dpberr

It's a lottery ticket. Buy cheap, hope for a windfall. Either way, getting excited about this signing is the equivalent of going crazy over minor league signings in baseball.

Keep Fitz. All the other movies require forking over a slew of desperately needed draft picks for young talented players or leveraging some sort of trade for an all world defensive player, which I'd be more interested in than trading for another quarterback. You know, in case Baltimore would somehow get tired of having Terrell Suggs around.

See, I think the best case scenario is that they keep Manning, trade out of the #1, renegotiate the contract, he plays a year, goes on to win those 8 games and retires, and the team picks 12th or 13th. That way, you get your blue chips on defense in 2012, some cap and salary relief for 2013, and a high draft pick again 2013 to select players for the offense. Manning does the team a favor, and he rides off into the sunset of coaching or broadcasting as Indy's favorite son. Above all, you want to be free of as many of the old contracts...for Manning, Freeney, Saturday, etc by 2014 as possible. You want your 2014 season to be one where you can do some FA shopping to assemble talent around your draft picks. The Colts defense was bad in it's Super Bowl season. It's current version is three times as bad and old. Manning or no Manning, they aren't going to stop anybody.

Irsay needs Peyton Manning to pay the bills. That's the fundamental reason I believe he stays. Getting the stadium built in Indy was no small feat and probably doesn't happen without Manning. The B.P. (before Peyton) era of Colts football was horrible. The city went crazy when they snuck into the playoffs in 1995 with Jim Harbaugh. The P.P. (post Peyton) era is shaping up to be just as bad. The Colts had large gaps of playoff appearances. Since moving to Indy in 1984, they made the playoffs twice before 2000, a wild card game in 1988 and the improbable run in 1995.

I don't know why people believe Indy is a more attractive franchise than Buffalo. Indy is constrained by debt, imminent cap hell, an aging roster with multiple holes, a very expensive quarterback that might play, might not, and a slew of draft picks you have to find money to pay for. What isn't factored into the equation is the considerable debt the team has which constrains spending on the field. You factor in the number of albatross contracts they have, as GM, your ability to make over a roster is severely limited in the short term. All in a small market. Indy can't spend like the Jets. The Bills have no team debt, no imminent cap hell and a younger roster with less holes. There is surely upside to being a Bills GM over a Colts GM. I don't find the Colts GM job all that attractive.

It only happens if Manning wants to be traded and moves his bonus payment date back. I've seen nothing to suggest he's willing to do that and miss out on $28 million. I haven't seen anything to suggest Manning wants to play anywhere else but Indy. He's committed to Irsay and Caldwell. The Colts would absorb a massive cap hit by paying him the bonus and then trading him. They can't do that. Frankly, what team wouldn't be interested in trading for Peyton Manning? The Jets don't have the attractive pieces that say a Cleveland or equally high draft positioned team would have in sending back to Indy. I still think the better move for Indy is to keep Manning, keep Wayne, trade out the 1st pick for a lot of picks and retool that defense. Even if Manning comes back and is all world, that defense can't stop anybody whatsoever. I think it's the perfect year to extort a Luck's ransom for that pick. It's far more valuable than previous #1s of recent drafts. The bidding war would probably reach to Herschel Walker trade heights.

My vote was for Mr. Wilson. Your team. Your money. Your decisions. Nobody has more power to influence an outcome than you.

I wonder if the common thread to all those years is that he had prolific defensive ends in the 4-3 system that generated a constant pass rush. Outside of Zach Thomas at MLB, I don't think their linebackers were anything wonderful. In one of those years, Ogunleye off the end was virtually unstoppable.

One of the greatest football games I've ever watched.

Oh well, guess they will be fired next year. I'm surprised they received the stay of execution. Being a Chargers fan has to be brutal. Years of teams full of talent in a relatively weak division that implodes inexplicably on cue but then teases you with a furious comeback to just miss the playoffs, leaving you hopeful for next year, just to witness another implosion.

I would have been drafted.

I feel the only way Wannstedt becomes head coach in such a scenario is if the defense remarkably improves, and by remarkable, I mean one of the top 5 defenses next year, and the team still fails to get to the playoffs.

Free agency created issues of depth and deficiencies at positions for all 32 teams. It's a constant exercise in bricklaying of veterans and rookies and the grout of UDFAs you fill in between them. The nearly perfect, well rounded teams disappeared with the dawn of free agency.

Impressed at all the Bill Polian love. I'm not surprised Irsay fired them. Indy is an old team in cap hell that can't play defense, with a thick layer of consecutive poor drafts on top. You add in that the team is significantly leveraged and you don't have a lot of money to play with either in the market. Screwed from pretty much every direction. It's going to take the post-Polian GM team to get out from under all that. Bills fans remember Polian as a GM before the dawn of free agency.

There is a difference between street smarts and book smarts. It applies to the NFL. Gailey and guys like Norv Turner are book smart. Geniuses at thinking up plays and schemes. However, they are not street smart. They don't adapt to what's going on around them and find ways to be successful in playing the cards they get dealt. That's been the systemic problem with Bills coaches whether it's Williams, Mularkey, Jauron or Gailey. None of them could adjust to the inevitable adjustments by the opposing team. Once they were figured out, the game was over. Gailey should be fired because he has demonstrated a lack of properly adjusting the scheme and playcalling to available personnel, disposition of the game, and what the defense is giving you. Yesterday's lack of touches for the running backs is merely the most recent in a sea of examples of awful coaching.

adjustments failure

Is Gailey begging to be fired? What NFL coach calls that many pass plays and stand there and not expect the oppossing defense to catch on to what's about to happen? I put the interceptions on Gailey. It's criminal at the lack of touches the running backs had today, especially after building that lead. I'm done with Chan Gailey. This game cemented it.

I think last year's draft was pretty good. I've been pleased at the progress and the play of the guys selected. I don't think you can go wrong drafting from the SEC and winning college programs. That being said, there are fans on this board that do an outstanding job at identifying needs, picking players, and analysis. I've been impressed since I joined the board and draft time...is the most fun time I have on the board. I've been impressed at the draft aptitude of some of the folks on here, watching their selections, especially the later rounds, go on to successful careers with other teams.

Excellent original post. I saw the storm clouds forming in the game against the Bengals. I knew we the offensive strategy was exposed in the Giants game when I saw the similarities between the Giants and Bengals defense on first and second down.

Brady will play. He threw 4 interceptions when healthy, with an intact offensive line. This game, he'll be at 85-90% with two starters missing from the line. Belichick has too much of an ego to change the game plan significantly. The Bills defense will see the same or very similar plays from New England. The opportunities will be there.

I'll take any defense that prohibits linemen from pretending to be linebackers.

Bills have a shot if their defense from last week shows up. Patriots have injuries in the offensive line. Brady isn't 100%. Weather shouldn't be a big factor. Sweeping the Patriots would be pretty cool.

Gruden returning to coaching = Improved MNF watching experience Not a big fan of Gruden the commentator.

I'd pay SJ. Two back to back 1K seasons? One of the few receivers that can catch balls against Revis? Yeah, I'd keep a guy like that around. You are paying for performance and continuity and an expectation of future performance for a young player like SJ. I think continuity between the OL/WR/RB is important so if you have good players, you shouldn't feel hesitant about retaining them.

That was a crazy game last night. I'm glad I wasn't a Baylor or Washington fan. Probably would have been stressed out and exhausted watching the Spontaneous Offense Bowl. I think RGIII is a helluva talent. I think he's better than Luck and wouldn't be too surprised to see him leapfrog Luck as the #1 pick. However, I'd pick Justin Blackmon between the two. What a weapon. Consistently awesome route runner and that matters a lot. Intelligent. Disciplined. Outstanding work ethic. Play him out of the slot and watch out.