ComradeKayAdams

Three things about this franchise that should never ever ever EVER be changed: 1. The Buffalo location (on that note, please put the new stadium in downtown Buffalo). 2. The Bills name (homage to the defunct AAFC Buffalo Bills from 1946-49 that should have joined the NFL with the Browns, 49ers, and original Colts). 3. The red, white, and blue colors (I believe - but I could be wrong - an homage to the original NFL Buffalo All-Americans franchise from the 1920's who arguably deserved to have won the first two league titles in 1920 and 1921).

I have no problem with people being critical of Marv Levy. It's important and interesting to discuss history with honesty and objectivity. However, I think people also need to use historical context when evaluating Levy. The NFL was a very different league 30 years ago. What seems like obvious professionalism and protocol now (forcing players to not party the night before a Super Bowl) wasn't so obvious back then. Also, read this to get a better sense of the SB 25 gameplan that allowed Bill Belichick to help the Giants upset the Bills: https://media.nyfootball.net/25/html/article-belichick.html I don't even fault the Bills too much for losing the next three Super Bowls, as they were the consensus underdogs in all three. The NFC East was simply incredible back then in the early 1990's. You had three converging NFL dynasties (Parcells' Giants, Gibbs' Redskins, Johnson's Cowboys) in addition to the Buddy Ryan-built Eagles with Randall Cunningham and an amazing defense. The teams in that division were simply built the right way for the NFL rules at the time. The AFC Bills were probably a little too light along the DL and OL for these guys (even though the Bills did well against that division during the 1990 and 1993 regular seasons). Pro football is a uniquely brutal sport where injuries and the competition level make it unusually difficult to repeat high levels of success. Winning 4 conference titles in a row is very impressive. How impressive, you ask? Well let's look at it this way: using the NFL's officially recognized standard of equating early day NFL titles (1920-32) and NFL Championship games (1933-69) and AFL Championship games (1960-69) with the modern day AFC/NFC Conference Champions, no team but the 1990-93 Bills has ever won 4 in a row. 3 in a row has happened 5 times (1922-24 Bulldogs, 1929-31 Packers, 1965-67 Packers, 1971-73 Dolphins, 2016-18 Patriots). 2 in a row has happened 23 times (1932-33 Bears, 1940-41 Bears, 1948-49 Eagles, 1952-53 Lions, 1954-55 Browns, 1958-59 Colts, 1960-61 Titans/Oilers, 1961-62 Packers, 1964-65 Bills, 1966-67 Packers, 1970-71 Cowboys, 1973-74 Vikings, 1974-75 Steelers, 1977-78 Cowboys, 1978-79 Steelers, 1982-83 Redskins, 1986-87 Broncos, 1988-89 49ers, 1992-93 Cowboys, 1996-97 Packers, 1997-98 Broncos, 2003-04 Pats, 2013-14 Seahawks). Winning multiple conference titles in a row is so difficult that no team besides the Patriots dynasty has done it in the 21st century with the sole exception of the 2013-14 Seahawks. By the way, notice how only 7 prestigious franchises have done this multiple times: Packers, Bears, Cowboys, Broncos, Steelers, Patriots, and....our Bills (a random shout-out to the AFL Bills)! Bottom line: Marv Levy was a flawed coach who made mistakes....but was still a VERY deserving Hall of Fame coach. Marv Levy was no Bill Belichick, but he's still among the top 20 or so head coaches in NFL history. Can't wait for the 2019 season: the one where the Cheatriots dynasty ends and the new Beane/McDermott/Allen AFC East superpower emerges.

It's also interesting to note that there is only one player on offense with a 1st round pedigree: the QB. On defense, there is an entire front 4 DL plus the MLB plus a pair of CB's. This maybe provides a little insight on how Beane and McDermott envision a roster construction. Using draft selection as a very rough proxy for talent, I'd say that the offense is in need for more elite talent next season (particularly WR).

I can feel Bryan Anger. He would give the Bills focus, make the roster stronger.

I think we're all ready to purchase a Bills jersey with "ANGER" on the back. Fun fact: Anger was the punter the Jags supposedly panicked and grabbed in the 2012 3rd round after we traded up to "steal" TJ Graham from them. Six picks later, Russell Wilson was drafted...

I suppose. But you can say the same for many others in the Hall of Fame. Curtis Martin, for example. If McCoy accumulates a bit more playoff experience to go with his numbers, he'll make it in. He's never going to be considered among the 10 or so greatest RB's to ever play the game, but he'll be considered with the next tier. He'll need to have 2-3 more reasonably productive seasons, however, to get inducted into the Hall. What's your opinion of Lynch's chances, by the way? Your "writing the history of the game" standard suggests Lynch should make it for his 4 elite seasons with Seattle.

Shady is only 1500-2000 career rushing yards away from solidifying his case for the Hall. He'll get all his needed yards, TD, and reception numbers with Andy Reid in KC. His first 10 years in the league have been better than Frank Gore's. I am going on record as hating this roster decision with all of my heart. Beane and McDermott may have severely underestimated McCoy's decline (mostly the OL's fault last season) and severely overestimated Singletary's abilities (4.66 40-yd dash speed for a scatback role?!).

I'm not sure. There are different types of #1 RB's. He's much more of a Barry Sanders shifty type than a Jim Brown power type. Actually, he is nearly identical to Barry Sanders in every way except one: speed. Barry Sanders ran a sub-4.4 40-yd dash in his prime. Devin Singletary clocked in at 4.66, which is atrocious.

I know a good optometrist who can help you. They're probably keeping him around to see if there is a desperate team willing to offer a 7th rounder for an OT. Otherwise, he probably gets cut tomorrow in favor of a waiver pick-up.

Thanks! I think it's the glasses. They lend me extra credibility. So now we're down to 9, once Croom gets moved to IR: QB Allen QB Barkley FB DiMarco WR Jones WR Foster WR McKenzie T Dawkins T McDermott G Boettger That's 2 starters and 7 specialty/backup players out of 26 players on offense. The defense, meanwhile, returns 18 of 24 (once Coleman comes back tomorrow).

So he basically won his roster spot because his clapping skills are even better than his dad's... I know the NFL is trending toward OT's being more valuable than RB's, but I personally would have kept future Hall of Famer Shady over a marginal tenth OL.

So far I count only 11 players remaining from last year: QB Allen QB Barkley FB DiMarco WR Jones WR Foster WR McKenzie WR Phillips TE Croom T Dawkins T McDermott G Boettger

Good list, Bandit! I only have 5 edits: 1. Yeldon over Murphy 2. Joseph over Lacey 3. J. Johnson over Marlowe 4. Kroft (no PUP) over Teller (traded today) 5. Keeping Bojorquez at the moment (waiting to see what punters get cut) As others have already mentioned: Murphy, Lacey, and Marlowe are players you can easily pick up during the regular season when injuries take a toll; Yeldon, Joseph, and J. Johnson are not. Yeldon is an interesting matchup RB who will be active or inactive depending on the defense we face each week. Joseph and J. Johnson are destined for the 7-man inactive list but have great potential to be NFL starters down the line.

Buffalo's Gaine on Clowney: would look good in Miami colors, but doesn't know what team he'd want to play for

I think our expectations for the Bills should be even higher: 10-6 minimum, barring catastrophic injuries, with zero blowout losses. The entire defense is supposed to be dominant, the special teams are supposed to be improved, the running game is supposed to be above average, both QB's should be more comfortable with Daboll's offense, the TE corps have been completely revamped, and the WR's are supposed to have gone from awful to average with serious depth potential for more. Then you look at the schedule and see only 6 games where the opposing team has more talent: NE, NE, Pitt, Cleve, Philly, Dallas. There are 10 games where the opponent should be worse: Fins, Fins, Jets, Jets, Wash, NYG, Cincy, Balt, Tenn, Den. At some point, as a franchise we need to move beyond the feel-good player stories, the platitudes about team-building and leadership, the hand-clapping, the Jesus-praising....and just ***** WIN.

Yay! Let's get the band back together!!! Vlad Ducasse is still available and we already have Russell Bodine! Now all we need to do is trade with the Saints for Marshall Newhouse and trade with the Bengals for John Miller: Newhouse - Miller - Bodine - Ducasse - Mills

If the Bills aren't ready to compete for a Super Bowl title by NEXT SEASON, then something wrong happened along the way with this latest rebuild. Rebuilds in pro football aren't supposed to take longer than 3 or 4 years. The salary cap template for this roster is such that there is plenty of room allocated for 1 elite Jim Johnson-style 4-3 DE, especially for the time that Allen is on his rookie contract.

Clowney probably doesn't want to play for the Skins because they aren't expected to be remotely competitive this year. Maybe a 3-way trade between the Bills, Texans, and Skins is possible? Does Washington have a burning desire for Zay Jones, perhaps???!!!

Nothing?! This thread is one surreptitious Randy Constan link away from having EVERYTHING.

Clowney is a premium football asset. Think bigger! Get creative! Pull John Skelton out of retirement and then trade him to Houston for Clowney.

Maybe if we don't specify which Murphy during the phone conversation, the Texans will accidentally assume Trent and then we can slip them Marcus for the official NFL transaction paper work.

I hear ya, brother. I hear ya. I've got a serious case of Clowney trade blueballsitis here and need some serious relief. Make it happen, Beane!

No need to worry. This team is being constructed so that they can afford an elite free agent DE and still pay all the guys you mentioned when their contracts are up. Keep in mind that Murphy and Hughes will very likely be gone by the time the big contracts for our youth core are needed. Lotulelei will have a very manageable cap hit by then as well. If Beane does end up trading for Clowney, I'm confident that he already thought about this and plans to keep all of White, Edmunds, Allen, Dawkins, Milano, Oliver, etc.

You are the only person on the planet who is thinking this. Everyone else on the planet believes his skill set at the NFL level is optimally utilized as a 3 technique 4-3 DT.

Also: McCoy has just 1 year left on his contract as well, Jones has 2 but he sucks so who cares, and Clowney would come with a franchise tag option where we could conceivably snag a really good pick or picks in 2020 if we aren't able to reach a long-term deal.