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

[Mark Vader]

31 minutes ago, K-9 said:

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. 

Minus a full year of not having played.

[nedboy7]

Milano comes back. They split reps. We see if Milano can hold up a few games. Then make a decision. 

[ColoradoBills]

19 minutes ago, Nephilim17 said:

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.

 

 

 

Yes.  His dead cap for next year is $17M.  I think it would be bad to take that hit and lose him to boot.

Let's see how he comes back health wise.  IMO.

[VW82]

I think this is a reasonable question for next offseason. Milano is about to turn 30 and is highly paid, but there's probably a trade out there that works for both sides given he's an All Pro at his best.

 

As for this year, it's a no brainer that we keep him and hope he's healthy enough to help us in playoffs. Mostly healthy Milano >>> Dorian.

Edited September 26 by VW82

[Bad Things]

Are some of you already forgetting just how awesome Milano is?

[NoSaint]

7 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.

what will we do? We will have 3 good undersized guys that will each likely get nicked up with their aggressive play plus a nickel corner in the same boat. I’d guess they will very much appreciate the depth and regularly need it

[Breakout Squad]

1 hour ago, Bad Things said:

Are some of you already forgetting just how awesome Milano is?

Milano is the best WLB in the NFL. When he’s back the defense is going to be even more impressive. 

[Solomon Grundy]

8 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'm liking Spector's play too

[machine gun kelly]

2 hours ago, Bad Things said:

Are some of you already forgetting just how awesome Milano is?

Exactly bud.  These knee jerk reactions even though positive by the minority is floating things that we have a 1st team all pro WLB who is everywhere in the middle of the field.  Williams has significantly improved, but he now has most of the year to demonstrate growth.  Once December hits I’m sure they will split time until McD decides who makes the most impact on the field.  Even if MM plays out his contract, we have a successor with real time to progress.

[Sojourner]

the question is, if we have the trio of milano/taron/bernard healthy do we go back to the virtually exclusive nickel or mix in a lot more base “4-3” to have dorian get some reps? (presuming his play still trends positively)

[gonzo1105]

I could see Beane asking Milano to take a paycut next year. I mean it’s fair he has been out pretty much for almost two full seasons 

[BuffaloBillyG]

As crazy as this may sound, when Milano comes back (If Williams is still playing at the level he is now), then Milano is depth. 

 

A healthy Milano is better. BUT, coming back in December plugging him back in can disrupt the flow of the defense. If they are rolling with Williams in there...keep it set and let them complete in TC next year for the starting spot 

 

This also allows Williams to get a full slate of snaps and build to him being the eventual starter at the position long term. 

8 hours ago, Sojourner said:

the question is, if we have the trio of milano/taron/bernard healthy do we go back to the virtually exclusive nickel or mix in a lot more base “4-3” to have dorian get some reps? (presuming his play still trends positively)

No. They would be basically subbing Milano (or Williams depending  on how you look at it) in for Taron, who is an elite player in his own right. 

 

We don't play primary Nickel because we don't have good linebackers. It's largely because Johnson is too good to take off the field. 

[GreggTX]

I wonder if they'll trade Milano? I know he's great, but he's injury prone. If we could trade him for a 2nd rounder and a day 3 pick or a 33-43, I'd do it.

[ProcessTruster]

19 hours ago, No_Matter_What said:

Yeah like you said it is good problem to have.

 

Anyway, there is always someone injured, so problems like this one often sort themselves out.

 

Btw we have similar "problem" with our boundary CBs right now. I am pretty sure that Elam would be more than serviceable NFL starter, but we might never know the way how Douglas and Benford are playing.

exactly.  It is a very long season.  guys will go down.   this kind of depth is probably a big reason why the Bills have a real shot this year to go deep. 

[Saxum]

15 hours ago, bigduke6 said:

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.

 

Dorian developing will allow Milano to split snaps with him and keep both healthier.  Bills staff will need close eye on metrics for both of them.

22 minutes ago, GreggTX said:

I wonder if they'll trade Milano? I know he's great, but he's injury prone. If we could trade him for a 2nd rounder and a day 3 pick or a 33-43, I'd do it.

 

Milano is not injury prone.  He is involved in a lot of plays hence gets injured more than someone sitting on bench getting splinters.

[Eastport bills]

I have no confidence that Matt can stay on the field. Between his crunching tackles and sideline to sideline all out pursuit, his body just doesn’t hold up. With the emergence of Dorian, if we limit Matt’s snaps and strategically rotate him situationally, that’s the best scenario.

[juno999]

Williams is looking good thus far.  It's still early but it takes the pressure off rushing Milano back.  As mentioned above, Milano has missed a bunch of games.  Just a hunch based on how he tends to not spend his money, I believe Milano would take a pay cut.

[T master]

22 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

I am continually impressed by this coaching staff’s work developing players.

 

Thank you ! Were not hereing much from all of the haters to this point but there is still time left in the season ...

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

4 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

As crazy as this may sound, when Milano comes back (If Williams is still playing at the level he is now), then Milano is depth. 

 

A healthy Milano is better. BUT, coming back in December plugging him back in can disrupt the flow of the defense. If they are rolling with Williams in there...keep it set and let them complete in TC next year for the starting spot 

 

This also allows Williams to get a full slate of snaps and build to him being the eventual starter at the position long term. 

No. They would be basically subbing Milano (or Williams depending  on how you look at it) in for Taron, who is an elite player in his own right. 

 

We don't play primary Nickel because we don't have good linebackers. It's largely because Johnson is too good to take off the field. 

 

Ease him in more than bench either.  I don't see a scenario where i can't find a way to get milano on the field.  Guy is a playmaker at that position, and you want him for the playoffs.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

5 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Ease him in more than bench either.  I don't see a scenario where i can't find a way to get milano on the field.  Guy is a playmaker at that position, and you want him for the playoffs.  

He certainly was 2 years ago. Is he still capable? How's he going to play when he comes back? Is it a hit the ground running or a physically not the same situation? 

 

All questions that we don't know the answer to. The road to the past of the NFL is littered with players that were once great and injury took them down. Could it happen to Milano? Maybe, maybe not. But December/January football isn't the time to find out. Sure use him if we must. A few situational snaps here and there.

 

But if Williams is playing well, healthy, and the defense is in sync, you stay with the hot hand and figure not out later.