Jenna Cottrell (3:13)

I think with Bree hall going down, that it just changes the complexion of this team so much because it now is on Zach Wilson to be able to create the offense. And we've seen how much he struggled last week in that role. And I think Dan, when you talk about him just holding on to the football, there's so many plays that I see where he just. He drops back so far to avoid the pressure. And you're like, you. You got to do something with it. But he just. It's like he doesn't want to run forward. Like, it's like. Like sometimes. And we saw, you know, early on with Josh Allen, some He just take. Sometimes would take those terrible sacks. But you saw that development. Obviously, Zach Wilson is only in his second year, but you see some of that hesitancy. And with the offense now relying on his shoulders, I mean, there are big question marks. I think that the jets have played well. I think they've been frisky. What's their tagline like? All gas, no break. I think you'll see that all around MetLife Stadium, which I think is, like, the worst. Like. Like, trust. The process is at least succinct, but.

Dan Fates (4:11)

Well, I thought you were just talking about. MetLife in general is the worst, by.

Mike Catalana (4:15)

The way, terrible new stadium. Worst of the new stadiums. Boring. No personality. And this is New York's. Well, it's Jersey. We get it. New York metro area. Boring stadium. I feel badly for, you know, they metlife. You know, they replaced the stadium and just did a newer version of the same thing.

Jenna Cottrell (4:33)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (4:33)

Boring stadium. Oh, they turn it to green instead of blue. There you go. Big move.

Jenna Cottrell (4:38)

But talking about this team, like, I mean, it's a division game, though, Mike.

Mike Catalana (4:42)

Yeah.

Jenna Cottrell (4:42)

And the Bills did not beat the Dolphins earlier on this season, so that adds.

Mike Catalana (4:47)

Oh, they got to win division games. Right? That's the one blemish, the one loss is the one you didn't want, you lost in the division. So, yes, while Miami is the number one rival right now, you got to win these games. You can't afford division losses. I mean, their goal now is to be 5 and 1 in the division and just take that out of the mix. So I don't know if Robert Sala can coach. He seems to have some things going his way. I'll tell you what's helped. His defense is getting better players. Sauce Gardner can play.

Dan Fates (5:16)

It's funny how that works.

Mike Catalana (5:17)

Yeah, he can play. They're more aggressive on defense. They feel like they can get some pressure. They feel like they can hang in there defensively. Now, I don't know if they can do that against Josh Allen, and I don't know if they can do that when their offense is struggling like it is. But, you know, they had a pick six for a touchdown last week that got called back on a really iffy quarterback roughing against Mac Jones that might have turned that whole thing around. And with that, if that play stood this still, with all their problems, could have been a 6 and 2 Jets team that they're playing. You guys have been down there. That crowd's going to be fired up. They still have hope then. They. They try with the jets, they really try and they've had nothing recently. But I do think you're right. That's a good word, Frisky. I think they feel that way. I think they feel like the roster is better. But we all know this. Until you get the quarterback right, there's not much you're going to really be able to do.

Dan Fates (6:12)

Well, not only that, there is. There are other times too, where C.J. mosley is the most important player on that defense, at least in years past. Maybe now it's Sauce Gardner. I. I understand that, but there was a time that before think it was opening week last year that the Bills played the jets and Mosley was everywhere to start the game and then got injured. And then the Bills just poured it on after, like. And Josh was that. He was the first player that Josh me mentioned about this jets defense. They can cause problems defensively, much like I was more worried about the packers defense than their offense. Very similar story heading into this week, in my opinion.

Jenna Cottrell (6:55)

Mike. I mean, what makes this defense so special? Like, what makes them. You talk about the players in C.J. mosley and Sauce Gardner, but just the. The way that Sauce Gardner is playing, like, what stands out to you? Because obviously he's The Bills talked about how during the draft process they didn't even really look at him because they assumed he was going to be off the board.

Mike Catalana (7:16)

Yeah. Oh, he was going to be and he was a high pick. And you know, you got to embrace that if you're going to be that guy. And he's got an edge to him. You know, he's wearing the cheese head. Walking out of Green Bay when they got a win and you know, some. Sometimes with corners, they're going to get beat. I'll say one thing, they defend passes like last year, it was comical how wide open Bill's receivers were and you know, sauce and the other corners, I think they've, I think they have actually the stat defended more passes so far this year than they did all of last season. And last season, guys were just running free. It really was. Was bad for them. So I think that's the difference. I think it's a confidence level. I think it's in all three phases. Defense, again, you look at the numbers, they, they've been pretty good. And it's hard to play really good defense in this league with a lousy offense.

Dan Fates (8:05)

Yep.

Mike Catalana (8:06)

You know, it's hard to play complimentary football when your offense, your quarterback is, you know, we talk with Dan Leberfeld who covers the jets, and he's like, his completion percentage is 50% and Dan knows this. I think. Who was it that had the line about completion percentage? I was trying to remember that. It's a stat about decision making. It's not a stat about accuracy. And it really is, you know, when your quarterback is a one read guy and you take that and the Bills know that. So what his first read is a Garrett Wilson's good young wide receiver, you know, but they don't have a lot there at the moment because of the quarterback. I think he's not able to do that. So I think it makes it tough on the defense. But they believe they're going to go out there. Honestly, I think they walk into the field, they think they're going to keep the Bills contained this week.

Dan Fates (8:55)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (8:55)

Whether they will or they won't, I think they have a chance to do it because they have talent and they have confidence.

Jenna Cottrell (9:01)

It almost reminds me of like 2018 bills and obviously Josh Allen had a lot more raw talent and ability than Zach Wilson. But like, I remember Micah Hyde being like, we don't want to give up any. Like, we don't expect to give up any points, which obviously is like, okay, well, you know, that's, that's Hard to do, but how the defense is, like, we have to play essentially not a perfect game, but we have to be on it. We're. We're going to be the. The part. The unit that, like, leads this team and the offense will follow. So that's why it kind of gives me that similar vibe of, like, a team that's building a team that's trying to put the pieces together, although things obviously seem very different at the quarterback spot. All right.

Dan Fates (9:41)

It's interesting to me is that, like, we're talking about how good Sauce Gardner has been, and I was just looking up real quick. This is going to be a different test than they have faced offensively. They lost the Baltimore Week 1. While Lamar is special, Somebody asked me to. It was Jen. We were talking yesterday at Bill's practice. Somebody goes, who are you more afraid of, the Dolphins or the Ravens? And I said, dolphins. I said, offensively, they scare me more. While I think Lamar is heads and head and shoulders better than two, is still the fact that you have Waddle and you have Hill and all those guys like that, that worries me. They played the Bengals. The jets did. They lost. Burrow through for 275. Obviously, you know, you have Chase and Boyd there. They beat the Dolphins, but that was the Skyler Thompson game. So, like, take that for what you will, but, like, they really haven't gone up against a true top. Chase is that that borderline of top five guy. But besides that, this will be the first taste where we really get to see if Sauce can go up against Stefan Diggs or, you know, even Gabe Davis and try and shut them down. So that's. Sometimes you got to look at stats with context, and this will be the. The real test, I think, for Sauce.

Mike Catalana (11:02)

And. Yeah, I'm sorry, what I was trying to, you know, when I look at the whole division and we're not. This is not Dolphins week, but obviously the Dolphins are loaded with talent now and they're pinning a lot on tua. Patriots and the jets, to me are similar. I think Mac Jones, I guess he's better. I'm just not a Mac Jones guy. I guess he's better than Wilson at the moment. Right, because he's guided them to the play, like whatever you want to say. Both teams can play defense. Their offenses are well below par for NFL offenses. They just are. But it. But they are teams that can get after it a little bit defensively, and they'll see how it matches up. The question is, can they score enough points to stay with the Bills? The Bills are that team. And we think the Dolphins have at least shown explosiveness. These, the jets and the Patriots were pretty evenly matched teams last week. Like I said, that call was a massive one in the game, that it could have gone either way. But the division is better. There's no question the division is better. Patriots are, you know, maybe took a little step back. They weren't great last year, but they hung in there. The Dolphins are good and the jets are better. They had to be better. So, you know, again, for them, you know, they're going to. They're. This is their. I'll say. I say super bowl, but it's close, right? They're playing the Bills, they're playing Josh Allen. It's like, yeah, you know, it's the best team they're going to play.

Jenna Cottrell (12:27)

I feel like the jets and the Patriots are like that spider man meme where there's two spider mans, like, pointing at each other.

Dan Fates (12:33)

You're, like, searching for the quarterback.

Jenna Cottrell (12:35)

Yeah, they're both. They both have, yeah, good, solid defenses, and then they're trying to figure out what they.

Mike Catalana (12:41)

And you have no margin for error when you have that kind of offense. Like, you have to play that game. Like, look at the two last week. And the Patriots did not get a good game out of Mac Jones. They won, but it was picked off. They picked off three. I mean, I'm telling you, he throws. He just threw the ball away a few times. Wilson did.

Dan Fates (13:00)

Yep.

Mike Catalana (13:00)

And he's. He's seeing ghosts, I think you would say, which another jets quarterback used to say that. So. Hey, and you know what? We'll talk plenty of jets another time, but teams aren't going to mess around anymore. If it's not happening, they're going to find a way to get another guy in there. That's the way the league is now. It's not like you're going to stick with the guy for five years. So he better step it up or they're going to have a. You know, we could see Mike White or Joe Flacco.

Jenna Cottrell (13:27)

Oh, my gosh. Find a way, Mike.

Mike Catalana (13:29)

That's it.

Jenna Cottrell (13:29)

Using the Bills trade line. All right, so talking about the Bills, obviously, the addition of Nahim Hines, a guy that we were able to see in Buffalo in Orchard park yesterday at practice. He talked afterwards. Dan, what was just your initial takeaway from what he had to say is, you know, he's a versatile type of player. He's able to return. He's obviously a running back, but a great pass catcher as well. I loved this before I let you answer of Josh Allen talking about seeing Hines at practice and he go, Josh went to Stefan Diggs. Like, holy crap, he's fast.

Dan Fates (14:04)

Yeah. And I, I love that. I loved that. This is a guy that was hungry for a fresh start, getting away from a Colts team that the last two years, I mean, he's had Carson Wentz, the ghost of Matt Ryan and Sam Ellinger as quarterback roundup. Like, he was asked about what it's going to be like to play with Josh Allen, and he was just like, wow, I get to play with all these stars. And. And, you know, he said all the right things about just wanted to come in and help. But I asked him yesterday, where is that fine line between wanting to come in and prove your worth? I always think it's so funny when, when a player gets traded for, it's always one team saying, we don't really care about you. And it's another team saying, like, hey, we, we want you. Like, like, we value you. Come, we want you to be a part of our team. So where's that fine line between like, well, I'm just going to keep doing what I do. And also, like, like, I want the. To prove the Bill's right. Like, that was what Josh Allen said. Like, when they asked him about, like, the organization, he goes, I wanted to prove the Bills right when they drafted me. And it seemed like Heinz kind of had the same thing. I said, what was that fine line? And here's his answer. I think it's just really with that, it's just humbleness. I feel like my whole life, even when I got the second contract years ago, it's always been about proving to other people. And I think throughout the years I've learned it's not about proving anybody that the Bills wanted me here and that's all that matters. And doesn't matter what they gave up for me, I'm happy to be here. It's opportunity, it's a new team and it's a new situation. So I'm not really going to press hard. I'm going to be me. I feel like these last five years I've been me and that's been good enough and hopefully it will be here, too. Got a chip on his shoulder trying to prove himself. I don't think he was a wrestler, but he kind of fits the process. I'm just going to say that he.

Jenna Cottrell (15:51)

Just strikes me very mature. I don't like that. To me, doesn't scream I have a chip on my shoulder. If anything, that to me that to me, just says, like, I'm gonna do me. And I know that that's really good.

Mike Catalana (16:03)

Like, I think when you're saying chip on the shoulder, meaning, like, I mean, he has had to prove it. He's a smaller guy. Yeah.

Dan Fates (16:10)

You know, Heinz.

Mike Catalana (16:11)

Right.

Dan Fates (16:12)

Like, but this isn't Ezekiel Elliott. No, this is a journey now. He's kind of on a second team, but like a middle of the road running back.

Jenna Cottrell (16:23)

I will say, I feel like, though, when, like, you go to a Super bowl contender, like, I don't. I don't know if I would say that puts, like, a chip on my shoulder. I think it just says, like, if I were him, I'd be like, thank goodness. Like, I actually get a shot to win. Like, it's not that. It's not. The Colts didn't want me. It's just they're not in the. They're not. They can't utilize me as best as what I need and think, thankfully, I have another opportunity.

Mike Catalana (16:46)

Yeah. Pete. Colts people were saying, maybe now someone will use this guy the right way. I mean, he has a skill set for the NFL. He absolutely does. He's a return guy. You know, he's taller than Darren Sprouls, but he reminds me of a Sprouls type player. Sprouls was an incredible player, and he was literally 5, 6, 5, 7. Seriously. And, you know, but he was a returner. He had speed. He can run pass routes. That's what this guy brings. And I think he's going to be the punt returner. While I think Khalil Shakir has done a good job, they're going to want to trust a veteran. And he's done it before. And I think that element of speed out of the backfield and not just the ability to catch the ball, but to catch the ball down the field, too, which is a different skill set for a running back. You know, they're not built normally to track the ball. He. He does that. And I think it's, you know, and being talked about it, Jenna. He said they looked at him in the draft. They looked at him in 2020. They saw him get to the Bills in that playoff game.

Jenna Cottrell (17:53)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (17:54)

And he made some plays in that game. So they've had their eye on him, and now they get him. And I think his skill set fits. And, you know, moving on from Zach Moss. Nice guy. He needs a fresh start, but that was an easy call for them.

Jenna Cottrell (18:08)

Yeah, I think it makes sense. And I. I mean, I think the price was definitely right.

Mike Catalana (18:12)

Yep.

Jenna Cottrell (18:13)

I mean, considering And I think the piece about him being the return guy and just having. I mean, Dan, you even talked about it yesterday, like, having Khalil Shakir be able to focus on one job and just how much. How much that gives him just to be able to, you know, have his attention where. Not. Not saying where it should be, but just let him have the ability to kind of flourish there as opposed to diverting what he needs to focus on.

Dan Fates (18:35)

Yeah. Take something off the rookie's plate and just have him focus on, you know, becoming more comfortable in the slot or in the offense. Makes a lot of sense.

Mike Catalana (18:43)

And the last thing on the return game is they always had the backup of, well, Micah Hyde will catch the punt.

Dan Fates (18:49)

Correct.

Mike Catalana (18:49)

And they don't have Micah. So you have a veteran and you do have Shakir if you need him in there. And, you know, that's an issue. And. And that's one of those. May not be for 50 returns a year, but it might be for that one in the game against the Dolphins or the Chiefs in the playoffs. And you want them to catch it, move it forward, you know, not necessarily a touchdown, but. Which would be great, but I think that's what they're looking for.

Jenna Cottrell (19:15)

Yeah. All right. So we got to hear from Brandon Bean on Wednesday at practice. Was asked a bunch about the NFL trade deadline. And then Dan, he was also asked about Odell Beckham Jr. And just kind of what the conversations have been like around the wide receiver. What was your takeaway from what Bean had to say?

Dan Fates (19:34)

He's a heck of a talent. And this isn't the first time we've asked Bean about obj. We've talked about that. Vaughn's been recruiting him heavily on social media.

Jenna Cottrell (19:45)

So is Trey White.

Dan Fates (19:46)

Trey White said he sent him about 2700 Buffalo Bills emojis. Yeah, I think that Bean is const. Like, I think Bean's a constant guy that. That's calling teams and constantly checking in, always trying to improve this roster. I don't think that. I think most competent gms are doing that. There's only a few teams, though. It is going to come down to me, guys, is. Is what does Beckham want? Does he want to be the guy? Right. Does he want to be the guy and get the money, or does he want another ring now? He has the ring now.

Mike Catalana (20:24)

Do you.

Dan Fates (20:25)

What does he want? Because there are a couple of other places, and I know Mike Florio today was on his show on NBC and was saying that it's only a matter of time before OBJ signs with The Bills, that would be great. I have been saying that since training camp that I think he's would absolutely fit well into this offense. He's not the diva that he, that he was when he was with the Giants and the Browns. But if I'm obj, I also can understand the fact that if he wants to go get a two or three year deal with the Green Bay packers, makes a lot of sense to me as well. And being the number one guy.

Mike Catalana (21:01)

Yeah, it could be in Green Bay. The other place he could go is Dallas.

Dan Fates (21:06)

Yep, Dallas, absolutely.

Mike Catalana (21:07)

Dallas needs another weapon. But you know what? I look at the Bills offense, the wide receiver position, and we've talked about this a lot with Gabe. Gabe Davis's role is huge for this team because he can get deep and make those plays. But what have we talked about with Gabe? He's not the consistent five for 75 guy. He's not. His numbers are big, low, big low. It's just what it's been, a little bit of injury he's been dealing with that has clouded it this year. When, when Gabe goes, he goes big.

Dan Fates (21:38)

Yep.

Mike Catalana (21:38)

But who's their most. Third most dependable guy?

Dan Fates (21:43)

It's Diggs.

Mike Catalana (21:44)

No third.

Jenna Cottrell (21:46)

I thought he said, oh yeah, there's a drop off.

Mike Catalana (21:49)

I mean who do you say is the guy like. And we all love Isaiah. He's had an up and down time. You know, he made a nice play last week. Shakir's a rookie, you know. And then you start looking and yeah. And you say who is. So start wheeling out that three, that group of three where it's Gabe, Diggs and obj. But your point about the money is he's going to want a deal. He's a free agent. This is what sometimes fans, they talk about getting other players that are under contract, like Heinz or anybody. They're under contract, you fit them in. In this case, he can say to teams, I got five teams trying to get me. Who's going to give me the best deal with the most money, you know, and it doesn't mean, you know, Green, Green Bay, sure. But they've, they have not shown an interest in doing that at all for Rogers. But if Dallas is in it, Kansas City's in it. Who knows with Miami. They could be.

Jenna Cottrell (22:49)

Yeah, yeah.

Dan Fates (22:50)

I mean you'd think because the salary cap isn't real. I just want to put that out there today. Bradley Chubb now is got a massive contract. I'm pretty sure Xavier Howard has a massive contract. I'm pretty sure Tyree Kill has a Massive contract. Oh, and guess what? If Tua keeps playing like this, he'll get a massive contract because the NFL salary cap isn't real. End of rant.

Mike Catalana (23:11)

But my point is. Thank you. That rant brought to you by Connors and Ferris. My point is there's going to be teams going for him. Like, this was different. You traded for Heinz, he's coming to the Bills. This is different. There's no trade here. He's a free agent who can sit back. He could come to a team with five weeks left in the season and.

Dan Fates (23:32)

Go to the Chargers too.

Mike Catalana (23:33)

I don't know what it takes to sign him. Like, is it going to be. He's working out for everybody. I don't think so. Yeah, I think it's going to be a little bit. You got to have faith.

Dan Fates (23:44)

Yep.

Mike Catalana (23:44)

You know, he's got to pass a physical. I get it. But there's passing a physical and then there's being ready to go.

Dan Fates (23:49)

But my thing too is, is that at one point I thought this was kind of going to be like a rental deal, like one year time for last year. If I'm obj, I want security that I'm going to be at a place for two to three years. Like.

Mike Catalana (24:05)

Yeah.

Dan Fates (24:05)

You know what I'm saying?

Mike Catalana (24:06)

Like, there's no rental here.

Dan Fates (24:07)

Yeah. I'm not signing to play with the team for six games in the playoffs with no security. So, like this thought, like originally I had sign him in training camp, get the one year deal, see what you can do. And now it's like, that was stupid of me to think because he's going to want a two to three year deal.

Mike Catalana (24:22)

Of course he is. Jenna. There's, there's absolutely no way he's signing. It would be a, a bad move for him because if he plays, he's got to play like over the top. Great.

Jenna Cottrell (24:35)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (24:36)

And if he doesn't, if he comes back and he doesn't look good, he's shown everybody that you got to get paid and he should get paid. Now he's going to have offers. But Janet, what you think of Bean being so basically I love OBJ too, is kind of what he was saying.

Jenna Cottrell (24:52)

Yeah. I feel like Bean is a very smart guy and uses the media as a tool. And I think him saying like, he's a heck of a talent, like all this stuff that to me says that, that to me, I'm like, okay, they've, they've, there are conversations happening now. At the end of the day, like you said, it's got to be two sides agreeing. And what does OBJ want in the security that comes with it? And are the Bills willing to give that? But if, if I were obj, I would want to go to a team like the Bills, because I think you're coming off the injury. Obviously, that can be a little bit tricky to have other guys to kind of, I don't want to say rely on, but also help you. Like, it's not all on you. And I think that gives him more of leeway to kind of get back up to speed. Obviously, he does have the ring, too, but I, if I were him, I, I would want to go get a. I don't want to say a real ring, but, like, I would want to be there. I don't want to say that, but, like, you know, I, I would want to be with the team and I would want to go to another Super Bowl. That's what it's all about.

Mike Catalana (25:53)

Like, you're 100% right. And if you're him, you know what? You come to Buffalo and make five big plays. Five big plays down the stretch, you have. It's what Von Miller did. It wasn't the total numbers. He made big plays for them down the stretch. And in the playoffs, you come in and do that. Diggs is going to catch his. Gabe's going to catch a few long ones. OBJ makes those plays. He looks phenomenal. You're not asking him to come in and go for 10 for 140. That's not what they're thinking because Diggs can do that. It's just the way these other guys talk about him. He's a popular guy. He is. And the guys who know him love him, so. And having 17 as your quarterback is the biggest drawing card.

Jenna Cottrell (26:40)

Yeah. Like, if I look at Miami, I think, wow, they're really good. But I just, I have questions at quarterback. I do. And when you look at around the conference and all of these things, like the, the Bills playing pretty well. Yeah. But, like, I don't.

Mike Catalana (26:55)

It's also Miami. You got Miami. If he wants to be in Miami, I don't.

Jenna Cottrell (26:59)

Yeah, that's true. I mean, come on.

Mike Catalana (27:01)

We're talking about the end of the year. You're playing like you want to be in the big games. He does. I think he does. So. And he's not going back to the Rams because they stink, so.

Jenna Cottrell (27:10)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (27:12)

Wow.

Jenna Cottrell (27:12)

Yeah. No, I, I, I think there's decisions to be made, but I think after hearing Bean talk, I think the Bills are more invested than I once thought. I'LL put it that way.

Mike Catalana (27:23)

I'm with you, Dan.

Jenna Cottrell (27:25)

You don't seem to agree.

Dan Fates (27:27)

No, I. I've been in. I. I've heard and read reports that they've been in it this off season. I think you're constantly. I think at this stage and even during the off season, I think you're just constantly checking in. How's he feeling? How's the rehab going? Where are we at? You know, you talk to those people and like I said, and you have. Not only do you have the Von Miller connection with their best friends, but Trey White talked about it, obviously, that he's known him since 2013. Him and Jarvis Landry were the ones at LSU that he went in. Trey went in as a wide receiver, and they said, well, you're not getting on the field with these two guys. And so he's like, all right, I'll go play on the other side of the ball. Like, they have a. You know, they keep in touch. So all that plays into it.

Mike Catalana (28:04)

Yeah. The last thing I would say is, for the Bills, you would be excited that he comes, but would you be more excited that he comes to Buffalo or more worried if he went to the Chiefs?

Dan Fates (28:15)

More worried.

Jenna Cottrell (28:16)

More worried.

Mike Catalana (28:17)

I'm with you on that. Yeah. I think you just would be saying. You would be saying, please go to Dallas. If you're not coming to us, go to Dallas.

Dan Fates (28:24)

That was somebody. Somebody made the comment about Bradley Chubb, and they go, at least the Chiefs didn't get him. And I said, touche.

Mike Catalana (28:31)

Yeah, yeah, I do understand that. Yep. But, you know, you still got the Dolphins to deal with.

Jenna Cottrell (28:37)

Yeah, yeah, No, I agree. All right. Well, speaking of maneuvering and the trade deadline and doing due diligence and checking in on players. Yeah. We heard some insight about just Brandon Bean and what he does, you know, around trade deadlines and what his job is like in the NFL, and. I don't know. Was there anything that stood out to you?

Dan Fates (29:03)

There is one bite. I think we have it cut that. That puts into perspective how things work in the Bill's organization and how they like to handle things. And he provides some perspective on how we handle things with our job, which I. I think is also important. When news comes out, Mike.

Mike Catalana (29:25)

Yeah, it's news. And this world we live in, there's a lot out there, including something that Dan reported that, well, let's hear from Brandon Bean talking about that whole world that they live in, we all live in, who cover the NFL and how they approach it.

Dan Fates (29:42)

Times when things get put out there that The Buffalo Bills are after this player. Sometimes I'm not even aware. And I say that in the sense that a scout may have. You know, we may have a scout, and he's in charge of the Denver Broncos, and he may call his contact at that team and say, hey, is, you know, is this guy even available? Should I even mention him? Should I not? Sometimes you never even hear back whether the guy's available or not. And then you read two days later that we went after him. I know you guys have a job to do, but sometimes when you hear we're involved. Now, again, I did on Christian McCaffrey. I did speak to the Panthers GM, never made him an offer, but did stay in touch through the process, and ultimately, it was going to be more than we were going to be able to do.

Mike Catalana (30:31)

Okay, so I'll set this up. Dan had a report said that the Bills had reached out to the panthers about Christian McCaffrey. The Bills told us they were not happy because they did not. They wanted a chance to respond. When they did respond, they said that it was not accurate, that that wasn't true. It was true. And then from that point on, they've been fine. I think at that time, Dan's report was accurate, and it struck a nerve with the team, because in this whole world of trying to make a deal, the more things get out, the more you heard him just say one of their scouts here read something on Twitter that's actually sometimes what happens. Like, wait a minute, is this guy available? And then, boom, they're out there asking about it. Then a report gets out. So, look, I understand that they're not going to always tell us the truth. It's to the benefit of them. It's not like they're also not telling us who's starting it. You know, right guard and right tackle until they have to, like, they try to protect certain things. But this is the world we live in, too, where we're trying to get information. It's a competitive thing, and the information was correct. Now, Dan, you understand why they would say it's not true, because it was of no benefit to them to agree with that.

Dan Fates (31:54)

And I also think that things get out because certain people want them to get out. Yes, I think that's very telling. And, yeah, part of what Bean said in his opening monologue was also saying the fact of, like, all of a sudden, people said that we're interested in Alvin Kamara and that. And that we got rebuffed and that the Bills made a trade offer, and it didn't happen. I think part of that is also sometimes that gets out because the team is trying to drum up interest from others.

Mike Catalana (32:29)

Absolutely.

Jenna Cottrell (32:29)

Yeah.

Dan Fates (32:30)

And sometimes I think all of the respected people who have are insiders and work for big networks are fed stories or are told things to help facilitate a narrative. So there are sometimes when you hear something and go, well, why would that be getting out? LeBron James is a king of it. Like, they are like NBA, Twitter and NBA, like, this league, all those things. It. It happens in the NFL, too. And so like I said, I had a source that said that there was contact between the Bills in Carolina the Tuesday after they fired Matt Rule. The Bills at the time told me that that wasn't accurate and they were unhappy with the report. We now fast forward. Christian McCaffrey is now on the 49ers and Bean says he did have contact. So.

Mike Catalana (33:24)

Right.

Dan Fates (33:25)

It's a little bit of, I mean, but I, like I said, I'm not bitter saying, well, I can't believe. Shocking that. That an NFL team wouldn't be honest.

Mike Catalana (33:34)

Like, but they don't have no benefit to them to be honest. And it's fine if they say, I have no problem with them saying that's not true. In hindsight. He says it is true. Bean is a pro. He's always been professional with us. He's a great general manager, all those things. He's also doing a job. He's as open as almost any general manager. Even those things we talked about today, like, they don't. Not all of them say stuff like that. They act like they're covering the nuclear codes, but there are times when it's a absolute strategic thing and I'm just making this up. You know, they're trying to. Maybe they're looking, can we get a deal done quickly before everybody and their brother is in on it? Now, it's not that crazy to think when you fire the coach and you're a mess in Carolina, that anybody could be available. You just saw Bradley Chubb get traded because Russell Wilson stunk so far. Right. This is what teams do. But I think I do find it fascinating and I do agree his point about any contact can get reported. Yeah, it doesn't mean it's not true, but it's not always as cut and dried. Brandon Bean got on the phone, called Howie Roseman with the Eagles and made an offer for this guy. Part of it could be true. They could be talking about multiple players. It could be assistant gm, it could be a scout. They're trying to reach out to say, hey, Brandon, this is whatever. One thing I don't believe. If I'm a scout and I'm reaching out to a team about a player, I think I might send an email to Brandon and say I reached out on it. But if he wants to say he wasn't involved in it, it could have been at a really odd level with Kamara. But, hey, look, when all said and done, they got a guy who I think is going to help him. They didn't give up a ton of. Yeah, and we'll see. And also, the guy they were looking at, Dan, is playing in the nfc, so if they see him, they're seeing him in the super bowl, so they're not really that worried about it.

Dan Fates (35:29)

And it's also part of this stuff, Jenna, is like, when you hear it, like, it's. It's just checking in on things that you hear at certain times. Like, if I didn't check in that day with a source, then we don't have the Christian McCaffrey news, and that may come out weeks later like it did. So. Yeah, all that, too, is, is timing and what. That's something. The Bills and Brandon Bean, they don't like things to get out, so. And they're very good at it.

Jenna Cottrell (35:57)

That's. Yeah, I think that plays into it.

Mike Catalana (36:00)

Right.

Dan Fates (36:01)

But if they call a team and that team says something to an agent who says something to somebody else, there's the difference. Like, Janet wasn't being.

Mike Catalana (36:10)

Yeah. And Jenna, the key thing he said in all that Kamara and McCaffrey, he did not want the narrative to be that the Bills made an offer on either one of those players.

Jenna Cottrell (36:21)

Yeah.

Mike Catalana (36:21)

And maybe they never did. Dan didn't report that you reported. They reached out to him. So.

Jenna Cottrell (36:26)

Well, I. I think it. Two things stand out to me. One is, you're right, there are very few leaks that come out of one Bill's drive. Even the trade deadline, like, it was 401 when the trade was reported. And I think that was very purposeful because they don't like other outside factors being involved. That being said, it makes sense why they would be. You know, I don't want to say up in arms, but I understand the reaction to Dan Suite because that was. There's also a sliding scale. I feel like, like you said of, like, reaching out to a team is a. Is a part of the due diligence of being a good general manager and a good scouting staff. And I think sometimes it's. And like, Dan did not say there was an offer or anything. Like that. But I think sometimes we all read into what we see so much. And so there's. There's a lot of factors at play. But no, I mean, it. It makes sense because of, you know, Twitter is a very powerful tool. It's incredible kind of how things, even when it's, you know, just a simple tweet, how things can kind of be implied by the. The reaction kind of. You know, my mom always told me, like, when you're reading a text, sometimes you put the meaning into it.

Mike Catalana (37:41)

Oh, yeah.

Jenna Cottrell (37:42)

And I mean, that's very true.

Mike Catalana (37:44)

So. And we'll end with this.

Jenna Cottrell (37:46)

Shout out, Val.

Mike Catalana (37:47)

Shout out.

Jenna Cottrell (37:48)

Wearing a scarf soon.

Mike Catalana (37:51)

And we will end with this. Unlike the running game in this case. Dan was right.

Jenna Cottrell (37:57)

Dan was right.

Dan Fates (37:57)

Wait, wait one sec.

Jenna Cottrell (38:05)

You got that locked and ready to go.

Mike Catalana (38:08)

By the way, I want to tell everybody, people have been reaching out about the hats. We are going to have something where we're going to be giving away some hats to some of our loyal people. We're. We're still figuring out some of the mechanics of it, but these are in demand. In demand. I got people reaching out to me. Everybody wants the Buffalo plus, look, so we will let you know when the hats are out.

Jenna Cottrell (38:31)

Yeah. And if there's another form of merch that you guys, that you all would be interested in, just to give us ideas for maybe the Future of the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel, please drop a comment of. Of some of the things that you would like to see.

Mike Catalana (38:45)

Yep.

Jenna Cottrell (38:46)

Just.

Mike Catalana (38:47)

All right.

Jenna Cottrell (38:47)

To see. Comment. What should people comment, you think, other than merch questions?

Mike Catalana (38:54)

I mean, to me, I think the biggest thing is obj. Like, in that case, do you want him. Are you worried about him going somewhere else?

Jenna Cottrell (39:02)

Yeah. Okay, that's good. All right, thank you all for joining us so much for Mike and Dan. I'm Jenna. Please be sure to, like we said, like, have the comment about obj, your thoughts and opinions as well as subscribe. We always appreciate it. We're closing in on 20, 000, which is really, really exciting. So, yeah, to all your friends, we always appreciate it. Thank you so much for listening or watching the Buffalo plus podcast. We will catch you next time here on the Buffalo plus channel.