Welcome to the latest edition of the Bills Mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions …
John Jarzynski asks: I find the Amari Cooper situation interesting. Given that he has yet to find a team, is it possible that the Bills overrated him last year?
Jay: General manager Brandon Beane might want to skip this part of the mailbag. It’s clear that’s what happened. I’m not calling for Beane’s job here. Trading a third-round pick for an established receiver is the type of move I’d expect from a team chasing a Super Bowl. It looked like the right type of move. In retrospect, the Bills might need to evaluate their pro scouting setup. Cooper gets credit for playing through a wrist injury that might have ended another player’s season. But he remains unsigned, and that tells me all 32 teams must believe Cooper has lost a step.
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Bills receiver Amari Cooper makes a leaping catch over Jets defender Brandin Echols on Dec. 29, 2024, at Highmark Stadium. Cooper, who played eight regular-season games after his midseason trade from Cleveland, has yet to find a new team this summer. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Snow shovelers need not apply: Clearing out the new Bills stadium should be easier
Larger snowfalls that have occurred the week of a Buffalo Bills home game sometimes result in the Bills asking for help from the public to remove snow from inside the stadium, but the canopy and several other key elements of the new venue may not make that necessary anymore.
Jeff asks: After this season, can we please try (to) not mention Stefon Diggs again? Yes, he was a great addition to the team while he was here, and during his last season here, he was an absolute distraction. We can speculate on the reasons why. I get it. We all get it. But does it have to be mentioned ad nauseum? Also, why do some of the rookies take so long to sign? There’s no negotiating to do.
Jay: Drama sells. Diggs is a big star in the NFL. He’s dating a famous rap artist, Cardi B. It’s naturally going to be a storyline when he faces the Bills, which he’ll do twice a year now as a member of the Patriots. Given the way his separation from the Bills went, it will continue to be a topic – but as time goes on, it will be less of one. Diggs faced the Bills last year while with the Texans, so the novelty of facing them for the first time is gone. Of course, if I get questions about it in the mailbag, like this one, I’m going to answer them – that’s my guarantee to you. So I guess if you don’t want to read about Diggs, don’t ask about him! Just kidding, of course.
As for the rookies, those chosen in the first round receive fully guaranteed, four-year contracts. It’s true that the amounts are slotted, so there isn’t much negotiating. There is a little, though. The cash flow of the signing bonus – meaning, when the player gets the entire amount – can be negotiated. Sometimes that's made in one lump sum, which is preferable to the player, and sometimes teams prefer to break it up. Void language in contracts is another area. Reportedly, that’s what the Bengals are going through with first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who left the team’s mandatory minicamp early. Offset language is another potential pitfall: If a rookie is cut and goes to another team, does the team that originally drafted get some sort of relief in what it owes the player? For example, let’s use easy numbers and say a player is owed $2 million and is cut. Offset language would mean that if he signs with another team for $1 million, his original team would then owe $1 million, netting the player $2 million. If there was no offset language, the player would net $3 million – $2 million from the original team and $1 million from his new team. Obviously, that’s preferable to the player and his agent.
Dom V. asks: I hate the tush push and all the other assisting-the-runner stuff, often requiring an official to decide when to stop the pushing and another to decide the ball's furthest advance. The Bills apparently are opposed because of possible injury to Josh Allen. Why does Allen have to be the quarterback with James Cook trying to push him instead of two huge guys? Are there any rules preventing a team from a formation with two tight ends and nine of their biggest, strongest players (under center)?
Jay: At the snap, all offensive players have to be inbounds, and at least seven of them have to be on the line of scrimmage. There must be eligible receivers on both ends of the line, and all players between them on the line must be ineligible receivers. It’s illegal to leave an ineligible receiver uncovered on either side of the field. It’s also illegal for two eligible receivers to be on the line of scrimmage on the same side of the field. Offensive players who are eligible wear numbers from 1–49 or 80–89, though in certain situations, other players can report as eligible to the referee before a play. I’m not a rules expert, but as long as a team follows those guidelines, I don’t see why they couldn’t load the field with offensive linemen (who have reported as eligible) to run the tush push. That would be quite a scene.
Downstate lawmaker calls out concessions pricing at Highmark Stadium
A downstate U.S. congressman is leading the charge to get the prices of stadium concessions lowered in New York, including at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
LeMar asks: With the Bills’ new stadium soon to open, what are they going to do with the other structures? Are they going to tear down the Bills Store, the fieldhouse and the outdoor field in the back? Or are they going to leave them up and (use a) golf cart back and forth, like some training camps?
Jay: The fieldhouse and practice fields will remain in use as they are now. The current Highmark Stadium will be torn down in March 2027. I’m not sure of the future of the Bills Store, which sits in front of the current stadium on Abbott Road, but I can safely predict that the team has thought through all of their retail options for the new stadium that opens next year. There will be no shortage of places to spend money in the new facility.
Mike K. in Tampa asks: Now that Von Miller is not under contract with the Bills, I’m curious to know, what did it cost the organization in total money?
Jay: According to sports financial website Spotrac.com, Miller earned $47.297 million from the Bills in three years. Not bad work if you can get it. His signing shows the risk that comes with paying big money in free agency to an aging veteran. I understand the swing that Beane felt he needed to take, but it didn’t work out. Miller got hurt and wasn’t the same player after that.
John G. asks: It was great to see Keon Coleman shine at Damar Hamlin’s charity basketball game (last) week, but it made me wonder – are there contract clauses for other, more dangerous activities players may participate in during the offseason? It wasn’t too long ago Nyheim Hines ended his playing career after a jet ski incident right before training camp.
Jay: It’s commonplace for NFL player contracts to ban certain off-the-field activities. If a player violates those terms, he risks having the contract violated. Activities include (but aren't limited to) skydiving, hang-gliding, mountain climbing, racing of any kind, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, firearms, scuba-diving and snow or water skiing. Basketball can be included but isn’t always. According to an ESPN.com report, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract bans him from playing basketball. But not every contract includes that language, and several NFL players participate in charity basketball games like the one Coleman lit up recently.
Buffalo Bills to have 11 open training camp practices at St. John Fisher University
The Bills will prepare for the season on the Fisher campus for the 25th time – every year since 2000 except for 2020-21, when camp was held at team headquarters in Orchard Park because of the coronavirus.
Dennis asks: With the considerable amount of local public money being spent on the stadium, would the Bills consider some sort of organized tour of the facility so we can see this magnificent new building? The majority of us might not otherwise have the opportunity to see it, especially with ticket prices expected to be through the roof (or lack thereof). Your thoughts please.
Jay: It’s a great idea, and one that I hope the Bills implement when the new stadium does open. Your point about the stadium possibly not being accessible to all because of ticket prices is fair. Hopefully the Bills recognize that and make tours available at a reasonable price point. It seems like a win-win for both sides – the Bills make some money, the stadium gets more use and people who can't afford expensive game tickets still get to see their favorite team’s new home. Let’s hope that happens in some way.
Ed Helinski asks: At what point in your younger days did you realize that you wanted to become a sportswriter? And if you couldn’t have become one, what would have been your next career choice?
Jay: I wanted to be the next Rick Jeanneret when I was a kid. I remember asking my dad to turn the sound down on Sabres games so I could do the play-by-play. Of course, I learned as I got older that was a silly desire, because there will only ever be one Rick Jeanneret. In high school, I did an internship at WIVB-TV, and I went to college with the goal of being a sportscaster. Pretty early on in college, however, I realized that newspapers, not TV, might be a better path into sports journalism, so that became my focus. My mom still laughs to this day about how she had to beg me to write essays in high school, and now that’s pretty much what I do on a daily basis.
Ken in Cheektowaga asks: In what areas do most of the Bills’ players and coaches live, and do they and their families get to have a "Western New York social life?” I assume it is Cheektowaga.
Jay: With all due respect to "Cheektovegas" … it’s not there. Most of the players and coaches, understandably, live near the facility, so Orchard Park and Hamburg are popular areas. There are also some who choose to live downtown, but the majority are out in the Southtowns.
Brenda asks: Since we're in the Bills' offseason, I'm switching gears and asking you a Sabres question. Do you find it as infuriating as I do that the Florida Panthers have only been in existence since 1993, yet they have appeared in four Stanley Cup finals and won back-to-back Cups while the Sabres continue to set records for ineptitude? The cherry on the sundae for me was when Sam Reinhart scored four goals in Game 6, which secured the championship. Just another former Sabre thriving on a different team.
Jay: Of course. It’s maddening. The video of Reinhart throwing the Sabres jersey off the balcony at the Elbo Room really drove that point home. Ryan O’Reilly. Jack Eichel. Reinhart. Kyle Okposo. Evan Rodrigues. Brandon Montour. The list goes on and on. Evander Kane has back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final with Edmonton, too. It’s nothing short of embarrassing, but that’s the word that best describes the Sabres of the last, oh, 15 years or so.
On that happy note, thank you for all the questions this week! As a reminder, they can be submitted via X to @JaySkurski or by email to jskurski@buffnews.com.
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