BillsShredder83 Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 17 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said: I would like to see Epenesa get through a semi-normal offseason and training camp before considering trading him. I thought he showed some flashes last year as the season moved along. This staff put him through alot last year, and have talked highly about him. You put in the time and effort grooming someone like that because they have "it". They see something in him we haven't really got a chance to see. I would be less than surprised if he's an animal this year. He's had a year to adjust to and dial in a new body type. Taking to DEs doesn't make me think less of him. They always like a stable of dl rotation. I honestly think this is gunna be a helluva coming out party for Epenesa!
machine gun kelly Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 They’d save around $3.5 mil. for Addison and $ $6.35 mil. For Hughes. They’ll keep at least one of them, probably Hughes. The guys at the bottom of the roster are at risk. Zimmer Love Cox Johnson Im not saying they are gone, but they are all fighting for their jobs this summer. They might keep Addison, but if you had to cut a veteran, he’s most at risk. I’d bet dollars to donuts they keep Hughes no matter what as he has been a stapl here and a very solid all around player. It’s more than just sacks.
eball Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 32 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said: They’d save around $3.5 mil. for Addison and $ $6.35 mil. For Hughes. They’ll keep at least one of them, probably Hughes. The guys at the bottom of the roster are at risk. Zimmer Love Cox Johnson Im not saying they are gone, but they are all fighting for their jobs this summer. They might keep Addison, but if you had to cut a veteran, he’s most at risk. I’d bet dollars to donuts they keep Hughes no matter what as he has been a stapl here and a very solid all around player. It’s more than just sacks. You didn’t listen to Beane’s post draft PC did you? Addison isn’t going anywhere; the goal is to get him fewer reps because he played more last year than he did in Carolina when he was more productive. He is also a team leader and wants to mentor the young guys.
GunnerBill Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 37 minutes ago, eball said: You didn’t listen to Beane’s post draft PC did you? Addison isn’t going anywhere; the goal is to get him fewer reps because he played more last year than he did in Carolina when he was more productive. He is also a team leader and wants to mentor the young guys. So are they keeping 5 ends? Because I very much doubt Beane is cutting ties with AJ at this stage and Greg and Boogie are making the roster. It is possible they keep 5, with 4 DTs and have 9 linemen on the roster. I heard Beane's presser. I believe hand on heart at this moment in time he thinks Mario will be on the roster. But when September comes and there are hard decisions to be taken things might feel different. Not saying he will definitely be cut, but I don't think it can be ruled out. 1
eball Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 3 hours ago, GunnerBill said: So are they keeping 5 ends? Because I very much doubt Beane is cutting ties with AJ at this stage and Greg and Boogie are making the roster. It is possible they keep 5, with 4 DTs and have 9 linemen on the roster. I heard Beane's presser. I believe hand on heart at this moment in time he thinks Mario will be on the roster. But when September comes and there are hard decisions to be taken things might feel different. Not saying he will definitely be cut, but I don't think it can be ruled out. Several of these guys can move inside on rush downs. There are enough snaps for everyone and having 5 DEs fresh is a good thing.
BarleyNY Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 6 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: All true, but here's the thing. From Sal Capaccio's chart on Twitter: Let's say Cox Jr, Love, and Bryant fall right off the roster, onto the practice squad if they like. Hughes and Addison start. Two guys between Epenesa, Johnson, Obada, Rousseau, and Basham rotate in. We maybe keep ?4? on the roster? ?5? At least 2 gotta go. At a guess, whoever looks the most raw between Rousseau and Basham develops a hangnail in training camp and winds up on IR. Who is the other? Obada is a developmental player in progress, but he would have led the Bills last year in sacks AND QB hits, while typically only playing 30% of the snaps in a game. Beane has gone out of his way to praise Johnson, who really saw his snaps jump at the end of last season and who is a special teams stalwart as well, but the fact is, he didn't manage much in the way of pressure. Do we finally break the stranglehold ST has on dictating our roster? At DT, the expected rotation based on 2019 would be Phillips/Lotulelei at 1T and Butler/Oliver at 3T. But Zimmer did show some chops, and McD does like at least one backup. I would hate to see Zimmer go. Do they keep 10 DLmen? 11? It's a quandry. It's a mystery. I just hope in the end, it's a good problem. Damn that’s a good point. That’s a lot of DL. Last season the Bills opened with 9 DL on the 53 man roster: Defensive line (9) Ed Oliver, Vernon Butler, Harrison Phillips, Quinton Jefferson, Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, Mario Addison, A.J. Epenesa, Darryl Johnson Link Even if we keep 10 this year that gets eaten up quickly. Here’s my first 9: Hughes, Addison, Epenesa, Rousseau, Basham, Star, Oliver, Phillips and Butler. Then maybe they go with one more of the rest? Time for Beane to work the phones for some late round picks for some of them.
Hebert19 Posted May 3, 2021 Author Posted May 3, 2021 14 minutes ago, BarleyNY said: Damn that’s a good point. That’s a lot of DL. Last season the Bills opened with 9 DL on the 53 man roster: Defensive line (9) Ed Oliver, Vernon Butler, Harrison Phillips, Quinton Jefferson, Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, Mario Addison, A.J. Epenesa, Darryl Johnson Link Even if we keep 10 this year that gets eaten up quickly. Here’s my first 9: Hughes, Addison, Epenesa, Rousseau, Basham, Star, Oliver, Phillips and Butler. Then maybe they go with one more of the rest? Time for Beane to work the phones for some late round picks for some of them. Exactly. He's going to commit to all of them...until he doesn't. First injury elsewhere he will jump on it
machine gun kelly Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 4 hours ago, eball said: You didn’t listen to Beane’s post draft PC did you? Addison isn’t going anywhere; the goal is to get him fewer reps because he played more last year than he did in Carolina when he was more productive. He is also a team leader and wants to mentor the young guys. I didn’t, but read on his praise of developing Epenesa last year. He also said in the past the praises of J. Phillips and Shaq, and let them walk. Beane also spoke highly at different times on J.Brown. Im not saying he’s definitely gone. I’m saying from a previous poster there is a cap savings from cutting him and of the two, they would keep Hughes first. They may keep both E-Man. It really depends in camp how the rookies look and how Star looks. They certainly aren’t keeping everyone. I appreciate the comment bud.
eball Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 8 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said: I didn’t, but read on his praise of developing Epenesa last year. He also said in the past the praises of J. Phillips and Shaq, and let them walk. Beane also spoke highly at different times on J.Brown. Im not saying he’s definitely gone. I’m saying from a previous poster there is a cap savings from cutting him and of the two, they would keep Hughes first. They may keep both E-Man. It really depends in camp how the rookies look and how Star looks. They certainly aren’t keeping everyone. I appreciate the comment bud. Beane admitted he didn’t go into the draft expecting to draft two edge rushers so these three days certainly impacted the Bills’ roster construction. That said, they still clearly really like Addison. Beane said he got a text from Addison after the draft about being ready to mentor the young guys. They already saved money on Addison. I simply think the puzzle pieces line up that Addison, Hughes, Epenesa, Rousseau, and Basham will all be on this roster in September, with several of them being flexible enough to rotate inside on rush downs and keep everyone fresh.
billsfan1959 Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 20 minutes ago, eball said: Beane admitted he didn’t go into the draft expecting to draft two edge rushers so these three days certainly impacted the Bills’ roster construction. That said, they still clearly really like Addison. Beane said he got a text from Addison after the draft about being ready to mentor the young guys. They already saved money on Addison. I simply think the puzzle pieces line up that Addison, Hughes, Epenesa, Rousseau, and Basham will all be on this roster in September, with several of them being flexible enough to rotate inside on rush downs and keep everyone fresh. So much can happen before the cutdown to the final roster spots. However, barring something unforseen, I agree with respect to Addison. I really would be surprised if he is not on the roster, and, to be honest, I think he is even more valuable after drafting Rousseau and Basham. Any way we analyze this, there are, potentially, going to be some difficult decsions regarding the final roster. That's a good problem to have.
Hapless Bills Fan Posted May 3, 2021 Posted May 3, 2021 2 hours ago, eball said: Beane admitted he didn’t go into the draft expecting to draft two edge rushers so these three days certainly impacted the Bills’ roster construction. That said, they still clearly really like Addison. Beane said he got a text from Addison after the draft about being ready to mentor the young guys. They already saved money on Addison. I simply think the puzzle pieces line up that Addison, Hughes, Epenesa, Rousseau, and Basham will all be on this roster in September, with several of them being flexible enough to rotate inside on rush downs and keep everyone fresh. TBH, and it’s counterintuitive in some ways, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Hughes is a surprise cut or trade. Overthecap, which was more accurate about the details of Sanders void year and a couple others (but does make mistakes) shows Addison as having $4.75M guaranteed money this year in addition to signing bonus. That wouldn’t be a shock - it’s typical for the team to give guarantees in exchange for taking a pay cut. So according to Overthecap, it costs money to cut Addison right now and post-June 1 only saves $1.4M with $2M hit next year. I think it’s notable that the Bills evidently didn’t ask Hughes to take a re-negotiation that would push any of his $$ into next year or to extend him. I think Hughes is a quandary for the Bills: if he’s all fired up crazy Gary, he can get to the QB but he also gets stupid prizes (penalties) and trash-talks the refs. If he’s more mature, reasoned Jerry, he may lack that extra edge that lets him get home, and the refs still “see nothing” when he’s held. It would seem stupid ‘cuz “vet leadership” and historically, by far our best pass rusher - but that’s my thinking right now. It’s gonna depend some on how the Bills evaluate him, do they see him as having an “off year” last year due to lack of interior pressure/lack of holding calls or do they see him as having lost a step? 3 hours ago, BarleyNY said: Damn that’s a good point. That’s a lot of DL. Last season the Bills opened with 9 DL on the 53 man roster: Defensive line (9) Ed Oliver, Vernon Butler, Harrison Phillips, Quinton Jefferson, Jerry Hughes, Trent Murphy, Mario Addison, A.J. Epenesa, Darryl Johnson Link Even if we keep 10 this year that gets eaten up quickly. Here’s my first 9: Hughes, Addison, Epenesa, Rousseau, Basham, Star, Oliver, Phillips and Butler. Then maybe they go with one more of the rest? Time for Beane to work the phones for some late round picks for some of them. I think that’s a good assessment. The thing is, Beane has been talking up Darryl Johnson (and they did give him more playing time at the end of the season) who is also a ST ace - and Zimmer IMHO has earned his stripes. I’m wondering if Beane tries to swap Johnson to a team that came out of the draft with excess at CB or RB.
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