Do you think the Bills current window is closed?

[lancerman]

1 hour ago, Malik said:

I feel like people are treating these Bills teams like the 00s Colts where they JUST have to get over the 00s Patriots (The Chiefs) when in reality there are at least 2 other teams in contention in their conference that they also have to get better than with the Bengals (who have actually beat the Chiefs and been to the Super Bowl) and the Ravens (who have a strong chance to beat the Chiefs and go to the Super Bowl). 

10 years from now we may look at their "window" being the same as the 00s Rivers window. Really good regular seasons in real time, but in hindsight never actually got close to the Super Bowl.

Fun fact the 2020 Bills lost more playoff games to the Chiefs than the 00 Colts lost to the 00 Patriots.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

Probably not. Just too many injuries this year. Especially on D. Josh Allen will be 28 next year. Still plenty of time if he can stay healthy.

I am curious about Stefon Diggs though. 30 isn't ancient, but maybe he played hurt this year or he's starting to lose a step. Just hasn't been barking that loud in a minute now. 

Edited January 22 by TecmoSuperJoe

[TOUCAN]

1 minute ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

Probably not. Just too many injuries this year. Especially on D. 

I am curious about Stefon Diggs though. 30 isn't ancient, but maybe he played hurt this year or he's starting to lose a step. Just hasn't been barking that loud in a minute now. 

Something is off with him generally speaking. 30 you’re right isn’t a death sentence but the fact is that he’s not completely there at the moment. They need some semblance of a true complimentary receiver

[TecmoSuperJoe]

40 minutes ago, TOUCAN said:

Something is off with him generally speaking. 30 you’re right isn’t a death sentence but the fact is that he’s not completely there at the moment. They need some semblance of a true complimentary receiver

Yeah I think it's really time to reload at receiver. 

I heard the Bills led the league in drops last year (not sure who was charting), and where top 3 in drops this year. 

Regardless, Bills need to nail the next couple of drafts under this regime assuming it's around that much longer. 

Edited January 22 by TecmoSuperJoe

[TOUCAN]

15 minutes ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

Yeah I think it's really time to reload at receiver. 

I heard the Bills led the league in drops last year (not sure who was charting), and where top 3 in drops this year. 

Regardless, Bills need to nail the next couple of drafts under this regime assuming it's around that much longer. 

Diggs is an out after this coming season at the very least. Unless he recaptures next season what he was in prior years, or restructures, he’s gone. He’s not going to restructure. Spoiler alert.

[TedLavie]

Short answer: No. When you have a top 5 QB - even if the other top 5 guys are all in the AFC - you have a chance.

Next year is gonna be a challenge because they have a lot of money allocated to guys that are simply not producing to that level, but once they can get rid of the Von/Diggs/Knox contracts and reload with younger guys, they'll be fine.

[WFLukic]

Buffalo's cap position isn't great, but a few restructures and/or cuts gets them back into an ok position. Restructuring Allen alone probably gets as much as $25m of the cap back.

A few cuts like Poyer, Hines and Miller saves some cap. Morse and White can both be cut or restructured to save some more. Diggs is even movable with a post June 1 designation, whether by cut or trade, to save as much as $20m.

I think Buffalo is ok. As long as Allen is on the field, they can win. I know 3 losses to the same team in 4 years is brutal, but apart from the first one, it's been two games decided by a score and both of which are games Buffalo easily could have won. In another world, Buffalo wins one of them (and in 99/100 universes they win the 13 second game).

The OL outside of Morse are all locked in and under 30. Allen's young at 27. Shakir, Kincaid and Cook are decent players to build on going forward. Getting WR1 production is the biggest need right now as Diggs hasn't really been great for more than a year now. But Buffalo showed they can succeed without Diggs and Allen is one of the rare QBs that regardless of who's around him, he can make things happen.

Defense might take a hit as a lot of veterans transition out, but it was also decent this year despite getting nothing out of it's 3 highst paid players (Miller, Milano and White). A good raft and some shrewed FA pick ups probably has this on or around the same level as it was this year.

As long as Allen's on the field, they've got a fighting chance against anyone. Even in a mini-rebuild, he's good enough to keep you competitive and with the new 7 seed system, 10-7 is probably enough to get you in the playoffs and a shot at winning it all. If Buffalo can do that during a mini-rebuild next year as they eat the bad contracts, there's no reason to think the window couldn't re-open truly in 2025 while not being totally shut for 2024. 

 

[JaguarCrazy2832]

As long as Allen is there the window will be open but man what the heck happened to Diggs?

[bigbadbuff]

31 minutes ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

As long as Allen is there the window will be open but man what the heck happened to Diggs?

I’ve asked myself this a lot, I don’t want to ever say a guy quit, but that’s what it looks like on the field. Before games he’s still getting amped and pumping up the crowd, but all of a sudden he can’t get open? 
 

That bomb Allen threw to him has to be made. Has to. Especially by a supposed #1 receiver.

Diggs made his career as an elite route runner and getting separation that way, but once that type of player loses a step it’s blouses.

 

I’m not counting on him going forward. Buffalo has to go receiver round one or trade for one, or sign Tee Higgins if they can afford to.

[Jakuvious]

I think the honest answer is that the current window with this core is probably closed, but with a QB like Allen it is far easier to open new windows with a new roster makeup than it is without. Chiefs have re-done the roster a time or two with Mahomes already, with really just like 3 players and the HC being the only real constants. So it's definitely doable, but it does require consistent drafting and some good cap decisions, which haven't been consistently great for Buffalo, unfortunately.

But I don't think, at this point, they're winning a superbowl with the group of like, Miller, Hyde, White, Poyer, Diggs, Morse, Dawkins, etc. Maybe you keep a couple of those, but at this point they should be looking to move on from their older players that either already are or are likely to decline, and focus on the draft and some lower cost free agent adds. The nice thing is they do already have some emerging young pieces. Cook, Bernard, Kincaid, Benford, Shakir. Those need to be the pieces that elevate from role players to the core of your team to get that next window open. And you still have a few with a bit more mileage left with like Milano and Oliver.

[bucksavage1]

Buffalo needs to fire McDermott

[Jakuvious]

54 minutes ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

As long as Allen is there the window will be open but man what the heck happened to Diggs?

I'll have to go back and watch the game, but this was something I kept a bit of an eye on when the Bills were on offense, and I do have some thoughts. The Bills have definitely run the ball more and better since they changed OCs. 10 straight 100+ yard rushing games, 8 of them over 125, 5 of them over 150, to close out the season. A lot of what I saw when they were running well against us, was they spent a ton of time in 11 personnel, so 1 RB, either Knox or Kincaid in at TE, rarely both and then the trio of Diggs, Sherfield, and Shakir at WR. The vast majority of their snaps was that kind of grouping, like it would've been 80%+ if not for the bit of time Shakir missed. That forced us into nickel, which was a little strained for us with Cook and Edwards both out at S. But they weren't really going 3 wide to spread the D out and pass downfield. They went 3 WRs but very often had two of them in close to the line. Whenever they did that, they had Diggs as the lone man split out wide, with Sherfield and Shakir closer to the line. And they were really using Sherfield and Shakir to help block for the RB, for Allen, or for swing passes to the backs. And they did a fantastic job of it. The WRs and TEs winning as blockers against our DBs and LBs were really key to some of those plays working as well and consistently as they did. And we don't have an easy group of DBs to block, by any means.

But on all of these plays, Diggs was just there. He was split out wide, one on one usually with Sneed, sometimes with McDuffie, and he basically just existed as a body to occupy the attention of one of those DBs. He wasn't in the play, nor was he particularly interested in blocking his man away from the play. I think the new OC is asking more of the WRs when they're not the guy getting the ball, more like what you'd see from a WR corp in a Shanahan offense, where like Aiyuk and Jennings block their ***** off, and Diggs isn't about that. He wants the ball, not to block. And on many of the plays and concepts they were running, that means he just isn't going to be involved. I don't think you can argue Diggs gave even close to the effort that Shakir did, last night. And if the OC is trying to bring more balance to an offense that has historically been "Save us please Josh Allen," that's going to not go well for Diggs.

 

And for a disclaimer, this was on first watch, so it's not the only thing I was looking at. So I could be wrong. But this was the feel I got from the game and what I generally saw out of their WR corp.

[BillSabre]

Their “current window” closed with 13 seconds.  McDermott has taken this team as far as he can. I appreciate what he did for this organization but he’s reached his pinnacle and it’s just not good enough.  He’s no longer a leader of men. He’s become a ball and chain holding this organization back from its true potential. The Pegulas aren’t going to do a damn thing about it either, unfortunately. 

[ronjon1990]

If it's closed for anyone, it's probably their boob of a HC. 

The roster itself has plenty of time to get there. Until they actually startissong the post season, their window is as open as anyone's. 

That said, Allen is probably the Brees to Mahomes' Brady. Any talk of it being a close competition between the two as far as career championships go can end now. He'll get one, maybe more, but he's in that regard, he's not 1B anymore, he's 2. 

Edited January 22 by ronjon1990

[game3525]

4 hours ago, Malik said:

I feel like people are treating these Bills teams like the 00s Colts where they JUST have to get over the 00s Patriots (The Chiefs) when in reality there are at least 2 other teams in contention in their conference that they also have to get better than with the Bengals (who have actually beat the Chiefs and been to the Super Bowl) and the Ravens (who have a strong chance to beat the Chiefs and go to the Super Bowl). 

10 years from now we may look at their "window" being the same as the 00s Rivers window. Really good regular seasons in real time, but in hindsight never actually got close to the Super Bowl.

I don’t think it is similar. The Chargers were the best team in football in 2006 and if they beat New England, they get to and win the Super Bowl. At no point in the Allen era have I ever thought the Bills were the best team in the league. Even if they beat KC, Baltimore was going to roll them.