Daryl Williams Re-signs with Bills

[CJD]

(03-12-2021, 08:49 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Yep, hurts for us Bengal fans, for sure.  However, can you really blame the guy for wanting to stay with the Bills?  They have one of the most rabid ban bases in football, in Bills Mafia.  They have a good team, with what looks like a potential future All-Pro in Allen at QB, they made noise in the playoffs, and are doing their level best to keep the band together.

Meanwhile, you have the Bengals.  The Bengals missed their sweet spot with 5 straight playoff appearances, their chance to get noticed and command respect from Big Market USA.  The team that was, is now diminished and pretty much starting from scratch with a new franchise QB, and a handful of younger, talented players.  

If I hadn't been a Bengal fan my whole life, it would be really tough to not love the Bills, as a new football fan.

Oh, I don't blame him at all. The Buffalo Bills are building a franchise around that QB. I think they're going to compete for a long time, especially if the Chiefs suffer from having to pay the Patrick Price, like so many teams with elite QBs on second contracts have to. They could be the dominant force in the AFC for at least the next 3 or 4 years, before they also encounter the question of "will my star QB's second contract hurt the team more than it helps us?"

I just was REALLY hoping we sign our new RT in free agency rather than in the draft since offensive line has a tendency to take a year or two to truly become good in the NFL (Look at Jonah Williams. Very talented, but he undoubtedly had some bad games this year). And with Williams off the market, it's basically down to Reiff, Villanueva, Okung and maybe Wagner (although I see him as a minor upgrade rather than a substantial one).  Trent Williams is still on the market too, I think, but he's gonna cost like 15 to 20 million per year and I just don't see the Bengals doing that haha. And, of the options I listed, not a single one is under 30, so they're closer to stop gaps than anything else. 

I will say that if we chose to draft Rashawn Slater, I'd feel better about him starting in year 1 at RT than I would Sewell. Slater doesn't have the upside that Sewell has, but he's about as polished as a tackle can get coming out of college. So it'd be a question of trading upside for stability (in regards to the Slater vs Sewell debate).