Utah John

I remember Michel hurting the Bills many times in the games between the two teams. Granted he never showed up on the list of top rushers, but he has been a good player. The Bills have had top picks who were a lot worse. And RB years age faster than dog years, so maybe Michel has lost a step already, and the new guy is better. Life in the NFL is tough. The Rams gave up two conditional picks. If Michel doesn't make their roster, maybe those picks evaporate -- who knows?

From what I've read Basham isn't all the way there yet on developing his body for NFL play. In other words, he's going to get even better. Rousseau, OMG.

Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, the dog that didn't bark: Ed Oliver. Why are we not hearing his name called? We're talking about other guys making plays, but Oliver again seems invisible. Is he still stuck playing 1-technique?

I don't see why. Keeping him on IR and letting him compete next summer seems like a good bet. The guy can really play when healthy. What other team would claim him? They're all trying to cut down to 53 and won't have room for an injured guy, not unless the guy has a proven track record which Phillips doesn't. I would like to see him IR'd and give him another shot next year. All good points. It's seemed as if every time Phillips starts to really figure things out and become productive, he gets hurt. So he doesn't have the stats that we'd like to see. But what we HAVE seen is production at the times when he's gotten healthy. Maybe he doesn't make this year's 53 but things could look a lot different next year.

I don't think Stevenson gets to stick around if he's on the PS. Some other team will grab him. I wouldn't be surprised if the walking boot turns into a long-term feature, and he goes on IR for the season, essentially giving him a red-shirt year so we can keep him until next year when we'll see what we see with aging Sanders and Beasley. I'm not saying those two will be gone next year, just that we don't really know what's going to happen, and Stevenson looks like too much of a talent to let him be grabbed away.

Seriously, any post that begins "I know it is only preseason ... but" is likely to be embarrassing to the writer in a few months.

Beane wants to win this year, hence Trubisky on a one-year deal, but he's got his sights on a dynasty. Who's the long-term backup? Fromm is here on a cheap rookie contract for a few more years. Can he turn into the solid backup we need? If we lose Fromm this year, and Trubisky leaves next year, Beane is back to square one for backup QB next year, unless Davis has more than we've seen so far. This is sort of a first-world problem, isn't it? For decades we were so much more worried about our starting QB. I am enjoying the hell out of this.

Nice story about Maguire. I'm not surprised. What also caught my attention was that there was a direct flight from Raleigh to Buffalo. I don't live in Buffalo anymore but for years it's seemed like you couldn't fly directly from Buffalo to anywhere except Chicago and few other major hubs. Buffalo is a great place to live but the lack of direct flights is a negative for the city.

Dalton's stats were inflated by the one long desperation pass he threw to a well-covered receiver who made an outstanding catch. Take that out and you get a much better picture of his play. Everyone is looking for the next Josh Allen. Powerful body, great arm, excellent passer, fast runner. Fields isn't that guy. He might become a good QB but he lacks the tools Allen has in spades. Fields might be a better runner than Allen but I'm not even sure about that. For all the other factors, I didn't see anything that indicates great raw talent. If Foles isn't a better option than either of these two guys, for the Pace/Nagy team that's desperate to win NOW, then Foles is really shot.

Does anyone recall how it happened that Maguire went from the Chargers to the Bills? Did we trade for him? The mid-60s Bills were a great TEAM that played for each other. I think Maguire's presence in that locker room was probably a key to that camaraderie.

Hit him in the chest with the shoulder, then don't land on him with full body weight. You know, what the NFL requires these days.

If you're right then I withdraw my suggestion. I thought unlimited returns from IR meant just that.

If Diggs isn't 100%, he should go on IR. The NFL has announced unlimited returns from IR again this year. Let Diggs sit until he's absolutely needed and then bring him onto the roster. In the meantime we have such depth in WRs this would let one more guy stick on the 53 and let the league see what he can do. Trade bait. The worst thing is if Diggs comes back too early and aggravates whatever is wrong. We need him during the tough stretch a few games into the schedule. Until then the other WRs will be more than adequate.

I thought it was over 4000 miles for sure but the computer says it's only 3996. Fairbanks to Buffalo.

I feel like the Bills bought three lottery tickets -- Epenesa, Rousseau, and Basham -- figuring at least one of them would turn into a star player. All three have some talent and could develop, but that's true of a lot of players who never shine. I'm hoping of course that all three turn out great.

Does anyone ever go back and see how well her predictions turn out?

The real test for the Dolphins will be if anyone else on their team knocks on the GM's door and says now it's his turn to renegotiate his existing contract.

The amazing thing is that no matter how good Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu were, you could never really say that one of them was better. The two of them were possibly the two best safeties ever to play. They had different skills, and Polamalu was probably flashier, but on balance I still can't pick one or the other as the best. I don't know which of them won more SBs, and I don't think that should be a significant metric anyway since it's a team game. I don't know which of them had more tackles, and that's not terribly definitive either since the team's defensive concept could affect who gets more tackles. I just feel lucky to have been a fan when those two were playing. And I also feel lucky that as the Bills ascend, they don't have to face either of those guys.

James was a very good back, who produced yards consistently, but he was never a guy defenses feared, or who could take over a game. He played on a great team and made it better than it would have been. I'm not upset that he's in, but I would have been just as fine if he hadn't made it. For me, there's stats and then there's the eyeball test. Gore and James make it on stats but I've seen a lot of backs that were better.

I love Daboll as the OC but I'm not sure he has the personality to be a HC. Lots of guys make great coordinators but fail with the top job. The Peter Principle kicks in and they just can't replicate their success. Part of the reason is that when they finally get their chance to move to a HC job, they're leaving a successful winning organization and are being tossed onto a garbage fire team that needs a lot to get fixed. What they're used to doing is being responsible for a big part of the team but not the whole team. On the team they left, the HC had good coordinators (including the guy who left), and on the new team the new HC has to build from scratch. Anyway, I'm glad Daboll is back this year, and I wish him well wherever he goes although I wouldn't be sad to see him get a new title (like Frazier did) and a big raise in order to stay and keep the wheels turning in Buffalo.

Browns fans are right to be worried about what Allen's contract means for their team. I don't think Mayfield is anywhere near as good as Allen, but he's going to get paid as if he is. The Browns have a lot more players who think they're deserving of rich-for-life contracts than the Bills do, and there just won't be enough cap space available for the Browns to hold on to all their talent.

During his last few years, Ralph wasn't a very energetic presence for the team, but his budget guy, whose name I have mercifully forgotten, was still very active, and he was behind many terrible personnel and coaching moves. So it wasn't so much Ralph being out the picture, it was THAT guy.

McBeane hit home runs in drafting early on, but it's been a while since they drafted anyone who deserves a massive extension like Allen, Diggs, White, Dawkins, and (soon) Edmunds. It might make it easier budget-wise not to have to pay Oliver that much, but I'd much prefer to have Oliver becoming so dominant that Beane has to do more juggling magic to find the dollars to extend him too.

Depends on the personalities involved. If the QB is a real jerk then that could be a problem, but Allen seems to have a good relationship with all his teammates. And everyone in football knows that QBs get insane money.

The three-way trade that got us Cornelius Bennett was probably the best trade the Bills ever made. The worst was trading Daryle Lamonica and Glenn Bass to Oakland for Tom Flores and Art Powell.