Welcome back to another edition of the Bills Mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions …
Sam Ruggiero asks: The Bills’ defense has many interchangeable pieces and can have multiple possibilities this season. Nothing is set in stone yet, but peering into your prognostication crystal ball, assuming Joey Bosa is fully healthy, who are the 11 guys starting on defense in the opener against the Ravens?
Jay: I actually think this is pretty straightforward, save for a couple spots in the secondary: On the defensive line, Bosa and Greg Rousseau joined by Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones. At linebacker, Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard. Taylor Rapp at safety, Taron Johnson at nickel cornerback and Christian Benford at one outside cornerback spot. That leaves two jobs – the other safety and the other outside cornerback job. The primary competition will be Cole Bishop and Damar Hamlin for the safety job, and Tre’Davious White and Maxwell Hairston for the cornerback job. I’ll go with Bishop and White in those roles for now.
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Lauren asks: My question is about Max Hairston: What influence if any do you think he will have this year?
Jay: He’ll be in the mix for a starting job as soon as Week 1. Again, I’ll predict for now that job goes to Tre White in the short term, but my expectation is the Bills would prefer that Hairston develops into a starter before the end of the season. He’s going to get every opportunity to play a meaningful role early in his career.
Dan De Federicis asks: I'm not a Brandon Beane hater and he's achieved a lot in his time in Buffalo, but that doesn't negate the fact that the Bills have the man who is arguably the best quarterback on the planet, yet year after year, we fall short of our goal of reaching and then winning the Super Bowl. Beane has had some hits in the draft and free agency, but in my opinion we've suffered too many misses for a team trying to win a championship. My question is this: Should the Bills take a page from the Sabres and their hiring of Jarmo Kekäläinen and get Beane some help at the highest level? Someone who has had great success in the NFL and could be a mentor, a sounding board and more for Beane, who obviously has not only a difficult and stressful job, but a lonely one as well?
Jay: I don’t think so. Beane has a great deal of support. He’s got an experienced front office around him. Brian Gaine, one of two assistant general managers on staff, previously worked as the Houston Texans’ general manager. Terrance Gray was recently promoted to the other assistant GM position. It feels like only a matter of time before he’s running a team of his own. One thing to keep in mind about this: Terry Pegula’s ownership of the Sabres gives us a clue to his preferred organizational structure. Pegula likes to have a direct pipeline to his head coach and general manager. That’s thought to be the reason he never hired a president of hockey operations, despite the rest of the free world believing he should. (Of course, Pegula won't answer publicly answer questions about any of these things. But I digress.) Beane would rightly feel threatened by some sort of “senior advisor” hire. That type of hire would be an indication Pegula wasn’t satisfied with Beane’s performance in some way. To your point, Dan, there are fair criticisms to make of Beane. No general manager hits on every pick in the draft, but Beane’s recent picks in the first round, in particular, have left a lot to be desired, starting with cornerback Kaiir Elam. Beane himself would be the first to acknowledge that. I don’t believe, however, that a senior advisor would do much to change that. The Bills haven’t won it all, and that’s the ultimate goal, but they’ve been a darn good team for a while now. I wouldn’t change anything at the moment.
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Mike Kirkland asks: I wish Joe Brady would stop with the same old “we didn’t get it done.” Why not? Why such a vanilla game plan? Why nothing new dialed up? Why the repeated attempts at the same sneak? Why weren’t you in Josh Allen’s ear saying the blitz is coming? That’s what Steve Spagnuolo does! What did the offseason hold for new ideas? I’m generally a fan. They scored the most points. He mixed things up. Made the run work. But it’ll never be enough until it is. Do you feel that he, like McDermott, just (isn't) good enough?
Jay: I asked Brady about the AFC championship game failure Tuesday. Quite frankly, I’m a little disappointed there weren’t more questions about it, especially considering it’s the first time he’s talked about it since the game ended. You’re spot-on, Mike, that Brady should be asked why he continued to run the same sneak when everyone in the stadium knew it was coming – including the Chiefs. Brady's answers were long on words and short on substance. That’s a problem. He got absolutely outcoached by Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. That’s not exactly a surprise, as Spagnuolo is one of the best to ever do it in his job. Is Brady good enough? That’s a great question. He’s still young, and so there is reason to believe he can't grow and improve. The reality for all the key members of the Bills’ front office and coaching staff – Beane, McDermott, Brady and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich – is that with every passing year of Josh Allen’s prime, the pressure on all of them is only going to increase. They know that.
Jeffrey Johnson asks: Do you think the Pegulas will purchase and/or move to obtain a Major League Soccer team to get more dates utilized in the new stadium? How might this impact the current effort by Buffalo Pro Soccer’s to build a 7,600-seat modular stadium at the Medaille Sports Complex site? Also, do you think the Pegulas will try and get an expansion PWHL or WNBA Franchise for KeyBank Center to fill more dates? Would setting his daughters up as owners/partners improve the chances of success?
Jay: I’d say no on both fronts. The expansion fee for an MLS team is rumored to be $500 million. I’m guessing Pegula isn’t eager to pull that out of the couch cushions, especially while he’s on the hook for the cost overruns at new Highmark Stadium. Also, Major League Soccer would very likely want to look at several other cities for potential expansion before considering a smaller market such as Buffalo. I don’t know enough about how many passionate soccer fans are in Western New York to say whether there would be enough support for an MLS team, but I’m skeptical it’s a big enough number. For similar reasons, I’m also skeptical of a PWHL or WNBA franchise coming to Buffalo anytime soon. The success of the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League does show that sports outside of the “big four” pro leagues can succeed here, but it’s a two-way street. The PWHL and WNBA likely would want to set their sights higher than Buffalo for expansion. The overall point about getting more events to KeyBank Center and, when it opens, new Highmark Stadium remains a good one, though. It’s going to continue to be a priority.
KPT asks: Do you share my opinion that the curve on the NFL salary structure is too steep? For example, Kaiir Elam’s four-year rookie contract was for $13.7 million, while Christian Benford's was $3.85 million. Team performance is not expected to diminish when substitutes enter the game, yet the salary structure seems contrary to this supposition.
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Jay: It used to be worse. Quarterback Sam Bradford signed a deal with the St. Louis Rams back in 2010 that was worth up to $78 million! That deal was more or less the end of paying rookies ridiculous sums before they had proved anything in the NFL. I don’t have much of a problem with the rookie wage scale now. To your point, a sixth-round pick is underpaid when he performs as Benford has, but his recent four-year contract extension righted that wrong. It’s a fair opinion that the salary structure for drafted rookies should be closer to an equitable amount, but it still seems fair to reward first-round picks with a larger piece of the pie. After that, it’s up to them what they make on their next deal, as we’ve seen with what Benford got paid and what Elam is in line for – which will be far less.
Brenda Alesii asks: It would be an unusual move, but do you think the Bills would create a coaching position or player liaison spot for Tre White if he ends up being cut? Given his serious injury history, his age and the defensive back competition, I don't think that's out of the realm. He seems universally admired and respected by coaches and players alike and White made it clear that he would not sign with any other team than the Bills. Think that scenario is a possibility?
Jay: The situation reminds me a bit of Micah Hyde returning to the team last year. In that situation, Hyde wasn’t interested in a coaching role, and I suspect the same will be true for White. Both players have young kids. Both players have also made gobs of money in their careers – in White’s case, about $70 million to date. I’m not sure those outside the NFL world have a full understanding of just how long the hours are for coaches, especially those just starting out in the profession. It’s an absolute grind, so for that reason I would be very surprised if White pursued that type of position at this point. I’ll add here that I expect him to make the 53-man roster, although to your point, Brenda, the depth chart could certainly change during training camp and the preseason.
Ed asks: Had you attended the Mr. & Mrs. Josh Allen’s wedding, what would you have given them as a wedding gift? Would it have been something boring and traditional like candlesticks or a toaster or instead, maybe a quirky and fun gift? What are you giving?
Jay: How about a signed copy of The Buffalo News’ book on Josh Allen? I’m sure he would love an autograph from one of the authors of that fine piece of reading material.
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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