2003Contenders

The problem dates back to 2007 when Tagliabu jammed the agreement down the owners' throats so that he could vacate the Commissioner position claiming to have orchestrated labor peace. Ralph and Mike Brown were the only owners smart enough (and ballsy enough) to cry BS. That agreement guaranteed the players over 60% of TOTAL revenue. For bigger market teams like the Cowboys and Redskins that didn't matter too much, since their % of the overall pie was significantly larger than the smaller market teams, like Buffalo. Thus, from the owners' standpoint, the existing CBA is broke. The players would love nothing better than to continue to play under the existing agreement. Things like extending the season to 18 games, imposing a hard rookie cap, extending roster sizes, etc are just window dressing.

Sounds to me like the salesman was looking for trouble. If my boss asks me to take off a tie -- I take off my tie.

You know it is a shame that this dude will forever be remembered for the ridiculous trade that netted the Cowboys all those draft picks (and eventually a Super Bowl roster). I blame the Vikings more for not using Walker properly than I do for giving up so much to get him. He was one of the absolute greatest athletes to ever play in the NFL. He was edged out by Darrell Green as the fastest man in the NFL -- AND won a competition as the NFL's strongest man.

Indeed, the beginning of the end for TD in terms of fan perception was the day that he announced that Gregg Williams wouldn't be back just days after the 2003 season ended. In that press conference he chastised the fans for not having been more supportive. Many fans never forgave him for that. Prior to that here was the fan perception: 2001: Cleaned up salary cap, oversaw quality draft with plenty of wheeling and dealing 2002: Made the bold move to trade for Bledsoe WITHOUT giving up a pick in THAT year's draft 2003: Turned Peerless Price into a 1st round draft pick. Negotiated hard to attract quality free agents to shore up defense (Takeo, S Adams, L Milloy)

Same goes for Pittsburgh too.

We all give Mel a lot of crap, but had he been doing our drafts for us since 2006, I think we would have been better off. Here is who he had us taking: 2006: Ngata (thought Whitner was a reach and the move up to get McCargo puzzling) 2007: Revis or Leon Hall (understood the "need" for Lynch but thought 12 was too early) 2008: Don't remember who had mocked for us to take, but I think he was OK with the McKelvin pick there 2009: Orakpo (was down on Maybin; McShay loved Maybin) 2010: A Davis (He agreed that Spiller was probably the BPA but thought he was a luxury pick) What's funny is that most of those picks were in line with conventional wisdom. Maybe it would be alright for once if the Bills didn't try to outsmart everybody. One good thing: most of those players this year at the top of the draft played in the SEC, which is in Nix's wheelhouse.

I have never understood the crowd that claims that Ralph is a cheapskate. The reality is that financial parameters have changed in a major way since the late 1980s. When Kelly signed that "massive" contract in 1990 that (briefly) made him the highest paid player in the NFL, the average annual salary was about $3M. Today, the top players in the league make close to $20M per year -- which is about what an entire roster payroll was back in those days. And we are talking just 20 years ago. Last year, Ralph paid about $120M in player payroll. When the salary cap kicked in in 1993, the first cap was less than $40M. By the time Tom Donahoe took over in 2001, the cap was up to $67M, and the Bills were in desperate peril as they had to make huge personnel moves to get under that figure. The last capped season (2009), it was around $127M. Ralph's never had a problem paying players. Look at that ridiculous contract that Dockery signed just a few years ago. That is the real problem, though, right? Investing too much capital in mediocre players. And it isn't Ralph that makes these decisions; he just signs the check. I blame Ralph for firing the best GM (Polian) the team ever had, giving too much power to a GM that was hit-or-miss (TD), and relying on marketing guys to run the team after the Donahoe era. The verdict is still out on Nix.

And yet when these two teams met in what amounted to a road game for the Bills, the Bills very nearly beat these Bears.

I think you have to give Sanchez the nod for being clutch. However, I honestly believe that minus the QB position, the Jets are the best team top-to-bottom in the NFL. When Sanchez plays well, they are almost unbeatable. When he doesn't play so well...

If the manner in which the Bills played both teams is any barometer, the Jets should beat the Steelers convincingly. Of course, that doesn't work in the NFL. One thing I will say is that the Steelers looked VERY lethargic in the first half against the Ravens on Saturday. They were actually lucky to come away with a win. The Jets beat them a few weeks back, so I expect them to come out motivated and ready to play on Sunday. One thing the Steeler defense does very well is stop the run. In the absence of a running game can Sanchez play well enough to go toe-to-toe with Big Ben? (I know he had 3 TD passes on Sunday -- but was he REALLY asked to do very much against the Patriots?)

You know I was thinking the exact same thing. Part of the reason that the Pats won the time-of-possession battle is that on each pass play Brady held onto the ball for like 5-6 seconds and STILL couldn't find open receivers. Of course, it helps that the Jets have such a good front 7 that they can mix-and-match their coverages like that so that even a seasoned pro like Brady starts worrying about the pressure -- even if there isn't any.

You know, try as I might, I just can't bring myself to dislike ol' Rex. There is something almost lovable about him. I would call him a "likeble a-hole".

Additionally, I believe that drafted players have until Week 10 to sign with the team that drafted them -- otherwise, they go back into the draft the following year.

Our 2nd round pick is #34 overall -- almost a first rounder. The Bills need to get an instant impact player here (like a DL, OL or LB) rather than roll the dice on someone like Ponder.

Oh well. Do I despise Tom Brady? Yes. Do I hope every week that he gets humiliated by the opposing team? Yes. Do I wish he were the QB of the Buffalo Bills? Yes.

Wanny will have plenty of other options (including San Diego, where he is as close to Norv as he is Chan). If they want to land him, they will need to give him a title like Assistant Head Coach. The Redskins did this for years with multiple guys with varying titles. At one time Greg Blanche was the official Defensive Coordinator; however, Gregg Williams had the title "Assistant Head Coach (Defense)". The Bills should give Wanny a similar title.

OK, here's the thing. In order to be a successful head coach, there is MUCH more in the job description than simply Xs and Os. Much of the real work involves proper communication and making use of strong people skills. This applies to both dealing with subordinates (assistant coaches, players, training staff, etc.) as well as superiors. Meaning that it is vitally important for the head coach to have a strong working relationship with the GM and (YES) the owner. If Ralph does indeed like to chat for a couple of hours a week with the head coach, then the coach (in this case, Chan) needs to set that time aside on his busy schedule and create a win-win situation in which he either does what he needs to patronize Ralph OR actually makes valuable use of the conversation and tries to persuade Ralph to open up his checkbook -- or even make suggestions about cultural changes within the organization. Chan seems to be a refreshingly straight shooter, and I have a feeling that he provides Ralph with an honest assessment in their weekly chats. How is that a bad thing?

In watching that game on Saturday, I was amazed by how the Jets and Colts were inverse mirror images of one another. Aside from the QB position (and Sanchez certainly can get better as he matures), the Jets are top notch from top to bottom. Meanwhile, the Colts are pretty much NOTHING without Manning. In fact, our very own Bills, I believe, are a superior team to what the Manning-less Colts would be. Talking about firing Caldwell at this juncture is silly, given that his team has won back-to-back divisions and is just one year removed from a Super Bowl appearance. However, he does NOT impress me as a gameday coach, and if (God forbid) Manning misses any time next season, I imagine that reality will set in for the Colts front office and fan base.

While the Bills have certainly had their share of issues with guys like Maybin, McCargo and the like and the top draft picks this year (Spiller, Troup, and Carrington) did little, I would say that several rookies did make a meaningful contribution this year: D Nelson, D Jones, and A Moats to name only three. Time will tell, but I actually have high hopes for both 2009 and 2010 draft classes (minus, of course, the Maybin fiasco).

I do NOT blame the front office on this one. In fact, I think they held onto Lynch longer than they should have trying to get the best return. I think this is sour grapes on the Saints' part. The Bills made no secret that they were trying to trade Marshawn -- and even showcased him in games in hopes of driving up his trade value. I suspect that we will hear a similar report out of Green Bay next week, when they get knocked out of the playoffs by the Falcons due to their inability to run the ball.

I am hearing that the Dolphins are indeed very close to inking a deal with him.

I wondered the same thing.

Aside from slotting every other player up a spot now, my biggest fear is that the Bills reach for another QB at #3 and proudly say that they just drafted the best QB in the 2011 draft.

Interesting. I think Chan feels a sense of loyalty to Fitz; however, I can see him wanting to bring in Young as a reclamation project.

True. I hope the guy gets a fair shot, though. Remember, he had already figured out last year that Jackson > Lynch and Fitz > Trent. I often wonder if things may have been better if he had retained the HC job and brought Chan in as his OC.