Buffalo Bills Training Camp - July 16 (rookies), July 23 (veterans)

[Digable5]

To be fair, they weren’t expected to take one in the NFL Draft either, sooooooooo…….

 

[WeDislikeEich]

Smart! I love this type of forward thinking. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see other teams copy this.

 

[Mike McDermott]

 

[Zman5778]

Wouldn't hate it at all. As @Husko says -- he has one trick, but he does that one trick very well.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Wouldn't hate it at all. As @Husko says -- he has one trick, but he does that one trick very well.

Deep threat?

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Wouldn't hate it at all. As @Husko says -- he has one trick, but he does that one trick very well.

Drop passes in the regular season, then catch everything when he plays against us in the playoffs?

 

[Rowley Birkin]

MVS would be interesting. As others have said he's a one trick pony but he's easily good enough at that one thing to merit a roster spot.

This & also based on what I'd expect him to get contract wise - he'd be a roster lock along with Samuel, Shakir, Coleman & Hollins. There's a world where i see them carrying only 5 WRs & certainly not more than six. That would be a tough competition for the multitude of guys they have in the room already. Some of them won't even be able to make the PS.

 

[Jim Bob]

The FA WR pickings are really slim at this point. When it comes to deep threat WRs, MVS is probably the best you are going to find in FA today.

 

[Mike McDermott]

If Burrow is back to form, KC has two really tough games to start the season.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Can't wait to see what type of chemistry Coleman and Allen can dial up, Coleman's personality is off the charts and a refreshing change from Digg's moodiness hanging over the team last 2 years. If Coleman can play, this could be a home run pick.

 

[John Price]

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Dubi Doo]

Nice. I like adding depth to the WR core. I'm assuming his contract will be cheap, too.

So, it's looking like these four are likely cemented in:
Shakir
Coleman
Samuel
MVS

Then these guys are battling for the final 3 spots:
Shorter
Hollins
Claypool
Isabella

I'm pretty sure they usually carry 7 WRs, right?

Adding Kincaid and Knox as passing threats makes this group solid. Obviously, need Shakir and Kincaid to continue progressing for it to really work, but I like the potential and mix of talent they have.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Nice. I like adding depth to the WR core. I'm assuming his contract will be cheap, too.

So, it's looking like these four are likely cemented in:
Shakir
Coleman
Samuel
MVS

Then these guys are battling for the final 3 spots:
Shorter
Hollins
Claypool
Isabella

I'm pretty sure they usually carry 7 WRs, right?

Adding Kincaid and Knox as passing threats makes this group solid. Obviously, need Shakir and Kincaid to continue progressing for it to really work, but I like the potential and mix of talent they have.

As i posted above, Hollins is also pretty much a lock to make the roster at this point IMO. So that's your five.

And i don't see how they can carry seven WRs. Have they ever done that in the McBeane era? With how much depth they tend to carry on D, plus how often they will be deploying 2TE sets... I think the max number of WRs they carry is six, possibly just five...

And it depends what you define as 'cheap'. MVS made circa $10m last season IIRC. I'd expect him to eat up a chunk of their free space.

 

[BuiltTagonTough]

Nice. I like adding depth to the WR core. I'm assuming his contract will be cheap, too.

So, it's looking like these four are likely cemented in:
Shakir
Coleman
Samuel
MVS

Then these guys are battling for the final 3 spots:
Shorter
Hollins
Claypool
Isabella

I'm pretty sure they usually carry 7 WRs, right?

Adding Kincaid and Knox as passing threats makes this group solid. Obviously, need Shakir and Kincaid to continue progressing for it to really work, but I like the potential and mix of talent they have.

I have very few expectations but if the Bills manage to get Claypool's head on straight that could be a dramatically big addition for us.

 

[Krieger Bot]

I like the MVS signing. They needed someone in their rotation who wins vertically with speed. It's he going to be 30 this year? Yep. Does he do much other than run deep routes? Nope. But as your organizational number 4, that's perfectly fine (at least that's where I'll guess he ends up). He'll probably play about 1/3 of our snaps and add an element that we don't already have. Good move.

 

[Husko]

As i posted above, Hollins is also pretty much a lock to make the roster at this point IMO. So that's your five.

And i don't see how they can carry seven WRs. Have they ever done that in the McBeane era? With how much depth they tend to carry on D, plus how often they will be deploying 2TE sets... I think the max number of WRs they carry is six, possibly just five...

And it depends what you define as 'cheap'. MVS made circa $10m last season IIRC. I'd expect him to eat up a chunk of their free space.

The only way would be special teams WRs winning those core spots. With Neal and Matakevich gone, those core ST spots are open for the taking.



Looks like a very incentive-laden contract. A lot cheaper than you were expecting, I think.

The other thing to consider with this MVS deal is they don't have the White money available. So it can't be that big of a cap hit. They were under 3 million left yesterday. If MVS has a ~4 million cap hit, it would take them down to 0. I'm guessing it's close to 2, though, and we're now sitting at under 2 in space until we get Tre money.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Husko]

One thing that's nice about MVS is he can play the X, letting them move Coleman around for some easier looks from time to time.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

I'll take the playoff MVS over the regular season version who couldn't catch a cold while butt naked in a blizzard!

 

[Rowley Birkin]

The only way would be special teams WRs winning those core spots. With Neal and Matakevich gone, those core ST spots are open for the taking.



Looks like a very incentive-laden contract. A lot cheaper than you were expecting, I think.

The other thing to consider with this MVS deal is they don't have the White money available. So it can't be that big of a cap hit. They were under 3 million left yesterday. If MVS has a ~4 million cap hit, it would take them down to 0. I'm guessing it's close to 2, though, and we're now sitting at under 2 in space until we get Tre money.

Good point about the STers - but Matakevich was one of only five (?) LBs typically on the roster so i don't really consider him an extra roster spot. Neal maybe - although i expect them to continue carrying a large number of DBs. And right now especially with the new KO rule, i have a return specialist as a roster lock (that looks like Hardy this year when in previous years it has tended to be a WR).

I don't see them carrying seven WRs whichever way you look at it. They simply don't need to carry that many.

Regarding salary - i realise the White money isn't off the books yet & that's what I was referring to in my OP. I expect the MVS contract to bring them down to zero before White comes off, at which point they can start signing draft picks.

 

[Husko]

Good point about the STers - but Matakevich was one of only five (?) LBs typically on the roster so i don't really consider him an extra roster spot. Neal maybe - although i expect them to continue carrying a large number of DBs. And right now especially with the new KO rule, i have a return specialist as a roster lock (that looks like Hardy this year when in previous years it has tended to be a WR).

Regarding salary - i realise the White money isn't off the books yet & that's what I was referring to in my OP. I expect the MVS contract to bring them down to zero before White comes off, at which point they can start signing draft picks.

Here's where I see them at cap-wise:

Pre MVS: ~2 million in top 51 cap space, which is functionally 0 once you add in the last 2 up to 53.

MVS expected contract: About 2 million in cap space, meaning it brings them down to ~1 million in top 51 space, and -1 million in 53.

White cap space is 10, bringing them up to 9 million in 53 space. Signing rookies will bring them down to 8 million. Then factor in about 2 million for practice squad.

Where it leaves us: 6 million for summer additions + in season moves. Probably enough to add one more significant piece if they see the need (think more Ford than Floyd), but other than that probably just free moves.

 

[Jim Bob]

Here's where I see them at cap-wise:

Pre MVS: ~2 million in top 51 cap space, which is functionally 0 once you add in the last 2 up to 53.

MVS expected contract: About 2 million in cap space, meaning it brings them down to ~1 million in top 51 space, and -1 million in 53.

White cap space is 10, bringing them up to 9 million in 53 space. Signing rookies will bring them down to 8 million. Then factor in about 2 million for practice squad.

Where it leaves us: 6 million for summer additions + in season moves. Probably enough to add one more significant piece if they see the need (think more Ford than Floyd), but other than that probably just free moves.

Beane likes to take $5-6M into the season for injury replacements and TDL moves like trading for Douglas.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I like the MVS signing for the money. I think it was smart.

Beane is going in the Chargers' old direction with the receiving corps. Jackson, Floyd, Gates were like a basketball team and very hard to stop. If it were not for Tom Brady I think the 2007 Chargers win the Super Bowl.

I started to re-think the receiver positions over the past year. I'm not so sure there's such a thing as an X, Y, Z receiver in the classic sense anymore. I think we are starting to see two X receivers at the boundaries on many plays, with the Y and the Z being redefined, and I think morphed into a slot style receiver who can also play a bit outside. And then you have the slot only guys, but that's also being changed as we have "big slots" and TEs playing traditional slot.

Coleman, MVS, and Shorter are what I'd redefine as boundary receivers who run route trees similar to what an X receiver runs. The most fundamental thing they can do is stretch the field vertically. Compression of the offense is akin to football death. I like those three as the vertical guys. MVS doesn't need to catch a lot of footballs. Just be a threat.

Diggs was and Shakir and Samuel are what I'd call the Y-Z morph. They can play outside and run a diverse route tree but also have good skills for a traditional slot.

I think Kincaid is going to eat up a lot of the traditional slot snaps, with Knox playing inline more.

I can see the Bills going with a Coleman-Shakir-Samuel lineup in 11 with Shakir and Samuel alternating who plays outside. When MVS comes in, it'll be Coleman and MVS outside, which is a good duo.

Claypool is interesting. If the Bills get his head straight, he's another boundary receiver. He's a Vincent Jackson clone when he's on.

I wonder if the Bills start to look at Knox as a TE-FB hybrid. I can see him having trouble getting snaps if the Bills go 11 a lot.

 

[John Price]