dpberr

I don't understand the folks on this board that are so ready to trade or cut talent. You retain and attain talent. That's how you build not just a good organization but a great one.

Saying you can draft better than Buddy Nix is like saying you can run the nuclear power plant better than the guy who's been doing it for 30 years. Yeah you might get lucky, but in the end, without training and especially experience, you'll probably melt the entire place down and kill us all. FWIW, as a fan I don't see major issues with the Nix approach. The Bills have avoided spontaneous bustville in his drafts.

I think the longer Bell remains out there works in the favor of him accepting the Bills offer. With Bell in the fold, wouldn't you think that the pick will not be a LT?

I am reminded of the big push by folks for DaQuan Bowers, Cam Jordan and Blaine Gabbert on this board last year. I like Nix's strategy in avoiding a one way ticket to Bustville: No one year wonders, pick players from winning programs that didn't stack their schedule with creampuff opponents. To think about serious options at #10, consider only the players that have 3+ years of steady and increased production. Then take a look at the programs the players come from. The Nix Way gets you a bunch of singles and doubles like Spiller and the occasional home run in Dareus, but never a strikeout like Maybin.

I think the draft gets very interesting if Bell is resigned.

I'm sure it's all part of the plan of transition. Mr. Wilson is as healthy and as fine as one can be for living 93 years on this planet. However, I think what we're seeing without being explicitly told what we're seeing is that since the end of the 2011 season, there has been a transition towards the future ownership taking more of a leadership role on the management end in regards to free agency, the draft and contracts with the players on the roster. Do you really think all these players sign multi-year contracts in Buffalo without feeling reassured by the proposed management plan?

Lots of good ones come to mind but I've absolutely loved this scene.

If we resign Bell and that's the big IF, I'd be happy with a defense pick at #10, otherwise you probably have to draft an LT there. I'd prefer a linebacker but I'm coming around to being alright with a CB.

Is this Bills offseason really happening? Almost too good to be true to really believe it.

Notwithstanding injury issues, with Tommie Harris you've got to ask if his head is in the right place to play football after the passing of his wife Ashley. I'm not even sure he's out on free agent trips.

He'd be a fool not to sign here. With Dareus and Williams Squared occupying a lot of attention, he'd be a sack machine. Very few other places have that potential for him.

Joe is correct, especially with the examples cited. Achilles injuries are very tough to fully recover from because it's a complicated tendon. It's a tendon that looks like a box of cooked spaghetti. When it ruptures, it's a mess because it's never a clean, orderly rupture. Each strand can be severed at a different location. While the surgery has become relatively straightforward, the physical therapy afterwards is the real key to having the leg regain strength and ability to throw weight off the foot. Merriman's AT isn't even ruptured and you see how it's affected his ability to be on the field. The Texans must be very confident in their talent evaluation. Judging by their successful drafts, I give them the benefit of the doubt that they believe they can find a linebacker that fits their 3-4 in the draft.

I see both of those things as good signs for the Bills.

The Giants have done it twice. Generate a pass rush without a linebacker/defensive back blitz. All those linebackers and DBs now go clog his passing lanes. I haven't ruled out the Bills adding another end in free agency or draft to to duplicate the NYG approach. They have 3 of 4 pieces now in place.

Wide receiver is a young man's game.

I'm on the fence about this. I like the buy low, sell high risk/reward to this. Gailey finds ways to use Tebow's capabilities and between Gailey and Lee, he becomes a better, more complete quarterback. You then either trade the more polished, improved quarterback for some draft picks or you see what you've got as competition to Fitz. On the other hand, the whole fandimonium/public sentiment stuff is a spreading grease fire. As another poster astutely observed, the moment Fitz has a bad game, it'll make the Johnson/Flutie debate look completely amateur. If the NFL had a minor league system similar to baseball, Tebow is an ideal candidate for AAA.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the hex of the cosmic forces that was on our team has now been lifted and put on the Broncos. This is a very high risk/high reward move for the team and Elway. Sure, Manning could lead them to a Super Bowl. If Manning gets injured in week 2 and retires, the fanbase will be storming the castle.

Reason #1. Agents really don't like dealing with Jeff Ireland. Fans only see a microcosm of how much of an a-hole this individual is with his questioning of Dez Bryant. Reason #2. Agents don't like dealing with Stephen Ross. Take those two variables out and free agents go to Miami.

PFT is now reporting it but I don't think this deal gets done. The CAA/Patriots relationship can be generously described as adversarial. As long as BL has CAA as an agent, he won't be playing in New England. Yeah, it's that bad. I'll be genuinely surprised to see a deal reached.

I can't resist picking Curry here. However, Carpenter is 1A in my book. That's an impressive list, astro. I'm going to assume the Bills get a WR in free agency yet. I'm still a big believer in drafting pass rush. You can never have enough pass rush weaponry. In fact, you should have as big a stockpile as possible that your B team rotation is just as scary as the A team.

This is an easy answer. You keep him. I don't think the tendon was properly operated on the first time nor did Merriman properly recover from that first surgery, which was the equivalent of a patch job. Everything was rushed by the Chargers and the player, so the problem was never properly resolved when he came to the Bills and re-injured it. Twice. Now it has been repaired properly with the appropriate amount of rest and therapy. I have full expectation that you have a Shawne Merriman at 100% for opening day. You have not seen a fully healed Merriman for years. Now you will. There is no way the Bills are cutting him. It is akin to the injury to Kyle Williams. If you take the time to properly repair and recover from the problem, you are good to go.

Message boards don't exist without negative people. It's the point or counterpoint of which message board excellence is born. That being said, I see no negatives for either owner, team, player or fan with the events of this week. It's been a fine week for Bills Nation.

It's the story that nobody will cover or ask questions because there has been no press release and it's not obvious to the national beat writers. The article where he was interviewed about staying at home and spending time with his wife cemented it for me. He hasn't been involved, and that's the plan. Nothing nefarious. It's part of the transition. I've never been one that assumes Wilson passes on and leaves the team to the wolves. It's a multi-million dollar international company. It's his legacy. There has always been a plan in place, and now, we're in the early hours of watching it executed. To me, the end of the 2011 season marked the end of one ownership and the early days of another. While it's still Mr. Wilson's money and team, the incoming ownership is managing the process, the first run of sorts to get their feet wet. I think that's why things are markedly different this year with the numerous re-signings of our own players and landed MW. Fans should be excited about Mario Williams and delighted that there's a future for the team in Buffalo.

Think about who was not involved in the process and who was involved in the process. The passing of the torch began with the courting of Mario Williams.

Did Meachem have an agent? He broke the "protocol" on several levels. One, you don't sign with a team you didn't visit nor have a relationship with and secondly, you don't sign with a team while being hosted by another team. That's very bush league and front office people remember that.