Your thoughts on the Bills offseason so far

[Process]

Signing two D lineman on suspension, ahead of a deep D line draft, makes little to no sense. I would have passed on Larry and found the cap space for a DB like Holland or Reed, who signed reasonable deals.

 

Otherwise, other than Metcalf there really wasn't the opportunity to add a real impact player. So it's hard to find fault in what they've done. 

 

They MUST hit on draft picks this year. We have a good opportunity with 3 picks in the first two rounds. Need a difference maker in the secondary and on the D line. 

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

I think last year was us overestimating the impacts of losing guys like Diggs, Morse, Poyer, etc. It just turned out to not matter a great deal and it allowed us to be at or slightly above the level we had been at previous years. Which for me sort of blends together into a big soup of very good, but just not good enough. A few players away etc.

 

To move beyond that statement of a few players away the path in my mind is guys like Bishop, Benford, Coleman, Kincaid, Bernard having really big years. That or us landing somebody in the draft that can really elevate our play this year. I'm a bit pessimistic here that we see this play out, but certainly acknowledge (and hope) that it will go that way.

 

I'm less bullish on Bosa than some here. He hasn't been what we hoped he can be here for 3+ years. His injuries are not break and heal types, more reoccurring/consistent. He just doesn't seem like he will be able to stay healthy to the extent that he could push a 10 sack performance. A 4-6 sacks performance would be fairly similar to Von.  More bullish on Forrest, Ogunjobi, Hoecht but two of those three won't play for a bit so hard to say what to expect.

 

 

So to say I don't think we have any paths to improvement isn't really how I feel. But imagine if everything I just said was partnered with DK Metcalf or Hendrickson. So you added that elite player and then you still held all these cards which could turn out to be very good hands. That is what we should be doing (in my opinion) at this stage of our progression with Allen and the franchise. We have been very close for a very long time and we keep depending on our cards to really turn out when we could be more bold and force that to happen. We did this with Von, it would have worked out. He got hurt. But it doesn't mean it was the wrong move. 

I agree with most of this but I took the question more literally.  I'd give Beane a C- during this period because we didn't trade for Metcalf.  Just a 2nd rounder for him blew my mind.  We could've offered a 2nd and a 5th and Seattle pry trades him here.  It was the only move that would've moved the needle for me because we weren't getting Garrett or Henderson.  Neither was a real possibility imo.  You're right in that the only path we have now is for our young guys to develop.  I'd also add that we need whoever we draft at DT in the first two rounds has to be an impact starter and better than DeQuan Jones. 

[BillsVet]

They came out of their off-season reviews once again making tweaks across the board trusting that their overall philosophy is correct.  They've more or less done the same since 2021.  

 

Defense was an issue, but a primary or contributing (at least) cause is banking on having your entire unit healthy 17+ games in.  There's no margin of error in a violent game that almost guarantees injuries.  And their back 7 has seen plenty.  So, they go sign a banged up DE and now sign 2 with pending PED suspensions.  Come on.  And I suspect they'll draft a rookie CB or DL who'll hopefully contribute, but at the bottom of RD1, how much?  Safety position might be better, but aside from Benford CB depth isn't great.  

 

On offense, pretty clear except to a special select few that you need WRs who can separate and work outside.  They relented last year entering Week 6, but now have exchanged Cooper for Palmer which is a downgrade if both are healthy.  The remainder are either highly drafted or paid and none scare a defense.  And for whatever reason, having the MVP QB isn't enough to put better WRs around him who aren't unknowns heading into this season.      

 

Pretty clear HC and GM remain stubborn and just expect things to work.  I don't expect this to change, but as underwhelming as Coleman and Kincaid were, perhaps blaming certain players is a symptom of something greater: the personnel decisions and the scheme those players are put in.  Start there.    

 

Edited yesterday at 04:54 PM by BillsVet