PalmTreeMafia

I PRAY this is true. But this is just about the worst news I could have woken up to...trading up with the Giants will be way too costly now. And after two decades of Brady's , I don't want another two decades of Rosen or Mayfield. I'm assuming here that Browns go Darnold and Giants go Barkley.

Improving upon the 31st ranked passing offense will not be too difficult. Also keep in mind that the rookie QB will be expected to be the opening day starter if he is Rosen/Darnold/Mayfield. So in these instances, we are really comparing 2018 McCarron vs 2017 Peterman for the #2 QB spot and 2018 (insert franchise QB name) vs. 2017 Taylor for the starting QB spot. Everywhere outside this particular message board, people would say that the latter QB1/QB2 duo is a substantial improvement.

McCarron is a much better fit for the particular offense that Daboll wants to implement. He also has a lot more upside than your typical back-up NFL QB. Other pluses: has a very affordable contract, is very religious so will fit into the locker room culture, and has a hot wife. Last year alone, we saw several no-name QB's around the league (Foles, Keenum, McCown) suddenly have success when placed into the right offensive system. So why not McCarron? Unlike Taylor, he may actually attempt to throw to his WR's and try to make the occasional comeback when down by 1 or more points in a game. Moving on to the other Buffalo Bills QB debate....the team is quite obviously gunning for one of the top 4 QB's (Darnold, Mayfield, Rosen, Allen). According to standard NFL draft value charts, the 12th and 22nd picks alone give the Bills enough draft capital to move up between the 4th and 3rd overall picks. One can make a strong case for or against any of these guys. I'm curious at to where all of you currently stand on the big 4??? Here's mine: 1. Darnold - has all the football character and the athleticism that the Bills want in a franchise QB. Only major concern are the large number of turnovers last season. Would have liked to have seen a third year from him. 2. Mayfield - still not sure about him...is spending a top 4 overall pick on such a small QB a good idea? Brees and Wilson would say yes, but they are exceptions to a longstanding rule. 3. Rosen - I just can't get over his extensive injury history. Without it, he's clearly my number one choice. But McDermott and Beane are risking their careers on this choice, and "availability" and "dependability" are classic buzzwords we've heard often from The Process Trusters. 4. Allen - same way I felt about Rob Johnson, JP Losman, and EJ Manuel....looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane.

Sabres have now won their last 5 games against the elite teams in the division (TB, Boston, Toronto). Not bad... 3 more against Toronto, plus 6 more from our division, plus 1 against the Rangers, plus 6 more from the West. Then the season is (thankfully) over!

I don't know, but I'll say it.... I'll go on record as saying that the Maple Leafs will win the Cup within the next 5 seasons. Meanwhile, the Sabre will set the NHL record for most consecutive seasons without a playoff berth.

I'd be content with a late 1st and a solid prospect.

Nah, he just went to go get the papers get the papers.

Any chance of dumping the contracts of Moulson, Bogosian, or Pominville?

Fair enough. I didn't know Jackson's accuracy was considered so poor. At the moment, Mayfield is my #1 choice for QB. But I wouldn't trade into the top 5-10 for him.

Doesn't "megawatt smile" just mean someone who has a big smile that lights up the room? Why is that considered racist? Regarding Lamar Jackson: Michael Vick has stated that Jackson is the closest player he has ever seen to himself, more so than Newton or any other mobile QB. I realize that Michael Vick isn't an NFL scout, but it does give pause as to why such a talent like Jackson isn't considered with the big 4 of Darnold, Rosen, Mayfield, and Allen.

What specifically have you heard?! If they are not making an honest attempt to end the playoff drought next season, then I'm out. It's as simple as that. Not worth my money nor my time. And I consider myself a pretty hardcore fan. Life is too short and precious to waste leisure hours on a franchise this incompetent.

Yes. It began on October 5 and runs through April 7.....ba dum tss.

I'm not advocating that we sell low. I want fair market value for each and every loser on this roster. Risto and Reinhart are the only two players I could envision performing significantly better elsewhere. So I would be particularly careful when trading those two. But make no mistake: The Purge must happen. It doesn't all have to happen next Monday. Some can be purged over the summer. Some can be purged next February. But purging must be done. I'm no longer interested in trying to sort out which players are Bylsma loyalists and which are part of some pro-Housley cabal. It's time to bring in talented hockey players who are also intrinsically self-motivated and naturally good teammates (i.e., have agreeable personalities and don't act like a bunch of backstabbing teenage girls on their respective periods).

Nah, there's nothing any other defenseman in the system can do to help at this point. Risto and Scandella are a solid #2 pair on a good team. Nelson and Antipin are solid 3rd pair guys. Beauloeauoeuou is borderline NHL material. Gorges should be retired. So we're missing two top-pair NHL defensemen.

No, you need new players. If we fire Housley and hire a drill sergeant personality, it will be yet another excuse this time next season: the new coach is too mean, doesn't listen to us, works us too hard at practice, makes playing hockey not fun, etc...if only we hire Coach #4 things will be better.... BULL . Can't wait for The Purge. Only 6 more days.

Please make it stop. I can't take any more games.

Rosen's concussion history doesn't scare you?

Awesome win! Screw tanking. Let's learn how to be a winning organization instead. Interesting how we started the season with 3 of our top 6 forwards producing (Eichel, Kane, Pominville) and the trio of supposed slowpokes not producing (Reinhart, Okposo, O'Reilly). Now with the Eichel injury, it looks like these groups have completely flipped. So is Nelson for real?! If so, maybe I was wrong and maybe we are only a single elite defender (Dahlin?) away from having what you could consider a "good" defense corps of 8 next season, listed from best to worst in my opinion: Risto, Scandella, Guhle, McCabe, Antipin, Nelson, Beauioieuieioaaeuualuiueaeaeu, Bogosian. Nelson's arrival is most welcome because this team badly needs a quality right-hand shot defenseman aside from Risto.

My Lord, this is an absolutely awful roster on paper. No hope in sight.

No need to get super negative. We weren't making the playoffs. This is a perfect opportunity for many of our players to rally together and show they belong in this league. Everyone seems to play better when paired with Eichel. Now guys need to produce in less than optimal conditions.

Another high ankle sprain, this time on the other leg. We'll see him in late March at the earliest, but very easily he's out for the rest of the season. I am NOT saying he's injury prone, but he definitely could beneift from more focused leg strengthening rehab between now and October.

Original 6, 4 of the 1967 expansion teams (Flyers, Penguins, Stars, Blues), and then the Sabres.

I like Wikipedia's answer the most: Rochester is definitely WNY. Also, in my opinion, the cultural differences between any location within upstate NY (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, etc...) are very minor. I'm defining "upstate" here to mean everything north of Rockland and Westchester Counties. This entire region is probably better represented culturally by Buffalo than by NYC. If the Sabres and Bills weren't such historically loser sports franchises, most of this region would probably be considered strong Sabre/Bill territory.

Right, but Botterill will need to supplement the out of free agency if he wants to have a viable playoff roster, particularly among the bottom 6 forwards. And I view making the playoffs next season as an important part of the "development" aspect of the young players currently on the Sabres roster, much in the same way Botterill sees a competitive Amerks roster as important to the overall franchise development. There is currently an awful stench of failure surrounding the Buffalo Sabres organization. It's becoming more and more deeply ingrained with each passing season that gets added to the record-breaking playoff drought. Oh, but not all hope is lost. There is one simple antidote to all that ails us: JOHN TAVARES. :w00t:

I don't think the Bills can do all of that in one off-season. Asking for a franchise QB, a rebuilding of the front 7 on defense, and increased depth throughout the roster might be too much for a team that also has the league's worst dead cap situation in 2018. Most likely, Beane and McDermott are looking at this as a 2-year rebuild before we can be considered a serious playoff team and not a fringe one. The Dareus and Taylor contracts will be completely off the books by March 2019, and Tom Brady will be 42 years old by the fall of 2019. I'm personally not that fond of Rudolph. As a second rounder? Maybe. But not in the first. I don't think there's a single QB in the draft that I would want to trade up for, either. I do like Mayfield and Jackson, however, in case they fall out of the top 20. Darnold, Rosen, and Allen of course will be long gone by pick #21. My prediction for the first round: #21 - Rashaan Evans, LB, Alabama (assuming Roquan Smith and Tremaine Edmunds are already taken) #22 - Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford (assuming Vita Vea, Da'Ron Payne, and Maurice Hurst are already taken)