Utah John

About Whitner -- Does anyone ever remember him wrapping up on a tackle? His style was to try to bump the guy over with his chest, which generally let the guy get more yards or even get away. I always assumed he was playing not to get hurt so he'd have a long career and retire rich. Is this the worst Bills draft ever? https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2006_draft.htm Only lucking into Kyle Williams preserved a little dignity. About Whitner/Ngata -- Is this worse than Torell Troup / Gronk? I think not.

I just got home from Hawaii this morning. The people on the big island will certainly tell you that Mauna Kea is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. They don't mention that a lot of it is underground. And how exactly do they know the depth, exactly? A mystery not to be solved without beers.

The Browns had a terrible roster except for a few excellent players (Thomas, Haden). The were eager to dump and start over. The Bills had most of the defensive personnel from the Schwartz D and thought Wrecks would only make them even better -- fat chance (hah). The Bills also had talent at RB and WR and knew it, but without a QB it was wasted. The Bills took a pretty big dip in order to regroup, but the Browns went waaaay down and got picks and cap cash to rebound fast. On paper the Browns look like the team to beat in their division. (Amazing to say that but true.) We'll have to see how the coaching works out and whether the team bonds. On paper the Browns are stronger than the Bills, but so what. I'll be happy to play the Browns in the playoffs. I think the Bills have patched enough holes to be a lot better this year. I am not convinced the O linemen we brought in are the solution, and RB by senior committee is an interesting strategy to put it mildly, but we still have the draft to go, to grab some strong players.

Parts of Oakland have always been very nice, particularly in the hills on the east side. Parts of Oakland have always been very bad. You need to be careful about where you go.

We didn't trade Watkins for a 2nd. We traded Watkins and a 6th for EJ Gaines and a 2nd. Gaines played well but then we let him walk after a year. So we traded Watkins and a 6th for a 2nd. We didn't trade Darby for a 3rd. We traded Darby for Jordan Matthews and a 3rd. Then we let Matthews go for nothing and he resigned with the Eagles. So maybe we did trade Darby for a 3rd after all. Darby, who was a very good player for the Bills and a mainstay on the Eagles defense. For a 3rd. Anyway I don't quite follow about some of the throw-ins on these cleaning house trades. Was Jordan Matthews over the hill? He didn't produce much after he went back to Philly. So why take him at all? Letting Gaines go when we had holes at CB is very questionable. Fortunately we've had good players step up, but there was no guarantee that was going to work out.

I'd like to see the Bills go all-in on the O line this offseason. There are other holes but the defense is still good, Shady is NOT over the hill but he can't overpower people, and if given just a smidge more time Allen will light up any defense. We have some young receiving talent and just need one fast FA and a decent TE to be in good shape overall.

I think Beane was trying to get AB for cheap, both in draft picks and salary. The draft picks were probably OK but AB wants OBJ money, and he's not worth it at that age, and not for the Bills with a rebuilding offense. I look at this like a regular guy walking into a yacht store and seeing one he likes, and trying to figure out how he could make the payments. After a little while you just shake your head and walk out.

There really aren't a lot of good tight ends (although the draft seems to have some good ones). The Cowboys really missed having Witten on the field. Even old, he's probably better than their other options. They'll probably draft another TE in case Witten doesn't work out. And Witten really was terrible in the booth.

The thing about both this play and the No Goal play, is that in both cases, the Bills and Sabres failed to do their jobs. Yes, it's true, they were cheated by the refs because both plays were called wrong. But, the Bills failed to contain the away side of the field on the kickoff, after failing to run the clock down so there would be no time for a kickoff play. And, just before Brett Hull scored that illegal goal, a Sabre came right past him and tried to poke check the puck away, instead of body-checking Hull. Also, to be fair, the Sabres were exhausted and hadn't had a decent scoring chance for an hour of playing time. Every time someone would summon up a burst of energy and attempt a play at the Stars end, their huge defensemen would swat him down and the puck would be coming back. Even if the No Goal hadn't happened, or hadn't counted, it seems really unlikely it would have made a difference in the outcome. Rob Johnson did OK in that game. Maybe Flutie would have been better. Johnson left the field after leading the Bills to a lead in the final seconds, that should have been enough to win. I told a friend before that game that I thought whichever team won, would go to the SB that year. It turned out it was the Titans who went, and they came within one tackle that they couldn't break of winning the game.

If the Bills did as much winning as Trump has, we'd be drafting first every year.

To compare Allen and Rosen, consider this -- the Cardinals are talking about taking another QB at #1 overall this year. If they do that, I assume they'll trade Rosen and get good value. But if the Bills were drafting #1, do you think they'd dump Allen at this point and move on? I sure don't.

If the guy really turned it around and has himself in shape, I'd take him back. We need to restock on players named Williams.

RBs in this league have a tough time convincing anyone they're worth very much. It's pretty sad. A really talented RB with a bad O line is no more productive than a mediocre RB with a great O line. And the team with the great O line can do more things offensively to help their passing game. Why invest huge money in RBs? There are some exceptional RBs who actually are worth more than the average, but not nearly the amount that Bell was trying to get from the Steelers. I don't think Bell is a bad-attitude, problem child like AB. I think he had a very incorrect sense of his own market value. If the Bills could get him for $3M a year, he is powerful enough to do better for them than Shady, who was lost behind that pathetic O line last year. Shady deserves a chance to get only to a winning team to close out his career.

I think Beane is thinking 2020, but realistically the Bills are one Tom Brady knee injury from having the best roster in the division. Granted, that's a low bar.

I think going with football makes sense for him. I think he's too short to excel at either sport. He's going to get all the guaranteed money plus probably stick around for the full amount of his rookie deal. He'll go directly to the NFL. If he chose baseball, he'd get a one-time bonus but then it's the minor leagues for a couple of years, making squat and riding buses. Maybe he makes it to the show, maybe he doesn't, but if he doesn't there won't be any more serious money. Personally, if I had the athletic talent to play both sports at a high level, I'd choose baseball, but more for the long-term lifestyle and the better chance of a healthy life afterward.

With most refs, you don't realize they're not working anymore until they die. I have no idea when Cashion retired, but the memory of his calls is so fresh. The exception to this of course is Ed Hochuli who thought his words of wisdom were the reason we all watched the game. Happy happy happy that he's retired.

Goff certainly was bad. He left two TDs unscored because he didn't get the ball quickly to wide open receivers.

I don't think so. Edelman was superb in this year's SB. Two years ago Hogan was superb. They all fall off a cliff about now. Gronk is beat up. I don't know if he's finished or not. He can still play but the wear and tear have taken their toll. If he retires and Hogan is cut, Edelman will not be sufficient. He can be contained if the defense doesn't need to respect anyone else. Josh Gordon might not be back. If the only serious WR threat the Pats have is Edelman, he can be covered. Of course, Belichick will figure something out as he always does, but the solution will have to be more than Edelman.

Hogan is a good athlete who's hit 30 years of age. He will decline because that's what happens to most guys. Edelman is 32, another guy who uses his athleticism to be effective. Wes Welker is now 37 -- he was an earlier version of Hogan and Edelman -- quick, not really fast, tough, strong, agile, smart. Yes, I'm aware they're all white men. So what? They all fit into the Belichick-Brady system, which relies on receivers recognizing coverages and getting open quickly for quick passes so Brady doesn't get hit and the chains move. I was disappointed that Hogan left and really pissed that he went to the Pats, but that's the nature of the business. The nature of the Pats is rent-a-guy, bringing in people with a couple of years left who can still play and who understand the game. Not many Pats play there very long. Ex-Pats are usually not worth signing because Belichick has squeezed out all the juice they had, and because they have been great at fitting into Belichick's system rather than being great players who will excel anywhere else. So Hogan signs with the Bills and gives them a couple of good years, then moves on, makes a lot of money, gets rings -- sounds like a pretty good career for a lacrosse player -- or anyone else.

Brady is very good but it's his coach who's the real GOAT. Belichick is a creative genius and a superb organizer of personnel, including players and coaches. His dour persona is due to his complete and focused dedication to his job.

Gilmore was a very good cover guy for the Bills but he wouldn't tackle to save his life. What he was doing was saving his body so he could sign somewhere else and be in good shape to play well. It really sucks that he did that, showing his coverage skills for sale to the highest bidder, but not playing quite enough for the Bills to decide to pay him what others would.

Alex Smith signed a contract before the 2018 season for $94M with $71M guaranteed. They will be in salary cap hell for the next three years, and they can't afford to compete for a decent FA QB. They MUST draft a rookie and hope he can play, while they pay him the peanuts guys get early in their career. They just won't have the cash to do anything else.

How about some perspective. Would you rather the Bills play in the SB every year and lose, or not make the playoffs at all for 19 straight years? I would take the SBs.

Yeah, we could have had Mahomes, and Gronk, and a lot of other guys instead of the guys we got. That's how it works. Mahomes is doing incredibly well after a year to watch and learn, and surrounded by all that talent and coached by Reid. A perfect situation for a talented young player to excel in. Mahomes in Buffalo would not have had any of that, and we'd be screaming about using a high #1 on a QB when we already had Tyrod Taylor to manage games for us. I do not fault the Bills for that trade. I think in the long run both teams will be winners as a result of the trade.

Oh, come on. Buffalo is lovely in June. Not in February. The city should host sports events and other events in the summer. Put its best foot forward.