FLFan

"stringing him along for another year" was not an option. He was a free agent after the year. They could have waited until the end of the year. In hindsight, that may have been a better option. However, there was very little disagreement at the time in extending the starting QB at low level starter money. Of course now all the hindsight heroes know better. This was not an "inept" move at all - but one they would take back if they could I am sure.

Excellent response. Unfortunately, you could post it a hundred times on different threads and not make a dent in the hysteria.

This has been pointed out before, but the Fitz contract was not "huge". Made him the 19th highest paid QB in the league - right about where he performed unfortunately. I am sure Gailey and Nix were expecting more. Starting QB's are expensive. He was the starter and was locked up before free agency. It did not work out and he is now gone.

Sadly though, as of today, better than the Bills QB depth chart.

All true, but you do not build your team, or even your offensive line, around the left guard. They need to sign Byrd - an actual all pro and difference maker. They need to resign Wood before he escapes. (Center is the key to the OL) They also need to be thinking about what it will take to keep Spiller down the line. A $7.8 Million per year guard is a luxury in the salary cap era, which by the way, Polian did not have to deal with when he was GM of the Bills.

I do not see it either. Not fast, does not score alot, low YPC. Not near the game breaker Welker has been and still is. Stupid move by the Pats.

Sorry for the snarky comment. I was going for levity not offense. My apology if i offended. Still, the answer is the same with either wording - yes i have. Still wondering if it was a serious question though. :-)

I can't believe this was a serious question. If you have been a fan since the early 70's and have not seen worse teams than this, you either have Alzheimers or have not been paying attention. This is not the worst team in the past 10 years much less the past 40.

Once again with the voice of reason Kelly.

That would be logical. Does not seem to me that losing a 32 year old career back up guard is make or break. Marrone is an ex OL and OL coach. I am sure he knows what he wants even if the rest of us do not.

I am sure Levitre did not just wait around for the Bills to call. Please. He has been talking about free agency for a year. A monkey could have been his agent and recognized he was going to cash in big time by testing the market.

The level of hysteria on this board is laughable. Levitre was as good as gone when he decided to test free agency. He announced this intention last year. Now all the hindsight heros know all the answers. The Bills were not going to, nor should they have, break the bank for an above average guard. Levitre was in the right place at the right time and clearly was intending to go for the best money he could get. God speed, and F him. Move on. Left Guard is not an irreplaceable position by any means, and not even in the top 5 biggest needs of this team right now. As for Fitz, absolutely the right move if he refused to renegotiate, which he did. We are less than 24 hours into free agency. Lets see how the Bills plan (which of course none of us knows) unfolds over the next couple of weeks before declaring all is lost.

Certainly not getting it here.

Well, it took a little bit longer than I expected for the Tebow nonsense to start.

I just checked their website and it appears you are right. They did not sign him.

I only remember Smith and Morris myself as working out. They picked up Roosevelt last year but he did not play. They also have Kamir Aiken on their roster right now but he has not played a game. the point is a bit overstated I think.

Always? really?

Levitre's comments about intending to hit free agency were last year. None of us know what conversations have been had and not. It would be perfectly reasonable to assume at least a prleiminary conversation was held with his agent. It takes two to tango as they say. If he intends to field offers, the worst thing the Bills could do is make an offer to establish the floor for his agent. Very bad negotiating.

Good for him. Would not have been possible (or smart) for the Bills.

Agree. May not be in the $9 m per year range, but $35 to 40 M over 5 years with $20 m guaranteed may be a good guess. I know Levitre has been saying he has not been contacted, but my guess is his agent has inidcated the range he is looking for and the Bills are not interested for that price. Additionally, Levitre made public statements last year that he intended to test his worth on the open market. He would be a fool not to, but it is not the Bills style to be a stalking horse for bids by other teams.

I agree with this. I do not think he will last until 41. If that is the Bills plan, then they will be shut out again. I am not convinced he is worth the number 8 either, but there are too many teams ahead of Buffalo to assume he, or anyone else they might be considering with that pick, will last until 41. If they think he is the guy, or whoever else they think might be the guy, they either need to take him at 8 or agressively move back to the first. A win/win would be getting a great prospect at 8, and then trading back into the last third of the first round and getting a QB, IMO.

It will be interesting to see what he signed for. My guess is he would have commanded more than SJ in freee agency which would make it a no go for Bflo anyway. Nice player, but overrated I think. They need to fix this problem in the draft - free agency for depth only.

Nelson performed best when he was being used by Gailey as a 4th WR/ 2nd TE. He was forced into the slot due to injuries and was never a great fit there. If you think back to his best games and times of production, the Bills would line up with 3 WR and Nelson often in the backfield or in motion from the backfield as an H Back type of role. Sometimes inside in a 4 WR set and sometimes lined up as a tight end. This enabled the Bills to get mismatches with Nelson based on his height and cover up his deficiency in speed. As the WR corp diminished due to injuries this scheme no longer really worked in 2011 and his production dropped off. Last year he was injured so early we will not know how he would worked in the slot, but I never liked him as a slot receiver due to lack of speed. Chances are his particualr talenst as a tall slow possession receiver or lightweight TE do not fit what Marrone is intending to do. Gailey's scheme was unique and worked well in early 2011 but they did not have enough horses to sustain it in 2011 and did not start with enough horses last year.

Many have questioned his talent but Kelsay gave his all, was a key contributor and leader, and a class act. Thanks and best of luck to him. Well said.

Calling Williams a bust at this point is laughable at best. He had a terrible year, but the entire secondary struggled along with the entire defense. People forget that he got limited playing time in his rookie year and looked very good. People were very high on him after his rookie performance. It's a tough position and the Bills defensive Coaching was suspect at best. Way too early to write this kid off.