Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast. As always, JJ here with Ever Omnipresent Dan
talking through the bills offseason. It's a time, it's a weird time. We are in weird
times. It's February 23rd. It's a leap year. The bills are $53 million over the cap. Or
less now, less now because we have a recent update. Dan, why don't you walk us through
it? Breaking news. Breaking news on the pod. The NFL has just announced, JJ, that the salary
cap for this upcoming 2024 season is going to exceed $255 million. The exact figure is
$255.4 million, which is a 13.6% increase over last year's cap, the highest single season
cap increase in league history. Or so I am told by the intro webs. So what this means
for the Buffalo bills is that rather than being close to $51 million over the cap, they're
going to be somewhere more around $41 million over the cap, JJ. So still significantly over
the cap. But as we talk about contract restructures, or potential cuts to this team here in this
pod, one, maybe even two beloved veteran Buffalo bills player may be safe from being a cap
casualty as a result of this historic increase.
That's exciting. And I think two really kind of sets the table that all the levers that
the bills that are branded bean would pull in order to get cap compliant and get them
some breathing room to sign rookies, sign a, you know, vet minimum deals and things like
that to make their team hole in the off season. They don't maybe have to pull as many levers.
And if they do pull all of those levers and push some things down the road, it might mean
that instead of, you know, working on a one 5 million per year annual value deal that
would be the splash quote unquote of a free agency for the bills, it might mean that they
could do a $10 million deal or a $12 million deal annual value and still come in under
the cap because that extra little bit of wiggle room is, it is advantageous. And for anybody
in Bill's Mafia who's like, God, how did bean get us in this predicament? I think he had
an excellent plan that was blown up by COVID that league had never had a reduction in salary
cap, you know, in the modern free agency era until the COVID year. And so in order to set
the projection, he had it to the wire, assuming he'd have a large quarterback contract, he
didn't end up having a large quarterback contract. And the wire fell out from under him.
Yeah, JJ, it's it is, there's criticism of the roster build that you can absolutely lay
at beans feet. And we have done that on a multitude of occasions. The cap figure being
what it is, is more of the cost of doing business in the modern out of foul. Every team wants
to hit on their franchise QB and under being we have hit on that particular person in Josh
Allen. But what that means is that the roster around that franchise QB needs to start getting
younger and cheaper. And because of a little bit of the reset, as you mentioned that we
faced under COVID, the cap projection and increases in increases in projection did not
fully come to fruition. So the bills roster, financial strategy with the cap took a little
bit of a hit, no pun intended, but this $255 million increase will go a long way to helping
out. And as you mentioned, the totality of a contract they can offer someone say, an
AJ Epineza to potentially stay on the team with a larger role. The odds of that happening
just got a little bit better, depending on how bean chooses to approach getting under
the cap and creating space, which I think JJ is a great transition into this pod. So
on this pod, we've already covered a preliminary draft preview for agency preview. Now we're
going to do what we we have done with so many of our co hosts of other AFC AFC East teams
and our friends of the pod, not friends of the bill segment JJ, we ourselves are going
to pose burning questions about the Buffalo bills off season and do our best to provide
some answers to said questions. And JJ, the first question I think that is on every bills
fan mind is how are we going to get under this now $255 million salary cap, erase the
$41 million deficit and also create some additional space to bring on some veteran presences,
find our rookies, but also maybe bring back a familiar face or two.
Absolutely. And I think to, you know, I guess the place to start for me in the way that
we're likely going to see what is the the league year starts is it March 11th or something
like that? Yeah, before. Yep, for agency. Yeah, the day before for agency. Yeah. So
the league year is coming up here in about three weeks, two and a half weeks. And once
that league year starts, that is when the bills need to be cap compliant. And so it
might even be the literal day before you're going to see some things happen. And I think
that the first thing that you're probably going to see happen that is most likely is
a base salary restructure. And that is where you basically say, okay, Josh Allen, we know
you're going to be here through the rest of your your contract, your current 2024 cap
hit is $47 million. We're going to just take a chunk of that money that we owe you and
we've already agreed to pay you. And we're going to give it to you as a signing bonus
and we're going to spread it out over the next five years. And that cuts his cap hit
from 47 to 29. And so right there, by doing that, the bills have dropped from kind of
$40 million over the cap, or $43 million over the cap to $25 million over the cap. And that
is a, you know, to chunk it in half like that on a player you're definitely not going to
part with is probably what we'll see first. And that's kind of the first step is take
a base salary restructure on maybe Josh Allen, maybe like Dawson Knox, Matt Milano, we think
is going to be around at Oliver's is probably going to play out the rest of his contract.
So spreading it out for those guys is not really doesn't not too much paint. Conor McGovan
govern earns you, you know, to 2.3 million or so. So there's some of those things that
are going to happen. That's the first step, I think, to clear up some space. And then
the second step is to do some extensions for some of our players. I know I have some targets,
but who are some players on the bills that you Dan think that they should extend to cut
their cap hit this year down and get some more years on a player that we believe also
is going to be on the roster in two or three years.
Yeah, I think there's a couple that I would target for those extensions. One, for sure
is Rizul Douglas. He is set, I think, this year to make 9 million against the cap. Extending
him out would definitely lower that cap to something much more manageable for the bills
and maybe save anywhere depending on what they agree on the first year of salary would
be could save them anywhere between four and five million against the cap. Taryn Johnson
is another one JJ he has just played excellent ball. And as you and I have talked about his
skill set, even as he starts to age and some of the athletic decline starts to set in,
he is a candidate for me who could also transition to the safety position just based on his skill
set and profile later on in his career. So an extension for him also makes sense to me,
even if he's not going to be your primary nickel back in two, three or even four years,
he's got position versatility built into that skill set that I think makes him a logical
candidate for an extension as well. There's another one and I'm less keen on this one,
but I'd love to get your take on it. Deion Dawkins. So Dawkins is coming off, you could
say his best year at tackle for the Buffalo Bills. That being said, last year he showed
some inconsistencies granted first year in Kroemer's offense, had a rough COVID season,
you know, a couple of years before that he's had in his tenure as the Bills, I would say
two, maybe three outstanding seasons. And then the rest, a little rife with a little
bit of inconsistency and middling play. I love Dawkins. I think an extension makes a
lot of sense. I am not convinced though, depending on the length of the extension, that Dawkins
will remain at tackle through the end of his bills career. I see as he gets to the twilight
of his playing days, JJ, him kicking into guard potentially replacing Conor McGovern
once that contract is up. But right now, according to SpotTrack, an extension for Dawkins at
the tackle position would average 18 million per year. Now, for those listening at home,
an extension would mean that yes, over the course of the contract, he's making 18 million
per year. But this year in the negotiations, Bean would lower his current $16.6 million
cap it way below that mark, and then tack money onto the back end of it, right? So the
contract would age as Dawkins age and he would get more money towards the back end of it,
lowering his cap it for this year and creating room. I the investment in Dawkins to me JJ
makes sense. As long as he stays at tackle, if he's going to kick into guard, though,
I question how many years you tack on to an extension to make it meaningful. What is
your take on that? I'm of the opinion that you can count on
Deon Dawkins for three more years beyond this. So like 24, 25, 26, I think that that's reasonable,
even if he has to slide into guard for the last year of his deal. And I think if you
gave him an incentive laden plate, you know, incentive laden contract for the next two with
snaps roster bonuses, playtime bonuses, those sorts of things, he'd probably jump at that
because he has the kind of confidence in himself that he would be able to do it. Also, if you've
kind of followed some of the Dawkins stuff off the field and interviews media time, he
is definitely I think that even though you've mentioned his inconsistent play, I think anything
at any tone of like moving on from Deon Dawkins, you're going to take a hit in the locker room,
he is beloved on that line and he is a leader amongst that that line, especially if we're
going to do anything with Mitch Morse, which I'll get to in a minute, you need to keep
that leadership in the room and Dawkins is it he's a two time, you know, Walter Walter
Peyton man of the year nominee from the bills. He's a three time three consecutive year Pro
bowler. I know we talk about the Pro Bowl not meaning much, but still, you know, he's
there. He's well regarded in a league he has probably had his best season. As you mentioned,
I think that you extend him, you drop that cap hit from 16 million to, you know, three
or four million with bonuses and those sorts of things and end up with the next three years
of that deal being an $18 million average, $17 million average because that would be
in line with some of the deals signed by McGlinchey, David Bakhtiari, some of those guys who who've
recently signed in the past two or three years and around the same age and around the same
production Bakhtiari with the Green Bay, though that, you know, he did not live up to that
deal because you guys maybe injured. Yeah. But at the time he signed it, he was what
29 years old, 30 years old, kind of like where it began Dawkins is and something like that.
The best left tackle in the league. That's not the case for Dawkins. I'd say he's a top
five, top 10 at worst tech left tackle in the league, but he's up there and I think
he deserves it. And as I mentioned before, one of the one of the pieces that we the bills
are going to have to look at. And I think that, you know, I listened to the center down in
Buffalo podcast, Eric Woods piece, which is excellent with Mitch Morse. Mitch Morse,
the way he talked about this offseason, he is under contract still this year, but the
bills would save about $8.5 million if they just outright cut Mitch Morse from that contract.
Either they will go back to him for a, you know, pay cut kind of retooling of that deal
or they will cut him. I think this offseason, because the way he was talking about it, he
was like, I know, I know, I know there's a business, there's businesses to be made,
you know, I understand our cap is not the great greatest right now. So the way he was
talking, I wonder if he's already been having some of those conversations, he might not
be on the team, especially when they have Ryan Bates, who's, you know, four or $5 million
per year on the books right now and ready to slide in at that center position.
Yeah. Morse is a handful of cut candidates where it wouldn't necessarily be easy, I think
for the fan based tolerate, but from a business and team building decision makes a lot of
sense. The bills clearly have a plan for what they want to do in the first round. I'm starting
to get that sense by listening to some of our bills beat riders and all that kind of stuff.
And I don't think even if an elite center was available at 28, I don't think they want
to spend that draft pick, that capital on a Mitch Morse replacement. So I agree with
you. I think if they were to cut Morse, Ryan Bates is your plan to fill in at center. And
then you're taking a fourth, fifth or even sixth round flyer and an interior offensive
lineman that you can grow in Cromer system and get ready to be the long term Mitch Morse
replacement as well. So Morse dude, he seems to me like a pretty reasonable candidate for
a for a straight out cut. There is a world where they kick some money down the road a
little bit and they do a base salary conversion. But to me kicking any money down the road
on Mitch Morse granted love Mitch Morris, he's been a linchpin of that of that offensive
line unit for years. He's got an injury history, he's got a concussion history. And injury
luck only follows you so long. And this bill's offensive line was remarkably healthy in the
2023 season. I think it would be foolish for them to count on that same level of just
luck when it came to the injury when it came to the injury situation for the offensive
line. So I think getting younger, particularly at the center position in the interior position
makes a lot of sense and thereby cutting Mitch Morse makes a lot of sense. Another cut candidate
to me that seems more than reasonable JJ is Naheem Himes, we can free up close to $5
million by cutting him. And when you've already got James Cook on the roster, and Ty Johnson
is a big candidate for a resign at this point and free agency, to me, Heinz just brings
like a duplicate duplicative set of skills that you don't need on the roster for that
particular cap hit. And I think the bills need to start getting away from paying guys
like Deontay Hardy and Naheem Himes guys with like special teams viability in the punt return
game, $5 or $6 million a year, right? Go find a really fast undirected, like undrafted free
agent and teach him some of that stuff. Because sinking that level of money into a veteran
presence that has a limited impact on the proper offense and impacts maybe only six or seven plays
a game on special teams, to me is not a good investment when you're in the salary cap situation
that you're at. So to me, both Hardy and Heinz feel like clear cut candidates as well.
A tougher one JJ. And again, I want to get your take on this.
Tredavious white. So the bills seem pretty committed to letting white get healthy and see
where he is going to be at after the Achilles injury kind of kind of runs its course.
That being said, he's an aging veteran cornerback that has suffered two devastating lower body
injuries over the last three years. He has do I think I want I think it's the seventh highest
cap number on the Buffalo Bills and see their six or seven that's like him and Dawson Knox
are our six or seventh on there. The bills can save close to fifth highest. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, and he might not even be your CB one heading in a trade on camp, right? With if
result Douglas stays on the roster. So a restructure I would be open to, but an outright cut would
save the bills the most money against the cap. And this one would be hard. This is Sean McDermott's
first ever draft pick for the Buffalo Bills. He's loved within that locker room and within the
organization he loves that team. This would be the epitome of business decision over emotional
decision if the bills were to cut trade white and save what could be upwards of seven million
against the cap. What are your thoughts on cutting trade white? My thoughts are that
this year's draft in which the Buffalo Bills have 10 picks 10 selections,
he probably won't use them all. We know how being likes to move up and down,
move up. He doesn't like to move down as often, but there are 10 selections in this year's draft
and there are 67 defensive backs that are going to the NFL Combine in Indy this week or this coming.
I think that, you know, as much as it might hurt because Trey has been such a cornerstone of this
team, you know, he's only played what like 30 games in three years or something like that.
He hasn't done a full season in a long time. And so I think it's time to move on.
If what you're seeing from Trey White in like June, you know, April, May, June, if you're not,
if he doesn't look like he's back to his explosive self or that he'll be able to make it, you know,
into training camp on time looking like Trey, I think you have to move on. I don't think they do
anything though right now because they owe him too much. He's too much of a locker room presence
for them to use him as a cap lever, especially because the cap has just increased a little bit.
I think that that was probably one of their like emergency dial buttons to bring up and without,
you know, a necessary, you know, without the necessity to do so, they won't, they won't have
to pull that pull that lever right now. Yeah. And you know, as we approach the start of the league
year, he is due a roster bonus of 1.5 million to kick off the start of the league year. So that's
like a quarter of your savings gone right there. And it seems like the bills are committed to at
least keeping him on the roster through that start date. And I agree with you, I think this increase
in cap is going to be used as a reason slash excuse for being a McDermott to keep him on the roster
and see health wise where he is at. To me, it would be an opportunity to see if you can reconfigure
the books to bring back a guy like AJ Epineza, where you know you desperately need some reinforcements
at the edge and along the defensive line generally, whereas your cornerback room JJ, again, barring
health issues, you extend Resoul Douglas, who I think Bill's mafia fell in love with after his
acquisition of the trade deadline. And he is, I think even with Trey healthy and back in the lineup,
the best on ball producer in that secondary, heading into just, you know, pending free agency
and what they do in the draft, you've got Christian Benford, who granted is trying to shed the title
of of injury prone, he's been banged up over the past couple of seasons. But when healthy, he's
probably their number two. And now you've got a new lease on life for Kyrie Lom under a new
secondary coach. You know, it Trey White is going to be battling for your third, maybe fourth spot.
And you're going to pay him that cap number. To me, it feels like if you don't outright cut him,
it is irresponsible to keep him on his current contract and both parties need to mutually agree
on some sort of restructure for Trey, because there's no way you're going to pay your third or
fourth guy that much money. Well, and this, this brings me to, you know, something that I think
applies to Trey. And I think it also applies to Von Miller. And that is converting rehashing their
deal a little bit to convert some of their guaranteed money into not likely to be earned
incentives. So for both Von Miller and Trey, there are opportunities where you can ask the player to
bet on themselves for to get some of that money back. And it won't, it won't count against the cap
figure. If you say to Von Miller, we've got a $5 million incentive in your contract, all you have
to do is get five sacks this upcoming season. If I'm Von Miller, I'm a prideful man, I might take
that to earn that $5 million bonus, because it's not likely to be earned. He didn't get any sacks
this past year. And so, you know, anything that he hasn't done the year, anything a player hasn't
done in the prior year, can be added to the the upcoming year's contract as not likely to be
earned. And it won't count against the cap this year, it'll count against next year's cap
towards money, if the player then earns that incentive. And for Trey, that would be
five games, more than five games played, more than six games played, whatever it was that he went down.
You know, starting more than six games, you could basically come to him and be like, hey, Trey,
we need to put an incentive in your contract for like $8 million, that if you play more than eight
games, you get it. But if you play play less than eight games, you do not get it. It's hard for a
player, you know, the leverage is definitely in the player's side, because he has already got a
signed contract that says he doesn't have to do anything, it's guaranteed. But if you put it in
the terms of, okay, you're a post June one cut, then, and like what team out there is going to pay
you even $10 million as a player who hasn't made a full season in two years. And when you were on
the field after your ACL looked pretty average pedestrian for most of the season. I think
someone like Trey coming off of his injury, his recent injury history, I think someone like Trey
is more likely to be open to that than a guy like Von Miller. I think Miller, because so much of his
contract is guaranteed at this point. And his dead cap hit is what it is if the bills cut or
trade him. I think Von has way more leverage in the situation than a guy like Trey does. I could
see and I could see that being the route that the bills take to keep a beloved locker room face at
a price that is a little bit more affordable at that point. So and you know, there is good will
between Trey's camp and being in the bills, there's a history there. There's a relationship there that
I think would feed into getting that done for sure. So we're talking about these difficult
decisions. I agree with you. I think that it's more likely that something happens with Trey than
Von. I think too, we have to look at a couple other people that the bills may move on from.
We already talked about Mitch, what about Poyer? I think Poyer is one that you move on from,
especially with the safety market and this secondary draft class shaping up the way that it is.
Again, I have said this multiple times that I'm sorry for the listeners at home if you're sick
of me saying this. Poyer and Hyde, two of my favorite players on the squad in the McDermott era,
outside of Diggs and outside of Allen, and it will be sad to see them move on. But I also think
we all agree that even maybe last season, when some of the age and some of the decline started
setting in, you could have made a case for turning over the safety position then. It is time to turn
over that role. I don't want to take for granted that what McDermott did with Hyde and Poyer,
pulling them out of free agency at the points in their careers that he did and helping get them to
the point that they are. I don't want to take for granted he's going to be able to do that with
anybody. But there are some pretty skilled safeties in this year's free agency class.
And there's a couple of guys who you and I have already talked about in Cooper Dijon, Cole Bishop,
Kid Outta Minnesota, Tyler Linden.
Nubin.
Nubin. Yeah. There's a couple of guys we've already talked about who could be had in the
later rounds as well. I think, again, business decision, not emotional decision, it is time
to fully move on from Hyde and Poyer and reconfigure that safety room. But I wouldn't
necessarily do it with all rookies because of how valued that position is in McDermott's scheme.
But we can talk about that when we get to more burning questions about free agents we'd like
to see come in because I think this is a year where you sign a tool Z free agent who you think
fits your system and you can coach up and you also take a shot on a rookie in the draft as well.
Yeah. Well, and I do think that, you know, I think for Poyer, the likely path is like he may be,
Brandon Bean may say, Hey, Poe, we love you. Our cap is incomplete. We're in trouble here.
We're going to cut you. But keep us in mind, we have, you know, we have some money will always
hold aside for your veteran presence. It's just the numbers got to be right. And he might, it
might be because that's exactly what happened last off season. Poyer left you. He was not
re signed, not extended. He left and they basically said here is our number and eventually the market
didn't bear out for him. And he came back for the money they were willing to pay. And, you know,
there's a chance to that Poyer says, and I'm not, you know, I'm not willing to take less than this
amount and I'll just retire. And that's, that's another, you know, that's another path. But
I agree. I think that, you know, just by restructuring Josh Allen, restructuring some
McConnor McGovern's money, some of Ed Oliver's money, some of Ryan Bates money, again, players
we know will be on the team that are younger and earlier in their careers, cutting Sam Martin,
cutting Naim Hines, cutting Jordan Poyer, cutting De'Ate Hardy, restructuring some of Matt Milano's
money, restructuring some of Dawson Knox's money, cutting Mitch Morris. That's plus eight million
dollars for the bills. And JJ, there is a way that they could add another 19 million to that
number as well. Oh, do tell. And this brings us on to our second off season burning question.
Do the Buffalo bills trade Stefan Diggs this off season. So let's set the table. We are not
contributing to the media noise around Diggs is alleged unhappiness and Buffalo has alleged
unhappiness with McDermott. His alleged, you know, whatever rocky relationship the media is
trying to falsely paint between him and Allen, we are simply stating from a production standpoint,
his production fell off a cliff towards the end of last season. He was still top five in the league
in targets. He was number one in target share on the team. He was averaging eight targets a game,
but he was running shorter routes. He was doing less after the catch than at any point in his career
with those routes. And where shorter routes because of the ease of completion tends to lead
to a higher catch rate. His catch rate actually got worse this season, despite the fact that he
was running more man a more manageable route tree than he had at any other point. Diggs is set to
hit the bills for the number their number two cap it I think it's upwards of $25 million next season,
right? 27.8 27.8. There we go. If he is a post June one trade. So this means no draft picks in
the 2024 draft if you're trading digs for picks after June one, you're doing so for the 2025
draft in April. But if you trade digs after June one, you save 19 million against the cap and you
only absorb a dead cap hit of about 8 million Aaron Shatz for ESPN recently wrote an article about
bold moves. All 32 NFL teams could make this off season to reset their window trading digs was his
bold move for Buffalo. JJ his production notably was not there at the end of this season. We
speculated that he was potentially injured. Regardless of that, he is now 30. No quarterback
in league history has gone from a 1400 yard season to an 1100 yard season which he had this year to
then reclaim the heights of that 1400 yard year. So all metrics would indicate and all previous
wide receiver history would indicate that digs is at the beginning of his career decline.
He will never have more trade value than he has now and the bills could use that 19 million
dollar savings. So is this the off season we see Stefan Diggs traded?
Absolutely not and not because I wouldn't do it. I probably would do it but not it is not
because of specifically the departure of Gabe Davis and the wide receiver room as it stands
not having an alpha dog and no guarantees that somebody they pick in the draft is going to
be able to replace that production. I think that even though it was a decline and even though I
think we both anyone who watches the bills and especially watches the bills in the playoffs
the last three years can tell you that Stefan Diggs is too easily erased and Stefan Diggs tends to
disappear in big moments. The past couple of years I just do not see a path where the bills
especially because in order to have a trade partner in that exchange somebody has to be willing to
take on that albatross of a contract which was just extended last off season. The bills just
committed to him after his massive year and I just don't see another GM out there who's going to say
yeah you know what I want to pay almost quarterback money for a wide receiver on the wrong side of 30
who has just had a down year and who has completely underperformed in all of the biggest moments that
this that the bills have presented. Yeah it's just for me it's the same kind of thing like it's just
you know the the bills fans out there screaming about you know we need to cut von Miller.
The people in the media who are claiming that even a post-June 1 trade of Stefan Diggs is on the table
are over presumptuous that there is anyone in the world that will take that deal. I don't think
there is. I don't think there's a team. I agree with you his trade value is as high as it will be
but I will say at that contract his trade value is not it's not there. I agree I don't think you're
getting a first round draft pick for Diggs at this stage and also post-June 1 so first wave of free
agency is done so you're not getting that cap savings until you until you make that deal.
That means T. Higgins is gone. Kelvin Ridley is gone. Any top flight wide receiver free agent
that you could take that digs money and then bring in another alpha as you say or another
number one wide receiver in that moment is going to be off the table at that point. The draft
because you're not getting draft capital to use this season you're talking about potentially
mortgaging all a good chunk of your 10 picks this year to try to trade up to get Odunze or
Marvin Harrison Jr. who I don't think is ever going to be a possibility or Malik neighbors.
But then and you mentioned this and I think it's a great point you're now taking away two of the
most familiar targets Alan has had throughout the course of his career in Allen and Diggs and Davis
at the same time and replacing it with rookie unknowns or free agent unknowns. I don't think
the bills regardless of where Diggs is at in his ability to perform at this point are going to make
that move. You don't gain the benefit is too is too kicked down the road right. It's too furloughed
to happen to have any meaningful impact this season because it's not really going to play into your
free agent free agent calculation at all. So for me I think you keep Diggs on the roster and
explore potentially this next season. Well and I think absolutely you're right about exploring
next season. The reason that we're talking about a post June 1 is because the dead cap to trade him
before June 1 this season is obscene and so you're basically you'd have to push it past you know
past June 1 so you can spread out that dead cap hit over two years and really that is the kind
of thing that you know if we're talking about that at all that means the real window for trading
Diggs is next season and I think that that is actually more likely. I think that if you go in
the draft and within the first three rounds you pick one or two wide receivers and one of them pans
out to be gobbling up targets and getting close to a thousand yards in the season and you have what
you consider the production you need to replace Diggs. Then I think you're in in the world where
okay maybe they're trading him during the free agency period before the draft and they're getting
a pick in that year's draft class so that you're replacing production with production you know
straight in front of you in another new rookie. I think that's more likely and especially with
the way the contract is structured there's just no it's more palatable for the trading partner as
well. The bills trading the what was it those 20s 27th second or seventh I think it was 20
second pick in the draft that they used for Justin Jefferson. Yeah 22nd it was the 22nd
overall. So trading that 22nd pick for Diggs was trading for a receiver with I believe at the time
he had two years left on his deal between 11 and 14 million dollars a year which is like incredibly
well affordable for a wide receiver one and I think the bills definitely got their value. I think
that both parties really won in that trade and there's no guarantee that Justin Jefferson would
have been the incredible talent he's been in Buffalo you know learning on the fly with a rookie
quarterback or young quarterback as opposed to Kirk Cousins and everyone's like well Josh Allen's
better than Kirk Cousins I don't disagree but you know everyone who wants to say like apples
to apples comparison a player in any on any team is going to have the same career just hasn't watched
the league long enough it's it's there's so many variables the room the coaching the fit the people
around them the opponents they play which is another piece like the the CB talent in that division
is not super elite so I think all of that said the Diggs trade to the Buffalo was mutually
beneficial Diggs trade anywhere else this season is going to benefit the bills more than any other
team. Are you saying my alternate Brandon Bean draft universe would not have played out in a
Buffalo Bill Super Bowl and they had AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson. I'm saying there's no guarantee
you sir. There's no guarantee Justin Jefferson's first team all-pro in the bills on his in his first
year. We're gonna have words in the text chain after the spot is over. Bring it. All right so I think
we can I think we can put a pin in the Diggs conversation this feels more like media stoking
the flames of just like off season anything in the off season cycle to kind of get a reaction
or get clicks or anything like that. Diggs is not going anywhere there is next to no benefit for
the bills on or off the field to do that at this point. So JJ let's wrap up this set of burning
questions with one about free agency so we know the cap number we know that the Buffalo bills have
several free agents from Dequan Jones to AJ Aponeza to Ty Johnson and potentially Taylor
Rapp they'd like to bring back to the squad but there are also a host of other free agents
that now may be more than ever will be in the bills financial range to acquire that also meet a
position of need for them. So let's keep the guys who currently wearing bills uniforms out of it.
If you were to bring in one free agent this off season to the Buffalo bills who would it be and why?
So we both I think we both when we talked you know setting the table a few pods ago
for the bills we we both brought up some names and I just like to rehash one one point from
that conversation and that is if you're expecting the bills to get a number one wide receiver or
number two wide receiver or a number one starting level pass rusher it's not happening in free agency
it is going to happen through the draft the only positions of great great value and need that
the bills have right now that are capable of getting starters in my opinion through free agency
are safety and defensive tackle so that's that's my first kind of caveat of why the name I pick is
the name I pick and then two is that we're not going to be shopping even with the increase of
the salary cap with all the moves they have to make even just to get compliant we're not shopping
in the you know Antoine Winfield Jr. market for and I think Brandon being said as much when he
you know got roasted online for saying we're not shopping on main street in New York City
not knowing where the actual stores in New York City are which is fine because you know that's not
his his purview anyway that makes three of us on this I know right and so I think that for me it's
I think the need is greater at defensive tackle than at safety in my opinion in terms of free agents
in terms of today like we need a starter now on the roster and I we all know you know Dequan Jones
isn't part of this because we agree not to talk about resignings I think that Maurice Hearst who
just played at Cleveland 28 years old probably a vet minimum deal if not a couple of mil over
three to four million per year he is it's kind of redundant because he's a bit of a three tech
interior pass rusher but he can he does have the flexibility to slide over and play at one he's only
290 so he's sub 300 and so he's not going to be your anchor in the run game but he has had an injury
riddled career he has bet he was incredibly well rounded this past season in his like analytics
both thing it's the run and the past and is somebody that's probably not going to demand the top of
the top of the market money so that's my choice is uh is Maurice Hearst and we know we know even though
he he projects to be more like basically your Tim settle replacement right like we know that the
bills just need bodies along that defensive line right now and I go safety for this and it's following
along the strategy JJ of turning the page on the poyer and hide years bringing in a veteran safety
to either anchor your strong or free safety position and then draft and within the first three rounds
a safety of the future so for me I'm between Alohi Gilman and Jeremy Chin and I gravitate
more towards Chin because I think he is your logical kind of box safety replacement for Jordan
poyer that is the role that they started to kind of turn him into in Carolina granted he's got an
injury history he's coming I think he's only played what four five games this season something
like that right so he's coming off of a bit of an injury bug this season but I think when you look
at the totality of his contributions to that defense in Carolina what has been a young defense
for many many years and a lot of ways he was a stabilizer for that unit and I think that is the
value that McDermott and now Babbage place on that secondary as the stabilizers I also think he has
more utility than he is getting credit for in the scouting department for his ability to kind of play
free range and play center field as well I think there's a surprising amount of versatility to his
game and obviously Jeremy Chin on the roster yeah and and because I knew from from pre potting that
you were going to go safety I chose to go DT and I envy you because there are I think as we talked
in in a previous pod there are three you know if they don't bring Taylor Rapp back there's Julian
Blackman Alohi Gilman and Jeremy Chin who are all safeties I'm interested in Jeremy Chin being
kind of like interchangeable Alohi Gilman being a lot much more deep third free ranging safety and
then Julian Blackman being typecast as a strong safety but but could also I think range the middle
so is there a is there a world where they bring in both Gilman and Chin do you think like we're
all we're all committed to like bringing in at least one rookie safety who you can grow in the
system but like they brought in Poyer and Hyde in the same year yeah I mean do they do they just do
this do they just like redo that whole historic thing and bring in Gilman and Chin do they do that
I don't think so and the reason they don't is because I believe that this offseason you're
going to see Cam Lewis getting an opportunity to start I think they're going to give him the chance
to be the the person in the room who knows the system and get that starting position I feel like
that would be a mistake don't you yeah I do we've seen we've seen yeah we've seen a bit of
Cam Lewis and I don't know that he's the guy but um yeah I mean that's you're probably right they're
they're loyal to a fault with these guys they definitely take a fair around yeah yes yeah
loyal to a fault yeah without a doubt all right JJ so now speaking of coaching and speaking of
development there is a new trio of lead coaches for the Buffalo Bills one a familiar face and
Sean McDermott much to the chagrin of many bills mafia faithful but McDermott will get another season
didn't even seem like his seat at any point was all that warm based on the level of support he got
from Pagula in the ownership team so he brings in now two coordinators so the second season in a row
basically is turning over the the coordinator room fully Joe Brady getting the full-time job on offense
and now Bobby Babich getting the full-time job on defense at JJ what are you expecting to see from
this new coaching trio well I think that you know I think we started to see what the Joe Brady offense
would look like and what that looked like to me is a ball distribution run heavy attack that involved
a lot of different concepts in terms of the running running attack and I think one thing that Joe Brady
did I think better than um than the previous offensive coordinator who they fired whose name
escapes me help me help I've already forgotten all about the shamed Ken Dorsey there we are
um so the one thing I think about Brady that that'll be different is that he leaned into working
with Aaron Kroemer in the offensive line in really developing some different approaches and avenues
to running the football and so I think that you know the scheme will evolve a little bit with Joe
Brady and I think that this rushing attack isn't going anywhere if people are expecting the bills
to come out and get back to 60 70 percent passing the ball that's not going to happen because I think
Joe Brady is probably going to come up with some more ways that he would like to attack teams by
running the ball and we saw in the Cowboys game that that is effective because the trends in the
in the league are cyclic and the the trend that the the defenses are in right now is one of we
need to cover all the different passing windows we need to get faster smaller lighter and the bills
expose that as kind of you know a lack of preparation and that is a really unique way to attack opposing
um defenses is if you're running at them then they have to get bigger and then boom you have play
action you have opportunities to expose some matchups on with tight ends on linebackers and
those sorts of things running backs on linebackers I think that's what we're going to see from Joe
Brady and I'm excited for it because I think it's a good it's a good way to kind of be ahead of the
trends in the league and then the other thing that I think is going to um happen is that the um
you know the the move to Bobby Babbage is is really how he calls games is a complete wildcard we
have no idea what that's going to look like but how um how he coaches players and puts players in
the best position to succeed I think is going to be uh something to behold and and I really like
Babbage I think we both have expressed that we really appreciate they promoted him instead of
looking elsewhere for defense defensive coordinator whether or not he calls players or McDermott
continues to do so is still up in the air but I really am excited to see what he can offer
I have no notes on your take sir I'm in full agreement um on the play calling point between
Babbage and McDermott we both agree I think two things can be true McDermott was arguably one
of the best defensive coordinators in the league this year especially when you look at some of
how the roster was depleted as a result of injuries he was in his bag and the way that secondary
was operating with a lot of these false fronts a lot of these uh showing blitz and then pulling
back the coordination and the orchestration that that took was one of the best coordinating jobs
I think I can remember seeing as a football fan but there were other areas that notably were
sacrificed and it was in that CEO type of holistic role that we look for the head coach to fill
where they've got their hand and they've got their attention on every aspect of the game most
notably the loss to Denver 12 men on the field that kind of stuff the the amazingly odd usage
of James Cook early in the season like we'll remember this is the James Cook breakout year
but there were several games early on where Cook dropped a pass or Cook fumbled and he was sent
into into purgatory for what would have been 13 14 in 15 plays McDermott needs to come back
to the fold of having his eyes on everything and managing every aspect of the game as the head
coach CEO and to me that only happens if he gives Babbage play calling responsibilities
could there be a decline could there be a regression for a first time first time play
caller absolutely there could but here's the thing McDermott was our play caller this season
JJ and we still didn't beat the chiefs we still didn't get over that hump right so again he did
a great job but there are other areas of the team and the coaching staff that suffered as a result
I want to see McDermott turn over full play calling to Babbage I'm with you I agree completely I think
that this is so this the the tone my like prescription for the bills to be successful in 2024 season
is to does the youth movement movement across the board that means I don't care about Deontay
Hardy or and I hime Heinz contracts cut them both save that money sign somebody late in the draft
that's going to be your punt and kick returner and just let it ride right like it is let it
ride with Babbage calling plays it's let it ride with a rookie safety if you have to let it ride
with a rookie wide receiver is in that ever important wide receiver to spot it's that's my
my whole theme of the season if the bills want to get better because the the chiefs who you know
even Bean has said are two years ahead of the bills in the in this kind of team building
practice the chiefs prove that by investing you know heavily over the course of two drafts in
their defense and now they have one of the best defenses in the league and it's one of the cheapest
defenses in the league because it's also one of the youngest and that's going to certainly show
some problems later but their cap is balancing in a way where they're going to be able to pay
that they're going to let the you know the chaff separate from the wheat and they're going to know
who that who needs to be paid to really be cornerstone players for the future and then they
just keep reinvesting to fill the rest of the spots and roles yeah couldn't agree more sir couldn't
agree more sir couldn't agree more i have one point i'd like to make on that you know um and
and this can lead us into our final point about uh you know wide receiver versus dt in round one
are we in fight i think we're gonna fight on this one i look forward to this now i don't think we are
because what i'll say have you come around to oh please no continue i want to interrupt yeah
no this will be wonderful so this is the point this is the point actually can you know i gotta give
give credit where it's due i was listening to the the one bills live pocket or radio show and um
chris brown on there basically was like the the 49ers could not stop the chiefs with pass rush
and they have absolutely elite pass rushers eric armstead um you know nick bosa uh they had chase
young chase young yeah so like with absolute top of the top of the talent level pass rushers they
could not get to patrick mohomes in a way that really shut down that offense so why bother continuing
to invest in defensive linemen to try to affect the pass rush when what you need to do to get
past these chiefs is just overwhelm them and outscore them their defense is is an upper echelon
talent you got to out talent them and so for me it's wide receiver in the first round and the only
reason the only way i'm not taking wide receiver is if um let's see if rome madounze brian thomas
uh donai michael keon colman if none of them are there i might i might have to take a defensive
end or defensive linemen just because the value but if any of those kind of top five talents is
there i'm going wide receiver round one how about you you know i'm going wide receiver i know and
we're not disagreeing in this i i'm happy we're not disagreeing a little sad you had to go to
outside information though when you're partying around the pot has been saying this all along
has been saying this all along right um but that's fine that's fine i'll take i'll take the the
credit where i can get it i guess but yeah no dude it's it's wide receiver josh alan is your window
and i agree i agree to an extent to that investing in that secondary and investing in coverage
albeit not in round one is also important too the strategy of trying to get to someone who is
as well protected but also as elusive and aware is mahalm's is a tall task and there is no one
in free agency or this draft there are going to be better than bosa armstead and young
that you're going to add to the squad right so it is false hope to think that simply by
reinvesting in the lawn you're all of a sudden going to fix this seven-year problem that you've
had and trying to rattle and trying to pressure and bring down mahalm's here is where you can get
to mahalm's when the ball is out of his hand and then your window my good friend is joshua
patrick alan yes and it is time to invest in keeping that window open this team has asked
alan to do granted i know he's had digs but this team has asked him to do literally more than anyone
else in the league when it comes to producing for this offense it is time to understand that if
you're going to beat mahalm's to a large extent you've got to take the person who is arguably the
second best qb of this generation and you've got to invest in the tools and the methods in order
to help him get over that hump too how nice would it be if for once the bills had the ball
last and it came against the chiefs as opposed to the chiefs having the ball last that happens
if you get an offense that can sustain drives and not just put up field goals against this now
very very formidable chiefs defense but it can also score touchdowns josh got the least offensive
production out of his unit this year against any other team that faced mahalm's and did the best
offensively by every metric you could imagine better than perty better than lamar jackson
and better than tua and it still wasn't enough they've got to find a way to squeeze those margins
on the edge on offense so that the game doesn't come down to tyler basking a field goal it's
josh ellen in the red zone with a multitude of options to put six on the board instead of three
it is time to shift the thinking and start to build around your franchise qb
i mean i just i just start a slow clap if literally it was anyone to join me um that was
perfect perfectly said um lean into offense i think the bills did the absolute best of any team
against the chiefs in the playoffs because they kept him freaking off the field they did ball
control they they controlled the clock that's that is how you beat them is you make sure he
doesn't have the opportunity to impact the game because he is the michael jordan of this this
era absolutely dude absolutely uh thank you for allowing me to go on that's soliloquy and it was
great your agreement your agreement on wide receiver one uh is appreciated uh fear not
though fans jj and i were gonna argue about dequan jones in march when the the ability to do so
comes out it's gonna dude it's gonna be fiery it's gonna be fiery although i'm laying the seeds
for that right now i just went on my rant about how like yeah the past rush and blah blah blah
is never gonna get to him invest in coverage right i'm i'm slowly gonna wear you down on that
angle too so yeah yeah absolutely but jj fun going through burning questions with you for this
bill's off season um and now with the new salary cap figure a little bit more juice to free agency
i think than we were expecting as bill's fans as well so for those of you who are listening right now
please stay tuned because directly after this we are tacking on our second of three segments
friends of the pod not friends of the bills we're talking with our good friend and resident
patriot's expert brandon bennett about his take on the patriot's off season and how they rebuild
after the bellachick years to become a formidable a fc east foe for the bills yeah once again uh it
was a great interview it was a great time talking to brandon please stay tuned for that at the end
of this and for all of you listening at home as always like share and subscribe wherever you get
your podcasts google apple spotify and as always go bills go bills
and welcome back to buffalo brand a buffalo bills fan podcast i am your host dan roberts
joined today by brandon bennett our resident new england patriot's expert he is here for
the second installment of our annual off season odd rotation of friends of the pod not friends
of the bills so today brandon is going to be with us to focus on what he feels like the new england
patriot's do to unseat the now four time a fc east champion buffalo bills brandon how you doing today
sir i'm doing very well thank you for for having me back on the pod i appreciate it hey no problem
you're you're one of our favorites not only have you been a reliable go-to for new england patriot's
banter and feedback and thoughts but you've also actually you are one of our few guest hosts that
have hosted the regular show when me or jj has been out of commission due to illness or family stuff
so uh you sir are a reliable potter and we appreciate your presence back here with us so um
brandon i think i mentioned this to you before but we have had an influx of new listeners to the
pod as the buffalo bread community continues to grow so i know you've been on the pod quite a few
times but i want to kick it over you to give you an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to some of
our new listeners so why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came about your
new england patriot's fandom yeah well you're you are always a very gracious host and and always a
pleasure to chat with so i'm happy to entertain the listeners of the buffalo bread nation out here
i became a patriots fan in 2007 that season where they went undefeated and then lost to super bowl
against the giants i was a freshman at college at that time and everybody in the room that was
watching the super bowl they were rooting against the patriots and so being the squeaky wheel that
i was i i said you know what let's uh let's root for them and then that was sort of the beginning
i then had the pleasure to to live in boston for a number of years uh during some of those
championship years attend a couple of those victor victory parades and the send-off parades and so
that's where it sort of really got kind of ingrained in me very nice an antagonistic contrarian
is how you came about your patriots fandom i love it man absolutely love it well we're going to dig
into it a little bit here to talk about your squad um i want to give you a chance to kind of summarize
your thoughts on how the season went but before we do it is noteworthy to state that we're recording
this after the super bowl uh we're recording this a couple of days afterwards the dust has settled
the chief's dynasty has risen and i feel that you as a fan of the most recent dynasty in the nfl the
new england patriots i felt it fair and good timing to let you offer your thoughts on not just the
super bowl but kind of how you see the chiefs right now in this stage of their dynasty compared
to your guys so why don't we dig into the super bowl a little bit what were your thoughts after
you after the game was over brandon yeah so obviously the patriots have been really bad the
last couple years and patriots fans have been eating their humble pie uh and really can't say
anything but during the peak years where you know we're kind of back to back super bowl champions
and all that vitriol and hate towards the patriots was really popular at the time
um my mentality was you hate us because you ain't us and now i know what it's like because i was
rooting hard against canva city um really the person i wanted to win a super bowl was christian
mcaffery so that was a little disappointing and you know i felt sad for him because i felt like
the team um was kind of put on his back throughout the entire season uh he won uh what was the
offensive player of the year i think or running back of the year yeah um and then i felt like in
the super bowl they just did not give him the opportunities that i think he deserved and
i think that was a key to their their loss there so uh really surprising super bowl really boring
first three quarters and then it started to get a little bit exciting once it got tied 1616 so
yeah the mcaffery thing is interesting there are there are two arguments going on on twitter
which is kyle shanahan abandoned the run and then a lot of the football nerds are like well no spags
shut down the run he was showing a lot he was showing a lot of heavy boxes a lot of run blitz
looks so you know the thought there from the football nerds is that shanahan made the only
adjustment that he could which is go to brock purdy and go to some of these amazing weapons they
have on the outside and debo samuel and brandon aiuk but those two guys were shut down by um
a trend mcduffy and uh sneed respectively so in a lot of ways like these were two squads who put
their best up against the other guys best and the chiefs were simply better on the field of play
in that game like shanahan has taken a lot of smoke to me for this game especially with his
ot management let's keep in mind i believe this is the first time we have had playoff ot since the
um since the 13 second game so this is the first time that these new playoff rules for ot where
both teams get a possession really factored in and there were a lot of unknowns so shanahan took
a lot of smoke i think for taking the ball he took a lot of smoke for allegedly going away from the
run which in fairness tying it back to the patriots and that epic 28 to 3 comeback in the super bowl
against the shanahan coordinated um uh atlanta felkins he did go away from the run in that game
but i think here it was more about spags just being like listen if you're gonna beat me you're
gonna beat me with the mister irrelevant seventh round pick and brock perty i'm not gonna let your
best beat me and i that's what how spags rolls in these big games man and i thought i'd love your
take on this the chiefs listen throw flowers at their feet let them walk upon rose petals as they
go to claim another lombardi trophy but this year out of all the years it felt like teams were were
letting them get away like when you look at i don't want to call it luck but when you look at the
fact that the chiefs fumbled the ball what was it five times six times in this game and recovered five
of those fumbles and then you look at the miscues on the punt for example from san francisco the
muffed punt the fumble my macafery early on that the chiefs recovered it just looked like the chiefs
were taking better advantage of the miscues of san francisco and this is the thing you always have
to worry about with patrick mahomes and i know as a bills fan it's in my head you don't want to give
this guy the ball in an advantageous position every time the bills would drive um against
kansas city since the 13 seconds game i always ask myself if the bills are driving here and they score
how much time that does that leave mahomes is that enough time because you just always feel like
if you give this guy the ball with an opportunity he's going to deliver on the other end it his
comp to me is not brady it's michael jordan that's the vibe i get by watching mahomes and i feel like
just having knowing that that guy can score from anywhere on the field in any given amount of time
no matter what the lead is it ingrains into other teams i think this mental disadvantage that they
are not only forcing themselves to play perfect ball so that mahomes doesn't get the ball back
but they're also forcing themselves they're forcing themselves to play out of character as well
they're allowing mahomes and his success to dictate their game script in a lot of ways
and i've never seen in my life even i'll do respect to your boy tom brady never seen a qb walk into
a game with that kind of mental edge but i think mahomes is there and watching that game it cemented
it for me because i think in a lot of ways san francisco played better for the first three quarters
than canza city did but they also made more mistakes and if you let canza city hang around and you don't
play perfect ball against them mahomes is eventually eventually going to get a shot within striking
distance of the score and more often than not he delivers on it like he's just it's he's an amazing
mental advantage and the canza city chiefs as a result no matter how underman they are they're
forcing you to play perfect football and san francisco just didn't and i think that's why they lost
i i think you know part of the story of the the you know first three quarters of the game was how
mentally shaken the chiefs seemed they like they didn't seem prepared to be in a super bowl game
and seems really nervous with the amount of mistakes that they were making they were obviously
you saw you know travis kelsie rushing up to andy reid and almost knocking him over telling him to
you know get him in the game you saw mahomes and rashi rice getting in an argument because
rashi was wide open would have been a touchdown they would have scored and ended the game right
there but mahomes is forcing the ball to his buddy kelsie for an incompletion in the end zone
so you see all these mistakes and guys eating each other apart and um that's blood in the water you
know what i mean like as the opponent you're seeing that team rip into each other and it should
have should have been a victory for the 49ers but to your point mahomes stuck through and and got
him out got him the victory so they do if you don't put this team away in the first three quarters
and it's close in the fourth that mahomes it mahomes is like an inherent advantage like
dude has ice in his veins so yeah man but first three quarters the chiefs trai wingo put out an
interesting tweet um football analyst that i that i follow on twitter x whatever the hell you want to
call it he was like the chiefs are doing what the ravens did in the a fc championship game which is
lose their composure and lose their identity but that squad is so well coached like andy reed it is
it is hard to describe how good a coach that dude is and steve spegnolo on the defense event
while the players may have been losing their composure the coaching staff was not
they kept things together speg's called a great defensive game plan against what was a really
really good offense to keep them in it long enough to let mahomes do mahomes things at the end of the
game and that's really what it was um we got we got five quarters of football effectively in this
game three of it was borderline unwatchable but the last two really made for an entertaining
outing and again the chiefs i feel like escaped with one note no shade at them they were epic at
taking advantage of other teams mistakes this season right but they didn't they man this feels
like the year where everyone let them get away because now they're going to hit the draft they're
going to bring in some wide receiver help they're going to fix their tackle issue they got a young
defense this feels like the year they could have got got and that the entire league missed the
opportunity yeah i you know i think you look at it simply as patrick mahomes has had the most
rushing yards of anybody on the team against christian mccaffrey those two facts alone would
lead you to think that the 49ers won but um just not the case yeah just not the case man so so yet
again we see patrick mahomes raise the lombardi trophy and uh i will tell you as a bill's fan it
is pure hell because i spent 20 years rooting against your squad that tortured my my my uh my
formative years and now i find myself with arguably arguably the second best qb not just in the league
but i would say of this generation of qb's and josh allen i find that i've got that guy and it's
still not enough and i'm mired now in my my declining years i think after you hit 40 it's all downhill
my declining years i am now stuck in the middle of another dynasty though i will say to the chief's
credit uh and this has a lot to do with andy reid and travis calcy i find the chiefs far more
likeable than i ever found the patriots this is true i i mean there's been a lot of negativity
around them uh between taylor swaths and then that video that came out uh when they played the
ravens and mahomes and kelsey were messing with justin tuckers um t when he was practicing his
kicks and oh yeah a lot of folks not being too impressed with that behavior so i think there's
been a lot of negativity swirling around them um the season especially with so much it is wide
outs oh yeah stuff like that oh yeah crazy stuff dude crazy stuff but again i hated tom brady
and bella check and i will continue to hate them to this day so i'm talking in relative scales for
me as a bill span what i really want to see is a bill's dynasty that's what i want to talk about
but sadly we'll have to wait another year to to begin that so thank you for your thoughts on the
super bowl my friend let's transition from our current dynasty and the kansas city chiefs to our
most recent dynasty and your new england patriots so brandy you guys are coming off a
probably your worst season under bella check since he took over the team uh way back when
and you've now moved on from bella check your team in transition you're searching for a lot of
pieces particularly on the offensive side of the ball but give me your thoughts as a patriots fan
on the season of 2023 you finished four on 13 bella check has now moved on will not be coaching
this year um you've now been a fan long enough to see tom brady retire from your squad and now
enter the booth for fox so he's now into the media end of his career so you've seen that whole arc
kind of play out with the greats of your dynasty and now you're moving on to a new phase so give
me a sense for what it was like to watch the patriots play football this year and what you're
hoping for this offseason yeah it was painful um and i it was um there were a lot of games that
you know it's weird i i think we won the games that we should have lost and then we lost the
games that we should have won um here here yes absolutely and it it it was just you know hard
to be a fan at all the conflict between um mac jones and bill bella check and is it going to be
jones this week is it going to be zappy you know it was just a lot of drama um and it's just you
know not sustainable as a team and so i i understand the the bella check move i was sad about it when
it happened just because i have only been a patriots fan under bill bella check so you know
it is sort of the the dawn of a new era for me as a fan and i think for sure the patriots
as a team because so much of the identity over the last 20 plus years have been bill bella check
but the youth of jarad mayo is very exciting i think it is really the beginning of a new chapter
for the organization and and we'll see what happens um the third overall pick in the draft is the
highest the franchise has had in the last 31 years since rob crafts uh purchased the team so
i think there's a lot of exciting things that are going to happen this off season i i think the team
overall in shifting to mayo is going to be also shipping off uh some of the older uh players and
identities on the team um and looking to bring a lot of youth to the roster ahead of next season
absolutely i think youth is going to be the key for you guys you're going to get a squad and you've
got the cap space to also raise the floor of this team with some smart veteran editions and
investments in free agency as well but i think you guys are really drafting a qb and then drafting
and really an offense that's going to grow together over the next several seasons an offense really
is what it was about with you guys in 2023 man i've got some some rankings i'm going to run down
for you here real quick offensive dvoa you guys rank 29th in the league yards per drive 31st in the
league and then points per drive 32nd in the league this is one of the worst offenses that has been
fielded under the belecic area this was worse than the matt patricio led offensive attack last
season if you can wrap your brain around that somehow man you know but i'm for the listeners
i just want the listeners to know how much you're smiling as you talk about how the patriots were
this season but let me tell you let me tell you i bet bourbon on your squad to finish second in dvoa
in the afc east i was drinking the mac jones koolaid in in training camp i was like you know bill
brian is going to come in he's going to fix it all it's going to be fine patricia was a was a
horrible was a horrible thing and now they're going to course correct right uh mac jones is
slinging it to some of these offensive weapons in training camp i thought you guys were going to be
better than the dolphins and better than the jets and offensive metrics and i bet high quality bourbon
against my boy jj and i i lost and really i lost that bet i would say within week six when it was
pretty clear that the offense was not going to improve yeah so i yes i'm smiling a little bit
but know that know that i had faith in your squad right up until i would say about about halloween
and i was like this is a bad bad idea i sent jj his bourbon early because i'm like yeah there's no
way there's no way they recover from this so yeah but no it's um yeah i mean it's a little delicious
after what you guys just did to me for the last 20 years but also too like i'm i'm a like i'm also a
football fan and i want i want the games to be watchable too so offense is something i think
you guys got to address for like me as a fan to like find the team watchable again but defense
dude you guys were solid you're you're you got some key pieces like kyle dugger and josh uche you
got to make some decisions decisions on and free agency but overall like your overall defensive
dvoa you guys were a top 10 team you're number nine past defense you were 15th middle of the road
but yards for drive and points for drive third and seventh respectively you guys have a young
foundation especially depending on how christian gonzalez comes back you guys got a young foundation
to build on you hit on a db or two in this draft or in free agency you figure out the safety stuff
and you draft well for offense i feel like you guys plus you've got the the first year
coach bounce which teams seem to benefit from you had demico ryan's this year brian debol last year
um it feels like you guys with some course correction and some good personnel moves could
easily ascend and that's really what the difficulty for you guys has been the fact that not bella
check the coach but bella check the gm really struggled to fill that squad with talent yeah
you know i think one of the biggest critiques of bella check was the drafting decisions which
have been bad um and i think you know you watch interviews with jurad mayo and i think he's a
little giddy with the opportunity obviously he's not going to have the same level of control and
empower that bella check that um but you're looking at the cap space looking at this upcoming draft
with a third overall pick i think mayo's really excited for what he can do with this team and
the future so yeah man that's good and he's got a really good start with cap space so uh for those
of you listening i pull all my my seller cap number from spotrack i know there's a lot of over
the cap fans as well both are great websites um i prefer the interface and a lot of the metrics
that spotrack uses so this is all coming from spotrack here so spotrack is estimating that
at the start of the official off season for the nfl you guys are going to be rolling in somewhere
between 69 and 71 million dollars in cap space which is a lot of money especially figuring that
you're going to have a qb on a rookie contract that's a lot of money to throw around my friend
so here's some of the key unrestricted free agents you guys have coming up and this is where i want
to start where if you're going to spend any of that slice of cap space brandon who are you
focusing on bringing back i'm going to give you a few names to choose from here you got hunter
henry kentrick born mike kaseki kyle dugger josh uche and mike onowenu just to name a few so
who is the key patriot free agent you feel like you want to offer some of that cap space too
and explain why it's mike kaseki clearly no i want him gone i want kaseki gone i'm glad you
know zeke should be out of there um it all happened at once where they brought in juju kaseki
zeke and it just felt like this weird mosaic of names that didn't fit the identity of the team um
so i think juju still has another year on his contract so he's going to be hanging out but
for me the answer is hunter henry um i want to see him sell as a tight end in a patriot's jersey
i think he's you know definitely drank the gulade in term um you know getting in with
the patriots and being a strong locker room guy i think you would do a lot to help transition
the new quarterback whoever that ended up being um and so i i want to see hunter henry come back
and catching balls and touchdowns in a patriot's jersey yeah and you know you're going to have a
young qb giving him a reliable tight end is such a great safety net for a young qb you know you're
going to start over with probably some younger wide receivers as well in the draft so giving
a veteran pass catching presence to this unit makes a lot of sense for me i love kyle dugger i'd love
to see him in a bill's uniform but i get why you don't want to dedicate the amount of money he's
going to get in cap space to a safety given the relative importance of that position now in the
nfl um mike ono enu i mean listen man on the offensive line he was good he's a better guard i
think he played his flash a little bit of tackle but he's a better guard but you guys might as well
just start over start over in free agency with uh with the o line because of how bad the protection
was around mac jones and vali zappy um josh uche is an interesting one but i agree with you
probably disposable to some extent because of the deep edge glass that we have here so hunter henry
is your pick so why don't we talk a little bit about draft strategy so here's where you guys
line up as you mentioned in the first round you guys have the number three overall pick
well within striking distance depending on how things shake out to get one of the top qbs in
this draft probably not kaleb williams or drake may but almost definitely the heisman winner in
jane daniels um then you've got the one second round pick at 34 1 3rd at 68 you draft at 103
in the fourth 135 181 in the sixth and then 228 in the seventh so i think your needs as i read up
a lot on patris and ciders the needs for this team have been laid out pretty clearly got to
figure out the qb situation got to address wide receiver on offensive line for sure depending
on what happens with dugger you probably need to address the secondary and then if you let both
henry and gaseki go you've also got to address the tight end position is there anything on that
list brandon wide receiver o line secondary tight end qb that you would add is a potential
need for this squad heading into next season i think that covers it you know i when we look at
the running back hey obviously remandry stevenson is coming back he's been a big part of the very
few offensive successes that the patris have seen to your point about the o line i think
o line not just helps the quarterback but it also is going to help that running back find gaps and
um get into the open field so and for the patriots that's remandry stevenson so i think quarterback
and then big bodies on the o line are the top two priorities heading into the off-season draft
yeah no i i think that's solid i know like bill's fans a lot of patriots fans are just
salivating for a top end pass pass catcher and you guys are going to have a little bit of money
to splash around so like is t higgins and the cards for you guys right are you guys going to make a
big splash with one of these top tier wide receivers that will be on the market maybe a mike evans
or somebody like that well what is your general thought on the wide receiver room because it's
also a deep draft class as well so do you see the patriots stabilizing a little bit with some
veteran investment are they going to go with a youth movement at wide receiver and take advantage
of a deep draft class it's so hard to say to be honest because you know you asked me a couple
years ago i i never would have saw jiu-jitsu smith schuster coming and playing for the patriots
um it's so bizarre isn't it to see him in a patriots uniform the tiktok guy bellachic sign the tiktok
guy yeah that really doesn't make any sense and still doesn't um so i love mike evans i would love
to see him play for the patriots but i don't think that's a reality i think evans is loyal to the bucks
and um it makes sense that's where he's been his whole career um so so maybe but like i said i think
if they do bring in veteran talent it's not going to be somebody as seasoned as mike evans i think
it'll be potentially someone who's you know only been in the league a couple years and had success so
um yeah i'm not sure yeah i you guys probably end up doing a mix right i
god it all depends too right like i could also see you guys i could see you guys going so many
different directions on the offense i think it's almost certain you guys take a qb in this draft
but i could also see like depending on what you want to do in the draft a jacobi brissette being
somebody that you guys bring in is like a veteran bridge to a young qb and then really using some
of that high end draft capital i would love to see this personally you guys used the third pick
to draft marvin harrison jr because i think he would be just an absolute stud and i would hate
to play against him but i'd also love to watch him like twice a twice a year because those are the
only times i get patriots games um but i think it'd be a stud for you guys and then draft then trade
back up into the first round to get a bow nix or a jj mccarthy then you sign jacobi brissette
and you've got a bridge guide to your your um you've got a bridge guide to your qb of the future
but you have raised the floor remarkably on the soft front fence from what it was a year ago
i don't know if that's going to be the case or not but what do you think about my fantasy land
with the patriots just getting weird with their their third overall pick and going wide receiver
well i want to get even weirder and let me know what you think uh the odds that the bears move on
from justin fields and justin fields becomes a patriot i had this on my bingo card too right
yeah i mean i i i think and i think craft is i don't want to say a mammard with fields but he
had his like arguably his pro breakout game against you guys on monday night football and i mean this
was a bellachic thing but bellachic was always fascinated with the athleticism of josh allen
and i feel like justin fields is the closest thing to that athletic profile in the league right now
mayo is a product of the bellachic coaching tree i wonder how much carryover there is there
and i mean you guys are not going to have to give up a first round pick for fields you know
maybe a second maybe a future third you throw in there as well a second and a third if it was
the 34th overall pick in a future third round pick do you do you end but then knowing you've
got a sign fields probably to an extension long term to make it worth it do you do that
do you put him on a veteran qb contract and then focus on offensive weapons in the draft
i i as a fan i don't want to see it i i want to see a quarterback drafted it's always very
exciting right when quarterbacks get drafted to to teams and so new head coach new quarterback
i think would would excite me the most as a fan yeah no i i know i mean you guys would be basically
putting yourselves into the situation that the bears arguably want to avoid which is committing
too much cap space to an unproven young qb yeah like and i get it i really do and i think you guys
could make some hey even with like a michael pennick's junior like i i um i got away till the
combine i am starting to dig into my draft film and my draft guys and all that kind of stuff
how down some scouts are on michael pennick's out of washington is bizarre to me because he seems
to have a lot of great athletic tools that in the right system and with the right kind of
offensive floor supporting him could be really really good in this league like he's not as dynamic
as the marge axon but a lot of the pre draft talk about him like is very very similar like
discounting a lot of the achievements that he made so he'd be an interesting pick for you guys again
i also think to a veteran stabilizer because of the amount of cab space you guys have is not out
of the realm of possibility um may i interest you in a kirk cousins potentially coming to your squad
how would you feel about that kirk coming off of an i think it's an achilles injury right yeah i
don't think that's the play to be honest i i i love what uh cousin says been able to do in
minnesota and it's been really fun to watch um and the injury you know it's hard to watch right uh a
guy that was doing so well weapons all around him um but no again for me i i want to i want to
to see a quarterback drafted in the first round that that's what i'm looking forward to yeah no
i think that'd be a thing that'd be right so i give you jacobi brzat on the veteran market
i give you jaden daniels with the number three pick or i give you a selection of bonix uh michael
pennix or jj mccarthy trading back up into the first round what do you think is the most likely
scenario as as we see it now of who your qb would be out of that mix or do you choose other is it
somebody we're not thinking about so you don't think there's a world where drake may drops to the third
or i think i i think it's a definite possibility i have no clue heading into draft season what teams
are going to covet do i think someone i do i think someone is going to try to trade into the top two
for marvin harrison jr not really to give up that kind of package for a wide receiver granted
generational talent and maybe the best player in the draft i think the last time we saw it was like
the sammy walkins odell beckham jr year people were trading like crazy to get one of those two
guys in the draft um so i don't know if that happens which leads me to believe that if the
bears do trade out of the first pick they're trading into a team that wants to qb like the new york
giants seattle seahawks someone like that um the commanders need a qb so unless one of them becomes
enamored with jane daniels which i could see the commanders doing i don't think drake may drops they
they seem to be right now pre combine the top two top two cubies in this class and then after those
two consensus is there's a big drop off but daniels could have a really good combine and
we've seen it happen before where people we don't expect uh to rise up end up rising up the draft
ranks uh mark sanchez comes to mind and vice versa right if you look back at will levis so
what happened with them expected to go very high kept dropping and dropping and dropping i think he
felt like day two so um you know potentially the the patriots wait and see you know what happens and
if you know they have other priorities but mayo in an interview flat out said they're going to
drop the best player for a position that's very important which is a little cryptic but also
you know makes everybody think okay that means quarterback right no that makes me think barvin
harrison jr that makes me think barvin harrison jr man i think you guys i think you guys are
going to get weird with it and honestly i don't mind it because not at all i i don't i don't know
again it's so hard because we're pre-combine i think jane daniels is good but i do think there
is a drop off between daniels may and williams so unless something wacky happens at the combine
which again as you have perfectly said does tend to happen i could see a world where you guys are
like jane daniels is not worth the top three pick right now based on what we have to commit cap wise
into a fiftieth year option on him i could see you guys going either trading back and accumulating
more picks because you do have a lot of areas of need or drafting the best are inarguably the best
player in this draft and marvin harrison jr and then taking your shot in the second round or trading
back into the first round to grab one of these lower end lower risk higher floor qb prospects
though this a man it's a we've seen it like you just went through the mac jones era who's drafting
that season was trevor lorenz who we still don't know if trevor lorenz is good trey lance
mac jones right so many misses on qb in that draft like it's it's like a 40 to 50 percent hit rate
right so if you're telling me that williams may and daniels all get drafted with the first three
picks statistically speaking two of those guys are going to be a bust and if i'm your squad after
everything i just went through with mac jones i don't want to roll those odds what i want to do
is pick a surefire blue chip prospect and marvin harrison jr and figure out the rest either with a
veteran bridge or a lower risk lower risk lower contract commit still talented prospect and the
the latter first round right yeah i think that's that's totally fair yeah so i don't know we'll
see maybe maybe may it will call me an aspect but i doubt it i doubt it i also don't want to give you
guys tips on how to get good maybe this is reverse psychology maybe i want you to do this so that you
be bad right maybe you should pick daniels brandon maybe you should do that what now i'm i'm confident
that the patriots organization is listening in and writing furiously down your notes about what
they should do so my wife doesn't even listen to the spot so i doubt the craps are tuning in but
yeah man all right so in summary painful season but i think a needed transition away from bellachic
for you guys it's time to turn the page on the dynasty and build something new uh you want to see
a youth movement which i completely agree and you want to see a qb drafted right and you would like
to see ideally it sounds like your guy is drake may right that's who you want to see fall to you am i right
i think that's what's within the realm of possibilities so that's what i'm sort of holding on to hope
for and again it could very well happen i mean he is uh he doesn't have the arm he doesn't have the
arm strength of a josh allen but he's got like underrated mobility he's got good size he would be
an interesting doppelganger i think to have an afc east to josh for sure so and something you guys
can build some telling around but i'm rooting for weird i hope you guys get weird with it that's all
i'm saying draft marvin harrison jr and let the chips fall where they may my friend well very good
stuff dude listen we appreciate your insights as always into the team um and we'll have you back
on for our mock afc east draft later on in april as part of our buffalo bread pre-jaffed coverage
but until then for those of you listening at home like share and subscribe wherever you get your
podcast google apple spotify and as always go bills
though