BarleyNY

A player conducting himself as a professional is indeed worthy of praise. Taylor has done that and deserves kudos for it.

Living in Cleveland and Columbus for most of my life (I'm 47) there was never any animosity for Buffalo or the Bills. Clevelanders pretty much saw Buffalo as another town going through the same Rust Belt stuff they were dealing with. Buffalo was a little smaller of a city, got even more snow and had a bit worse weather in general, but was pretty much seen as a kindred spirit. That held true with sports teams. Buffalo was really the only city that suffered close to what Cleveland dealt with. No NBA in Buffalo, no NHL in Cleveland and the Bisons were the Indians AAA team for a long time. The Bills and Browns didn't really ever have a rivalry. I can't ever remember them crossing paths in big games. It always seemed like when one was good the other wasn't. The only exception is over the last few years when the two teams have had some tough games. I've seen the fans on both sides get chippy. The game where both Hoyer and Manuel were injured was a big part of that.

I'll bet the article mentioned that he is fast.

http://overthecap.com/fletcher-cox-contract-analytics/#more-12095 OTC's breakdown of the final deal.

Everything you've got is very weak, except for the Haslam bit. He is a scumbag and a crook. Just not sure how you throw the team, the fans and the whole city under the bus with him.

Hijacker!

Having lived in both, I can't see how you can think Cleveland is terrible but like Buffalo. B-lo is largely just a smaller version of C-town. The are differences, but they aren't that big. As for the Bills, of late they haven't exactly been a great team - or that much better than the Browns for that matter. Over the last 15 years the Bills have exactly 15 more wins than the Browns - and one less playoff appearance. Having an average of one more win a year is better to be sure, but it doesn't exactly separate the Bills from the Browns by a lot.

Wow. Using Peters as your example is like saying the Bills should just draft their HoF QB in the 6th round like the Pats did. And you actually said that "bad and mediocre teams" don't get value from paying top dollar to LTs. Do they get value from paying anyone any amount since they're bad/mediocre teams? What about good and great teams that pay top dollar to their CBs and LTs? Do they get value? And I don't even totally disagree about OTs. It's better to have two very solid OTs than one great one and one sub-mediocre one. Exceptional OTs are a luxury. But your reasoning and over-statements are terrible.

Why does that bother you? Thanks! Me, too!

I always wondered why they moved the ball back up to the 35 instead of something else. Why didn't they just keep the ball at the 30, but eliminate the run up by everyone but the kicker? They could have even written the rule as allowing only on player to be able to run up. On normal KOs that player would be the kicker, on onsides KOs it could be one of the coverage players. At this point, the time after a TD is becoming the worst part of the game. Review time (which is the absolute worst part of a game), XP (second worst unless teams are going for 2) and KO (third worst). It's getting brutal.

Gilmore is just looking for the best deal he can get and that means negotiating up to the last minute. That might be TC, the first preseason game or the first regular season game, depending upon what he's comfortable with. I highly doubt that there's more to it than that.

Jeeps=Fun I loved mine. But they are an extra vehicle, not your main transportation.

I'm a big fan of taking chances on physically gifted prospects from small schools in late rounds of the draft. Often those guys don't get the best quality coaching and haven't fully developed. Give them some time with NFL coaches and you can find a diamond every once in awhile. It'd be nice for Dez to be one. The Bills really need some help at WR. It's too early to get too excited, but I'll be watching him.

I was thinking this would be a light topic, but to those here that have beaten unhealthy addictions: Congratulations! You've got a lot to be proud of.

That's true. At this point I'd even give it to Buffalo without even considering that, but it sure solidifies it. Maybe SD takes over the #1 spot if they lose the Chargers. Maybe. But even Browns fans cringe at the thought of losing 4 straight SBs. And they lost their whole team.

I don't know why a guy who's made over $70M in his career and has had to deal with the injuries he's had would come back for a low dollar deal, but he did with the Falcons last season. Maybe he is trying to show he can still be a top quality player and is willing to take a small, one year deal in hopes of one more big payday after. I'd sure take him for that year if he is. The point about depth is on point. Right now we're sitting here hoping that a second OT emerges to play RT. But the scary question is what happens if Glenn goes down? The Bills might really be hurting at both OT spots.

That's so vague that it's meaningless. You're just whining about Taylor not getting a deal yet. He'll get one if and when he earns it.

He played some RT in college. Has he just been at LT in the NFL? You'd think he'd be worth a long look and that his salary demands would be reasonable.

Ok. Then please clarify your stance. Arguing against something isn't the same thing as saying what you're for.

I thought the same thing about Cleveland.

I think a case can be made for both San Diego and Buffalo. SD has gone two years longer and had more collective seasons without a title. Buffalo has been closer to a championship more often, however. SD has had two World Series losses and one Super Bowl loss. Buffalo's four straight SB losses to go along with two Stanley Cup losses puts them over the top in my opinion. Close, but no cigar is a different level of torture than just not making it.

I'm a 47 year old native Clevelander who moved to Buffalo 4 years ago. Cleveland teams will always come first. The Sabres are my only hockey team. The Indians are my only baseball team and the Cavs are my only basketball team. I absolutely love football and I'll root hard for the Bills unless they're playing the Browns (except for any Browns-are-out-of-it-Bills-are-still-in-it scenarios). The wife is a Steelers fan (tough times, these last 19 years), my daughter is a nomadic fan that follows her favorite player (Peyton Manning and now Zeke Elliott) and my son has taken my path. The Bills are the NFL team we can all root for as a family. (We all root for Ohio State too.) I wanted so much to see Cleveland gets a championship in my life. I'd love to see Buffalo get one, too. The pain of being so close so many times wears on you, as you are all aware. There is no comeback for ridicule that you have to endure. The expectation that something will go wrong, that someone will choke is always there. You do things like blame Jose Mesa for choking in the bottom of the 9th in game 7, but you also realize that the pressure must've been beyond belief. What Lebron just did cannot be overstated. Lebron's block, Kyrie's pressure shot and Love's defense were the plays Cleveland hadn't made in 52 years. Coming back from being down 3-1 in the finals, something no NBA team has ever done, against the team with the best regular season record ever and having to take 2 of those 3 on GS's home court (where they only lost 2 in the regular season and 1 previously in the playoffs) was unbelievable. Historic. I expected to lose it and break down in tears and have it be done with, but that didn't happen. I cried a little bit when it happened and a little bit several times since, when something about it strikes me. The emotions are coming out a little bit at a time. There was a moment of disbelief when it happened. The scenario almost seems manufactured. Lebron's return. The circumstances around it. Lebron's "This is for you, Cleveland!" That's what you dream about, but you don't get to experience it in real life. You give Brian Sipe a standing ovation when he enters a restaurant for the first time after Red Right 88, to show him you appreciate and know that he gave it his all. You wonder if that's how you show appreciation for the people that brought you the hardware, a championship. That even feels odd to type. "Hardware" seems a lot more approachable a word than "championship". Then you realize that these people had the same admirable qualities. They were just rewarded for them this time. And so were we. I could make a joke about how it feels. Something like "It's like having truly great sex for the first time. You bask in it for a little while, then you want it again." But that's not quite right (or quite wrong). It's all I could've imagined to say at such a time last week though. No, my biggest takeaway is that winning now seems possible. The next time a Cleveland team is in the playoffs the mentality will be that of "We can do it!", not "What'll go wrong this time?" The "loser" label is shed along with all of the internalized mental issues that go along with it. I sincerely hope that Buffalo fans take what the Cavaliers did to heart. Watching Cleveland win a championship should tell Buffalo fans that it is possible here too.

Holy crap! That's unreal.

I agree that that's the conclusion. I was confused about what the argument was. It didn't make sense that people would be arguing that having top CBs is nice only when they're on their rookie deals or otherwise cheap contracts. If having a quality player at a particular position is important, then those players/positions are valuable in terms of cap dollars allocated. I thought maybe the argument was that elite CBs are not worth their huge salaries and that cap space is better allocated elsewhere, but that doesn't seem to be the argument. I just read where someone made that case for OTs and OLmen in general so my mind was on that line of thought.

Because Gilmore is a much more proven commodity. Gilmore won't have a realistic chance to get $15M/year unless he playes 2016 under his option and becomes a FA next offseason. Remember that Norman got that figure as a FA. $15M/year is his asking price at this stage of negotiations, nothing more. From what Whaley has stated the team is at $13M/yr and Gilmore is at $15M/yr. They're fighting over at $2M/yr now. Don't get too wrapped up in it all yet. They haven't gotten down and dirty yet. This is likely to go on until near the start of the season.