Archives for July 22, 2014

‘If the Toronto group succeeds in acquiring the Bills and moving them to Toronto, it might be good for Toronto – but it would be bad for the CFL, CFL cities and Canada. The broad public interest in this country is to see the Toronto bid fail.’

‘Get the idea? The honeymoon idea? These people aren’t hungry. They’re famished. The Bills haven’t made the playoffs in this century. They’ve had nine straight losing seasons. Imagine not winning 10 games in the past 14 years. Fourteen!’

‘He showed why Whaley surrendered first- and fourth-round picks in the 2015 draft to move up five spots in the first round last May so the Bills could pick him. Smart? We’ll see. The price was beyond exhorbitant, particularly for a team that still plans to key its offense around the running game. Watkins’ talent is tantalizing. And for a team languishing in sub-mediocrity for the past 14 seasons, his arrival’s been like a B-12 shot: energizing.’

‘It’s stories like those, and performances like the one Watkins had on Monday, that have this entire franchise giddy. In the midst of a 14-year postseason drought, five years removed from their last season in which they had more than six victories and a month after losing playmaking linebacker Kiko Alonso to a torn ACL, the Bills have plenty of hope. And Watkins is a major reason why.’

‘Marrone provided the update after practice Monday, in the latest twist in Dareus’ troubled offseason. Dareus was scheduled to return to camp in suburban Rochester later in the day.’

‘To make room, the Bills released receiver Ramses Barden and linebacker Nathan Williams. The free agent signings Monday come a day after the Bills opened training camp in suburban Rochester.’

‘Cohen joins his sixth club in six seasons. He played for current Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Detroit during his first two seasons. He also has spent time with New England, Chicago, Dallas and Jacksonville.’

‘”We’re not just going to put him out there every day,” Marrone said. “We’ll wait until our weight coaches say, ‘Hey, you know what, we’re ready to go and let’s go.'”‘

‘”At the present time, I have excused Marcell,” the coach revealed. “He is taking care of some personal stuff, but he’ll be like everybody else. You’ve seen him before on the side, training and getting ready to pass the physical.”‘

‘”I don’t know that. It’s a medical condition. I’m preparing to go on as if he’s not playing, which he’s not,” Marrone said. “I’m just waiting for the doctors, and I can’t speak about the condition because it’s something that happened outside of football.”‘

‘Roosevelt will be joined on the roster by former seventh-round pick and defensive tackle Landon Cohen. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Cohen played with both the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears last season and has eight career starts since entering the league in 2008. He was added likely as a result of the Bills being without both Marcell Dareus and Alan Branch (Active/Non-Football Injury) to start camp.’

‘”Any way I can contribute to the team, I know they’re counting on me to step up,” Bradham remarked. “They know what I can do and I know what I can do. We can’t replace Kiko but you can have some guys step up and make some plays just as well, and that’s one of the things you have to do.”‘

‘Sammy Watkins picked a great day to have his best practice as a member of the Buffalo Bills. With the bigwigs at ESPN, NFL Network, FoxSports1 and the MMQB all in attendance on Monday afternoon, Watkins put on a show for all to see.’

‘The situation here feels urgent. As Whaley alluded to, the once-proud Bills last played more than 16 games — a birthright during the halcyon heyday of Jim Kelly and Co. — in 1999, and the only owner the franchise has known, Ralph Wilson Jr., passed away in March. The team is up for sale. The brass dealt their 2015 first-round pick to move up five spots in May’s draft and come away with Sammy Watkins. Last year’s No. 1 was spent on a quarterback. The feeling here, very clearly, is that the time is now.’