OldTimer1960

I don't know if Alex Carrington is fully recovered from his injury, but if so, I hope that the Bills can retain him. I think that he is good against both the run and pass and he can be a valuable player on defense. Thoughts?

Oh Man, these are HORRIBLE commercials!

I think that they have been proactive in the past. They have signed young players to extensions before their contract is up. Any contract extension "locking up" their young players involves negotiation - just as it does for players who are about to become Free Agents. That negotiation still comes down to finding a dollar value that the team thinks matches the predicted future production of that player and the player believing that the $ value is in line with what he could get if he plays his contract out. Sometimes extensions include what looks like a "discounted" salary for the player, but the player in return for a slightly lower salary often gets an "extension" bonus and higher salary in the near term and with that bonus in hand, the player doesn't have to worry so much about injury. To sign a young player to an extension, that player needs to be open to it AND the team and he still need to negotiate a mutually agreeable set of terms. Your comment makes it sound like it is as simple as walking into the player's house and saying "here, we decided to extend you. Sign here".

While I am as frustrated as anyone that Byrd won't sign, I don't think that tagging him is the answer. If there were a trade market for him, I really think that they'd have traded him last year. Teams know that they don't have to give up a 1st or 2nd round pick for him as the Bills truly have almost no leverage. It does suck, but I think the best course of action is to let him go in FA and use the money that they'd have spent on Byrd to extend other good young players AND sign a FA that can contribute this year. No doubt that Byrd is a very good player, but there is really very little the Bills can do to force him to stay (that is, if they want good play for a full season AND to get something for him. Better to spend this money on player(s) that want to be here and contribute.

If that happened, I'd be happy with Taylor Lewan and could live with WR Mike Evans, WR Marqise Lee, TE Ebron and maybe LB CJ Mosley or Barr. Would strongly consider trade down if Lewan weren't available and an offer came in.

I was a bit skeptical given level of comp, but he proved his elite athletic ability at combine to confirm his production. Interview I heard with him on NFL Network was extremely impressive - the guy just wants to be great. No prospect is without risk, but he has the ability, production and attitude to more than warrant the 9th pick. If he is available, I hope that they take him rather than trade down.

Doug Flutie really didn't have a very successful NFL career. His good year with the Bills was pretty much it, if I recall correctly.

Just like all 31 other teams didn't in picks 1-68.

I think he is fast/athletic enough to come close to Vernon Davis' production, but I am not sure that he is the type that you can just throw the ball in his general area and expect that he will out-jump a DB or LB when he IS covered. If I KNEW that he would have the same career as Vernon Davis, I am still not sure that I'd spend the 9th pick in this draft on him. In my opinion, Davis is good, but not great.

I agree that TE is a need. I also think that Ebron could be in the conversation at the 9th pick, but I don't think he is a star. Vernon Davis is very good, a bit more athletic than Ebron - and yet Davis is not really a star. Davis has averaged about 50 catches and 7 TDs per year over his career. I also don't think that at 6'4", Ebron "is open when he is not". That's Calvin Johnson, Anquan Bolden, Alshon Jefferies, Brandon Marshal - not many other guys. I am not totally sold on Mike Evans, either, but I think that he better fits that description than does Ebron.

Before getting too excited about Bryant, I would want to understand why such a great athlete with his size managed only 61 career receptions in college. He did have a nice per catch average, but man 61 catches over 3 years needs to be explained before spending a 2nd or 3rd round pick on him

Interesting article. Why did you feel the need to finish the post with the snarky comment "Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field?"

I wasn't aware of any character issues with Marqise Lee. What are they?

Lee is reportedly "field fast", has fare superior production, can really jump (vert and broad jump) and is much more agile and quick. Don't get me wrong, all other things being equal, take the bigger guy - but i'm not sure all other things are equal here.

I wouldn't be very upset with Evans at 9, I just think that there will be surer bets available than him. All great fodder for discussion over the next 2.5 months until the draft. I still would strongly consider Marqise Lee over Evans

I am still not sold on an unfinished prospect at 9. Yes, he has SEC production, but much of it came on late throws after Manziel scrambled around and over-stressed the defense. Evans (as far as I know) wasn't often open early on the rhythm of the pass play. I am not saying that Evans won't be good, but he is more of a projection than I care for at 9 this year. Don't forget that James HArdy was 6'6" and ran a 4.49 40 and out-produced Evans in college (big 10).

At this point, I think Stevie, Woods, Goodwin are a bottom 25% of the league WR crew. I do think woods will be good, but this far into his career Stevie is whT he is - a good not great possession receiver. I hope that Goodwin can be a decent weapon- perhaps what they hoped Roscoe Parrish would be, but expecting 50-60 catches from Goodwin is dreaming, IMHO. I am suggesting that WR is a big need.

4.5 won't run by ANY NFL CB without some moves/lateral quickness. Calvin Johnson is truly unique in his size, speed, quickness and agility. Do not confuse Evans with him. Eric Decker ran essentially the same time at the combine (4.54) and he is good, but no mismatch in the NFL.

Yeah, I am with you. I wouldn't compare Ebron to Gragg in that Ebron was very productive in a good conference, but he isn't very big for an NFL TE, if I have his size right at 6'3" and 245 lbs. Certainly, there will be worse options available when the Bills pick, but I'd rather have Sammy Watkins or Marquise Lee at WR or one of the top 3 OTs. I would rather have Ebron than WR Evans, though.

I think that it might be a little unrealistic to address as many positions as you listed (at least with high picks and good FAs), but I would have no big issue with trying to build a dominant defense. My concern with that many resources spent on D is that the offense will be ignored again. In my opinion, they have to find another competent OG and really need at least one top receiving weapon (could be WR or TE). To me, even if Robert Woods takes a big step up this year (which I think he will), the Bills will still have an average to below average receiving group (without additions, that is). They have a young QB with potential, even if some here want to bury him already. They need to get him some quality weapons and provide much better pass protection (and run blocking) - both of which will help any QB.

There are bigger needs elsewhere, unless for some very strange reason the market for him is very depressed.

+1000

I usually like to stay away from players who are perceived to have less than stellar work habits, but Clowney is SO talented that I would be very tempted to draft him if he were miraculously still on the board. I would not trade up to get him, but man is he talented. WRT to him being invisible this year, according to Spurrier teams double and even triple teamed him on nearly every play. NFL teams won't be able to do that because his teammates will be better than they were at S.Carolina.

We'll, even if we agree on those 8 teams, that IS the bottom 25% of the 32 team league. I'd say that Torrey Smith is better than any Bills WR, at this point. I also think that Dallas Clark/Dennis Pitta/Ed Dixon are better than the Bills' TEs. Jacoby Jones was also on the Ravens. Greg Jennings, Jerome Simpson and 1st round pick Cordarrelle Patterson with John Carlson and Kyle Rudolph at TE - I'd say they measured up well vs the Bills' receivers last year. I could make an argument for Steve Smith, Greg Olsen, Brandon Lafelle and Ted Ginn being as good,too.

I respectfully disagree. I'd put last year's Bills receiving corp in the bottom 25% of the league (easily). Their ONLY experienced WR (SJ) was out or playing injured much of the time. Woods and Graham were rookies. TJ Graham started at WR and had less than 20 receptions for the whole year (for God's sake!). Nobody else on the WR roster even had ONE NFL reception going into the year. I do agree that Woods should continue to get better. I *think*/hope that Goodwin will become a good complementary weapon. The rest of the WR corp I could live without. I don't see potential in any of the rest of them (but I am not a scout).