Peter

I am just trying to be optimistic.

The good news is that we have so many gaping holes to fill at CB, LB, defensive line, and RB, we can just sit back and let the best player available fall to us at 12 and more likely than not fill a need.

Do you read the friggen paper?!? Take a look at some of the "comments" that made or supposedly made by by "sources" with the Bills to reporters. Go back and take a look at some of the articles that are linked on TBD since the combine or do a google search.

I said "we shall see" not to be smug but as in time will tell. You are being too sensitive. We obviously have a different view of WM. I do not expect you to agree with me. So be it. But taking your comments in order. 1. WM averaged 3.9 yards per carry for the Bills in his careeer behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. Why do you think that the Bills are trying to upgrade it now. You may want to compare E. James average this past year versus the year before with the Colts. As I recall it, it dropped something like .8 yards per carry. That illustrates the importance of having an offensive line -- even if you are acknowledged (as Edge) as one of the better RBs in the NFL. 2. See No. 1. He also missed two full games and part of one with an injury to three ribs. Even still, he came a few yards short of 1,000. Ironically, he came up short in the last game against the Ravens -- the team that traded for him and just signed him to a new contract. You may recall that the Ravens' defense had only 3 defensive backs on many plays and had 8 or 9 in the box specifically to defend against WM. What does that tell you about which offensive player they respected the most? It was the same most of the year with opposing defenses crowding the box to defend against WM. 3. Threatened hold out? Rosenhaus approached the Bills about an extension and WM ended up signing a very reasonable deal with the Ravens -- especially when you compare it to what the Bills are paying Dockery. 4. We can disagree about what down he thought it was, but you may want to review that play again. It was obvious that he knew where he needed to go and tried to get there. Fowler got beat like a drum by Wilfork and knocked him two yards back in the backfield completely disrupting the play. Our offensive line specialized in allowing opposing teams' defenses to get into our backfield. With any luck, this year will be different. Time will tell which one of us is correct about this situation.

Based on the NFL draft value chart, the value of what we received equates to 259 points. The value of what the Bears received equates to 246 points.

Sorry - It should read "Steinbach" as in Eric formerly of the Bengals and now wth the Browns.

Sadly, that is exactly what they did.

Compare the two trades based on the NFL draft value chart. We received just 13 points more than what the Bears got and for which they were ridiculed.

We shall see just how "average" he is with the Ravens. You may want to compare what McGahee got to what the Bills are paying Dockery. As for the allegation that he did not know the playbook, I think that it is a bit sad that there appears to be a campaign to bad mouth him in the press to attempt to justify this deal -- which equates to essentially the same compensation as what the Bears got for Thomas Jones based on the NFL draft value chart. We shall see what happens.

That is what I meant.

It took McGahee less than a day to sign a new contract that is quite reasonable by NFL standards (just look at what the Bills are paying Dockery). The Bills could have signed him just as fast if they wanted him. It would not have taken 10 weeks into the regular season to get a deal done. It could have been done yesterday (as it was with the Ravens). This is just the Bills pr campaign to justify the deal.

. . . or maybe this is the Bills way of trying to justify the trade by spreading something that may or may not be true.

His agent approached the Bills about an extension so that he could stay with the Bills. The Bills apparently declined.

It is a very reasonable deal. One that shows that he was not asking for anything out of line (especially when you compare it to what we are paying Dockery). The Bills easily could have signed him to an extension if they had wanted to do so.

His reasoning made sense. We have very large holes to fill. We have lost our best corner and one of the best in the league. We lost the emotional leader and leading tackler on the defense. We have lost our leading rusher for the past few years. We have added Dockery and paid him Steinbeck money. We have added a linemen whose previous team had an even worse offensive line than the Bills. We have added another journeyman offensive linemen. Remember that the qualifier was "so far." With any luck, these holes will be filled by equal or better talent by the end of the off season. As it stands now, however, we have taken at least a few steps back with the team as a whole. I hope that Marv has a plan that will improve this team over last year by the time we get to the regular season. Time will tell.

According to PFT, Rhodes signed with the Raiders.

The contract that WM signed with the Ravens was very reasonable for an NFL RB. He clearly was not demanding something that was out of line -- as demonstrated by what the Ravens did.

I wish Jim Kelly did not have the passion for partying before Super Bowl games.

Two words: Coe College. Marv loves guys from his alma mater. They are a powerhouse.

All those teams geared their defenses to stop WM and our running game with 8 or 9 in the box --just like the Ravens did in the last game. The Ravens respected WM and went out and traded for him. We shall see.

The problem with the Bills is NOT that we have too many players from UM. There are plenty of great players from UM in the NFL that would be great for the Bills. There is one in particular that is coming out this year that I would love to have playing TE for us. There has always been an anti-Hurricane bias on this board and that is why some of the guys on this board went on and on with their criticism of WM. We shall see how he does with the Ravens next year. As a side note (I mentioned this in another post), one of the interesting things about the trade is that WM was traded to the Ravens. I remember when we played the Ravens, people were bitching and moaning about how many yards WM had in that game. I remember posting that the Ravens' game plan (just like those of many of our opponents in 2006) pure and simple was to stop WM. On many plays, the Ravens had only 3 defensive backs. In most of the games that we have played the past few years, opposing defenses had 8 or 9 men in the box specifically to try to stop our running game. Unfortunately, we did not make opposing defenses pay as often as we should have with our passing game. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens if we do not have a running game that opposing defenses respect. I really hope that the Bills have a plan to bring in an RB that opposing defenses respect -- otherwise JP is going to have an up hill battle.

I think that you guys will appreciate what the Ravens did and how they feel about this trade next season. I really believe that, at the end of the 2007 season, there is more of a chance that we are going to end up looking foolish for having traded him (given what we got in return) than the other way around. Time will tell.

NFL football -- 365 days a year.

If you guys like the way WM speaks English, you will love Lynch. I heard him interviewed on Sirius NFL radio yesterday.

Time will tell. Right now, I think that the Ravens got a pretty good deal. They gave up just 13 points (based on the NFL draft value chart) more to get WM than the Jets gave up for Jones (and the Bears were ridiculed for that trade. They signed him to a pretty reasonable deal for an NFL RB. They had a very good team last year. The only questions they have are whether they can convince Ogdan not to retire and replace the linemen that they just let go.