White Linen

Obviously I or none of us condone domestic violence. It's a fact that there have been men accused of doing it and later it's found out that it didn't happen. What I don't understand is why there isn't charges brought on the false accuser.

I believe Fred burned a bridge with Whaley as others have suggested and I was glad to see him go - but his receiving numbers last year really surprised me. I think he could be a 3rd down passing down blocker and catch some balls out of the backfield. However I do believe that ship has sailed. I definitely do not want Boobie for one simple reason - I never ever want him to get one carry. So even in an emergency - I don't want him touching the ball. For me it comes down to one of two things; do we need an immediate back up to McCoy or do we just need a 3rd or 4th string guy / someone to bring in for competition? If Karlos so far in the doghouse that he won't get the opportunities to play when he returns -or Jon Williams isn't able to be the #2 yet - then I'd want to bring in a vet. If Jon is ready or can be the #2 until Karlos returns then I want to stay with what we have and let Wilder and Gillislee battle it out for depth.

That's exactly what I'd want. Hardly ever ever run the ball. Come in on third down in spot duty to block and/or catch passes - something he did to my surprise very well last year.

You could very well be correct but it is still early in the off season. If he doesn't sign this off season I don't believe he'll get another shot - age and 2 years removed along with how rookies contribute now being the reasons. The off season can be used as a sort of buffer to explain to the public why you signed him and give a little time for it to set in with people that would object. I don't see a mid season signing.

I'm sure you're right that some teams have blacklisted him but I doubt the NFL is, can or should tell teams they can't sign him. If you believe he's genuine in trying to atone for his behavior by dedicating his salary - and you believe he can still effectively play football - I think a team should sign him. One because of second chances and two because that's a heck of a lot of money to go towards a charity that helps with domestic violence.

Now that's funny. 26CB and Yolo are amazing for the information they bring to us on a daily basis. With those two on the case I/we have no chance of concealing identity.

That's an interesting angle. How about this? As a GM you sign him and announce that you're going to allow Rice to join the team but probably won't play much - but I'm essentially signing him as a way to donate almost a million dollars to a necessary charity and give him a chance to atone himself. Then if he's actually needed to play - you can simply say hey he's earned it - after the initial signing part is dealt with first.

Yolo - my initial thought was the same but I was actually surprised at Fred's catching numbers last year. He only had 26 carries and that's about where I'd want him - but as a blocking down RB with the ability to catch 32 balls - I think that could actually be exactly what we need. I absolutely wouldn't want him to be a part of the running game per se - but maybe a Larry Centers role. I've been critical of Fred and I didn't like the way he left - more than most. I did not like the way he criticized Whaley and tried to be a distraction. Only reason I mention that is it's not a sentimental angle for me. I wasn't totally underwhelmed by his numbers last year - which kind of shocked me.

I thought it would be fun to take a moment to recognize some of our favorite posters. I know this will go sideways at some point - after all we're a creative bunch - but I thought it would be cool to see some genuine props as well. I will say it's not the easiest thing in the world to communicate on here in such a way that you can easily understand someone's personality, meaning or tone. So for those posters that have the ability to communicate in such a way that it's obvious they're good people - I respect you immensely and those are typically my favorite posters to read. I'll start this off by saying my favorite poster is 3rdand12. I don't know him personally but he always treats everyone with respect whether it's a long time poster or someone completely new to our world. There's just a kind tone that comes across whenever I read his posts. Even when you're debating a point with him it never turns into an attack - he listens to your points and also gives his without any of the bombastic words that typically derail good discussion. Thanks 3rdand12 - I appreciate and enjoy reading your posts.

No doubt. Cowher tried one last time to get him to be bombastic by asking "Hey if you're mad at me for something just tell me". He turned it around on him by responding with "Hey I do have a beef with you about something" and instead of having it be personal - he said I don't like the way you're talking about my team and my coach. Just brilliant and as you say - made a Buffalo fan proud.

I totally believe in forgiveness as well but he could be noble without playing football. So if we're just talking football - I think he should absolutely be able to play and it's sad that he'd have to give up his salary to do so. He shouldn't have to as you say - they and we have welcomed back much worse people.

Haha, absolutely thought the same thing in that first 20 seconds. Then the interview started, it was so interesting, I forgot how weird that was.

That's my point. He satisfied the need for a mean streak at that time and now a leadership role this time. Pretty amazing change and I don't mean that in the sense I besmirch him for the first stint.

Blown away at how straight forward he speaks. Extremely glad we have him for at least a couple more years. I liked him during his first stint with Buffalo because I wanted someone reckless with some nasty in them - felt like we really needed that. Now I like him for his leadership. Kudos to him.

Pretty good summary of where we're at.

Yeah, but he was a marine biologist.

Man that was cool

I can certainly understand what your saying but even though it was a short sample (3 games) that didn't work - although mildly in the NE game. That's why I think a great route running possession receiver on the other side is really what I like best. I'm hoping Woods plays well because I think that role suites him nicely. As we all know - there's several ways to get your star WR free'd up, so this is just one way. Tyrod's running threat, a pass catching RB, your slot receiver and TE can all be used in different ways. Sammy should have a great year so long as that foot heals.

I started the thread on Annen. I think he's got a real shot at making the club and being significant.

It's getting old man

I can't stand when someone else rights the apology for them.

We agree. Sammy is talented enough to get his as he showed in the last 3/4 of the season. Obviously our cap didn't lend us to address what you'd like in a #2 and FA WR's are ridiculously priced anyway. What needs to happen now - since we likely don't have a play making #2 is that they take advantage of the 1 on 1 matchups with reading defenses properly, running a great route, and catching that ball. If that happens things will open up for Sammy. I think the most likely person to do that is Clay. He's got the talent to command attention and make the defense have to adjust where the safeties play.

I don't really care what their rank is - I just want them to be miserable to play against. Stats are great and fun to talk about but I want timely stops and turnovers. Force 3rd and longs a lot and get off the field.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you too. I was just pointing out that Harvin and Watkins played in 3 games together and it wasn't successful except for the NE game. So they had one good game together in a loss. Harvin started out decent the first 3 games of the season but Sammy had 2 terribly ineffective games - remember everyone calling him out and saying Harvin is playing like our number one? While Harvin started out ok and Sammy very badly and that was their only time together - I remember it being a mess instead of wow it was great having 2 threats.

Harvin wasn't used as leverage when he played with Watkins (3 games) - it was Watkins who either wasn't playing well or allowed Harvin to get open. That's not good.