QCity

I think most fans approach the free agency period as if it were fantasy football - i.e. simply covet the guy with the best stats. They look at a guy like Bart Scott and say "too old," "on the decline," "loudmouth,' etc. While there is truth to that, they overlook the impact a guy like Scott would have on installing Pettine's new defense. Last time Scott was a FA (2009) he was coming off statistically mediocre seasons of 1.0 and 1.5 sacks, yet Rex Ryan and Pettine literally camped out on his doorstep until the free agency period began at midnight ensuring they talk to him first - he was that vital to have for bringing over their defense from Baltimore. Tim Graham wrote a great article a week ago that illustrates building a defense isn't just about the numbers Why it's important Bills clear room for some of Mike Pettine's Jets If Scott could be signed to a reasonable deal, he could have a huge impact this season even as a part-time player. (It's not like we would have to cut one of our All-Pro linebackers to make room for him either)

They're just trolling us now...

They said he had no idea how to put on his pads in his college sophomore year, and needed help from the trainers lol. He's just completely raw and doesn't know how to play the game yet. I don't think we should take him at 8, but at the same time this is the player that I am most terrified of a division rival drafting.

Fixed. Fitz might not be able to hit the broad side of a barn, but he does get rid of the ball fast. He's ranked as what, the 14th best guard in the league? I hate to rain on the Levitre lovefest, but I honestly think Louis Vasquez might even be a slight upgrade. He's a massive man (6'5" 335), 1 year younger, and a much more physical player. You might have missed the last 30 or so years, as we haven't had a ballhawk since Green in the 70s. Having said all that, I want Levitre back assuming we can sign him to a fair deal.

32 and coming off a bad year. I bet we can get him cheap to help install the new defense.

Referencing Elena Kagan in a Jarius Byrd thread. The Wows have it. Anyways, I think a few people are confusing a free safety with a strong safety that plays in the box. Byrd is a FS.

Now that is very reasonable. The $4.5M figure that was floating around had me baffled.

I second the wow. Just.....wow.

Mike-Mayer was in the 12 Days of Christmas song, that alone has to disqualify him from this.

So true!

Eagles will cut him and I guarantee you someone here will create a thread titled "Eagles release Edwards. Thoughts?"

From not too long ago: 2012 Week 1: New York Jets 41 Buffalo Bills 7 with 9:38 left to play in 3rd quarter. Ryan Fitzpatrick 8/15 for 75 yards 0 TD and 3 INT The Jets start swapping in 2nd stringers and basically stop blitzing (a Wannestedt defense with their 2nd unit). At this point almost half of Fitz's completions are to the other team, and he's thrown a pick-6. The game is over, the fans stop watching, and the Jets' players are laughing and lounging on the sidelines. But here comes Fitz to the rescue - watch how he carves up a preseason defense! Ryan Fitzpatrick 18/32 for 195 yards 3TDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Garbage time is when the other team stops caring, starts pulling starters to shield them from injury and/or stops blitzing. Pete Carroll actually apologized to us for running a fake punt with 12 minutes left in a game. Why? Because it was garbage time. If you watched Fitz over the past 2 seasons, you've seen a lot of garbage time, assuming you didn't start mowing your lawn at halftime. Look, it's obvious you are a Fitz supporter, and I'm not going to change your mind about him. I've seen enough of him for 10 lifetimes, so let's just agree to disagree.

Was never a big fan of taking an ILB that high. I wish we would trade down, but that's a pipe dream.

Ultimately the point is that Fitz's stats are wildly inflated by playing against 2nd string defenses in games that were blowouts. Throwing 2 yard screens to CJ and watching him run 60+ yds for TDs doesn't hurt either. If you still don't get that then I don't know what to tell you.

Correct. Now that you understand, in the future please use an asterisk whenever posting Fitz's stats.

You might want to look again. SEA didn't have a single WR that belongs in the NFL in 2011 (maybe Rice, but he was hurt half the year). There's no Stevie Johnson on that team. I think you got the point, but maybe just think a bit too highly of Doug Baldwin.

My read is that defensively we are going to steal a couple of Jets. Probably someone like Mike DeVito and maybe an aging vet like Bart Scott, whose biggest asset would be to help install Pettine's D. Signing TJ is a good move since he's played in a West Coast offense for 6 years, but if that $4.5M price is correct, that's kind of surprising. I still don't know if it's leverage to get Fitz to take a pay cut, or maybe the front office is crazy enough to keep both at a $15M price tag? That would be insane, right?

Every time someone posts Ryan "Garbage Time" Fitzpatrick's stats God kills a kitten. Here's a challenge: Name 2 WRs of the 2011 SEA roster without an internet search.

Wow, you are reading far too much into this. Whitner could play for the Chiefs and he would still be despised - simply because he is a loudmouth blowhard. If you think the anger towards Whitner is stemming from his draft position, then you have completely missed the boat. What irks people is the gaggle of fools that still cheerlead for him even to this day. The gloating that you see in this thread is directed at the forum posters that still think it was wrong for us to cut him. The anti-Whitner threads you see are directed at forum posters that surface when he makes the occasional physical hit (rarely). These threads a fun way to goad the Whitner Fan club, you can recognize them - they typically chime in with comments like "Just let it go already," and "Why do you still care?" Donte Whitner: Forum Thread Champion Est. 2006

Thigpen's contract is up, so yeah. That's the easiest $10M he's ever going to collect.

TJax was winded last year.

If we take a QB 8th overall tack on another $3.5M lol

You got that backwards. The Bills front office cares about cash savings, so that's why it matters. What doesn't matter is what anyone here cares about. We don't sell games to Toronto because the fans love it.

The $450K is only the cap savings. The actual cash savings that we won't have to pay him is over $7M.

QB Jackson re-signs with Bills “I spoke with Ryan (Fitzpatrick) and Tarvaris (Jackson) and told them we will have an open competition at the quarterback position – similar to what we will do at all positions on our team heading into our offseason work,” said Marrone. Ummm, that does NOT sound like they are ditching Fitz. Cue the freakout.