Punch

Perhaps the Bills have paid lip service to the notion of regionalizing the fan base in Ontario and beyond, but Ralph has literally said from the start that playing games in Toronto was about money. Not sure where to find the "spin".

DarthICE is a moron. Every time he posts something it's like a crazy person screaming at the top of his lungs on a street corner about UFOs and the Illuminati. So !@#$ing sick of it.

Schefter: "He has five days to report to Buffalo; plans to for now." What does he mean "plans to for now"? He reports or he doesn't. What a weird thing to say.

I know what you mean, that is literally my least favorite type of reply on TSW.

You dirty son of a B word. Good show.

It's already been pointed out that the 2 seasons that followed his steroid bust he produced seasons with 17 and 12.5 sacks--- his knee injury may be related to 'roid use, but his struggles are specifically related to injusy not lack of steroids. Also, San Diego is kind of a cesspool for negativity, isn't it? Don't the Chargers seem to have an abnormally high number of discontented players? AJ Smith is hated around the league for a reason.

Comparing Stadium Wall posters to retards is totally insensitive and unfair--- to retards.

That's true. Unfortunately, the steroid use may have contributed to the knee injury and his inability to recover from it.

If true that would be a savvy move!

Who would want this douche on their roster at this point?

If Nix has already spoken to Merriman as Glazer reported then I'm sure the subject of a longterm possibility was broached. Unless it's purely a "PR" move.

It's gotta be McCargo.

It's a bit odd that prior to the Brad Childress tweet on Nov. 1st their previous tweet was from August. Tim Graham doesn't think it sounds like the Bills are interested in Merriman, but he thinks maybe they're just holding their cards close to the vest: http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/21082/bills-coy-on-moss-merriman-intentions

Not so much his age, but that he appears to already be washed up. Maybe he's not, but that's the thinking here.

The only way they would claim Merriman is if he were open to committing to Buffalo longterm--- the only way the Bills would be interested in him committing to Buffalo longterm is if over the course of the next 9 weeks he proved he can still be an effective player. That's too many "ifs" for most teams, especially with so many young players needing reps in 2010. I don't see Merriman open to being a Bill beyond this year and I don't expect the Bills to claim him, at the very least for that particular reason--- but I do expect Bills fans and Stadium Wall posters to excoriate Buddy, Chan, & company for not "Gitin'R'Dun'd". They need effective players that want to be here, if Shawne Merriman fits that description, so be it. If not, so be it--- then move on.

At 0-7, why would they care if he remains in the division or not for the remainder of 2010? Claiming him this year has no effect on where he'll land in 2011 and beyond.

Interesting comment from Yahoo's Jason Cole regarding Randy Moss: The real intrigue revolves around Buffalo general manager Buddy Nix, who spent years working for John Butler and was with Butler and San Diego in December 2002 when the Chargers were first among five teams to claim cornerback Deion Sanders. That move kept Sanders from clearing waivers, coming out of retirement and joining the Oakland Raiders on their way to the Super Bowl that season. “I don’t think Buddy is going to do it, it’s kind of a risk,” one AFC team exec said. “But it would be really interesting if he did.” I'm not sure what value there is for the Bills in blocking Moss from playing elsewhere, though, nor just what measure of influence the late John Butler has had on Nix's managerial style. He also speculates that Moss may sit the rest of the season if claimed by the Bills or Panthers, and also notes (as other analysts such as Tim Graham) it makes little sense for Chan Gailey to be interested in him, anyhow.

If the Bills wanted to cut one of these Milk Duds they could do so at anytime. Claiming Moss specifically is obviously not a prerequisite for cutting one of the useless husks still on the roster.

It's definitely a possibility that Carimi could be available at the top of the 2nd round, alhough I think come draft time he'll go somewhere in the mid 1st. But I'd love to get Luck and Carimi, even if it meant trading up somewhat. Then again, the defense could use some help. According to the DraftTek simulation, the Bills got Luck in the 1st, Cameron Heyward in the 2nd, and Nate Solder in the 3rd---- there is no way at all possible that could happen, but I'd absolutely plotz if that went down.

Actually, yes they have.

I don't know what you were thinking when you made this idiotic post. This isn't Madden '11 where you can just plug in a guy with a 94 rating and not worry about any off-field repercussions. Let's break this down: -First, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, a team thin at wide receiver, decided it best to ship out their most explosive player--- because they felt it would actually improve their team. Hard to argue now that they stand at 6-1, the NFL's best record. -The Minnesota Vikings, a desperate team with injury issues at wide receiver, a team slowly watching both their division title hopes and even their playoff aspirations dwindling to near nothing, a team that already sacrificed a 3rd round draft pick in exchange for Moss---- decided after 3 weeks that Moss could not help their team! -Randy Moss characteristically gave up on a catchable ball that would have easily been a TD (which indirectly led to Brett Favre being knocked out of the game on the next play), then gave the most bizarre post game press conference since Dennis Green told the world that Dick Jauron's Chicago Bears "were who we thought they were". Brad Childress has reportedly now lost the team and the Vikings season has gone up in flames. And you're saying this gentleman will help an 0-7 Buffalo Bills team in full rebuilding mode? Help them do what, exactly? Randy Moss is 33 years old, likely does not want to play in Buffalo, and even if he did, is he playing here beyond 2010? Is he still going to be effective whenever the team around him is a genuine contender? And if so, what has he shown in 2010 that he will contribute aside from on-field apathy and major off-field headaches???? In 2010, Stevie Johnson has more receptions, more yards, more touchdowns, and monumentally fewer headaches than Randy Moss---- not to mention he's 9 years younger and has proven he'd run through a brick wall to help this team. WTF else do you want, exactly? I'll hang up and listen.

From Tuesday's early edition of the Buffalo News: * * * Here's what Gailey had to say when asked whether the Bills would have any interest in receiver Randy Moss, who was waived Monday by the Minnesota Vikings: "Hey, we evaluate everything every day, but I don't know if that would be a fit or not. I'm sure [General Manager] Buddy [Nix] and I will talk about it. We talk about 'em all."

How many rookie NCAA DEs (Gibson was a DE in college not a LB) are the Bills going to transition to OLB in one season? Why is the only possible explanation for the Bills to not claim him that they were "asleep at the wheel" and "not paying attention"? Do the Bills need to sign every single player that is put on waivers? Have they not established that they are constantly tinkering with the roster by cutting, trading, and signing multiple players nearly every week? For the record, Doug Whaley did not work for the Steelers when the 2nd Coming of LT, All-Pro Hall of Fame NFL veteran linebacker Thaddeus Gibson was drafted. It's possible he scouted him last year, but he was hired by the Bills in early February. I would have liked the Bills to claim Gibson, but the fact that they did not means absolutely nothing. Just like Joique Bell being plucked off the practice squad by Philadelphia. Boy, he sure has ripped up the league since he joined the Eagles! What a senile old coot that Nix is! If only that skinflint Ralph would spend money on caffeinated coffee and alarm clocks!

I understand how the priority system works but I mistakenly thought all of the week's games needed to be played before the process was finalized. I remembered the claim deadline for Trent was a Tuesday... but he was also released that same Tuesday and not the Monday before. Anyway, I was hoping the Bills would claim him, but a I said earlier, he's a "tweener" like Moats and Coleman. It's odd that Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (a terrific reporter) had speculated that the Bills might put in a claim because of Doug Whaley, considering Gibson was drafted in 2010 when Whaley was already working for Buffalo. I suppose it's possible he had done scouting work on Gibson during the 2009 NCAA season prior to leaving the Steelers.

I may be wrong, but at this point I believe that only means the 49ers have put in a claim for him. As far as I understand, all the week's games must be played until the final decision is made, and the deadline for other teams to also put in a claim is Tuesday at 4pm.