CodeMonkey

I bid it up for you anyway

Why go to the other city to go to a bar to watch the game instead of watching at home or in a bar at home? You will find some loser fans you reference at every stadium, every sport. For some that is the "game day experience".

Never, for any sport. Particularly when alcohol is involved. No point at all in painting a target on your back for every !@#$ at the stadium for no reason. It's a shame it has to be that way (and it very much is an issue at the Ralph as well). but it is what it is.

That's a great idea. Make an enemy publicly of someone who will undoubtedly represent numerous players in the future that you DO want/need. Brilliant. GM's can lowball marginal or maybe even average players. But the top players with the top agents have the power and can't be steamrolled by GM's. That's just the nature of the game.

I suspect most good agents are.

See my post above (#47).

This thread demonstrates beautifully the lack of understanding of some that this is a business to the players as well as the owners. We aren't talking about Byrd signing up to play for his high school team due to the enjoyment of playing and maybe the hopes of hooking up with a cheerleader. He needs to consider his future, and there are many millions of dollars at stake here. He is just trying to maximize his profit like anyone would (or at least should) do in his place.

I am of this mindset as well. Coaches can and should help improve the players skills on the field that allow them, and the team to be successful, as well as game plans/calls etc. I know that NFL players in general are not the sharpest tools in the shed. But if their behavior can be altered by air horns, removal of TVs from weight rooms, or banners and pictures of a trophy hanging on the wall then even I gave them too much credit.

It's a choice some people make. They prefer to billieve the next season will be different this time of year and be upbeat and positive rather than go in thinking the Bills will suck, regardless of what is going on. If they get B word slapped during the season then so be it. At least they had the off season. I can't do that myself, but I do see why it would be appealing to some.

QB - Geno Smith - Eagles WR - Cordarrelle Patterson - Vikings TE - Tyler Eifert - Packers OT - Luke Joeckel - Chiefs LB - Dion Jordan - Jaguars Do I get extra credit for spelling Eifert and Jordan correctly?

Actually no, just the Bills. But yeah, one release and one trade because they didn't want to pay him that much to play behind Vick.

Agreed on all counts. The T.O. signing was for ticket sales, it generated a lot of buzz and it worked. Drafting Nassib, particularly at #8, would have no buzz and therefore no positive impact on ticket sales. If the Bills draft Nassib it will only be because Marrone really wants him which would be a good sign. Particularly if you think Marrone is a good coach and judge of talent.

About the only thing that breaks that model is mediocrity. You aren't good enough to rise to the top, and you don't suck enough to get the best draft picks. So ultimately you stay mediocre.

1) Regarding what the players are saying. I didn't go back and check, but I seem to remember the players saying the same types of things when Gailey came on board. "Things are different", "change the culture" and so on. How could they not say that then and now, assuming they want to keep their jobs. 2) Bolded ... So far all there is, is cheerleading. Banners hanging and so on. That's all there could be at this point. So yeah, people here are cheerleading the cheerleading. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Marrone was 25-25 overall at Syracuse and 11-17 in conference. Not saying the Bills are "doomed" with Marrone, but if you are going to condem Gailey for his record then fair is fair.

You are ignoring the Buddy Nix genius smokescreen angle! If the Bills pass on Nassib in the 1st, every GM will think that if his college coach passed on him, he must really suck so they won't take Nassib either. Then the Bills swoop in and steal Nassib in the 2nd or 3rd!

For extra picks does the title say? I love FredEx. but as others have said the Bills would be lucky to get a 7th for him, much less more than one pick. This year we should see if Spiller can be an every down back. I doubt he can physically hold up the entire season, so the Bills will need Fred to step in when Spiller can't go. Plus the Bills will need someone to get the tough 3rd and 1 or 2 yards up the middle and that certainly is not Spiller in my opinion. In short, FredEx has infinitely more value to the Bills than they could ever get in trade for him.

Ha! But what you are failing to take into account is that not just one team cut Kolb, two did! So that means ... oh wait ... But seriously, they got Kolb as cheap draft insurance in case they don't get their QB in the draft. If Nix had given Kolb Fitz's contract instead of the incentive based one he did then I would say to run Nix out of town. I don't think anyone except Kolb really expects him to light it up in Buffalo. But he should be able to make a decent backup which is how they are paying him. Overall I don't see how this could be viewed as a bad thing.

From the length of time it took to get a contract signed you had to figure it was heavily incentive based. Tell me that's not a sweet gig though. Get paid 4 mil the first year and 3 mil for the second to hold a clipboard on the sideline and maybe get in a few games a season. I know these guys are all competitors at that level and would prefer to play, but damn.

I never fully understood this mindset. These guys are paid millions of dollars to run around a field and try and knock each others heads off. They have been doing this most of their lives and been given special treatment during that time as well. So how does a player having issues with the law in his past like Lynch and the drunk driving affect how he plays on those 16 Sundays a year? I understand from a risk management standpoint. Having a starter get injured is bad enough. But for a starter to not be able to play because he was a dumbass off the field sucks even more because it is self inflicted. But I don't get the attitude of wanting only "high character" boy scouts on a team. I'd take a team full of scofflaws if they were able to play on Sundays (instead of being in jail) and won over a team of boy scouts who are losers any day. Maybe that's just me. It's only football after all. The only thing that matters to me is how they perform on the field.

I am excited for opening day as well, but also excited for camp to get all look at the completely new crop of QBs!

Yeah I agree. I need to learn to let all the pure koolaid posts pass. I am getting better I think but I have problems still with the "culture change" based ones. Mea culpa.

Nope they weren't. But if I recall correctly, these kinds of threads popped up for every regime change, not just this one. Fan optimism tends to run high when a coaching change happens, it sure did 3 years ago when Gailey and later Wanny came on board. Maybe Team Marrone can pull off what the last 13 years of coaches could not with a few roster tweaks, new game plans, and by sprinkling some pixie dust around the locker room to get the players believing they can win the super bowl. I'm just not a big believer in culture change being strong enough in and of itself to lift any team out of a 13 year dump. But I have been known to be wrong before, just ask my wife

Is it? Starting with 2000: 8-8 3-13 8-8 6-10 9-7 5-11 7-9 7-9 7-9 6-10 4-12 6-10 6-10 Then in 2013 ... Superbowl! That's a heck of an overnight improvement due to not much more than a "culture change" But hey, dare to dream!

The contract is incentive laden would be my guess so they probably had to haggle out each incentive.