SoTier

They're not going to wait until the off season to dump him. Dareus is gone probably well before the trade deadline if they can find any team willing to give them whatever bargain basement price they set. The Bills are employing their typical negative propaganda about said player in the ever-cooperative local media to prep fans for his departure sooner rather than later. They've employed that tactic in the past, most notably with Jason Peters and Marshawn Lynch but also with players who were sent packing in FA.

Since he owned the Sabres when he bought the Bills, I think the NFL is okay with Pegula owning both of teams ... and I don't think that anybody except an NFL team owner can question the NFL by-laws pertaining to who can own teams ... in case you were thinking of suing. As somebody mentioned, the AHL Buffalo Bisons were replaced by the NHL Buffalo Sabres in 1970. Both were owned by the Knox family incidentally. In addition to the NBA Buffalo Braves, the Buffalo Bisons AAA baseball team left in the 1960s or 1970s IIRC. They were replaced with an AA franchise for a while but then the Rich family resurrected the Bisons on the AAA level in the 1980s.

I didn't find it funny at all, and I gave up on it before the episode was even over.

I can see the Bills doing this ... and their loyal, brainwashed fans applauding the genius of it: let a speedy young WR walk away in FA, trade away a fast, sure-handed young WR, and then turn around and trade for a speedy, older WR who makes more $$$. I'm sure that the Bills brain trust have concluded that Hilton will fit the Bills' "culture" even before he's on the team.

It's one game: the season opener at home against a division rival that not only appears to lack talent but didn't seem all that interested in winning games. I kept waiting for the Jests to fight back, but they seemed content to be pushed around. That says a lot about the Jests IMO, but to draw conclusions about how good the Bills are based on that game is silly.

No, it doesn't "feel different". It feels like exactly what it was: an opening day win over a hapless Jests squad that didn't even put up much of a fight given that it was a divisional game. We learned nothing about the quality of the Bills from that game because the Jests seemed disinterested in winning.

The Bills have started 3-0 numerous times before during the drought. They've gone on impressive 4 or 5 game winning streaks during that time, too, but the reality is that they haven't won 10 games or more in the same season since 1999, and they've only won 9 games twice. Start crowing when they win 10 games or make the playoffs, dude.

Believe whatever you want to believe but I watched much of the game, and totally agree that Marrone is a decent HC and will get more out of that team than you think. The Jags looked good, especially on defense where their pass rushers literally overwhelmed Savage on just about pass attempt, and on offense they made Bortles look respectable, which was probably quite a feat. Oh, yeah, they went into the Texans' house and dominated them ... and the Texans aren't the Jests.

Tannehill is nothing all that special as a QB, which is why Cutler can replace him and look decent. Miami's offense is well constructed and talented, and just about any decent QB would make it click. Contrary to myth here on TBD, a team doesn't necessarily need a "world class" talent at QB if it's got a good offense, a stout defense, and good coaching ... and as Indy demonstrates, a world class talent at QB is wasted if the rest of the pieces aren't in place.

After 17 years of mediocrity occasionally sprinkled with outright crappiness, I think those being optimistic about the Bills are suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Newbie transplants with no football IQ will have no interest in the Bills; they have better things to do on Sunday afternoons.

Keep telling yourself that. KC is a good team that went 12-4 last season. Even without Eric Berry, they're likely good enough to take the AFCW unless Trevor Siemion improves at QB in Denver and/or the Raiders D is significantly better than expected. Alex Smith is a competent QB who now has better targets to go along with the good protection he enjoys behind the Chiefs' excellent OL. It's entirely possible that the first the Bills get next season from the Chiefs isn't even as high as #27.

Why, exactly, do you "trust" McDermott and Beane? Because they spout a bunch of platitudes and make promises that you like hearing? Neither of them have track records as head guys: they've always been assistants, never the leaders. Whatever happened to earning trust? Moreover, in what way(s) did Watkins "not fit the culture they're trying to build"? That he dared to speak his mind? Dude, this is 2017 NOT 1967! As long as players perform on the field, whatever they think about issues like player salaries or standing for the national anthem is their own damned business. Furthermore, the Bills are notorious for filling player contracts, especially rookie contracts, with individual performance incentives rather than just giving them a flat salary, so a WR who doesn't get many targets is going to get paid a lot less than he might if he just got a flat salary. It encourages a "me first" attitude rather than a "team first" attitude, and the fault for that is all on the Bills not on the players.

Well, that "when" will be a long time coming. My guess is that the drought hits at least 20, maybe even 25. The only things that are different between the current regime and past ones are the names and faces. The Bills are working towards the exact same thing they've been working at for the last 17 years: maximizing profits by minimizing salaries without alienating the fans so much that they stop buying tickets. And easily one of the best NFL coaches of all times. Somehow, I think I'd trust his player evals over some neophyte HC. The Chief's OL is seriously better than the Bills' OL.. Shady would run wild behind it. ROTFLMAO! Dream on.

So, true, and it's truly funny. I'm sure that we'll be treated to gloating threads every time Gillislee, Gilmore or Hogan have a bad game or make a mistake. Gilmore was in single man coverage most of the night. He had one screw up ... the problem is that when a CB screws up, it usually ends up in 6 for the other team. Meanwhile, I think that all the gloating over Gilmore ignores the fact that the Pats offense was not impressive ... primarily because of the Chiefs' D. Those boys stopped NE on 4-and-less-than-1 twice. That first fourth down stop down in the red zone after Hunt's fumble changed the entire tenor of that game. Instead of being up 14-0, they were soon tied 7-7. It's like it deflated the entire offense; they played flat the rest of the game. Eric Berry's achilles injury aside, all those draftniks spinning their fantasies about KC sucking this season and the Bills getting a mid/high first rounder for them need to face the reality that it might not even be as high as #27. I agree. When the Pats lose 8 games this season, then I'll say they ain't making the playoffs. LOL! They looked dismal and out-classed when the Bills beat them. Season opening games are the most likely to see upsets. Even the hapless Bills have beat better teams in season openers and falsely buoyed up their fans' hopes. Maybe instead of trying to emulate Carolina, the Bills brain trust should emulate the Chiefs who have been a consistent playoff contender since Andy Reid became their HC. They're a run-first team that mostly use short passes but they've added enough speed to go deep when the opportunity is there ... and they field killer Ds besides having an excellent OL that not only can run block extremely well but is capable of keeping their QB clean. IMO, part of the reason that NE looked bad was that Reid out-coached Belichick. The long TD passes were killers ... and totally unexpected.

It wasn't entirely accurate about NE, but it wasn't necessarily untrue about the Bills, and the Bills have earned every bit of disrespect they get around the league. Anyway you cut it, the reality is that the Bills have regularly shed their best talent through either FA or one-sided trades for almost two decades ... the entire length of the playoff drought. The Bills are never going to make the playoffs until that "process" stops. Name any other NFL team that has traded away an All Pro LT and an All Pro RB in their primes within 4 years. How many top DBs, RBs, and WRs have the Bills developed that they let walk after their rookie contracts ... and then had to replace with either first or second round draft picks or JAG FA they pretend are "just as good" as blue chippers who left?

Oh, some of the really great trades that the Bills have pulled off live in infamy far longer than 5-10 years. Trading future Pro Bowl QB Darryl Lamonica for a has-been QB and even more of a has-been WR back in the 1960s was the all-time great. In this century, trading away All Pro LT Jason Peters for a late first rounder in 2009 has only been topped by the Bills trading away All Pro RB Marshawn Lynch for a fourth rounder. Trading Sammy for a second and player still has a ways to go before it reaches the level of those three trade disasters. I think it might outrank the Bills' trading their 2004 2nd and 5th rounders plus their 2005 first rounder for the great opportunity of drafting JP Losman when they could have drafted the much more serviceable starting QB Matt Schaub with that 2nd or waited a year to use that first rounder on Aaron Rodgers. The idea of the Bills being worried about their future cap is ludicrous. They just didn't want to pay Watkins his salary this season. Never doubt that the Bills won't draft a QB in the first round in 2018, no matter where they pick or how crappy the QB draft class is ... and rest assured that unnamed rookie QB will start sooner rather than later. It's simply a reprise of 2013 because after this season, the Bills will need to excite fans again to put butts in the seats. Yep. WRs are irrelevant to winning football games in the 21st century ... and the Bills are going to prove it. //sarcasm off You shouldn't insult your people like that, Mr Caveman.

Just as they've been doing for this entire century.

Or a Jests game any time in the season. Jests games (and Giants games when the Bills play them) always sell out because 1)so many downstate fans travel to see the games here because tix are easier to get ... and cheaper; 2) there are so many downstate transplants in the area; 3) there are so many downstate college students around. It says a lot about what both Jests and Bills fans think of their respective teams.

Yeah, right, because we've seen how Bills fans complain every time the Bills post 14 wins in a season ... oh, wait, they've never had a 14 win season! In fact, they haven't even had a double digit win season in this century! :doh: Well, before TC, I said that I'd consider 10 wins even if they didn't make the playoffs to be a successful season, so I'd be comfortable with 10 myself. I think he'll probably find out this season.

There's nothing the Bills can do against the Jests that will make me "feel better" about this team's chances about accomplishing anything but possibly finishing with more wins than the Jets. After watching the offense in preseason, I'm not sure that the Bills will be competitive with any of their opponents except the Jests, Saints or Colts.

For a poor team, the opening game of the season might be the easiest game to win since their opponent won't have much film of real plays to figure out what they might do. That's why opening day upsets are so common. When two poor teams meet up in the opener, just about anything can happen.

You made a dumb statement. I responded in kind.

You've been a Bills fan too long because you're beginning to think like the bean counters who have been really running the team for the last seventeen years. Teams, at least teams that are remotely interested in winning football games, don't trade away young franchise QBs unless there's something seriously wrong with them, although I could see the Bills doing something that stupid to save a few millions in salary in the short term. After all, we all know that QBs are almost as easily replaceable as DBs, RBs, and WRs. FYI ... Half of all QBs drafted in the first round since 2000 have failed. Moreover, most drafts will yield only 1 franchise QB. A "good" draft will yield 1 franchise QB and 1 or maybe even 2 competent QBs on a par with Flacco, Dalton or Tannehill. Another problem is that it takes about 3 years to sift through the dirt to find the 1 who's a diamond. It will be interesting to see if Dak Prescott continues to have success because many times young QBs who look good as rookies/first year starters crash and burn over the long haul. Trent Edwards, Christian Ponder, and Colin Kaepernick all come to mind.

Seriously??? "Show them the way" to what? Where to buy tickets for playoff games? Unless they played for other teams that went to the playoffs, that's the only way any of the Bills veterans will ever attend one.

My point is simply that I don't think Belichick is tied to any philosophy except "winning is everything," and he does what he has to do to keep the team stocked, If he sees a veteran he likes being shopped, he's not shy about trading away a pick to grab him.