DOGNESS

Stevie is definitely on the fence. He needs a huge year. 80 rec. 1000 yards. 10 tds. Bare minimum to justify that contract going forward.

Which is why hes not making it past Tampa.

Ive got no problem with that philosophy. Big free agents rarely are they key to winning championships.

I would agree. I haven't been posting long but Ive been reading this cite for the past few years. I'm an attorney and a rabid sports fan and there are a lot of people on this site who know their sports. Not just the game but the legalities of certain issues. I think someone posted the article about the non-relocation agreement as soon as that story broke which cleared up the big misconception that 400 million would allow a new owner to relocate immediately. That issue had been misunderstood for months my many. Myself included. So what changed? Him or did he just get lucky like Wilson did in the early ninties.

This would be great. They built a champion in Boston. I would expect them to have the same goal here. They would be my first choice. Pegula would be second.

Doubt well miss the sixth round pick. The Bills gave up nothing of consequence. If it doesnt work out so what. Low risk, high reward move.

Chan Gailey and Hackett run different offenses and before you bash Hackett take a look at Seattle and San Fran. The two best teams in the league last year. Both top five in rushing. Both bottom third in passing(san fran 30th, seattle 26th). The Bills are building a similar team. They need a work horse back who can carry the rock 25 times a game. Id give strong consideration to Carlos Hyde if he is there in the second round. Trade Spiller for a 2nd or a 3rd. You probably wont get a first.

People can moan and groan about the Bills scheme all they want. Fact is its a power scheme just like the one they use in San Fran and Seattle. The two best teams in the league. Who won the Superbowl last year? The team that punches you in the face with two or three running plays and a half dozen pass plays that they execute to perfection or the team with the 100,000 page playbook with 1500 variations on the five wide set. The Bills are building the type of team needed to compete against Seattle and San Fran. Unfortunately Spiller's running style doesnt fit this team. Best thing to do is trade him and draft a power back. Carlos Hyde would be my choice. Old school smash mouth football still lives.

FIRE EVERYBODY!!!!!!!

Fred Jackson is probably in his last year. Maybe one more after this. It makes sense. They will likely draft a back this year if they cant get one in free agency.

The coach isnt going to matter if he doesnt have the talent. You should be more worried about your personnel department. Pettine is a great d-coordinator. As a head coach? Who knows.

The one major criticism I have of Marrone is his loyalty to Crossman. Really don't know how he can look any of his other coaches in the eye and talk about accountability.

This is more of general opinions on the draft. Im new so let me know if I should have posted this elsewhere. Ill just throw out a thought. You can respond to it and say something else related to the draft. Bills are crazy if they dont take Mike Evans if hes even still there. I was leaning towards tackle, but this guy is a very rare WR with the size and athleticism. Reminds me of Michael Irvin. Thoughts?

I was thinking tackle if Matthews is there but Im starting to swing towards Evans. Very hard to find 6'5" 230 lb receivers who can run. We can get a tackle in the second or third as its a deep tackle class. Evans could be huge in the read zone.

Trump will be interested in looking at it. Translation. "I have no interest but Ill pretend to be interested so I can get more free publicity." Blow your hot air somewhere else windbag.

I actually dont think there is harm in keeping stevie. My basis for suggesting he may be released is founded in reports last year that there is some sort of personality clash between Marrone and Johnson. That Marrone is somewhat preturbed with the on field antics, sideline temper tantrums, and work ethic away from the field. From what ive heard the team is questioning whether or not they are getting their 6.5 million a season in value out of him. If he had D. Jax type numbers it would probably be a lot less of an issue. But not all coaches and players get along. It seems like the team is determined to add another stud receiver whether its through the draft or by signing a guy like Jackson. I think they are just looking to upgrade the position and if they do, I dont see them keeping a guy around at 6.5 mill thats probably going to see his number of targets drop during games. Its nothing against Stevie. I think hes very good. I dont think hes great(Calvin Johnson is great. ) If they get a player who they think is an upgrade, I think he takes Stevies spot. Desean Jackson is an upgrade. Hes a more explosive player. Woods could catch 80 balls underneath if Jackson and Goodwin are creating space with the threat of the deep ball. Johnson cant do that(create space for the other receivers). Hes the underneath guy. i dont think you keep Woods and johnson. i think they are similar players. And I dont think the Bills are going to pay two guys big money at that position. Just my read on things. No inside info on that last point.

Im in the same place as you.

We just love to twist things around here dont we...

Its been reported repeatedly in the local press for the past three decades. Im assuming you dont live in the area. WGR just had a television tribute to Wilson and it the very issue was heavily discussed. Tom Donahoe was Ralphs decision. Marv Levy was Ralphs decision. Buddy Nix was Ralphs decision. Ive heard that time and time again. From local reporters. other NFL executives, and former players. If you want me to produce a detailed list on the times and dates I heard it I cant help you. But Ralph has always had a reputation for being a somewhat meddlesome owner. One thing I can tell you with certainty is Ive never, ever, heard anyone give any credit at all in any way shape or form to Russ Brandon for any of those hires. Not once. Ralph stuck his nose stuck pretty deep into the operation of the team. To much in my opinion because he wasn't very good at it.Not to be argumentative but Id love to see the evidence you have that contradicts this. Brandon's title is just that, a title. It doesnt mean Wilson didnt have the final say. Tell me what evidence, other than brandons title, that tells you he decided to hire donahoe, levy, and nix. Again Im not trying to be a jerk here but it sounds like your assuming these things. Im not assuming anything. Im going on whats been reported over the years. if you want to dismiss that, fine. I certainly dont see any evidence that suggests anything else.

I like Evans. I have heard some scouts criticise Ebron for questionable work ethic and a prima donna attitude. Haven't heard any of that about Evans. I think both are very talented. When I start hearing questions about attitude and work ethic it scares me with respect to unproven players. Not the kiss of death but a concern. Ill take the guy with the strong work ethic (something I have heard about evans) even when hes the less talented guy. In this case I think both players are athletically equal. The intangibles are why I would favor Evans. How funny. I just posted my thoughts on this topic and had also read this article. Good timing.

Yea. It was the 90 year old owner. The owner hired Tom Donahoe, then Marv Levy, then Buddy Nix. Those where all decisions Ralph made and its well documented that he was the one who made them. Brandon had nothing to do with those hires. If you want to ignore the facts to prove your point go ahead. Those are facts. When ralphs health started going downhill he put Brandon in charge and Brandon moved out Buddy and promoted Whaley. Its well documented that Wilson stuck his nose in the football side of things far more than he should have. And thats a big part of why this team has been bad so often through out its history. Every time Wilson had a strong personality running the show (Saban, Knox, Polian,) it always ended in problems and ultimately one of the few really competent people Wilson hired got fired. probably one of the biggest flaws of Ralph.

I dont know how you can blame Brandon for 14 years when he didnt get full control until recently. His first real football moves where hiring Marrone and promoting Whaley. Those happened last year. I think he had little to do with the hiring of Nix or any or his predecessors. Not that Nix was bad just that Brandon didnt really start making major football decisions until this past year and in this past year ive seen some pretty smart moves. Lawson would be another . Polian was masterful at that. getting good players(S. Tasker, K. Davis, J. Davis, J. lofton, K. Hull, etc) for nothing. Ill add Im not calling Whaley the next Polian. Just saying I see some similarities to the way they handle personel. Whaley has a long long long long way to go before hes in the same class as Polian. If he ever even gets there. Thats a huge set of shoes to fill/be compared to.

Actually it takes a lot to satisfy me. By the same token I don't think being inherently negative about everything is some sort of prerequisite to being a fan. I look at last years draft and the 'value' approach that the team is taking towards free agency and see a lot of positives. I think the most important aspect of building a successful football team is talent evaluation. That means two things. Nailing the draft. Signing free agents who bring the most value. In the short amount of time Whaley has been the GM hes done both. As for Cory Graham. Aaron Williams was an inconsistent corner also Tasker. He moved to strong safety and its a much better fit. I dont think the bills signed Graham to play corner. i think they signed him to play free safety. Marrone already came out and said they are going to give him a look at that spot. Maybe we have another Aaron Williams on our hands. When Williams was drafted many scouts thought he should be moved to safety from the get go. turns out they were right. The same could happen in grahams case. its called 'thinking outside the box'. Two things I can promise you Tasker. First, im not going anywhere. Second, Ill have plenty of negative things to say when the time comes. If EJ has 6 tds and 15 ints after eight games and Marrone is still defending him then Im gonna start wondering about Marrone. I have serious issues with him retaining Crossman. I think he is undermining his credibility when he holds other assistant coaches accountable, yet lets his buddy stay on after another miserable special teams performance under his(crossmans) direction. I can assure you the 'types of posters' your referring to don't include me. If your gonna debate. Just do it intelligently. Its simple. The other thing that an astute talent evaluator does is make smart trades. When the Bills traded for Jerry Hughes, Polian applauded the deal specifically pointing out that hughes was misused in Indy. Sure enough, Pettine brings him in in specialty situations and he gets us ten sacks. TEN SACKS. For Kelvin 'ive never made a relevant play in my life' Sheppard. They shouldnt get credit for that? That might have been THE trade of 2013. Sorry. But im not gonna withhold credit for what i think was an incredibly astute move because we missed the playoffs the past fourteen years. Ive seen a lot of smart football decisions in a very short period of time. Not gonna ignore that.

You've got some serious issue there Tasker. I suggest you seek counseling for those. Lots of hostility there. Lets start with last years draft class. Woods, Alonzo, Goodwin. All appear to be solid if not excellent picks. Nickel Robey. Undrafted free agent. Had a great year. looks like a solid addition to the defense. Ej Manuel. The juries out. Dont know that one way or another. As for who else is here I know Whaley brought in a couple of scouts from Pittsburgh. Probably why we had such a good draft. Ive been a fan of this team since 1973 when I used to sit on my fathers knee at the Ralph watching OJ do something other than murder people. In 1986 Bill Polian got the GM job. One of the things he was best at was talent evaluation. I see alot of similarities between him and Whaley. Primarily the ability to find players in the draft beyond round one. The second similairty is the ability to get quality talent on the cheap. Cory graham might be the perfect example of that. You remind me of a guy on the Sabres web chat. BTbird3 is his name. Hes always sarcastic. Always negative. I really dont even know why he bothers coming online. You cant ever have an intelligent debate with him. its just nonsense. If your that guy does us both a favor and just ignore me. Cause its pretty obvious from your posts that your just here to belittle other posters and mock their thoughts. I know alot about football. Ive been watching it passionately for 43 years. I like what Im seeing out of this administration. Are they perfect. No. Have they already made some mistakes. Yea. But I like the direction they are going in. I dont think its required that I be this angry bitter fan who just mocks everything they do because they haven't made the playoffs in 14 years. One of Ralphs biggest gifts at the end was the structure of the lease. Another might be Brandon. I think hes a very smart guy and I think he has put the right people in place. You dont agree. Fine. Leave the snippy little commentary out of it.

Not neccessarily. Cory Graham is getting a shot at the free safety spot and if he wins that job and is 90% the player Byrd is you just freed up 5 million to spend elsewhere. That scenario has yet to totally play out.