jahnyc

There have been second and third round ol picks that have contributed immediately, as noted above (plus Fabini of the Jets, I think). It seems that we have needs at the position that are not being fulfilled. I believe that Teague is a free agent next year and our talent behind the starters seems thin. Drafting ol would have made sense, but other than Williams, TD has not been inclined to address the position with high picks. We will see who plays left tackle and whether Losman, essentially a rookie, has the protection he will need.

1. I am surprised TH is still a Bill. It appears that all of the teams that supposedly had interest drafted rbs (Arizona, TB, Philly, Chicago, Miami). Are we officially stuck with him now? 2. WR in the second round after TD talks up J. Reed? Makes no sense. 3. TE in 3rd makes some sense with T. Euhus and Campbell coming off of injuries. But was this a need? 4. No o-line or dt help (so far). TD and the coaches must really think our oline is good. Who plays LT? I must admit that I am very concerned about the prospect of Teague moving to LT. 5. I really thought TD would move-up for Barnes at ot.

1. Travis will probably be traded for a third round pick, but he is a good value. We all downgraded him for a variety of things (fumbles, injuries, off-field stuff, blitz pick-up, etc.), but he rushed for over a thousand yards behind fairly crappy o-lines. He should do very well with a team with a good o-line. 2. We need to build depth at a variety of positions. I am not comfortable with our reserves on the o-line, dt or at rb. We really need a solid rb prospect in this draft since we don't have any real idea about WM's durability. 3. Spencer or Baas sure would look good in a Bills uni. I think Teague is a free agent after this season. 4. I don't expect the Bills to draft a wr with one of their top picks. I do believe TD when he says that J. Reed is suited to be a quality slot receiver. I am not sure I agree, but I think TD believes that. 5. I wonder about our depth at LB, but I have a feeling there is some quality there even though Stamer, Crowell and Haggins don't play much. 6. Vincent and Milloy are getting old. We could use a quality safety prospect.

Why would you trade Nate for a #9 pick? Signing a #9 pick will be very expensive and we need Nate next year. He is a proven player. Who knows what you will get over the long term with the #9 pick. In addition, if we trade Nate, Vincent may be too old to play corner and while McGee played well last year, he is still relatively unproven. I understand that Nate will be a free agent after next season, but if we are serious about making every effort to make the playoffs, we need him here for this season. Assuming we can make enough cap room after this season, we can worry about trading him or signing him later (of course I would prefer if the Bills would sign him now to a long term deal). You need to pay market for some of your key players at key positions. We did it for Moulds and Spikes and we should do it for Nate. He is an excellent corner and is in the middle of his prime. I think it would be really tough to recover from losing Winfield and Clements in consecutive years.

I think he borrowed some orange cones to help the students in drivers ed to stay in their lanes.

No, I don't want an overrated fat lineman. I would like the Bills to re-sign Clements, Fletcher and Milloy. Are all of their contracts up after this year? But how are we trying to "save" cap space? We are right up against the current cap. Will things be better next year? I am not sure, but I agree with you that the strong preference would be to sign our own players. I also don't think we should restructure M. Williams if it means paying him his current level of compensation for an additional number of years. If the reference in your response to an overrated fat lineman was to M. Williams, then I agree with that as well.

No, I do not need meds, but yes, I am impatient. I have been a Bills fan for a long time. I want to see the team return to the playoffs and have a legitimate shot of making (and winning) the Super Bowl. The last five years have been tough, and I have clearly lost some of my patience. But I don't think there is anything wrong with expressing this frustration.

I don't think it makes any sense to compare the Bills to Tiger Woods. We all want to see the Bills play consistent playoff caliber football over an extended period of time and not return to cap hell, but I am not convinced that, at least as of today, the team is improved from last season. Are we so talented that this is not a problem? I am not sure. I think the real questions for the upcoming season are as follows: 1. Will JP upgrade the qb position this year? 2. If Gandy is our starting LT, can he handle the position and stay injury free? Is our o-line good enough? 3. Can Edwards and/or Anderson aqequately replace Williams? 4. Can the defense and special teams sustain their excellence? 5. Will another year with this coaching staff make a difference? 6. Do we have adequate depth since we have been relatively light in terms of injuries over the last number of years? 7. Are there players on the current roster who are ready to step-up significantly?

The Bills did not make the playoffs last season. The Bills lost two solid starters (Williams and Jennings) and the team will be starting a second year qb with very little experience. I note these facts not to suggest that the sky is falling, but rather to question the efforts to improve the team this offseason. It appears that Teague may move to LT, Anderson and Edwards will fight to start at DT and there is talk that we will not be able to afford Clements after this season. These are not the moves a team makes when they were on the cusp of competing for a playoff spot the year before. I know that more moves will be made, which hopefully will include the trade of Henry, but we can't expect to fill all of our needs in the draft. We need a LT, center and better depth at almost every position. If we are not going to re-sign Clements, we will need a cb. We need some young players at safety that have potential (Vincent and Milloy are old), we need depth on the o-line behind our starters (who can step in and play) and we could use help at DT (Adams is getting old). The goal should not be to maintain the status quo and find inadequate patches for our losses, but to improve the roster from last year. JP will need help (particularly from the o-line), and I don't think the Bills have done enough for him or the team during this offseason (so far).

If we trade Henry for a draft pick, I think a third round pick in return would be realistic as long as Henry does not make demands for a new contract before reporting to his new team. He is probably worth more, but this is a tough year to trade a running back.

I know Clements will get a lot of money, but wont a #9 pick in the first round be highly compensated? Look at what Mike Williams is making and he was drafted four years ago. If the dollars are going to be close, I would much rather have Clements, a proven quality player.

Sorry if already posted and that I do not know how to provide links, but Lenny P. states in this week's Tip Sheet that the Henry for Shelton may not happen. Apparently, the Bills coaches are less than enamored with Shelton and some feel he would be a sixth lineman for the team. LP suggests that we may have options with other teams at a later point in time. Do we really want Teague at LT? Seems scary to me.

Is it true that Williams is not showing up for offseason workouts? For the amount the Bills are paying him, he should be there. We can't go through the same thing with him this year as we did last year. He needs to be in Buffalo working out and staying trim.

I strongly agree, unless there is a LT prospect available in the second round that should have gone much higher.

On the face of things, our o-line needs some serious attention. We need a LT and LG and center should be upgraded. I hope we make the Shelton trade so we can focus on LG and center. I appreciate that McNally is an excellent coach, but he can't make something out of nothing. Teague should not play LT and Peters/Bannon are not ready to come in and contribute immediately. Let's be realistic. At a minimum, we have a serious need for a quality LT, particularly since we have a rookie qb.

I think in other years we could have traded TH for a second round pick. Not this year. Apparently there are many good running backs in the draft, there are franchise rbs (James and Alexander) that could be had for maybe less than a first round pick and not as many teams as usual looking for new starting rbs. There are still economic considerations, and if TH is really willing to play out his contract, then he becomes more attractive. The top three running backs and the franchise backs are going to be very expensive.

With all of the recent discussions on the Board about TD's drafting, I am really starting to believe that Travis would be a bargain for a third round pick. It appears that a surprisingly low percentage of drafted players become starters or quality players. This percentage obviously decreases after the first round. Would you rather have a proven commodity (albeit a bit older that a draft pick out of college) or a guy who has a less than a 50-50 chance of becoming a quality player in the NFL? I would take the guy who has already shown he can be a very solid player.

I have had some concerns that we would be unable to trade Henry. With Alexander, James and the strong talent available in the draft, I thought that maybe there would be no suitors for Henry. I think we all are forgetting the very solid seasons he had before this past year. I know I tend to remember his fumbling, his inability to pick up the blitz and his below average hands. I guess AZ sees more of the positives than the negatives. I hope a deal gets done. I think Shelton will help if healthy. I still hope we draft a guard and/or a center. We will need the help even if Shelton becomes a Bill.

SoCal raises a legitimate question, particularly given our failure to make the playoffs over the last number of years. I am not suggesting that we fire TD, but in light of the foregoing, it is fair to review his performance, where we are and why. The reality is if we were getting better performance from our late round picks the team would be a better team and more balanced in terms of overall player economics. TD has done well with first and second round picks and some free agent acquisitions, but the missing piece of the puzzle is success with the late round picks and cheap free agent acquisitions.

I also agree. The guy played hard when he played. He was a Bills fan and wanted to play for the Bills. I say leave the guy alone and wish him the best (except when he plays the Bills). What surprises me is how the market for rbs can change so dramatically. There are a lot of quality guys available for the right price (James and Alexander) and real potential talent in the draft.

I think some our ability to trade Henry will depend on his contract demands. I also think that our best bet will be to trade him to a team with an injured starting running back. This may happen after the draft and result in a pick for next year.

I agree with you Coach Tuesday. Our draft picks in the late rounds, other than McGee, have not been able to step up and start. If they could, it would balance the team in terms of overall economics. Other than McGee, I don't think we have any players that are starters that were drafted by TD in the fourth round or after.

They may restructure M. Williams' contract, but I doubt he will make less. They will likley convert some of his base into bonus, but not reduce the overall amounts of the contract.

I didn't forget about M. Williams when I wrote my post. Clearly, we are overpaying for the guy, particularly when Ogden, Pace and Jones are signing contracts that average about $7 million per year. The problem I have is that some posters are suggesting that Williams' contract was "slotted" and that is what would have been paid for any #4 pick in that draft. I would love to get confirmation of that by understanding what draft picks were paid around the same pick the year prior, the year of and the year after MW was picked.

I am not sure how it is going to get better cap wise in the future. M. Williams, Moulds, Spikes and others will take up significant cap space in future years. In addition, Clements is a free agent next year and I can assure you that McGahee will want a new deal before his contract expires. If players like Losman, Evans and McGahee become stars, than of course we will have pressures in the near future to extend their contracts and pay the market rate for such players. Although this is a good problem, it will further complicate our cap situation.