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Yeah, this offseason has really been a "all the chips are in" kind of offseason. One exciting thing about this is when teams usually "go all in" it is when they've been together and getting close for years and, with time running out, do something drastic to try to take the championship with a one or two year window (like Vikings bringing in Favre). However, the Bills are getting loaded up and it looks like they can manage a 4-5 year window with most of this team. As good as we're hoping they are going to be, we've still got a few years of adjustments and improvements that can be made if for some reason it doesn't happen for us this year. As Nix implied when he got here - he has built this team right. And that feels good! He has even gone so far as to line up his replacement! So, when Nix leaves in maybe 2 or 3 years, we don't have to worry that things will collapse. And, as others have here suggested, for one offseason we've pretty much gotten better everywhere we thought we needed to at last season's end, and with the players we've added, this roster offers both O.C. and D.C. a great deal of flexibility in attacking and defending our opposition.

There is one thing about your post I am not 100% sold on. Sure, Fitz would likely be capable of becoming an O.C. if he so chose. But, I'm not putting Gailey in contention for "best offensive minds" in the NFL - not even in just this year's NFL. I definitely think he's done a lot with a marginal cast - considering he turned what the previous staff had, more or less unchanged, into a pretty solid unit. However, I continually, after the mid-season mark last year, felt that Gailey was too hesitant to change his approach, which stopped working, really, after the mid-season period. It seemed like he believed he could make the system work even when the plays and players were not in actuality working. And, it seemed like a large part of the whole offensive problem was a failure to adjust to a change in personnel. I'd say New Orleans' offense, Green Bay's, New England's, Houston's, and even the Giants offenses were better than Buffalo's. Now - I know the defining quality of those offenses that differs from ours is elite QB play, and we'll never be able to really critique Gailey for losing until he has an undeniable legit QB. If he shows this year that his offense can adjust to teams figuring him out, or even better, if our offense just blows people over, I'll admit more readily that he is one of the best O.C.'s in the NFL. But, as I see it, he's got something to prove this year.

As I said, I hope he comes through this all and turns it back on and has 5 more great years with us. Still, I'm just reserved with him until he proves it, but I'm hoping a whole bunch he does prove it, because he's been great with us and his addition to our line would put us over the top.

Gailey was saying much of the same about Merriman last year. In fact, everyone was saying how good he looked in training camp (he did look good) - but, before long he was uselessly injured. Now, it might be that his injury problem over these past three years was due to this achilles issue that is now finally fixed, and he will recover to somewhere near 90% of his old form, which might very well be pro-bowl calibre, even at that. It was my opinion a few years ago when we signed him that he was a product of the Juice, and when the crackdown happened, and he could no longer use them, he lost his effectiveness. The timeline for those things and his decline match up. Then, when the players were on strike, they weren't subjected to random drug testing, and they were able to juice again. Merriman comes back from this time in what we all thought was his "old form". But, after some two to three months of REGULATED football, he was back to an injury. This only strengthened my beleif that he needs the Juice to stay healthy. This season will go a long way towards proving whether he can get in, and stay in, playing shape - or, if his body is no longer able to endure an NFL season. I want nothing more than to find the surgery was a real success and he's able to add to what would then be, with his healthy contribution, no doubt the best D-line in the NFL. But, until he goes out and does it for the majority of a season, I just can't get too excited about it.

I've always had a knack for reading people. I can usually tell, in a very brief time, what type of person I'm dealing with - whether they're honest/liar, smart/not so smart, committed/disinterested, etc. I just read people really well. When we drafted Spiller I was happy about it for a number of reasons. For one, the kid is super quick. For two, he's not some tiny back - like Chris Johnson - but, rather, Spiller is a big little dude, if you know what I mean. He is a solid, strong man who can run either around the line or into and through it. In short, I believe he has all the tools to be an every down, top 3 RB in the NFL. But, above the physical tools, I was very impressed with the OBVIOUS character traits. He is smart. He is committed to winning. This kid didn't come into the NFL with visions of stardom (although, I believe he thought he'd be one of the best in the NFL right away) to the point where he had priorities greater than football. He is the kind of player who is not going to be loud, who is going to work as hard or harder than anyone, and WHO PUTS BEING GREAT above just about everything else. As far as I'm concerned, not every player sets the bar for themselves as high as they should. I would rather have a player who expects and works towards being the very best, than some player who has a realistic view and only wants to be a solid professional. So, it's great that we have this kid - and I think he'll end up every bit as good as we all hoped, and I really believe with all the other stuff going on with this team, he'll be one of the surprises who end up hitting lots of big plays, long yardage runs. Now, my big fear with Spiller is this: that because we don't feature him exclusively, and we put Fred Jackson ahead of him, that Spiller will split as soon as he can, to get a chance with another team to be the sole RB. I've got to believe, considering his high standards, that he wants to start putting up big numbers now. Even if Jackson is pretty much done by the time Spiller's contract comes up, I just have this feeling he'll hold it against Buffalo for not letting him be the man all along, and therefore go elsewhere. Which leaves us here: we better learn to use his skills and maximize them NOW, while he's cheap and while we've got him. This, to me, is Gailey's biggest challenge this year - learning how to maximize the Bills RB's and running game.

These guys are enjoying football - I'm inferring this from the articles I've read - as a team, and individually, like they haven't in a long, long time. Imagine what the experience of playing in the NFL for the first time, a dream coming true for all these guys, over the last 10 years or so for Buffalo players, would have been like knowing that your team doesn't really stand much of a chance for the season. How deflating would that be during OTA's and minicamps, and training camp? Now, for a lot of these guys, for the first time, they are on a team that looks good enough to challenge in the division and make the playoffs. These guys are psyched! They are just as anxious to see how good they are going to be as we are.

What surprised me when watching this highlight video was Anderson's speed. He looked as quick off the line as Maybin was supposed to be, only add in the muscle mass, football instincts, and talent. Wow! I am psyched imagining what this line could do with Mario, Kyle, Marcel, Anderson, Merriman, and the others - if our secondary can play better than average, I can see QB's running for their lives all game long against us! Some one or two of these D-linemen are going to be singled every snap, and any of them are capable of getting off blocks quickly and getting into the backfield. Football is going to be exciting this year! Another thought came to me while watching this clip - our offensive line is going to get to practice all preseason against these guys. That will have to have positive growth potential for them. If they can learn to fare well in practice, they should do more than fine on Sundays.

I love reading that from players - not media or fans - about Buffalo's potential. Think about it! Buffalo, just a year ago, definitely two years ago and for a long time, was the kind of team no players wanted to go to, and no coaches wanted to come here, either. Thanks to Nix, Gailey, and even Ralph Wilson, this team is beginning to have a roster that is exciting people - and it's getting deep, now, too, in places. By paying the players Buffalo has developed, Buffalo is only going to have a better reputation in that regard, too. All of a sudden you have two units - Defense and Offense - that are good enough, and the players are signed long enough that these units can be nucleus's for a few years, that key free agents, guys who might see themselves as the "final piece" could potentially want to come here. What a difference a few years and a competent GM can make. I know we've seen people get excited about the Bills in years not too distant, but what makes this different, I think, is the players have been through the losing enough to know they don't want to go down that road again. They're willing to work hard, their coach isn't going to get a big head (except, maybe, when it comes to his offensive ability to outsmart opponents), and we have real talent that should give us a chance at every game. No one is openly saying SuperBowl, so the expectations aren't too high. I think if we make the playoffs then the monkey will be off our backs, and the team will be able to move forward without having to carry around these past losing seasons. How ready are they? We'll have to wait and see.

To chip in - if Denver can do what it did with virtually no offense, imagine what it can do now with Peyton Manning and the other additions it's made. If Manning is healthy, I would have to say you're looking at at least an 11 win team, probably 12, because of the division, and one of the top seeds in the AFC. Once you're in the playoffs, though - and the AFC will have good teams there - it's whoever comes to play hardest that day. As for Green Bay and Chicago... Green Bay did lose their offensive coordinator, I believe, to Miami. That's no little loss. Still, with a team that has proven it as much as Green Bay has over the last two years, and it hasn't changed much, I find it difficult to bet against them, especially until the team that is supposed to unseat them has shown it is playing well together. As for our Bills - so much of it depends on how our offense plays. If it plays like the team we saw in the beginning of last year, and if that decline was more caused by injury and not teams just figuring us out, then I think we could very easily be 5 wins better than last year. We had one of the better offenses in the league through the first half of the season. It's going to be a very fun year for football, there's no doubt about it. I can't wait. My most improved team? When I look at the teams records from last year, I think the team that could very well increase the number of wins the most is - other than the Bills - the Redskins. They only finished with 5 wins. I think they could manage 5 or 6 more wins this year.

Yeah, everyone here is echoing the same sentiment - you can't pick us over teams that are proven. I get that, and that's the difference between having conversations like this now, and having them in October. And, as I mentioned before, there is also a big difference between grading individual players, and then how they play as a group. Lots of factors here. I'm writing this because there is another factor I'd like to mention. Certain teams have had success with relatively little known players - the Steelers D-line comes to mind here - and even with teams like the Giants, part of their success comes from the style they play, the way the coach wants them to be. I think this is a really critical factor to keep in mind. What is the defense supposed to play like? What is it supposed to be? If Wannstedt's defense, when he gets it out there and we start seeing games played, is going to be compared, game after game, to an ideal that he has in mind, and these players can live up to that - and if that ideal is a D-line that just wreaks havoc on everyone, then ours might indeed end up tops. We really have to wait and see what type of identity this team has. By mid-season we'll know if they're going to be considered one of the best. I don't know how everyone else feels, but little would please me more about the Bills than if we ended up having one the best defenses in our team's history. It would be great to go from worst to best, and I really love it when teams coming into Buffalo have to worry about being able to score, or keep their QB upright. A great defense goes a long, long way toward creating a sense of a home field advantage, defending our "home". I can't wait.

Man for man, which is how I analyze a D-line (although, I know, it actually ends up being a functioning whole - and those two things are different). I just don't see any team with more TALENT on the line than we have, especially if Merriman is healthy. IF Merriman is healthy, we have 4 potential pro-bowlers, guys considered top 3-5 at their positions, or, in other words, a PRO-BOWL line. Mario Williams, undoubtedly a top 3 DE, and Kyle Williams - who I thought, the year before last, was a top 5 DT, Dareus, who is, in my mind, potentially a top 2 or 3 DT in the NFL, and as good as Kyle Williams is, Dareus looks capable of MUCH more. Now, you add an Anderson - who had 10 sacks in the regular season last year! - or a healthy Merriman. Are you kidding me? Sure, the DT's aren't recognized as having been on great run stuffing teams, but those two together should be able to stop anyone from doing a lot of running their way. I really think - when you're analyzing this list - it's the linebackers that end up making the whole better or best. When you think of the Texans, or San Fran, you really can't think of them without the linebackers, because they shift on and off the line. You put the top end linebackers behind Buffalo's line, and there is no doubt who has the best front seven. That is where the Defensive line's are most separated, though, IMO.

I don't know - we've all been over the positions pretty thoroughly by now - but, I'll go with secondary and linebackers; there are going to be some big games for this secondary, and I think the 1st and 2nd year guys who aren't well known will end up making names for themselves this year (I really liked that 7th rounder from last year who played some nickel - he looked really good when he had the chance). As for linebackers, I'm thinking we're going to eventually see some of our rookies or backups getting real playing time due to inevitable injuries. If they play well, they might not have to relinqish, at least one of the spots. And, I'd say there are probably a few WR's who might shine this year who aren't really well known - Graham, Easley, or maybe Aiken/Hagan. AND, if a TE takes off as a recieving option - maybe Dickerson or Onobun? That would certainly be a shock, although I have a feeling from reading articles of late that Dickerson has a really good shot of making the team.

In response to this: I agree, if the Buffalo Bills defense is as good as we hope it will be this year (I think it will be very good) it will allow Buffalo to play with patience, and it will allow Buffalo to control the tempo of games. I would say then, that Freddy and C.J. are too good, and our O-line is too good, and those RB's average too much NOT to use them as long as they continue with that success. HOWEVER - I see a Bills defense that will get after QB's perhaps, by season's end, better than any team in the NFL, and our secondary is going to be creating turnovers. The best compliment to this type of defense is an offense that can get ahead by a few scores. If we can force a team into having to pass while maintaining a comfortable lead, we'll be able to play that type of game. But a team with a good defense going against Buffalo, with a good, hard nosed running game might also pose problems for us if we can't get that lead. So - I say we have weapons in the passing game. I like our young recievers. I also think (and here disagree again) that Fitzpatrick is one of the best QB's in the league at reading defenses and running a gameplan. He's brave enough to hold up to pressure. IF Lee can fix his accuracy issues, the Bills offense could be good enough in both phases to create a perfect match-up nightmare for opposing teams. They commit to stopping one phase, we attack vigorously with the other. A consistent Fitz, with everything else we have right now, could be a top 8 QB in the NFL. Eli Manning got better after working with Lee, to the point where he is now one of the best QB's in the league. After working with Lee Romo became a star. Pennington had an elite year after working with Lee. Fitz has more intelligence than these guys. He has guts. We've seen him throw very good at times. If that guy can be prolonged to 80 percent of a game, instead of the 50-60 percent we're used to, Buffalo's offense and defense might be top 5 in the league.

I think we just don't know what we have at linebacker until we see these guys play. I believe some of the guys we had the last two years were not perfect fits in a 3-4, and now we have guys who are not prototypical of a 4-3 linebacker, either. It's going to come down to a few things, and who's to say right now which way it will go? Barnett, I think, if he stays healthy, will be great - he was excellent last year, and this year he'll have an easier time of it, I think. Sheppard is a wild-card. We'll have to wait and see, but if Wannstedt thinks he's got it, then who are we to doubt him? The last linebacker spot has some question marks. Morrison might turn back into that guy he was a few years ago. If he does, no one will be complaining about finding a replacement. I, too, feel that we got steals in Bradham and Carder, who, I believe, could each start in a few years. And then there are the tweeners like Moats and Batten. Maybe Wannstedt has some special formations brewing for these bigger linemen? I see talent here. McKillop? I think that's his name. He was on SanFran's team, and they have stud LB's. Maybe he'll turn out okay? Bottom line - they shouldn't have to be great. Were the Giants linebackers great during their past two SuperBowl runs? I think we might be surprised at how well our LB's end up playing this year, and we might not have to even look to upgrade, out of necessity, next offseason.

I think most of us are realistic about Fitzpatrick. He has streaks where he is really good, and streaks where he is really bad. Sometimes he misses passes that certain elite QB's would not - and, I know, every QB has had bad days. All things considered, though, no one is arguing that Fitz cannot lead the Bills to wins. It's just a matter of whether he can be consistent enough to show up enough, and then when we're in the playoffs, to show up and take us all the way. In order for him to do that - especially as he's been the last few years - we'd either have to have an insane defense, like Tampa Bay's or Baltimore's when they won the SB recently, or, he'd have to improve his consistency. If he can do that - improve his consistency (which is more or less saying improving accuracy, or just limiting his inaccuracies) then he would be a very ideal QB for this team, because he is so smart and such a fast decision maker. This is his year to prove it to everyone - and I hope he pulls it off. Frankly, if Fitz can manage to transform his play into a consistent 16 games of what he was at his best last year, with the additions the Bills have made everywhere else, there is no reason to think we couldn't be a contender for the Super Bowl this year. If our defense is as good as it looks like it can be (and, if it can handle New England twice this year), then add to that an offense that has Fred Jackson and Spiller, AND a passing game like we did early last year! Man, that would be VERY tough to beat. So, I'm all for seeing Fitz light it up this year.

Like I said, we don't know how the organization is run from the inside. I do believe, though, as others have also proposed, that one of the ways in which a smaller organization might become and remain more competitive is by spending money in different ways. All this is speculation - but, unlike the rosters on an NFL team, which are capped into a floor and ceiling, the purpose of that cap being to ensure the sport remains competitive despite geographic/demographic advantages certain teams like Dallas or Washington might enjoy, teams are not made to spend specific amounts on facilities (although it certainly seems like there is a lot of behind closed doors pressure to keep all the stadiums up to date) or coaches, or other aspects of pro-football that lend to the overall product. So, it seems like a team that might claim to bring in less money - the smaller market teams - might wish, if the top priority was profit, to spend as little as necessary on coaching and the other aspects not mandated. And, for the better part of the last decade Bills fans have, I believe rightfully so, been suspicious of Ralph Wilson's apparent reluctance to spend the necessary money to attract the right kind of coaches. I just take it one step further here and say that between the two - player salaries and coaching - the disproportion is astounding. The cap is somewhere around 120 million. The total salary of the coaching staff? I'd guess something like 15 million a year, and that's probably high. There's probably the case where there could be too many coaches running around, as well. So, I'd say spend on the best coaches, and that money will be returned in victories and sales, as opposed to wasting money on players that won't contribute to winning without the right coaching. And, spend a little extra to get the specialists to help where the help is needed. Some teams do it, others don't. I am glad Buffalo is now doing it. I think we're a team on the rise in the NFL and I do attribute it to Buddy and Gailey, who I think came in here with the intention of giving it one last shot, and doing it the way they believe it should be done. So, let's hope all of it ends up giving us a playoff team this year.

I agree with many of you - let's let some of these "potential" guys develop. Many on this board were excited and hopeful for the Bills to get a shot at Tank Carder. Well, he probably would've been a much higher draft pick had he not played his last year in college injured. Bradham looks good, too. There are many examples in the NFL of linebackers turning out great who were not drafted in the first round.

I struggled with a short, yet appropriate title for this post - so, if it is misleading or off, forgive me. We Fans sit at home and watch the NFL on weekends, and here on these sites discuss our teams just about year round. One thing that is often said when we want to be critical of our team, or of the coaches, or of the team's play, is that we fans don't know as much as the coaches do - so we must trust in their expertise. It is a forgone conclusion that what happens behind the closed doors of these NFL facilities is top-of-the-line, best of the best, cutting edge everything. It's the NFL, right? It doesn't get better than this. So, I was very shocked to read, just the other day, an article in which Fitz claims he's never had a technician coach before! I just assumed that every position on an NFL team was being analyzed by men who pick apart every flaw in the players game and try to make improvements. Yet, it seems that for the most part, it is assumed that these men know how to do the things their position demands of them! You mean to tell me, then, that given Fitz's erratic, inconsistent throwing, which has been evident for years, and he has never been offered an expert to analyze and fix his throwing style? Here is a link: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Fitz-already-improving-mechanics-under-Lee/b7a3494c-e52a-4e0e-88e8-9076dd90aefe My question/topic, therefore, is this: There was another post recently where the question was raised - why is New England always the measuring stick for the rest of the teams in the NFL. Well, if teams are behaving like Buffalo, and in dishing out HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars AREN'T also spending maybe a few hundred thousand dollars on guys who could maximize the performance of the players - maybe we fans could actually teach these coaches a thing or two? Perhaps the coaching and methods behind closed doors are not as cutting edge as we assume? How many other ways are teams like Buffalo failing to take obvious routes toward success - and maybe it is in these small ways teams like New England remain better than the rest?

Another aspect critical to the success of the Bills that cannot be understated, and which the GM is ultimately also responsible for, is coaching. Nix can bring in the right players - and to that end, I say again, I haven't seen a roster as loaded with talent as this one is, and having it be a Bills team, since the mid to early 90's - but, if the coaches aren't good, then the team will ultimately fail. The coaches/coaching are responsible for a lot, and I think the choice of coaches is, in the end, equal to or even maybe more influential to, the eventual legacy of a GM as is bringing in players. Say a GM's philosophy is building a team through the draft. How are the young players going to develop and supplant the veterans without the best coaching? Also, coaches have to understand how to use their players to maximize their talent (many coaches are responsible for players looking bad, and then a new team turns them miraculously into better players), and coaches also have to understand their opponents, and give the team, week in and out, a viable game plan. So, Nix comes in and doesn't have anything to prove to the world, but a lot to prove to himself, and Gailey is the same way. They are building their legacy here and we're getting to watch it unfold. Imagine how Jerry Jones will feel when Buffalo ends up being a better team in the coming years than his Cowboys!

Yeah - I think Graham will take over the role that Gailey designed for Roscoe, and when the Bills moved up to get him I think it only showed how badly Roscoe's injury hurt Gailey's ability to call the plays he wanted to call. Our offense was much more dynamic when Roscoe was in the game. I remember clearly the first year Gailey took over and everyone was saying, "wow, finally someone who can use Roscoe's talents" - but, he couldn't stay healthy. Anyway, I think Graham will fall into that role very smoothly and looks to be enough larger in stature that staying healthy shouldn't be too much of a problem. Add to all that a legitimate #2 WR like Easley, for instance, and this offense could be a nightmare - should absolutely be a nightmare - for opponents, simply because we should make stopping the run the primary focus for our opponents, and with all the passing weapons (if developed and playing as we're hoping) our opposition should suffer from one or the other. This is going to be a fun season!

I don't disagree that Vince is a more talented QB than Fitz - physically. The thing is, in this league, what makes a QB great - actually, just about every single excellent QB in the NFL, and there are some 12 or so who are really quality Franchise QB's, all possess this attribute - INTELLIGENCE. More than just intelligence, even, because look at Trent Edwards. He was smart, but he couldn't keep it together on the NFL field. A QB has to understand the offense, know where the ball should go, he's got to be able to read a defense, get into the head of a defensive coordinator and get a feel for where the defense is trying to attack, or what it is trying to do to him, and he's got to be able to process all that in something like 10 to 20 seconds, 3 to 7 of which are while the bodies are flying all around him, and he's got to be able to maintain a presence of mind to get the ball out and in the right place. Now, if a QB can do all that mentally, he doesn't have to have the best arm. Even if he's only accurate 75 percent of the time, he'll still be able to lead a functional offense, and even a good one. But, on the other hand, if a QB has all the physical tools to throw the ball anywhere, but he can't determine where the appropriate place to throw it is, or if he can't handle the pressure, then it is all for nothing. That is the real competition here. If Vince Young were to really grasp the offense enough to make smart reads and if he were able to pick up on reading defenses, then he could be a starter for probably 23 or 24 teams in the NFL, including Buffalo. But, if Fitz improves his mechanics, and brings the erratic throws and interceptions down considerably, then he'll be a premier QB, as well, and Vince will only get a chance if Fitz gets injured. This is all in the head for Vince, and we can't judge whether or not he is matured or different until there is adversity in his face, until he has to handle stuff that is difficult or situations he doesn't want, and then we'll see. I'm hoping he turns it around here in Buffalo, and that the Bills have two top QB's to turn to. Vince, with Lee's play scheming, could be very dangerous 5-10 plays a game.

Yeah, you know, there really are NOT a lot of WR's like Easley. This kid is HUGE - he's got a TE's body, and a strong, cut TE's body, at that; and, he runs a low 4.4 to high 4.3's. His build is the kind of build you put together on Madden in the create a player mode. So, that all contributes to the fan's hopes. Add to that he started playing football very late - which explains his lack of production, more than that he just never played well until having one year where the light turned on. It is more a case with him that he just hasn't had the time or the coaching. And, add to that this: I remember having Hardy on the team. The kid was a second round pick, and there was a real need for that type of reciever, and there were a lot of expectations - and the coaches were pretty reluctant to put him into games. The coaches never seemed to show they were really impressed with him. Marcus Easley has seemed to impress the coaches, and make them want to keep him around EVEN THROUGH TWO IR SEASONS!!! All that lends to the fans seeing this kid as more than just another WR. The fans were never this nuts about Hardy. The last time the fans were this nuts about anyone playing WR it was Stevie Johnson - and look what happened there. I happen to think Easley has way more natural talent and a better natural body for the WR position than any Bills WR - so I'm really hoping, as are many of us, that he puts it all together and can shine this year. BTW - as for other WR's I've liked: I've liked what I've seen out of Aiken. I don't know why he hasn't been given more of a chance than, say, Hagan? And, I've liked what I've seen, brief as it was, of T.J. Graham's videos. The kid looks like he can catch the ball with his hands. He looks like a natural. So, it doesn't surprise me that the Bills haven't gone out to bring in a veteran WR - I think we need to give our guys a chance behind a better O-line, with a better, fundamentally speaking, Fitz throwing to them.

I don't know, it's awfully early to judge what the Bill's best and worst moves were. But, to go along with the exercise, I would have to say, again, that I'm not judging, really, based on the idea that I don't think Nix is looking at this Bills team as a finished product. I don't think he was trying to assemble, in other words, the final pieces to the team. Rather, I think his vision is a Bills team that can remain strong and competitive year in and out by replacing aging and costly veterans with rookies who are coming up. Now, to get the Bills where they could be a competitor in our division and in the conference, he had to sign some F.A.'s. He went out and got the guys Wannstedt needed, allowing Dave a nice group of guys to start off with. But, Nix wasn't just grabbing F.A.'s for the sake of grabbing them. He found guys at the right price in positions he needed. I'm sure next year there will be a new QB in town (unless Vince Young lights it up - and maybe still there will be a rookie), and there will probably be a younger TE to help him along. If our WR's don't show a lot this year, there will be additions there, too. I like where Nix has taken this team to date, and I am looking forward to him trying to make the offense as dominant as he's attempted to make the defense.

Merriman is a dynamic that would really change this defense, IMO, if he were to be healthy for most of the season, and if in that health he played like he did in his early prime. If that were the case, he'd be the starting DE opposite Mario, I'd think, because he's said to be "surprisingly good against the run, too". However, due to his history of injury, I would think that even if he were healthy, Gailey and Nix would keep him sidelined a lot, if only to limit the chances of a freak injury. After all, they paid Anderson good money to be the man opposite Mario. Still, if Merriman were to come back close to form and stay back, it would give our Defense enough guys who all would normally draw double coverage that opposing offenses wouldn't know what to do. Think about having Mario, Kyle, Dareus, Merriman, and Anderson out there - that's better than the Giants have to offer, and that isn't even lining up guys like Carrington at DT, something the Giants do to create more pressure - we don't have to resort to that!

Buddy has done a pretty good job over the last few years in bringing in available players who end up filling needs for us and playing well, and costing little. Despite the Mario signing, the Stevie signing, and even the Fitz signing, I don't believe the Bills F.O. is in WIN NOW mode, as some people suggest - don't get me wrong, certainly it is time for Buffalo to start winning, and players or coaches who impede that progress might lose their jobs - I think the time for excuses is gone - but, I also think Nix came into the position with an idea about rebuilding this team through the draft. He's had some good players come in through the draft that were able to step in and play, and he has guys who look promising, and guys who look to have maybe needed a year or two; all those players need playing time. So, I don't think Nix is going to bring in so many Vets as to create a situation where it is really Win This Year. I think he's thinking more of having the Bills GROW into a perennial winner, with talent that comes up through the draft, and supplementing holes only occasionally through F.A. So, my guess is Nix will wait and see what the young LB's and WR's can do before he goes out and tries to sign someone. You never know, we might be pleasantly surprised. I know I"m really looking forward to seeing these young guys play: Bradham, Carder, Easley, Graham, Sanders, and Moats.