Bills make two big trades.

[Uptown]

.....They got worse....

 

[Deus Irae]

Watkins was such a bonehead mistake by the Bills. They gave away way too much to get him and he was just good, not great his first two seasons.

At this rate, the Pats may clinch the division by Thanksgiving. Both the Bills and Jets are all about the future and Miami players are dropping like flies.

Watkins is another foot injury guy who came back too soon. He's still also a guy who could be a monster with the right coaching.

This has to be a pair of moves designed to get rid of the stink of the previous regime at the expense of a talent drain.

 

[Deus Irae]

So now 2 division rivals have decided to start rebuilding this year.

You think that our off season has anything to do with that?

Jets and Bills are like "**** it, maybe next year"

And then there's Jay Cutler...

 

[Gwedd]

After reading this, I'm pretty sure we take both games each with the Bills & Jest, and maybe split with Miami.

Thing is,although every AFCE game is pretty much a dogfight, we've historically had problems with Miami. Mostly when we have to play down there. Can't say exactly why. Maybe it's the heat/humidity. But whatever it is, I expect new England to take the division and at least go 5/1, if not sweep it. And that's the all important first step because if you win the division, you're in the playoffs. Everything starts with that.

 

[Joey007]

Watkins is another foot injury guy who came back too soon. He's still also a guy who could be a monster with the right coaching.

This has to be a pair of moves designed to get rid of the stink of the previous regime at the expense of a talent drain.

We could definitely see the Watkins move coming, considering they didn't even pick up his option.

Darby did surprise me a bit, thought they liked him.

 

[Gwedd]

Sensible.
Why bother going all in for the 2017 season in the AFC East.
Field a competent team but position yourself for the future with a lot of young players.
They have two first round picks, two seconds, and two thirds. Those players will be peaking as Brady's career winds down and the Bills will be in a better position to win the division.

Playing the long game. The only problem with that is you need a competent front office, a coaching staff that gels and knows what it's doing, and getting players with those picks that will not just perform, but fit into your system.

I'm not sure the Bills have all of that in the front office and coaching staff, nor, considering how they've been drafting and trading, do they have a scouting department that's up to the task.

But we'll see.

 

[goheels22002]

The Browns would appear to be the most threatened franchise with the developments in the AFC East. What are they going to do if they have to draft the 4th best player in the NFL Draft?!? Those are uncharted waters for the mistake by the lake.

 

[BlacknGold77]

Sensible.
Why bother going all in for the 2017 season in the AFC East.
Field a competent team but position yourself for the future with a lot of young players.
They have two first round picks, two seconds, and two thirds. Those players will be peaking as Brady's career winds down and the Bills will be in a better position to win the division.

if they had traded away vets, you'd have a point. Problem is they traded away top level YOUNG talent for picks.

Darby - 22 yrs old - entering his 3rd season
Watkins - 23 yrs old - entering his 4th season

So they traded known quantities, 2 young/highly talented/productive players for picks that they hope become highly talented/productive players.

Live look at the Bills front office...

 

[Hammer of Thor]

The Browns would appear to be the most threatened franchise with the developments in the AFC East. What are they going to do if they have to draft the 4th best player in the NFL Draft?!? Those are uncharted waters for the mistake by the lake.

Remember that someone has to win the AFC East matchups..... worst case for the Browns is that the Fins/Bills/Jete split with each other and lose all other games to go 2-14. More likely one or two of the "cream" will rise to the top, and the Browns will only be competing with one of the AFC East teams for the #1 pick.

 

[Wheelman]

Why did they trade Darby and a pick for a worse player?

They're accumulating picks. They got a 3rd rounder for Darby, and moved up from 6th round to 2nd round for Watkins on top of the two guys they got for the respective trades.

 

[primetime]

LOL @ Sammy watkins. Dude could have been really good in this league. he just didnt have what it takes to mature

Has more to do with him always being hurt than maturity.

Matthews is a big step down from Watkins in terms of theoretical talent but is likely to actually play more than a handful of games this season, and EJ Gaines is a respectable corner and probably better than Darby. They also picked up two picks that will probably be in the top-40 and top-75 of next year's draft to downgrade at receiver; Watkins wasn't going to be a Bill past this year in any case.

 

[Simpelton]

I think I understand the thought process. They know they still can't compete with the Patriots now, but they're gambling that the brady era is ending sometime in the next 5 years, and the Patriots will be much more vulnerable when he's either gone or too old to perform at a peak level, so they're loading up to start their build in 2018, so that by the time Brady is gone or actually in decline 2-3 years after that, they're ready with top talent that's had a few years to grow into its roles and loaded up to fight for the division.

Not so much a tank as a proper rebuild with a window in mind that coincides with the 600 pound gorilla in the division finally maybe weakening

I'm not saying it's a great plan, but it's a plan.

 

[slam]

It'd be hilarious if the Fins and Bills out-tank the Jets and it turns out it's only a 2 QB draft.

 

[Simpelton]

You're assuming that nobody else outside the division is also skilled enough at failing to out-tank the Jets.

 

[Joey007]

Gonna say this though.

With today's news, I think the Eagles win that division. Stacked defense.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Good.

Two more people for Bill to evaluate when they play against us. always looking out for the next Hogan, Gilmore, ...

 

[slam]

You're assuming that nobody else outside the division is also skilled enough at failing to out-tank the Jets.

Well it'd be hilarious if the Jets get the Xth best QB in a X-1 QB draft, but even more so if it's the two AFC rivals that foil their big plan.

 

[The Gr8est]

Gonna say this though.

With today's news, I think the Eagles win that division. Stacked defense.

Imagine if they could get a guy like Eric Rowe.

 

[jah]

They're accumulating picks. They got a 3rd rounder for Darby, and moved up from 6th round to 2nd round for Watkins on top of the two guys they got for the respective trades.

I can see I read the initial report incorrectly (or the report itself was wrong, too lazy to go back and check).

I don't think it was a terrible trade for the Bills anymore, but it does signal that they gave up on 2017.

 

[PatsFan2]

Wait??? What?? Bills...Jets conceding AFC East to Patriots???