BarleyNY

Bills new slogan: "If it can happen in Cleveland, it can happen here!"

Cleveland last won in '64 so San Diego already had a longer drought in terms of years.

Okay. I wasn't sure if that was what was being argued or not. Yeah, it's a very thin argument. True, but why are you assuming Gilmore will be one of them?

I had a partial labrum tear that required one anchor. My arm was immobilized for almost 2 months. Rehab started after that when the brace came off. What procedure did you have done?

I'm not sure why some are making a distinction between top CBs that are highly paid and those still on their rookie deals in the process of earning a top deal. I'm not being snarky here. Is there a reason? I'd think that a top notch CB is a top notch CB.

My plan would be to stay seated, quiet and motionless. I think there's a fair chance that I'd stand, boo and flip him off tho.

Seems like a typical Upper Arlington pretty boy to me. (That's for Yolo and the Cbus/Ohio guys.) Seriously though, the Cincy Bearcats have a decent program these days and this is his 5th pro team since coming out in 2014. I'm not sure how much he can be expected improve at this point. Seems like a longshot to make the team.

Yup. Talk is cheap and the only national press that gets me excited is the stuff you get because you're winning (or at least progressing/improving). As Al Davis said, "Just win, baby!"

Rex has always been good for the media. He gives them a lot to work with and gets a lot of coverage - including national coverage. But that's not the same as being relevant. The coaches that succeed and win are relevant. Rex has had success in the past, as a DC with the Ravens and early on with the Jest. But now that's fading. Every season that his team - and especially his defense - doesn't succeed is a step toward him just being some has-been loudmouth who's still talking crap about his glory days, but who can't back it up anymore. His book isn't closed though. He's got a lot to prove and still some time here in B-lo to prove it. For the Bills' and Bills fans' sakes I hope he does, but he sure hasn't yet.

Believe it or not, there are things that happen and get talked about off the record. A well run organization's management will always show themselves to be united publicly. Writing a story with no on-the-record source that directly calls out the owner, GM and HC of an NFL team as liars isn't likely to do a wrriter's career much good. You think there aren't strong disagreements at the top of organizations all of the time? A decision gets made and everyone publicly supports it, regardless of how they feel. To do otherwise is career suicide. That's how the world works. In this instance there was also a big downplay of what Rice did until the full video went public. Then everybody pretended they didn't see the video and were suddenly outraged. It wasn't a matter of standing by a wife (fiancée) beater, it was a matter of an employee doing as he was told by his boss, offering a plausible story to the public and hoping everything would blow over. The full video going public blew up that plan.

So that's where the sides are, $2M/year apart. Just playing with big, round numbers here, but if we're to be tagged each of the next two seasons his salaries would be about $11M, $14M & $17M. That's $42M for 3 years, or $14M per season. Obviously the Bills don't want to have to tie up their tag for those two seasons - especially since the possibility of needing it for Taylor next offseason is a real consideration - but those numbers are something to work with. No, but Haden was compensated for his stellar play prior to his signing his last contract. He actually played great overall up until last season when he was absolutely abysmal.Still, that season is a caution to both sides. Playing under a tag is a huge risk for Gilmore. A bad season or injury and he could lose tens of millions of dollars. Of course, hitting free agency could net him that much more. Still, Norman was a pfree agent when he signed his deal. Gilmore isn't. There's a discount on overall contract for mitigation of risk and cash in hand. I expect to see him top 7 in average salary, but not at Norman's level. Probably in that $14M per season range. Here is a link to CB contracts: http://overthecap.com/position/cornerback/

"I wish!" - Rex

In the 2016 season would you rather the Bills make the Super Bowl and lose or lose in the AFC Championship game to a non AFCE team?

Wilkerson hasn't signed his franchise tag yet? I'm betting he's getting a "Remember, NO FIREWORKS!" text from his agent every hour.

Kim and I are the only ones in the building who can do this with our arms!

Agreed. If the offensive plan is to be a run first team with a vertical passing attack sprinkled in, then the defense will have to do better than last year. If it doesn't, then the Bills won't be able to stay in that game plan as much as they'd like.

I worry about a safety keying on Watkins. The KC game last year was eye opening to me. Sammy did a spectacular job in the first half. He beat double coverage because he was so fast that safety help wasn't getting there in time. He did a great job of getting executing his routes too. But in the second half he got shut out when the CB got aggressive and the safety shifted over him more. Another deep threat at WR opposite Watkins to take some defensive pressure off of him would help him and the offense immensely IMO.

Well, that's horrifying. I can't imagine what the family is going through. I never want to live in gator country. Horrific bug populations usually go hand in hand with gators and I can't tolerate them either. On a related note, my son's friend and his family are moving to the Orlando area next week. Shudder.

What a difference a year makes, huh?

And some people said the Bills would never win one.

I agree. There's a lot of head scratchers in the middle of that pack. KC at 11? The list Alex Smith as the QB so they're aware that he is still there. Ditto an Osweiler led Texicans team at 17 and a Sanchez led Broncos at 19. I'm not sure how it's possible to rate any of them as highly as they are.

It didn't come from Harbaugh. The info came from someone I know who is a reasonably well connected guy who has worked in the scouting field and is currently a sport writer. (A different source than I've reference before on some things.) It was off the record and he had no reason to do Harbaugh any favors. He just passed along some interesting info he couldn't write about.

I heard some inside info on that. Apparently Harbaugh (who I'm usually not a big fan of as a person) was strongly in favor of cutting ties with Rice immediately. Bisciotti and Newsome told him Rice was staying. The three showed a united face publicly (as they had to), but privately there was one dissenting voice. In this case I have to think there's something that hasn't come to light - injury, looming suspension, undisclosed positive drug test. Something.

I think I've covered my position well in my last and other posts on the topic, so I'm not going to restate it. I started to respond, but I'm just regurgitating what I've already said. It's all there. I will say this, however, and I'm not singling you out as lots of posters have done it: Watching my position mis-characterized and overstated so as to make it appear as though I have an unreasonable or extreme position got old a long time ago. I don't appreciate it. Saying Whaley should have gotten better value from the pick or that I think that Lawson with a torn labrum wasn't worth the 19th pick or that I'd have taken a different player under the same circumstances (Doctson, Jack) isn't the same as railing against Whaley, calling Lawson a bust or saying the season is lost. I've been clear about that, repeatedly.

Damn.