Archives for April 22, 2002

We are thrilled to have Drew Bledsoe. We think he is a great quarterback. We think he is a tremendous competitor and he is going to bring excitement and energy to our football team and really provide us with, what we think, will be the type of quarterback that can help us as we go into the future.

‘Even before the deal was announced, the Bills opened their box office to accommodate fans who heard the trade was imminent. Buffalo, which failed to sell out four of its eight home games last season, drew 504,709 fans last year, the lowest since 1987.’

Alex Van Pelt, who showed some promise down the stretch in place of the injured Rob Johnson last season, will be relegated to a backup role. The Patriots drafted Louisiana State QB Rohan Davey in the fourth round Sunday, which signaled something may indeed be in the works for Bledsoe, who was the first pick in the 1993 draft out of Washington State and owns nearly every Patriots passing record.

They neglect to mention the life threatening injury last year.

The Buffalo Bills chose not to sign free-agent Jeff Blake as their next quarterback and, instead swung a deal for veteran Drew Bledsoe. That was smart. But it took a first-round draft choice to get him, and that was too expensive.

‘The Bills thought long and hard (according to Bills not at all) about taking Albert Haynesworth here, but in the end Tom Donahoe opted to go for Williams. He’s a big, powerful player who can play right or left tackle — probably right for the Bills. That will allow them to move Jonas Jennings to guard in what shapes up as a decent line. Grade: B. That defensive line still has a huge hole in the middle.’