2003Contenders

Innocent until proven guilty indeed. The only problem is that he supposedly failed a drug test. Even in the most innocent of circumstances -- say he took a vitamin or a supplement that he didn't realize contained a banned substance -- it is still his responsibility to KNOW the ingredients of anything he puts in his body. Remember Jim Miller? With that said, remember a few years ago AFTER Leon Lett had already been suspended for a year for failing a 4th drug test -- and he failed a 5th? After an appeal his suspension was knocked down considerably.

Actually the Bills did make an offer to both. Now, the offer to Jennings was not one that he'd have ever accepted -- but at least an offer was made. As for Big Pat, he wound up signing with Minny for not a whole lot more than TD offerred him.

Remember TD did not leave of his own choosing. He was fired becasue the team had failed to make the playoffs during his 5 year tenure. Had Ralph not fired him, I fully well believe that he'd still be here.

This report is worth ignoring... Clearly the Post "borrowed" tips from the Buffalo News this morning. That would be Mark G's article, which was pure speculation.

Has everyone forgotten the fact that Culpepper had a SERIOUS knee injury last season? His future is in question, especially with his style of play.

If Clayton said that the Chargers would cut Brees, then he doesn't know what he is talking about. Unless the Chargers use the Franchise or Transition Tag, Brees will become a free agent and they won't be in the position to "cut" him. That tag will also cost them at least 20% more than they paid him last year, which is in the $10 M range.

Not really. That 2002 draft was actually pretty weak. In fact, the only player out of the top 5 selections to merit such a pick was Julius Peppers -- and everyone tabbed him as a can't miss prospect. 1. David Carr (TBD) 2. J Peppers (Great pick) 3. J Harrington (Bust) 4. M Williams (Bust) 5. Q Jammer (Bust) So, yes, TD crapped the bed on that draft -- but then again, so did many other teams.

True. It's amazing how lousy of a coach you appear to be when you lose guys like TKO and Pat Williams. Yes, I know coaches like Belichick have managed to get their teams to play well despite injuries to some of their star players. But maybe that says something more about the overall depth of the football team than the coaching involved. Yet another reason to blame TD.

It's pretty clear that the Bills will have to Franchise him, as he wants to play for the highest bidder. That $5.9 M cap hit isn't the end of the world and it is a reasonable salary for him this year. However, I wouldn't expect them to tag him again in 2007, as his cap hit then would increase to at least $7 M. (He would be gauranteed either a 20% pay increase or the top 5 CB salary, whichever is greater). Also, does anybody think that his moving to Houston sends any signals?

Here you go: 2006 Cap Figures These numbers are a few weeks old, but they should be updating them soon. FYI, the Bills rank in the middle of the pack.

While I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said here, at the time, TD had visions of Reed being a WR in the Hines Ward mold. While he didn't have all of the measurables of some of the other WRs taken in that draft, he was considered by many scouts to be rather polished and NFL-ready. Many insiders felt that he should have been a first round pick. Looking back, he had a nice rookie season -- but was placed in a bad situation the following year after Peerless left. Perhaps in a different setting he may have been a decent #2 WR. However, he was poorly suited for Gilbride's offense, and there was too much pressure placed on him. Personally, I still think that there is a spot for him on this team. Aside from catching the ball, he does a number of things well. And last year he seemed to overcome his case of the dropsies. With the "I love you man!" kind of atmosphere that Marv and Jauron are likely to bring to the team, I really think that this may be the year that Reed finally steps up.

Not to mention that MW seemed like a good character guy, while McKinney came across as something of a head case. In fact, MW was a pretty decent rookie, while McKinney held out most of his rookie season. Obviously their fortunes have changed since then -- although Levi Jones, taken 10th overall buy the Bengals -- turned out to be better than either of them. The writer of this article was so busy working up his hatchet job on TD that he failed to add this to his list of grievances. Oh, and I'm not sure where he comes off calling Denney an undersized DE. The draft that year was full of undersized DE -- and Denney was one of the few that was actually big enough to project to be strong in run support. That's why TD traded up to get him -- that, and the fact that he wanted to screw Pittsburgh who was all set on taking him with the next pick.

That is exactly right. I think the bad 2002 draft is further magnified by the horrible drafts that Butler had in 1999 and 2000. It's very hard to sustain a winning team when you have 3 bad drafts in four years.

Maybe they should check the accuracy of their comments... Marv's last team went 6-10 in 1997. (Recall that was the year that Todd Collins was calling the signals.) It was the following season, in Wade's first year, that they went 10-6 and lost to Miami. Still, the point is well taken that those 1998 and 1999 teams that made it to the playoffs were loaded with Marv's players.

The players know fully well when they sign the contract that they are unlikely to ever see the final big dollar years. However, the large up-front signing bonus makes that situation much more desirable for them.

I pretty much agree with VABills assessment. The only thing that I will add is that in the right situation, a healthy Lavar could fit in nicely as a pass rush specialist.

I'll pass... I remember when he came here to play against us a couple of years back. He was totally ineffective and commented after the game that he had a whole new respect fro what Jim Kelly was able to accomplish in the Arctic conditions.

I've also heard that some scouts actually worry about players who score TOO HIGH on the Wonderlic. They fear that the player may be too analytical and prone to over-thinking a situation, rather than being instinctive and processing the information quickly. Looking at Bledsoe's very high score, it would seem to bear this out.

I hate to cop-out and say wait and see what we do in free agency between now and April... but that is the honest to God's truth. Recall at this point heading into the 2003 draft that Linebacker was far and away our biggest need. However, TD was aggressive in signing both Posey and TKO -- and that need was mitigated. As of now, you can't go worng by addressing either the OL or DL -- and if we don't franchise or re-sign Nate, then Jimmy Williams could be a need pick for us. Heck, even Huff, assuming that we move Vincent back to CB.

It just reaffirms that at least the front office tried to bring in quality assistants -- and had trouble getting anyone to bite. In the final analysis that may be why MM left.

I agree. In fact, some of you who have criticized Schobel have disspelled your own point by pointing out that he had NO ONE of merit playing opposite him. Thus, the Hansen analogy probbaly isn't the best. The fact that Schobel's been as productive as he's been, despite no real help from the opposite side of the line, speaks volumes about how good he's been. Imagine how good he'd be if he had a legitimate pass rushing threat playing on the other end! Maybe someone like Darren Howard or Robert Mathis.

OJ's off-the-field problems have since clouded over what a great RB he was. Indeed, he was probably a top 5 all time RB. Like Jim Brown, every defender on the field knew that he was going to get the ball -- and they still couldn't stop him. Not to take anything away from Thurman, who did everything quite well -- and was probably the finest "Jack of All Trades" to ever play the position.

Hmmm. Considering that Abraham is a free agent and that the Jets would have to franchise him first to even have the rights to trade him -- which they can't do right now even if they wanted to, considering that they are so far over the cap -- I'd say that this rumor has little merit.

I wouldn't be surprised if Holmgren at least considers retirement. I seem to recall after that last Super Bowl with the Packers (the one they lost to Denver) that he reportedly went into some real state of depression, where his daughter actually tried to get him some counseling. He strongy considering retiring back then -- and supposedly Favre talked himout of it. A year later he moved onto Seattle.

1. I've seen the replay many times, and I'm still not sure if the nose of that ball managed to nip the goal line or not. Thus, the official did the right thing on review. 2. As far as the official changing his mind on the initial call, why is that so seemingly sinister? Maybe he was just waiting fro some bodies to clear away from the goal line before making the detrmination whether it was a TD or not. 3. Even if Seattle did get jobbed on the play, it is now 4th and an inch. Guarantee that Cowher goes for it -- and it's an easy QB sneak TD. No, I think that some of the ticky-tack boderline calls (like on Jackson's "push off") had a bigger thing to do with the outcome of the game than the controversy surrounding the Big Ben TD -- or lack thereof.