auburnbillsbacker

The Buffalo Bills are not as bad people think, they will win 6 games. In order for the Bills to be great the need a great QB or they need a great roster overall to support Fitzpatrick. I think that Fitzpatrick is like Jake Delhomme in his prime. Both are fairly good but need a good run game and a great D to make a superbowl run. So to answer your question, the bills are a QB and Pass Rusher (either lb or lineman) away from being great.

I hope they offered 7 million to Clabo. At least that would show they tried.

Former Pro Bowl WR Braylon Edwards has just singed a 1 year 3.5 million dollar contract, which is less than than what the bills will pay Brad Smith. Brad Smith is more of a utility guy, he returns kicks, catches the ball, and can qb in a pinch. Edwards however, is a more established receiver. I was shocked by how little money Edwards received. On a seperate note, Clabo was resigned by the falcons for a similar salary to what Langston Walker signed several years ago. Former Bill and current sirius radio host Ross Tucker has been very critical of the bills for not spending money on players who will make a difference. It appears that several difference makers could have been had. This year's cap figure is actually less than last years. It seems this year would have been the year to overspend, as the bills have a lot of cap space while other teams did not. The next few years the cap will go up and up, making it more difficult in the future for the bills to sign good players as there will be more competition. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/08/04/san.francisco.49ers.braylon.edwards.ap/index.html?sct=nfl_t2_a4

A lot of tackles usually means the other team has been way too effective on offense. If you stop the opposing offense, you do not accumulate many tackles.

The patriots won the superbowl after signing 19 free agents including A. Smith, Bryan Cox, and Roman Phiefer.

I think most on this board want to get rid of any player who does not perform up to initial expectations. Just because Poz did not emerge into a Pro Bowl IB does not mean we should be excited about him leaving the team. Just because Whitner does not play like the 8th overall pick in the draft, doesn't mean he is trash. While Wilson may be able to replace Whitner adequately, we have no one on the roster able to play at Poz's level. For now I will give the bills the benefit of the doubt. Free agency is just one day old. If we lose good players without adding equal replacements when we are currently 38 million under the cap however, I will be pissed.

I agree that many in the media are trying to attract attention, but I am afraid that this new collective bargaining agreement will kill many small market teams. The price floor is expected to be a lot higher and the players are still going to receive a huge cut of the pie. Pat Kirwain theorized on his radio show that several teams will probably have to relocate at some time in the near future. I hope he is wrong, but there is reason to be concerned.

No, infact he negotiated such a good deal for the players that the owners backed out of the current CBA and are locking the players out. He did a great job on the players behalf.

As a former GM, I trust his opinion more than most.

The same line about Gabbert possibly being the pick if Dareus was not there is now also on buffalobills.com. http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Transcript-Nix--Gailey-on-Dareus/92533dcf-7241-4908-8efa-1b48fa666ab9

I don't know if Ralph had anything to do with it, but you never know. Maybe Nix and Galley really liked Gabbert. If they did however, you would think he would have been the pick.

I thought they would have taken Miller. I wonder what this means for round #2? Or does this mean they will try to trade back into round #1?

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/2011-nfl-draft This was reported from an ESPN blog after a talk with Buddy Nix.

Mayock, like Kiper is just a media guy. He does watch a lot of film, but you are not going to see any nfl team calling him to scout for their team. Dilfer is highly respected amongst nfl people for his ability to evaluate both college and nfl qbs. Former nfl gm Pat Kirwain being a good example of a guy that highly respects Dilfer. I don't know if Newton is the answer at qb, but I do know that you should trust Dilfer over Mayock when it comes to evaluating qbs.

Philip Rivers and Joe Flacco are examples of guys whose rose up the mocks in the months leading up to the draft. They worked out ok.

I hate to say it, but they are better off than the bills. Shanahan is a very good coach, and they have a very good GM. With that leadership in place, they will spend money the right way and should be good soon. In addition, they already have more wins than they had last year. There is some garbage however, that needs to be removed from that team.

The bills had offers from the Broncos, Eagles, and Vikings. The Broncos wanted Cutler, and offered their first, the 4th pick of the 2nd round, and a 4th round pick. The Eagles wanted Bunkley, but I never heard what they offered. I never heard who the Vikings wanted or what they offered. The best offer offer of the three was the Broncos, which was reported by Peter King after the draft. The bills passed because they thought either the lions would take Whitner at 9 or the ravens at 12. Mortenson reported after the draft that the Lions loved Sims, and would not have taken Whitner. The Ravens would have taken Whitner if Ngata was unavailable. So looking back, they bills could have traded down and still picked Whitner. If this occurred they probably do not trade up, since McCargo probably would have been there in the early stages of round 2. To answer your question, I feel they could trade down if a top qb prospect was on the clock in April. I hope however, that they select a qb if a good one is available.

There is no question in my mind that the Panthers will take Luck if he declares for the draft, and it does not mean they feel that Clausen will fail. When you have the opportunity to draft a great qb, you do it. Yes there is risk, but Luck seems to have it all. Clausen will sit on the bench, and if he plays well when given the opportunity, he will be traded.

If you win the waiver claim you pick up the existing contract. If no team makes a waiver claim then a team could offer him a new deal.

He has not been a top player in several years and has a contract that will expire at the end of the season. If he was signed for 2 or more years, then you sign him. Since his contract expires at the end of the season there is no point in Buffalo making a claim.

I think the reality is that having players like Manning and Brady allow general managers to make mistakes in the draft and still seem brilliant. The patriots draft record recently has not been very good despite having an abundance of picks.

In the games I have watched Locker play he has not looked great, but good football minds like Pat Kirwain think that he has a very bright future. The guy is aparently a great athlete and has a great arm.

The bills downgraded at the DC position. Look at how our defense has gone down hill and how the giants defense has looked great.

Thank god for rest of the nfl teams that the patriots have drafted so poorly. They have done a good job accumulating quality draft picks in recent years, but have missed on most of their selections. They have still had a quality team due to Tom Brady, coaching, and free agent pick ups, but they should be much better.

He will not be a free agent at the end of the year. He has a couple of years left and was getting paid very little.