Latest / Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast / Episode 69 feat. Ryan Talbot - New Coaching Staff, Bills Off-Season Plans, Bills WR Core

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Episode 69 feat. Ryan Talbot - New Coaching Staff, Bills Off-Season Plans, Bills WR Core · Sports Avenue Twisted Podcast

0:02
The Bills make me wanna kick your heels up and throw your
0:06
hands up and throw your hair back inside.
0:09
Come on, now. The bills are making it happen.
0:11
Now stand up now. Come on and shout.
0:15
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout it right now, baby.
0:22
Come on, come on, Come on and shout, Yeah.
0:29
Welcome to another edition of the Sports Ave.
0:32
Podcast. We have a returning guest in
0:34
this episode and he's one of our favorites out there and he's the
0:37
Bills reporter for the Shout Podcast and he's and 1/2 has
0:41
joined Ryan Talbot. Ryan, welcome back, man, it's
0:45
been a while since you we had you on and so much has changed
0:50
throughout the year that you were last on and there's so much
0:53
to discuss. Welcome back.
0:56
Hey, thanks for having me on. Yeah, you're right.
0:57
There's been a lot of changes that one bill's drive in the
1:00
last year. Yeah, since the last time we had
1:05
you on. Oh my goodness, it's like night
1:08
and day the the season the Bills had, which wasn't, you know, I
1:12
mean, from the final product stamp, from the final
1:16
standpoint, it was a down year. But I mean, they really, they
1:19
were up and down all year. The record was good.
1:22
They they had issues in the playoff.
1:24
But it's time, you know, a lot of changes, a lot of a lot of
1:27
stuff we're going to dive into here.
1:29
So we're just honored to have you back, man.
1:32
We're excited. Yeah, well, yeah, let's get into
1:35
it. What do you guys like to talk
1:36
about? Well, the first, the first thing
1:39
we want to talk about is the the probably the biggest headline
1:43
and in Bill's history, I don't know if I would say history, but
1:47
in recent memories that two days after the AFC Divisional round,
1:53
Sean McDermott got axed and he was fired after nine years as a
1:57
head coach. And I saw your reaction and it
2:01
was a development of shock. And I was shocked as well, Rob,
2:06
I don't think was that much shocked.
2:08
He was saying that this probably was the end of the course and it
2:12
kind of ran through it. So talk about what went down,
2:17
why did it happen, and why didn't this happen in the past
2:21
unlike what happened this year? Yeah.
2:25
So in the moment, like you said, two days after the AFC
2:29
Divisional game where I know the Bills defense gave up a ton of
2:34
points, but thirteen of them came on turnovers because of the
2:37
offense, Josh Allen turning over the ball, James Cook turning
2:41
over the ball, etcetera. And realistically, they protect
2:44
the ball better, they win that game to go on to the AFC
2:46
Championship and who knows what happens there.
2:49
So in the moment when Sean McDermott was fired, I was
2:52
definitely stunned and surprised because when you look at it just
2:57
from this season alone, I could argue that it was Sean
3:00
Mcdermott's best job of coaching.
3:03
With all the injuries that this team faced, with all of the
3:06
roster issues and depth of this team lacked, in my opinion, I
3:11
thought you did a really good job of keeping this team afloat,
3:15
getting them to a wild card birth, winning that wild card
3:19
game in Jacksonville and then going into Denver and
3:22
realistically putting together a good enough game plan that they
3:25
should have won there as well. Now after I sat back and looked
3:32
at things for a few days, I said OK, if you're looking at it from
3:35
the nine year career, he made the playoffs 8 times.
3:40
That's an accomplishment and a notch in his belt.
3:43
They made it to 2 championship games.
3:45
They always seem to win at least one playoff game, minus that
3:49
first year when they lost in the wild card to the Texans.
3:54
But after nine years, there were no Super Bowl berths or
3:59
appearances for that matter. There was no championships,
4:01
obviously. So I think that Terry Pagula at
4:05
that point said, OK, enough is enough.
4:08
He's had prime Josh Allen. He's had a lot of really good
4:11
opportunities with really good offenses, offenses that have put
4:14
up over 30 points in a lot of these games.
4:17
But it's been the defense, which is Sean Mcdermott's baby,
4:20
essentially. He was a defensive minded coach
4:23
and they couldn't get the job done.
4:27
I want to ask you this question real quick.
4:31
Do you think that the decision to not take a knee at halftime
4:37
in the Broncos game, you know, decisions like that, it was kind
4:42
of like a straw that broke the camel's back.
4:44
They're like, OK, enough's enough.
4:46
And I know there were other instances during that game where
4:50
it could have been one or there were plays, you know, the fumble
4:53
from James Cook in the first half that that, you know, and we
4:58
had, they ended up scoring points off that.
5:00
So do you think that that could have played a factor in just
5:03
being like, OK, it's time for a change.
5:05
We're not getting it done. Well, sure.
5:07
I mean, a lot of little things I think played a factor in that
5:10
game, but especially that play because according to what we
5:13
were told, after they told Josh Allen, take a shot if it's
5:16
there. If not, throw it away.
5:18
And instead of taking a shot or throwing it away, he decided to
5:22
run with the ball, which was the worst thing that he could do.
5:25
No timeouts. He wasn't going to run for a
5:26
touchdown. Maybe he thought he could get
5:28
them close enough to field goal range.
5:30
I don't know what the thought process was, but he ends up
5:33
fumbling and then they have a, you know, that chip shot.
5:37
But in today's NFL, it felt like a chip shot field goal, which
5:40
ended up being the difference in that matchup.
5:43
But you're right. You look at James Cook's fumble.
5:45
I could argue the Bills are going to go up 14 to 3:00 or
5:48
2:50 at that point. And instead that kind of turned
5:51
the whole game around. You can look at late in the game
5:54
where the Bills could have gone up, I believe by 8.
5:56
Have they scored a touchdown or whatever it would have been Josh
6:00
Allen threw the ball too low to close Shakur and it was ruled
6:04
the bounce. Shakur actually like came close
6:06
to scooping and he ran into the end zone on the play.
6:08
Little things like that that led to them kicking field goals and
6:12
instead of extending a larger lead.
6:14
There are a lot of what ifs in that game.
6:17
Ultimately, you know, the both sides of the ball failed to do
6:22
enough where the Bills had a late lead and the defense gave
6:25
up some big plays. Kudos to the Broncos too because
6:28
there were two key injuries in that match up and in both
6:31
instances they took advantage. Trey White exits the game for a
6:34
few plays and they immediately pick on Dane Jackson.
6:39
They lose 1 of their safeties in game and they pick on Darnell
6:43
Savage. And both plays resulted in
6:45
touchdowns for the Broncos. So, you know, it's there's so
6:49
many plays that turn the tide in the game and the Broncos just
6:54
made one more than the Bills. Yeah, absolutely.
6:59
Let's talk a bit about his replacement and Joe Brady.
7:03
The with guys rumoured like Davis Webb and Brian Dayball,
7:07
former coaches Clint Kubiak's name was thrown around, but they
7:10
didn't want to wait. They decided to go internally
7:13
with Joe Brady. Tell us a little bit about about
7:16
what you think about this hire and you know, Josh's and how
7:21
much Josh's, Josh's role play in hiring Joe Brady as the next
7:29
head coach of the Bills. Yeah.
7:31
So with Josh Allen, he said in a lot of the interviews and asked
7:34
a few questions, shared his thoughts after, but ultimately
7:38
he did not have the final say on who the Bills hired.
7:42
You know, he has a good relationship with Joe Brady.
7:44
Very similar personalities, very loose, can joke around with him.
7:49
So I think there's a lot that he's going to like about Joe
7:51
Brady being elevated to the head coach.
7:54
And I'm sure he was all for it, obviously being there at the
7:57
introductory press conference. So that was Alan's role in it.
8:01
I was a little bit surprised that Joe Brady got the job based
8:05
on a quote from Terry Pagula where this is not verbatim, but
8:09
he said something along the lines of this team has had a
8:13
really good rosters but only good coaching or something along
8:17
those lines. And while Joe Brady was one of
8:19
those coaches, I know it not over the nine years span with
8:23
his team, he's only been here for about 2 1/2 years as the OC
8:27
quarterbacks coach before that. But when the owner says that,
8:31
part of my mind was like, OK, they're going to go with a fresh
8:34
start. Whether that's bring back a
8:37
retread like Brian Dabel, who has had some head coaching
8:41
experience since then, or Davis Webb, a former quarterback on
8:45
this team that's kind of moved up the the, you know, coaching
8:50
list across the league, become a hot name.
8:54
For a while, I thought Udinsky from Jacksonville was a
8:58
seriously in play. And and then Kubiak, I think
9:01
would have been the ideal candidate to to interview, but
9:06
the Bills fired McDermott so long, so long in the playoff
9:09
process, they couldn't interview him for the first time until
9:12
after they got eliminated, which as we know, they never got
9:15
eliminated. They ended up winning the whole
9:17
thing in Seattle. So that was a timing issue.
9:20
But Joe Brady's shown in his two full seasons as OC that this
9:26
Bills team can score. I think that you're going to see
9:29
some changes in his offense. I think that he ran an offense
9:33
that Sean McDermott wanted him to run.
9:35
Very balanced, very run heavy at times.
9:38
And that's not to say he's going to go away from James Cook, but
9:42
I think he wants to throw the ball downfield a little bit
9:45
more. Looking at what he did as
9:47
passing game coordinator at LSU, looking at what he did even in
9:51
Carolina where DJ Moore went for over 1100 yards and Curtis
9:55
Samuel had his best season of his career there under Brady,
10:00
stretching the field, I think is going to be a little bit more of
10:02
this offense going forward, which I feel like they were
10:05
more. Take what's given to you, take
10:08
the dink and dunk. Don't be ultra aggressive where
10:10
I think he's going to let Josh Allen be a little more
10:13
aggressive going forward. So many people thought right
10:18
after that, the game against the Broncos that people were
10:21
clamoring with, Brandon B is the guy that should be the
10:26
sacrificial lamb, But that wasn't the case.
10:28
Instead, he got promoted to become president of the Buffalo
10:31
Bills, which seems like he's going to take a nutshell, much
10:35
larger role or much stronger role, right?
10:38
And more say to this organization.
10:40
But were you a bit surprised about being being promoted to
10:45
presidency? And also do you think that
10:46
they're going to have a fill in GM within the organization?
10:51
So you know, I understood the criticism from the fan base
10:55
about Brandon Bean and and the whole they fired the wrong guy.
10:59
Bean has had some whiffs on early draft picks.
11:02
However, I will say that this last draft class looks pretty
11:05
promising. I know Max Hairston has missed a
11:08
lot of time with injuries. They played TJ Sanders out of
11:11
place at times, but they hit on Dionne Walker.
11:14
They hit on Haws. It looked like they hit on
11:17
Dorian Strong after four weeks before he suffered that neck
11:19
injury. I think that this draft class is
11:22
going to be one of his better ones, which obviously helps him.
11:26
But I always say, you know, when Terry Pagool is at training
11:30
camp, who is he with? Brandon Bean, generally.
11:33
When he's at the games, who is he with?
11:35
They're up in the press boxes or their own private box together.
11:39
So Brandon Bean is around Terry Pagula a lot more than Sean
11:43
McDermott ever was. Because when you're the head
11:45
coach, you're on the field, you're you have, you're in weak
11:47
responsibilities. But when you're the GM, yeah,
11:50
you have the scouting, you have the the combine this week, the
11:53
draft, free agency, all that. But once the season's in play,
11:58
sure you're looking to make trades and add players, you
12:01
know, via the waiver wire, but you have a lot more time to
12:06
speak with the owner and ownership and be around them.
12:08
So that certainly helped him out with getting this promotion.
12:12
In my opinion. I think he's done a very good
12:14
job overall in his time here in Buffalo.
12:18
But I also understood some of the criticism.
12:19
And in terms of will he eventually give up the GM job, I
12:24
could see it. I mean, they have two assistant
12:26
GMs on this roster. If he wanted to after this
12:30
year's draft, it wouldn't shock me if he moved up to just that
12:34
president role and then named one of them as the new GM.
12:37
But I I'm in wait and see mode on that.
12:43
If you have to say the candidates, let's just say if
12:46
assuming that the the vacancies there for the GM job, what would
12:51
be the names that would be out there?
12:54
Well, you know, looking at who they currently have on their
12:59
personnel, Terence Gray and Brian Gainer, both Assistant
13:02
General Managers, so I would assume it would be one of them.
13:06
OK. One of the perks of being the
13:12
head coach, new head coach, is that you get to kind of pick
13:16
your own staff and, and the the Brady went with offensive
13:20
coordinator. He chose Pete Carmichael, who I
13:24
know Rocky's really high on. They bring back former Bill Jim
13:28
Leonard as being the defensive coordinator, which I'm really
13:32
high. I love that move.
13:33
And special teams coordinator Jeff Rogers, as well as bringing
13:37
in guys like John Fox. Former coach is a senior
13:40
assistant coach. You know, Kyle Sherman's the
13:43
assistant quarterback coach, so tell him about some of the hires
13:46
that they made and some of the guys that Joe Brady chose to be
13:51
part of his staff. Yeah.
13:52
So you know, first and foremost, Pete Carmichael, junior, I was
13:55
very high on that move as well, most recently in Denver with
13:59
Sean Payton. He's essentially been Sean
14:01
Payton's right hand man for almost 2 decades.
14:04
And while Payton called the offense for most of the time, in
14:08
terms of actual play calls, there were some stints,
14:10
obviously the suspension and things like that.
14:13
Sean Payton in New Orleans where Carmichael had to come in and
14:17
coach and he did a really good job when he was the play caller.
14:22
Drew Brees put up some really good stats, Alvin Kamara and the
14:26
list kind of goes on from that team.
14:28
So you look at what Carmichael is going to be, though, it's
14:31
going to be a sounding board more than anything else.
14:33
And you're going to say, you know, I'm a first time head
14:36
coach, He's going to shoot ideas off Pete Carmichael.
14:39
And Carmichael with all that experience, he's going to be
14:42
able to share his opinion, his two cents on matters.
14:45
And you're going to bring in more of the play action, passing
14:49
game maybe then what the Bills have utilized in the past
14:52
because that's a big part of the Sean McDermott offense.
14:55
I think with Josh Allen that can be lethal as well, as well as
14:59
James Cook defensively, Jim Leonard that is.
15:04
You have to wait and see, obviously, but that felt like
15:08
the best potential hire of the unknown coordinators that were
15:13
out there. You know, they they could have
15:14
gone and and tried to bring in an established big name like
15:19
Raheem Morris, which I wouldn't have been against obviously
15:22
either. But Jim Leonard at Wisconsin had
15:25
a top 10 defense in five of the six seasons there, or four of
15:29
his five. Whatever it was I wrote about it
15:31
at the time that they hired him. Very aggressive defense,
15:35
blitzing, pressuring, what this defense has really struggled to
15:39
do essentially under Sean McDermott.
15:41
I think it's going to be night and day.
15:43
So he's going to need time to bring over players that fit his
15:47
scheme. I don't think it's going to be a
15:49
true 3-4 necessarily this first year.
15:52
It's going to be more of a hybrid, which is fine, but I'm
15:56
really excited about that. And there's some players that
15:59
he's connected to. Leo Chanel from the Kansas City
16:03
Chiefs, he coached him at Wisconsin.
16:06
There's a few Wisconsin guys, there's a few Denver guys.
16:08
Alex Singleton, another linebacker who played really
16:11
well in Denver. PJ Lock, a safety that the Bills
16:14
could potentially bring in to start opposite, called Bishop.
16:18
So he also has connections to a lot of guys that think you're
16:21
going to fit what the Bills are trying to do and and not
16:24
necessarily break the bank either.
16:26
And then John Fox is just another veteran mind.
16:28
So, you know, those are some of the more intriguing names that
16:32
they added to the coaching staff.
16:34
The special teams coach didn't have a really good season this
16:37
past year in Arizona, but he's had multiple kickers and
16:40
returners. His Pro Bowl alternate.
16:43
See, he's done a nice job there when he's had talent.
16:47
What about the online coach they hired from the Steelers, Pat
16:51
Mayer? I know that he's a well
16:52
respected guy in the industry. Like what are your thoughts
16:55
about? Him.
16:55
So in terms of the online coach, well respected based on his time
17:03
in Pittsburgh, I thought that that unit was one of their
17:06
better units this past season. As the year went on, it felt
17:11
like they were playing more consistently, playing at a
17:14
higher level. And obviously Aaron Rodgers got
17:17
the ball out quickly. That factors into it.
17:19
But there were some NFL analysts and former players that really
17:23
credited him too in terms of what he saw or what they saw, I
17:28
should say, from him this past season in Pittsburgh.
17:32
Obviously, though, he has huge shoes to fill because Aaron
17:35
Cromer is a top three O line coach in this league.
17:39
And now that he's retired, it's going to be really tough to
17:41
replace him. Yeah.
17:44
That leads on to my next question and it's any and we're
17:47
talking about any coaches that were in the Bill with the Bills
17:51
this past season. And you mentioned about Aaron
17:54
Cromer who just retired, which is probably a a detrimental
17:59
situation. Is there any other coaches, I
18:02
know you mentioned a couple of them in your timeline on on X,
18:04
but is there any other coaches that you thought that was also a
18:07
loss for the Bills? Yeah, Jamila die.
18:11
I was bummed to see him go. I thought he did a really good
18:14
job with the secondary on this team.
18:17
He was one that came to mind immediately when he left.
18:21
I'm trying to think of who else now.
18:23
I I liked Nielsen a lot. I know the D line didn't
18:27
necessarily perform great this year, but he came in as like
18:31
this assistant, but was really coaching up the D line over the
18:34
summer and I liked his coaching style.
18:37
Those were two guys there that really come to mind in terms of
18:42
losses for this team. I was disappointed to see them
18:45
go, but there was obviously some guys that were retained.
18:48
Rob Boras, the tight ends coach that I was really excited to
18:51
see. Kelly Skippers really good at
18:53
what he does too. So unfortunately that's part of
18:57
the the business. Pellegrino is another one that
19:00
they lost. He was brought in his that
19:02
Nichols coach from the Patriots last year.
19:06
Disappointing to see him go as well.
19:12
Give us a bit of a rundown of of how this 2025 season went, your
19:16
opinion. They fall short of their goal,
19:19
obviously of of, you know, making a Super Bowl, winning a
19:22
Super Bowl, but with a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and
19:26
downs. Just just give us a little bit
19:28
of rundown your opinion on what the Bills, what went wrong for
19:32
the Bills this season overall? Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing
19:36
that went wrong for this team was losing the teams they should
19:38
not have lost to. Atlanta comes to mind.
19:42
They just, they gave up so many points in that first half that
19:46
it made it almost impossible for them to come back, although they
19:49
almost got the job done and going against the Houston
19:52
Texans. Now, Houston's defense is legit
19:54
as can be, but they made Davis Mills look unbelievable in that
19:58
game. That being the defense.
19:59
Miami, a team that they traditionally have done a good
20:02
job of beating, although not by a wide margin for the.
20:05
Most part comes in and blows out the Bills 30 to 13.
20:09
Just it was a difference of just a game or two where if the Bills
20:13
win that division and they get the cakewalk that the Patriots
20:17
ended up getting in the playoffs.
20:19
Going against a Chargers team that had a very poor offensive
20:23
line at Texans team where Stroud couldn't throw in the snow and
20:28
then obviously a Jared Stidham LED Broncos team.
20:31
You know, maybe the Bills make the Super Bowl and Sean
20:34
Mcdermott's back for another year.
20:35
It's just funny how this league works.
20:38
But the Bills have this tendency under McDermott to get off to a
20:42
hot start, 3 and 1, four and O, whatever the case may be.
20:46
But then they hit this law that feels like in October every year
20:49
where they drop a few games. And you know, that that's one
20:53
thing that this team has to figure out is consistency.
20:58
It's unfair to expect a team or to win 151617 games, obviously.
21:03
But why are you losing the games to the teams that you should
21:07
beat on a you know, it feels like every year there's one or
21:10
two of those games. Why are you hitting this, lol, a
21:13
month into the season? And this year might have been
21:16
injuries because, you know, and Oliver gets off to a hot start,
21:19
he misses some time, comes back and then obviously misses pretty
21:22
much the rest of the year. You look at the D line, it was
21:27
so worn down that they had to overplay Bosa, which was not
21:31
their ideal plan. They wanted to make sure that he
21:34
would be fresh for the playoffs, But instead they had to play him
21:37
a lot of downs because of the injuries.
21:40
Daquan Jones, he had some good moments, but he wasn't great
21:44
linebacker. It was a lost season for Terrell
21:46
Bernard, playing with injuries and just not looking right
21:50
whatsoever. Milano played pretty well when
21:54
healthy. Shaq Thompson was their best
21:56
linebacker, but it took a while to figure out the best players
22:00
at certain spots. It took a while for replacements
22:05
to be found when, you know, Taylor Rapp was not playing
22:08
well, he was dealing with a knee injury.
22:09
But then he gets lost for the year.
22:12
You know, Jordan Boyer finally gets an opportunity, does a good
22:15
job there. Maybe he should have been
22:17
starting all along based on how he looked with Cole Bishop.
22:20
So a lot of that factored in. And obviously health on the
22:23
offense side of the ball to Curtis Samuel missed all most of
22:27
the season. Once again, Josh Palmer never
22:29
looked right after his injury against Atlanta.
22:33
So when you're investing money and guys like those two players
22:37
specifically I you're not getting that return on
22:40
investment at wide receiver, that obviously hurts too.
22:45
Yeah, I remember I was following you throughout the year and
22:47
every time they face of below mediocre team, you like you even
22:52
kept saying like, oh, they play up to their competition, which
22:56
seems to be, I don't know if it was a coaching problem, a
22:59
culture problem. I don't know what has to do
23:01
with, oh, we just want to be nonchalant.
23:03
Like, is that a thing with the Bills?
23:06
Like they've been doing this for actually quite some time.
23:10
Yeah, it's tough because I do feel like Sean McDermott, for
23:15
the most part, coach them up and had them prepared week in and
23:18
week out. But playing up and down to their
23:21
competition was definitely a thing where, you know, I
23:24
mentioned the Dolphins. If you look at the point
23:26
differentials for a lot of their wins over the Dolphins in Sean
23:29
Mcdermott's tenure, there were a few blowouts, but a lot of those
23:32
games were one possession late in the fourth quarter where, you
23:37
know, it felt like they couldn't put that team away.
23:39
And there were times where they had some baffling losses, as we
23:44
we've talked about. But then they go and they go
23:45
against the Chiefs and every year they're up to task to take
23:48
on the Chiefs. And every year they're taking on
23:51
these other teams that you look and say, oh boy, I don't like
23:53
that match up for the Bills. And they just go out and win
23:56
Detroit a few years ago and you can kind of go on and on with
24:00
that. So it did feel like they could
24:02
get up for those bigger games as national spotlight games, but
24:06
then there would just be those duds mixed in as well.
24:10
Right. And we talked about the injuries
24:14
that was a cause of concern for the Bills for the last few years
24:17
if you think about it and it was unfortunate.
24:20
The way it started is when Dwayne Carter towards Achilles
24:24
in training camp last year and it seemed to be an issue.
24:28
There was a point where 15 guys were were not available or on
24:32
the IL or they were done for the season.
24:35
Like what seems to be an issue with that?
24:37
Because it seems like it's been a yearly thing for quite some
24:41
time. And I don't know if it has to do
24:43
with the strength of coaching staff, but like, how do you look
24:45
at that? Honestly, there's some luck
24:49
involved because there was a year and a half or two and I'm
24:53
talking back in like the cold Beasley time where the Bills
24:57
were one of the healthiest teams in this league and their injury
25:00
report was extremely short late in the season, playoff time, it
25:04
you know, etcetera. They have all of the bells and
25:06
whistles that you could want for your your training areas.
25:11
And in Buffalo, you would think that this would not be such a
25:15
constant issue, but there is some luck.
25:18
Just involved a lot of these soft tissue injuries that the
25:21
guys were dealing with before the start of the season when
25:24
they're coming into training camp and stuff like that.
25:27
You know, why is that happening? What are they doing on their own
25:31
end before they come in here? Because there were a lot of
25:33
those types of injuries early on at camp, but then at the same
25:37
time in season. Why was it that the Bills really
25:41
struggled in that regard? And it's interesting.
25:43
The team report cards came out from the previous year and there
25:48
were Bills players who anonymous anonymously said they didn't
25:52
trust the training staff to help them recover completely.
25:56
And there's something to be said about that.
25:58
Now the Bills are, I don't want to say pushing back on it, but
26:02
they're bringing back everyone from that training staff from
26:06
last year. And, and they kind of I, I guess
26:09
for, for a lack of better word, they threw Sean McDermott under
26:12
the bus pretty much saying that the Bills going to handle
26:16
injuries well in week throughout the season.
26:19
And they're going to have a much different game plan talking with
26:22
the sport science people and the coat in the training staff and
26:26
stuff like that. So the the Bills did not have a
26:29
ton of that rest days this year. What maybe they felt like they
26:33
he had to practice them. Tackling has been an issue for
26:35
this team, so maybe he was throwing guys out there trying
26:38
to get them to give their all throughout the week so that way
26:41
it would translate on the field come regular season games.
26:45
But I think a lot of guys that were dinged up or banged up,
26:49
we're dealing with stuff that only got worse because they
26:52
weren't given that extra time off maybe throughout the week.
26:59
There were times that during the season where the Bills run
27:02
defense was a legit issue. How we all know that the that
27:08
the defensive line is so important in football.
27:11
You know, that we we talk about all the time, but you know, the
27:14
trenches and, you know, and that's where the games won and
27:18
lost. So what did you see this season
27:23
from the defensive line? What were some positives for you
27:26
and what what can they do going forward so they can get this run
27:34
defense back to being stout? Yeah.
27:37
Well, why that's, that's a great question.
27:39
Just overall, just not talking run defense.
27:42
There weren't a lot of bright spots necessarily with this
27:45
defensive line. Dionne Walker was a huge bright
27:48
spot. Obviously a stealing draft
27:51
looked the part both as a run stopper, getting after the
27:55
quarterback, applying pressure, getting his hands on footballs.
27:59
You know, Gregory so is always been great at stopping the run.
28:02
I would love to see his game develop more though, in terms of
28:07
turning a lot of the pressures into Sacs.
28:09
It just hasn't happened for him in his career.
28:11
This defensive line has been the Achilles heel of this team
28:15
throughout Sean Mcdermott's tenure.
28:17
You look at all the additions that they made through the
28:20
draft, through free agency over the years.
28:23
You know, there was the back-to-back picks, the one year
28:26
with Rousseau and Boogie Basham where they could have had Creed
28:28
Humphrey for their center instead, or at least you know,
28:32
with more still here. He could have started as a
28:34
guard. But they they doubled down on
28:36
that position and felt Boogie Basham was even more pro ready
28:40
than Greg Rousseau. We know how that went.
28:43
They've thrown a ton of darts and free agency and you know,
28:46
listen, Von Miller looked great before his his lower body injury
28:51
that he sustained with the Bills.
28:53
He was at going to be a double digit SAC guy that first year.
28:57
So I can't fault the bills too much for that.
28:59
Leonard Floyd comes and gets 10 sacks.
29:01
I think he may have been there only 10 sack defensive lineman
29:05
over most of Mcdermott's tenure, which is saying something.
29:09
Bosa comes in so they they throw a lot of money at the position.
29:13
But year in and year out you sit there in the biggest games, you
29:17
say, well, they either struggle to stop the run or they just
29:20
couldn't sniff the quarterback. They couldn't get near the guy.
29:23
So I feel like that's been a huge let down.
29:26
And in terms of defense, honestly, it comes down to
29:29
tackling. They miss at the point of
29:31
attack. It feels like more times than
29:33
not they're there arm tackling, poor tackling.
29:37
So what Jim Leonard does, I don't know what you know, how we
29:41
can magically turn some of these guys that have been poor
29:45
tacklers the last few years in Buffalo around.
29:48
But if you can infuse this room with guys that you want to bring
29:52
in, whether it be from Denver or former Wisconsin players, guys
29:55
through this draft and then really coach them up in his way,
29:59
I think that can really help out.
30:01
Because, you know, like you said, there were games where
30:04
they look great against the run. I thought they did a nice job
30:06
minus a few big runs by Tink Bigsby in that playoff game
30:11
against Jacksonville. I thought they did a good job in
30:13
that game. But there is others.
30:15
Regular season playoff games or teams just ran wild on the Bills
30:18
and it happened all too often. So I want to talk about a bit
30:23
about Pete Carmichael junior and he's the 4th offensive
30:28
coordinator under, under the Josh Allen era.
30:31
And when you look at the track record, he started off with
30:34
Brian Dabo. He ended up taking a job with
30:37
the Giants. Now he's with the Titans OC.
30:39
But and then you had Ken Dorsey, that didn't work at all for
30:42
them. And then they had Joe Brady, who
30:44
got promoted to the head coach. So how would you look at the
30:48
schemes of how he's going to work with Josh?
30:51
And we saw what Carmichael Junior did when Sean Payton was
30:56
the head coach with with the Saints, with Drew Breeds, of
30:58
course, and then obviously with Denver with Bow Next a couple
31:02
years ago. So how do how do you look at it
31:05
in this standpoint of working his game with Josh Allen?
31:10
Yeah. So, you know, unlike a lot of
31:11
the guys that you mentioned, he's not someone that's going to
31:14
go out and get a head coaching gig.
31:15
He just, you know, at this point in his career, doesn't feel like
31:17
it's something he wants to do. He's had some opportunities in
31:20
the past where he's taking some interviews, Other years not so
31:23
much. So he's going to be great in
31:26
that regard where he's going to be a sounding board.
31:29
He's going to be involved in the in the week, week game planning
31:32
with Joe Brady and and you're not going to have to worry about
31:36
replacing him in a year or two necessarily unless he retires or
31:40
goes off and does something that would, you know, other than
31:44
retirement. I guess unless the Bills fired
31:46
him, I'd be very shocked if he left anytime soon in terms of
31:50
what I think he'll do with Josh Allen.
31:52
You know, it's going to be more of the adding elements of the
31:57
Sean Payton offense to put to the Bills, which Joe Brady has
32:01
that one year in New Orleans before he went to LSU.
32:05
He's familiar with it. It's a lot of play action, which
32:09
I think is really going to help out.
32:12
There's some, you know, the philosophies that he's going to
32:15
bring in. It's just going to help this
32:18
team out because what you saw New Orleans do, getting the ball
32:22
to their backs, for instance, in the passing game, I think
32:26
they're really going to do that a lot more where, you know, I
32:28
know James Cook has had some really frustrating fumbles, but
32:32
if you get him out in the open field and get him the ball, he
32:35
can take it the distance every time.
32:36
Ty Johnson so good with the ball in his hands.
32:39
Ray Davis hasn't had many opportunities, but I think back
32:43
to that play midfield against The Jets a few years ago, a
32:47
heave from Allen, he catches the ball there so they have guys
32:50
that can catch the ball. So I think you get the backs
32:52
more involved is going to be a little bit more motion, you're
32:55
going to get more play action. Those are just some of the
32:57
tendencies that he's going to help add to Josh Allen's game in
33:02
this offensive game. I think it's really going to
33:04
help out team. The Bills wide receiver room
33:12
looked very different from being the start of the season.
33:16
At the end, you had Brandon Cooks who was making huge plays
33:19
for the Bills, who they pretty much picked up off the street.
33:23
Tyrell Shavers was really looking good until his ACL
33:28
injury. Keon Coleman was a healthy
33:29
scratch a few games down the stretch because he was just
33:33
wasn't playing well. And and you know, he had some
33:37
off field issues that that the team was dealing with.
33:40
But what can they do going into next season to make this wide
33:46
receiver core formidable again? Because a lot of talk around
33:50
Bill's nation, Bill's mafia, is that, you know, they don't have
33:56
a number one wide receiver and it's something that they failed
33:59
to do since they traded for Stefan Diggs.
34:02
So what can they do? What do you think they do?
34:05
How can they attack that position to to make it a better
34:09
a better room overall heading into 2026?
34:13
Yeah, I think they have to make a trade.
34:15
You look at free agency first and foremost.
34:18
You know, there's already talked today that Alec Pierce is going
34:21
to get franchise tagged if they can't come to a long term deal
34:25
with him with the Colts. So the the biggest field stretch
34:29
is going to be off the market there.
34:31
And this happens every year on free agency.
34:34
You look at all the players are available and it gets whittled
34:36
down a lot before the legal tampering window can even start.
34:40
So I think free agency is going to be tough because one, anyone
34:43
that is available, the Bills have very limited cap space and
34:47
you're going to have to outbid some people sometimes for those
34:50
players and the Bills won't be in a position to do that.
34:54
The draft is tough because you're sitting at pick 26.
34:57
You can make a trade or two, move up and try to get Carnell
35:01
Tate, who I think is a great wide receiver.
35:03
And there's some others that at 26, I think you could, you know,
35:07
convince me you could develop into a top tier receiver.
35:10
Boston comes to mind. I would love Lemon, but I don't
35:14
think that he'll be there at 26. There's some good guys in this
35:17
wide receiver room. Tyson won't be there at 26, but
35:20
he's another good one. So I think it comes down to
35:23
making a trade. And Nat Perino and I were
35:26
talking about that on a recent podcast episode where we each
35:29
name three players that we think the Bills could try to go out
35:33
and trade for. And you know, my list was Marvin
35:36
Harrison Junior. I really do think that he is
35:39
potentially available. I looked at who the other two,
35:45
now I'm blanking on, obviously with the Bears, DJ Moore.
35:50
And the third one that I talked about was another player that
35:55
wouldn't necessarily break the bank.
35:57
But I thought that he could come in and really be a quasi #1
36:02
receiver at 28 years old. You know, Matt looked at Brian
36:07
Thomas junior, he looked at Jalen Waddle, who the Bills
36:11
supposedly came close to trading for.
36:12
So we each had our list of guys that we thought the Bills could
36:17
trade for. But when it when it came to DJ
36:20
Moore, for instance, I looked at 28 years old, he's owed 20, you
36:25
know, almost 30 million a year on average.
36:27
The Bills could trade for him with a mid round pick and then
36:31
restructure that contract in a big time way because it's not
36:34
worth that type of money. But you'd bring them to Buffalo
36:38
after a few down years with the Bears.
36:41
I know he he'd had a big role this year, but he hasn't gone
36:44
over 1000 yards in two seasons. He went over 1100 yards two
36:49
years with Joe Brady and Carolina.
36:51
So obviously that a guy that I felt like could really fit in
36:57
for for the Bills in that regard.
37:01
And then Harrison Junior, you know, I, I look at the fact
37:05
former number four overall pick, but they have Michael Wilson.
37:09
There is their number one receiver.
37:11
They already had Trey McBride, who they're paying a ton of
37:13
money to. Can they afford if Michael
37:15
Wilson goes off again to afford all three of those guys when
37:19
they'll still don't have a quarterback, maybe they they
37:22
draft a guy in next year's draft.
37:24
I don't think there's anyone this year that could potentially
37:27
come in and be a starter for them, whatever the case may be.
37:30
So, you know, there there's always some interesting names to
37:35
look at and consider. Brian Thomas Junior was
37:38
supposedly available at the trade deadline last year.
37:42
So as you go on and really think about some of the players that
37:46
you could trade for, it's kind of fascinating.
37:51
Yeah, I actually, I actually like those options.
37:54
Those options would fit real nice.
37:56
What a boat. And I know this is kind of like
37:59
the dream scenario where you're sitting around daydreaming and
38:02
just being like, wouldn't that be something, you know?
38:06
But I mean, what about a guy like, you know, and he's been
38:09
talking on podcasts lately about Joe Brady and, you know, and.
38:15
And you know who I'm. You know who I'm talking about?
38:17
Justin Jefferson. Yeah.
38:19
It sounds like he's begging to be a Buffalo Bill.
38:24
But I mean, there's just no way to probably make that money
38:28
work. But I mean, wouldn't that be
38:29
nice, right? Yeah, I mean that would be the
38:32
dream scenario going back to the Minnesota while and adding
38:36
their, you know, best receiver and bringing them to Buffalo
38:39
like they did with the digs. Now digs at the time was trying
38:42
to prove you as #1 receiver with Adam Thielen there.
38:47
Obviously he's proven that he is a without a shadow of a doubt,
38:51
that being Justin Jefferson, one of, if not the best receiver in
38:54
the game. So it would be great.
38:57
Obviously with the JJ McCarthy scenario, the quarterback play
39:01
being an issue, the Bills can pick up the phone and offer a
39:04
few first round picks over the next few years and maybe
39:08
Minnesota listens, but I would be highly skeptical of that.
39:12
I really think it's going to be some of the names that I already
39:15
mentioned. I had Michael Pittman as my
39:17
third, a guy that they could potentially add.
39:20
I think that with Alec getting franchised and or assigned to a
39:25
long term deal, his number is just not going to work with the
39:29
Colts. So maybe you work on that deal
39:31
there. Olave, you can try to revisit
39:34
that with the Saints, bring in someone that you feel like could
39:37
be a good fit for your scheme so that there are players out
39:40
there. I just don't think they're going
39:41
to be able to go out and get the top guy or guys that are
39:45
established at wide receiver in this league.
39:48
Is Kia Coleman part of the bill's plans?
39:50
Because I know that you saw what Pagula said it it was it was it
39:55
came out of nowhere. And Kia Coleman was more
39:58
professional at what he said. And I saw what Chad Johnson say.
40:01
He's going to work out with him. But do you think he's still part
40:03
of this team come 26? You know, I would have said no
40:08
immediately after Pagula's comments, but then you had Joe
40:11
Brady sitting there saying when he got the job, I told Keon this
40:15
would be the best thing for his career if I ended up winning or
40:18
getting the head coaching job. He seems to have a vision for
40:21
him and maybe it's different than the vision that Sean
40:23
McDermott had. Maybe Sean McDermott said this
40:26
is your ex receiver replacing Stefan Diggs and make it work.
40:31
And maybe Joe Brady sat there and said this guy can be a big
40:33
slot in the league where we can, you know, we know Kabul Shakur
40:37
is really good in the slot, but we can also play him on the
40:39
outside at times and put Keon Coleman in the slot because a
40:43
lot of draft analysts had him being a a big slot to succeed in
40:48
this league. And the Bills really haven't
40:50
done that a lot where you get them the ball, you know, across
40:53
the middle of the field and let him build up that speed.
40:57
He's hard to bring down at certain points as he's shown.
41:00
I'll be interested to see how he's utilized.
41:02
But according to Joe Brady, it sounds like he's going to be a
41:05
part of this team at least come this summer and throughout
41:09
training camp. I like to talk about the tight
41:13
ends of this team and more importantly, more significantly
41:17
is Don Kincaid, who is a big part of this offensive core,
41:20
right? And think about what he's been
41:23
through ever since he's been drafted.
41:24
He hasn't really been healthy, but when he's healthy, he should
41:28
he he shows up in big games, right?
41:29
Especially what he did in the playoffs.
41:31
And and he I believe he has a club option with a billion.
41:34
And could you still see him as part of this team long term?
41:38
Because some people are clamoring for a guy like Kyle
41:40
Pitch, which I don't understand because he's going to get paid a
41:42
lot of money. But a guy like Kincaid, like, is
41:45
he part of his plans long term? And talk about Spencer Hall, is
41:50
that what kind of role he could be he could be given this
41:53
upcoming season? Yeah, so with Kincaid, I think
41:57
the Bills really do want him to be part of their long term
42:01
future. The problem is he's been injured
42:03
a lot in the last two years. He suffered A torn PCL in his
42:07
left knee in November of 2024. Played through it, didn't have
42:13
any surgery on it in the offseason, played with it again
42:16
in 2025, which he missed a lot of time.
42:19
He was limited in some games. His Rep count or snap counts in
42:23
games were very low at times. And it's one of those things
42:26
where doctors won't necessarily operate on it unless they feel
42:29
it needs to be done. And it sounds like they don't
42:31
feel it needs to be operated on still.
42:33
So if he can stay healthy, yeah, he'll be a big part of this
42:36
team. In terms of targets.
42:38
You saw the the numbers that he had when he was on the field in
42:42
terms of his efficiency and it was off the charts.
42:45
He was phenomenal for this team. But availability is the most
42:49
important thing. He hasn't shown that tendency
42:52
yet. It's a slam dunk so that the
42:54
Bills are going to add the 5th year option.
42:56
Like you said, with the amount of money that it would cost, it
43:00
just makes a ton of sense to bring it or keep him in the
43:02
fold. You know, a guy like Kyle Pitts
43:05
that you mentioned has never really put it all together.
43:07
He had a really nice season and moments this past year, but he's
43:11
already been franchised tagged by Atlanta.
43:13
So they're going to hold on to him for another year and see
43:17
what they can do with him with the new coaching regime.
43:20
Obviously bring in Stefanski and seeing if they can elevate his
43:24
game. But you know, everyone always
43:26
wants the the next best thing that's out there.
43:29
If Kincaid can stay healthy, I think he can be one of the top
43:32
tight ends in this league. And then with Jackson Hawes, he
43:37
is an elite blocker already in my opinion.
43:41
He showed better hands and I think a lot of people gave him
43:43
credit for throughout the year. I feel like when the time comes
43:48
with the Bills feel like they have to move on from Dawson Knox
43:51
for instance, this year they could at least feel confident
43:55
enough that Haws could be a quasi 2 or bring another
43:58
veteran. I think at the end of the day,
44:00
Knox's deal either gets reworked or they release him and then
44:03
they say, you know, let us know what other teams are offering.
44:07
We'd love to have you back and and make a comparable offer, but
44:11
his cat pit is absolutely ridiculous right now with where
44:13
it's at. The Bills have 22 free agents
44:20
this offseason, some of them some key names that they brought
44:23
in, like Joey Bosa, Daquan Jones, Connor McGovern, Matt
44:27
Milano's. One of them, you know, AJ
44:30
Eponessa, David Edwards, you know, Trudavius White, so and
44:38
they brought back Alec Anderson, which I know you loved yourself
44:42
and Federian Mathis. So could you see the Bills bring
44:45
back any of those free agents? Oh, absolutely.
44:49
They're going to bring back a few of them at least.
44:51
So, you know, looking at my list, I would love to see them
44:54
at least bring back one of their old alignment that are
44:56
available. Conor McGovern would be my
44:59
preference, but I think Edwards is going to cost too much money.
45:03
That said, it's going to be hard to bring back either one of
45:05
them. But if they were to spend, you
45:08
know, big money, I think it'd be on one of their own in that
45:10
regard. Reggie Gilliam, I think, is
45:13
still very valuable to this team.
45:14
He won't break the bank. You bring him back, though, for
45:18
his blocking, for his ability to play on special teams.
45:21
Now mind you, if Joe Brady's offense is no night and day
45:25
different than the offense we saw this past year, and maybe
45:29
they aren't going to be so run heavy maybe that he doesn't come
45:32
back, but I feel like Gilliam has become one of the best full
45:35
backs in this league. I'd be interested in bringing
45:37
back Brandon Cooks to be their wide receiver three with Shakira
45:43
being 2. And then obviously if they could
45:44
trade for one, that'd be a nice one through 3.
45:48
Shaq Thompson, if you can get him back, you know you need a
45:51
lot of linebackers on this team. I love what he's done.
45:54
He's played in a four three and a three four, so he has the
45:57
versatility. Mitch Wisnowski, the punter I
46:00
thought did a really good job this year.
46:03
There's no other punter really on this team right now.
46:05
At least bring him back. If you want to add competition
46:07
later, so be it. Sam Franklin for special teams,
46:11
Trey White, I love what he did, but obviously the what they do
46:15
in terms of their scheme might be a lot different this year.
46:18
Trubisky for a backup you could sell me on.
46:21
And then you know, Matt Milano, I love what he's done for this
46:25
team. It might be time to move on.
46:26
Cam Lewis is a solid depth guy, versatility, Epinesta for the
46:31
right price. And then, you know, Bosa, I
46:35
don't think he's going to come back, but if you could truly
46:38
make him a rotational piece and not overplay him, I think he
46:43
could have been a lot better this year.
46:46
Right now, the Bills are a little bit over 50 million over
46:49
the cap right now. And we knew, we know what
46:53
Brandon Bean is all about and he's going to try to create some
46:57
flexibility to try to go under it.
46:59
And probably then some men remember a couple years ago that
47:03
the Bills cut a plethora of guys out of the roster because they
47:07
were a very age and they want to go younger.
47:10
It seemed like it worked out very well for.
47:12
Could you see something similar like that?
47:13
Because we know that there's going to be guys are going to
47:15
get cut loose with this roster, right?
47:17
So if you think about it like who would be the guys that you
47:20
think will be most likely going to be cut?
47:24
Yeah, I mean, the big name is Curtis Samuel in terms of money,
47:27
almost $8 million per year on average.
47:30
So you're going to probably look at cutting him.
47:33
Taylor Rap isn't a huge amount, but I can see them cutting him
47:38
and moving on. You look at, I know they said
47:41
that Tyler Bass is going to be their kicker.
47:43
You could save about 3 million by cutting him if you feel like
47:46
there's a better option out there.
47:48
So those are three guys. Realistically, the Bills are
47:51
going to have to restructure a lot of deals or sign guys to
47:56
extensions. They're in a tough spot right
47:58
now. So obviously restructuring Josh
48:01
Allen's contract will add over $12 million in cap space.
48:06
If you restructure Spencer Brown's deal, you can save over
48:09
10 million. If you want to sign one last
48:11
extension for Dion Dawkins, who said he's going to come back in
48:15
the best shape of his career, that can free up almost 13
48:18
million. So there's a lot of moves and
48:21
levers that they can pull. But in terms of releasing guys,
48:25
it's tough because the dead cat hits for a lot of these guys
48:28
don't make it worthwhile. You know, for for instance, if
48:33
you look up and down there, someone's said Josh Palmer.
48:38
Palmer wouldn't make a lot of sense though, because of the
48:40
dead cat Pit did have to swallow.
48:42
And the fact that they probably want to see what he does look
48:44
like healthy in this system, even if that means him being a
48:48
very expensive wide receiver for you look at, you know, I
48:55
question whether or not at Oliver's a good fit for this new
48:57
scheme. I've seen some people say he
48:59
will. I've seen some people say
49:00
undersized, doesn't have the length to play on the outside,
49:03
too small to play on the inside. You're not going to cut a player
49:07
like that. But would you trade him to get
49:09
some really good draft picks? He's still in his prime.
49:12
Send him to a team that has the even man front.
49:14
The Bills can get creative and free up cap space.
49:17
But just simply cutting guys, it doesn't really work out based on
49:21
the way a lot of these, you know, salaries are currently set
49:24
up. With NFL free agency set to
49:30
officially open on Wednesday, March 11th at 4:00 PM when the
49:35
new league year begins, who are some players that you think in
49:39
your opinion the Bills could maybe go after to try and
49:44
augment their team heading into heading into training camp?
49:48
Yeah, I think that they need to go out and get value players on
49:54
defense. So when I say that Leo Chanel is
49:58
not projected to break the bank at linebacker and he was a star
50:02
in Leonard's scheme at Wisconsin, I think that he's
50:05
really good at getting after the quarterback.
50:07
He's improved every year at stopping the run.
50:09
He's a player that knows the system and scheme, so he could
50:13
come right in immediately and be an asset to this team.
50:16
If not him, Alex Singleton from the Denver Broncos has a cool
50:20
story. Where he was in the NFL really
50:23
didn't. He was caught, was moved around,
50:25
played in the CFL, was outstanding in the CFL, gets
50:29
back in the NFL and then really establishes himself.
50:33
But he's an older, I think he's 3132.
50:36
You could bring him in for a, you know, the price would be
50:40
right, so to speak, if they want to go a little bit more
50:42
expensive. John Franklin Myers, D lineman
50:46
with Denver really has played extremely well since he was
50:49
traded there by The Jets. Good fit for this new system.
50:54
Good player PJ Locke, a safety from the Broncos.
50:58
So, you know, I'm going with a lot of guys that Jim Leonard is
51:01
familiar with, but to me that makes a ton of sense to go in
51:04
that in that area. Offensive lineman, you know,
51:08
they're going to go after some veteran O lineman.
51:11
I just saw, and I'm blanking on his name that the Packers were
51:14
going to release. He played center this year for
51:18
them, but he's really played guard for most of his career.
51:22
And he was outstanding at guard. But his salary cap made it so
51:27
the Packers don't want to keep him along on that roster this
51:31
season. So I would love to see the Bills
51:33
take a shot on a player of that caliber.
51:36
I'm going to look it up right now.
51:38
Elton Jenkins. Jenkins was really good at
51:41
guard, two time Pro Bowler. But they played them at center
51:44
this past year. So I wouldn't mind, you know,
51:47
throwing a dart like that, especially if you lose David
51:49
Edwards, bring him in his competition for Alec Anderson.
51:53
And you know, if they lose both alignment, Anderson probably
51:57
going to compete for the center job as well with Cedric Van
52:00
praying Ranger. But Brandon Beans always added
52:03
veterans from the online as well and free agency.
52:05
So those are just some of the, you know, ideas and or specific
52:09
players I'd look at. So the combine is set to start.
52:14
I think it's just, I believe it's going to start this week or
52:16
next week. I think it's this week, right?
52:18
So. There's that way with like all
52:20
the drills and. Yeah, yeah.
52:23
So obviously there's going to be scouts out there they're they're
52:27
going to look into these players heading into the draft, which is
52:30
late April LED last last draft last year.
52:35
Freddie Bean was on the radio say that and he was very
52:39
colorful about what he had to say about what the Bills had to
52:42
emphasize and that and he emphasized a lot on defense and
52:45
guys like landed Jack, he drafted guys like Leander
52:47
Jackson, the odd Walker became a big impactful player for the for
52:52
the Bills. And could he go on a similar
52:56
route where they have to emphasize a lot on the draft?
52:59
Because I know Brandon loves to draft defensive players, but is
53:02
there any other route that he needs address?
53:04
Because you mentioned about some guys they're they're about to
53:07
lose a free agency like the online right, like Davis
53:11
Edwards, for example, or any to that point.
53:13
Or do you think they go just say best player available and then
53:17
he just works around it? Yeah, I think you almost have to
53:20
go, but best player available. And you know, when they're if
53:23
they sit there and they have pick #26 they don't trade it for
53:27
a player they don't trade it for to move up in the draft, then
53:32
yeah, you sit there and say, OK, maybe this edge rusher is the
53:35
best player available. Seen a lot of mock drafts where
53:37
the Bills are taking edge rushers at pick 26 because of
53:41
the receivers that are there are as valuable.
53:45
It could be a safety, it could be anything.
53:48
To be quite honest. I think that's the right route
53:49
to go because we've seen the Bills press at times for a
53:53
position like cornerback with Kaier Elam and that did not work
53:56
out whatsoever. It feels like when they've been
53:59
very predictable, that's when it's really hurt them.
54:02
And then obviously a few years ago with Keyon Coleman, they
54:04
traded down a few times, added more assets and picks, but
54:07
everyone said all the Bills are going to add a receiver, They're
54:10
going to add a receiver. And sure enough, it was Coleman
54:12
with the first pick of the second round and that has not
54:15
worked out to date. So I feel like you have to go
54:18
BPA. I feel like this year's combine
54:21
is going to be very valuable for being because he's going to have
54:24
Jim Leonard there as well saying, oh man, this guy looks
54:27
like a really good fit for my scheme.
54:30
Based on what the Bills have scouted this year too, they can
54:32
kind of compare notes and talk about it.
54:34
But what's fascinating is you're starting to see teams not go to
54:38
the combines anymore. The Rams are a team that won't
54:42
go send their like GM or head coach.
54:45
They're still send scouts, obviously.
54:47
I believe I read that Jacksonville today is not doing
54:49
that and it's fascinating. I'm not saying it's right or
54:52
wrong, but when you're in the room interviewing these guys and
54:56
they charm you and they answer the questions that how you like
55:00
it, is that swaying your decision making at all?
55:03
I remember how charming Kian Coleman was in those released
55:06
videos when he joked about not being a good golfer like Tiger
55:11
Woods. I can't remember the line now
55:13
when they saw the notebook from Kyrie Elam with all the plays
55:17
that he had, you know? Does that sway their opinion
55:21
even the littlest way? I'm not saying it does, but it's
55:24
at least interesting to think about that.
55:26
Maybe in the next two or three years, maybe the Bills, if they
55:29
have that stability at head coach and DC, you know, Leonard
55:33
hasn't left or anything like that, maybe they then consider
55:36
not sending their coaching staff and GM to the combine, but still
55:40
sending their scouts, obviously. Yeah, that's interesting.
55:48
As for the main roster, and we know that NFL trades are, are
55:52
usually like no other, you know, it's not like other sports
55:56
usually when the trades made it's usually to to you know,
56:00
just to get rid of salary or make space.
56:03
So, but with that being said, do you see anybody on this roster
56:08
that could possibly be traded, you know, a little roster shake
56:11
up? Yeah, I mean, if I look at this
56:14
roster, like I said, the biggest name I would pitch would be at
56:18
Oliver and and Jim Leonard might have a completely different
56:21
view. And mind you, he's the the
56:24
defensive guru and I am not. But I look at a prime defensive
56:28
tackle that's played in even man fronts.
56:32
He's undersized, but he still can do very well in that scheme.
56:36
Maybe you trade him, get a few valuable draft picks so you can
56:40
use those picks to either acquire a receiver or another
56:43
player used to just add more, you know, draft capital in this
56:47
year's draft. Whatever the case may be, he
56:49
makes a lot of sense. And then obviously if you look
56:52
up and down this roster, you could ultimately end up trading
56:56
Keyon Coleman. But what are you going to get?
56:58
You're going to get another player back that another team
57:01
has given up on or a very, very late round pick.
57:04
So is your return on investment really worthwhile there?
57:07
Who knows, you never know, there might be another receiver that
57:11
the Bills want that a team is giving up on where very similar
57:15
to they didn't need Kelvin Shepard years ago and they got
57:18
Jerry Hughes, a player that the Colts is giving up on.
57:21
And we know that worked out really well for the Bills in
57:23
that case. So stuff like that can happen,
57:26
but when I look up and down this roster, there's not a lot of
57:29
wide receivers that they currently have that they would
57:32
be tradable assets. I don't think any team wants to
57:35
take on Dawson Knox's contract as is.
57:40
So then you look at the defensive side of the ball.
57:42
I already mentioned Oliver. I don't think you want to move
57:46
on. I think that Gregory so actually
57:48
has a really good chance to break out in this system, in
57:51
this scheme, to be quite honest. None of the linebackers make a
57:55
lot of sense to trade. And then you're not moving on
57:58
from Hairston, you're definitely not moving on from Benford or
58:00
Cold Bishop. So I think your options are very
58:03
limited. To Rob Bernard, I know you know
58:07
some people mention his name that if if he fits in the
58:11
system, what about what about him?
58:12
Is he still a part of? I know he was.
58:13
He's the captain as long as Josh Allen, but is he still a big
58:18
part of this franchise? I can't sit here and say that he
58:21
will be, but that being said, when he's been healthy, he looks
58:25
like a much different football player than what he did this
58:29
year. He is undersized.
58:31
He how he fits into this 3-4 or potentially A34 will be
58:36
fascinating. I do think that with his salary,
58:40
he's got to be on this roster at least this year, maybe even for
58:43
two years. I remember looking at his
58:45
contract recently. It's going to be a tough one to
58:48
get out of, but how he gets ultimately used, you know, maybe
58:52
he ends up being a very expensive backup on this team or
58:55
he has to compete for a starting job.
58:57
Whatever it is, he's going to have to really work this
59:00
offseason at tending to these injuries that he dealt with all
59:04
of last year, making sure that he's good to go come training
59:07
camp and even before that. Who would you say is in line for
59:14
an extension? And I know that Brandon Bean did
59:16
that last year. Was it the year before?
59:20
The last couple years he's been doing this right.
59:22
You saw James Cook got extended as well, but and Khalil Shakur
59:26
and and so on and so forth. But if you had to say to
59:28
yourself, because we know a guy like Osiris Torrance and he's
59:31
going to get expensive, really quite a real suit, and a guy
59:35
like him would be a prime candidate, wouldn't you think?
59:40
Yeah, Torrance makes sense, especially the bills are, are
59:45
very high and now, you know, there were some he whipped on
59:48
some pretty big plays at times too.
59:50
I I feel like the last two years I've been that guy that's kind
59:53
of not been as high on Torrance as the as others.
59:57
I still think he's a good player.
59:58
I don't know if he's a break the bank type of player, which I I
1:00:02
know that sounds weird based on at times he has looked really
1:00:06
good, but then there's there's other moments where he just lets
1:00:09
guys blow by. Him, so it's some ups and downs
1:00:12
there, but he's certainly a candidate.
1:00:15
I mentioned Deanne Dawkins earlier to kind of bring down
1:00:18
his cat. He makes a lot of sense.
1:00:21
If I'm looking at, you know, at that, at the offensive side of
1:00:26
the ball, it's tough to find a lot of other guys that maybe you
1:00:30
want to resign or extend. I should say, you know, I don't
1:00:35
think that Ray Davis is necessarily going to be high on
1:00:37
their priority list. But after becoming an all pro
1:00:40
return man and and knowing that maybe sooner rather than later
1:00:44
when he becomes extension eligible, you want to talk about
1:00:48
that because it wouldn't break the bank.
1:00:50
And that would be a smart guy to keep in the fold because you
1:00:53
never know how injuries will unfold that running back either.
1:00:58
And then on the defence side of the ball, just kind of thinking
1:01:00
up and down this roster, I just think there's going to be so
1:01:05
much change it with Jim Leonard's scheme, that of the
1:01:10
players that are going to be locks here, Cole Bishops not
1:01:15
quite extension eligible, they've already extended
1:01:17
Christian Benford, Harrison's not eligible.
1:01:20
So I just don't know if they have anyone necessarily on that
1:01:24
side of the ball. They have to prioritize
1:01:26
resigning right now. So the Bills are going to have a
1:01:32
new home in 2026, the new stadium site for the Highmark
1:01:37
Stadium across from the old one. So how excited is Buffalo for
1:01:42
this? And what are your thoughts about
1:01:46
the development of this new stadium and how it's gone and
1:01:51
how you know how it's going to affect the Bills on the field
1:01:56
being so state-of-the-art? You know, they were in an old
1:01:59
stadium for many years. So just just how excited is this
1:02:04
community for this new stadium? Yeah, I think they're very
1:02:08
excited. I mean, it looks unbelievable
1:02:10
from the outside, like covering games the past two years, I
1:02:15
would always be blown away with the amount of progress that
1:02:18
seemed to be done within a week or two or three weeks times,
1:02:22
depending on how often the Bills were at home between a, you
1:02:25
know, one home game to the next. It felt like it moved along
1:02:29
really nicely this past year. They were kind of putting on the
1:02:32
final bells and whistles on the exterior.
1:02:35
I know they're still finishing up stuff on the inside, but
1:02:38
there is a high level of excitement about what this new
1:02:41
stadium is going to due for the Bills.
1:02:44
Obviously they talk about the wind elements and how the winds
1:02:48
not going to be a factor for kicking.
1:02:49
That's fascinating to me based on the winds that I've
1:02:53
experienced over the years at the old Highmark Stadium just in
1:02:58
like post game podcast out on the field, how windy it can get
1:03:01
and how that has affected players in game.
1:03:05
The atmosphere. Just I think players are pumped
1:03:08
up about it. The fan base is pumped up.
1:03:10
You name it. It's going to be cool to be in
1:03:12
there and in, you know, a few months time, whether it's for
1:03:15
the return of the Red and Blue scrimmage for the first time or
1:03:18
whatever, that time comes. I got to ask you one more
1:03:23
question here before you wrap this up is right, Brandon Bean
1:03:26
is under contract for to what, the end of 2027?
1:03:30
So you would have to think that he's going to get extended,
1:03:32
right? Yeah.
1:03:34
You know, the weird thing about that when it comes to GMs and
1:03:38
presidents and stuff like that, a lot of the times when they do
1:03:41
sign or extend, we don't even hear about it until after the
1:03:45
fact, sometimes a year after the fact.
1:03:46
So for all I know, maybe he's already been kind of extended it
1:03:51
with this new role when he signed on to become president.
1:03:55
We really don't know when his contract truly is up right now.
1:04:00
Well, Brian, this was this was great.
1:04:03
We appreciate your insight, information, great work.
1:04:06
As always. We thank you for being in this
1:04:08
episode. We had a great time.
1:04:10
But where can we find you? In social media and everywhere
1:04:12
else? Yeah, most social media sites.
1:04:16
You can find me at Ryan Talbot Bills.
1:04:19
That would be for X Instagram, I think even TikTok where we
1:04:25
upload some of our video shorts from our podcast.
1:04:27
So that is generally my go to handle on social media.
1:04:32
Yeah, man, thanks for joining us.
1:04:34
I know you're under the weather, so, you know, we really
1:04:37
appreciate you being here, especially when you're not
1:04:40
feeling well. So it was great to talk bills to
1:04:43
get your input. And you know, you do great work,
1:04:45
man, Followed you for a long time.
1:04:47
Keep it up man. Hey, thank you guys.
1:04:50
Enjoy your evening. Let's.
1:04:53
Try to get a let's try to let's try to bring back your your your
1:04:57
other half in the shout podcast, Matt, but make sure make sure
1:05:01
you listen to his episode. We'll place the description
1:05:04
everything below where you can follow Ryan Talbot and the shout
1:05:08
podcast and his work. So till next time, take care.
1:05:12
Be kind to each other. Signing off from the Sports Ave.
1:05:14
Twisted podcast on Monday, February 23rd, 2020.
1:05:18
Sixth.