Matt who? - Dorian Williams - What will the Bills do when Milano can return?

[Coach Tuesday]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

I like the kid and he's progressing, but he is far from what a healthy Milano brings. 

 

But that is not the right question in the salary cap era.  The question is does Milano's superior talent justify the price difference between the two?  And that's where Dorian is closing the gap.  Dorian on a rookie contract vs. Milano's veteran cap hit is becoming a harder decision.

[billsbackto81]

I know the saying goes, "you don't lose your job due to injury". Personally I've not seen enough of Dorian to bench or trade an All Pro caliber though injury prone Milano, not yet at least. We ride Williams until Milano gets back and assess playing time then. That's JMHO

[TheBrownBear]

Milano's injury could almost be a blessing in disguise.  Allows Williams to have the needed playing time to develop while also giving Milano's lower body an even longer chance to heal and get stronger.  

[pi2000]

move him to Safety

[Success]

With a QB like Allen & his contract, this is exactly how we remain competitive:  replacing star players with great draft picks.

 

It takes a year or 2 or even 3 to evaluate Beane's drafts - but he seems to hit on more picks than most GM's.

 

[machine gun kelly]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Perfect response!!!!

 

Who is going to trade for an oft injured player on a big contract?  That's right no one will.  They would have to see some film that he's healthy and playing well to even consider trading for him after the season.  He isn't coming back until Dec at the earliest way after this year's deadline.

 

So what does McD do when (if?) Milano returns this season.  It depends.  How well is Williams playing?  Has he improved in pass coverage? Etc...

 

My guess is Milano and Williams rotate depending on down, distance, and place on the field. Once Milano proves full healthy, he'll be the starter.

Well written Sabres.  The thing people keep forgetting is injuries happen to everyone, but when Milano is playing, he is the most impactful defensive player on the team.  That’s not me saying it, it’s Bill Polian.  A broken leg is not injury prone.  This bicep was unfortunate, but Williams has not faced the top teams like we will face later in the year including the Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers, etc.  Milano’s level of pursuit explains his 1st team all pro status.

 

Please don’t misunderstand I think Williams has done a fantastic job this year, but the season is going to get tougher.  Many people know I’m a fan of Milano back to 2017.  If we keep him through 2026, that’s a 10 yr. Run and done his part to get us to the big show.

 

Bernard is the guy we need back soon.  He’s a very high impact player even though Spector has done well so far.  As Sal states repeatedly, Spector and Williams are are guy finds bal, gets ball LB’s.  Milano and Bernard are even better.

[dollars 2 donuts]

3 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Well written Sabres.  The thing people keep forgetting is injuries happen to everyone, but when Milano is playing, he is the most impactful defensive player on the team.  That’s not me saying it, it’s Bill Polian.  A broken leg is not injury prone.  This bicep was unfortunate, but Williams has not faced the top teams like we will face later in the year including the Ravens, Chiefs, 49ers, etc.  Milano’s level of pursuit explains his 1st team all pro status.

 

Please don’t misunderstand I think Williams has done a fantastic job this year, but the season is going to get tougher.  Many people know I’m a fan of Milano back to 2017.  If we keep him through 2026, that’s a 10 yr. Run and done his part to get us to the big show.

 

Bernard is the guy we need back soon.  He’s a very high impact player even though Spector has done well so far.  As Sal states repeatedly, Spector and Williams are are guy finds bal, gets ball LB’s.  Milano and Bernard are even better.

 

 

Guns, side note, I am 90% sure based on memory that in Milano's rookie campaign, when we broke the draught, 9-7 Bills were 5-1 games he started/played in. 

 

I've been a big fan from the start, too. 

 

 

[iccrewman112]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

I like the kid and he's progressing, but he is far from what a healthy Milano brings. 

Milano was arguably a top DPOY candidate at time of injury last year.

[BigAl2526]

I doubt that Williams is as smart or as effective as Milano yet, but he's developing and no longer the liability that he was as a rookie.  His athleticism is a strong plus and I think he is a quality starter going forward.   The notion of trading Milano is worth considering, but the Bills will want to be sure they have quality depth behind Williams if they do.  The Bills' depth chart shows that Baylon Spector is actually the backup for Dorian Williams.  Obviously, the Bills trusted Spector to step in at MLB when Bernard went down, rather than the listed backup, Nicholas Morrow. 

 

The other linebackers on the roster are Ulofoshio and Andreeson.  Both are rookies.  Ulofoshio had injury issues in training camp, so we didn't get much of a look at him.  His college scouting report suggests he's athletic if a bit short, and that he's got some football smarts.  In short, it sounds like he's a developmental prospect with good upside.  The downside is he's a rookie who needs development time before the Bills can depend on him as more than a bit player, and it's not certain he will develop.  Not all rookies do, even athletic ones.   We saw a more of Joe Andreeson.   He's a little less of an athlete than Ulofoshio, but acquitted himself really well in the preseason.  Nevertheless, he's no more ready for extended action than Ulofoshio.  The question is whether or not the Bills will think either one is enough of a sure thing to part ways with Milano.

 

[LarryMadman]

Milano will not be as good as he was before the knee injury. Williams continueing to show his worth will relegate Milano to the bench when he returns.

[bigduke6]

im not against Dorian but lets pump the brakes here.   if he can prove to me he can tackle in the running game against Henry then ill start to bang the drum for him.   we've gotten gashed a bit right up the middle by these last 3 teams,  and none of them have amazing power RBs imo.  Henry is going to be a huge test.  Go Bills.

[K-9]

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

 

But that is not the right question in the salary cap era.  The question is does Milano's superior talent justify the price difference between the two?  And that's where Dorian is closing the gap.  Dorian on a rookie contract vs. Milano's veteran cap hit is becoming a harder decision.

I didn't ask a question, but yours is certainly worth considering. That said, I think some are blinded by the 3-0 start and DW's decent play to date, but the talent level between the two is much wider than they think. A healthy MM is a playmaker and understands the "why" of what offenses seek to do.

 

I hope DW gets there eventually, but he is stiil too easily fooled and too often takes poor angles and that cancels out his great athleticism.

[Saint Doug]

4 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

He goes to backup.

This is fine. I love the player, but Milano is healthy until he’s not, which is sadly often. Dorian will continue to get his chance. 

[transplantbillsfan]

Milano at 100% is one of the best LBs in the NFL.  You play him and mix Dorian into games as an X-factor when Matt is healthy... and let's remember that he might not be at any point this season.

[4BillsintheBurgh]

5 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

 A nice breakdown of Dorian Williams in pass coverage at about the 1:00 mark.

 

This kid is just starting to shine.  The Bills staff deserves a ton of credit for showing up this uber athletic kid’s game. You saw flashes last year but all too often he was over running or out of position.

 

Not now.

 

What will the Bills do when Milano is ready to return? What a cool problem to have.

I don't know what the Bills will do, but I will be happy, assuming that we make the playoffs, that we're not running on empty on the defensive side of the ball. 

[Mark Vader]

4 hours ago, K-9 said:

I like the kid and he's progressing, but he is far from what a healthy Milano brings. 

I agree. Although if Milano is able to be a go for December, we have to take in consideration that he will be playing football for the first time in over a year.

 

It would be a lot to expect him to be at full game speed after having missed so much time. The more Williams plays, the better he will get, and he has been playing better than last year,  so far.

 

I'm all for Milano returning, but we may have to tone down our expactations a bit.

[K-9]

14 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

I agree. Although if Milano is able to be a go for December, we have to take in consideration that he will be playing football for the first time in over a year.

 

It would be a lot to expect him to be at full game speed after having missed so much time. The more Williams plays, the better he will get, and he has been playing better than last year,  so far.

 

I'm all for Milano returning, but we may have to tone down our expactations a bit.

Is MM comes back, the assumption is that he will be 100% healthy before doing so and there is zero doubt that a healthy MM is simply a superior player. 

[ColoradoBills]

Milano has a $17M dead cap cost next year on both trades and cut.  He is going nowhere.

He has to prove he is NOT the player he was.  Not the other way around.

 

Everyone was happy he kept restructuring and had void years on the contract.  That's half of the 17.

Williams will get playing time.

[Nephilim17]

4 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

Milano has a $17M dead cap cost next year on both trades and cut.  He is going nowhere.

 

Really?

I'm looking at Spotrac and while is 2025 and 2026 yearly hits are over $16 million a year, I see his prorated signing bonus 2.389 million each year. 

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/21905/matt-milano

Unless there are other guaranteed bonuses (boni?) I would have thought next year's cap hit is just under $5 million for Milano.

 

Fantastic player and teammate BUT... next season he's 30 and for an oft-injured guy I'm not counting on him playing a full season. It sounds like heresy but if Williams continues this and if I'm reading it correctly (I may not be) I'd consider losing his $16 million total hit and taking the $5 million dead money.

 

 

[Einstein]

5 hours ago, K-9 said:

I like the kid and he's progressing, but he is far from what a healthy Milano brings. 

 

at least the Matt Milano we remember. I am somewhat concerned what we are going to get when Matt Milano is back after a season and a half of not playing.