The Red King

We went 9-7 and made it to the playoffs. Taylor elevates bad teams and drags good teams down. He is the ultimate median. If you need a QB that is not going to lose games, who can keep the ship sailing with consistency, TT is your man. When you get good enough to transition to a team that can win enough games and you reach a point where you need your QB to win a few games for you, TT has consistently shown he can't. The Bills finally crested the plain and reached a point where TT's mediocrity has gone from benefit to liability. The JAX game last season was the best example of it. Cleveland, however, has gone 1-31 the last two seasons. A strong leader at QB can elevate the play of those around him, and his ability to play near mistake-free football will make the Browns a better team next year. And to that team and it's fans, 6-8 wins this year will not only be acceptable, it will be welcome and even heralded. 6-8 wins here will be unacceptable. Trading TT to the Browns I think will work out well for the Bills, Browns and TT.

Going from bad to the textbook defenition of outright average is technically an improvement, but not a success. I want better then average, and TT is average. Precious little terrible, precious little amazing. We've finally outgrown that, Cleveland hasn't. They will be thrilled when he gets them to 8-8 eventually, then they will move on like we did.

No Thursday night, no Sunday night. One Monday night, but I feel that was setup to show off NE more then BUF. No love for the Bills. Understandable, though. The NFL is leery on the Bills. There was a 17-year drought. Far easier and safer for them to chalk last year up to a fluke and cute story...and expect us to go right back to sub-par but not terrible form this year. Going to take more then one big season to convince them. That being said, while the start of the schedule is definately tough, I'm not about to write them all off as losses. I'm not convinced the Vikes new QB is going to instantly gel with the team, and while the Ravens may have a chip on their shoulder about the no-playoff thing, I'm sure they blame the Bengals and themselves more then us. I like the fact that it looks like an easier end if we can just stay in the hunt earlier on.

Keep in mind Belli posted a record with Matt Cassel that would have gotten the Pats into the playoffs most any other year. The Pats are not dead in the water without Brady. I think Brady fears that, and it's why Jimmy G had to go, so his ego wouldn't be bruised by Belli succeeding without him.

Actually, give me NE before Bellie has too much tape on our newly retooled teams. Think about it, we haven't beaten NE much, but when we have? Weeks 1-3. (Not counting the game in NE where they pulled their starters). Big week 3 win to break the complete domination streak (and down went the goalposts), week 1 massive upset when Adams intercepted Brady and lumbered down the sideline like Frankenstein's monster for a pick-6. Hell, we almost/should have beaten them on MNF week 1 the year after Brady's injury, until we fumbled away a five point lead with two minutes to play. Look at it another way, if we end up in a dogfight for a playoff spot, don't you want as many NE games behind us as possible? I would highly prefer an early NE game.

Wants to keep the signing bonus without playing a down for it? Reminds me of a song... "Aw, that ain't working, that's the way you do it...get your money for nothing and your checks for free." ...or something like that. ;-)

If we cut him, we get absolutely nothing out of it, open the door for other players to try the same scumbag negotiating tactics and face the very real possibility of playing against him twice this season in a Pats uniform. You can't justify that. I agree with prior posters who suggest we package him up in a trade with the Giants to lighten the cost of their #2 overall draft pick.

Wait, I thought football was literally killing him. Isn't that why he was retiring? Was he misdiagnosed? Did his health issues miraculously clear up? If I didn't know better I'd almost think Richie was lying about his health as a negotiation tactic, but he wouldn't do something that scummy, right? :roll: The question of whether the renegotiation was fair or not is irrelevant. He signed the contract. That should count for something. Players shouldn't be able to just take a signing bonus then ask to be let go. That contract is signed in good faith by both sides, one party is agreeing to provide a service for a certain amount of time, in return for clearly noted compensation. That contract becomes binding when both parties sign it. If the Bills release him, they gain nothing for it, while Richie stands to gain a lot. Worse, he could go anywhere, including a divisional rival. Do you really want him in a Pats uniform protecting Brady this season? And even if the Bills were feeling generous, Richie's behavior is inexcusable. He didn't ask nicely or privately. First, he "retired" for health reasons, then magically recovered. Then he asks publically on Twitter with whimsical emoticons for a release? No. Just no. Hell no. I'm fine with trading him away, to a team we won't see soon or frequently. Get something for him at least. But just releasing him rewards his behavior and that opens the door for others players to pull this same kind of garbage.

Nothing wrong with nosebleeds, that's where we were, too. Once people started leaving, we debated moving down to lower seats, but it just didn't feel right. The upper seats were where we had sat all season, and worked well enough for us! The Raiders were actually two years prior. I was still in Omaha and remember watching the game at the bar we normally went to. I still chuckle when I think back. When Norwood missed that extra point I was thinking "I hope that doesn't come back to haunt us!" 51-3...yeah, it was about as haunting as the Scary Movie franchise. ;-) If I recall, after The Comeback, we went to Pitt and beat them, then went to Miami for the AFC Championship, avenging ourselves on the dasterdly Dolphins that had the audacity to swipe the AFC East championship from us the last week of the season.

Wilson had a close friendship with the owner of the Lions, and if I recall even lived part of each year in Detroit. As a result of that friendship, Buffalo always played Detroit the last preseason game. When Ralph passed away, the tradition apparently ended with him.

Well, the free agency whirlwind is dying down, and a lot of people are getting antsy about the draft, so I figure why not start a positive thread that has nothing to do with the offseason to help distract us all? The idea is simple, post your favorite Bills' memory here. Mine is the Greatest Comeback in NFL History, though not necessarily for obvious reasons. I was born here in Buffalo, but when I was 2 1/2 years old, the plant my dad worked at closed. He was offered a chance to transfer to one of two cities and took it, so we moved to Omaha, NE. My dad raised me a Bills fan, which was tough. Buffalo was not a good team (this was the late '70s, early '80s) and Omaha really wasn't close enough to an NFL city to be a devoted fanbase, so all of my friends and classmates all jumped on a different trendy, bandwagon team each year, then promptly gave me grief for sticking with Buffalo. My dad taught me loyalty, how being a fan meant sticking by your team, good or bad. When the '90s hit my dad and his fellow transfers even went half-in on a satellite dish for a local bar so we could all watch Bills games. The kicker was watching them lose Super Bowls XXV and XXVI. But then things aligned. I was set to graduate high school in '92. That same year, the company offered my dad a buyout. He was close to retirement anyway, and the timing meant a move would not disrupt me academically. So he took it, and we moved back to Buffalo. First thing dad did was buy us season tickets for the Bills, in a group with a number of his other retired co-workers. It was wonderful, we'd all meet at one co-worker's house, pile into his urban assault vehicle, swing by to pickup pizza and wings at Blasdell's, then get to the stadium good and early so we'd have time to tailgate before the game. Sure enough, the Bills made the playoffs, looking for a third straight Super Bowl appearance. It would be my first live playoff game. Little did I know what I was going to experience. Of course, this wasn't any ordinary playoff game. This was The Comeback, Oilers at Bills, one week after Houston wrecked the Bills in the regular season finale, costing them the AFC East title and forcing them into a Wild Card spot. The first half went much the same, the Bills got stomped, and after the second half opened with a pick-6 my dad was convinced it was over. I remained the eternal optimist though, and when Beebe tore down the sideline I excitedly nudged my dad and told him "Look! They're going to come back.", he gave me a tired smile and a "Yeah, right." Then the impossible happened and Buffalo clawed their way back in, yard by yard, point by point. Now you have to understand my dad was a quiet, reserved man. The only time I really saw him emote was when watching football or hockey, and that was normally just in small bursts when he got overexcited and shouted something out. This game was different. It wasn't a small burst. As the game went on, as the comeback mounted and the crowd somehow got louder, my dad let his guard down. He started to grin, get more excited, go wide-eyed like a kid. He would cheer and high-five people around him, talk to his former co-workers. But...what sticks with me to this day...is all the excitement, the nudging and such...it was mostly with me. Like all of us, he was sharing this experience with everyone around us, but...primarily with me. I knew my father loved me, I had lived my life with him. I knew how he said it, showed it. But this, it's hard to put into words. He was happy about the comeback, yes, but I could tell he was happiest because he was sharing it with me. Football was always a bonding experience for us, but in that moment, at that game it became so much more. I got to see him with his guard completely down, something that had not happened before, and would not happen after. And in that time, I got to see how much having me with him at the game meant to him. When the winning kick went through, the raw emotion was overwhelming. Of course we tailgated after the game. Hell, we didn't leave the parking lot until around 9 PM. That's my best Bills' memory. And now I get to carry on in his place. Thought I was out of luck when my son showed no interest in sports, but then my daughter surprised me. She's been watching the Bills' faithfully the last couple years. Celebrated her 10th Birthday last year and she asked to go to her first live Bills game. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, discovered they were actually playing a home game that day, so I ended up taking her. She loved it, even though the Bills got crushed. Brought back memories of my dad getting me into football, and the game above. So, to all of you, if you had to pick one, what are your favorite Bills' memories?

Each team playing on Thursday should be coming off a bye, just to make it fair. That, and the players may need the extra time to prepare their eyes for the optic searing Color Rush experience. Most look like what you'd get if you fed a unicorn skittles and it threw up on the team's away jerseys.

He didn't like taking a pay cut, saw the Bills make the playoffs and thought himself an indispensable part of that. He likely thought he could squeeze Beene for more money. When Beene said "Nope!", he flippantly announces retirement, and waits for the Bills to try and bribe him back. Unfortunately for him, I don't think Beene gives in to threats or demands. Richie's done. As for the Hall of Fame, not even close. Ironically another strong year or two with Buffalo could have helped his case. Ah well...

Words fail. It's amazing how quickly people are willing to completely write off a season before it begins. "We traded away some players, the season's over!!!" "We traded up in the draft, the season's over!!!" "An offensive lineman retired. The season's over!!!" "The waterboy has a hangnail, the season's over!!!"

Alright, lemmie see if I made sense of this thread. Aliens have mind controlled Whaley, who is whispering in Beene's ear to force Incognito to retire. As a result AJ's wife will become a widow who can then be promptly wooed by the aliens, because Mars needs women?

There is a plan here, and I'm willing to see it through before passing judgement. We got to 9-7 and ended the drought last year, a season many people even analysts said was utterly doomed after our last offseason. Remember all the talk of tanking? How the week one matchup with the Jets was a preview of the battle for the top pick this upcoming draft? Bottom line, we're only at halftime for this offseason. At least wait until after the draft is over before dooming the Bills this season.

Wait, I know I'm getting old, and I tend to forget things, but I think I still know numerical order. If I'm not mistaken, not just 1, but 1 *and* 2 both come before 3, right? That didn't get changed? So, can someone please explain to me how Mayfield is a "lock" at #3 for the Jets? Nothing is a lock at #3. The Browns or Giants could nab him at 1 or 2...or they could trade those picks to a team that could take him, Bills included, before the Jets even have a chance. The farce is strong in this one... >.<

I did, but the example holds. He wasn't the only one saying the season was already over at that point.

I love absolutes. Didn't Rodak, after all the trades last offseason, say the season was over before it began...and then we broke the drought? While I understand the intent of the thread, the assertation that we will, with 100% certainty, not make the playoffs for a full three years should we trade up to #2 is a rather silly one. Anything can happen. Found it: http://www.espncricinfo.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/28518/bills-set-up-tyrod-taylor-to-fail-blow-up-2017-season-with-shocking-trades "BUFFALO -- Turn out the lights on the Buffalo Bills' 2017 season, because it is over before it started."

2018: 9-7...we'll look better then 2017, but I think the schedule will be rougher. We'll beat the Pats once, though. Likely the second matchup. 2019: 11-5...since speculation is fun I'll go out on a limb and say we sweep the Pats, marking an end of a dynasty and prompting retirement from Brady and Belly in the face of Father Time and an AFC East rival that finally isn't a pushover.

It's weird. I don't hate the Pats outright. I hate Bellie for throwing a tantrum by running up the scores in the almost perfect season, I hate Brady for crying and whining for a penalty every time he's sneezed on, and I hate Gronk for thinking the sideline was a WWF ring. But, if all three were to suddenly retire, I'd be far more ambivalent toward the team. That being said, I remember the Dolphins hate of the '90s, and it pales to that of the '70. My dad really, really hated that team. Kept mentioning how during their perfect season, Buffalo actually had them beat after intercepting. But since Schula was on the rules commitie he kept getting calls, including a phantom call to negate the interception. There was a lot of venom in his words.

TT is a quarterback for a team that needs consistancy more then quality. Buffallo used to be such a team, but outgrew him, Cleveland is such a team, making the trade good for both teams. By the time the Browns outgrow him, their rookie should be ready to take over. And you can't overlook the draft pick and cap relief we got in the trade as well.

Wow...I...haven't heard an excuse like this since a certain Bills' backup justified his poor play by saying the reason he sucked was that he didn't study the playbook since he wasn't expecting to play. Not saying Manziel is wrong, but he's wrong to say it. I always tell my kids when you make a mistake you need to do three things, admit the mistake, apologize for it, and do what you can to make it right. This...is not taking responsibility. Yes, at the end he said it was all his fault, but his earlier words say otherwise. I wonder what reaction he expected to get. Sympathy? People thinking, "Really wasn't going to give him a chance, but he's right...it was Cleveland's fault for not realizing he was...well...Manziel. In light of that, sign him up! If he still sucks, it will be our fault for not realizing he still sucks." Just...true or not...you don't *say* things like that. >.<

Ish. New helmet is fine, but the unis...it's like they chose powder blue as a signiture color (for obvious reasons), then said use the Seahawks as a base, but swap out the neon green with powder blue. The numbers, well, no sugar-coating how hideous they look. Grey on the shoulders looks like they ran out of fabric and just had to grab something to finish off the unis, even if it was grey. Not the worst unis, like some of the ideas, just...some really head-scratching decisions.

I'll say it again, Brady would not be Brady behind our O-Line, or most O-Lines in the league right now.