Niagara Gazette

‘Twenty years later, the Bills appear to be on the rise again. We’ll never see a collection of talent like the Super Bowl team, which came together before free agency. But it has similar elements — a young franchise quarterback in Josh Allen, solid free agent acquisitions, a top defense with rising young stars in Tremaine Edmunds, Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano and a talented rookie lineman in Ed Oliver.’

‘There will be a temptation to rationalize Allen’s performance if he falters in Year Two. But how high should expectations be set for the Bills’ gifted young quarterback? The evidence suggests that if he’s going to succeed, the bar this season should be set high.’

‘One can only hope that this is a sign of Lawson ‘showing’ his maturation process and not him ‘telling’ us that he is going through that. One can only hope that this is the emphasis he can bring off the field, so he can bring that added focus once he gets back onto the field this season.’

‘But in the sports world, it’s almost like we can tune out all of those things and come together as one. So once the Bills honor Pancho one final time during the home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals (Sept. 22, so you can mark the calendars), I hope we can come together as a community once again and honor a man that embodied just what the Buffalo spirit is all about.’

‘With the amount of capital that was used rather than traded away, several “steals” throughout the process and even adding undrafted free agents that could contribute, Buffalo has put itself in position to compete for playoff contention in 2019. Even considering 2017’s playoff season, this looks like it may be the Bills’ best chance to win the AFC East since the turn of the century.’

‘McCoy is the one face that no longer fits on a roster that has been almost completely reshaped under Beane. He’s over the hill. He’s an inconsistent, self-serving leader who got benched for a play for the season finale a year ago. He’s also in the final year of his contract (at $6 million) and has a couple of off-field civil suits pending.’

‘Listen, before you go crazy reading this, just keep this in mind. For Buffalo to get its hands on Williams, it will most likely have to trade up to go and get him. That would be totally fine, in my opinion — personally, I feel that Williams is the best player in the draft.’