jahnyc

I think it would be over if the Bills move, unless the Buffalo area shows significant economic and population growth in the future.

Some thoughts: 1. Whaley and Marrone must feel a lot of pressure to perform this year. If there is new ownership is in place before the beginning of the 2015 season, I would expect that they will want to hire their own people to run the team, including a new GM and head coach, particularly if the team does not perform well this year. If Brandon stays or is part of the new ownership team, then this may not be the case. Otherwise, the team's performance this year will have a significant impact on the future prospects of Whaley and Marrone, both with the Bills or with another opportunity in the future. 2. I hope there are other potential owners whose names have not surfaced up to this point. I had not heard of Haslan or Kahn (other than when he bid for the Rams before purchasing the Jaguars) before the purchases of their respective franchises. Bon Jovi would be a disaster since he is a part of a group that seems to want to move the team to Toronto. I cannot believe current league owners would be excited about Trump owning the Bills. I also read an old Wall Street Journal article about Milstein, which seemed to suggest that the NFL had issues with him when he was bidding for the Redskins because of his prior ownership of the Islanders. 3. I hope that Schumer and Cuomo will do whatever they can to ensure a local ownership group. In an election year, it would look bad for Cuomo to lose the Bills to another state/country. 4. I think there would a lot of support from the fans of other teams (maybe players/former players as well) for a drive to keep the Bills in Buffalo. I live in NYC, and I am always amazed that very few fans dislike or hate the Bills compared to other teams. How about an online petition to keep the Bills in Buffalo? If there was an organization/entity behind it and money available, hiring a PR firm would also help. NFL owners will always want to maximize revenue, but they will be wary of the bad publicity associated with moving the Bills. 5. My biggest fear is that the new owner will buy the team and be silent (or coy) about future plans or at least silent about what happens after the new lease has expired. This would give the NFL and the NFL owners enough cover to approve the sale of the team, even if everyone understands that the new owner will ultimately really want to move the team. 6. Seems that our current front office is more willing to take on players with more complicated backgrounds (Spikes and Williams). 7. If the Bills move to another city, I will stop being a fan of the team.

I am hoping that it is some combination of Jacobs, Pegula and Golisano.

I think it is too early to tell what this means. One negative that is that if the team is sold quickly, the group working on a potential new stadium will not have an opportunity to make progress. I also want to understand whether the Bills are being held in a trust that will require, as a fiduciary obligation, to sell to the highest bidder without regard to any other consideration. If there is discretion as to the selected bidder, that potentially would be a good thing. If not, then it could be a problem. I do not think we can count on current NFL owners to bar a potential new owner because they may suspect that the new owner will move the team. Any smart bidder will either wait until the lease escape year or be very fuzzy about future intentions as to relocating the team.

He will be one of my favorite people if he can somehow help steer the ownership of the Bills post-RW to a local or other group committed to keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

I agree. If the team is a playoff contender and there are sell outs for all games with a strong season ticket holder base, it will be harder for the team to be moved.

I think Cuomo is up for re-election in November. If that is the case, shouldn't Buffalo and Bills fans put maximum pressure on Cuomo now to step up and do everything NY State can do to make sure the Bills stay in Buffalo long term? Seems like there may be a window here given the impending election in November.

If Watkins falls to the Bills, I believe they will take him. Otherwise, I think it will be one of the top three OTs or Evans. If there was a top DE available at 9, I think that would have been the pick, but none of the mocks suggest there is a DE worth taking in the top 10 other than Clowney.

I like the Corey Graham signing. The signings of Rivers and Williams are scary. Why would the Bills need to sign these guys so early in free agency? Makes no sense to me.

I really do not like this signing. Cut by the Bears, worst performer on the St. Lous o-line. Shouldn't he be a guy making the veteran minimum? Unfortunately, we are paying him more than what a back-up would make, so for the Bills, this means he is a starter.

I think Williams will be the starting LG with the money we are paying him. Contract seems to be for more than what a team would pay a back-up. Kind of typical how the Bills operate.

There is no plan. Even if there was a plan, it would be difficult to execute given the realities of attracting players to Buffalo and a team that has not made the playoffs in 14 years. I know that many posters believe that it is a good thing not to overpay for our own players. I disagree. Until the team shows the willingness and the ability to keep its own players, the team will not have success and will not be able to attract free agents. Continuity is important, and when the current players see their peers leave, sometimes with bitterness, it creates future problems and hurts your ability to keep players in the future.

It is really disheartening to lose quality players, create holes, and then not fill them. We see this year after year and we never spend to the cap. Some of these guys are pro bowl caliber too.

I guess we will never know if Byrd would have stayed for more money if Tim Graham's tweet is correct. If true, can't blame him for truning it down and getting more money from New Orleans, a team with a better QB and a good shot to make the playoffs again.

Bottom line is that we have lost Levitre and Byrd in consecutive years with no replacements (yet) for either one and no compensation. No matter how you feel about these players or the money they received from their new teams, still really hurts the Bills.

It was never clear to me whether the Bills made an offer to Levtire for crazy money or at all. I also recall that before free agency started Levitre said he was waiting for an offer from the Bills. I am not remembering this correctly?

Byrd is now the number one available free agent in free agency this year, just like Levitre was one of the top free agents available last year, and Poz the year before. I am not suggesting that Byrd is the greatest free agent of all time, but it is striking that other teams have been able to successfully re-sign or tag their free agents. I cannot give the Bills' front office the benefit of the doubt any longer. Making a strong offer to Byrd now (if true), when many teams have significant cap room this year and amounts that free agents will be offered may be higher than in years past, does little to convince me that the Bills did everything they could do to keep Byrd. At a minimum, the timing of the Bills' offer was off and should have been made last year or earlier. At worst, the Bills purposely go through a charade of making it seem like they were interested in signing a player, but claim that they were outbid, the player wanted to play in a particular city (or not in Buffalo), or the agent was difficult, so that they can play the victim and deflect blame for not having re-signed the player.

I do think we need to be careful with this $30 million over the first three years of the contract thing. We do not know if it is true, and even if true or patly true, whether the full amount was guaranteed or the number of overall years or dollar amount. Seems like a leak from the Bills to try to claim that we were not cheap and did everything they could do to keep Byrd.

It seems like it is one small step forward and then at least two steps back with the Bills. How can we continue to lose talent and get nothing in return? This team has been 6-10 or worse over the last five seasons and this is one of the reasons why. We have lost too many decent players over the years and we are always trying to fix the holes after their departures (on top of the holes that already needed to be filled).

Why do people give the Bills and the front office the benefit of the doubt in these situations? Clearly, there was bad blood between the Byrd camp and the Bills last year during negotiations and after, but why was that on Byrd? Maybe the Bills did not make a market offer. It cannot always be that the player did not want to be here. Maybe the players do not want to re-sign because of frustration with the pace and substance of negotiations on new deals over a period of years. The bottom line is that we have had one winning season (barely at 9-7) in the last 14 years and we have not made the playoffs during that time. We are about to lose a probowl player with no compensation (after losing Levitre last year). I am tired of the Bills and the front office acting as if they are the victims of difficult agents or players that do not want to be here. We have the cap space. Enough with the excuses.

I recall that Levitre made his statement about free agency right before he was about to become a free agent (after there were little or no negotiations with the Bills). Before that, he seemed very interested in remaining with the Bills. Byrd may be a different story, who really know. But the overall point is still valid. The Bills are worse off without Levitre and Byrd, and once again find themselves trying to replace good players (usually unsuccessfully, as our situation at LG last year shows) when the overall team needs to be improved.

It would be incredibly poor management if both Levitre and Byrd end up leaving in consecutive years without any compensation (other than the possibility of a late round compensatory pick). Drafted and developed by Bills, both players potentially could have been re-signed well before getting close to free agency. The Bills do not have enough talent to have these types of situations to occur on a regular basis. Combined with enough money available under the salary cap to have signed both players, it is one of the reasons we have not made the playoffs in more than a decade.

i would be happy if the Bills drafted one of the top three offensive tackles (Robinson, Mathews or Lewan). Should be ready to start at RT from day one and could slide over to LT if Glenn leaves the Bills in free agency in a couple of years.

Awesome!!! One of my all-time favorites. Really happy for Andre. Very much deserved, even if later than it should have been.

That would be crummy. The only unit that showed improvement last year was the defense. We need a strong defense if we are going to be competitive next year because EJ will still be an inexperienced QB in year two after missing much of his rookie year with injuries.