Archives for April 18, 2002

“The Bills “really believe they’re going to get (Bledsoe) now” one league source told ESPN.com. [Donahoe’s] rationale has been that the Bills have had the best offer on the table, believed to be a third-rounder, and that the Patriots have no other serious bidders. Faced with the prospect that Bledsoe will not report to training camp, New England may now be prepared to reduce its demands.” (Aside: You have to think that this means the Bills will be grabbing an OT with the first overall pick if this goes down.)

@ As Wednesday dawned, the draft was barely three days away. That’s 72 hours, give or take, but do we really know any more about what the Bills might do with their first-round draft pick than we did 72 days ago?

‘"We have some young guys we like a lot, but we were almost in a situation last year where we had too many young guys.’

‘One thing we do know: If the Bills don’t trade down, or don’t include their first-round draft position in a potential deal for New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe, they are going to land a whale of a football player with that fourth overall selection.’

‘Despite a respectable 95 tackles, Foreman was not a playmaker or an impact player, and Williams clearly wanted to upgrade at the position.’

‘Rogers, whom the Texans acquired in the expansion draft, was expendable because the team also picked up Jermaine Lewis in the expansion draft.’

‘Williams was the defensive coordinator of the Titans for the 1997-2000 seasons and an assistant when the team was in Houston.’

‘Robinson expects to get more playing time in Buffalo, as the Bills will use him on third downs. He will replace Foreman as the starter at the weakside (away from the Tight End) position. He, London Fletcher and Keith Newman will be the team’s three starting ‘backers.’

‘You can see him Tom Donohoe working, slowly, methodically putting the pieces in place…re-building the Bills. You can see it today, even before the NFL Draft.’

‘Foreman, 26, started all 16 games at weakside linebacker for the Bills last season, but Williams was seeking to upgrade the position. In Houston, he will likely start along with Jamie Sharper, who was claimed in the expansion draft, and free agent signee Kailee Wong at linebacker.’

Despite published reports Panthers are still considering him with the 2nd overall choice, ESPN has learned that is not the case, and that the team will opt for Peppers unless it receives an attractive offer to trade out of #2 spot. Detroit also is not expected to choose Harrington with the #3 pick and, if that is the case, he might not be a viable option until the #8 or #10 choices, held, respectively, by the Chiefs and Bengals.