these veterans. Thy need to draft better to reduce the reliance on UFA to make them more capable of signing Josh and likely Diggs to the long term extensions they'll seek. You can't do that spending on all these free agents. In fairness though very few of the free agents they have spent on are long term commitments. It has really been Star, Morse, Brown and Beasley. The rest are all guys they can easily get out of after maximum 2 seasons from the point of signing. 5 hours ago, Chaos said: Draft Picks are a form of capital. This capital is not distributed evenly. As a sense of proportion, the Bengals were given the cash equivalent of say $10 Million dollars for the last draft. The Chiefs were given the equivalent of 2 Million (ratio based on draft value charts). It is difficult to directly compare how teams given different amounts of capital fare against each other. People like to dump on the Patriots drafting. But the Patriots have been drafting nearly last for 20 years. And for a 10 year stretch in the middle of that were among the best drafters.
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