Bills cuts to get to 53 [final info in the OP]

[Scott7975]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

Yep…. Which is what some fans were arguing about the team after FA/draft…. How exactly to this team improve enough to overtake the Chiefs?(who went all in on improving their offensive line)…. Regardless of the Chiefs, It’s really hard to say they’ve improved at all. 
 

As I’ve said before, more improvement from Allen and home field advantage is really their best bet for getting to the SB because the rest of their roster isn’t  nearly as talented as the Chiefs is. 

 

I think our defensive front is improved from last season.  Remains to be seen though.  I also think our receiving core has improved.  I would have liked to seen an upgrade at TE and #2 corner but that is probably easier said than done.  Improvements in Josh taking what he is given sometimes and maybe a healthier receiver core.  All those things could get us over the hump.

 

Maybe some improvements in game planning as well.  It may have been just execution on the players part but I wasn't to thrilled with the plan they had against the Chiefs.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Scott7975

[The Dean]

2 hours ago, FLFan said:

I am not sure I get the Hollister love.  He has bounced around because he is a very limited athlete at the position who does not block very well.  This makes him of limited value, certainly not a starter, more a third TE on the roster guy.  You will likely see both Morris and Becker on the practice squad to fill this role in an emergency.  Otherwise they have no need for a third TE active in any given week.  

 

I share people’s concerns about Knox’s reliability and hoped the Bills might be able to upgrade in the off season but Hollister was certainly not that.  The TE position will not be the difference in championship or not for this team.  They have plenty of offensive firepower without an all pro at that position.  It is the OL and DL that will need to make the difference.

 

I don't see a lot of that. What I see is a team with ONE healthy TE.  I cannot, and do not, believe the Bills will have only 1 TE on the 53. If Sweeny is injured they almost HAVE to do someting, no?

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, The Dean said:

 

I don't see a lot of that. What I see is a team with ONE healthy TE.  I cannot, and do not, believe the Bills will have only 1 TE on the 53. If Sweeny is injured they almost HAVE to do someting, no?

They have Gilliam who can play it, and they can activate Quintin Morris from the PS to play it. Unless it is a long term injury, and then yes they would have to sign someone. But that isnt uncommon to have to sign someone with any long term injury.

[FLFan]

10 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

I don't see a lot of that. What I see is a team with ONE healthy TE.  I cannot, and do not, believe the Bills will have only 1 TE on the 53. If Sweeny is injured they almost HAVE to do someting, no?

Sure, but it looks like he will be ready, which I am sure they knew.   They will have to have at least one viable option on the practice squad.  

[Rocky Landing]

13 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

I don't see a lot of that. What I see is a team with ONE healthy TE.  I cannot, and do not, believe the Bills will have only 1 TE on the 53. If Sweeny is injured they almost HAVE to do someting, no?

And if they want to pull off the PS, they've got Quintin Morris, and that's it. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 hours ago, FLFan said:

I am not sure I get the Hollister love.  He has bounced around because he is a very limited athlete at the position who does not block very well.  This makes him of limited value, certainly not a starter, more a third TE on the roster guy.  You will likely see both Morris and Becker on the practice squad to fill this role in an emergency.  Otherwise they have no need for a third TE active in any given week.  

 

I share people’s concerns about Knox’s reliability and hoped the Bills might be able to upgrade in the off season but Hollister was certainly not that.  The TE position will not be the difference in championship or not for this team.  They have plenty of offensive firepower without an all pro at that position.  It is the OL and DL that will need to make the difference.

It's less about Hollister love for me than it is at least he has produced in the past. What has Sweeny done to earn a roster spot? He can't block worth a dam.  Maybe the organization sees them as interchangeable and that Sweeney may have more potential than what we have seen on the field.  Again fringe decisions that in the end won't really matter.  

[Kelly the Dog]

5 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

It's less about Hollister love for me than it is at least he has produced in the past. What has Sweeny done to earn a roster spot? He can't block worth a dam.  Maybe the organization sees them as interchangeable and that Sweeney may have more potential than what we have seen on the field.  Again fringe decisions that in the end won't really matter.  

He can block a lot better than Hollister.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Yep…. Which is what some fans were arguing about the team after FA/draft…. How exactly to this team improve enough to overtake the Chiefs?(who went all in on improving their offensive line)…. Regardless of the Chiefs, It’s really hard to say they’ve improved at all. 
 

As I’ve said before, more improvement from Allen and home field advantage is really their best bet for getting to the SB because the rest of their roster isn’t  nearly as talented as the Chiefs is. 

The current roster can play better and they added guys. Epenesa can play better.  Star is back.  Edmunds might fulfill his potential.  Phillips might play better if he returns(I don't think he will but others on this board do).  At WR sanders could/should give more production than Brown did and Davis looks like he will produce even more.  RB is a quesoitn makr but both guys have the potential to be better if the line is better. And for the OL, the starting 5 is together for the first time and healthy.

I agree free agency didn't do much other than swap Sanders for Brown.   But the draft bought talent.  They added a first round DE that looks good.  Basham looks like a guy that will get treated how Epenesa did last year. I suspect he is a healthy scratch the first month or so and then is brought along slowly.  

So yes, they didn't make any splash moves, but they are a better team.  And none of that matters if Allen gets hurt or regresses. 

[letsgoteam]

1 hour ago, ColoradoBills said:

Just seen on Spotrac that Reid Ferguson signed a 1 year $990k contract with the Bills.

He had signed a 3 year extension earlier this year.

I'm sure other news will be out soon to see if this is accurate.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/reid-ferguson-19383/

 

Reid Ferguson signed a 1 year, $990,000 contract with the Buffalo Bills, including an average annual salary of $990,000. In 2021, Ferguson will earn a base salary of $990,000, while carrying a cap hit of $990,000.

Did I read it correctly that he is still going to get paid some bonuses from that 3 he extension deal. It was under the "dead" contracts on spotrac

[ColoradoBills]

1 minute ago, letsgoteam said:

Did I read it correctly that he is still going to get paid some bonuses from that 3 he extension deal. It was under the "dead" contracts on spotrac

 

Yes.  Cap hit for Bills are like $160k this year and $500k next year.

[SoCal Deek]

5 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

They do have a top roster in the league… it’s not better than the Chiefs though and the Browns are close.(I’d give the Browns the edge if Allen wasn’t so good) 

Game management and strategy? Why will this be so much better this year? 

 

You and I agree. No, I don’t see much changing on the coaching side. But Our coaches aren’t young and just starting out…but they do have an additional and very recent year of experience under their belts, competing against what most believe will be the same teams as last year. I’m hoping that counts for something. 

[Scott7975]

8 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

They do have a top roster in the league… it’s not better than the Chiefs though and the Browns are close.(I’d give the Browns the edge if Allen wasn’t so good) 

Game management and strategy? Why will this be so much better this year? 

 

 

I think coaches can learn and get better.  Hell, I think McD has come a long way already.  

[YoloinOhio]

2 hours ago, The Dean said:

 

I don't see a lot of that. What I see is a team with ONE healthy TE.  I cannot, and do not, believe the Bills will have only 1 TE on the 53. If Sweeny is injured they almost HAVE to do someting, no?

I don’t think he’s injured. He was practicing today. Gilliam is their 3rd TE/Hback. I think one of the tackles (Spencer brown?) will take over the lee smith role. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

3 hours ago, jkeerie said:

I actually thought that our coordinators were distracted by their head coaching interviews.  I thought our game plans both offensively and defensively were lacking in the playoffs, particularly that last game.

 

Nah. We just didn't match up well with the Chiefs. The week six game was just as bad and without those excuses.  Hopefully this year will be different. 

 

It's interesting, it is looking like Beane and the coaching staff have decided to go all in even further with the WR centric offense. This was a bad match up against the Chiefs, so the question is will the addition of Sanders and an improved Davis and McKenzie be enough to swing the match up in our favor?  

[Ralonzo]

4 hours ago, Pokebball said:

For me it's simply comparing Hollister to the other TEs.  I thought he was very close to Knox, if not better.  IMO he is better than Sweeney.

Hollister just wasn’t a good enough blocker. He was Logan Thomas-bad on a good number of plays that I paid attention. Knox is the field-stretcher, TE2 needs to be able to thrive inline.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 hours ago, jkeerie said:

I actually thought that our coordinators were distracted by their head coaching interviews.  I thought our game plans both offensively and defensively were lacking in the playoffs, particularly that last game.

Agreed In my view, the gameplans were the main reason we lost. Just got  totally outcoached. 

[Pokebball]

20 minutes ago, Ralonzo said:

Hollister just wasn’t a good enough blocker. He was Logan Thomas-bad on a good number of plays that I paid attention. Knox is the field-stretcher, TE2 needs to be able to thrive inline.

Hollister had the 4th best missed block rating, in the NFL, of all non starting TEs when he was in Seattle.  We don't use our TEs and don't really value them in our offense, so it's really not a big deal.  I really like Knox and want to see him to continue to improve.  Sweeney's a head scratcher. We'll be loading up our sets with 4-5 WRs.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Pokebball

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

 

Maybe I was more down on Smoke last year than others - he looked totally washed to me, I had zero confidence he could beat his man in any kind of semi-contested situation.  And I'm probably higher on Sanders than you are.  (Then again - you may have been wrong about Laviska Shenault, eh?)

 

 

I think Sanders will be fine.........but he hasn't been a big ypc guy in a long time........like 6 years.

 

That's fine with end of career Peyton Manning and Drew Brees........they couldn't push the ball downfield anyway............but I'd like to see more diversity in the receiving corps.

 

Brown declined last year........but he's a 14.8 ypc guy for his career and stretching the field has many benefits.........hopefully Davis can continue to be a field stretcher but it won't be because of speed.

 

And like I've said.........not a big fan of the 4 and 5 wide stuff.......it just becomes dink and dunk and as defenses pin their ears back to get to the QB.....and the top 3 should probably be Diggs, Beasley and Davis, IMO.

 

As for Shenault........he had an OK rookie year........not even as good as Davis though..........and of course Jefferson smashed NFL rookie records for the Vikes with the pick the Bills traded them..........it was a very impressive group of WR.   Given his injury history and style I still don't think Shenault is a guy I would put a first round grade on. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

5 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

And like I've said.........not a big fan of the 4 and 5 wide stuff.......it just becomes dink and dunk and as defenses pin their ears back to get to the QB.....and the top 3 should probably be Diggs, Beasley and Davis, IMO.

 

If Allen wasn’t our QB I might be concerned about dink and dunk. But since Allen’s natural instinct is to take what he wants rather than take what is given to him, I’m not too concerned about not continuing to make the defenses defend the entire field.

 

What I am concerned about is the chiefs defense is built to stop the Bills passing game. RB’s and TE’s is how you move the ball on them. But we seem to be doubling down on the WR centric offense. Hopefully Sanders and the growth of the younger less experienced receivers is enough to overcome last year’s failures against the Chiefs specifically.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Sammy Watkins' Rib

[Weatherman]

5 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Not even sure Basham plays much at all this year, Rousseau looks like he can make a difference but again, he’s a rookie who sat out last season from football, jury’s out on Obada who was a rotational piece in Carolina whom they let go without a fight. Star to help the pass rush? 😅😅

 

 

I think it’s more than plausible to suggest they didn’t do enough to fix their flaws and overtake the Chiefs. We will see.

 

The Chiefs have a brand new oline (with 2 injured), lost their #2 WR and #2 RB (FA) and lost their #1 DE (most likely).  We didn’t do much on paper to improve our team, but team continuity and experience are crucially by important.  The FO brought back nearly all starters on O and D.  Because of this, we will be better this year and I believe we narrowed the gap with the Chiefs.  Hopefully it’s enough to overtake them, we will see.