2003Contenders

It isn't always about sacks. If the DE consistently applies pressure to the QB, disrupts his timing and forces errant passes, he is doing his job. I am not advocating a selection of Ayers. However, I really get the impression that the Bills are not sold on Maybin -- and if they can't trade down from 11, both Brown and "Rack" are already gone, and the team is dead set on drafting a DE, Ayers is probably the guy.

Funny that you should mention the Cleveland game. Yes, that was certainly the worst performance of Trent's young career. And yet... and yet... he had the Bills in the position to kick the game winning field goal. Cutler has a PATTERN of making horrible mistakes at crucial times.

Don't know about what the announcers said, but this is definitely NOT my recollection of what happened back in 2006. Marv made it clear heading into the draft that the team was NOT going to select a QB in the first round because they wanted to see what they had in JP AND they didn't want to place undue burden on a highly drafted rookie QB. I think these quotes were based on what would the Bills do if Leinart or Young fell to the #8 spot. AFTER the draft, Marv admitted that they had Cutler ranked as the top QB on their board. So, if they HAD drafted a QB there it would have been him. Right or wrong, the front office was very high on Whitner. Remember that they reportedly turned down one or more trade-down opportunities in order to stay put and draft him at #8. If the conjecture that Ralp promoted Modrak because of his being "right" about Cutler is true, it could be that he is acknowledging Modrak for his accurate draft board, where he had Cutler ranked ahead of both Young and Leinart -- not that he was necessarily advocating that the team select Culter over Whitner.

Cutler's natural talents are unquestionable. However, he seems to make the worst mistakes at the absolute worst times. Did anyone catch the Week 16 game last season when the Bills went into Denver and came away with a victory, thanks largely to bad decisions made by Cutler? That was a must-win game for the Broncos too. I will have to say that I came away from that game more impressed with Edwards than I did Cutler. Yes, I know Cutler has a much stronger arm. However, Trent made clutch plays down the stretch in bad weather in a hostile environment, while Cutler threw a back-breaking interception with the game on the line.

JP scored really low (like a 12) on his first test. He claimed that he had to pee so bad that he raced through it just so that he could go to the bathroom. He retook the test and scored in the 30s (I believe) the second time around.

Don't be so sure. Ever heard of Leonard Little?

It could be true that all indications WERE that the shp had sailed. However, when Crowell saw that he wasn't getting any serious offers elsewhere -- and the Bills saw that there wasn't a reasonable replacement for him, perhaps the ship is on it way back into port?

You aren't missing anything. Even the Bills acknowledge that the man deserves a richer contract. The key thing to me is that both sides are talking and the front office is doing its part by putting its best foot forward and proceeding with an extension. In exchange, Peters should at the very least be willing to show up for OTAs and training camp this year.

That was my immediate reaction as well. Actually, I saw this as a good sign because it tells me that the Bills are NOT trying to low ball him. Based on the parameters in Gaughan's article, it sounds like Peters wants more than $12 M. That means that the Bills are offering at least $9M. You would have to think that the two sides could come together on something in the $10M or $11M range.

Now I am just waiting for someone to suggest that Hardy will move to TE. LOL

I suspect that this is going to be one of those "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" types of things. Namely, there will be some scouts that look at how flabby he is and say to themselves, "This kid was dominate in college with virtually no weight training or consistent workout program. Imagine how great he can be once we put him on the path to actually getting and staying in shape!" The problem is that if he isn't motivated to get himself into shape now, what is he going to do once he gets a large signing bonus in his hands? It may be in his best interest as well as any team that drafts him to hope that falls out of the first round, where there won't be that much of an up-front investment in him. Perhaps only then will he be motivated to be the best that he can be.

I saw that. Also saw that they had Housh on their as a guest analyst -- and he said he thought TO would be even BETTER for the Bills than he was in Dallas. The Miami insider also said that the Dolphins are now paranoid about their secondary, due in large part to the TO singing.

And this perfectly highlights the reason for Mort's discontentment with the Bills. Prior to 2006, his buddy Tom Donahoe gave him inside info that made it seem like he was always getting the scoop. Since then, he's been left in the cold -- and his feelings have been hurt. The man has no clue about what is going on at OBD, and he is now getting scooped by Tim Graham and Adam Schefter. Remember, last week Mort reported that the Bills were out fo the running for TO. He's also reported now that TO was all Ralph Wilson's idea, when the insiders that REALLY know have said that it was Trent and Jauron that campaigned for TO. It's a shame because I used to really like Mort.

True. Personally, I too think the TO signing makes it even LESS likely that the Bills pursue an elite pass-catching TE. The Bills have plenty of options in the receiving game now at many different levels. From an offensive standpoint, their goal now needs to be to ensure that Trent stays upright. In a contradictory sense that could even make Pettigrew's stock higher now for the Bills, given that he is by all accounts the best BLOCKING TE in the draft class. I just don't see the front office parting with valuable draft picks that can be spent on helping to fortify the offensive line (and help the defense) in exchange for one of these veteran pass-catching TEs.

I am under the impression that the Bills never really intended to shell out big bucks on a WR in free agency. However, when Coles surprisingly became available, they shifted gears. Now that Coles is gone, they are back to Plan A, which is to sign a veteran WR at a reasonable cost - and to be patient and wait for the market to come down on a flurry of other position FAs.

Because he hurt poor Tony Romo's feelings.

I think the four games (reduced to two on appeal) sounds about right. I really like Lynch and hope that he learns his lesson.

Yes, but the Bills upped that initial $4M per year offer. I never heard what that new figure was.

"What mamma don't know won't hurt her!" -- zoom in to tattoo of Roy Orbison on Jauron's right hind-end cheek.

In my opinion, the Bills are not in the position of being able to leave ANY stone unturned. Cynics have already pointed out that players typically do not want to come to Buffalo for a variety of reasons. So by those estimations, wouldn't TO-to-Buffalo mean that it was a last resort for him? Don't you think that would be incentive enough for him to behave, knowing that this would (hypothetically speaking) be his last chance to play in the NFL? Of course, there is an element of TO that is incorrigible. He just can't help himself. If there is some sincere interest in him from teams like the Redskins, we all know that the Bills won't get in on that action anyway. If, however, the Bills turn out to be one of the only teams interested, I fail to see what the downside is. Is this a Championship team that he is going to tear apart? Meanwhile, the upside is just too great to completely ignore. A motivated TO (as he was in his early years in San Francisco, his first year in Philly and his first couple of years in Dallas), is a player that opposing defenses must account for on every play. This honestly would have the potential to be the single signing that could get the Bills over the hump.

Honestly, I doubt that this had THAT much to do with money. Last week it was reported that the Bills had, I believe an offer of 5 years at $20 M on the table. That was before they reportedly sweetened the pot as free agency began. I can't imagine that the final offer was that different from the 4 year $23 M that Greer ultimately received from New Orleans. I think this was a matter of the front office trying to move promptly. Greer had already met with at least two teams and was seemingly taking his time making a decision. The Bills got tired of waiting and went ahead and signed Florence to a significantly smaller deal. Notice that after the Florence signing it didn't take Jabari long to sign with another team, since his Buffalo safety net was gone. I am not at all criticizing Greer, especially since this may be his once ever shot at a big contract. He did exactly what he was supposed to do and was rewarded handsomely as a result. He's a good player and a good guy, and I really wish him luck. I'm just getting tired of our supposed "fans" whining about how the front office doesn't want to spend any money, when they can't take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Relax. Coles DID come to Buffalo -- and he reportedly received a very strong offer from the Bills. When the Bengals decided to WAY overpay for his services the Bills wisely chose not to get into a bidding war.

Actually the Bills' track record for drafting WRs this past decade hasn't been all that bad. Let's see (just looking back at Day 1 draft picks)... Peerless was a 2nd round draft pick in 1999. I would have to say that that worked out pretty well, especially since he netted us a 1st round pick in 2003. Josh Reed was a 2nd rounder in 2002. He's certainly not a world-beater, but a worthy second round draft pick I would say. Lee Evans was a 1st rounder in 2004. Certainly no complaints here. Roscoe was a 2nd rounder in 2005. I can't call the pick a bad one, since he has reaped such positive dividends as a punt returner. He has, however, been a failure as a receiver. James Hardy was a 2nd rounder in 2008. The verdict is still out on him obviously. I guess there are those of you that want to look into your crystal ball and call him a bust. That's fine, by your standards, Eric Moulds was also a bust heading into 1997 (or 1998 for that matter). All in all, I think the front office has done a pretty good job of drafting receivers. Now, maybe an argument can be made that they haven't drafted ENOUGH receivers. But the ones they have drafted have been pretty decent. I think the coaching carousel and instability at QB has been the bigger culprit.

The Coles situation could be irrelevant. I suspect that with Greer making so many visits that the team came to the conclusion that he was going to sign elsewhere. We will probably know more when we see the numbers on Florence's deal.

I would give it a couple of days and see how the whole thing pans out with Coles. If he hasn't signed by, say, Thursday, there are a number of other fish to fry: Toomer, Harrison and maybe even Holt (which would probably require a 2nd day draft pick).