Estro

Russ Brandon - "We will leave no stone unturned" Translation: "We will let Eugene Parker outclass us once again"

Which is another reason this team is a joke. They will not draft a QB this year because they've sold themselves into the belief that EJ Manuel needs to be the sole QB on the roster with potential. In 1 season he's shown no ability to stay healthy, no ability to consistently throw the ball accurately, and no pocket presence, yet the Bills will stand pat at the position. And it's why we will endure another 6-7 win season.

Russ Brandon is an individual who is a salesmen and a good one at that. He has sold Ralph Wilson Jr. on 3 promotions over the last 15 years. The same 15 years in which the Bills have failed to make the playoffs once. He is now head dog for the Bills, and I'm still trying to figure out what he's accomplished to warrant the title he holds. It's garbage in, garbage out over at One Bills Drive. It's embarrassing and inexcusable to go a decade and a half and not qualify for post season play once. Deciding against the franchise tag today was amateur hour. If you value the guy at $10 mill a year for 3 years then why don't you value him at $8 mill for 1 year. And please don't tell me theres to many moving parts to pull together a trade. We could've snatched a 3rd rounder at an absolute minimum in this years draft by trading him to a team that covets safety help. Instead the Bills have just let a guaranteed 3rd round draft pick walk out the door today. The Bills let a 3rd rounder out the door because they feared having to pay $8.5 million to a player if no trade market developed. Instead of taking that gamble, they worried about the money side of it and folded like a cheap chair. I like the possibility of a trade or even Byrd playing 1 last season with the Bills over no draft picks and no Byrd at all. Today was no different then selling 1 of our home games to Toronto. It's a money first operation at one Bills Drive. Money first, winning second. It's why winning has been secondary the last 15 years.

I agree. I know Boyd has become an after thought since the draft evaluation process has started, and his stock has dropped like a rock, but I'm still a believer. I think he will be a good starting QB in the NFL. Like you pointed out he has a very nice deep ball, and I just like his overall game. I thought he was a 1st/2nd rounder after his last college game. It now appears he will be available in the 3rd round maybe even later than that, and I'd love to see the Bills pick him up. Doubt it'll happen though. I will also add, not that this is going out on a limb, but Marcus Mariota looks like an absolute terrific QB prospect in next years draft. Favorite to be the 1st overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft, and for good reason. His game really impresses me. If things go the way I think they'll go with EJ Manuel, the Bills might have a shot at him next year (obviously I don't have much faith in our current QB).

Trent is/was viewed as a full time back. A guy that could handle the load to the tune of 20-25 carries a game. Now I looks like Indy might've guessed wrong, but I don't think any team would view Spiller as the type of back that can carry the full load. He's more of a situational "Reggie Bush" type back. He's looking to avoid contact on the football field.

I can't envision a scenario in which CJ Spiller is resigned by the Buffalo Bills, therefore I would jump at the opportunity to take a 2nd rounder for him. I also believe there isn't a single team in the NFL that would value Spiller enough to part with a 2nd rounder. He's a situational player, and in the 2nd round you're still hopeful of finding a starter not a part time player.

Did you guys see Benjamin do the WR drills at the combine??? I'm curious to get your take if you did. I happened to watch him, and I thought he looked very stiff and the opposite of fluid in the drills. Seemed to have problems tracking the ball in the one drill where you have to catch the pass over your outside shoulder. I know not to put too much stock into the combine, but I was entirely unimpressed by him. He also looked slow as molasses in the 40 yard dash especially his get off (10-yard split), seemed really sluggish to accelerate. Guys that impressed me thoroughly for all of the opposite reasons of Benjamin were Brandon Cooks, Odell Beckham Jr. and Martavis Bryant. I especially liked them in the gauntlet drills as well as the drills where they had to track the ball and catch it over there outside shoulder on the go routes. All looked fast, quick and fluid. All looked to be natural catchers of the football.

Daryl Smith will be 32 this April. Daryl Smith's contract last season paid him $1.125 million. The franchise tag number for LB's this year is $10.9 million. If you think the Ravens would even consider slapping him with the franchise tag and nearly 10x'ing his salary from last year, you're way off base. 32 year old ILB's don't 10x their salary, and they certainly don't get paid that kind of money. As they say on the show, C'MON MAN.

Not bold, but Alex Carrington will sign a deal with the Cleveland Browns within 24 hours of free agency opening. I can't forget Mike Pettine's face lighting up whenever given the chance to talk about Carrington.

Liked the way Alan Branch played, but at the time of his signing I was a bit steamed because I knew it'd cost the Bills a 3rd or 4th round compensatory pick this year (Levitre leaving).

I think his physical condition at the combine will determine whether or not he is draftable. If he's out of shape he's doomed. If he comes in and looks talented I'd have no problem spending a 5th on him.

First, I have to credit Joe Buscaglia for pointing this TE out on Sal Capaccio's Saturday WGR show. The dude is oozing with talent. Big size: 6'5" - 240 lbs., good blocker, soft hands, athletic as hell. Oregon used him all over the field, in line as a traditional blocking/pass catching TE, out wide as a TE/WR and in the back field as an H-back. In the H-back position he actually saw quite a few carries ala Aaron Hernandez, and was quite impressive. So why haven't I or you heard about him up until last week? He quit the Oregon football team back in October 2013, and was arrested for cocaine possession a couple of weeks after that. Clearly some huge red flags, which will really hurt his draft stock, but there's no denying his talent on the football field. I believe he's a Combine invite so the way he shows up physically and conducts his interviews there will go a long way in determining what round a team will be willing to take the chance on him. Kiko Alonso and Duke Williams both came into last years draft with some "character" dings, not nearly to the extent of Colt Lyerla's, so you can't completely rule out the Bills taking a risk on a player who is as talented as Lyerla. Check him out on youtube:

Coldplay

With a couple of teams already announcing season ticket prices for the 2014 season, I'm expecting the Bills will be doing so themselves shortly. If memory serves me right I believe there was no increase in prices last year, so I'm sure the Bills are debating whether or not they can "afford" to raise the prices. There are a lot of moving parts.......Reasons to not raise the prices would be: 1 - coming off a 6-10 season, 2 - More than likely no shiny new QB via the draft, 3 - Last year they failed to sellout a game or 2 and had to manufacture another sellout or 2. Reasons why they might bump prices: 1 - New renovations at the Ralph, 2 - If they sever ties with Toronto, they'll certainly be looking to recoup some of that revenue. My guess is that they stay flat for another season. Anybody have any insight? One other note to keep an eye on is this new tier pricing some NFL teams are doing, similar to the Sabres having different prices for more in demand games. I could see the Bills exploring this idea, as our early season games (September & October) always seems to command a much higher price than the later ones, for obvious reasons.

How about the Gatorade color prop bet. The first cooler they dumped on Pete was orange. Then a few minutes later as he was getting ready to trot on the field another group of players dumped another cooler of yellow Gatorade on him. Interesting to see how they'll grade that one!

There's something special about Russell Wilson. He's been flying under the radar a bit, as of late, but I think he save his best for last. I see Wilson raising the Lombardi trophy later tonight.

I have a lot of questions about EJ's abilities, without taking into consideration the knee problems. Accuracy is the chief of my concerns. I just have problems, based on the history of QB play, that accuracy is a trait that can be vastly improved.......and I think EJ's accuracy must vastly improve in order to be a good NFL QB. My second main concern is his pocket presence under pressure. His tendency to back up and spin backward in a muddied pocket killed many of our drives. This I believe can be improved, but many QB's who refuse to step up in the pocket (Blaine Gabbert) do not last very long in this league. As for Tim Graham, don't now the man at all, but his antics on this board and on twitter became very annoying to me. That's one of the reasons I stopped following him on twitter. He seems to always be twisting and caniving his way to make a story where there just isn't one to be made. I actually agree with him that the Bills should draft another QB high (for the concerns I listed above), I just don't see the purpose of Tim saying that point blank to his face. Just not a respectful thing to do, IMO.

Sears. Not very good at any one thing, okay at a lot. Trying to turn it around, but finding its very difficult to do so.

Ditto. I followed Decker's game a little closer this year (as he was on my fantasy team). While he had a couple of big games, mainly that 4 TD game I strongly believe he's a product of Peyton Manning. His hands are inconsistent and his ability to win jump balls given his size isn't all that impressive. I'd stay away from buying a guy high after 2 years with one of the best QB's ever. He'll likely land a contract in the 7-8 million per year range, and I don't think he's worth it.

Was just going to say the same thing. It's impossible to have 2 away team without it technically counting as a home game for one team.

Washburn was retained under Caldwell and is still a coach on the Lions.

1. QB (EJ's not the guy, Bills don't see it that way though), 2. OG (LG was a mess, Urbik's play at RG regressed this season), 3. LB (Hughes and Mario our pass rushers, we need another competent LB to pair with Alonso), 4. TE (haven't had an above average TE since when?), 5. WR (we are a team with a bunch of #2 and #3's, no true #1 WR since Eric Moulds left, 5. RB (I really like Freddy J, but he's getting older, not a fan of Spillers skill set and way too many runs for 0 and negative yards. Kills a lot of drives with those runs, 6. DT (specifically a run stuffing D, I know Branch, Dareus and K. Williams make a nice trio on paper, but we gave up way too many yards rushing up the middle)

Watching Andy Dalton has been painful today, and it's what I fully expected. The guy is not a good QB. Cincy is playing at home, with the better defense, better WR's, better TE's and they won't win. Why? Andy Dalton. The more the pressure built, the more he crumbled. For the NFL talent evaluators who said this guy doesn't have a good enough arm for the NFL were dead on. A couple of his INT's were a complete result of his ball lacking zip on those sideline passes. If I'm a Bengals fan I've seen enough to know this guy ain't getting it done. So far the playoffs are 3/3 with the better QB getting the W. No QB, No Shot, Bye-bye Andy

I don't care what he was considered, he won 0 playoff games in that time. As a fan of the Bills I have a different expectation set then you, I wouldn't consider myself lucky to have a QB heading up my team that has 0 playoff wins in the next 5-10 year window. If your point is that EJ would be lucky to put up Palmer like #'s, I tend to agree with you as I don't believe EJ will be a good NFL QB. That's why I'm such a strong proponent of drafting another QB to compete with Manuel this upcoming season.

This organization is a joke plain and simple. They are not fully committed to winning, how else can you explain 14 straight years with no playoff appearances. I'm reminded of just how inept this organization is each and every January when I have the pleasure of watching playoff caliber football. It looks like a different sport than what I watch at the Ralph September-December. And any fan who drinks the Kool-Aid that EJ Manuel will "develop" into a winning QB given time is completely misguided