hondo in seattle

This is a good point. BUT, on some of Fitz's long passes to Stevie, Fitz was grunting for everything he was worth and throwing as far as he could, hoping for the best. Or so it seemed. Maybe I'm selling Fitz short.

This would make sense. Stevie would be an economical option, and potentially - reunited with Fitz - a productive one.

I watched Locker years ago at the combine, or maybe it was some other event where he got to throw the ball with other college QBs. I was stunned at how inaccurate he was.

Fitz has been the only QB to know how to use Stevie's unique skill set. And it seemed at times Fitz was just throwing the ball out in Stevie's general direction and Stevie made the play. Most QBs like their WR to be where the play says he should be.

With McCown gone, it looks like we're waiting to see who gets cut next. Next season we're going to either start the thinks-too-much youngster who few people believe in or the discarded veteran who few people want. McCown was a hot commodity because he was the best QB available right now. The Browns won the bidding simply because they were the most desperate. While the Bills flirted with McCown, they'll go into full courting mode when someone better frees up. No matter what happens, we're going to rely on our D, ST and run game to win games.

If I was McCown: * I'd want to start * I'd want to win * I'd want to get paid. In Cleveland, he's pretty much guaranteed the first point and the Browns probably beat us on the last point.

True. But he's probably finding this a lot more fun.

I agree. Leroi knows he's earned some cred. Now he's playing with it.

Signing Bradford wouldn't excite me for these reasons (and the fact he's injury prone) but I do hope we bring in some competition. And Bradford's about as good as anyone else 'available' - though I'd hate to cough up a high draft pick for him. If we did sign Bradford, we'd have to begin the season with 4 QBs.

Whatever his flaws, Tim was ten times better than Sully. Larry Felser, though, was the best.

I agree with John wholeheartedly on this. Marcel is a proven Pro Bowler. Players like that are hard to find. Bradford is a proven hospital patient. Why significantly weaken our defense on the long shot that we might, maybe, possibly be upgrading our offense?

I'm assuming the Bills would renegotiate his fat contract. I'm not sure Bradford can throw better than EJ, or stay healthier. But we certainly need to enter preseason with some combo better than EJ & Tuel

I'd rather spend this money on a QB. But what QB options do we have? The truth is that you just can't build a team that's strong everywhere. There's not enough money, not enough quality FAs, and not enough draft picks. So you build pockets of excellence where you can. Right now we have the opportunity to resign Hughes which will give us possibly the best defensive front 7 in the NFL in 2015. My fingers are crossed this works out.

Let's hope EJ figures it out. You are of course correct in saying the Bills need to bring in viable competition. But looking at the FA QBs available, and college kids in the draft this year, it seems the most likely scenario is that we enter the 2015 season with EJ under center. So here's my list of wishful thinking: * Greg Roman will do for EJ what he did for Alex Smith * Richie Incognito and a better OL overall will make EJ's job easier. * A capable running game (Roman's running games are almost always in the top 10) will take some pressure off EJ * EJ had contradictory guidance and different 'voices in his head' in 2014. A unified coaching staff will help the young QB develop. * David Lee has an excellent reputation working with young QBs and he'll do a nice job mentoring EJ * EJ learned a lot when he sat on the bench last season. * The defense will be so good under Rex that the offense won't have to score a lot.

I'm afraid the Bills will make the classic Prom Night Mistake. The girl you have a crush on already has a boyfriend. She's not going with you. The other girls who are available just don't excite you the same way, so you procrastinate asking anyone to the prom. By the time you decide to take action, all the cute and average girls already have dates. You're left with the girl no one else wanted.

I'm thinking like this... Rex, especially with Kiko coming back, will make the D a little better. Danny Crossman will keep the ST in the Top Five. Greg Roman, especially with some new starters on the OL, will establish a capable running attack. With all that, we can Trent Dilfer our way into the playoffs.

What PFF does is interesting and somewhat useful. But you're right - it's very hard to do statistical breakdowns of individual NFL players, especially when you don't know the call/assignment.

I only watched Carr play once or twice and wasn't convinced he was going to be a franchise QB one day. I agree with the OP - he doesn't look any more star ready to me than EJ. We all know the Kaep and Russell Wilson stories but I still remember Jim Plunkett finally emerging as a star QB when he was something like 30 years old. Nobody expected that. QBs develop at different rates and I'm not convinced at all that EJ won't be able to overcome the flaws in his game. Then again, I wouldn't count on EJ developing into a franchise QB either. I'd be hot to find an alternative if I were Doug Whaley.

There is a reason that McCown has played in the NFL as long as he has - he's better than most QBs trying to make an NFL roster. I don't necessarily want him as our starter. But I'd rather have him on the roster than Tuel. And if McCown played for us like he did for the Bears in 2013, we'd go to the playoffs. I don't think signing McCown precludes signing another guard. The cap money is available. I know there's no love for McCown but realistically what are our options? None of the FA QBs are great. And any QB we could draft in the 2nd or later rounds is a project. I'd love if Jim Kelly discovered the Fountain of Youth. But given the choice of starting the season with EJ and Tuel or EJ and McCown, I'd personally prefer the latter. Tuel looked awful in his 2 regular season games - far worse than McCown.

I get what you are saying but... I seriously doubt that Tuel will ever have a season as good as McCown's 2013 showing. I don't think the odds are even 1 in 100 that Tuel will be a solid starter. I think McCown's odds of being productive are far better than Tuel's. I also think McCown will be a better mentor to EJ than Tuel - which will be important if EJ is the starter this year. I wouldn't use Ditka as a personnel expert to bolster your POV. Ditka had 7 winning seasons in 14 years as a head coach, and those were primarily achieved by a defense he didn't run. And when Ditka was in charge of personnel decisions in NO, he didn't achieve even one winning season. In fact, he went 15-33 when personnel decisions were governed by his philosophy.

I'm not sure what all the consternation is about. McCown is't good. He's not the franchise QB we're all looking for. Everyone understands that. But if he's better than Jeff Tuel, then he upgrades our weak QB roster. If he can be had reasonably cheap, why is that a bad thing? No one says we can't cut him later if we locate better options.

Would we rather have EJ and Tuel, or EJ and McCown?

Matt Moore Though I don't like any of the FAs.

It does seem a little that the Pegulas like to find the good in people. Naive? Maybe. Or maybe just an approach to life that they like. Hopefully when it backfires on them, which is bound to happen from time to time, they acknowledge the mistake quickly.

We finished the season tied for the 14th best W-L record, but we're 24th in roster talent? Rotoworld is effectively saying that Marrone coached us up 10 spots higher than we deserved based on talent. Clearly this is insane.