It's easy now to see how good teams have an advantage in free agency

[oldmanfan]

11 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

100% agree. He got the QB. But he was set on drafting a QB so if Allen goes to Browns or Jets, Beane ends up with one of the busts. So the equation is really Luck + Drafting Allen > everything else. 

The problem is the everything else part of that equation gets bigger and bigger each year. Already two wasted opportunities at a SB.  Im not as worried about the cap situation as others. Im more worried about the lack of all in mentality to win last year. Hopefully that changes this off-season. 

So far so good.  Outside of overpaying for a gunner, most of the other moves have been good and its early. I posted in another thread I'm not judging Beane's off-season until we see it in totality. 

One can play the what if game for any team in the league.  It’s a stupid game.  You judge by what was done, and Beane and his team wanted Allen, got in position to take him, and did so.  Game, set, match.

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Johnny Hammersticks said:

But why kick the can down the road with important players such as Knox, Oliver and Edmunds (debatable) approaching the time for new deals?  I just don’t understand your logic with the way Beane has always handled free agency.  

 

Because I think the next two years are critical. The two years after that will be trickier. I am not asking us to go full New Orleans Saints. But we need to get more aggressive than we have been. I have been 100% consistent on that. I didn't like running it back with the oline last year (at least this year they are doing something). I have criticised high floor, low ceiling "solid" vets like Sanders and Addison. They need to take a swing or two. 

[FireChans]

21 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

I mean Alex Cappa, who many consider to be in the same “range” as Norwell in terms of FA value just signed a 4 year/40 million contract.  Chandler is projected to make ~16.5 million/year.  I’ve seen the salary cap really isn’t a thing argument, but where do you see $$ like this coming from?  Not trying to be snarky.  I’m just wondering why you think these type of deals are achievable.

Are we allowed to say that the OP was completely inane then about how Buffalo is this sudden FA destination that can’t afford FA’s?

[Green Lightning]

18 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

100% agree. He got the QB. But he was set on drafting a QB so if Allen goes to Browns or Jets, Beane ends up with one of the busts. So the equation is really Luck + Drafting Allen > everything else. 

The problem is the everything else part of that equation gets bigger and bigger each year. Already two wasted opportunities at a SB.  Im not as worried about the cap situation as others. Im more worried about the lack of all in mentality to win last year. Hopefully that changes this off-season. 

So far so good.  Outside of overpaying for a gunner, most of the other moves have been good and its early. I posted in another thread I'm not judging Beane's off-season until we see it in totality. 

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

18 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

100% agree. He got the QB. But he was set on drafting a QB so if Allen goes to Browns or Jets, Beane ends up with one of the busts. So the equation is really Luck + Drafting Allen > everything else. 

The problem is the everything else part of that equation gets bigger and bigger each year. Already two wasted opportunities at a SB.  Im not as worried about the cap situation as others. Im more worried about the lack of all in mentality to win last year. Hopefully that changes this off-season. 

So far so good.  Outside of overpaying for a gunner, most of the other moves have been good and its early. I posted in another thread I'm not judging Beane's off-season until we see it in totality. 

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

18 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

100% agree. He got the QB. But he was set on drafting a QB so if Allen goes to Browns or Jets, Beane ends up with one of the busts. So the equation is really Luck + Drafting Allen > everything else. 

The problem is the everything else part of that equation gets bigger and bigger each year. Already two wasted opportunities at a SB.  Im not as worried about the cap situation as others. Im more worried about the lack of all in mentality to win last year. Hopefully that changes this off-season. 

So far so good.  Outside of overpaying for a gunner, most of the other moves have been good and its early. I posted in another thread I'm not judging Beane's off-season until we see it in totality. 

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

[Johnny Hammersticks]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

All those years we sat here moaning about how the Bills never could sign anyone good in free agency.  Unless the Bills put on a full-court press and spent more money than any other team wanted to spend, the Bills got no one.   All those guys we talked about and hoped for, and Mario Williams was the only one who ever came.  And why did Williams come?   Because the money was the only thing that was important to him. 

 

But when you have an All-star QB and you're going to the playoffs every season, it's different.  A guy like Rodger Saffold, a guy who is facing probably his last opportunity to pick a team while he still has NFL-level ability, looks at Buffalo and says yes, easily.   Why?   Josh Allen.  Mitch Morse.  Aaron Kromer.   Sean McDermott.   It all adds up to a place where he can have success, both personally and possibly in the playoffs.  Could he have gotten more money elsewhere?   Without even seeing the numbers, almost certainly yes.  Some teams are looking to get over the hump and need offensive line help, and some of those have more cap room (probably because they aren't paying their QB over $40 million).  Those teams are like the Bills were ten years ago, and they lose the competition for a lot of guys like Saffold.  

 

Good players late in their careers look at the beating they take playing this game, look at their bank accounts (most of the guys like Saffold are sitting on $10 million or more), and decide that if they're going to continue to take the beating, they'll pass up an extra million dollars to play for a winner.  Landry may very well make a similar decision, wherever he goes.  

 

16 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Are we allowed to say that the OP was completely inane then about how Buffalo is this sudden FA destination that can’t afford FA’s?

If you read the entire OP, it actually makes sense.  He’s mainly referring to those FAs (such as Saffold/Landry) who are in the “twilight of their careers,” but still have a couple good playing years left in them.  They already have had 2 or more good contracts, so $ may be less important to them than winning.

 

Take a guy like Christian Kirk who could have probably signed a 8-9 million dollar/year deal in Buffalo and have a legit shot to win a chip.  Now he’ll be making ~17 million/year playing for the Jags 🤢🤮

 

It depends on the FA and where they are with their careers, IMO.

[FireChans]

4 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

 

If you read the entire OP, it actually makes sense.  He’s mainly referring to those FAs (such as Saffold/Landry) who are in the “twilight of their careers,” but still have a couple good playing years left in them.  They already have had 2 or more good contracts, so $ may be less important to them than winning.

 

Take a guy like Christian Kirk who could have probably signed a 8-9 million dollar/year deal in Buffalo and have a legit shot to win a chip.  Now he’ll be making ~17 million/year playing for the Jags 🤢🤮

 

It depends on the FA and where they are with their careers, IMO.

We haven’t even acquired Landry and Saffold is 1000 years old, so what the ***** are we even talking about? Saffold doesn’t want to end his career on the Jets? That’s the big win?

[Patrick Duffy]

2 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We haven’t even acquired Landry and Saffold is 1000 years old, so what the ***** are we even talking about? Saffold doesn’t want to end his career on the Jets? That’s the big win?

Saffold is for sure an upgrade at the position and 34 he's got a few years left, especially looking at the shape he is keeping himself in. I don't see how one can argue he is definitely a short term upgrade at the position

[Johnny Hammersticks]

5 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We haven’t even acquired Landry and Saffold is 1000 years old, so what the ***** are we even talking about? Saffold doesn’t want to end his career on the Jets? That’s the big win?

What the hell do you want?  JC Jackson for the vet minimum?  Chandler Jones to play for unlimited wings?  Jesus!  When you have very little cap room, a very good roster, and quite of few core players coming up soon for new contracts….you add value depth pieces in free agency.  I don’t get what’s so hard to comprehend.  Did you not learn math ever?

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

Saffold is for sure an upgrade at the position and 34 he's got a few years left, especially looking at the shape he is keeping himself in. I don't see how one can argue he is definitely a short term upgrade at the position

 

Just now, Johnny Hammersticks said:

What the hell do you want?  JC Jackson for the vet minimum?  Chandler Jones to play for unlimited wings?  Jesus!  When you have very little cap room, a very good roster, and quite of few core players coming up soon for new contracts….you add value depth pieces in free agency.  I don’t get what’s so hard to comprehend.  Did you not learn math ever?

Incredible advantage in FA. Just stupendous. We get some more geriatric patients and the honor to cut them their last check before they retire, unlike the Bears or the Jets.

 

I mean, this is why you become a contender. 

[ExWNYer]

23 minutes ago, Green Lightning said:

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

 

No matter how much 'extensive research' Beane did, there was still an element of luck involved. The Browns took Mayfield first overall and, whether or not it was a smokescreen, there were some reports floating at the time that they might be interested in making Allen their pick. Then the boneheaded Neanderthal, Dave Gettleman, inexplicably decided that it was somehow prudent to take "eventual Hall of Fame RB" Saquon Barkley over a QB at 2 and the Jest decided to take Sam Darnold at 3. At that point two QBs were already off the board and a 3rd (Allen?) should have been. Despite all of his research and wheeling and dealing, Beane could only manage to get to the 7th spot. He's on record as saying he wanted to get up to 5th where the Broncos were but the Broncos told him they would only move out of 5 if "their guy" was gone. Once the Browns took Denzel Ward at 4, Denver's guy was still there (Bradley Chubb) and they weren't moving. Had he been gone and they decided to swap with the Bills, it would have cost Beane another #1. I think he's a good GM overall but he also got a little lucky. As with any deal that works out, there is always luck involved.

[JohnNord]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

All those years we sat here moaning about how the Bills never could sign anyone good in free agency.  Unless the Bills put on a full-court press and spent more money than any other team wanted to spend, the Bills got no one.   All those guys we talked about and hoped for, and Mario Williams was the only one who ever came.  And why did Williams come?   Because the money was the only thing that was important to him. 

 

But when you have an All-star QB and you're going to the playoffs every season, it's different.  A guy like Rodger Saffold, a guy who is facing probably his last opportunity to pick a team while he still has NFL-level ability, looks at Buffalo and says yes, easily.   Why?   Josh Allen.  Mitch Morse.  Aaron Kromer.   Sean McDermott.   It all adds up to a place where he can have success, both personally and possibly in the playoffs.  Could he have gotten more money elsewhere?   Without even seeing the numbers, almost certainly yes.  Some teams are looking to get over the hump and need offensive line help, and some of those have more cap room (probably because they aren't paying their QB over $40 million).  Those teams are like the Bills were ten years ago, and they lose the competition for a lot of guys like Saffold.  

 

Good players late in their careers look at the beating they take playing this game, look at their bank accounts (most of the guys like Saffold are sitting on $10 million or more), and decide that if they're going to continue to take the beating, they'll pass up an extra million dollars to play for a winner.  Landry may very well make a similar decision, wherever he goes.  

Players want rings….It just shows you what players think of Buffalo as a franchise 

[Patrick Duffy]

7 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

Incredible advantage in FA. Just stupendous. We get some more geriatric patients and the honor to cut them their last check before they retire, unlike the Bears or the Jets.

 

I mean, this is why you become a contender. 

I'm not arguing that part. Just simply saying Saffold is definitely an upgrade there. Just because they haven't signed Chandler Jones or Gronk, Kirk etc does not mean Saffold is not an upgrade. 

[Reks Ryan]

2 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

. If Jets take Allen, he likely drafts Rosen or Darnold and he would be out of a job by now. 

 

That part is probably true.    It takes some good fortune to get over the hump in the NFL

 

But Beane has made enough good decisions to give Allen & co a chance to win in the playoffs.  And I believe a championship in the next 2 or 3 years.    That Championship potential is certainly more enticing for FA vets to come to Buffalo than it was during the drought. 

[BillsPride12]

It was easy to see back in all those years we sucked and nobody good would sign here too!

[Johnny Hammersticks]

13 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

Incredible advantage in FA. Just stupendous. We get some more geriatric patients and the honor to cut them their last check before they retire, unlike the Bears or the Jets.

 

I mean, this is why you become a contender. 

Right.  Isn’t it a good feeling that we really don’t “need” to go out and spend a ton of cash in FA?  Our biggest needs now, arguably, are CB, WR and NT (maybe lesser so after Tim Settle signing?).  Nice to be able to swing for the fences with every one of our picks in the draft.  

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We have seen the Bills make space this week there is more space to be made. Norwell wouldn't have to earn $10m this year. I posted a potential contract structure for him a couple of weeks ago. I have done one for Chandler in the last few days. 

 

If those numbers end up way out maybe it was never possible. If that is the case Ill put my hands up. 

 

 

Yeah now is the time to swing for it.    The AFC is only gonna' get more competitive in 2-3 years.

 

And if not..........Beane needs to stop indulging the stupid media fluffing him up about how they have made Buffalo a free agent destination if he can't get a difference maker to join the team for any kinda' winners discount. 

 

I know it's not his job to acknowledge his mistakes and the media has been made to tread carefully...........but let's hope he has learned from them.

[FireChans]

11 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Right.  Isn’t it a good feeling that we really don’t “need” to go out and spend a ton of cash in FA?  Our biggest needs now, arguably, are CB, WR and NT (maybe lesser so after Tim Settle signing?).  Nice to be able to swing for the fences with every one of our picks in the draft.  

We do “need” to go out and spend money. We do not have an edge rusher on the roster. 
 

How do you swing for the fences with a draft pick?

19 minutes ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

I'm not arguing that part. Just simply saying Saffold is definitely an upgrade there. Just because they haven't signed Chandler Jones or Gronk, Kirk etc does not mean Saffold is not an upgrade. 

I don’t hate the signing. I think the OP is insane.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

4 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We do “need” to go out and spend money. We do not have an edge rusher on the roster. 
 

How do you swing for the fences with a draft pick?

You draft a ***** punter at 25, that’s how! 😂

 

Personally, I’d like to go offensive skill position (WR, RB, TE) with our first 2 picks 🤷🏾‍♂️

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Green Lightning said:

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

 

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

 

Not really on the Josh pick.  Not picking a fight here but here's where I am.  Beane didn't luck out on Josh, he did extensive research on him and believed what he saw. The pick, was ripped by the media and ridiculed by a lot of football people. Also, Beane made a series of moves to go up and get Josh. Luck would have been letting him fall to 22 and saying what the heck. 4 years ago we were the bottom feeder in the league. Mucho change. Can't fault Beane for 13 seconds. That was a monumental coaching fail. So Beane has done his share. Like you,  I'm hoping for the best this offseason. 

 

Agree with you each time.  Some need to be told multiple times.

[Beast]

I honestly think the Bills are all in this season to win a Championship. The Rams did it last season and I think Beane and other GM's took notice.....in-season trades is what could catapult the Bills to a Lombardi. Sit back, evaluate your weaknesses, and strike with a re-building team.