msw2112

For the most part, I agree with this. Some kickers do have bad stretches or even bad seasons and come back fine with the same team, but in many cases, once they lose the mental part of their game, they're done with their current team. These guys often resurface with new teams, starting over, and sometimes return to form. I guess we'll see how Bass does in camp. I don't know if it's the holder or not, but maybe if they decide to go with the rookie punter from SDSU over Martin, that will help Bass. I do think that if the Bills release Bass, he will eventually resurface and have a decent career with another team, but that doesn't mean the Bills should keep him if his mental game with the Bills is gone.

There's no way this guy makes the 53 this season, having never played football. No matter how strong, quick, athletic and able to use leverage he is, there's no chance he's ready to play NFL football in less than 4 months' time. If he hooks on with the practice squad, however, and gets a full season of practices and another camp next year, there's a chance he could amount to something. I see no harm in trying.

That's a lot of linebackers. Do they even have enough LBs to put on the field for reps?

I foresee some bottom-of-the roster tweaks such as trading a veteran OL for a late-round pick (Clapp to SD was mentioned by another poster above and I see that as a good example of what might occur). I could also see a Ryan Bates-type acquisition - acquiring a developmental guy from another team who is at a crowded position and unlikely to make their roster for a similarly situated player with the Bills. Maybe a guy they targeted in the 7th round or UDFA but who signed elsewhere. Bates turned out to be a pretty valuable player for a few years - backed up the entire OL (all 5 positions), started at guard for a bit, and was ultimately flipped for a draft pick.

Given the acquisition of SVPG in the 5th round, who many project as a steal and future starting C, I could see this move happening. When Clapp was signed, they didn't know what they would get in the draft.

For me LA is the closest, but I'd rather go to Seattle. LA is a beautiful stadium, but Inglewood sucks. I've never been to a game in Seattle, but I recall from my last visit there that the stadium is pretty close to downtown - maybe just slightly south of it - and it looks like a really loud, fun stadium. Plus, it's a great city with lots to do. Indy is also a very fun city for a football game. There's a ton to do downtown, with a large convention center, the Pacers' "fieldhouse" and many bars, restaurants, and hotels nearby. The dome is only a few blocks away from all of that action. It's walkable if you're in the mood and a short cab/Uber ride if you're not. I've only been there on business, but worked and stayed downtown and remarked to myself how much fun it would be to spend a weekend there without work. And St. Elmo's steakhouse is one of the best in the country.

Thanks! That Big Red Machine was one helluva team. I had thought of (and provided) some examples from the NBA, NHL, and NFL, but hadn't come up with anything for MLB. I grew up in that same time period and the Yankees had some pretty loaded teams too, such as the '78 team: Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss, Willie Randolph, Bucky Dent, Graig Nettles, Lou Pinella, Mickey Rivers, Reggie Jackson, Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidrey, Goose Gossage, plus a number of good role players. They won 100 games and beat the Dodgers in the World Series.

I agree. If you are going to include college, you can't overlook this team. Arguably the most dominant team in any sport over the span of a decade.

While I'm not a huge NBA fan many championship teams have been loaded and considering the small size of a NBA roster, the ratio of superstars to the entire roster (12 or 13) is staggering. Same goes for NHL teams, where a roster is in the low 20's and a team like the 70s Canadiens had a staggering 9 Hall of Famers. It's more difficult and almost impossible for a NFL team to have that same kind of superstar-to-full roster ratio or Hall of Famer-to-full roster ratio, given the size of a roster. 80's Celtics: Bird, McHale, Parrish, Ainge, Walton, Dennis Johnson 80's Lakers: Kareem, Magic, James Worthy 90's Bulls - Jordan, Pippen, Rodman 2010's Warriors - Curry, Thompson, Durant (a couple of years) 70's Canadiens - 9 Hockey Hall of Fame Members: Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Guy Lapointe, Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Steve Shutt 80's Islanders - 5 Hockey Hall of Fame Members: Mike Bossy, Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier 80's Edmonton Oilers - 7 Hall of Fame Members: Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier 70's Steelers - 9 Hall of Famers: Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. I love our 1990's Bills and had they won a couple of SB's it might be better, but they only had 4 HOF'ers (Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Smith). I did and had started typing it along with the rest of my post, but had to take a break for a conference call before resuming. You know, the work thing.

I'm out of market and while the primary reason I subscribe to Sunday Ticket is to insure that I have access to all Bills games, I do enjoy having access to all of the NFL games. My favorite part of the football week is the last 10 minutes of all the early games. Lots of excitement and drama. I flip from game to game, show 2-4 games at once, etc. Given that the Bills are a top team and Josh Allen is a top attraction, most Bills games are on national TV, in prime time, etc. so I could see most of the games at home without Sunday Ticket, but the cost, while high, is not prohibitive for me. There are plenty of sports bars in my area and even multiple Bills Backers bars, but I have a fairly young family (even though I'm not fairly young) and it's difficult to be gone all day to watch football. When I was younger and single, I was at the Bills bar every Sunday, without fail. Now, Sunday Ticket, with the ability to DVR games and watch at my convenience (which happens more often than I would like), meets my needs. I'd rather pay $300 for access to all NFL games than pay $200 for just the Bills - particularly when so many Bills games are on national TV anyway. I suspect that if they offered single-team pricing, that the model would be something akin to this.

This article is inaccurate in several ways: As already pointed out multiple times, Clapp is not the presumed starter at C. It's McGovern. Davis is not the presumed starter at RB, Cook is. Samuel and Valdes-Scantling ("the former") are not both in their first year in Joe Brady's system. Samuel played in Brady's system in Carolina, and this is likely a big reason the Bills acquired him. They did not trade Diggs for a "minimal return." A 2nd round pick from Minnesota, a team that is not projected to finish very high next season, is a fairly high draft pick. (I do realize there there were some low-to-mid round picks also part of the deal, but that 2nd round pick remains a high pick).

I was at that game too. If I recall, Josh was a rookie and was very raw, plus the rest of the team wasn't very good. The game itself was definitely underwhelming, but the Bills were so bad that the game was a dud. I enjoyed the entire experience, however, which included parking in a guy's back yard, having a small "tailgate" at a small neighborhood park about 4 doors down from the guy's house and a few hundred yards from the stadium, then hanging out in the guy's garage after the game, drinking beer and eating cheese and sausage, while we watched the late game on TV. Apparently, the food & drink in the garage was included in the price of parking on his back lawn - and most importantly, use of his restroom. It was a very "Wisconsin" type of experience and a lot more fun then the sterile experience I had in LA when we parked at the old Forum (across the street from SoFi) and were accosted by the police when we opened our trunk to take out a sweatshirt. Just the hint of a possible tailgate situation drew them on us like flies on sh*t. We later did take some beers out too, and sat outside the stadium gate drinking them. Apparently, only one lot at SoFi allows tailgating and that lot was full. The Bills tailgate had also sold out. Inglewood is not a great place to hang out. So although SoFi is a very nice modern stadium with great sightlines, scoreboards, and amenities, the atmosphere outside is terrible. Lambeau is not all that great in the seating bowl, but the sightlines were fine. The true experience there is OUTSIDE of the stadium, much like Buffalo. With the new stadium, I hope that Buffalo will be one of the few experiences that will be great both inside and outside of the stadium. Highmark is loud and fun inside the bowl, but most of the seats are very uncomfortable, plus taking a leak, getting concessions, and/or navigating the concourses is terrible (and despite all this, I still love it)!

I've done the bottom 3, multiple times. Need to do the top one.

I'm guessing the strategy will be to draft a mid-round guy every year or two to keep the pipeline going so that they don't have to ever pay a RB a 2nd contract. Maybe Davis takes over when Cook's contract expires and they'll draft another back sometime in the next couple of years. Singletary, Moss, Cook, Davis, fill in the blank. Cheap veteran RBs on short-term deals can be mixed in. If the Bills have a strong OL and an effective passing game, this model can work. If the OL can't run block and there's no threat of the pass, this will not work. Great RBs can produce behind a weaker line and mediocre backs can produce behind a strong line, but mediocre backs can't produce behind a weaker line. The threat of the pass can also move the safeties back out of the box and help open up the run game. I'm optimistic that they'll be able run the ball effectively with Kromer and Brady at the helm with their current personnel. If the 5th round C from Georgia pans out, they should have a very strong line for the next few years and even if he doesn't, they still might be fine with Edwards at G and McGovern at C. They looked pretty good in post-Dorsey portion of last season. They put on a clinic during the Dallas game.

I love Buffalo and the Bills and would love to see them get the opportunity to host such a major event, but to me, it just doesn't fit. Inside the stadium is not a large enough area to host, if the draft attendance is anything close to what it's been in recent years. Outside the stadium doesn't make sense because there's not enough land to park all the cars and still have space for all of the attendees, the stage, etc. Would it just be limited to 60,000 attendees (or whatever the stadium capacity is) and be inside? That's the only way I would see it working in Orchard Park. The draft, in recent years, has been a showcase for the host city, with great shots of downtown, etc., and bringing a lot of tourism to city. If it's held in OP, what are all of the people going to do? Green Bay is hosting next year, and it's probably the closest comparison. Let's see what they do there. Maybe fill the stadium and have the draft inside, but also have big screens outside and a makeshift festival going on with music, food, drinks, games, etc. Obviously, there's no current infrastructure in the area to accommodate folks. Think how long the wait for a table at the Big Tree would be!