jjmac

Thank you. I stand corrected. I thought he had a surgery last year, thus my extreme pessimism.

Both the Steelers and the Ravens have lost games to teams they should not have lost to, so I won't say with confidence that they will beat the Patriots. I hope they do.

It doesn't hurt Johnson, but I still want him out of the OLB position.

We should also consider the cap $$ freed up when Andra Davis' and Reggie Torbor's contracts are done. The same could be said for Roscoe Parrish, but there may be a possibly of him signing a veteran's minimum contract. I think that more important than a WR's speed is his ability to get open on short or medium routes and make yards after the catch, at least in our offense. Fitz does not have Jim Kelly's arm strength, as we all know, and the last thing we need is a speed burner who can only do deep routes (unless, of course, Baltimore wants to trade for him in the future). We all know that Nix does not like to make big splashes in FA. When he does, though, it seems to me that he doesn't target specific positions nad just brings in players. Who we sign or don't sign then influences who we draft. If we sign a veteran FA OLB, do we go after Upshaw?

First of all, a first-round pick is not necessarily a guaranteed solution. We've had too many busts. Secondly, we have a sufficient number of needs on this team that if an OLB is not there or within a reasonable reach of our 1st-rounder, we can draft another position and it will still help.

I wish I could share your optimism concerning Merriman. I know he hasn't forgoten how to play football, but after two surgeries on the same Achilles, I'm not holding out much hope.

Which begs the question of whether or not Stevie is as willing to work on his game as much as Rice did.

What took you so long?

Even more so when we get Kyle Williams back.

Brees was putting up big numbers before Sproles went to the Saints.

I don't see them as a #1, either, but I also don't see any AFC team playing at a consistently high enough level for me to say they'll knock off the Pats.

It helps to have Drew Brees throwing to you.

And yet they are in contention for the #1 seed.

He needs to spend the off season working on his game, so that he can be our clutch guy. That does bring back a few memories... I know that. I've been following the Bills since my childhood days on Grand Island. And since he is the owner, the GM does need to listen, or get fired. I can live with that.

I have no problem paying him some coin, just not as much as a Fitzgerald. People forget that Jerry Rice wasn't exactly a speed burner, either. Stevie is listed at what, 6-2? Size is not the issue. Yes, he has dropped some key passes, and the maturity issue seems to be over, so let's pay him, say, about the same as we just paid Fitzpatrick.

Do we re-sign Bell? I know that when healthy, he is a fine LT. I'm just not sure he can play RT, or beat out Hairston for the LT job. I took that into consideration when I made my latest mock draft and took Datko in the 3rd round.

He had a high number of catches against Revis, true, but not a lot of yards. There is still some room for improvement in his game.

Actually, he's both. It seems that he let's good players go because thye get more money somewhere else, or he goes to the other extreme and overpays. I don't see a middle of the road with him.

I, too, hope we resign Johnson, if for nothing more than the sake of having some continuity in the WR corps. However, he has not proven that he can single-handedly take over a game.

I'm just not convinced he's a #1 on most other rosters, and, as a result, he'll get closer to #1 money in Buffalo. And, after that contract, he did not play to that level.

I thought Fitz was already that someone.

What if they resign Stevie AND draft a WR?

I hope he's right, too, but I also get the feeling it's because he will get more $$$ here than anywhere else.

Nix has said he's a BPA guy, and Kirkpatrick seems to be near where we pick, so I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear his name called when it is our turn.

Some of these guys would look good in a Bills uniform.