It is hard to control emotions. Right after learning Diggs trade, my head, my logic said it is the right move, though I really wished we got a sizable return, but my emotion was full of sadness. Deep down I have this fear that now we are screwed this year. We created a big hole for ourselves.
NO #1 receiver. NO #2 receiver. We are indeed taking a step back in 2024.
From 2020 season onwards, every season we are one of the favorites for Superbowl. It is very difficult, psychologically, to come down from that height, even though we fell short in each of those 4 seasons. Hope is eternal. And in recent years the hope is real. To many, without Diggs, we are going back to the eternal hope in 2024.
I’ll say this: almost all of us here, if we were in Beane’s chair (instead of reading on web, pounding keyboards), we would probably reach the same conclusion. This Diggs thing as said in the SI article (
https://www.si.com/nfl/2024/04/08/ta...iggs-nfl-draft), has been going on for awhile. And the 2
nd round pick is the best we are going to get for him.
The argument is whether Diggs is the difference between the Bills winning or not winning the Superbowl in 2024. I don’t know. But I do know if the Bills are to win Super Bowl 2024, the main reason will not be Diggs – very little chance. It will be because they find a difference maker or two in the draft and Miller back to his re-injury form (and of course Allen plays to his standard).
Looks like the brain trust at OBD (Terry, Brandon, Sean) determined that we are going to take all the medicine this year, not dragging it out like one dose at a time. They are going to look into the draft – the Chiefs way – to find recipe for cure and back up to compete. The Chiefs found the right recipe 2 years ago …
Someone used baseball analogy on this board that resonated with me. Just like the Chiefs, we have that ace pitcher who can shut down the other team. Mahomes does not throw no hitters all the time, but he is always able to get the key guy out at the right time. Allen can strike almost anyone and everyone. But he may let a single or double pass him at the wrong time. But the main difference is that the Chiefs have some home run hitters that can complicate Mahomes from time to time – Kelce, Jones, and Hill in the past. The Bills had a lot of single and double hitters, including Diggs. You need to chain some hits together to score a run. We thought we paid the money and got an aging pinch home run hitter on board (Von Miller), but he blew out his ACL in the 5
th inning and has not been the same the rest of the year.
So out goes those old legs who might still hit some singles. We are looking into some minor leagues that we drafted who may become a home run hitter (Kincaid). And we are certainly going to look for more home run hitters in the draft. Still some balance is needed. Not sure I’d trade everything up for a “can’t miss home run hitter” – really is there ever a can’t-miss-guy in sports? We still need quality guys who can get on base for the home run hitters.