The show has already taken a pretty big departure from the comics. Characters like Daryl and Sasha don't even exist in the comics, nor do the river people are the junk yard people. Heck, Andrea is still a huge part of the comics. I like the Negan storyline, but they should be doing more with it instead of these filler episodes. It;s like they come up with what they want to be milestone episodes, then just fill in the space around them. Post Negan, the comics skip a few years to find an older Rick/Carl and gang, so that will have to be a nother big departure from the show. And if they bring along the next batch of challenges from the comics, I think people are going to be pretty happy with what comes next.