WR Kenny Stills said to be visiting Buffalo (no confirmation he signed)

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Is there any way this thing doesn’t happen now? This is kind of a strange timeline here

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Is there any way this thing doesn’t happen now? This is kind of a strange timeline here

@Rochesterfan, can you help him out here?

 

I did ask you to share one more time. 🤣

 

Brianmoorman4Jesus, just having fun, bro!

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Is there any way this thing doesn’t happen now? This is kind of a strange timeline here

I don’t think there is anything to worry about. Transactions have been weird this year. The Daryl Worley-Darron Lee saga took awhile. We heard they would likely be signing for a couple of weeks before anything actually happened. 

[downunderbill]

Thought I saw a glimpse of a report that he signed.

Edited January 3, 2021 by downunderbill

[Warcodered]

6 minutes ago, downunderbill said:

He signed

citation?

[JDubya76]

Plucktus Rectus

[Warcodered]

10 minutes ago, downunderbill said:

Thought I saw a glimpse of a report that he signed.

Looking for what you saw I found this which still isn't confirmation but I thought it was interesting.

 

https://www.nfl.com/news/texans-releasing-veteran-receiver-kenny-stills

 

He wasn't very productive this year but it'd be hard to be productive with just 25% of the snaps.

[JDubya76]

WHAM had a report but immediately walked it back in the second paragraph.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/13wham.com/amp/buffalo-plus/bills-latest-news/wr-kenny-still-signs-in-buffalo

[Rochesterfan]

6 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Is there any way this thing doesn’t happen now? This is kind of a strange timeline here

 

Of course there is a chance because it is not done yet, but why do you think the timeline is strange?

 

There is nothing strange happening here at all.  Stills can’t officially sign until he clears 6 days of negative COVID testing (essentially 1 full week) and the earliest they can meet and practice is next Wednesday because of COVID protocol.  
 

So the timing makes sense - he came in and is getting tested (probably staying in a hotel near the stadium).  He is talking with guys like Diggs and Bills Mafia via social media so it seems he is ready to join (not looking elsewhere).  The announcement should come Monday or Tuesday as soon as he clears protocol and the timeline fits to everything Beane has talked about all year and similar to what you saw with other “name” veterans that had to clear protocol - it takes between a week and 10 days from visit to signing depending upon when guys arrive to start the protocol testing.

 

The second part is people keep saying the timing is weird - why not do this weeks ago when Brown was hurt?  My answer to that is simple - Stills was under a guaranteed contract from Houston at Brown level money.  If he signed before the end of the year (unless someone offered huge money) - his pay was not changing just where the money was coming from.  After this week, the players are no longer paid salary- just bonuses for wins/loses - so it behooves Stills to sign with a team he thinks can win the most games, get a small signing bonus (salary doesn’t matter - league minimum as he is not getting paid anyway) and join up with a team right after week 17 - the exact timeline seen here.

 

Since McD talked about Beane having an eye on this for weeks - that tells me that Stills was discussed as a potential Brown replacement in the event Brown re-aggravates his leg injury and that Beane and Stills agent understood the exact timeline they were following.  It also has the least impact on the Bills salary cap and allows them to roll over money next year that might have been spent on Stills if he signed in the regular season.

[BringBackFergy]

34 pages and he hasn’t signed yet?

 

This is taking on George Seifert proportions. 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Rochesterfan said:

Of course there is a chance because it is not done yet, but why do you think the timeline is strange?

 

There is nothing strange happening here at all.  Stills can’t officially sign until he clears 6 days of negative COVID testing (essentially 1 full week) and the earliest they can meet and practice is next Wednesday because of COVID protocol.  
 

So the timing makes sense - he came in and is getting tested (probably staying in a hotel near the stadium).  He is talking with guys like Diggs and Bills Mafia via social media so it seems he is ready to join (not looking elsewhere).  The announcement should come Monday or Tuesday as soon as he clears protocol and the timeline fits to everything Beane has talked about all year and similar to what you saw with other “name” veterans that had to clear protocol - it takes between a week and 10 days from visit to signing depending upon when guys arrive to start the protocol testing.

 

The second part is people keep saying the timing is weird - why not do this weeks ago when Brown was hurt?  My answer to that is simple - Stills was under a guaranteed contract from Houston at Brown level money.  If he signed before the end of the year (unless someone offered huge money) - his pay was not changing just where the money was coming from.  After this week, the players are no longer paid salary- just bonuses for wins/loses - so it behooves Stills to sign with a team he thinks can win the most games, get a small signing bonus (salary doesn’t matter - league minimum as he is not getting paid anyway) and join up with a team right after week 17 - the exact timeline seen here.

 

Since McD talked about Beane having an eye on this for weeks - that tells me that Stills was discussed as a potential Brown replacement in the event Brown re-aggravates his leg injury and that Beane and Stills agent understood the exact timeline they were following.  It also has the least impact on the Bills salary cap and allows them to roll over money next year that might have been spent on Stills if he signed in the regular season.

 

IMHO it would have been better to sign Stills last week so that he got some practice and maybe game time with the Bills before the playoffs.  If that meant the Bills paid him $436K (1/16 of his 2020 salary) for today's game, so be it.

[Big Turk]

28 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

IMHO it would have been better to sign Stills last week so that he got some practice and maybe game time with the Bills before the playoffs.  If that meant the Bills paid him $436K (1/16 of his 2020 salary) for today's game, so be it.

 

Tell Stills to run straight and as far as he can and Allen will get him the ball

[Doc]

Just now, Big Turk said:

Tell Stills to run straight and as far as he can and Allen will get him the ball

 

You could do that.  But I'm thinking/hoping that since Daboll and BOB are from the Belicheat coaching tree, they run similar concepts.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

42 minutes ago, BringBackFergy said:

34 pages and he hasn’t signed yet?

 

This is taking on George Seifert proportions. 

take him to court 

[scribo]

I'm confident this signing will happen, announced Monday. No need nor reason to finalize it until then. None.

 

And I love it. One more speedy weapon in Dabol's already plentiful war chest. Stills is fast enough that the defense has to respect his ability to take the top off. With Smoke on the field at the same time, two safeties protecting deep is necessary. What AFC playoff team has enough good DBs right now to cover Diggs, Smoke, Beasley, Davis AND Stills at the same time? The only answer to try to stop the air assault is by creating quick, overwhelming pressure on the QB, which typically doesn't work well against Allen.

[Big Turk]

13 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

You could do that.  But I'm thinking/hoping that since Daboll and BOB are from the Belicheat coaching tree, they run similar concepts.

 

Probably...I think at the end of the day its more Allen picking up little nuances like how Stills breaks down at the top of a route and things like that...Allen has to be comfortable that if he throws it to a spot Stills will be there...he has that with Diggs, Brown(at least he did) and Beasley not sure about Davis although they seem to be on the same page mostly.

[Rochesterfan]

40 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

IMHO it would have been better to sign Stills last week so that he got some practice and maybe game time with the Bills before the playoffs.  If that meant the Bills paid him $436K (1/16 of his 2020 salary) for today's game, so be it.

 

It depends on Stills and what he wanted.  If you follow the timeline - to sign him last week would mean about 2-3 weeks ago getting him to agree and then start the protocol.  
 

What incentive does Stills have to sign a couple of weeks ago?

 

It isn’t pay as he was paid for doing nothing and being home to work out.  From a timing stand point waiting was better for Stills because who knows what team/player gets hurt - he might have had his choice of MVP level QBs to play with.

 

My guess would be since McD said this is something Beane has been looking at for weeks - The agent for Stills and Beane have talked through and maybe Stills wanted to wait - it is a two way street and I am sure deciding on timing was part of the process.  I agree it might have been nice to get him in to have some extra practices, but if the player wants to wait - you can’t force him in.

[Doc]

Just now, Rochesterfan said:

It depends on Stills and what he wanted.  If you follow the timeline - to sign him last week would mean about 2-3 weeks ago getting him to agree and then start the protocol.  
 

What incentive does Stills have to sign a couple of weeks ago?

 

It isn’t pay as he was paid for doing nothing and being home to work out.  From a timing stand point waiting was better for Stills because who knows what team/player gets hurt - he might have had his choice of MVP level QBs to play with.

 

My guess would be since McD said this is something Beane has been looking at for weeks - The agent for Stills and Beane have talked through and maybe Stills wanted to wait - it is a two way street and I am sure deciding on timing was part of the process.  I agree it might have been nice to get him in to have some extra practices, but if the player wants to wait - you can’t force him in.

 

The incentive would be more practice time with the team so as to perform better when called-upon as an audition for the Bills or another team for next year.  But yes, if Stills wanted to wait, there's nothing the Bills could have done.

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, BringBackFergy said:

34 pages and he hasn’t signed yet?

 

This is taking on George Seifert proportions. 

Saw him at Duff’s last night, nbd

[klos63]

14 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The incentive would be more practice time with the team so as to perform better when called-upon as an audition for the Bills or another team for next year.  But yes, if Stills wanted to wait, there's nothing the Bills could have done.

Would there have been any concern about roster space if he signed a couple weeks ago?  Not sure, just asking.  We would have had to release someone and maybe we weren't prepared to do that.