FLFan

True, plus this is a good move for Detroit who already has a dominating number 1 receiver allowing Tate to be a complimentary player. Great fit, IMO.

This. Neither Robey or Brooks are adequate if they lose a starter, and they do not have the luxury of sliding Williams to corner this year. Solid signing that fills a critical depth need on both special teams and the secondary.

Apparently the night janitor was not in on this one.

Perhaps they should eliminate their scouting department since all they need to do is look at CBS Sportsline

I am not surprised. They may as well make a low ball offer to both. I would be very surprised if either was back. Moats would seem to be a good fit for Pettine at a position of need and Carrington is represented by Parker.

Pretty stupid not to want a front loaded deal, IMO. There are several possibilities, one being he just does not want to play in Buffalo. Personally, I think he is just insistent that he he was going to be a free agent. He has won that battle. It is entirely possible that, much like Whitner who ended up signing in SF for less than he was asking when actual interest in his services was much less than he anticipated, Byrd may end up in a crappier situation for the same or even less money, than the Bills offered. Based on reports so far, the market at his asking price seems to be soft.

Agree with your points on Byrd. As for Dope and The bullfrog, I had to turn it off.

What was reported was $30 m guaranteed over the first 3 years. We don't know how many total years were offered - certainly more than three - or the average salary over the term. Nothing inconsistent at all here

I doubt it would be the 49ers. Too many other stars there that ultimately need to get paid. They already let Gholston walk rather than pay him what he wanted so it seems they are not inclined to tie up that kind of money in a safety. The Eagles might be a possibility but they have already thrown around some fat contracts. Of the potential top contenders, Denver may be the best fit. I do not know what their cap situation is like, but they need secondary help.

He is open to returning to the extent that the Bills offer is the best offer for him. He will go where the best offer is.

Good move. I suspect the Bills were willing to give Byrd what they offered plus make this deal. If so, then they are likely at the max they can offer for Byrd so will fall out once he starts fielding offers. I suppose it is possible no one will offer Byrd what he wants, but I think it is unlikley. If it was either or (Byrd or Williams) then I am happy with this outcome for lots of reasons.

Byrd has always been of the mind to test free agency. They tried to sign him before the tag last year and probably talked with him the year before, although I do not remember the specifics. This has nothing to do with applying the tag last year.

Whaley just said on GR that they believe Lewis, with a full training camp under his belt, will be a very good backup, and that Dixon and Tuel provide some good competition, so they are very satisfied with the current QB situation. They will evaluate other options out there, including Kevin Kolb's health, but they are satisfied to stand pat. I would not count on Vick being of any interest to the Bills whatever.

Completely agree. Graham is doing what Graham does - stir up crap based on no inside knowledge, just his own uninformed opinions, because that gets him noticed. He is a clown and carries no credibility. In the meantime, the Bills have made every effort to keep Byrd, who obviously, simply does not want to be here. He is totally focussed on free agency and grabbing the maximum deal. Time to let go and move on from that jerk too.

I do not agree. Every indication is that Bills made reasonable offers to Byrd last year and this year. If his negotiating position is simply "take it to leave it", I think you have to believe that he simply wants to be a free agent before agreeing to anything. You can not negotiate with yourself, and any organization that simply pays a take it or leave it demand without negotiation would be foolish. Byrd and Parker have shown no desire to negotiate and no desire for Byrd to remain with Buffalo. It is what t is. Time to move on.

And it does. Don't kid yourself.

So, Tim Graham wants to stir up some controversy? Shocking. This guy has no credibility so I will believe this when a credible source reports it.

That statement by Florio simply proves his ignorance of the situation. The announced committee is part of the negotiated agreement on the new lease and will include representatives of the Bills. Had he bothered to do any homework, he could have easily found that out. Pretty typical for Florio.

So are the Bills. If EJ plays to expectations, the Bills are a very good team, despite all the self loathing around here. I would not trade places with Cleveland.

Exactly. I was very happy that the Bills did not recruit him last year. Adequate, not great, and to my mind underachieved in Chicago. It was time for something new here, not a middling retread.

I am surprised they did not hire Kevin Costner.

Could not agree more. The Ryan/Pettine defenses can be fun to watch and generate some big plays through pressure, but are very susceptible to braking off big runs, which we saw time and again, especially as the year wore on and teams adjusted to it. Heck, we saw the Bills do the same thing to the Jets on more than one occasion over the years. The problem was not personnel, although we could certainly use upgrades to Moats and Bradham, and certainly not Kiko, as many are suggesting. (i.e. Lets take a rookie of the year finalist at Middle Linebacker and change his position because he is not "big" enough) The proper balance is tough to maintain, but hopefully Schwartz will take advantage of some of the unique talents he has to both consistently stop the run, and generate enough pressure to enable the secondary to perform at a high level.

Nobody ran TG off this board except TG. He threw a hissy fit over some fairly innocuous criticism. He simply does not like to be disagreed with. Ample evidence of this.

Seriously. There will be plenty more classes.

They can always decline to go.