SoTier

The Bills have made the giving away their best talent into a unique art form over the length of the playoff drought. Most crappy teams simply fail to recognize and acquire talent. The Bills aren't that bad. They've proven that they are at least adequate in finding talent, and pretty good finding good players in the later rounds and among free agents. Their problem is that they then turn around and give it away, primarily because they aren't willing to pay to keep talented players. They are constantly using their top draft picks to fill the holes created by the previous top players who have been sent off to help teams like Minnesota, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, and New England win playoff games ... and even the Super Bowl. Under Doug Whaley that seemed to change to some extent but the current regime has resurrected it full blown again. They let Pro Bowl DB Gilmore walk and used their 2017 first round pick to draft his replacement. They traded away their elite WR, and hype a journeyman and an unproven rookie as "just as good". They peddle the idea of future draft picks turning into wins the way televangelists peddle salvation. Most definitely, they're playing Bills fans for suckers.

I'm not sure that Cousins is all that much better than Tannehill or Dalton. Maybe he's as good as Flacco, but the Bills sure aren't good enough on offense to support Tannehill, Dalton or Flacco. Their receivers suck. Their OL is better at run blocking than pass protection. Even legendary QBs like Brady, Manning, and Rodgers need targets and protection, much less merely mortal ones. Unfortunately, the Bills are going to draft a QB in the first round in 2018 whether they have the #1 pick or the 32nd, even if the 2018 QB class stinks to high heaven. A well-hyped first round QB will put butts in the seats. Mark Sanchez took the Jests to the AFC Championship as a rookie and sophomore. He never progressed from where he was about in the middle of his sophomore season. Josh Freeman's sophomore season saw him put up some impressive stats and end the year with a QB rating of 90+. He looked like a winner in 2010 ... and then bottom fell out. Vince Young, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, Nick Foles, and numerous other apparent franchise QBs were all hot young guns for a season or two before they crashed and burned. I'm with Buffalo Hokie13 that they've got to show that they can play competently for about 3 seasons before they got anointed as future stars. ^^^ I think this has been a trend since about 2011 when Dalton went in the 2nd round. In 2012, Wilson came out of the 3rd and Cousins out of the fourth. 2013 was a dud year but in 2014, the best QB is Carr from the 2nd round. Before that, not many quality starters came out of the later rounds, just Brady (6th in 2000), Brees (2nd in 2001), and Schaub (3rd in 2004). I don't think anything would have helped him. QBs either have it or they don't, and I don't think Manuel is starter material. It's not a judgement on him as a person, just an evaluation of his talent. Just because I'm tone-deaf and can't carry a tune in a bucket doesn't make me a terrible person, just somebody who has no musical talent.

"In Beane and McDermott I trust. That’s not a bad thing." ... Well, then, I'm sure you'll enjoy you'll enjoy the exciting 6-3 snorefest losses to assorted NFL bottom-feeders and all the 4 or 5 TD losses to real NFL teams over the next few years while awaiting the arrival of the glorious savior QB to be named later.

What if the only "top guy" is another EJ Manuel?

Yepper. Trading your starting QB for a CB after the first preseason game when TJ Yates and a fifth round rookie are your backups seems the perfect recipe for engineering a tank for a mythical savior to be named later while maximizing profits with ticket sales revenue and salary savings. It's another master stroke by that genius Russ Brandon.

You are right about the Bills being more than a QB away from being a playoff threat. Even when the Bills draft their new first round QB in 2018, they will still not playoff contenders for the foreseeable future. Yeah, and if they don't get him in 2019, then they can trade away whatever little remaining talent they have left on the team to try again in the 2020 draft. That sounds like a plan! Of course there "was a lot more to it". Matthews is a whole lot cheaper than Watkins in current, real salary for 2017, future draft picks don't cost any $$$ until they're actually used, and fans will accept the crappy offensive production because they'll be dreaming of the Bills drafting the next Peyton Manning. When the Bills send Taylor packing early on next year, they'll save his bonus $$$ and salary in 2018, too ... just like they did with Fitzpatrick in 2013 when they drafted EJ Manuel. The second greatest QB draft was in 2004, which likely will produce 2 HOFers (Roethlisberger and E Manning) which saw 4 QBs taken in the first round (#1, #4, #11, and #22). The first three QBs were successful as was 3rd rounder Matt Schaub who was a decent starter for several years. The Bills, of course, traded away their 2005 first rounder to move back into the first round and take the fourth first round QB, JP Losman, thus losing all chance of drafting Aaron Rodgers in 2005. BTW, all of the QBs taken in the first rounds of the 2002 (3), 2006 (3), 2007(2), 2010(3), and 2013(1) drafts were busts with the exception of Jay Cutler who went #11 in 2006. That's 1 hit in 12 (about an 8% success rate). Of course, the Bills, in their infinite and unerring wisdom, decided to trade up to grab TJ Graham in the third round of the 2012 draft rather than take Russell Wilson, but they traded back in 2013 to get another draft pick that eventually resulted in Sean McCoy coming to Buffalo, so I guess they really do know what they're doing.

They going to take a QB in the first round in 2018 even if, like 2013, there isn't a real prospect there. Like 2013, they are going to cut Taylor before the March deadline so they not only don't have to pay him but also so that they don't have a viable QB on the roster. They will do that because a first round QB will put butts in the seats and $$$ in the coffers, not because the next Jim Kelly is available.

Agree with both posts. This trade stinks the same way the Jason Peters and Marshawn Lynch trades stunk, and the knee-jerk approval of Bills fans of all three simply demonstrates why it's unlikely that the Bills will seriously seek to put a winning team on the field any time in the foreseeable future. With most of the team revenue coming from tv money, it's much more profitable for the Bills to suck than to be competitive, particularly when apparently there's no move the FO can make that will deter fans blindly supporting the team.

Especially those from the Bills FO.

This is, in words of the immortal Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again." The Bills did the same thing to Drew Bledsoe in 2003 after he set Bills season passing records in 2002. They traded away #2 WR Peerless Price and released starting TE Jay Reimersma and H-back Larry Centers rather than pay them. Now, the question is, will the Bills replay 2004 when they traded a bunch of picks to draft a crappy first round QB or will they emulate 2013 when they drafted a first round QB even though there wasn't a single QB in that draft who merited being drafted? Only if the team has a decent receiving corps, which the Bills haven't had since 2002. At present, with the exception of Boldin, the Bills don't even have a WR corps at all, just guys wearing WR numbers.

You forgot Russell Wilson who went in the 3rd round in 2012. The Bills passed on him to take trade up to take TJ Graham who couldn't stay healthy and couldn't catch the ball when he was healthy! I will add specifics to your post: there wasn't even 1 Tannehill quality QB in the 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013 drafts. It's also likely that Bortles, from 2014, won't turn out to be much, either, as he regressed last season. Moreover, even when there is a diamond in the draft, a team still has to find him. In 1999, the #1 pick, Tim Couch, went to Cleveland, Philadelphia took Donovan McNabb at #2, and Cinci took Akili Smith at #3. Minnesota took Daunte Culpepper at #11. McNabb was a bonafide franchise QB and Culpepper was decent for several years, Couch and Smith sucked.

Agree. I think the last time a team built a powerhouse team from having a bunch of high picks all in one draft was when San Diego got a bunch for trading Eli Manning to the Giants for Phillip Rivers (2004/2005). Before that, it was probably Dallas back in the late 1980s from trading Herschel Walker to the Vikings. Crappy teams make crappy personnel decisions, and consequently, their drafts suck even when they have numerous high picks. The Bills have proven that to be true throughout their history, most recently in 2009 when they had 2 first rounders and 2 second rounders in 2009 IIRC -- and blew the best one on one of their worst busts: Aaron Maybin. I see no reason to think that the Bills won't screw the pooch once again.

I'll stand by what I said months ago: I will consider the season a success only if the Bills make the playoffs or win 10 games. Anything less is unacceptable.

It's hard to imagine that would be possible, but the Bills always manage to do the impossible ... as long as it doesn't involve winning. It is exactly what the Bills have done this entire century: get rid of their best talent because they don't want to pay them and then sell the dollar store crap they keep or acquire as "just as good" to the true believers who continuously defend their moves. Major examples under previous regimes include Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Pat Williams, Ruben Brown, Jason Peters, Marshawn Lynch, and Chris Hogan. Allowing Gillmore to leave and trading Watkins are EXACTLY the same bull manure, no matter how you want it to be different. The only "data" that matters to OBD is the $$$ that they won't have to pay out for these players.

No, I'd be doing exactly what I'm going to be doing this season instead of watching the Bills suck again in another endless "rebuilding" season: watching Pittsburgh or Seattle or Atlanta or other professional football teams play interesting football games via NFL Sunday ticket. The Bills were nothing more than the NFL's #1 farm team during Ralph Wilson's last decade and a half of ownership, and the Pegulas are continuing that proud tradition.

Same old, same old. If you ever wondered how so many people can become victims of scams, just consider that despite the fact that the Bills have failed to make the playoffs for 17 straight years, they have managed to sell the hope of another resurrection to so many of their fans by trading away two of their best players ...

Dude, if you think the only impediment to the Bills actually drafting a competent NFL QB in 2018 is the competition, you are living in Fantasy Land. The 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2013 drafts didn't produce a top QB, and the verdicts are still out on 2014-2017. Furthermore, in most drafts, there's at best, only 1 quality QB ... and not all of them were Top 3 or Top 5 picks. The only two drafts that have produced multiple HOF/likely HOF QBs since the merger were 1983 and 2004, which means there's a whole lot of both astute evaluation and luck involved in selecting the right collegiate QB to draft. Now, maybe you have confidence in the Bills organization to pick the right QB, but not me. Nothing about the current regime suggests that they're any better than Ralph Wilson's incompetent bunch, particularly given that the owners have failed to significantly improve the Sabres during their tenure despite all their shuffling of GMs, coaches, and players. BTW, since the Polian era, the Bills drafting record has been simply horrendous, and not just at the QB position. They always pick the wrong guy. Consider that the Bills gave up their 2005 first round pick to draft JP Losman in 2004 ... and thus lost out on Aaron Rodgers in 2005 (who went #24 or #25) and they passed on Russell Wilson in 2012 for a WR who couldn't catch and then drafted EJ Manuel in 2013. Some of their other first round busts were even worse ... like Aaron Maybin.

How long will that take do you think? A decade? Two decades? Three? There is absolutely no evidence during the Pegulas' ownership that the incompetence that has been the hallmark of the Bills' FO since Polian left 20+ years ago has been addressed.

"A solid #2" is NOT success, and neither is a .500 record as a starter. Success is being a competent starter for a number of seasons, which means being at least on a par with Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, Alex Smith, etc.... and no, EJ Manuel will never be that. It's unlikely that Cardale Jones will either, but stranger things have happened.

Somebody already mentioned "Amazing Grace", and I'll second that. I'll also add the beautiful Catholic hymn, "The Prayer of St Francis". For more modern music, ie, country, since that's what I mostly listen to, I would say songs about the aftermath of lost love or unrequited love ... Doug Stone's "I Thought It Was You" or Eric Church's "Give Me Back My Hometown" or Dan Seals' "Everything That Glitters" or Keith Whitley's "Don't Close Your Eyes".

So, watch other teams that you can't watch on local tv because your local station airs the Jests vs Cleveland ... Geez, unless the Bills are DOA beginning on opening day, they should be interesting for a couple of months...

So, why is he still looking for a gig with TCs about to open while TJ Yates is with a team? If Kaepernick was so much better than Yates, some team would have signed him despite his political views. Competent backup QBs are almost as hard to find as competent starting QBs. Moreover, the statement was that Kaep was better than any of the Bills backups. Peterman is the youngster nobody knows anything about in the NFL. He certainly has a better chance of becoming a decent starting QB than Kaepernick who has already failed twice. Is there some iron-clad guarantee that every draft class must contain a franchise QB? The 2002, 2007, 2010, and 2013 drafts had none, so drafting #1 still wouldn't have gotten "us a long term QB solution". Oh, yeah, the Bills DID draft a first round QB recently ... in 2013. Doh! To spin fantasies that some failed starter is going to magically resurrect a career than never was.

I think that what's happened to NASCAR is simply that our culture is changing. People's tastes and interests have changed. It's not like it's something that's never happened before. Through the 1940s and 1950s, horse racing was probably the most popular sport in the nation. Horses like Man O'War, Sea Biscuit, Citation, and Swaps were celebrities as were their jockeys. Every newspaper carried the race entries/results from the local tracks as well as stories about the major races from around the country. Important races were carried live on the radio, and later, in the 1950s and 1960s, on TV. Today horse racing is a niche sport with virtually the only races being carried nationally are the Triple Crown and the Breeders Cup. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, tennis mesmerized the country. Bobby Riggs vs Billie Jean King. Chrissie Evert and Jimmie Conners were "an item" for a while, and people really cared. John McEnroe was a tantrum-throwing brat. People watched Wimbledon and the American Open religiously. Now, unless you get The Tennis Channel, you'll be lucky to find a live tennis match even at the US Open, although one of the networks usually has a late-night tennis show during the Grand Slam events. Now, it's NASCAR's that's lost the draft and is getting shuffled back.

Why, exactly, is Kaep better than any of our backups? Because he had a string of impressive games with a very talented team toward the end of one season when defenses hadn't figured out how to stop him? His best year was his first year as a starter with SF. He was never that good again once defensive coordinators figured out how to stop Roman's offense. Like a lot of first year starters, especially those on excellent teams, Kaep looked good at first but fizzled. Troy Vincent, Mark Sanchez, RG III, Christian Ponder, Nick Foles, and Brock Osweiler are among recent QBs who looked great early on but then crashed and burned, and turned out to be not much better than Day 3 picks. If the starting QB goes down, it's likely curtains for most teams' playoff hopes unless the team is especially talented and extremely lucky. Since there's not enough QB talent to go around, expecting to find a starter from among unattached vets is simply fantasy. Teams are better off rolling the dice and going with an unknown youngster who at least might be half way decent for part of season than wasting time with a failed starter.