fergie's ire

He was my first favorite Bill.

Agreed. I move we double their pay, effective immediately.

A few more details here: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29176557/nfl-cornerbacks-deandre-baker-quinton-dunbar-wanted-armed-robbery-charges

I don't see the NFL doing it because they want to have the free farm system which makes evaluating easier. The NBA claims that their age limit is for the good of the athlete, but that is crap. It was put in place to save GMs jobs. After the Lakers had such success with Kobe, nobody wanted to miss out on the next great player and GMs started drafting kids out of high school based on potential. For every great player like LeBron, there were probably at least a half a dozen like Kwame Brown. GMs were losing their jobs because they couldn't evaluate high school kids effectively. They wanted a Carmelo Anthony to play at least a year against college kids so they could evaluate him against better competition. In the NFL, I am sure there was a GM (probably working at One Bills Drive) who would have picked Maurice Clarett in the first round if he came out. I think they much prefer the current system that gives them a few years of tape.

I think Beane (rightly so) values guys who have actually played in the league more than he values the potential of rookies. Which is why he would trade for Diggs. He knows what he is doing. But that doesn't mean he ignores potential. To me, what was interesting about his rebuild is that he would aggressively go after 2nd tier free agents. He would sign guys that would normally linger until after a few weeks of free agency early in the process, and perhaps overpay. Remember the complaining from another GM about how much the Bills paid Nsekhe? But when you pay too much for a Nsekhe, even if he doesn't work out, you haven't invested too much. (Unlike sinking all those extra millions into a player like Darius.) The kind of player Beane looks for are ones that have potential to be more valuable than they have been recently either because of injury (a la Murphy) or situation (a la Feliciano and Nsekhe). By signing many of these, for not huge salaries, Beane can have some hits while still affording to cut or (better yet) trade the misses. The trades turn into those "comp picks." The approach seems very moneyball-ish to me.

"The Bills don't really have any needs." Wow. When's the last time we heard someone from the national media say that? It's amazing when you think about what they were saying just two years ago.

Man with the way that Knox and Moss can run over people, the Bills could have some DBs running in fear.

I do wonder if this will change now that our roster is so much stronger. A lot of what this team does seems modeled on the Patriot Way...and the Pats have had a history of placing developmental players on special teams until they are ready to produce on offense or defense. What they seem to be doing with Darryl Johnson may be the new model and, if so, I wonder if there is a place for someone like Roberts anymore.

I think this is where the acquisition of Diggs will really help. I re-watched most of last season (because what else am I going to do for a sports fix?), and I noticed that when Josh was in trouble, facing pressure, rolling out, etc. he usually looked for Brown. In games where teams took him away it looked like Josh panicked a bit and it could get ugly (like the grounding calls or interceptions). With Diggs, he might have two options, but even if it just means that Josh's security blanket is available more often, I think Josh will play a lot better.

And Beane didn't draft Zay....unless you believe the conspiracy theory that he was orchestrating our draft while working for the Panthers.

Yes, I think that is a great comparison. Fromm has that kind of head for the game....and I remember Kelly on the sidelines talking with Reich about what he was seeing...It was almost like having a player coach, who could see the game from Kelly's perspective. If Fromm could do that for Allen, AND be a competent backup when called upon, this will be a great pickup.

Bill....trying to figure out the order of these thoughts of yours....alphabetical? chronological?

Yes, how about a punter and/or place kicker in round 6.

Yes, so the comparison should be between Hurts and Manziel. Hurts was the Alabama version of Manziel who was a threat to run but was not as accurate throwing the ball (but often did not need to be because receivers were open). Alabama switched to Tua because he is more accurate and even though he had great receivers, if you watch the games he would hit the right receiver and in stride. He's quite different from Manziel and Hurts.

I like him....but I am biased because a good buddy of mine was his dad's dance partner in college.

and QB.

I agree. To me, it seemed like Whaley was always good at getting coaches what they wanted. You want Shaq Lawson? I'll get him for you. You need a TE for your offense to run, Roman? I'll get you Clay. The problem was that he always seemed like an errand boy...like the coaches assistant. The Pegulas made it sound like that dynamic was going to change after they fired Rex and that Whaley would be largely in charge of finding his replacement....but then they fell in love with McD....and at that moment, I think Whaley's fate was sealed.

The Pats have done this for years. They decide what a player is worth to them and hold firm. If the player wants any more, they let him walk. They don't worry about keeping their own just for the sake of keeping their own.

As I recall, the Tasker play was an odd one and not an onside kick....at least not intended to be. It was a squib kick that Tasker picked off from the front line of blockers and ran back. So, it went about as far as an onside kick, but wasn't.

I wonder if their OL really is even average. Last time Scarnecchia retired their line was suddenly terrible. With him, it seemed he could plug in guys off the street and make it work. I am curious what will happen to the line this time he retires

I keep thinking about how it was just two years ago that people were making "Alabama could beat the Bills" jokes.

According to Colin Cowherd, it was this trade (on the heels of the Hopkins trade) that made Brady decide he did not want to stay with the Patriots because they were not going to do what was needed to get him the weapons he wanted. If there is ANY truth to this, the grade is an A friggin +.

Chiefs, as the two seed, would've played the Steelers. Ravens would have had the one bye.

So....maybe it's time to start watching e-sports....though watching people play video games seems sad on a lot of levels.

I love the whole stadium singing "Won't Back Down" at Florida games.