Inigo Montoya

One thing to consider with renovating New Era field up to a level more consistent with today's NFL stadiums is, as anyone who has moved into a fixer upper can attest, once you start tearing down stuff to replace or fix, you are going to find more "issues" that need to be addressed. A lot of times fixing those issues is just about as expensive as the planned renovation. It took me three days to replace a toilet in my house because the standard size of the flange on a toilet in 1952 was no longer the standard size of toilet flanges today. Now multiply that times a thousand for the "Ralph". It will be a nightmare. Another thing to consider is that the Bills have no where else to play football if they go down this renovation road. That means that any renovation will have to be completed between football seasons. Not much renovating done outside in WNY in January and February due to the weather. That leaves a roughly 5 month window to get things taken apart and put back together in time for the next season to start. That's not a very big window to do hundreds of millions of dollars worth of renovations. So it will need to be done incrementally and doing something incrementally increases the cost of the renovations. It's cheaper doing construction to bring in the whole gang one time and get er done than to set up and tear down, and set up and tear down... I firmly believe it is going to end up being a new construction somewhere down town. As I noted in a recent post, there is simply too much money to be made by everyone... politicians, developers, union bosses, etc.. by building a new stadium down town. There will be pressure from all of those entities to tie any public monies to a new stadium, with a roof, downtown. None of this will get done without public money, and ultimately I think they will only get that money with a new downtown stadium.

From Rotoworld today; SNY's Ralph Vacchiano said the Giants aren't "kidding" about bringing Eli Manning back in 2020. The Giants are well aware that Manning is nearing the finish line, but it doesn't sound like they're smitten with any of the quarterbacks in next month's draft and may decide to ride it out with Eli a bit longer. Per Vacchiano, the G-Men saw a lot of "positive signs" from Manning down the stretch in 2018 and "won't hesitate" to extend his contract for another year. Even if New York won't admit it, the former Super Bowl MVP is undoubtedly on the decline and the Giants probably should have drafted his successor when they had the chance a year ago. With Odell Beckham gone and Saquon Barkley emerging as the clear focal point of New York's offense, the 38-year-old will likely serve in a game-manager capacity going forward. AND Ralph Vacchiano of SNY was told by a team source that the Giants will likely select a pass-rusher with the sixth overall pick. The source told Vacchiano, "As much as we need a young quarterback, I honestly don't know how we can pass on one of the pass rushers at six." Most would agree Eli Manning is on his last leg and while Vacchiano confirms that Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins is a "real option" for the G-Men, GM Dave Gettleman seems to be zeroing in on defense with the sixth pick. The trio of Nick Bosa, Josh Allen and Quinnen Williams probably won't be available at No. 6, but Rashan Gary, Ed Oliver and Montez Sweat should be if New York indeed chooses to address its pass-rushing need. Even with Manning on borrowed time, it doesn't appear drafting his successor is at the top of Gettleman's to-do list. This begs two obvious questions; A) Is this a Gettleman pre-draft smokescreen? B) Did Gettleman get dropped on his head as a baby?

Jerome Bettis is another back who is in the Hall but never gets mentioned in the pantheon of greats like Sanders, Emmitt, Gayle, Walter, Dickenson, Brown but his numbers are right there with all of them and that guy was just a fun back to watch play. For a man that big and powerful he was incredibly nimble. I always liked watching the Bus.

It's all a crap shoot. We all make our best guess based on the information at hand. I wanted Allen for no other reason than I thought he looked like a franchise QB, straight out of central casting. I also liked the small town farm boy narrative. (How's that for rigid scientific reasoning) You probably watched forty hours of film on the guy and spoke to his second grade teacher. If you end up being wrong about Allen (which would be a good thing as you've stated) who cares? There are so many variables involved with a player's development all you can do is make an educated guess and see what happens. In any event, I'm looking forward to your posts on this year's draft and your after game write ups during the season. I always read your posts Gunner, you're one of the best posters on the board. You bring a steady, reasoned analysis and I appreciate it.

I could see the Bills grabbing Hockenson at 9. In the recent owner's meetings they interviewed McDermott and he talked about what a huge part of the offense Greg Olsen was in Carolina and how much he helped being a security blanket for Cam Newton. He said Olsen was automatic on those 3rd and 5 situations and kept the chains moving. Said they didn't have a true WR1 but it didn't matter because Olsen filled that gap. I think Beane and McDermott understand the future success of their tenure with Buffalo all depends on Allen developing into a true franchise QB. I think that gives Hock the edge at #9. Allen will have improved skill players around him after this free agency period, but he still does not have a true WR1 or some other go-to guy on the offense to help him continue to develop. Imagine a Kelce, Gronk, Ertz, or Kittle on our roster? If McBeane sees Hockenson in that same vein, I think Hockenson is eating wings with blue cheese on April 26th.

I once started a donnybrook by wondering if the Jets were rope-a-doping everyone and were actually going to draft Barkley and not a QB last year. You would have thought I wrapped the baby Jesus in Old Glory and set them both on fire. Such is life on the mean streets of Two Bills Drive. An extended, wacky, mildly opinionated, dysfunctional family of Bill's Mafioso with just a sprinkling of trolls to keep life interesting. : )

1800's is a slight exaggeration. ; )

49

When I was in the service back in the 1800's we had two Sgt. Johnson's in our company. One was black and one was white and over time everyone started calling them Salt and Pepper. Not sure if that would fly in today's society...

All these posts show the pickle that the Pegulas are in. No matter what they decide to do, they will upset about a third of the people who go to the games. I think there are three things though that are clear. 1 ; The stadium will be built downtown, and unfortunately, it has nothing to do with common sense or the game day experience. There is simply more opportunities for public officials and union bosses and developers to get rich if the stadium is built down town. Politicians accepting "campaign contributions" to sign off on the project, union bosses getting their kickbacks, bureaucrats getting an envelope of cash to waive that zoning requirement or environmental impact statement. The businessmen who already own property down town will be working behind the scenes with the politicians they already own to make sure the stadium gets built there to increase the value of their assets. They will all be angling for a piece of the pie and more people will get a piece of the pie if the stadium is built downtown than if it is built out in the boonies of Erie County in Orchard Park. There is going to be a billion dollars spent in Buffalo when this thing kicks off. The biggest project in the history of Western New York. It is a once in a life time opportunity for all these crooks and they are going to make sure they get as much of it as they can. The stadium is going downtown. Book it. 2; This thing will have a roof. Please refer to the point above. There is more money to be made on the stadium if it is a year round venue. The state and city and county are not going to chip in hundreds of millions of dollars for a stadium that gets used a dozen times a year. There isn't enough profit in it for them and everyone else with their hands in the till. The Pegulas will be forced to put a roof on the stadium to get the public funds. 3; The teams HQ and practice facilities will stay in Orchard Park. The Pegulas are quietly building some of the best facilities in the entire league in Orchard Park. No sense in tearing it all down after throwing tens of millions of dollars into it. More than that, it makes no sense to use expensive downtown real estate on weight rooms and training rooms, and cafeterias, and office space when they already have it on the cheap in Orchard Park.

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think Duke Williams is going to be the breakout WR for the Bills this year. The guy can high point the ball like Megatron and seems to win every 50/50 that comes his way. He is going to catch some touchdowns this year. Don't sleep on the Duke, he is going to be a Red Zone monster.

I'm all for player safety, I don't want to see anyone get injured. They have made an effort to remove the head and helmet from tackling and that's great, but if you now penalize the forearm and shoulder initiating contact, how the hell are you supposed to block someone??? "Gather 'round fellas, I want to introduce you to our new blocking coach, Master Po."

I think it's a wise strategy to not spend a lot of resources on a premier free agent RB like LeVeon Bell or using a high draft pick this season. It has been shown again and again that the learning curve moving from the college game to the NFL is easiest at the RB position. Kamara, Barkley, Kareem Hunt are recent examples. Build the rest of the offense that needs time to gel this season. O-lines need time to gel. The QB-WR-TE relationship needs time to develop. I believe that this year is going to be a fun year to be a Bills fan and I expect we'll make the playoffs, but I still don't think we are ready to make a Super Bowl run this year. I think after this season we will have a more experienced QB, a solid and cohesive O-line to protect him, and WRs and TEs that have learned how to catch Allen's bullets. Heading into the 2020 season the only thing we may be missing to have a truly explosive offense is a dynamic, world class running back. I think that 2020 is the year that we grab the best RB in the draft class. A RB who can catch the ball, pass protect, and hammer the rock. Drop him behind that great O-line, getting the ball from a QB who is a threat to run too, and who has a passing attack that is game enough to keep the defense honest and stop them from stacking the box, and you will see an offense every bit as explosive as Kelly, Thurman, and Andre Reed. Drafting that RB stud next season will be the last piece of the offensive puzzle.

You may be right mannc but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a 2nd rounder. In 2017 the Chicago Bears gave up their 3rd and 4th round picks and their 2018 3rd rounder to move up one spot with San Francisco to draft Trubiski. If a team thinks their franchise QB is sitting there at 9, I would expect Beane to ask a hefty price to drop back. It will depend on how badly a team wants to move up and how shrewdly Beane negotiates. I have faith in Beane. He got the first pick of the 3rd round for Tyrod who he was going to release anyways. He got a 5th rounder for McCarron. I think Beane is a pretty savvy horse trader. In any event, it is going to be a fun draft to be a Bills fan. I expect Beane to be moving up and down the board throughout the entire draft as opportunities arise. The best part for me is that my son and I are going to be there for the draft next month. We are only two hours from Nashville. Should be a great time.

I could see someone trading with us to get ahead of Denver. I could also see Denver trading up one spot with us to prevent someone else from jumping ahead of them and stealing their guy. If / when Denver calls while we're on the clock, Beane needs to act like there are multiple teams on the line wanting to trade up into the #9 spot forcing Elway's hand. Flacco is clearly a place holder in Denver and Flacco's contract allows Elway to cut him at any point with no significant cap implications. Best case scenario for us is that Denver moves up one spot with us to ensure they get their guy giving us their 2nd or 3rd round pick in return and we still get the guy we wanted all along at #10.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2019/insider/story/_/id/26322249/pro-day-takeaways-why-drew-lock-getting-top-10-nfl-draft-buzz "With Arizona interested in taking Murray at No. 1, a handful of teams will be interested in trading for Josh Rosen. Then it becomes Haskins versus Lock, and there are teams in the first round that prefer Lock over Haskins right now. The Missouri QB has met with or has plans to meet with all of the QB-needy franchises, and he has plans to have a second meeting and workout with the Dolphins. With his smaller 9-inch hands, ideally he ends up in a dome or a warmer-weather situation, but I haven't seen any issues with weather on tape. Lock marries confidence with the ability to relate with his teammates, and teams will like that. Murray has the natural instincts, and Haskins has incredible football intelligence, but teams will feel comfortable with who Lock is and his full résumé. Don't be surprised if you start hearing more top-10 buzz for Lock." Sounds like Lock tore it up at his pro day. A lot of scouts now thinking he is going to go in the top 10. Music to my ears.

Admittedly, I don't know much about Spain or any of the other O-linemen we have signed this off season. What I do know though is that if I was one of the Bills O-linemen, recently signed or held over from last year, I would get up right now and head to the gym and start hitting the weights hard. It looks like the only position locked down on the O-line is Morse at center. It is going to be a good old fashioned donnybrook for the other four line spots. Brand new O-Line coach, more O-linemen than can possibly make the roster, and your NFL future on the line? Every single one of them is going to have to bring it to make this roster and get on the field. Gotta love Beane creating this kind of competition.

Not sure what the specifics are behind Penn’s release, but this is a terrible time for a team to release a player. If they were going to release him they should have done it a week ago.

We have a new O-line coach who is ready to go to work and make a name for himself. A proven vet leader in Morse who can keep the guys in check and two new hungry linemen in Nsekhe and Feliciano who are finally getting their chance after being in the shadows for years. Then there is Long who had a lot of success in Washington and then got hurt and knows he is probably on his last chance. Dawkins is now on notice and realizes he needs to produce or he will be gone just like the rest of the O-linemen from last season. I expect a lot of energy and determination out of this new group. I think it is a huge upgrade over last year's line and Beane has done a great job of getting them here. Bobby Jackson has no loyalty or prejudices towards anyone on the roster. There should be an open competition for every guard and tackle spot and I expect Nsekhe to be our starting left tackle in the season opener.

Don't sleep on the Indianapolis Colts. After week 6 when Luck started to play like himself again they went 9-1 over the last 10 games. They then went on the road and won a playoff game in Houston and then lost in Arrowhead to the Chiefs. They have one of the best QBs in the game and a fantastic O-line to protect him, a good coach, a solid defense. They have lots of cap space to make moves and extend their own quality players. They are for real. I think the Colts will be in the AFC championship game this year.

Only two choices.... O.J. Simpson or Jim Kelly. The answer in large part depends on how old you are. I was just a little kid when the Juice was Loose. Kelly is more my era so I vote Jimbo.

I was there for opening day 2005, JP's first start and we absolutely destroyed the Texans. The defense was teeing off on Carr the entire game. The Ralph was rocking. Beautiful, sunny Fall day in Orchard Park. He ran off the field to chants of "JP! JP! JP!" It was all down hill from there...

Morse said he wanted to come to Buffalo because of Josh Allen. He said it looked like Josh had nice, soft hands...

Maybe cut Vlad, keep Bodine? What do you think?

LOL! We're not going to need a punter! With our new offense every drive will be a scoring drive. No punts! I did cut both of our punters didn't I? Oops.