silvermike

To 75 on August 30? I wonder what the point is of even having a two-step cutdown. The last preseason games are two days later, so it's not like anyone's going to get a chance to show something with another team before final rosters are made. They should cut down a couple days after game 3 all the way to 53, with the chance to use waivers to get back up to 60 24 hours later for a final view.

Sometimes, you have to let things go.

WHat's the money going to be like for Kyle? I have to believe it's at least $8M/year.

The Bills' offensive line was much less terrible than reported last season. They weren't good, by any stretch, but they were solidly not-the-worst. They did well in sack protection (34 sacks allowed = just over 2 per game = 14th in the league) and about the same for the running game (4.3 yards per carry, good for 13th in the league). It helps, without a doubt, that Freddie Jackson is a strong runner and Fitzy is elusive. But the line wasn't the train wreck we got used to.

This is the most value we can reasonably get out of that roster spot, I think. He's a much better QB than any other potential 3rd on the roster who also plays a skill position (Jackson? Parrish?) It's clever, and it does make the team better.

Jauron got his man after all.

Who's going to beat him out? Jehuu Caulcrick?

With Whitner off the roster, Kyle Williams is the only Marv-drafted player left. His UFA acquisitions have long since disappeared. What a disaster.

A trend away from the 3-4 is good for us. It'll make talent for the scheme more plentiful (for example, suddenly Ty Warren is available) and teams will generally spend less time preparing for it.

Like who? Nix did a great job finding UDFA wide receivers, and a decent job making something happen with junkheap LBs. These aren't diamonds in the rough, they're just marginally lucky breaks.

Football's really back now!

QB-RB-WR-LB-LB The pro bowl is a popularity contest, and they're going to vote in the QB with the best rating, the RB with the most yards, the LB with the most sacks, and the WR with the most TDs. My guys will have all that because of the hard, underappreciated work of the guys in the trenches, who are passed over despite their talents for old guys with name recognition.

Does anyone know what the actual league payroll was in 2010? Regardless of the cap, and how it was calculated (and whether or not there was one), how much compensation did the players get in 2010 versus how much will they get in 2011? The salary floor might capture more dollars than the cap-drop gives up. Anyway, it's sounding like a fair deal for both sides. And really, if they get it done soon, the fans really didn't suffer for all that. We'll have free agency in July instead of March. No harm done.

The problem is that the Cowboys are worth about a billion dollars more than the Jaguars. (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2010-08-25-nfl-franchise-values_N.htm). So you're going to have to get Jerry to give up a lot of value or else give him extra shares, which causes plenty of problems. There's not really an easy balance to be struck; but you'd have to think that everyone is currently making enough money that ultimately, somebody's going to cave. Quite probably before any games are missed.

The NFL's statutory anti-trust exemption is for their broadcast rights, not their labor arrangements. Those are currently being litigated in Brady v. NFL, and while threatening to revoke the broadcast exemption might pressure both sides, it's not going to resolve the issue on its own.

The lockout has ended on June 7th, but there won't be football until October 7th. But Go(o)d(ell) knows which money has been saved.

They could always hire actors to portray Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson. Let me grow a beard, and I could pass for Fitz. Seriously, though, I don't think it's worth it to roll out the new uniforms before there are games ready to play. People aren't going to rush out and buy without games to play, you might as well use the euphoria of a deal and a saved season to boost sales.

People live a long time, as it turns out. The last World War I veterans died this year. The last civil war veteran made it until the 1950s, overlapping with my parents, and the last widow of a civil war vet died in 2004. Note some sketchy circumstances on that last one - http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0908934.html. Marrying an 86 year old with a pension to get out of poverty at age 19.

Without exaggerating, it's possible that Ralph Wilson has met someone who personally knew a Revolutionary War veteran. The last of those guys died in the 1860s, and someone born in 1860 would still be in his 70s when Ralph was born. It's not likely, but it's possible.

The Bills had some bad retirements last year - imagine an offensive line of Bell-Levitre-Hangartener-Wood-Butler and an LB corps of Kelsay-Poz-Davis-Schobel. That could be worth at least two extra wins.

De Smith built at least 90% of an a knockout litigation strategy. They appear to be one federal court judge away from winning a devastating, knockout punch which would permanently shift the balance of power away from ownership, not only in the NFL but potentially in all four major sports. It's sounding like he's not going to get that last judge, so it's all for naught, but if the players take a deal in June, they're basically going to end up with nothing lost: nobody's missed a game check yet. If we're talking in strict strategic terms, I think the players' strategy was risky, but not stupid. Both sides had an enormous trump card - the players had decertification, the owners had their lockout payments from the league. Those were too powerful to stay in the drawer, and both got played. Both are set to be defeated in courts. So with all the excitement over, they can get back to a real starting point for negotiations.

That's a good point. Some combination of the line, the QB, and the coaches is improving the passing game, anyway. Let's hope that when everybody's health, and with a full training camp together as starters, we can start seeing that as a team strength.

What's interesting from those numbers is that Fitz isn't one of the most pressured QBs in the league. He's 16th out of 34 rated QBs - almost exactly in the middle (drop Kolb and Romo to get one QB per team, and he's 16th of 32.) Our line is actually not doing a terrible job keeping rushers off the QB.

It doesn't really fit into either category. You do have a right to sell your services on an open market, but nobody has an obligation to buy them. There certainly are lockouts that are illegal - I don't think it's clear whether or not this is one of them. But I'm not sure that makes it a right even if the best arguments are in favor of an injunction. It's by no stretch of the imagination an individual right. Is anything that's not a right a privilege?

Looks like we're in for blue end zones now. I'd say that's a step forward.