Utah John

Phillips is probably not going to be as good at the start of this year as he was when he was injured, because that injury takes more than a year to recuperate. However the Bills are going to keep him around in expectation that he'll get back to where he was. In the meantime, they've loaded up with other guys, which is good for Phillips who won't have to play much while his recovery proceeds. Let's hope all is well with his knee and he's back to beast status by 2021. He's a great guy and could become Kyle Williams v2.

The Jets remind me a lot of many Bills situations. They're plugging holes in their dikes as fast as they can, but new ones pop up they can't deal with. It's a constant churn of talent. The Bills broke out of this partly because of McBeane, but also through the leadership of a core of veterans, and the addition by subtraction of some foot-draggers (Dareus, I'm looking at you). Kyle Williams and LoRax and Hyde and Poyer were the right guys in the right place. Gilmore was a very good player and a tough loss, but the Bills would have had to tie up too much money to keep him. Instead, they bit the bullet and let the expensive guys walk. They're in a prime position now, with few really expensive players and a core group of guys who now see they have what it takes to win. The Bills are going to have to do some cap magic in a couple of years when Allen gets his new contract, along with Edmunds and White and Diggs and possibly Singletary or Moss.

I don't think there's a single thing about the Bills management team that needs changing. Both Beane and McDermott are young, doing a great job, and seem totally dedicated to THIS TEAM. Leave well enough alone. It took the Pegulas a couple of tries to get the current leadership team in place for the Bills. They haven't found it yet for the Sabres. When they do, their best move is to let hockey people make the hockey decisions.

This sounds right. Not the top LT money, but not the top LT either. The Bills are built around a concept of good to very good players at most positions, instead of a few top guys and lots of JAGs. With the salary cap, this is the way to go.

A related question is, if the NFL cancels its season or just plays a few games, how will the draft order be set? Just use the order from this year? Use the results from a few games?

5th or later, if at all.

This is a key point. When your list of holes is a more solid backup QB, a more experienced 4th LB, and which of the good players fighting to be the #2 CB will be the guy -- you're in better shape than almost any team in the NFL. I love that McBeane haven't gone out and grabbed the most expensive FAs. They have a team of very good players, all across the board, with good depth. Very few of them are the best at their position in the NFL. The players might care about that, but I don't. The Lombardi Trophy goes to the team that wins the SB, not the team with the most Pro Bowl picks.

Oh, honestly, who cares. It's what happens on the field that counts.

Well, according to the legal system, he WAS not guilty. Now that he's out of prison he can devote his time to tracking down the real killer. HAHAHA

Ralph Wilson wasn't really cheap. He had senior advisors he trusted who WERE cheap. The chief culprit was a lawyer named Littman or Lippman, who constantly found ways for the Bills to cut costs. In the glory days, when the Bills played the Cowboys in the last two SBs, the Cowboys had loaded up on FAs who were being paid from Jerry Jones' deep pockets. The salary cap was a toy for these guys, who found ways to buy the players they wanted. The Bills couldn't compete using the money the Bills got from tickets and sponsors, and Littman wouldn't let Wilson spend Wilson's own money.

At this point it's all a crap shoot about who's going to get a positive test result. No one can say what the opening game roster will look like, assuming there actually is an opening game.

It's sad watching a formerly great player hanging on too long. But since we're talking about Marcia, I don't feel bad at all. As for Shady, take their money and run.

My biggest concern is that this will put too much pressure on Harrison Phillips, who shouldn't be expected to do a lot in this recovery year after knee surgery. If often takes more than a full year for a guy to come all the way back, and too much pressure too early could get him injured again with long-term limitations as a result.

Hmm -- the hall of very good, at least. Reminds me of the line -- Where can you find Golden Globes? Go to hell and hunt. (Look up the name of the lead actress in "As Good as It Gets")

The Bills suffered even more at the hands of the Dolphins, and these days that's all forgotten (except by us old farts). Some day we'll be dominated by the Jets for a decade (stranger things have happened) and that's all we'll be able to talk about.

He's not old but in a couple of years he will be. The Bills gave him a guaranteed contract including money in 2020 and 2021. By 2022 he probably won't be the same guy he was expected to be. Well, that's how the breaks go, I guess. I can't blame him for not wanting to be at risk, or living inside whatever bubble the league directs.

His play has been declining recently. Sure, sign him and bring him to training camp, but let's not fool ourselves that he's the same guy who left.

IIRC it was the Jets' MLB who was the key to their defense, and not Adams. The Bills would probably have lost their game in New Jersey if he hadn't been injured in the second half. I don't remember Adams making an impact at all. I look at this as two desperate teams making what will be a lose-lose trade in the long run. The Jets get two firsts that they'll screw up on as usual. Getting a good player like Adams is the exception for them. And now they will have to hope one of those firsts pans out because they couldn't hire a HC the players respect and because they couldn't work out a deal. Odds are not good. For Seattle, the desperation is trying to patch up an aging, collapsing defense and win one more before Wilson starts declining. Seattle in three years will be tanking for the best available QB in the draft.

The Jets finally draft someone good, and now they trade him for a lesser talent and three more draft pick misses.

Somehow I can't imagine Tom Landry having a beer with his players. Or Bear Bryant hanging around the locker room, telling jokes. Or Vince Lombardi hugging anyone.

He needs almost 1000 yards to reach 12K. He would need two seasons to get that much. I don't see that happening. He was a great pickup for the Bills. At the time I thought it might not work out, what with giving up Kiko who'd had such a stellar rookie season before sitting a year out due to injury. But then it turned out Kiko was a flash in the pan who never turned into a very good player. We got much more out of Shady.

IF everyone on the team -- players, coaches, trainers, etc -- follows the protocols, these guys still have a better chance to catch covid than a life ending accident driving to the store. If several people don't follow the protocols, the risk goes up a lot. For these young, very healthy men the risk of dying is low, but they could still catch it and transmit it.

I'm not going to read umpteen pages of comments to see if anyone posted this -- I'm betting there aren't any undrafted free agents who don't want to see training camps held. Even late-round draftees can't be sure they'll have a job, when they haven't shown they can beat out someone on the squad from last year. The incentive for veterans is to minimize the opportunities for coaches to find someone better than they are. Without the coaching, and the game planning, and the stadiums, and the refs, and the TV announcers, and the crowd, and the fans at home -- -- all you'd have is a bunch of really good athletes playing in a park somewhere. For free. The NFL includes the players but it wouldn't be the NFL without all the rest.

The expression for this I like best is that you have to "look the ball into your hands" which I believe I first heard said by Bud Wilkinson. This isn't very good grammar but it really makes the point that you have to have the positive, affirmative intention of watching the ball's flight all the way into your hands, and looking at your hands too to make sure they're set properly to make the catch, rather than the more passive idea of seeing it coming and catching it. Part of the difficulty with not doing so is that your hands no longer are set properly -- you are likely to move them as you visualize what your body is going to do next, to make someone miss or to absorb a hit. Race car drivers say the car goes where your eyes go. If you keep your eyes on the track you'll stay on the track, but if you're worried about the wall and look at it, you're more likely to hit the wall. I have learned in my own normal driving that it works on the highway, too. If your intention is to look the ball into your hands, and concentrate on that rather than the other players on the field, you will be much more accurate in placing your hands and securing the catch.

The Bills have game planned to let their defense win, and the offense do enough. This is probably McDermott's plan going forward, too. This year could be different with all the talent upgrades and experience added, but it should happen because the players are better and not because anyone is trying to force things to happen. 12-13 wins and a home playoff game >>>>>> any number of yards and number of PB players.