2003Contenders

Unfortunately, I think a move from 12 to 3 would require A LOT more than just Willis and a 3rd rounder. In fact, I doubt any such move would come with less than an additional first round pick -- which we can't afford to give away. I could, however, see Marv waiting to see if Peterson drops out of the top 5-6 and then trying to move up.

I agree. The only point you are missing is the player's role in all of this. Henry forced the Bills' hand -- and now Willis is saying that he will sit out if the team doesn't sign him to a long-term deal. When I first heard the reports that the Giants had approached the Bills, I was excited. Now it sounds like the Bills are shopping Willis, which is more ominous in terms of being able to get anything worthwhile in return. Whether a trade is made or not before draft day, I'd like to see the Bills bring in someone (either via the draft or free agency) to at least challenge Willis for the job -- and provide some insurance if he does hold out.

And let's not forget Bruuuuuuce.

Actually, it seems that Nate was/is bound, set and determined to test the free agent market. Thus, he was unlikely to sign a long-term contract with ANYBODY last season. That would explain why teams were uninterested in trading away anything for a player, who was set to become a free agent at season's end. Although the Bills did hold all of the cards -- and Nate eventually would have avoided holding out -- the deal that he and Marv reached (not to re-tag him in 2007) was to ensure that he reported to training camp on time.

I know you were saying this with tongue firmly planted in cheek. But, believe it or not, Norv has more playoff wins as a head coach over the last decade than Marty does... And Norv only ever led his team to the playoffs ONCE!

Good points... Call me crazy, but I am not overly troubled by this notion of not being able to spend a crazy amount of money in free agency this season. This year it is a player's market -- and we have enough holes to fill that I'd rather not load up for bear on a player or two -- and mortgage our future. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to build the nucleus of the team through the draft and with prudent moves in free agency. Of course, the caveat here is to make sure that you find a way to keep the young players you do want, which means signing them long-term BEFORE they become free agents. That's why I would advocate getting a long term deal with Lee Evans done right away.

Excellent point about the replacements for those players. Although we are unlikely to find an immediate replacement for Nate, we can live with a bit of a downgrade there (someone like Philly's Hood), provided that we upgrade other areas of the defense, most importantly the DL. Without coming out and saying it, I think the coaches were not as high on Fletcher-Baker as many of us were. It will be interesting to see how they plan on filling his inevitable vacancy. I'm also not convinced that Kelsay is a goner. However, even if he does bolt, I don't see Hargrove as a downgrade. So, maybe I'm just drinking red, white and blue cool aide -- but I am not too worried about losing these players. In the best of all possible worlds, I'd like to keep Nate. However, if ownership is serious about not shelling out large signing bonuses -- and keeping him means that we lose out on upgrading 3-4 other positions, I think we have to wave goodbye. Remember that we are not talking about trying to keep together a world championship defense here. This defense has ranked toward the bottom of the league in each of the last 2 seasons. Thus, no player on that side of the ball should be viewed as a sacred cow.

I agree that it is unlikely that he lasts that long. Honestly, if he slips out of the top 10, I would imagine some team further down that REALLY wants him would seriously consider moving up to get him. It's funny how fluid projections are for RBs. Two years ago, 3 of them (Ronnie Brown, Cedric Benson, and Cadillac Williams) went within the first five picks of the draft -- and none of them thus far has proven worthy of going so high. Meanwhile, Larry Johnson and Steven Jackson -- both of whom WERE considered the best in their class coming out of school in 2003 and 2004 respectively -- fell toward the end of the first round. Those two guys are now among the top 5 RBs in the NFL.

God knows I loved Thurman, but he wasn't ALWAYS such a great leader... he had a tendency to stew every now and then. And, aside from that great performance in the first Super Bowl, he came up very small when we needed him the most.

Just because Peterson is a top 5 prospect, it does not mean that he will be drafted in the top 5. While it is unlikely that he would fall that far, something like that could happen if the teams picking in the top 15 feel that they have a greater need at another position. Personally, I think he would be hard for the Bills to pass up at 12, if he falls that far. With all of that said, this guy's mock draft is definitely different from conventional opinion about how the players should be ranked -- and I second-guess a good number of his picks.

There are many compelling reasons to consider drafting a DT early again this season... 1. McCargo is an unproven commodity. 2. Even if McCargo pans out, you can never have enough big bodies to rotate on the interior of the DL. Just because we went that direction last season, doesn't mean we shouldn't go that way again. The Jags drafted Stroud and Henderson in the first round in consecutive seasons. That worked out pretty well for them. 3. Thankfully, Anderson is a goner, so we may as well seek an upgrade. 4. For as much as K Williams was a pleasant surprise last season, he is not a long term solution. 5. The interior was horrible at stopping the run last season -- and still needs to be addressed. With Clements and London both possibly gone, we may have needs to fill at DT, CB, and MLB in addition to our always OL requirement. With the 12th pick overall, we will probably have the luxury of taking the best player available -- without having to pinpoint a specific position. Heck we could even draft a WR or RB with that pick if there is a player too good to pass up there (i.e. Peterson).

Are you guys talking about Will Blaylock? If so, he's probably a Day 2 pick.

Actually the Redskins were in BIG trouble last year prior to the CBA extension. In fact, it was Lavar Arrington's willingness to return some of his original signing bonus (effectively buying his way off the team) that allowed them to sneak under the cap. This year, even with the large cap ($109 M), which has MOST teams in great shape, the Skins are still having to resort to these kinds of restructures to save face. The bigger problem for them is that they don't get good value for their mis-spent money. Last year Archuleta and Brunell may have been the high paid scout team players in NFL history...

Jansen's original base salary was set to be $4.25 M this year. Without knowing the full details of his contract, by spreading the $10 M signing bonus over a five year extension, assuming that his new base is something around the league minimum, that should cut this portion of his cap liability down to less than $3 M this year. Thus, the 'Skins probably saved between $1 M to $1.5 M against the cap in 2007 by doing this. Of course, Jansen has a nasty history of injuries, so you have to wonder how wise this decision was in the long haul.

The sad thing is that he STILL out-rushed Willis last year.

One thing I always found interesting about the situation is that when the 2003 season came to an end both Gregg and Killdrive were gone -- as was the OL coach at the time. Thus, Brown's departure was NOT driven by animosity from the coaching staff.

A few years ago the Jags picked DTs in the first round in two straight drafts. Marcus Stroud and John Henderson have done a fine job solidifying the interior of that line for years to come. Without knowing about what is going to happen between now and draft day (i.e. free agent gains and losses), I see no reason to pass on Okoye if he is there.

I'm guessing that someone was trying to make the comparisons between Polian's Colts and Bills teams.

Excellent points. The funny thing is that Reyes was probably the highest profile FA signing of all from last year. For what it's worth, in Chris Brown's blog yesterday, he predicted that the Bills will let Gandy walk and go after Eric Steinbach in a major way. Also, don't get too excited about Briggs. Supposedly he and the Giants' Antonio Pierce are good friends -- and Pierce has been trying to woo him to come play for the Giants. Pierce told the press that he didn't think that the Giants would be able to afford Briggs... If the Giants can't afford him, where does that leave the Bills?

Forget about Aikman too... His overall stats were inflated by that first game in which he threw 4 TD passes -- thanks to the horrible job our own offense did setting him up with 8 or 9 turnovers. Believe it or not, Kelly outplayed him in the second Super Bowl, and he didn't do anything all that special in the win over the Steelers either. He was a decent QB -- who was blessed with a great offensive line and Emmit Smith. (Take a look back at what his career record looked like WITHOUT Emmit!)

If the draft really did break down like that when we're sitting there at #12, I sure hope we'd take a long look at A Peterson or Okoye...

Actually I think it had less to do with money -- and more to do with the manner in which the players felt that they were being treated. TD had a knack for putting out a "Take it or leave it!" offer that was often viewed by the players as being insulting. He would then demonize the player in the press to make them seem greedy for not accepting his low-ball offer. Many of us admire TD at the time for driving a hard bargain, but (in the long run) I think it had a negative toll. I think Marv has done some positive things (including the way he handled the troy Vincent situation last year) to help turn that feeling around. That is one reason why I don't think that we can write off Nate coming back so quickly. Of course, Nate's situation is much different than, say, Pat's was because Pat really wanted to stay here -- and a reasonable offer would have kept him from ever testing the free agency market. The contract he signed with the Vikings was not THAT extravagant. As for Nate, we all know that his goal is to see how much he can get paid in free agency. A player has the right to test the market, and the front office shouldn't be vindictive, when the said player chooses to do so. At least Marv has done a decent job of building up morale to make players WANT to stay here. If Nate prices himself out of our reach, then so be it -- but at least it won't be because he felt disrespected by the current organization and went somewhere he felt wanted.

Reminds me of the Super Bowl XXVII highlight film that ESPN shows every year that Jimmy Johnson narrates in his monotone voice for some inane reason: "I liked Jim..." (at the point when JK gets knocked out of the game).

Also, signing Hood would be very similar in style to what the team did last year in free agency, when instead of tabbing big names, they went after guys that they thought were on the cusp of being quality players.

I think some people are placing too much emphasis on his weight. By all accounts he has looked exceptional this week in Senior Bowl practices. And 287 lbs of lean muscle is still harder to hold at bay than 300+ lbs of fat goo...