Bill from NYC

No surprise. Under these scenarios, the QB cannot suffer an injury. Why take the OL?

I am very sorry for your loss.

Using a 4th and a 5th on two safeties is a good move imo. If even one of them can play, at least it isn't a waste of prime resources. As for Mr. Levitre, I am not the type to say "I told you so." lol On the way to work, I heard on Sirius that the Bills were having trade talks about Byrd with multiple teams. Sorry, but I would rather have Levitre on the squad than be in this situation.

John, I hope that you know how much I appreciate our dialogue. I have in fact for some time. Where we differ is wrt the philosophy of building a football team, and this is really OK. I think that Spiller is a very good player. I am more skeptical wrt Gilmore, but I get the potential. But John, I am not getting any younger, and I want the Bills to win football games. And, I was extremely happy with this draft. They got a QB who has tons of potential AND an extra 2nd and 7th. On this RARE occasion, they ran away from running backs and defensive backs. This is how to build a winning team my friend.

You give the past front offices way too much room. In 2006 the Bills picked at #8 and had an early extra 3rd round pick. They came away with 3 dbs who ranged from so-so, to a defensive tackle who sucked. This in 4 rounds. Levy and his clone Jauron believed in building a football through the secondary. This of course is idiotic. When the Bills drafted Spiller, Ralph said that the team "needed excitement." He was right, but more in terms of his own wallet than building a football team that wins games. Running backs have faded in importance to the point that they are rarely drafted in the first round as compared to not so long ago. As for Gilmore, I really hope that you are correct. He had a slow start but I do understand growing pains. Maybe he too will waltz into the hall of fame. And maybe the Bills will start winning games because this year, they look to have had a very good draft.

The point is simple if the goal is to sit around and talk about who is "good," or as promo would have it, on the fast track to Canton. But the real goal is to build a team that wins football games. The Bills are consistent losers, and mainly because of idiotic drafts that Badol well describes. And as Badol points out, the league has changed. It is a passing league, period. Even an old football purist like me can grasp this. The bottom line is that Spiller is good, but was an ill advised pick. Win/Loss records are tough to deny.

John, imo, Tuel looked like a pre-injury Trent Edwards. There are, believe it or not, good things about this. This kid looks to be accurate. And like Fitz with SJ, he appears to have practiced quite a bit with Easley. This is all good imo. I want EJ to start and develop, and I think that Tuel is a great player to have around in case of injury. This was only one game, but our receivers were getting open, holding the football, catching first down passes and touchdowns, and running back kicks in an off the charts way. This without SJ to draw away coverage. Players get hurt. If a team really needs a receiver I am hoping that they will look in our direction.

Coach, the no-huddle concerned me at some points. Glenn looked gassed and then made a good play after a timeout. I am hoping that some of the no-huddle was to teach. What gripped wrt this game was that it looks like we had a good draft, and that the receiving corps is unusually good. I still am taking this in and trying to sort it out.

Watch just how fast he is cut if his game doesn't get MUCH better. He was WAY off today. A player at that level can lose football games for a team.

Robert Hunter lyrics keep things grounded LOL!!!

And did you hear Warren Sapp gushing about Mario? And he was right. Mario is far and away the best player on this team!!!

1) Tuel to Easley reminds me of Fitz to SJ. This is a GOOD thing. They played together as scrubs and developed a chemistry. This is a great thing to see. 2) Am I the only one who thought that Crezdon Butler had a very interesting game? 3) Ron Brooks was awful. If he doesn't play twice as good as he did today, he will not make this roster. 4) I sent a letter to am man I know, It said, "One for the money, two for the show." I waited all summer for his reply, He said, "3 to get ready and 4 TO FLY." 5) Manuel? He was every bit as I could have hoped for and more. 6) Welch at LT? Sorry but no. His play resembled that of Raquel. 7) This team has some receivers, no? There are too many to keep. Seriously, they were doing this without Stevie Johnson taking away coverage. They can't keep them all, and I hope that they are able to get draft picks for a couple of them. As a Bills Fan, this was actually strange to watch. 8) Goodwin? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! He looked like McKelvin with a brain and football instincts!!!!! If his returns can stay anywhere close to what he did today, I don't really care if he ever catches a pass. The 106 yard TD was just that sick! 9) Glenn and Dareus looked out of shape. I guess this is normal for huge players, but it concerns me. 10) Hairston and Pears are not as bad as most of you think that they are. 11) Aaron Williams was surprisingly not bad at safety. Bear in mind that I never saw him play a good game at corner, and have always viewed him as an unthinkably dumb draft choice. 12) Who is this guy Kaufman? 13) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you. This is why I was SO pissed at losing Levitre. They could have done a deal similar to TB and Revis. TB guaranteed his first season only. After that every season is up to the team. I don't understand why they are stockpiling cap dollars THIS season and tying up space for 2014.

Isn't Fitz a 7 million dollar hit in 2014? And what about Anderson? Also I am under the impression that teams will soon have to spend almost the entire cap, no?

You raise a good point about Wood and Manuel. That said, I want Carrington to stay just as much. He is entering his prime, and the blocked kicks and passes are huge. Btw, Branden seems to be piling up dead cap space for 2014. Is this to avoid spending real dollars? I hope not, but it is suspicious.

Yeah, we sure show them who is boss!!!

Yes, and to his credit, Wood appeared to be playing injured much of the time. Not all of his games were great, and I think that the injuries mattered. Levitre was far more consistent than any Bills blocker in many, many years. And I get your point in terms of your assertion that you didn't want to spend top 5 guard money on Levitre. But this begs the question, where is this money going? From where I sit, it looks like they are piling up dead cap space for next season (isn't that when they have to spend more cap dollars), and unsuccessfully trying to throw big money at a safety. This mind you with a rookie quarterback. If this makes sense to you, that's fine. I try, but it looks bizarre from where I sit.

Levitre is not "good" in pass protection. He is superb, AND durable. He isn't "weak at the point of attack" either. He just isn't a monster. It is a huge reach to think that Glenn, with not much experience, would be an upgrade over Levitre. And as for the Bills not being able to "exert control" wrt Levitre leaving, I respectfully beg to differ. He only received 10 million in guaranteed money. They could have matched this easily. They also could have guaranteed his salary for a year or 2, and then cut him without a cap hit. But despite having a qb who is a rookie and another who is brittle and has been beaten half to death, they let him walk, only to focus on Byrd. How is that working out?

No, it isn't that simple at all. How many top quality left tackles do you tremember being moved to guard? Wolford is one, but he was more than 35 years old at the time. You cannot find me an example of any NFL team moving a star, or even very good LT out of position, can you?

Is it safe to assume that the coaches do not think that he is or will be a great LT? I don't remember Pace or Ogden trying out at left guard.

I will never agree with this. The Bills guards have sucked for two decades, and so have the Bills. Last year, they had a good pair of guards and even decent backups. They let go of their best blocker in order to chase yet another defensive back who is waving his middle finger at this franchise and it's fans. This with a rookie qb, and another who has already been beaten half to death. Sorry my friend, this was a blatant act of stupidity and more of the same. Btw, Colin Brown is a decent player but imo he is a center, not a guard. I hope to be pleasantly surprised but how often does it happen?

I fully agree with this post. In the last 20 or so years, the Bills have fielded all of 2 good RTs (Peters and Jennings). Pears and Hairston are both somewhat above average for any team, and great in comparison to what we have had.

I think that Colin Brown looks pretty decent at Center as well. And as much as I like what Wood has shown us for a few games, he doesn't have the body of work (imo) to characterize him as dominant. Levitre played his position consistently well, and made life much easier for Glenn, a rookie left tackle. As K-9 suggests, the loss of AL, big or small, will be soon recognized.

Now they have dead money from Anderson as well, no? The could have taken the hit this year with little impact imo. And I am curious as to how the new contract with Smith will be distributed. Did they lower their cap hit this season for no reason?

Anderson was rather unheralded coming out of Alabama. He put together a couple of statistically productive years, others were not so great. I don't know a ton about him, other than he was, when healthy, a fairly good pass rusher. I would like to know more about when the minimum spending rules take hold. There is no reason I can find for the Bills to NOT absorb the full cap hit now. If they do not, I am going to view this move as a possible hybrid version of "cash to cap."