hondo in seattle

I need to eat crow because I predicted he'd stay. Sounded like he wanted to stay and Nix would make a competitive offer. I was wrong.

Sounds like Nix is willing to make him a competitive offer (did you listen to the Nix presser today?). Given that Poz wants to stay and the Bills are willing to pay him market value, I predict he stays. It will be the right "career decision" under the circumstances.

Nix has said since he got here that he believes in building through the draft. Just because the Bills won't sign a bunch of big name FAs doesn't mean they aren't committed to winning. Nix and Co. are just philosophically opposed to it. Many great teams are built primarily through the draft. Hopefully Nix can make Buffalo one of them.

My 2 cents: Poz will be back because the Bills want him back and he wants back. He will start, despite his shortcomings, because he's the best we have. We should be thankful for Poz because the alternatives are worse. He plays hard and loves the Bills.

We were 4-4 in the 2nd half of the season last year. Why wouldn't we continue at .500? Free Agency is still a wild card. Interested to see who we will lose and who we will sign. But we do have some up-and-coming younger players who should perform better than last year with added experience. This will be our second year with Gailey's offense and Edwards' defense. Both should function better. And it's our 2nd year with our new S&C coaches who will hopefully reduce the injury rate of the DJ years. We also have Wannstedt to help on the Defense - a needed addition. At last one of this year's draft picks should contribute right away. All in all, 8-8 seems like a safe prediction.

Actually this is quite capitalistic. It's not unusual for a big company to maintain a presence in a market even when that presence costs them money. For example, NFL Europe survived for several years, despite huge losses, because the NFL hoped to build a fan base in Europe that would eventually create another revenue stream. Jerry Jones supports helping smaller market teams simply because it's in his best financial interest to do so. By maintaining franchises in a selection of cities (and not only in mega-cities), the NFL maintains itself as a national brand with widespread relevance.

SJ Bills Fan, thanks for the response. Yeah, I also noticed that Cinci and Buffalo voted to approve this CBA, unlike last time. Wondering if this deal makes the Bills' likelihood of staying in Buffalo any greater. Btw, I lived in the Bay Area for many years - in San Ramon. Wish I had your weather here in Seattle.

An interesting note from PFT: There will be a tax on the higher revenue teams. Lower revenue teams like Buffalo will receive proceeds from this tax. "When the NFL approved a labor deal to which the NFLPA* hadn’t, and still hasn’t, agreed, the league surprisingly announced a new supplemental revenue sharing plan... Per a source with knowledge of the details of the arrangement, the new supplemental revenue sharing plan includes a 10-percent tax on the “local revenue” of the highest-revenue teams. The money will be distributed to the lowest-revenue teams." http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/23/report-nflpa-expected-to-meet-monday-recommend-ratification-of-deal/related Is this part of the final deal? Anyone know any details?

The cap for 2011 is about $120.375 million (disregarding benefits). Teams must spend 99% of the cap which means the Bills will need to spend $119 million this year. The current payroll for our top 53 players is about $82. But some of those players will be cut. This leaves the Bills with at least $37 million they must spend. I'm not sure how the new agreement governs the rookie pay scale. But obviously the Bills have some cash to play with (even with a cash-to-cap philosopy)>

"free agency signings will start at 2:00 PM ET on July 27 and training camps for all teams will open on July 27" Ooops! Let's try again. Some key dates: JULY July 23: Voluntary training, conditioning and classroom instruction permitted until first day of clubs' preseason training camps. July 23: Pre-2011 League Year Period commences. 2011 Free Agency List to be issued and will become effective on the first day of the 2011 League Year (July 27). Clubs/players may begin to renegotiate contracts. Clubs may begin to sign Drafted Rookies and their own UFAs, RFAs, Exclusive Rights Players and Franchise Players. July 23: Waivers begin for the 2011 League Year. July 23: Starting at 2:00 PM ET, clubs may negotiate with, but not sign, Undrafted Rookie Free Agents, free agents, and other clubs' UFAs, RFAs, and Franchise Players. July 24: Starting at 2:00 PM ET, clubs may begin to sign undrafted rookie free agents. July 27: 2011 League Year commences at 2:00 PM ET, provided NFLPA has ratified CBA. Free Agency Signing Period begins. Clubs may sign free agents and other clubs' Unrestricted Free Agents. Clubs may sign Offer Sheets. Trading period begins. All Clubs must be under the Salary Cap. Top 51 rule applies. July 27: Expand rosters to 90-man limit. July 27: Training Camps open for all clubs, provided NFLPA has ratified CBA. Day One activities limited to physicals, meetings, and conditioning. No pads permitted on Day Two or Day Three.

Chas, thanks for posting. Anyone want to take an early shot at a depth chart?

Good teams have depth at every position. Orton isn't a superstar but he is a reasonably good QB. I'd probably prefer Fitz as the starter (more for his leadership ability than his arm) but Orton would make us stronger at the QB position. He'd be useful in the film room, on the sideline, and if Fitz got hurt. So I think this is a good idea... but not at 9 mil if that's the actual cost.

How about Peyton Manning???? From PFT.... Drew Brees and Peyton Manning both are requesting to be exempt from the franchise tag for the rest of their careers, according to Greg A. Bedard of the Boston Globe. Bedard’s source says that would be effective immediately, which would conceivably make Manning an unrestricted free agent next week. (Now that would fun.) http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/19/rosenhaus-predicts-most-active-two-weeks-in-nfl-history/related/ Btw, Drew Rosenhaus is saying this will be the “most active two-week period in the history of the NFL.”

SI discuss two Bills scenarios... Buffalo Bills Money is no object: If the Bills are going to break the bank anywhere, it must be on left tackle Doug Free or tackle Jared Gaither. The line is a mess and needs an anchor around which to build. If they want to spend big on the defensive side, it should be on end Ray Edwards, who would be a perfect fit. Smart shopper: Thomas Howard could fit in the 3-4 and would be a front-line player at less than a king's ransom. Perhaps an even better value as a fix for the defensive issues in Buffalo could be Vernon Gholston, who may also be a target of Cleveland's. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/john_lopez/07/19/afc-free-agency-guide/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a1

JW, it's always a pleasure having you here. Hope those who use boards like this to vent their pent up aggression never drive you away. I'm curious to learn what the new cap will be and whether or not there will be a spending floor. If so - depending on the numbers - the Bills might be required to make a big name signing just to meet the minimum payroll requirement. Of course, your projected shopping list (OL, DB, TE, backup QB) is pretty extensive and cumulatively could come out to a fair amount of money if all these wants are covered (especially since the Bills are a cash-to-cap franchise).

ESPN is saying Free Agency will be very short according to the agreement on the table now... "The Transition Rules spell out an actual timeline for roster transactions under the July 21 deal scenario, including the start of the new league year during which free agents would become eligible for the open market on July 28. With the tight timeline, teams will be scrambling to fill rosters that must be set at 90 players on roughly Aug. 3 -- but all training camps would be able to open on time." We'll only have about a week to sign FAs? Wow. Nix and Co. will need to move fast. Players will need to make quick decisions.

This is going to be a very unusual free agency. There's a lot of speculation that all teams will be required to spend at least 90% of a record-high cap. And free agency is obviously starting late and will close quickly. Truckloads of money are going to be spent fast and furiously. Anyone care to guess how this will play out for the Bills? Will we ink some mega-deals? Will Nix take a more conservative approach? Who might we sign? (JW ~ if you're out there, I'd love to learn your opinion).

In support of sllib, I heard Ron Wolf once talking about the draft and his comments can be modified for free agency... He said his goal each draft was to pick one or two difference-makers, Pro Bowl caliber guys. He didn't care where they came. Maybe the first two draft picks were busts but he got Pro Bowlers in the 5th and 6th rounds. This would be a great draft in his eyes. He said he didn't grade his draft by how many starters he got because you can find serviceable starters anywhere. Every team has 'starters' but only a few teams win much. The goal is to find impact players.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/larry-felser/article468331.ece I usually agree with Larry but today he sounds almost Sully-esque in his negativity. While the strike/lockout certainly isn't good for player development and evaluation, I think the coaching staff will have plenty of time (if the madness ends soon) to evaluate their newer, younger players long before the 2012 draft. Let's remember, too, that none of Larry's concerns affect the Bills competitiveness. Every club is facing the very same challenges. I'm going out on a limb and assuming Gailey and his coaches have already considered the issues that Felser has raised and have already developed a plan that's about as good as the plans developed by any other coaching staff. (On second thought, maybe the more veteran teams do have an advantage). Also, I don't think it's anything close to a foregone conclusion that Andrew Luck will be the first pick in the next draft. College football seasons are always full of surprising rises and falls.

Happy to read this in King's piece: "Surprised at me having Kyle Williams 27 while the players, apparently, don't have him in the top 100? Watch some video of him. He consistently occupies two blockers. Always moving forward. A machine. I remember talking to Chan Gailey about him last year. This is a man who coached Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin -- and I do believe I have never heard him rave about any player the way he raved to me about Williams."

"Then Jerry adds an extra layer of gossip with "Wilson has no known succession plan." (Wilson is smart, of course he has a succession plan... it's just not known to the public.. for good reason)" Jim Kelly has hinted that there is a succession plan. And it includes the Bills staying in Buffalo. The truth is that Jerry doesn't know what Wilson's heirs plan to do. This is - like most of Sully's articles - pessimistic speculation. That's is not to say that I am not concerned. Sully's information, while not new, is worrisome. A profit-minded businessman would put the Bills somewhere else. Buffalo is not only a small market - it's also not a growth market. Let's hope Jimbo is right.

We're Bills fans! We're supposed to be manly, beer drinking blue collar troglodytes! Yet here we are discussing... fashion?!?!?! What's happening to us???

Mike Sando (ESPN) lists his Top Ten coaches: Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Tom Coughlin, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin, Rex Ryan, Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith and Mike Shanahan.

I think Chan will prove himself a better coach than Dick because of his superior leadership skills. Yet I do actually believe our coaching was worse last year than the year prior - on Defense and Special Teams - and that explains our drop in wins. I'm glad Chan hired Stache-Wanny because Edwards - in his first year as a coordinator - was clearly not Fewell's equal. (Fewell's Giants were #7 in the NFL in yards allowed last year). And let's remember Jauron was himself a competent defensive coach. And as much as I liked Bruce DeHaven his first go around with the Bills, I'm starting to wonder if the NFL is passing him by. Bobby April is a tough act to follow and I'm not sure Bruce is up to the task.

I don't think players determine how good a coach is. Only how many wins he gets. A good coach is someone who gets the best out of his players. If we had 2-14 talent last year but still won 4 games, then Chan is already a good coach.