BuffaloRebound

Bonus sizes will most likely grow a lot this year as it seems that the salary cap number keeps growing as the players get a bigger share of the revenues. That means that the cash Ralph needs for salaries/bonuses is growing at a faster pace than the money he is getting from revenue sharing. Add in the increasing discrepancies in luxury box money and other local marketing revenue deals and it becomes more of a challenge/risk to compete with large market teams. The presence of the salary cap however makes it more of a cash managment/risk problem. No team will ever lose money in the NFL, it's just easier for big-market teams to pay $20m+ signing bonuses and to absorb the risk of that guy being a dud. A team like the Bills may have to compensate against paying a $20m bonus by being under the cap unless Ralph is willing to take on some debt. Instead of low interest loans for a stadium, perhaps small market teams could request low interest loans from the NFL for signing bonuses.

It seems like only a couple years ago, the salary cap was in the $60 million range. The increases are becoming out of control. Guys like Schobel are getting absolutly screwed because they signed deals 2 years ago and the cap has gone up 30% since then. Keeping Clements, Kelsay, or Fletcher is going to be very difficult because there is so much cap space available to the 32 teams. It has gotten to the point where a billion dollar owner is a necessity in order to keep up.

The guy has been playing well lately. But no one is the least bit concerned that he'll shift back to neutral once he gets the big payday? He has shown signs that he could be that type of player.

Our DL is pretty young. I'd like to see a veteran run-stuffer brought in. It would be nice to draft the best available OG in the 1st round if the Bills are in the mid-teens. A big WR or even a RB in the 2nd round should also be considered. Other than LB, our defense is very young and has some talented players. I'd rather sign some vets for the defense and draft offense next year.

The Bills will need a top 10 pick to get Jarrett.

From what I saw, the DE's played very well today. Consistent pressure on the outside and when the JAX RB's were actually stopped near the line, it was the DE's making the tackle. Definitely seems like an upgrade at the DT position is necessary (would like to see a veteran added here).

Guess that's what the 15 yard un-sportsmanlike was for.

If the Bills pick in the mid to late teens, serious consideration should be given to Samardzija. I'm not an ND fan, but that kid is tall, tough, and has the speed to make plays. He seems like a Marv-type of player.

No matter how bad the O-line or other Wr's are, Losman has to win one of these to turn the corner.

Maybe it's not a coincidence, but the evidence shows that none of the QB's the Bills have had in the past 10 years have left and even had marginal success elsewhere.

It has also been a decade since the Bills have had a quality starter at the QB position.

This team has also not had a quality starter at QB for the last 10 years save Bledsoe for his first 8 games and Flutie in spurts. Fom Collins to Johnson to Flutie to Van Pelt to Bledsoe, none of these guys has done anything after being cut by the Bills. OL play has been bad but QB play has been just as bad if not worse over the same time period.

How long can you wait? Next year is Losman's 4th year in the League. Does anyone really believe that if the Bills give up on Losman at the end of the year, he will turn out to be a good NFL starter with someone else? Sometimes it's just time to try something else and move on. We are getting very close to that time.

Playing not to get embarrassed instead of trying to win. Even if the O-line is that bad, something has to be changed. The drastic change has already been made to the O-line. Next is QB.

What's wrong with a guy like Jerry Porter? Physically, he is the perfect complement to Evans and it would be nice to give Losman a big target at WR. I know he is not known to be a character guy, but you can't win with all choir boys, and perhaps playing for the Raiders would make anyone crazy. Don't know Porter's contract situation but I'm sure the Raiders would deal him for a 3rd or perhaps 4th round pick.

The Bills may have had horrible O-lines the last 10 years, but none of the QB's who left here and played somewhere else had more success elsewhere. I guess those teams had bad O-lines too.

That would have taken a ridiculous effort to feel the defender coming from behind and then somehow shift his momentum which was taking him to the sidelines to step in front of the defender. The ball was thrown way too late and there was really nothing Evans could do without having eyes in the back of his head.

Call me impatient or fair-weathered, but this team simply doesn't score points with Losman at QB. The closest thing to an explosive performance was his 1st quarter performance in Miami last year which was followed up by zero points the rest of the game. He does look better than last year but that is not saying much. Give him the rest of the year, but be fully prepared to go in a different direction next year. This seems somewhat similar to giving Rob Johnson a shot for one year in Gregg Williams 1st year. I guess the difference being that college QB's like Leinart and Cutler weren't available that year in the draft. I see a lot of people saying that there are many other things wrong with the team besides QB. However, instability at the QB position is the hardest thing to overcome in the NFL.

Pennington is twice the QB of anyone on the Bills roster. Say what you want about his arm strength, but the Bills would have at least as good of a record as the Jets if Pennington was the Bills QB.

I'd put the odds of Losman being a quality NFL starter for the Bills at about 25% right now. Some inconsistency at this point in his career is fine, but he hasn't really showed much besides that. He didn't exactly light it up in the Bills 2 wins. At this point, I think most people will be surprised if he amounts to anything.

I'm with you. We need a guy who has proven he can win at a high level. Keep Losman around and maybe he can pull a Drew Brees but it's not happening by itself. And Drew Brees was actually a good QB in college in the Big 10. People have been making excuses for Losman since he was at Tulane - those ferocious Conference USA pass rushers will get you every time.

If a player isn't kneeling and the whistle didn't blow, I would think players are taught to keep playing.

Rob Johnson had all the tools and looked good on occasion as well. The thing that scares me about Losman, similar to Johnson, is that he has never led a conference-winning team much less champonship caliber team. You can't teach that. Look at a guy like Chad Pennington. He certainly lacks a lot of the physical talents you look for in a QB, but everywhere he goes, he wins. I think this is the point that Felser is trying to make. It probably is a bit pre-mature given Losman hasn't played many games in the NFL, but has he ever shown that he can be a QB on a quality team at the college or pro level? His line was supposedly horrible in college too, but good QB's seem to somehow find a way to overcome these things at some point in their careers. That said, if Losman doesn't respond the rest of the season, Troy Smith is a guy that really intrigues me. If he proves to the NFL scouts, he can make enough of the throws, he seems like the type of guy that you want running your team.

Losman's gotta use his legs more. It seems like he is programmed to stay in the pocket as long as possible even if the defense is giving him 5-10 yards. Even if he just moved out of the pocket and extended the play an extra couple of seconds, he would be a much bigger problem for defenses. If he's made up his mind on 95% of the plays that he's not going to use his legs, what good is his mobility? That said, the Jets being able to easily get in the endzone on the goal line and the Bills inability to do the same was the difference even with the Jets fumble return for a TD.

Outside of a few guys like Stroud and Henderson, there are not many DT's that can rush the passer and clog the running lanes. I enjoy having DT's that can get pressure and chase the QB down like the Bills have this year. Most of the running plays that gained big yardage were misdirection at Ellison. Ellison is nice in coverage but I think having Spikes back will greatly help the run defense. I do not miss Sam Adams and like having DT's that can collapse the pocket. It makes the pass rush so much better this year.