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I think that Eric Moulds is the last player on the current roster remaining from the Butler era. In thinking about this, the one thing that is clear is that this is TD's team, built through his drafts and free agent acquisitions. Some thoughts in this regard: 1. I am neutral concerning TD and his reign. I will be more supportive if we make the playoffs this season. I appreciate his dedication, but after five years, it is more than reasonable to expect at least one playoff berth. 2. How do we compare to other teams in terms of the percentage of free agents that are starters? For example, our starting linebackers, safeties and four out of our five o-linemen will likely be free agent acquisitions (as opposed to draft choices). 3. If JP struggles, I hope that the team will play Holcomb. We have a solid defense and very good special teams. We need to win now, not in two or three years. 4. I hope that we do not draft in the top five again. Mike Williams contract is ridiculous. The NFL needs a cap for rookie contracts. 5. How much cap room do we have? Travis has been traded and I thought I read that Mike Williams restructured his contract by moving some bonus money to next year (saving about $2 million on this year's cap). These two moves should have resulted in savings of approximately $3 million.

I agree that we are (i) desperate at LT and (ii) overpaying Mike Williams significantly. No RT, even a very good one (which he may finally become this year), is worth more than five million a year. This is a serious drain on our cap. I am not sure what the intention was when he was drafted, but I think we would complain about the compensation for any player that would have been drafted at number four overall that year. As for the situation at LT, I am surprised that we are going into the season potentially with Gandy or Teague at LT. At best, one of them will be a stop-gap, average LT. I worry about that position with a second year qb with no starting experience. It seems to be a recipe for disaster.

It seems odd to me that we would go into training camp and probably the season with a very unsettled situation at LT. I understand that McNally is a great coach, but our choices for LT seem to be, at best patches. Afterall, as I noted above, Gandy was injured last year and Teague has not played LT in years (and is now older). We don't even seem to have a natural LT on the roster and we did not draft one this year. I know that many hope that Peters will be the answer, but I must assume he is a project and will take more than one season to develop. Many teams invest heavily in the LT position (i.e., Pace and Jones). I always thought Philadelphia's development as a team was keyed from the drafting of Tra Thomas and the acquistion of John Runyan. Are there many other teams with this amount of uncertainty surrounding the LT position? I think the best we can hope for this season is adequate play at LT, which is unfortunate.

I am still concerned about our o-line, particularly with a young qb. Who will play LT? Gandy? He could not stick with the Bears and, a year later, he is good enough to be a starting LT?. Teague? He has not played LT in years and was not especially effective with the Broncos at that position. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't think we have the answer at LT curently on the roster.

Mike Williams' compensation this year and in the future has us in a jam. Even if he is considered to be a top five RT (I am not saying he is-- I have no idea), he should probably be paid approximately $5 million per year (assuming he was a free agent). He is being paid double that. If the Bills cut him, they have a huge cap hit and lose a decent RT. If the Bills restructure, they reduce his cap hit for this year but pay him a huge bonus that will hurt us in future years. Plus there is no way he is going to agree to reduce his annual comp from almost $10 million to a more reasonable number in future years (he is not a veteran who is perceived to be on the downside of his career).

Yes, I was only referring to the TD era.

I have always found it interesting that the Bills invested so heavily at the linebacker position. I am not questionning it because I think this investment has contributed very significantly to our defensive success, but it is definitely unusual. The same can be said for our investment at the safety position. I believe that Milloy and Vincent are two of the top paid safeties. At LT, it appears that we are going to try to get through the season with Gandy or Teague. This is also interesting since most of the LTs were highly drafted players.

Whether you support TD or not, I think it is very understandable why many us are confused about the direction of the team. TD seems to make statements about players (i.e., Bledsoe and J. Reed) and the team (smashmouth football or the need to improve the o-line) that are contradicted by actions a short time after. It is also frustrating to have a quiet offseason in terms of free agency and the draft. Our inability to trade Henry i(so far) s also frustrating. I am neutral about TD and will be until we make the playoffs and have success on a consistent basis. I don't understand the glowing praise for him nor the hatred. Having said that, I think it is okay to be critical of TD and/or some of his picks or trades as part of our discussions about the team (just like it is okay to praise TD about the same things).

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.