Archives for March 2017

'Nobody should blame Terry and Kim Pegula for that much misery, but nobody should absolve them, either. They contributed their share after purchasing the Sabres and later assuming command over the Bills. They inherited problems with both teams, added more layers and offered few solutions.'

' “…[it dates] back to my mother who is a single parent, raising a young man in the inner city of Oakland, Calif. during the ‘80s and ‘90s when the gang and drug violence was at perhaps its highest,” said Alexander. “Building that great foundation, sacrificing for me, showing me what it meant to work hard and provide. Providing me with my uncle, Steven Moore, who showed me what it looked like to raise a family, [to be] a great husband [and to] give back by coaching…”'

'They should fire Whaley right now and be done with it. Stop the charade that he's still empowered. Put him out of his misery. If this goes on much longer, it'll make their decision to fire Darcy Regier seem hasty and impulsive by comparison.'

'There is still time for that to change, but it would take a run on former Bills signing elsewhere to make that happen. If players like Zach Brown, Corbin Bryant, Robert Blanton, Leger Douzable, Brandon Spikes, Corey White and Jerome Felton sign elsewhere, it could impact the Bills' chances. Those players would have to sign with a new team by May 9 — any signings after that do not impact the compensatory formula, which sometimes means teams will wait to improve their chances of landing additional draft picks.'

'Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan. Note to self: There are A LOT of O.J. Howard fans on Twitter, and one can easily spend an afternoon debating the merits of drafting a tight end. In this exercise, Howard is gone, so the debate doesn’t exist. While a new head coach usually gets a pick on his side of the ball, it’s hard to argue that receiver isn’t the biggest need on this team. The Bills are one Sammy Watkins rolled ankle away from Andre Holmes being the No. 1 receiver. Davis checks all the boxes and would be a nice pairing with Watkins, while also providing some insurance if the team’s franchise receiver can’t make it through another season because of injury.'

'Wednesday night, for example, the former Buffalo Bills' head coach and current defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams tweeted out his "disappointment" that his former team sold a gift he gave to late founding owner Ralph Wilson Jr.'

'But from what I can see, that's what happened. McDermott decided Taylor was his best chance to win games in the short term, so they brought Tyrod back with a revised deal. It's more favorable to the team, essentially giving Taylor a $10 million pay cut and slashing the potential cap hit if they walk away from him after 2017.'

'Yes, there is a risk of appearing to “nickel-and-dime” the Pegulas, as Erie County Legislature Chairman John J. Mills, R-Orchard Park, worried. But the reverse is also true as the billionaire Pegulas appear to some to be nickel-and-diming county taxpayers.'

'The Bills proposed a similar rule change a year ago. Here's a full list of the proposed changes as announced by the league.'

'"I think I can offer these kids a lot," said Hall. "Help them with developing and growing. Sometimes these players are growing up in the NFL after just getting out of college. I can help with any issues, and I can help off the field. I want to be a very positive limelight to these kids and their lives."'

'By Buffalo and Seattle; Permits a coach to challenge any officials’ decision except scoring plays and turnovers.'

'Each review will be a maximum of 60 seconds in length, timed from when the Referee begins review of the replay at the field-level monitor.'

'I was so thrilled for Taylor when the Bills and his agent found a way to rework his deal to keep him in lovely Western New York. Taylor has been a good quarterback — completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 6,058 yards, a 94.2 passer rating and a TD-to-INT ratio of 37:12 in two seasons as the Bills starter — and a legit leader. I think he can elevate his game even more now that former coach Rex Ryan is gone and discipline will be restored in Buffalo — the team won't be penalized like it was last year, when it racked up 127 penalties costing a total of 960 yards. Sean McDermott is a worker, and it goes noted he rightly wantedTaylor back. Taylor won't have to worry about being used as a pawn in a mind-numbing and unfair game between Ryan and GM Doug Whaley.'

'"I just love being able to go out and play with confidence in my strengths," Johnson said in a conference call with the Western New York media this week. "Any time you can go out and play without thinking, you’re playing fast and you enjoy playing the game. When coach introduced the defense to me, it was almost like ‘man, it’s simple,’ but at the same time it can be a little bit challenging learning the terminology and just knowing where to be at the right time, but it eliminates all the thinking of it.

'“I continue to hear that new Bills coach Sean McDermott has growing cache with ownership and that team could be bringing in vice presidents and/or personnel figures with ties to the coach in the near future,” La Canfora writes. “Panthers director of player personnel is someone particularly well thought of who could end up in Buffalo after the draft in one capacity or another. There are already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills Gm Doug Whaley likely isn’t built to last.”'