FLFan

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.

This should be an automated response every time someone mentions the 4-3 vs. 3-4 thing.

Byrd can complain all he wants. This does not change a thing. It has always been highly unlikely Byrd would be satisfied with anything short of being allowed to go to free agency. The Bills are going to have to franchise him and that has always been the case. I could not care less what Byrd thinks.

I could watch that all day.

He will follow the cash, more so than potential for winning. Thats just how he rolls. As for TG, he is a turd. Agreed. What I heard Pettine say is that envisioned a similar situation with O"Neil as he had with Ryan, with Pettine calling the plays the first year, and O"Neil then taking over. I doubt he is ready for the DC role on his own, although continuity would certainly be good.

and contracts.

You clearly do not like Marrone. That's OK but I will point out that he did not luck into Pettine - he targeted him and convinced him to come here. That's was obviously a very good hire, although Pettine was not a " well regarded, well known NFL DC". In fact, many people thought he was just an extension of sexy Rexy. For my money, well regarded and well known is much less important than philosophy, adaptability, and defensive knowledge. The Bills do not need to blow up their system for a big name. They need to build on what they have without starting over. While you, and some others, have written off Marrone and assume all his choices are failures, (unless he is lucky) I am more focused on the big picture and do not share that opinion of Marrone or his staff.

There is no such thing as a pure 3-4 or 4-3 anymore. The Bills ran a hybrid with alignment depending on situation. It was primarily a 3-4 but with many variations. Wade ran the same scheme in Houston. It is all in the details.

Pettine leaving was inevitable although I was hoping for one more year. It is discouraging, but let's see what the plan is before swallowing the cyanide.

That would be your guess. I agree with that. This job will be in demand. What is so discouraging about the situation is the high probability that any new DC will want to bring in a new system and that could seriously damper the progress that has been made.

Chandler led the team in receptions, so I would guess Hackett would use an athletic, big TE pretty well if he had one.

Well deserved.

You do not need to be a "Stodgy Old White Guy" to recognize a classless punk when you see one.

Common practice.

Losing Pettine at this point would be an absolute disaster. I was really hoping we could get one more year out of him.

Agreed. Jackson outplayed Lynch and it was not even close. Lynch did not want to be in Buffalo, was not motivated, and one more stupid mistake from disappearing for a year. They got what he was worth at the time. I doubt many, if any, head coaches besides Peter Carrol were lining up to rehabilitate Lynch. And oh, by the way, his mediocrity continued his first year with the Seahags.

Byrd wants to get paid and will play anywhere, for any team, that agrees to pay him the most. The Bills will certainly try to negotiate, but given past history with Byrd, and particularly with his agent, I think the expectation should be that no deal will be struck. I do not see the Bills simply ceding to a demand by another party who refuses to negotiate. This is bad business and bad precedent, especially since they own the biggest card - Franchise Tag. They can, and should use the tag again. He will then either negotiate or not. If not, so be it. The Bills still have options at that point with their asset, including keeping him on the roster. This is going to go on for a while, so I am sure this is one of many discussions on the topic this board will have over the next 6 months.

Keeping Snyder away is an impossibility. This is the worst job in the NFL. The ownership sucks, the media is a constant weight, the team is a divided mess, and the cupboard is bare. Good luck to him.

I read all of it. It still makes no sense.