DK Metcalf requests trade to a contender

[FireChans]

41 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

Diggs and Cooper had career lows in 3 game rolling samples in which they were active for the Bills under Brady. Two different players, back to back years with career lows for WR’s that have played a very long time and it occurred multiple times. Both hit near career lows on every category. 
 

No way you can just chalk that up to Cooper and Diggs declining. Diggs was well on his way with the Texans and Cooper had about as much production in Cleveland over 6 games with Watson as he did here. 
 

If we went for a big investment in WR I just want to make sure we plan on using it. 

Diggs was already struggling long before Brady took over. I posted it above.

 

He’s declined. He wasn’t JUST traded because he was a headache. He was a headache AND not the player he used to be.

[Bills aPHILLYate]

If we have a shot at DK we have to go for it. 

We are a cusp contender for the entirety of Josh's prime and we don't really have the luxury of not going for game changers anymore on either side of the ball.

We also have proof of concept with Josh paired with an elite WR and DK checks literally every box of the prototype #1 for him. 

 

I absolutely would love one on defense but I also believe that we need an entire scheme change in addition to players to get to an effective let alone championship level.

 

By all means still draft and retool the defense but the offense is actually closer to being put over the top with an acquisition. 

 

I'll be ecstatic with Garrett or Crosby to be clear but get DK if you can

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Doc Brown]

9 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Imo, the odds of trading for Metcalf are virtually immeasurably small, don’t get your hopes up folks, it’s not going to happen, 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

@Pine Barrens Mafia could finally pass on to the other side.

 

*Cue the red foxx heart attack gesture*

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

Diggs was already struggling long before Brady took over. I posted it above.

 

He’s declined. He wasn’t JUST traded because he was a headache. He was a headache AND not the player he used to be.

 

He was a headache the year before. But he was still elite. He only got traded once the headache wasn't worth the hassle.

[finn]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

Diggs was already struggling long before Brady took over. I posted it above.

 

He’s declined. He wasn’t JUST traded because he was a headache. He was a headache AND not the player he used to be.

Right. And I suspect he was a headache precisely because he knew he was declining, at least at some level, and wasn't taking it well. Doesn't reflect very well on him, nor does how well Allen performed once he was relieved of him. 

 

Makes me wonder anew how it would have turned out if Beane had drafted Jefferson instead of trading for Diggs. That trade has been universally praised, including by this board, and stats support the acclaim. But in still more hindsight, it doesn't look as good. Diggs routinely disappeared in the playoffs when the team needed him most, and he ended up such a distraction that Beane was pretty much forced to pay him a huge salary just to leave. 

 

Of course, if Beane had kept the pick, given his track record he probably would have traded up for Jalen Reagor. 😒

[billsfan89]

45 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He was a headache the year before. But he was still elite. He only got traded once the headache wasn't worth the hassle.

 

Diggs was elite for the first 6 games of 2023. In the first 6 games of 2023 he had five 100 yard games and his numbers through 6 games were 49 catches, 620 yards, on 66 targets totaling a 74% catch percentage on heavy volume with 5 TD's. 

 

In the next 11 games he had 58 receptions for 563 yards on 94 targets a 61.7% catch percentage with only 3 TD's and zero 100 yard games. He just was not the same player after those first 6 games. To Diggs credit he did have a very good game in week 17 catching 7 of 8 targets for 87 yards in a game that won the Bills the division. But he was very inefficient after those first 6 games. 

 

With the Texans he was having a very productive season in 2024. He had a 73% catch percentage and in 8 games he had 496 yards on 47 catches with 3 TD's in an offense where he was the second option at WR. So he seemed to be validating the theory that he got hurt and that impacted his play in 2023. 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, billsfan89 said:

 

Diggs was elite for the first 6 games of 2023. In the first 6 games of 2023 he had five 100 yard games and his numbers through 6 games were 49 catches, 620 yards, on 66 targets totaling a 74% catch percentage on heavy volume with 5 TD's. 

 

In the next 11 games he had 58 receptions for 563 yards on 94 targets a 61.7% catch percentage with only 3 TD's and zero 100 yard games. He just was not the same player after those first 6 games. To Diggs credit he did have a very good game in week 17 catching 7 of 8 targets for 87 yards in a game that won the Bills the division. But he was very inefficient after those first 6 games. 

 

With the Texans he was having a very productive season in 2024. He had a 73% catch percentage and in 8 games he had 496 yards on 47 catches with 3 TD's in an offense where he was the second option at WR. So he seemed to be validating the theory that he got hurt and that impacted his play in 2023. 

His pace in Houston was 100 catches for 1054 yards. That’s fine but not elite. He’s not the same player. Those are Jakobi Meyers numbers.

[billsfan89]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

His pace in Houston was 100 catches for 1054 yards. That’s fine but not elite. He’s not the same player. Those are Jakobi Meyers numbers.

 

As a WR2 getting less targets that's very good. Meyers numbers only picked up once Adams was traded. He was on pace for about 128 targets which is about 35-40 less targets than he was getting as the WR1 in Buffalo. I think factoring in context if you want to still say he wasn't elite he wasn't very far off either. 

[Low Positive]

3 hours ago, FireChans said:

Diggs was already struggling long before Brady took over. I posted it above.

 

He’s declined. He wasn’t JUST traded because he was a headache. He was a headache AND not the player he used to be.

It's like Barney's crazy to hotness scale

 

[FireChans]

18 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

As a WR2 getting less targets that's very good. Meyers numbers only picked up once Adams was traded. He was on pace for about 128 targets which is about 35-40 less targets than he was getting as the WR1 in Buffalo. I think factoring in context if you want to still say he wasn't elite he wasn't very far off either. 

WR2?

 

Im pretty sure Diggs led the Texans in targets when he got hurt.

[billsfan89]

6 minutes ago, FireChans said:

WR2?

 

Im pretty sure Diggs led the Texans in targets when he got hurt.

 

In the 4 games Diggs and Nico Collins fully played Collins had 10 more targets than Diggs. 

[Nihilarian]

5 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

The reason I wouldn't want to do that is it would severely weaken an already weak DT group. And then we'd enter the draft needing to take a DT and Beane has not done a good job when he's boxed himself in with that 1st pick. I also don't think Seattle would be interested because it's a strong DT draft class and if they're shipping out Metcalf it's to save money.

 

You already know what I would do this offseason - I'd trade our 1st for Metcalf and pay him what he's worth, then I'd sign Davante Adams to a 2 year deal when he is inevitably cut. Our WR corps for the next two years would be:

 

Metcalf

Adams

Shakir

Coleman

Samuel (possibly replaced in 2026)

 

I'd use void years and restructures to go all in on the Josh Allen light show which to me is still the most likely Super Bowl strategy. I'd do all this while trading Cook this offseason and knowing in the back of my mind that Rousseau would walk after this year. And then Beane and McDermott can spend all their remaining draft picks on defense like their little hearts desire.

I still don't get this obsession with improving the offense with an expensive WR OR TWO. Brian Daboll is now in NYC, and Joe Brady is the new OC as the offense has morphed into a much more balanced offense that has improved the offense and turnovers by the offense immensely. The 2024 Buffalo Bills offense was the most productive scoring offense in franchise history and second in the entire NFL in scoring points. 

 

DK Metcalf is making 24k a season and Adams is currently making 28.25 a season. Adding an elite WR wouldn't have been more beneficial to the 2024 Bills as those elite WRs want all the passes to themselves. Not in the "everybody eats" philosophy at all. 

 

However, adding a star edge rusher / DT would have been the game changer (or both) this team needed to shut down opposing QBs. In so many games last season, opposing QBs had outstanding games against the Bills defense because the Buffalo defense simply...could..not...stop them. Lamar had a great game, Tua had a great game, Stafford had a career game, Goff had a career game and even the Patriots rookie had a decent game against that Bills defense. If it weren't for that unreal Buffalo league leading +24 turnover ratio, the Bills defense would have looked far worse. 

 

That KC Chiefs offense scored more points against the Buffalo Bills in that AFC Championship game than they had all season long, even against teams like the crappy 5-12 Panthers who had the 32nd ranked defense last year. 

[FireChans]

6 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

 

In the 4 games Diggs and Nico Collins fully played Collins had 10 more targets than Diggs. 

Sure but then Collins missed the next 4 so he was back to WR1

[Nihilarian]

Speaking of Diggs, getting that malcontent primadonna off the team was the right thing to do...even though his 30+ million dollar cap hit is probably what kept the Bills from resigning Leonard Floyd or better pass rushers. Which also probably cost the team a Lombardi in 2024. The guy was angry at someone, everyone in Buffalo for his own decline.

 

 

 

[Mikie2times]

4 hours ago, FireChans said:

Diggs was already struggling long before Brady took over. I posted it above.

 

He’s declined. He wasn’t JUST traded because he was a headache. He was a headache AND not the player he used to be.

So because Diggs is declining it justifies two separate players hitting career lows in production? With both players having current samples with different teams that far exceed the production with Brady and the Bills? 

I have plenty of data that will pretty much destroy this perspective. Happy to share. 

 

Edited March 2 by Mikie2times

[Low Positive]

1 hour ago, Nihilarian said:

I still don't get this obsession with improving the offense with an expensive WR OR TWO. Brian Daboll is now in NYC, and Joe Brady is the new OC as the offense has morphed into a much more balanced offense that has improved the offense and turnovers by the offense immensely. The 2024 Buffalo Bills offense was the most productive scoring offense in franchise history and second in the entire NFL in scoring points. 

 

DK Metcalf is making 24k a season and Adams is currently making 28.25 a season. Adding an elite WR wouldn't have been more beneficial to the 2024 Bills as those elite WRs want all the passes to themselves. Not in the "everybody eats" philosophy at all. 

 

However, adding a star edge rusher / DT would have been the game changer (or both) this team needed to shut down opposing QBs. In so many games last season, opposing QBs had outstanding games against the Bills defense because the Buffalo defense simply...could..not...stop them. Lamar had a great game, Tua had a great game, Stafford had a career game, Goff had a career game and even the Patriots rookie had a decent game against that Bills defense. If it weren't for that unreal Buffalo league leading +24 turnover ratio, the Bills defense would have looked far worse. 

 

That KC Chiefs offense scored more points against the Buffalo Bills in that AFC Championship game than they had all season long, even against teams like the crappy 5-12 Panthers who had the 32nd ranked defense last year. 

Individual WRs making big plays is the most fun thing to watch in a football game. Diggs making big plays was more fun to watch than anything the Bills did last year. The Bills were winning last year dinking and dunking down the field. I think a lot of fans miss the bombs-away approach of the Daboll/Diggs years. This is entertainment, after all. 

[ColoradoBills]

Diggs became more and more of a headache AND he disappeared during the playoffs.

That's why he isn't on the team anymore.

[Low Positive]

2 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

Diggs became more and more of a headache AND he disappeared during the playoffs.

That's why he isn't on the team anymore.

Totally agree. But I can't help think that the current iteration of the Bills would have lost that Thanksgiving game in Detroit.  

[ColoradoBills]

1 minute ago, Low Positive said:

Totally agree. But I can't help think that the current iteration of the Bills would have lost that Thanksgiving game in Detroit.  

 

Lots of things changed with the team.  Not just Diggs.  I usually don't play the what if stuff.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they field this year.

 

Once again, it's a new year and I'm hopeful.  LOL.