Buftex

Am I crazy, or didn't Rod Streater spend a week or two on the Bills squad early on in his career....maybe just training camp fodder before he signed as an undrafted FA with the Raiders? He may have never officially made the roster, but I could swear he was with us for a second or two.

Agreed!

100% agree. Rex Ryan was a huge mistake, by the owners. People can blast Whaley all they want, but he never allowed to pick his own coach. I think it is easy to blast him for EJ Manuel, but at the same time (and it has been said a million times) EJ was drafted, with the knowledge that he wasn't a polished NFL starter level talent. He was going to take time. Head coaches and GMs can have different priorities. Manuel started out respectably, got injured, and never really had any sort of real sustained chance to play again. He never had much of a leash...lets' not forget, Manual missed most of his rookie season, but when he was in there, he didn't look as terrible as is being made out. So, the next season (and it seems logical to me) they went out and added what was viewed as one of the best players in that draft, in Sammy Watkins. Would anyone question that they needed an upgrade at the WR position at that point? Not saying every move Whaley made was fantastic, but I don't think he is near the failure that some here make him out to be. I would argue that the coaching was as big a problem for this team during his tenure, than personnel was. Ryan was an epic failure on all football matters, and Marrone had a pretty wretched and inexperienced offensive staff. Lets just hope they got everything right this time...

Michaels is still the best, in my opinion.

Dude...there are some really horrible male announcers out there, with really annoying voices...don't do the double standard thing!

What I don't get: why does anybody give a !@#$ if they are lying? Seriously? This is a game, not politics. What on earth makes you think he wants to MOVE THE BILLS OUT OF BUFFALO? And, honestly, at the end of the day, why does anyone care who makes up the 53 man roster, as long as they get it right?

Yes...they were a-holes to Whaely. Lost whatever respect I had for the Buffalo sports media during that whole fiasco.

That is definitely up there!

Until recently, pre-existing conditions...

Exactly...the 2016 draft was all to support the Rex Ryans' vision...terrible coach, should have never been hired in the first place...but to just keep flipping coaches every two years is just bad. There was no coherent plan, because the GM, the one consistent, was hamstrung by coaches he didn't hire. Fingers crossed they got it right this time, but it is hard not to have some doubts...

I have to say, 2008 (Jaurons' last full season) was the year that I went from a 24/7 kool-aid drinking Bills fan, and tried to take a more realistic view of what was going on...Jauron has to be my least favorite Bills coach in my cognizant Bills fan lifetime (1972- present)...not saying he was the worst coach (Hank Bullough and Rex say hello!), just sapped all the intrinsic joy of simply being a Bills fan out of me. After 2008, it would have to be either of Rex's years...I think the hiring of Rex Ryan, way more than whiffing on EJ Manual, over "overpaying" to draft Sammy, was the most colossal blunder of the last 10 years...he is not a good football coach, and the evidence was out there...I knew it when he got hired too...but I so much wanted to buy the bull **** he was selling... so, long answer short, gotta be 2008, 2015, 2016 for me.

Just a heads up: Thursday, May 4th at 12:30am eatern ESPNU is showing the Gruden QB camp special featuring Nate Peterman, followed by a Sept. 2016 Pitt vs North Carolina game at 1am (eastern). It may not seem important now, but in June, when NBA and NHL playoffs are over, and your jonsing for some football, this might look pretty good...a shootout classic. And, not for nothing, but after that a replay of the Clemson/Alabama championship game....one of the greatest college football games I have ever seen...football is in the air!

Sounds great even with the sound turned off!

Not much different that Dick Jauron interviews, though lacking in any humor or attitude whatsoever.

Just seeing him do "Can't Buy Me Love" a few years ago, to open a show was one of the most transcendent 5 minutes of live music I have ever experienced. I have been to 100's, maybe even a 1000+ shows in my life...pretty much every big name. I saw McCartney in 1989 for the first time, and it was terrible...but the show he did in 2013 was one of the best things I have ever seen. He still sounds great, his voice has lost very little...and more so than when I saw him in 1989, he stopped trying to pretend that his lesser solo stuff (and I love some of his solo work) was as relevant as his Beatles stuff. If nothing else, if you go see him, you are seeing one of the most important musicians of the last 100 years...definitely one of the most important living musicians. This guy is history...

It feels to me like the Bills are re-building more now, than they have been in the last few years...not down on McDermott or anything, but I don't expect a significant improvement (maybe even be a little worse) over the last two years, record wise.

Saint Sean

We can debate how much blame Whaley deserves for the EJ pick, and the circumstances surrounding it...and we could also argue the merits of the Watkins pick.... in the end though, I don't think either of those moves were/are fatal...what was fatal, was the hiring of Rex Ryan...not Whaley's hire. The Bills roster that Rex inherited (QB issues not withstanding) was as good as any the Bills have had in about 10 years. They were closer to being a playoff team than not...Ryan was the biggest mistake this franchise made in the last 5 years or so. It set this team back to square one... fingers crossed that McDermott knows what he is doing, because they are putting a hell of a lot of faith in a guy who really hasn't done a thing yet.... But yes, thanks Mr Whaley.

Eh...I've heard him sound a lot douchier!

I read the extensive list of ESPN cuts, and I gotta say, I think I only know who about 5 of the 70 or so names are...

I noticed that they have Adam Schefter doing sideline interviews on NBA playoff games... Honestly, other than actual NFL games (I do watch the NBA regular season, mainly from January on), I don't think I have watched ESPN in any regular way, in about 10 or 12 years.

It's so funny..I can remember players, games and specific plays from those seasons, where as the recent years the games are pretty much a blur...I think I if I tried, I could remember where I was, and who was with me, when I watched each game.

Chuck Knox era teams are still my favorites. That 1980 season (I was 15) was the first time in my lifetime where there was a feeling that the Bills could possibly win a championship. It didn't happen, obviously, but those 1980 and 1981 seasons were magic for me...really cemented my love for sports, and for the Bills. I didn't live in WNY for the Super Bowl years, or the Sabres 1999 Stanley Cup appearence...so the only thing I have to compare it with, was the Sabres Finals appearance in 1975...the whole city was transfixed on the Bills for those two years..it was before the internet, so there wasn't somebody there to crap all over everything, at every second...great memories. To this day, 4 of my all-time favorite Bills players are Ferguson, Butler Cribbs and Steve Freeman.

I concur with those predicting 7-9. Of course, there is still a lot of offseason to go, so it could change. I see a sweep of the Jets (2), a split with Miami, and then wins over Denver, Cinicinnati, New Orleans and LA Chargers.