TheLynchTrain

Interesting. When you say the NFL doesn't want us to have Primetime, is this because we suck or because of the sloppiness/craziness of a night game at the Ralph? Edit: I was under the impression it was always Ralph that didn't like Primetime

Anyone else notice Marrone had a lip in around 4:30 in? Buddy also looked suprised to get the manhug.

I actually did a double take on the sweater vest. Buddy loves those.

Taxes are taxes, it is what it is. But I do find this "duty day" way of calculating to be kind of rediculous. In the Forbes article linked by Icansleepwhenimdead Louisiana calculates (total compensation) X (LA duty days/total duty days). Now, that's not a big deal for the regular season, but shouldn't they be calculating a player's salary earned for the week for the playoffs instead of total salary? In that article they say that Anquan Boldin owes is taxed on $180K of his income from his $6M salary because he was in Louisiana for 6 out of the 200 NFL working days ($6,000,000 *6/200). The Ravens players, as winners, earned $88K per player while the 49ers got $44K for playing in the SB game. Don't you think they should be taxed on that instead of the amount of days of their total salary? To me, it sounds like they could actually lose money to play in the Super Bowl, depending on how big their annual salary is and the amount of days spent in a certain jurisdiction.

I'll disagree on the "more involved" fan angle. While you may call Tim Graham whiny, he was still a good informative read. He broke stories. I'll also point to Sando out in the NFC West, who always puts on good reporting - even though its not the Bills I'll still read his pieces because they're well thought out and he usually throws some analytics in there. I'll add also the AFC South and NFC East guys aren't half bad either. There's plenty of places to get news on the Bills, so hopefully people vote with their feet and ESPN wises up soon about Walker.

Alright WEO, I'll try and be civil here and give you a logical response. I hope you can do the same. I've actually had an opinion on him for quite some time (see previous thread I started a few weeks ago that I've linked here http://forums.twobil..._+james +walker ). I understand what you're saying SJBF on a prestige position - the guy has made it to the pinnacle of his profession - he's working at ESPN with quite a captive audience that most reporters would kill for. I don't think I've ever attacked his writing skills - I just think he's a terrible reporter. When I go look for news on ESPN, PFT, or BN, I'd like to read stories written by folks that are actually doing their homework - interview front office folks/players, gather sources on the teams you're reporting on, and provide insight and analysis on how you think a certain move will work. James Walker does not do any of the above. Most of the stories he puts up there are either old news, links to articles I've already read, or two or three line posts with the title "How will Tebow fare?" and no actual thought process by Mr. Walker on how Tebow will fare, instead only posing questions to readers on how they think he will fare. I don't mean this as a put down, but I could get more reliable information from the TBD and Buffalo Rumblings than him (again not a put down, but you expect better out of a professional reporter over fans). As I said, he's reached the pinnacle of his profession, but I think he's squandering his chance - with 30-40K people clicking your links everyday, how can you not have a piece that you call your own at least once a week? I've tried to take away the personal attack here and focus on his work. I'd be interested to hear what else you have to say.

WEO, what's your opinion of Mr. Walker?

Maybe? I've looked at comments in his articles before and I've never seen hate like I saw on this one. The funny thing is its not just coming from Bills fans. I saw other fans chiming in about how JW's a hack and what else is Kolb supposed to say, yada yada. He does seem like someone that would have thin skin, so its possible he's just stoking the flames. I just wish ESPN would wise up and can this guy. It would be nice to see a fresh perspective on that beat, where the writer would actually INTERVIEW people from the teams he covers and write HIS OWN THOUGHTS on what he sees. The sad thing is this garbage piece was the only time I've seen Walker actually take a position on something. EDIT: Obviously Walker finally taking a position on something is fine and dandy, but at least use some context here. What else would you want Kolb to say? We're going to suck and I'll end up on IR by week 6? Winning a SB should be the goal of every player in the NFL, or GTFO. If you're going to poke fun at him, I think there was plenty of room in the comments along the lines on "this was the best opportunity to win the SB" instead of "I'm here to win a SB." I'd be fine with calling out a player for a statement like that, since Buffalo obviously does not offer the best opportunity to win a SB. And the fact that Walker acts all melodramatic about "putting more pressure on himself and the Bills" and "many will remember his ill-fated comments" ... give me a break. Again, hopefully this just adds to the evidence that this guy needs to get canned. At least I'll have my fingers crossed.

As I laid out over in a previous thread, James Walker is the WORST. The AFC East blog may not be the most prestigious place in sportswriting, but it has a built-in audience and should carry enough weight to develop a few sources within the teams he covers. Walker kicks his gift horse in the mouth. Never an original thought out of this idiot. The only positive out of this article is that it looks like Walker finally had some negative pushback in his comments section. Hopefully he gets canned soon. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/155985-espn-james-walker/page__hl__%2Bjames+%2Bwalker

Yeah, I could see Branch, Kyle, and Dareus switching around too - possibly Dareus playing the 3-4 DE Red Bryant position? What really makes that defense work though is the Bruce Irivn roving linebacker - do we have a player like that on the roster, or maybe go after him in the draft? I really like this defense and I hope Pettine at least incorporates some of it next year. I have a feeling (with Bradley heading to Jax) more teams might adopt some elements of this hybrid D.

Ever since we hired Pettine and he said he wanted to run a "hybrid" defense, I kept thinking about the "Leo" defense Gus Bradley and Pete Carroll have developed out in Seattle. Basically, Seattle runs three fatass defensive tackles to clog up the lanes with a pass rusher named the "Leo" mano a mano a tackle in almost wide nine stance. I've been thinking about posting this here for a while but had not fleshed out my thoughts yet. This looks like a perfect thread to throw it in. Do you guys think this defense could work here? After signing Alan Branch, I think the possibility of this happening might have moved from "you're crazy level" to "maybe you're not that crazy." Just for kicks, here's a really interesting breakdown on how the Leo works. I'm fascinated because it looks like Carroll and Bradley have cooked up a completely new defense distinct from the 3-4 and 4-3. Only time will tell if it will stick http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2013/1/19/3890928/gus-bradley-defense-leo-position

Honestly, do you get some sick pleasure tearing other people down all the time? I've never seen one positive post from you on here. Now that I think of it, I've never seen you even add anything to any conversation either. Is there a point to all your shenanigans?

Vincent Jackson had an elite year after being paid top dollar. I think he's a player that's worth it, even with the legal mess he left in SD. On the flip side, with Tampa Bay, the jury's still out on Carl Nicks (played well when healthy but injured half the season), and they bombed on Eric Wright. At least with Carl Nicks, Tampa Bay paid for a guy that had proven he's an All Pro (2010, 2011) - Eric Wright was the wrong type of player to target - he hadn't proven anything yet and was paid only on potential. I'd argue Julius Peppers, Steve Hutchinson, Charles Woodson, and Justin Smith (didn't become highest paid, but still got around 20 mil guar. a few years back) were all elite players that were arguably the best or one of the best at their position, got paid for it, and seemed to work out beneficially for both the team and player. Throw in Manning and Brees while you're at it, but I understand if you'd want to exclude them under the fact that QBs are a separate animal. The most elite of elite players usually never make it to free agency, but if they do, I think its worth going after them and paying top dollar, on a case by case basis. After reading the Sando article and going through this exercise here, as long as they have proven that they are at the top of their game and still have the potential to be game changers, I believe its a solid bet.

Thanks for the response. First off, Pro Bowl - I get it. I'm sure management throws away ALL Pro Bowl talk in negotiations, but I would speculate t doesn't matter whether a players an alternate due to injury or playoff rosters, etc. They'll still claim they made the Pro Bowl and the teams and broadcasters will continue to hype it. Like it or not, if you play or we're selected, its generally been said you're a "Pro Bowler." For the top 25/700 thing - have you seen a public list for the top 25 free agents? I asked that in my OP because I've looked and haven't found anything remote to it. Regarding 700 million for the top 25, is he talking about overall contracts and not guaranteed money? If so, he's talking out of both sides of his mouth there. He went on a long-winded rant about how the Pats* offer to Welker had something along the lines of more "real money" (i.e. guaranteed) than the Broncos. If he sets this measurement for "money" discussions, and then goes back to talking about total money (most of which players will never receive), his argument is worthless. On Welker (and Jackson) as I said, they may have a slim chance of making that list, but again who knows? Until I actually see a list I don't know, and that's why I didnt' include them in the count with the four "Pro Bowlers." My beef here is that no reporters even casually (at least publicly) took issue with those numbers thrown out by Kraft. They reported his numbers as fact because, gee, it was such a smart, well-informed quote. If he's talking throwing out numbers that may include qualifiers, why not question him on which qualifiers he's using - guaranteed vs non guaranteed? Pro Bowl starter vs. injury replacement? At least around Buffalo, there was pretty healthy skepticism by our media on this. No one believed Buddy on that, and it was obvious in the reporting after the statement.

Of course, it's a popularity contest. But in Kraft's defense (I shudder saying those words), I think he was trying to set a low barometer on the ability of a player. We can dispute how worthless a Pro Bowl berth is, but for the most part, a player that makes the Pro Bowl is still in at least the top 15 at his position (with the exception of Jeff Saturday last year). It still doesn't excuse Kraft for pulling numbers out of his ass so that the media thinks he's smart.

You're correct, but I know for myself (and I'm sure you'd say the same) would never imagine putting someone else's numbers in any report I do for work without act least giving them a cursory check. When Kraft said it, I was at least skeptical, to say the least. How can at least 10 different sports writers (by my small count at least) simply trot out that statement without even a qualifier that those were Kraft's numbers and Kraft's alone? And I also add, unlike politics, I am a complete partisan when it comes to football, so the fact that Kraft and not Major King Kong said it got me steamed But this man is such a raging lying scumbag in my book that I had to say something. It seems like every time he opens his mouth he attempts to stretch the LOL, I wasn't going to go there but I agree. I mostly get pissed off more for what he says regarding football than his personal life.

Highest paid or best free agent in a class? I would argue that it really is a case by case basis on players. These GMs argued that its better to pay your best players big money that to try and split up the same money between middle class players. So I'd imagine this assertion would also hold true on some high-priced Free Agents. The problem is very rarely do the best Free Agents at positions become available. I would argue that last year Mario Williams was in the top 5 of his position, a very rare case of such a player becoming a Free Agent. But as always, it comes down to what its worth. The Bills obviously thought he was worth top money. After next season, we'll really see if he's still worth that top money. After having "only" a 12 mil cap hit this year, Spotrac says Mario's cap hit will jump to 18 mil, and then 19 mil in 2015 and 2016. In my opinion, unless Mario has a monster 15 sack season, he's gone next March 1st. Sadly, I'd be willing to wager this will be the last year on his contract. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/mario-williams/

“The top 25 players have received $700 million. How many Pro Bowls do any of you think, cumulatively, those 25 players have gone to? Anyone have a guess? Six. So cumulatively, the players that got $700 [million] – 25 players – so that tells you that the trend is going to signing young, up-and-coming players. There were 52 starters – and a starter is someone who plays more than eight games – who have been cut this year, and 41 of them are over 30 years old. I don’t think this has ever happened the same way in the league.” - Robert Kraft I'm sure everyone saw Robert Kraft bemoaning the loss of Wes Welker earlier this week at the owner's meetings, crying how sad it is that little old Wesley isn't playing on his Patriots (on Bobby's terms of course). But that's not exactly what my thread's about. Did everyone see his rapid-fire answer about lessons learned from Free Agency this year? I think it impressed quite a few people who read it, including about every sportswriter in America. It seems like every column I've read this week has a portion of the quote thrown in. Except I'm calling it BS. Now don't get me wrong - I don't argue with the underlying trend - younger, unproven players getting money, older proven more expensive players getting the axe. Who can argue with that? But I think the numbers he's using are complete BS. Twenty five players making six pro bowls? What Free Agent list are you looking at? Mike Wallace (27 mil guar. - 1 Pro Bowl), Jermon Bushrod (22.5 mil guar. - 2 Pro Bowls), Greg Jennings (18 mil - 2 Pro Bowls) and Jake Long (16 mil gaur. - 4 Pro Bowls) would like to disagree with that assertion. Where the hell are the sportswriters to call out these numbers? And since when has free agency not been about going after younger unproven talent and cutting older proven talent? Is Robert Kraft that reverent in NFL media circles that we can just parrot whatever he says and that's gold? I counted four players with big money guarantees, all of whom I assume would be in the top 25. I would argue that there's probably another six pro bowls in that top 25 somewhere. I would take a gander that he also made up the 700 million number. So anyone out there with better googling skills than me find a list with the top 25 contracts? I've looked long and hard to no avail. I would really like to prove this bastard wrong. I'll say also that Stephen Jackson (4 mil guar. - 3 Pro Bowls) and Wes Welker (6 mil guar - 4 Pro Bowls) might have an very slim chance at this top 25 list, since FA was such a bust this year. I left them off for this reason. If anything, I think both signings point to the bargains you can get in Free Agency this year than years past.

The whole interview is in a story linked on the Toronto Sun as well as TBD http://www.torontosu...past-and-future It's towards the end where this exchange takes place: ARE THERE FIRST-ROUND WORTHY QUARTERBACKS IN THIS DRAFT? "I've said from Day 1 there'll be two quarterbacks in this draft that will be long-time starters in this league. And that's a fact. The key is figuring out which two it is, and that's what we're in the process of doing." It's also interesting that he stated earlier: "I really don't want to comment about these (draft-class) quarterbacks, because I haven't seen them all, and I am going to see them all." So he doesn't want to comment on Qbs yet, but he believes (I'm sorry, its a FACT) two will be long term starters? I'm not sure yet if he's playing poker or if this is just downright stupid.

I'll preface this post by saying this article is two weeks old, but I thought it was enlightening enough to share. It's an interesting read about the way defenses have been built in the AFC West, and the different way SF, Seattle and the Rams are attempting to sustain their defensive success. I think we can argue the potential successes and pitfalls with all three models, and I'm sure only time will tell in the next few years who wins out there. And while its not about the Bills, I think there's plenty of takeaways we can see about the Bills defense in the next 2-3 years. http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/92769/nfl-econ-49ers-sustainability-rams-plan PS - Its also from the ESPN NFC West blogger Mike Sando, which again only really shines more light on how HORRIBLE AFC East James Walker is.

Why would you put Freddy on that list? Is it sentimental, or you still think he's got enough left in the tank? I love the guy, but I can't imagine we'd get an picks for a 32 year old with a 3.7 mil cap hit. Before FA started, I thought it was a decent contract, but after seeing Bush and Jackson set the market with 4 mil a year deals for starters, I think Freddy's grossly overpaid.

Devil's advocate here, how did Ponder play with a AP rushing for 2000 yards last year? I don't think you're giving those rookie QBs enough credit for their success. Yes, they had some good performances around them, but they still played well in their own right.

Conspiracy theories aside, a quick guess on the "insurance policy" comment would be that the Rogers folks thought the series would be a smashing success. In their minds, if it proved a huge success and they actually made money, they probably assumed their eventual bid on the Bills would have some merit in NFL offices. Which obviously hasn't happened.

So LV did Dan actually say the bills were in on the Alex Smith deal? I didn't hear it in the video, but then again you said it happened before Florio was on. I can find any links anywhere on this.

Did Dan actually say the bills were in on the Alex Smith deal? And did he say specifically Barkley going to AZ? I don't care as much about Alex Smith because its over with, but Barkley to AZ interests me. The only thing I see here is a youtube clip Dan posted on twitter with Florio where they say that Fitz is done,Tavaris is under contract, and Matt Moore is an intriguing option for Buffalo. Was there something else I'm missing? I really want to believe this Barkley to AZ talk.