JoeF

Don't stick your tongue out at me young man...I once started an irrelevant thread about JP Losman..I don't need a little ingrate like you sticking your tongue out at me...

You have a mind like a steel trap Billiever...Colston was pick 252 in 2006...

There is a downside risk for Lee in not getting a deal done now. He's here for at least a couple more years under any scenario--this year and then the Bills put the franchise tag on him next. So lets say the Bills and Lee don't get an extension done before the draft and the Bills as expected draft a WR in round 1 or 2. Its not out of the realm of possibility that the drafted receiver emerges as the #1 toward the end of this year and through next year -- Evans is hosed and his stats won't justify the kind of money he could get today. Its not a huge risk but one Evans and his agent need to consider. If the Bills draft a receiver at 11 -- the contract will be in the range of $3-4M a year average- for 5 years--Patrick Willis - last years #11 signed for 5 years at $16.7 Million -- this is what some teams are paying #2's and around what many of us thought Bryant Johnson was worth.

I really think at this point I need to once and for all clarify what I really meant. If you read the original post backwards and every fourth word in olde english it says...and I quote... JP is the son of satan and likes to drink babies' blood....

eball--don't diss JJ, he of the ex-number 99 (I am sure he will get some meal money from Stroud to change)...Jason beat out Tim Anderson..keep that in mind. Anderson's the only guy to beat Mongo Krumrie in Wrestling...

This thread had a point??...Jesus..I need to write my mom a note, she will be so proud I helped make a point. Maybe I will get my name in the new phone book too. You hit it Sunshine State poster...that's what I was attempting to communicate originally. Now the thread has turned into WNY real estate showcase...

Do you think my description is accurate b-tex? I wouldn't want to lead our Music City Cheater fan (just kidding) astray..

High effort, wedge buster type who makes a lot of tackles on special teams. Good speed, always in phenomenal condition. Never could crack the rotation as even the fourth linebacker or in goal-line situations. He only played LB when the Bills were truly decimated by injury. Very limited in coverage on D--was exposed some when he hit the field.. just okay against the run. A good guy to have around...but probably not going to contribute a ton on D.

Next time I see him in the grocery store I will call him a traitor....(he lives in Cary, NC and I have seen him a couple of times around town....Cary stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees by the way)..

Tip--thanks for the post. I gotta say -- I thought the responses to the post were pretty tame. The Bills QB position has been the most controversial subject on this board and its predecessors since Jim Kelly's last year, when yes, people were saying Jim sucked...I had an opinion that JP showed me once again that he is a person of character and selflessness...I posted it...and let the chips fall. I didn't take any of the rest of the thread personally. If we all agreed with one another; if we didn't have and express opinions, TBD would be a pretty boring place. I think the majority of us post things that border on the personal attacks or are in hindsight moronic or full of hate every once in a while...I hate to cast stones unless the person is a consistent moron (yes there are a few of those)... Don't leave us--I love your concocted trade ideas; draft schemes and free agent signing suggestions -- they make me laugh sometimes.

He does get paid-- no question Bill-- and I am far from a believer that he is a QB who could lead the team to the playoffs--but he does the right thing, not the easy thing, every time he is faced with one of these choices. I really respect him for this.

He is in attendance at the first day of workouts. Look at all the !@#$s out there who are unhappy with their situation and use the media to bargain and leverage their no-shows as a badge of some display of courage. JP is not divisive..he is a team guy. In my mind this only enhances his trade value if that's the route we go and it shows me that he will be okay if we keep him. We can trash him all we want for his play on the field...but he constantly shows me he is a mature, team-oriented player...I am glad he is still a Bill. From Chris Brown: LOSMAN IN ATTENDANCE: Buffalobills.com confirmed that QB J.P. Losman was in the building for the start of Buffalo's offseason program and did attend position meetings. ---

Thoughts: 1) Its not OTA's -- its workouts running and lifting -- its the off-season program... See the schedule on bb.com 2) He usually shows up for at least a couple of weeks of training but he, his cousin and his brother do work out together at home in Texas. He has a built in workout crew. 3) Now we are criticizing guys based on rumors they will not show up for weightlifting and running..this might be a new low in lows.. The interesting thing to watch is not whether Schobel shows but does JP. Will he try to use this as leverage to force a trade or will he be the exemplary teammate he has always been.

Hope you enjoy a beautiful Bay Area Day Wacka! Happy Birthday.

Good insights from both you and the Dean. The measurables are so tempting but it sounds like there isn't a lot of heart and effort to back them up.

Aren't we all????

Signing Jerry Porter and trading for Troy Williamson, losing Wiliford -- makes Jones expendable according to PFW.. WR Matt Jones can all but kiss Jacksonville goodbye. That’s what one team insider told us regarding the hugely disappointing 2005 first-rounder. The insider said the Jags will likely keep him around for training camp but that he would have to have a lights-out showing in camp to stick on the roster. The offseason acquisitions of Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson have lessened the Jags’ need at receiver. My comment: There have been rumors that Jones is lazy and not very smart. He can't run routes with precision and his straight line speed does not translate to field speed coming in and out of breaks. He has good hands, great size and impressive straight line speed. It might be worth the Bills offering the Jags a 7th --may even go as high as our 5th if we pick up another round 4 pick in the compensatory allocations and see if they bite. Stroud can probably provide some intel on whether Jones is worth going after.... Here is Scouts Inc's pre-2007 assessment: Comment: Jones is entering his third season out of Arkansas that was a first round draft pick by the Jaguars in the 2005 draft. He is still learning how to play the WR position as he was a quarterback in college and made the transition to WR after arriving in the NFL. He has a ton of potential with rare size to go along with rare straight line speed. He builds to speed more than being immediate and still has some trouble getting off the line versus the press. He can eat up a lot of ground and often surprises the DBs as he just runs by them. He is pretty raw in his route running skills and needs a lot of work on setting up defensive backs and getting them to bite on fakes and little shifts of his body weight. He shows his speed much better once he has the ball in his hands as opposed to when running vertical routes. He has improved in his toughness as far as going over the middle and catching the ball in traffic. He shows just adequate burst out of his cuts and is not great at separating from man coverage. He is learning how to use his size in the red zone and can reach up to pluck the ball over the top of shorter defensive backs. If it ever really clicks with this guy he could end up being something special. It's just a matter of time.

and get open???? really??? That is crazy...

I heard he once took over the soda shooter at an Applebees...he's just a bad seed. Man I can't believe someone was around a shooting in inner-city Oakland....I guess trouble just finds some guys...

So if you were coach for a day--what crazy personnel use idea would you implement for the 2008 Bills season...here's mine... Let me first preface this by saying that I thought I viewed in Fred Jackson the ability to make some plays last year on offense--he has good vision, decent field speed and a certain elusiveness. There is little doubt that the Bills will draft what they hope will become a #2 receiver in one of the first 3 picks in the draft. There is also a lot of history showing that rookie receivers take time to adjust to the precision and speed of the pro game. Marques Colston is the best example of a size receiver who blossomed early. The story is even more amazing when you consider that he came from Hofstra. So here's my crazy idea...on certain third downs and in goal line situations -- how about using Fred Jackson wide in the first part of the season while the rook gets their feet wet. I know Fred is a key third down substitute and this would be an added load on Marshawn but my guess is this is only a solution that will be needed until the bye week or so. Jackson is 6'1" 215-strong and good leaping ability...He needs to be on the field more and in different situations..after Lee, Roscoe and Marshawn, Fred is probably our greatest potential playmaker yet gets less snaps than even Roscoe...

On coverage units, Wendling, Jenkins, Pizza Man and Ellison all made significant contributions on Teams last year. Greer and Jenkins did a really good job as gunners on punt coverage Whittle is captain of the wedge team on KO returns We still have two of the best returners in football in McGee and Parrish We still have two of the best legs in football in Moorman and Lindell May need to address LS -- Also--I think Haggan will be back... So no--not really worried

A couple of random thoughts.. 1) This probably buys Ashton Youboty another year as our "young, promising corner". We probably won't draft another corner in the first three rounds due to having James locked up for 2 years. Ashton was one of the players Chris Brown mentioned as having been a frequent visitor to OBD since the end of the season and working hard. Hopefully he can reach his potential this year. He lost his rookie year due to his mom's death and he was an early entrant...so there is still time. It looked like he was getting better toward the end of last year. 2) I like the signing of Scott a lot. He was my favorite replacement player last year (where's Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves when you need them) However, I would not be surprised to see Wendling on the field at SS this year a lot allowing Whitner to roam the field. Wendling is smart and athletic and really played well on special teams the last half of the year. I would love to see him evolve.

Look at the actual rate implications of this Those should be known in the next couple of days. Compare what you have to what you see. Yahoo tracks the mortgage rates daily on Yahoo Finance... I probably won't -- I have 5% on a 15 year fixed since 2003--rates haven't touched that yet...

I have not fact checked this, but I bet the $9 Billion is heavily concentrated in the large market teams that are partly financing their own new stadiums....the NFL contributes about $150M of the costs for a new stadium on average--but more and more owners are financing a part on their own...when a part is $500M like the Cowboys Stadium - that's a big chunk of the debt. Ralph is probably not carrying much debt at all...an interesting advantage for small market teams with supportive governments...

Thanks for all you do.... TBD achieves 5 9's reliability thanks to your work....