Utah John

Here are more: Firing Bill Polian because he wouldn't be pushed around by Ralph's daughter. Firing John Butler for no apparent reason. Bad drafts are too easy a target, but some were so stupid they stand out. Drafting Al Cowlings in the first round so OJ would have his buddy to hang out with. Aaron Maybin -- seriously, what were they thinking? Trading two firsts and a fourth for Sammy Watkins, when we didn't have a QB to throw to him. Treating Lou Saban like crap, twice. There was only one week between the playoffs and the SB against the Giants. Maybe if there had been two weeks like there had been before, the Bills would have gotten the partying out of their system and buckled down.

Giving up a home game to Toronto. Trading Lamonica for Flores. Lamonica obviously had years of great play ahead of him, and Flores was washed up. (If you don't know who these guys are, you missed some great Bills teams.) Trading Cookie Gilchrist to the Broncos. Trading Ron McDole to the Redskins. Hiring John Rauch. Hiring Wrecks and letting him destroy Schwartz's great defense. Hiring Marv Levy as GM. Most important, letting Littman call too many shots. The cheapskate Bills would not compete for talent with the deep-pocket teams.

The Bills first SB was just a few years after the 85 Bears, and the Bills thought they could party like the Bears did and still win easily. They had just destroyed the Raiders in the AFC championship game and felt unbeatable. Which they were. So they beat themselves, spending the most important week of the season drunk and hungover, and unable to tackle anyone. It's true the Giants played a great game and had a great game plan, but also Marv Levy knew his team's weakness up the middle of the defense and did not game plan to compensate for it. So the Giants pounded away and the Bills didn't have the strength to stop them.

He hit the receiver in stride, 65 yards down field, without good mechanics and while falling backward. Geez Louise. And you're worried about style points? I'm not sure he's going to be a good draft pick but it will be fun to watch.

The thing is, they were both flawed. We wanted desperately to have one of them be The Guy but neither had what it takes. Flutie might have been a jerk. OK, that's bad, but how well could he play? He was OK. He played like a smart QB with a limited arm and good athletic ability should play. He focused on moving the chains and staying in good down and distance. With a strong defense, which the Bills had, he could help the team win. But he wasn't the guy to take them to a SB win. Sorry, but when you get into the playoffs the softies are gone and the QB really has to make plays with his arm, and Flutie was not the guy for that. Johnson had no pocket awareness. He had an above-average arm and a good concept of the game plan. Even with all that, he wasn't the guy to take them to a SB win either. The bottom line is we're all arguing about something pointless. Neither was good enough. At certain things one guy was better than the other, but neither was good enough.

Above all do NOT give up next year's first rounder. That's likely to be a very high pick, and it could be the one where the Bills finally get their QB, adding that guy to the strong foundation from the 2017 and 2018 drafts. Playoffs in 2019 with the rookie taking over mid-year, and SB in 2020.

Yes, certainly. Only the fourth best Bills RB (after OJ, Cookie, Thurman -- can't rate Shady yet) but still the most heart and drive of any Bill during that era.

Yes, I miss them. You can still watch a game and enjoy it without them, but the cheerleaders add to the overall experience.

I'm hearing here about a lot of scenarios where we give up three firsts and more in order to take the fourth best QB. Seriously, that is a desperation move, and unless lightning strikes and the guy turns out great, a killer for the franchise for years to come. If one of the guys the Bills truly want is available even for a very high price, they should make the deal. If they'd be settling for someone, use the picks to build the team.

Drafting QBs is almost always a crap shoot. For every Cam Newton there's a Jamarcus Russell. Some of the difference comes down to talent, athleticism, personality, brains, memory, drive, and leadership ability. A lot also comes down to coaching, O line play, and the skill of the RBs and WRs. There are a lot of very good QB candidates available this year. The top few guys might not do any better with the Bills than someone listed a few slots further down. I would rather see the Bills take the best QB available at 12 and keep their other picks. There are lots of holes on this team needing talent upgrades, both for starters and for depth. And, rookies are much cheaper so they help with the salary cap, and then when the rookie contracts are up you keep the best and do what you can with the rest.

So did I. I was ecstatic. I thought Mack deserved to go #1 overall in the draft.

Simpson (best player in Bills history) Smith Bledsoe Williams Patulski

He was our #2 due to injuries and lack of talent, but in truth he's JAG. That's a lot for JAG. There are talented WRs who will become available as FAs and in the draft. Relax.

Charlotte has grown due to all the Buffalo people moving there. Now that Buffalo is becoming desirable (thanks, Canalside) Charlotte will level off.

Oh, I see. Instead of just signing him as a FA when we could have, but didn't do because his salary was too high, we give up a player or a pick to get him just so we can pay the salary we wouldn't pay in the first place.

He was the greatest football player I ever saw. The first year Rich Stadium opened, I was a freshman at UB and I got a job as a vendor at the stadium. That was 1973, the year he broke 2000 yards in 14 games. There were times when he was just unstoppable. I think he did kill his wife and her boyfriend. How to reconcile those is a puzzle. I no longer have the sense of honor that I had for him, as a trailblazing black man who transcended sports. I respect him as an athlete and that's all. So maybe my answer is not to reconcile those facts at all. I just acknowledge they're two aspects of a single person,.

OK, if AJ is as good as all that, and is ready to start and win -- move up in the draft by trading picks and Shady, and draft Barkley. Or do that if you aren't sure any of the rookies are really going to be better than AJ.

I have been looking for any kind of official info saying the fish are releasing Pouncey, and I can't find any. Is this just a rumor? I think Miami boxed themselves in by giving Pouncey a contract too big for his value. Same thing the Bills did with Cordy Glenn. But we got value in exchange and the fish would be getting nothing. This doesn't sound solid to me.

Barkley is the BPA. He's by far a better RB, than any of the QBs on offer are as QBs. The Bills have been pulling off shocking deals that make sense in hindsight. How about our #12, a 2nd rounder, plus more, AND SHADY for the Browns' #1 -- the Bills which always have a strong run game lock in our next great long-term back for the next 8 years. I know, this probably won't happen but it could be they think both Peterman and McCarron are capable guys. Not all the teams that win have the top-notch QB we want -- some do it with great defense and a good running game. I'm not even advocating for this, just pointing out there's another path forward that no one is considering.

My takeaway from this is that Miami is now more likely trade their first rounder (#11, just before the Bills pick). Some other team is likely going to trade up for that pick.

Don't overlook what happened with Dion Lewis. He was very effective for the Pats last year. He signed with the Titans for a four-year, $23 million deal that includes $11.5 million guaranteed. The Pats couldn't match. Why? The contract they gave Gillislee last year. Lewis was so much better than Gillislee that TD Mike was scratched for most games. So the genius Pats did succeed in stealing our backup RB (and that did hurt, no question) but now they've lost their own top RB. Karma.

This does NOT mean Lawson or Hughes is on the way out (although the way things are going, never say never). A few years ago the Bills were so stocked with D linemen they could roll out two complete four-man lines without much change in performance. Guys got old (Mario), guys left for FA (Branch), guys got rich and then lazy (Dareus). Whatever the reason, the Bills need a massive rebuild. This seems like a good signing at a reasonable price.

A QB does so much more than just pass the ball to a receiver like they do in a combine. There's the mental aspect, the ability to use his eyes to fool a defender and get a receiver open, the ability to anticipate a receiver's moves and throw him open, the ability to handle the ball to fool D linemen about what play is happening, the ability to scramble and/or good pocket awareness & mobility, the ability to think clearly when the pressure is on, the ability to recognize what a defense is about to try to do. If it was just passing ability, Rob Johnson would have been our starting QB for 10 years. That didn't work out so well. He was a great passer but a mediocre QB. So it's great that some of these guys have big arms, but do they have the other tools they need too?

They'll let Hogan replace Amendola, but they're going to miss having a Welker/Amendola gnat finding holes in the zone.

There is another possibility, which is that Peterman is the starter and the bridge to the future. He had one chance, against SD's killer pass rush, and he started OK but his team let him down. Then he fell apart. That doesn't mean he's terrible or useless. We put up with a lot more, a lot worse, from Todd Collins. Peterman is not the long term answer but he's a viable option if the shiny new rookie struggles.