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Buffalo Rumblinks, 4/5: CB Christian Benford reflects on ‘life-changing’ contract extension

Buffalo Bills v Seattle Seahawks

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Plus, Buffalo’s offseason workout program dates are announced.

The Buffalo Bills have done a terrific job of extending their own talented young players this offseason, with cornerback Christian Benford the latest to agree to a four-year contract extension to remain with the Bills.

After Benford became the fifth member of the franchise to sign an offseason contract extension, he held a press conference with the media to discuss the deal that will keep him in Western New York through the 2029 NFL season.

Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by hearing Benford reflect on this “life-changing” extension.

CB Christian Benford reflects on ‘life-changing’ contract extension​


During the 2024 season, Christian Benford had the fewest yards per snap allowed in coverage among all NFL cornerbacks at 0.477, better than reigning Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II (0.489). After establishing himself as one of the league’s most talented young defensive backs, Benford was rewarded with a new four-year contract extension, worth a reported $76 million.

Benford, originally selected as a sixth-round pick (No. 185 overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft, said the deal is a “life-changing moment” but added that the new contract won’t change anything about the meticulous approach he takes to playing his position. His top goal remains winning a Super Bowl with the Bills.

Bills offseason workout program dates announced​


Buffalo will begin Phase One of a nine-week offseason workout program on April 21, and wrap up with a three-day mandatory minicamp June 10-12.

Even more Bills news​


Learn about Buffalo’s “topping out” ceremony for construction on the new Highmark Stadium on Friday, when the final beam for the stadium was placed on top, finalizing the main construction at the site.

Plus, head coach Sean McDermott said the team is counting on defensive linemen Javon Solomon and DeWayne Carter to step up and play big roles while Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi are suspended for the first six games; a dream NFL Draft trade-up scenario where Buffalo adds a long-term solution at cornerback; and more!

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Source: https://www.buffalorumblings.com/20...ntract-extension-javon-solomon-dewayne-carter
 
Bills Mafia and football fans should embrace slow pace of changing NFL rules

AFC Championship Game: Buffalo Bills v Kansas City Chiefs

Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

Everyone wants NFL referees to use the latest technology to improve officiating outcomes, but there’s risk in adopting too much too soon.

Recently, I wrote about the NFL adopting Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology to measure first downs and what it might mean for the Buffalo Bills in 2025. In doing so, I opened up the idea that changing rules and specifically the adoption of technology to take over officiating duties moves roughly as quickly as molasses.

What I failed to mention (as it makes for another good conversation) is that the slow rate of adoption is almost certainly a good thing for the league.

Glitches, human limits, and the dirty “J” word​

Glitches​


First and foremost, at some point almost all of us have been an early adopter for some form of technology. For me, a lot of my early adopting has been with video game tech. What do early adopters often suffer through? Glitches, malfunctions, and problems.

With my first Xbox 360 for instance, I got so good with thermal paste to repair the RRoD that I could perform the operation in 10-15 minutes. I can clean a PS4 from the inside out at a similar fast pace. I’m veteran enough in Dark Souls to remember Havel cosplayers doing handsprings through the woods in the mountain of stone armor while dragon bros used dupe glitches to make AoE attacks out of just about anything.

Maybe you don’t get these exact references, but we all understand glitches. At some point this coming season, it’s almost certain there will be a problem with Hawk-Eye. It will slow a game down. Fans will be annoyed.

Now let’s pivot hypothetical. What if the NFL used similar tech to gauge out of bounds; or forward progress? What about leveraging AI to determine “down by contact” in key situations? Let’s get really hypothetical and say the NFL decides to add all of these in a single season. One interruption by glitch would now be five. Games could come to a halt. Fans are now very upset.

Human limitations​


I know there’s a lot of hate levied on NFL refs and commonly people ask for the league to hire full-timers. I personally don’t believe that would help much. Refs at this level have been doing it forever and experience/development almost always has a plateau.

What this means is that most officiating is an ingrained habit — muscle memory if you will. My judo instructor was a stickler for never moving on to a new technique until the old one was in good shape. In his words, “It takes 10 times longer to unlearn a bad habit than it takes to learn it the right way.”

Refs are used to looking to the chain gang for measurements. There’s a process and a rhythm to that situation. The Hawk-Eye system should be similar flow but different from the muscle memory. It will take mental energy to relearn this. By the way, they actually have to now know two procedures for this. If the Hawk-Eye system goes down, that means the chain gang comes back out.

Reffing requires rapid-fire information processing and making decisions based on what they’ve learned and practiced. Let’s go back to video games for an example. You’re playing your favorite game: One button is used to jump, another for interacting with switches/doors, and yet another to use inventory items. Left stick is movement, right is camera. You get the idea.

If I swap the jump button with the button to use items and ask you to pop back into the game, I expect you’re going to miss a few jumps and use an item instead. Or maybe you try to use a healing potion and are left shaking your head as your character dexterously jumps into the air to be finished off thanks to missing that moment to restore your HP. That will happen to most of us even if I tell you I swapped the mapping.

Now imagine the entire layout is different. Up is down, right stick is now movement, cats and dogs living together. You get the idea. We’ve now gone from an inconvenience to a major obstacle to play.

The dirty “J” word​


Not only are refs working from memory/habit and reaction time, but their job requires constant use of judgment. We want that judgment to be fair, balanced, and even-keeled. What we don’t want is that judgment being clouded by frustration.

The mental energy dedicated to relearning can impact judgment in more than one way. Trying to remember what’s new takes attention away. A missed detail can be the difference between a call or no-call. That’s a problem for the officials.

As someone whose full-time work hinges on objectivity, I can assure you that even unbiased people are not emotionless. The more we get out of our comfort zone, the greater the chance at anxiety. Relearning an item or two can increase anxiety. Relearning a pile of new things while a crowd of millions is watching you do so might be too much.

The Final Straw​


Personally speaking, I believe the trickling in of new technology is a good thing. We want things to be called right, but we also want to watch a game. Incremental improvements allow for flow disruption to be decreased as well as allow the human officials to stay on top of what’s already happening rather than feeling like the wheel is being reinvented.

It’s easy to talk about the little irritations in football that can be improved. Let’s face it though, if there wasn’t more about the sport we believe goes right than wrong we wouldn’t be watching. The trickle allows us to keep the right while working towards reducing the wrong.
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Source: https://www.buffalorumblings.com/20...hould-embrace-slow-pace-of-changing-nfl-rules
 
Buffalo Rumblinks, 4/6: Will GM Brandon Beane actively move around the NFL Draft?

2025 NFL Scouting Combine

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

Plus, why the Bills get high marks for extending their young stars.

In the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills possess 10 selections over the seven-round draft, including five among the first 132 draft picks.

With a history for pulling off draft-day trades, and with the Bills having their share of roster needs to address via the draft, today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by analyzing how active Beane will be in moving around the NFL Draft board.

Will GM Brandon Beane actively move around the NFL Draft?​


While Brandon Beane rightfully won’t divulge which positions or players the Bills are considering going after in the draft, due to the number and position of their 10 draft picks, Beane is happy with Buffalo’s situation heading into the draft. “I do like the ammo that we’re going into the draft with,” Beane said this week at the annual league meetings. “We’re going to try and play the board and move up and back, where we think that makes the most sense.”

Plus, a run through the Bills’ draft needs; plus, previewing the defensive ends who could be available in the first two rounds and find out which standout from the NFL Scouting Combine could make an ideal target for quarterback Josh Allen and the passing attack.

Why Bills get high marks for extending their young stars​


Beane has been busy this offseason, getting young talents like quarterback Josh Allen, linebacker Terrel Bernard, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, edge rusher Greg Rousseau, and cornerback Christian Benford signed to contract extensions that will keep them with Buffalo for the foreseeable future. Learn why the general consensus is Beane did well with these new deals.

Even more Bills news​


We learn how the Bills are contemplating a multiyear contract to keep their training camp at St. John Fisher University in Rochester; examining how Beane and head coach Sean McDermott view the team’s need at wide receiver; hear from wide receiver Keon Coleman on Buffalo’s poor ranking for travel conditions; find out why tight end Dawson Knox received the prestigious Call to Courage Award; and more!

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Source: https://www.buffalorumblings.com/20...rmott-khalil-shakir-terrel-bernard-josh-allen
 
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