TimGraham

Mike knows his stuff and doesn't blow smoke. If he's quoting salary numbers, I'd believe them.

I'll take the blame for that one. A Cleveland officer told me Whitner had been released with no charges. That, plus the original Buffalo News report that he already had been charged led me to believe the charges were dropped, when, in fact, he hadn't been charged at all. That one's on me.

Thanks, Lets Go. We have that story up on our NFL page.

At exclusive establishments where celebrities and athletes hang out, it's not uncommon for them to have off-duty officers on security detail.

I've been told there was no prosecutor to consult because of Easter weekend. So charges still are quite possible.

Here's where the confusion comes from, and this is official as of 4:13 p.m. The charges weren't dropped because no charges have been filed. So he was let go without having to post bond because there were no charges. But there could be.

Here's where the confusion comes from, and this is official as of 4:13 p.m. The charges weren't dropped because no charges have been filed. So he was let go without having to post bond because there were no charges. But there could be.

Because it's possible no charges have been filed at all.

As much as you like to crawl up my ass, I'm going to have to start charging you rent.

Charges may not have been dropped after all. I'm getting conflicting information from Cleveland police. Stay tuned.

A lot of procedural semantics. Possible that no charges were filed at all. Possible they were filed and dropped. Possible he was charged and bailed out. But he has been released from jail at least. I'll keep looking into it.

Hold the phone ... Now I'm being told they haven't been dropped.

He was just released, and I've been told the charges have been dropped.

Because there are sources I can't divulge, I don't want to get too deeply into this, but as a point of order and to shed a little insight on the job, let me say this: I have printed information I didn't necessarily believe, but in every one of those cases the person who gave me that info is quoted directly. If Joe Mesi wants to state on the record he doesn't have a brain injury, or if Larry Quinn wants to tell me the Sabres never reached an agreement with Chris Drury, they're going to be quoted directly. That information is going to have big, Las Vegas-style neon arrows pointing right the source, indicating "This guy is claiming this information is true, not me." When I start quoting anonymous sources, I must have a high degree of confidence in the information. The reason being, there are no names associated with the information other than my own. When you go with anonymous sources, you're putting your integrity on the line. So if somebody wants to push an agenda, his name is going to be directly attributed. To let somebody remain anonymous while pushing an agenda is professional suicide.

The NFL is loaded with players who bust their asses until they get the big payday. The GM I quoted already has two tackles. He isn't interested.

Brewing contract standoff is Bills' biggest story

The research for this article started before the owners meetings, where I had access to scores of NFL decision-makers. It was there that I realized how highly Peters is thought of as a player. We're talking the Peyton Manning of his position when it comes to ability. The preparation and dedication part is where the conversation changes. Will he play when he's hurt? Will he play when he gets the money? Those types of questions. I still got the impression any team gladly would deal with those concerns because they'd love to have him.

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I did have to change the headline to get people to read it, though. For more than two hours nobody was clicking on it. As soon as I inserted the word "trade," people started looking.

From the people I spoke with, the Bills were more excited about Johnson than they were about Hardy even in training camp last year. But both are projects and because Hardy was a high draft pick and gets paid more, he got the better opportunities -- and rightfully so.

Taylor would consider it, but according to my sources it's highly unlikely from both the Bills and Taylor's standpoint.

Besides, why would you bother to franchise a player nobody wants? He had a productive year last year at 34 years old, but teams came out of the woodwork to announce they didn't want to touch him. He would need to have a monster year on the field and be on his best behavior for teams to want him at 36. The whole point of the franchise tag is to keep a player from being plucked away by another team.

The belief is that McKelvin could be a better punt returner than Parrish. I don't know if that's true, but McKelvin was electric in college. If there is a dropoff, it's probably negligible. And Parrish wouldn't see the field as a receiver unless Reed got hurt. They also want to get Steve Johnson more involved. It's a numbers deal. They have an asset to trade. That's a good thing.

I'm not sure about the clause. But with what the franchise tag would be for a receiver next year (it was $9.9 million this year), the Bills couldn't afford it. Especially not for a guy who'd be 36. They're already paying Lee Evans over $9 million a year. They would have $20 million tied up in two receivers.

Speaking of shooting off your mouth from an old script, how about "The media hates T.O. and reports only the negative stuff!" You're right in saying that a reasonable person might report on the possibility this could turn out to be a good move. Here are a bunch of stories you've obviously missed. Thanks for reading. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...&id=3976473 http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-37/...ded-target.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-39/...-for-Bills.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-38/...bout-Bills.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-96/...alo-s-risk.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-80/...f-approval.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-42/...eed-Owens-.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-111...t-working-.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-41/...al--Part-1.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-48/...al--Part-2.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-46/...rell-Owens.html http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-6-47/...t-problems.html

Depth, yes. If he's in your starting lineup, worry.