2003Contenders

The Jags must be cornering the market on overweight, underachieving OTs. In fact, this signing makes little sense, as both Big Mike and McDougle's best position is RT. Maybe the Jags project Big Mike to OG after all.

... That is, if he comes cheap enough and Moulds leaves.

Just because Shelton and Shaffer received big money -- that doesn't mean that they were worth it. In fact, I would rank them as the 2nd-3rd tier guys everyone is worried about the Bills getting stuck with if they do not act soon enough. In all honesty, I am not sure that either guy would have provided us with any kind of upgrade. Bentley obviously would have been an upgrade, but he signed with his hometown team for a lot of cash. Thus, I don't think he was ever truly available to us. Look, we all know that the Bills have some major holes to fill on the OL. But we do not need to go off half-cocked and blow our limited cap dollars on more run-of-the-mill players. In fact, if we are able to address other needs via free agency, then we will not have to address those other needs in the draft, which means that we can stockpile OL via the draft. In fact, with the interior of the line being the biggest issue, you can often find very good OG and OC in the 2nd and 3rd round of the draft.

The problem is that there aren't a whole lot of differece-making OL on the market right now. Why? Because they are such a commodity that their original teams wrapped them up. Case in point: Look at the outrageous money thrown at the likes of Shaffer, Shelton, and -- yes -- Mike Williams. There are some older guys out there, like Runyan and Fabini -- but we have to wonder what they have left in the tank. Whether you like what the front office is doing or not, they have developed a pattern of brining in guys under the age of 30 for contract talks.

Why is everyone so sure that Marv wouldn't consider trading up or down? He was around when we worked out the deal with the Colts to get Biscuit, no?

I wouldn't be surprised if Keyshawn retires. He hinted at it when he got into hot water with Gruden down in Tampa Bay.

The interesting thing is that up until about a week ago it looked like as many as 3 QBs would go in the first round -- all possibly in the first 7 picks. With Bush still likely to go at the top of the draft, that would have meant that we would have had dibbs at one of the top 4 other players in the draft. Now I am starting to think that only one QB (Leinert) will go that high, which means that we effectively lose two slots in the draft. That's why I feel that we could be prime candidates to move up -- or down. Much will depend on what we do in free agency between now and then. With 4 Day 1 picks -- all in the top 10 of each round -- we may have the luxury of trading to move up if we want to land Mario or Ferguson. However, if Marv and co have not filled enough holes in free agency, then we may not be in the best position to give away draft picks to move up. A good start would be to sign Pickett. That would mitigate the need for drafting a DT high in the draft, and perhaps give us the flexibility of moving up to land a blue chip player at another position of need.

Collins has proven to be a capable backup -- and deserves kudos for hanging around the league for over 10 years now. It's funny to think that he really didn't get much more of a shot here than JP has received up until now.

The point is that if a QB has a problem throwing the football in inclimate weather, then he is not a good fit for our team. Maybe if Aikman had played his career in Buffalo or Green Bay, rather than Dallas, he wouldn't have just been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Every time I think of McCown coming in, I remember his last visit 2 years ago, when he acknowledged that he could not throw the football in this climate.

My only concern is that the Packers have tons of cap space, so we'd lose any bidding war.

One way or the other by the end of today TO will be a free agent. Dallas and Denver sound like his most likely destinations.

I'm not sure what all the crying in the beer is about Moulds. Receivers who average barely 10 yards per catch and rack up just a little over 800 yards and 4 TDs in a full season are a dime a dozen. In fact, a closer look shows that Moulds has not snagged more than 5 TDs in a season since 2002 -- and the whole offense was quite prolific that year. Of course, that's just because our QBs suck, right...

I think he's somewhat of an unknown commodity around the league, and those who do know about him probably feel that the Bills would match any offer anyway.

Until we are ready to make a definite decision on JP -- which I don't think we are after just 8 starts -- I wouldn't part with ANYTHING for another QB. If one is freely available on the cheap, I'm all for bringing him in, but I don't think we should give up anything.

I won't dismiss everything that TD said here. However, while Big Mike was at times very good, he was never consistent enough to merit his #4 selection -- and he certainly did not deserve the huge paycheck he was receiving. When it's all said and done -- and we look back on the cap space that he occupied each year, it is almost ironic that this highly touted offensive lineman was as big of a reason for the failure of the TD era as anything else. I say ironic because TD is comdemned for his lack of attention to the OL. Far be it for me to call any player a sissy, especially a lineman -- because I know these guys play through pain EVERY week. The problem is that being tough enough to do this goes with the territory, and one of the prerequisites to being an NFL OL is that you MUST be able to withstand an inordinate amount of pain. I think, when it is all said and done, Big Mike simply did not have this rare attribute.

To me the tell tale quote from Williams today was that he said he wanted to be the "dominant offensive tackle that I know I am". In other words, MW is satisfied with his current skills and grades himself at CURRENTLY being dominant -- not that he needs to work to GET to that point. This tells me that the Jags are buying the same bag of goods that we just unloaded.

My problem right now with Moulds is that it is clear that he simply wants to be released. If money were the only issue, then he could: 1. Work out a more cap-friendly deal that will still net him a similar amount of cash in 2006. 2. Hold fast with his current contract. That is, state that he and the Bills have a contract in place that he is willing to honor. If the Bills don't want to honor it, then the onus is on them to cut or trade him. Originally, #2 seemed to be Moulds' stance. However, he has recently changed his tune. My guess is that he was being disingenuous early on because he knew that the Bills were in some mild cap trouble if they didn't cut him. With the expansion of the CBA, there is no rush to free up his cap figure, and the team no longer HAS to cut him. They do, however, need to make a decision by the time his roster bonus is due.

Does anyone know when Moulds' roster bonus is due? That sets the timetable on what will happen and when...

It's funny... When Manning, Rivers, and Big Ben flew off the draft board prior to our first pick in 2004, I hoped that the Bills would manage to land Schaub in the 2nd -- or even 3rd round.

A couple questions about Wells... 1. Wasn't he hurt last year? 2. Isn't he a RESTRICTED Free Agent?

Probably means that Charles Rogers will be getting his walking papers soon.

The only thing that I can say is that if he had this reputation, MM naming him the starter last year without a fair competition probably didn't help.

Doh! Thanks for setting me straight.

At one time they were, but that was before all of the moves I mentioned and the expanded cap. I know that they reworked Mark Brunell's contract even prior to the Arrington release that reportedly saved about $2 M. The Arrington pay-back, freed up another $4 M. The released players I mentioned further freed up about $7 M. So, right there, that is: 2+4+7+7.5(cap expansion) = $20.5 M. I haven't heard the particulars on the negotiations with Jensen and Springs (among others), but if both players, say, converted their base pay and roster bonuses in 2006 to a single signing bonus that could be spread out, then the team could have saved as much as $3-4 M per player.