Nostradamus

Here's the obligatory... "Ralph and Buddy just saved a bunch of money on their car insurance" post.

It really was that bad. He didn't even factor in the boxscore. Not even an assisted tackle. It is as if they are playing short handed when he is on the field.

So the chances of drafting a 3rd or 4th round tackle being effective are greater than the chances of a 1st round pick being effective? Or are you just that down on Reiff in particular?

Then Hairston is your starting left tackle? That position absolutely needs to get addressed way before the third round. I'm hoping they could resign Bell for a reasonable number.

Florence seems to think otherwise. This is a free agency visit with cameras, drama, and intrigue, not Williams going to get milk from the store. Unless he is a buzzkill, he should get a kick out of it. Having a great rabid fanbase is one thing this city has to offer. There is no reason to shy away from it.

Embassy. For what it's worth, this is a Drayton Florence tweet. He seems to think it'd be a good idea for Bills nation to show their support. I think, if done tastefully, it could make Williams feel good to see a nice little crowd of 50-100 people cheering for him outside his hotel. Anyone in? I live live pretty close and would go down with my fiancee, her friend, and dog if anyone else is interested. Also,someone seemed sure he was staying at the Hyatt. Can anyone confirm his whereabouts? Florence seems to think he's at the Embassy.

Everyone is stressing about Tennessee, a middling team from a small market with absolutely no football tradition. Neither do they have the interior tackles we have to take attention off of Williams. Would Williams want to hear their sales pitch? Sure, why not? But, to think it's a guarantee he would pick Tennessee over Buffalo seems unduly paranoid, even by Buffalo standards.

I agree with you in principle, but Freddy has to be reasonable as well. Over the course of the next three years, I think we will start to see Freddy become more of a role player as CJ continues to develop and Freddy continues to age. I think that transition may happen sooner rather than later, though Freddy has made a career of defying the odds and exceeding expectations. Even if Freddy's production begins to decline, he provides intangibles and is an excellent leader and person. I have no problem with rewarding Freddy even with the uncertainty of his future role with the team... within reason. It cannot be at the expense of locking up Byrd, Levitre, and hopefully Wood if he recovers from injury as the core of the team, all coming up on their second contracts. Something along the lines of a two year extension, which locks him up for 3 years, where he makes about 4 million per with most or all of the money guaranteed would seem to be fair for both sides. I'd throw in a couple million more per year for incentives, such as surpassing 1,000 yards or scoring 10 touchdowns or more.

Good analysis on your part. That really is a piece of shameful journalism. Of course, I still highly concerned that the basic premise of the article, that the Bills will do no better than break even in free agency, will be true. But, he completely distorts Nix's words to arrive at that conclusion.

Couple interesting tidbits that give me a little pause for optimism. One is a somewhat random tweet from Johnson. The other was a Russ Brandon direct response to a question posed to him by Bulldog on WGR today. When asked whether Johnson might be franchised, Brandon responded by stating that the franchise tag was an asset available to all team... and that the team is focused upon making Johnson a Bill. While the first part of his answer is vague, it certainly is not negative or dismissive of the idea. Further, Brandon is a pretty intelligent guy who seems like he has his finger upon the pulse of the community. I think he realizes the team's credibility, already suspect, will take a massive hit if the supposedly rebuilding team doesn't lock up their prized homegrown product. I think he realizes that the season ticket sales will reflect accordingly. My guess is that the deal gets done.

The fact that they can be far apart shows me that, predictably, the price has gone up. It's unlikely the Bills went back to Johnson with the same offer he rejected during the season, because that would just be insulting and Johnson's agent probably would not have counter-offered. The Bills have allowed Johnson to have all the leverage, and they now probably want a do-over on the original offer and are offering Johnson what he initially desired. Of course, Johnson has no financial incentive to take that offer. The fact that they couldn't lock up their young talent at a bargain rate means they have already messed this one up, no matter how things shake out. For the Bills to lose Johnson, it would be a colossal failure that will seriously alienate their fan base. It would reinforce the notion that they are a farm team for the rest of the league, the NFL equivalent of the Kansas City Royals.

Wow! Nix would be a pinball wizard if he can pull this one off.

And if you look at the last 9 years as precedent, we have let our good players walk to the detriment of our franchise, with almost no exceptions. But hey, we should feel confident that the Bills know what they are doing. I mean, a lot of other franchise haven't made the playoffs in the past 12 years either.