Gabe Northern

FSU coaches really messed up Jameis Winston

He is playing like a crappy QB who happens to be a rookie. He has hit on some nice down field throws. He looks good running, but they don't take advantage of his ability. Everything else -- field vision, accuracy, quick decisions -- looks bad and generally improves modestly.

This sentiment is totally idiotic. If you decide not to pay someone, you better sure as sh*t figure out a Plan B. They literally replaced Levitre with the worst player in the NFL (Profootballfocus). How could anyone describe this as a smart move?

Yes. Graham sucks.

You know when this board is great? When a bunch of losers come here to make posts defending management for making roster moves to save money at the expense of a better football team.

Why do you people defend the organization's refusal to sign free agents like Antoine Winfield or Kerry Rhodes, or some other guys out of work who could provide some depth, even if just for a few weeks? It's pathetic. You like getting jerked around by a front office that doesn't give a crap about fielding a competitive team?

Pettine did Rogers no favors putting him in that position. If Dick Jauron was coach, we would have won that game. If you know actually watched Bills games from 2006-09 and know anything about his 2 deep philosophy, you know that's true.

The Bills are free to offer an insulting low-ball offer to an All-Pro safety and then tag him when he refuses to accept it. Byrd is free to react to the insulting low-ball offer by refusing to play until he's 100%. The franchise tag allows teams to retain player's services. It does not provide a right to have a happy player, eager to suit up and play for a team that basically said "EFF YOU" during negotiations.

The problem with Bills fans is that they defend management's decision to part ways with an All-Pro caliber guard when they're $20 million under the cap...

This is exactly right. Every time a guy leaves it somehow comes as a huge friggin surprise and the team has to scramble to fill the position. Everyone was focused on debating whether or not to pay Jason Peters, but if you knew in 2008 that you weren't going to pay him, why no Plan B in 2009? That same situation played out with Levitre, as we now have two borderline NFL players battling it out for the position. Poz's departure necessitated the drafting of Sheppard...

If the Bills were serious about building a winner, they would use their $20 M of 2013 cap space to extend Wood and/or Spiller. Roster bonuses only count against the cap in their year they are paid so they could spend up to $20 M in roster bonuses as part of multi-year extensions with no effect on the cap in 2014 and beyond. The Bills had sufficient cap room to sign both Levitre and Byrd. If they elected to use that cap space for other purposes, that would be one thing. But instead they just simply squandered it and got "atta boys" from plenty of people on this Board for doing so. They even moved $1.6 M of Anderson's dead money into 2014 when they could have eaten it all in 2013 and kept more money for next year. Also, i people think that Levitre and Byrd were too expensive, you have to realize that was partly because they did not extend these players before their contracts expired. You can get concessions from the player if you don't make them risk injury in a contract year and increase guarantees.

The Bills won't meet the contract demands of a top-5 guard because they don't value the position. The Bills won't meet the contract dmands of a top-3 safety because they don't value the position. The Bills will pay $8.1 million for one season to a crappy/one-year wonder DE because they DO value edge pass rushers. Does anyone else see a problem here?!?!?

The team sucks at drafting and lacks a well-devised strategy for building a team. The under-25 category is largely players between 2010 and 2012. They hit on Spiller in 2010 and everything else is either total garbage or marginal NFL talent. Maybe Dareus salvages his career, but are there any genuine stars likely to emerge from the rest of the 2011 class? Maybe Gilmore and Glenn work out, but did either of them show the flashes of a genuine stars like Richard Sherman Trent Williams in their rookie years? Of course, given the success of the 2009 draft, maybe the Bills are better off when they miss in the draft since they are unwilling to meet the contract demands of excellent players and are then forced to use draft picks to plug holes created when those players leave.

Chris Brown reporting on what the Ryan Clady contract means for Jarius Byrd is highly deceptive. First, Brown misstates the size of the contract. Clady's base is $52.5 M, or $10.5 M per year, not $11.5 M. Second, since $11.5 million is $1.7 million greater than the $9.8 million franchise tag, Brown assumes that Byrd must likewise seek $1.7 million more than his $6.9 million franchise tag. This makes no sense to use gross dollar figures to make a comparison across positions with very different cap figures. It is far more logical to use the percentage difference between the per-year average and the tag. Clady's $10.5 million annual salary is 7% more than the $9.8 million franchise tag for offensive linemen. A 7% premium to Byrd's $6.9 million tag would be an annual average of $7.4 million. An annual average of $7.4 million would be a great contract from the Bills' perspective. The bottom line: The Bills are not willing to budge from their sub-market offer. As a result, Byrd will sign a one-year contract for the $6.9 million in exchange for contractual language that the Bills cannot use the tag in 2014. The Bills will gladly accept this condition since they have no intention of tagging him again at $8.3 million next year. Byrd will then sign elsewhere at market rates (about an $8 million per year average with $25 million guaranteed). Chris Brown is now desperately trying to distort the facts of the situation by making it appear that the problem is Byrd's exorbitant contract demands or the premium agents demand to the franchise tag. It is really pathetic to watch, but not nearly as pathetic as watching many people on this message board fall for his B.S.

I'd love to know what kinds of ice cream flavors Marcel Dareus is thinking about on 40% of snaps.

Nice post. He was a 3rd rounder taken at the top of the 2nd, he came in too small for a NT and Low-and-friggin' behold got pushed around all season, and his college body of work does not provide any reason to believe he can hack it in the pros.

Exactly right. People I've spoken to have emphasized that much of Pasquarelli's pre draft "insider" columns were basically Tom Modrak scouting reports. Modrak was an expert at prostituting himself to reports in exchange for favorable coverage, as some stories actually linked him to GM jobs that were pipe dreams at best. Pasquarelli's famous "John McCargo could be a 1st rounder" and "JP Losman has talent to go #1 overall" stories were all Modrak.

This is great news, Bills fans! I am so relieved...for a re-hash of his foibles, please check out: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/113534-some-facts-about-tom-modrak/ Great day!

No way, dude. Tom Modrak had great success in Philadelphia and is widely respected around the league. Oh -- it was the last five years? We can just blame on Dick Jauron then and save the tired Modrak defense for another day. True, but even crazier is the fact that people come to this board to defend this guy! These posters would look at the scene of every one of these bus crashes and figure out a way to blame it on someone else. If you are not related to or employed by Tom Modrak and you actively defend him, you need to see a therapist.

This is classic guy Modrak drops down his draft board... Remember Orakpo "took too many plays off" Remember how important a guy's "motor" was during the middle of the past decade? If we take Fairley, it's at least a sign Nix is in charge. I think he has a huge bust potential, but this is the exactly the kind of athlete you have to roll the dice on at #3 overall.

This is all you need to know. Other teams interested in Maybin had him as a 3rd rounder because his frame didn't lend itself to adding 20-30 pounds.

What's impressive? That a GM is talking up the guy he drafted last year? Why is that impressive? Troup wouldn't be 1 or 2 at NT in anyone else's mind.

Sure, dude. Just like the Tutan Reyes and Bennie Andersen signings, right? Yeah, those guys were pretty good too until they all of a sudden hit the wall. Either that or they sucked and everyone else knew it but our pro personnel staff.

Welcome to the starting line-up, George Wilson. It's official.

Here's the deal: Stroud can give you a solid 15-20 snaps per game. Is that worth $7 million? No. So the Bills should have cut him since they were contractually obligated to pay him that sum. But once you cut him loose, he's free to renegotiate with anyone. Bottom line: The Bills and Pats front office could have the EXACT SAME grade on Stroud at this point in his career.