Pyrite Gal

As far as WM next year, stay the course. He has little leverage to mount a holdout and every fiscal incentive to perform well in his FA year, If he performs well simply tag him or sign him if its a god deal for both parties can be reached. If he sucks next year then let him walk and we should acquire either a cheap FA or a second day draft pick we think will develop to create competition for him next year and to replace him in 08 if he sucks next year. I am not going to sleep with him, i don't follow WM's fiscal or management advice, and I expect the football players I follow to stay out of jail and off drugs but beyond that I really couldn't care less what they think.

In light of the recent brouhaha over interpretation of Willis M's crack (or is it on crack) financial and management advice over where the Bills should play, I am actually getting quite psyched about the interpretation of his remarks that he was commenting on how the NFL should choose teams to play a particular game in Toronto. I know leading intellectual lights like WGR and Jerry Sullivan are interpreting him as saying that the team should be the one to move to Toronto permanently. However, the comments I read on WGR's website are certainly open to a number of interpretations as GR does not provide a direct quote of the question WM was answering but merely provides general context about the topic he was responding to that one can choose to interpret as WM commenting on an eventuality which could only happen after Ralph's death (last i checked the date of which is uncertain) because before he dies he has already vowed the team will not move and he likely would have a veto over any invasion of an area he is marketing to under the Bills regional strategy. What instead made far more sense to me that rather than the context for WMs comments being an impossible to predict when eventuality, that the most recent NFL event in the news to spur such commentary was the NFL requiring all teams to make an appearance in a foreign country with a trip to Europe. These trips are important to the rest of the league as both of these teams will be playing that season under the additional penalty of an international trip with the to and fro 5 hour time zone shifts of travel. Even worse, one of these teams will be declared the home team and thus lose a home game that season. I haven't read Penthouse since I became old enough to have real sex so I have no idea what he said in that article (besides I used to only read that magazine for the pictures) so perhaps in that spread he issued the crack financial advice (really only people on crack take financial and management advice from WM very seriously) that the Bills should move to Toronto. However, what makes more sense to me based on what is possible and the recent news is that he was talking about the NFL requiring teams to play games in Toronto as the NFL pursues its strategy of bringing their game to potential customers in foreign countries in Europe, Mexico and yes a bunch of folks with money in Canada. If this turn of events happens, I know some Bills fans seeming live in fear of sharing their team even for a one game event in Toronto. However, i think this is foolishness particularly if when Buffalo played another team in Toronto, if the other team was given this event as a home game it would be all to the Bills advantage. 1. Let's suppose that the game was against an opponent like AZ in a game which actually would be quite unattractive at this point and would not only likely fail to sell out if it were in Buffalo but would only sell out in AZ based on season ticket sales out there. However, if this were the game transported to Toronto its virtually guaranteed that this special event would be a sellout. Even if they put Buffalo under some blacjout provisions because Toronto is closer than areas like Syracuse already in the blackout area for Bills home games, this in one that will be televised locally with the resulting advertising dollars. 2. The big deal for Buffaloanians is while this game would likely be a tough ticket which would likely sellout to Torontonians as a one time event, Toronto is close enough that a big chunk of Buffaloanians and Southern Ontarians who are already Bills rooters would essentially make this a Bills home game interms of crowd noise and rooting. 3. This game would be in our time zone and actually close enough to Buffalo our boys can easily practice and prepare at home as though this were a home game. In fact, even before real home games, many players spend the night prior to the game at a local hotel to guarantee sleep without the distractions of home and to prepare for the game. This game would be much the same. I would love it if we actually avoided a trip out west and the need for cheeseburgers on the flight out if the other team had this as a home game. So mark me down as one person who votes for Buffalo to play one of its games against a bad west coast or intermountain team in Toronto. In fact, if the league declares the other team the home team (a logical financial thing to do as if the Bills have trouble already with season ticket sales reducing the package to 7 games may well make this effort even more problematic and wreak havoc with our regional marketing plans) it would be great because in essence we would get 9 home games that year!

First, I really don't know anyone who thinks that everything is OK and even if some very few folks do it does not matter because even those who believe/hope that everything will work out with the Bills staying in Buffalo are still very concerned that bad things may happen when Ralph dies. Merely stating you will fight for the Bills to remain here and also that you think its a fight that we can win neither means you think everything is OK and certainly does not mean one is burying your head in the sand. Second, on the face of it, there would appear to be several ways the Bills could remain here in WNY even assuming that Ralph's family does not want the team. A. No one (be it you, me, or the media) has any clue whatsoever what provisions Ralph has left in his will for distribution of his assets, or within the Bills corporate agreements for disposal of the team. There are several methods he could pursue which actually would lock the team into residence in Buffalo and cushion his heir from a tax bite which forces sell of the team to the highest bidder if he has access to good legal minds. Contractual obligations which lock the Bills in place and certainly are not anything Ralph and his family have talked about doing, but then if you had why talk about it. It actually might serve Ralph's families interest for him to put in such language as anything which anchors the team to Buffalo lowers its real cash value and thus lowers any tax assessment owed by Ralph's heirs. B. If he really wanted to be aggressive the team can orchestrate some type of arrangement where the team is left to a corporation providing a Green Bay Packers style ownership framework. Such an arrangement would be complicated and more difficult to pull off in a will than if an owner actually tried to do it, but this does not mean it cannot be done. Some league forces might want to sue to stop an owner from doing this, but such a law suit would be costly for the league not only in terms of legal costs and publicity as the league sues little ol Buffalo and a dead guy for more dollars, but more important the same cudgel which forced the NFL to buy off Cleveland when they threatened to sue was that such publicity heightens the chances that legislative activity in Congress might subject the NFL to loss of the few exemptions from legal restrictions on constraint of trade and monpolisitic practices they do have. C. Ralph is a private owner of a private corporation and though the teams books are more open than ever before thanks to the CBA and the NFL partners the players demanding more transparency to insure owners are not hiding money, there are still a great many secrets Ralph can keep to himself. In essence, neither those who assume the Bills will be here forever, nor those who want assume they are as good as gone when Ralph dies can make this assumption as they have too little information on what Ralph is really doing or thinking. The main things which works in Buffalos favor is that possession is 9/10ths of the law. This is important as shown by the Irsays choosing to pull up the Mayflower vans and leave under cover of night and Art Modell essentially springing a done deal on Cleveland and the public. A live owner can mostly do what he wants and the NFL cannot really stop him, but even a live owner wants to present his move as a fait accompli or even he risks making it hard to pull off. Since Ralph as said the team will not move while he is alive, when he dies the team will be here in Buffalo. At that point with a dead owner, the team will be difficult to move and sale except without the concurrence of local and state courts which pass final judgment on the disposition of wills and estates. Almost certainly ever trusts, estates, or probate judge who gets any case involving judgments about disputes regarding disposition of Ralph's WNY properties will be hard pressed to make rulings which disadvantage the WNY body politic. Likely much of his estate would be tried under MI law where he lives with some adjudication in NYS for such a large WNY based property and with the NFL HQ'ed in NYS, but my guess is that after Ralph is gone that we see the Bills property likely wind up in court for a long time if there is any move to change possession from being in Buffalo to some other legal jurisdisiction. Really the folks with their heads in the sand are those who say a particular change is a done deal because change is very hard to do in our society even for a live owner,

I am not there yet with the premise of your question as I think that there is a significant difference between what some (or even most though I do not think that is the case) fans want and what the team wants. Do you agree that there is a difference between these two things and that this difference is rational? I think the team cares about two things. 1. Running a profitable business 2. Winning on the field These are in fact two different things but both are necessary things to strive for and achieve and neither in itself is sufficient to make this thing work. Even if the Bills made huge profits but not only did not suceed (as we have not so far this century) but were not even really trying, folks at OBD from Ralph on down would lose interest in the Bills and jump ship at the first oppotunity. On the other hand, if we won a bunch but the team bled money (difficult if not impossible today in today's NFL) the enterprise would soon end. The Bills as an entity must be a profitable business and the team must always try to win. Fortunately the two not only can both happen at the same time, but actually win you win you are profitable so this can work. Meanwhile, the fans are simply different. Its goals are: 1. To win 2. To be entertained. These goals also are not mutually exclusive and in fact go well together. Winning is entertaining and if the team is winning then all sorts of transgressions and stupidities are simply ignored. However, the problem here is that the team is not winning so things that annoy people end up standing in stark relief and not overlooked and in fact get focused upon. Some significant number of fans are not entertained by WM at all. This is fed by a media which makes its nickles from fostering controversy so they are more than happy to publicize stupid things that WM (or their target of the day) says and/or interpret anything he says in the worst possible way to foster a fight which drives up their ratings or sales so they can attract folks and sell ads. My sense is that while the premise of trading WM makes sense to those who are not entertained by his baby momma comments, paternity suits,or musing on the business aspects of franchise play and location make sense to some fans (particularly a media looking to foster fights and some of the more vocal fans) the premise of trading him makes little sense to the Bills in terms of producing a winning team from a contractual standpoint. The Bills are in the drivers seat regarding WM contractually. If they simply stay the course with WM and allow him to play out his contract and get FA status next year, the provide the largest possible financial incentive for him to produce next year. This is critical for a player many complain is not motivated (though I do not think this is the case but I am not a mindreader and do no know). Its contradictory for folks to argue that on the one hand he has not produced well enough to make him worth keeping and also that by trading him one is going to get another team to give up substantial value for him. it is also contradictory to argue that a team will trade to get him because he is gone when they simply pay him a salary when they get him for free when he leaves. Actually I agree that he has not produced consistently for us and the same thing that makes folks feel we can lose him destroys his leverage to hold out. If in fact he does produce then we can either show him the money if we want or tag him if we want so there is little risk in keeping him. The only risk is if he does not actually produce even with his contractual motivation. Between the good prospects and production he showed in his first season and a half and sporadically throughout his time (mostly against the Jets) I think he can produce in his contract year. Therefore, i think the Bills braintrust should look at the RBs in the draft and choose a player they think can be had on the second day of the draft who they think can compete with WM this year and potentially be a good #1 eventually of if no player exists see if there is a relatively cheap FA to be had. I see little or no evidence that any of WM's teammates or the Bills braintrust has the same concerns as those prompted from fans who are not entertained by him. The Bills should simply stay the course with WM and push for him to be part of a winner and quite frankly most of the fan focus on this issue will go away, If the Bills instead trade their #1 RB for this speculative draft choice it simply hurts our chances to win. It is ,much worse football in terms of what one can count to go with a speculative first day draft choice as your #1 RB than a second day choice you have confidence in as a plan B or C if your #1 who has shown he can produce a 1000 yards plus fails to produce.

Exactly

I am not arguing that Fletcher is so great, what I am arguing is that getting a better LB than Fletcher (I'm not sure who that is because the only firm suggestion I have heard from folks is that he be replaced by draftee Willis and I think folks are whistling in the dark at best if they believe that a rookie MLB is actually going to replace what Fletcher brought to the table for the Bills. Regardless of whether Willis is a far superior athlete to F-B, production by an MLB in our cover is much enhanced by a players ability to make reads and diagnose plays like an NFL vet and it likely will be a painful learning process this team lives through while Willis makes the mistakes necessary for any rookie to become a vet particularly with the MLB zone coverag duties of the Tampa 2 style we run). While talented rookies can if fact step into the MLB playcalling role, he best analogy for understanding what life with Willis as MLB may well be like is the same thing we just went through with JP calling the offensive signals. While the MLB signal calling and reading is not as complex as the QBs, there is still some added responsibility and reliance on this player in the Jauron/Fewell D which is going to be a long slog for us next year if in fact Willis is our choice as F-Bs replacement. The other issue for us to note of is that folks make complaints about F-B not being big enough to plug the run gaps well and about his making tackles well beyond the LOS, I think it misses the focus to claim that this is happening because of F-B shortcomings and will be solved by getting a bigger hitter in at F-B. My sense is that two of the leading issues which would create this problem are: 1. How well is the DL playing, and 2. How are the coaches using the MLB. My sense is that folks should see and be willing to acknowledge that part of the reason why the MLB may be making his first hit several yards beyond the LOS is that a little thing called our DL and particularly our DTs for runs up the middle. Getting in a faster bigger DL would certainly help with the run stopping but I have yet to see anyone provide any reasons beyond their hopes and wishes that we are not going to merely see a bigger MLB make stops 2- 1/2 yards downfield rather than 3 yards downfield. Folks may want to claim that F-B is so bad he actually does not make hits until 6 yards downfield or that Willis is so good he will hit the runner 2 yards in the backfield, but their is no objective evidence that this is more than wishful fantasy (for example F-B's tackles weigh toward being solo tackles and not assisted tackles which he would produce more of if this weak player was routinely hanging on for dear life to players he could bring down because he is so light or weak, in addition Willis is impressive as he was the Butkus winner but few pundits have him as being so outstanding a player that he rates as highly relative to the other draftees as a certain top 10 pick such as AJ Hawk was and in fact some pundits have OLBs such as Poluszny and Timmons ranked higher than Willis. There simply has been no supported argument of Fletcher being that bad or Willis being that good that the problem they site would certainly or even likely be solved by this solution. Of even greater note is that in many ways these downfield tackles may well be occuring specifically because of how we use the MLB in the Tampa 2. Definitely someone will be the leading Bills INT guy next year even if F-B is gone, but folks needs to recognize that at least part of the reason F-B led NFL LBs in INTs is because the Jauron/Fewell system actually tends to use our MLB in downfield pass coverage more than the norm. Part of the reason why Fletcher got more INTs than a far more talented LB like a Ray Lewis is that Lewis actually plays more like a DT at time in a 3-4 D which only has one DT while Fletcher plays more like a safety as our MLB divides the field in 3 with our two safeties and plays the deep zone on passing downs. F-B not only got more INTs than any other LB in the league but also led our team in LBs (more than NC or McGee) and this indicates exactly how we use our MLB. Folks may be wishing that we get a run stuffing MLB but if this player is routinely used in our D to cover the deep zone it does not matter how big he is he still will be making his first hit downfield. If instead he pinches the LOS then we likely will be seeing receivers scampering free with the ball as they catch passes behind Willis who is up at the LOS. Folks may want to claim (hope/wish) that Willis is so good he will in fact make read to figure out whether he should pinch in for run support or drop back in pass coverage. However, if one is going to rely on this argument they should acknowledge that they are expecting Willis to read plays like a ten year veteran (lets see which MLB on our team at the moment is a 10 year veteran?) and not like a rookie. I have seen little to indicate that folks attractions to Willis are much more than their love of the new color and the latest fad.

Granted it is not to much to ask for an MLB to be powerful and big enough to shed blockers and plug the line if not simply power through it to make the tackle. However, it is asking quite a bit (and generally contradictory things) for this powerful backer to also be quick enough to not only tackle from sideline to sideline as MLBs are called to do AND be fast enough to play the deep zones required of the MLB in our Tampa 2 version of the Cover 2 (if you do not recognize that this was the role MLB was asked to play then ask yourself why he led all LBs in the NFL in INTS and actually led the Bills outdoing both the CBs in INTs). Some are offering the idea that Willis the draft choice with somelihood to be there at #12 has the speed and hitting ability to both plug the gaps on the run and do the coverage. Maybe as who knows as the draft is often a crapshoot even among the professionals. However, guaranteed that Willis even if he does turn out to be as good as some hope (some pundits have him at about the 20th best pick which coincides with the idea he will be there at #12 but also have him ranked behind OLBs like Poluszny and Timmons) will be a rookie and not have the 10 years or so of seeing pro offenses that Fletcher-Baker brings to the table. It seems quite doubtful that Willis can be a good replacement for F-B without the MLB performance losing some production. F-B can certainly be replaced, but probably not well by a rookie and when he is replaced one needs not only to replace his on field skills, but also find a new team leader who can be team captain, find a new leader in INTs that produces at least 4 INTs, a defensive player who scored 2 TDs. a very capable ballhandler not simply as a D player but a player who once has short kickoff return responsibility on the ST. Folks seem to rag on F-B calling him slow (odd since he is an LB who has shown the capability to cover downfield even against WRs to the tune of getting more INTs than any other LB in the NFL), a weak player (he ain't perfect by any means as he is shorter and smaller than the prototype LB, but he racked up more tackles than any other player in the NFL the last 5 seasons and I assume 6 with this one, and he was credited with twice as many solo tackles as assists so he seems to bring folks down alone). The complaint about him bringing folks down well past the line seems far more like an indictment of the DL and how the coaches use him than an indictment of him. These complaints would be more credible if they coincided with some acknowledgement of the things he does well or with some objective support but mostly they simply seem to be the usual fact free opinion. By all means I would love to replace him with a player who helps the team do better, but the whining about him seems fairly devoid of these additions.

One moves a CB who has lost a step to safety as he know longer has the speed to cover speedy WRs and as a safety he plays more deep zone or TEs one on one. However, the move from an OLB slot where a LB has responsibility for 1 side of the field to MLB where the expectation is he will cover sideline to sideline can easily be a move which requires additional speed depending upon how one implements your D. In particular since the D the Bills run is not only the Cover 2 but the version known as the Tampa 2 which requires the MLB to split the field in 3 with the two safeties and actually play zone deep pass coverage, the Tampa 2 MLB seems to require far more speed than the OLB slot manned by TKO. You offer up an analogy of the move your propose as being similar to one given to a CB who has lost a step, but actually what you propose seems to demand that TKO gain a step in speed.

Definitely guaranteed if things would have gone differently they woi;d have been different. However, it would have only made sense for the Bills to choose Ngata over Whitner and to trade up for Mangold instead of mcCargo if the Bills chose to go in a very different direction than they went, Otherwise choosing these two would have been potentially bad to have done (in Ngata's case) or almost certainly a bad move in the case of trading up to get Mangold. Specifically: 1. N'gata had a very good year starting at RDE in the Ravens 3-4. This raises an interesting point as he likely would have played RDT for us in our 4-3. He is a good player and likely would have done well wherever he went. However, though a good penetrator it would have been interesting to see him play a role in the Jauron/Fewell Tampa 2 as he certainly is not the lower weight DTs traditionally used in this D. The Bears have employed some big DTs in their schemes, but one wonders how N'gata would have done as a DT in a 4-3, obviously the Ravens put him to different use so simply assuming that there would be a direct translation of his achievements with the Ravens to what he would have been like for the Bills is quite possible but not something easily assumed. In fact, it is virtually guaranteed that N'gota would have performed quite differently and likely not as well if he was playing in front of Keith Ellison instead of Ray Lewis. In addition if one does choose N'gata then you are as a default looking at Coy Wire (aahhhggghhh) as your starting safety (maybe Ko Simpson, maybe with the draft need ar safety Bullock and then after all these tremors you likely forgo Mangold). Ae any rate your statement may be true about the players but has little do with the Bills even in woulda/coulda/shoulda world. At any rate your point clearly says more about these N'gata and Mangold than about the Bills as if one even makes your first pick the entire draft gets altered. 2. The above point being made that if the Bills pick N'gata they probably go safety with their second pick instead of for a center, is that they only go for a center if you change the reality well before the draft and decide not to buy FA Fowler and instead leave an opening aat center (which perhaps the Jets seeing our obvious need at center do something different with their two first round picks and steal Mangold anyway. The tradeoff you put up simply seems impossible to make occur.

Actually, my summary on the three you mentioned is" Youbouty- His 06 production should not make anyone comfortable at all that he is ready to fill for NC. However, given that his problems were not self-induced like a disciplinary suspension or even an injury which would raise question marks about his ability, there are many reasons to be somewhat optimistic about Youbouty's second year. No one ever complained about his talent, the problem for Youbouty was always one of him needing more learning time and questions about his temperament and some risk taking in coverage that if he made a mistake and got burned it may well be for a TD. The best sign for the Bills regarding his development however, is that once he finally did get some playing time in 06, he actually go a start in the NYJ game where he not only was trusted by Jauron/Fewell with this responsibilty based on performances in practice which obviously impressed the coaches, but he played fairly well in first start as the Bills D effectively controlled Pennington and NYJ. His play though adequate did not demand additional starts, but overall it really makes him a partial rather than total question mark in what was looking like it might be a lost season for him. It remains to be seen whether he can if fact press for a nickel role or eventually make us forget about NC if we lose him, but there would seem to be good reasons to hope that this season of unfortunately missing pre-season because his Mom died and he was the oldest remaining male in a significantly sized family may actually have still given him the year of studying the teams playbook and watching and analyzing DB play as an inactive player that actually provided him with play study many pundits felt he needed before being ready to become an NFL player. In addition, folks who might have worried about his maturity should know that he has gotten drenched in taking responsibility as the remaining head of the family. Youbouty has every incentive to make sure he repeats the success of a variety if great Ohio State CBs in the NFL. Butler- He saw surprisingly little playing time in 06 in a Bills OL which was looking for help. However, the good news may well be that the issue was his play was surpassed by eventual surprise starter Pennington who the jury is stil out on whether he will be the permanent RT, but who certainly was a clear member of a much improved Bills OL from the intial failed version. Butler did see some time in a couple of games including some work as an OL player against the Ravens which probably was assessment play as much as anything, and I have not heard how the braintrust graded his performance, In 07 he will be competing to at least establish himself as a consistent back-up and no one has said anything I have heard to say this is not possible (though I also have not heard any good words to say this is likely), Merz- He was a quiet great surprise for the Bills in 06 as he not only quietly was on the active roster for 7 games, but even got credited with a tackle from his play. The Bills final pick not only saw action but actually impressed folks enough in practice that he even got a game start against NE in place of an injured Reyes and his OK but not great play cemented his role as being active in 6 other games. All in all, I think that almost all would judge a draft to have been successful if the 7 rounds produced a couple of players capable of starting, a couple of players who contributed though they did not start and only produced one player who ended up cut or practice squaded. The 7 rounds of the 06 Bills draft actually produced: 4 players seen as starters next year pending off-season and camp results (Whitner, Simpson, Pennington, Williams) 2 potential starters (Youbouty if NC goes or potentially a nickle role which sees half the plays, McCargo as a second rounder is expected to demand a starting role though if he gets it it would likely be Williams slot) In addition to these 6, Ellison saw significant game action and started due to two LB injuries so clearly is a contributing Bill. Merz saw a start due to injury but ended up on the active roster for 7 games. Finally, Butler though drafted higher than Merz and Pennington was surpassed by these two. All in all, while there are those who may poo-poo the achievements of this class as 2 of the 3 first day choices did not achieve there hoped for starting positions by the end of the year most hope for 1st day choices, this assessment strikes me as folks being more focused on a Kiperesque view of the draft rather than looking at the reality from a Bills standpoint. Though a 1st round pick is expected to start in the NFL his first year, and McCargo disappointed initially with his play by most judgments and at best MAY have turned the corner with his play as mid-season approached and ultimately going on IR simply failed to produce for the Bills (even if one judges it was not his fault as a player which I do not since like it or not injuries are a reality and thus a part of real assessment). However, in judging the Bills draft, McCargo's failure means that the Bills could have made a better choice in reality on the first day, but in reality McCargo's failure to produce is actually balanced and canceled out by this Marv led crew picking a player on the second day who proved capable of starting at DT. While those over-focused on draft value may belittle this by pointing to the reality that the run defense with Williams was suspect at best, again the broader reality is that this team produced a 7-9 record against opponents who produced even better than the opponents which gave a 5-11 record to the 05 team. The facts are it seems to me that the Bills ended the season with almost half the players selected (and depending upon how things happen perhaps more than half) ending up with starting roles next season on a team which has a credible shot at making the playoffs. It simply strikes me as pushing beyong what one can reasonably expect a team to achieve from a draft to have roughly half of the selections end up as starters their second year. For those who get stopped by 2 of the 3 first day choices being choices who if we did something else the draft could have been even better, I suggest they focus their assessment on the reality of what happened rather than focusing on the woulds/coulda/shoulda of what might have been, Overall, the draft in toto is a crapshoot and the reality is the Bills did incredibly well as they chose a bunch of players who got a lot of PT on a team which improved a lot.

TKO was flipped to SLB from OLB theoretically due to this position requiring less running for him with last years focus on injury recovery. Not only is it pretty clear that TKO has some additional injury recovery to do, the MLB position would actually require even more running and movement from him as not only does the MLB position require covering much more field with its sideline to sideline resonsibility, but in the Cover 2 the way we implement it, the MLB divides the deep coverage duty into thirds with the two safeties and it is not unusual for our MLB to have to cover some speedy WRs coming up the seam, TKO certainly seems to have the knowledge of being a seasoned NFL vet to handle the MLB duties (something a rookie like even the talented Willis does not have so I see us really taking a step back in D performance if he were to be handed the starting MLB role in our Cover 2. However, this knowledge may not come with the wheels to take on this duty. In addition. while TKO is a former Pro Bowler with the respect to be a team leader. I am not sure at all he has the temperament to do this, as the press has gotten him to fire off some knee jerk reponses the questions (such as his initial questioning of the decision to IR Vincent) and then he had to back off his initial reaction and upon thinking it through the IR'ing of TV was not only a move the team preferred by actually TV endorsed it as well. I do not think Spikes is a real possibility at MLB.

It was a very flawed but overall an interesting effort which to the disadvantage of the product has not been tried again to try to iron out the things about the game which were inadequate. The reason why I am certain that it could be done far better today is that there have been significant visual and graphic advances in broadcasting which could remedy some of the things which were problematic. For example, I saw these as some of the problems: 1. It was difficult to tell down and distance for each play and to know what the clock was doing. 2. There were a few controversial plays which could stand analysis, 3. There was no connection to other relevant games around the country. However, the advent of the ability to lay a line down on the broadcast to show the first down point, the prescenve of a continuous game clock and down and distance graphicm and the rotating crawl of other game scores used today which were not present for the most part (if at all) back then but are common now would greatly enhance and announcerless game. I would even be happy to have a game analyzer come on several times a game when they felt specific plays deserve explanation and context rather than have hi, appear merelu to set the context would be fine. However, my guess is that there may be 6 times per game that merit about a minute of analysis rather than constant filling of space with blather which they do now. The effort would need a good producer who actually made an effort to minimize the use of extraneous graphics amd a presentation which placed the constants like the clock and down and distance on the edges of the screeb would work well.

I think the idea of Crowell moving back to MLB where he was drafted, played a coouple of years behind Fletcher, did a nice jog at MLB when called upon in a couple of pre-season games, and was by far our best LB sub overall and injuries forced him into the starting lineup out of position is our best alternative for finding another MLB when/if Fletch goes. Willis looks like a great player, (though most pundits rank him as below the 12th best player in the draft so perhaps we can trade down if we want him and interestingly some pundits have him behind a couple of OLBs Poluszny and Timmons) but as he does not bring several things to the table that F-B brings (things no rookie can replace such as him being D captain and 10 years of seeing NFL plays which he uses to play the MLN deep zone in the Tampa 2 we use and other factors he would simply have be one of the best LBs in football as a rookie to lead all LBs in INTs as F-B did this- and I am not saying Fletch is one of the best LBs in the NFL since he is not but does anyone seriously expect Willis to get the highest number of INTs among NFL LBs next year) I suspect the Bills D will take a step back in production next year unless we have a vet manning the MLB role. I think it makes far more sense in terms of producing a better producing D next year to: 1. Move Crowell to MLB (his recovery from injury allowing) and get a quality OLB from FA (my first choice if we want to be more certain to get better) or potentially draft one of the better OLBs. 2. Get a vet replacement whom we know what he can do (he should be familiar with the Tampa 2 and excelled at diagnosing plays as the MLB is called upon to both cover like a safety and plug holes in our D. TKO does not seem like an option to me to move to be starting MLB. His comeback in the 1st game was quite impressive (for a couple of series) but the hammy injury that sidelined him for 4 games and seemed to slow him for much of the season leaves an even bigger injury recovery question mark with him than with Crowell. He alreatdt was shifted by us to SLB from WLB in an attempt seemed designed to lower the running he needed to do last year and the idea we are now going to shift him to a position requiring him to cover sideline to sideline seems quite unlikely and a bad idea even if he is a vet). The best choice of these options would actually seem to me to be to resign Fletch. It is unfortunate in that the team has simply not be able to win consistently with him at MLB and D captain so no one should be under the illusion that this D would not need serious improvement even if he were resigned. However, it is not that I am saying the D would be great if Fletch would be resigned, but simply that I think it will be worse than last year without some far better play from the DTs (the prime source of our D weakness last year) and actually is likely to be quite worse with even a talented rookie starting at MLB as the rest of the team would need to be called upon to replace a number of Fletcher skills (like it or not he did lead NFL LBs in INTs and this team in INTs last year and like it or not the question for the MLB is not simply whether he has good one on one coverage skills which Willis seems to have, but how well his play diagnosis and zone coverage skills are as the MLB plays the deep zone more like a safety in the Tampa 2). It is both true that Willis can play some of the best LB by a rookie next year and also that the D will take a step back as our rookie MLB learns how to become an NFL vet by making a bunch of mistakes playing starting MLB in our Jauron/Fewell MLB driven version of the Tampa 2.

Certainly if he holds out then we deal with it and I hope the Bills get another alternative this year to develop and provide competition, However, HE APPEARS NOWHERE NEAR HOLDING OUT AS: 1. Most fans hate Rosenhaus and he clearly is a bigtime mouth (actually that is hie job) and likely a legend in his own mind. However, from what I understand there is little or no history of his clients holding out (probably to some extent because the local media and some fans act like such scared rabbits that some dramatic move needs to be made because folks are afraid he will hold out). The holdout concerns and fears seem mostly to be without any evidence and really are based on what folks "think" will happen even there is no evidence to indicate it will. 2. One of the main reasons a holdout makes no real sense for WM is that he clearly has no leverage to do this. If he was coming off a great season or even had reached the arbitrary milestone of 1000 yards he might have some leverage, but given his sporadic production (whether its the OL, the lack of a serious consistent Bills offense, or him simply being unmotivated) production is what counts and he has not done this beyond showing potential if we get our act together offensively. In fact, I think a hold out would actually damage him a ton fiscally as he would draw a bunch of scrutiny to his real world production and add a reputation as a bad employee to his resume. He simply has little leverage to holdout. 3. Under his current contract and the CBA the Bills hold all the leverage right now and even when he becomes an FA he only gets more leverage if he produces next year and if in fact he does produce like the elite top 5 back he claims to be and wants to be paid like, the ability of the Bills to tag him if they choose and pay him the salary average of the top 5 RBs still gives the Bills the leverage to choose their own fate. Simply staying the course seems by far to be the most intelligent fiscal and football move for the Bills in 07 unless something else like him launching a hold out though it hurts his own financial interests were to occur. Having a bunch of baby mommas (as he refers to them) or having his Bills business advice interpreted and promoted by WGR to encourage a fight and higher listernership for them does not count at all for being something happening that changes the fiscal equation much at all.

Actually I talked to a college buddy of mine who grew up on her Dad's shrimp boat about the attendance issue as she knows I am a Bills fan and commented to me well at least the Saints are selling out games. Her explanation of why this was happening when they were so hard pressed ecnomically, culturally, spiritually and in so many ways was that actually she attributed the ravenous football following and devotion as being directly to do with the Hurricane. She felt folks were rallying around football because everything else they shared was doing so badly. She also pointed out that from a logistical standpoint there used to be so much to do and now so much is closed down and not happening that the Saints represented a great excuse to party. While it is so complicated that I think it would be wrong to view this in a limited two dimensional way (ie that since the Bills did not sellout therefore there must be a lot of great things to do going on), I think it does point out that it is simplistic to simply view this as Buffalo sucks because even New Orleans is supporting their team. This is the same logic that would suggest that Buffalo simply needs a Katrina level disaster to make it a great sports town. Basically comparing New Orleans to any situation simply does not apply.

Agreed its not written in stone, which is why on some teams it actually is one of the safeties that call the plays. It certainly must be the case that the player has the knowledge of the defense and the game to read the plays and make the calls, but actually particularly in a noisy stadium its a player near the center of the field who has the ability to be seen (or heard as often it is hand signals when the noise is loud) by both sides of the D to make the calls and also he sees the entire field. Thus, it has been my experience that actually a safety is the second choice for play calling after the MLB. The issue for the Bills is that as both of our safeties were rookie starters, TKO may in fact be the most knowledgable and experienced player on the field to fill this role. In fact there is a lot of player adjustment that all teammates have to do, however we have first hand experience with the difficulties of this playcalling by an OLB as last year while TKO had his back turned to the O as he tried to signal a D shift by the CN on his side of the field, Michael Vick called for the snap and they passed the ball to TKOs zone and ran through the spot for a big gain. My major point in this questioning of what the impact of drafting Willis with the idea of replacing F-B is: 1. Willis is great by all predictions but folks need to understand that he will not be able to do everything that F-B brought to the table and we will need to figure out some plan Bs to do this, TKO might be able to do it (though as many folks seem to want him to restructure the idea of suddenly also expecting him to do more certainly sems to run counter to their thinking). Actually I think having TKP do it is probably plan C or D and that actually moving Crowell to MLB is plan B and actually an OLB is probably the first LB choice and a key for drafting Willis if folk insist on this probably asking whether he can play OLB? 2. Folks also seem to me to generally overvalue the draft as in the in it really is a speculative activity. Professionals regularly pick clinkers in the first round from Ryan Leaf to Eric Flowers. No matter how good Willis was in college it is simply too much to flat out expect he is going to step in at starting LB since our big problem here in my mind is we have no back-up on the depth chart capable of starting at MLB. The Denney experience and the Moulds experience strikes me as a real possibility for a 1st day pick. Moulds became a solid pro bowler but made next to no contribution his first two year. Denney has become a solid pro who signed a new contract for big bucks after his first go round, but proved to be unable to play his first year until he tamed a problem that he bent over at the point of attack improperly and could be easily tossed aside by most vets. Good players have to come from somewhere and good player tend to be drafted, but though one hopes with good reason even they will be great and they can be expected to start their first year, one would be a fool to plan on this happening for sure with no back-up plan in place. Already with Willis one has to start with back-up plans for other Bills to call plays, to provode the leadership a D captain provides and in terms of real production to find someone else to lead the team in INTS and the entire league for INTs bt an LB. I think the Bills can and may have to find this when/if we lose F-B, but folks need to understand that in the same way offensive linemen are not mere tinker toys that can easily be replaced by someone else. As good as Willis may be and as much as folks seem willing to throw F-B under the bus if we go into next season with Willis as our starting MLB it is quite likely this D will take a step back in production and some very specific plans will need to be made for other players to do the things Fletch did that it is vert doubtful any rookie can do. This replacement can easily payoff well in 2 or 3 years. but if Masrv is fired and Ralph is dead then it will not be a good tradeoff to make.

I hope that Jauron and the other professionals who will judge Willis with his job and livelihood on the line do not have the same expectations as you do for what this rookie should do. Do you really expect a rookie to come in and be able to read pro plays at a level sufficient enough for him to read and diagnose the plays developed by a pro OC and then to call the correct shifts for the Jauron/Fewell designed D to combat this D? Certainly pro football ain't rocket science. but I hope that Jauron/Fewell D is complex enough that even a special rookie cannot walk into it and immediately master it at a level where he can read plays quickly enough and make the proper calls to match up against a Mike Martz or some other NFL genius designed O. If all this is so simple that even a special collegian can quickly master and manipulate it, one wonders why they pay all these bucks to the coordinators or need to promote them to be ACs to keep them as their work can be countered by a mid round first round draft pick. One of two things seems to be going on here if you are correct. Mastery of NFL play calling is simple enough that a mid first round choice can master it, or you are willing to see our defense take a step backward while Willis quickly gains the same understanding and control of the D that a 10th year player who is captain of the has. Or perhaps there is some other version of reality I do not see here,

I must admit that I have not read Penthouse in years (it was great as a kid but once I discovered how to have sex in real life I have passed on the magazine), so does WM say in that article that he wants the Bills to move to Toronto? All I have read is WGR's piece on what WM said on their website. They begin that article by referencing the Penthouse piece and then rather than doing the routine journalistic thing of actually quoting what WM said, instead they describe his quote as responding to: When asked about the possibility of an NFL team in Toronto, They do not clarify whether this NFL team is going to Toronto forever (an outcome that Ralph and the Bills actually have a fair degree of control over because this would encroach on their regional marketing strategy) or whether this theory is offered in the context of the recent real world decision by the NFL to have every team play in a foreign country in Europe over the next 10 years after they go after these consumers. WGR is not brain dead (though clearly a number of their regular listeners and callers are) and given their poor sports journalism over the years it is certainly quite believable to me that they would be happy to generate a firestorm which attracts listeners and callers by setting up so that folks would assume WM was pulling the moving vans up to OBD. If in fact the WM comments were actually geared toward his crack financial cut on things (it is beyond me why folks listen to his business advice anyway since even if he wanted out he has little leverage to hold out and the Bills are in the drivers seat with ability to even tag him if they choose to keep him or as a prelude to trading him) his view should be endorsed by all Bills fans as they are exactly the right thing for the NFL to handle having two teams play in Toronto during the regular season, In fact, if this game involved the Bills and it was actually counted as a home game for the opponent, we would in essence get 9 home games that season in terms of crowd support as a large number of Bills fans and southern Ontario Canadians whom they Bills already market to would attend that game.

All of this seems fine if ones plan is to wait until the 2008 season to go for the playoffs but given our many years of playoff drought and neither Ralph nor Marv getting any younger, it seems quite unlikely that the Bills would deal with the year of development these two rookies would need in critical roles. 1. By selecting Lynch and particularly by trading to do the Bills forgo spending these resources on some our other obvious needs like the DL and the OL, The OL situation is not so solid that you are not merely trading one RB who merely had flashes of brilliance behind this troubled OL for another RB who may be better running without help, but we are banking that he better be unless this team uses some serious resources to upgrade at guard and in Ol depth. It is certainly quite possible if not likely that the Bills will be looking for a starting RB in 2008. However, they are in the drivers's seat regarding WM since if one judges him to be unmotivated, he certainly will have maximum motivation to perform in 2007 heading into his FA year and if he does have a good year, the Bills either have the ability to show him the money if they want or to tag him and trade him if they do not want him. I do not see them twisting themselves up into a dealmaking pretzel to get a replacement for WM this year and though I think they should in fact draft any RB they feel can play the game on the second day of the draft, I see and have heard no reason why they would resist passing on other choices which might help the team win now merely to replace WM whom they at least hold a contractual advantage over and I have heard nothing from the team to indicate they hate or have written off WM as some fans have. 2. Willis shows a lot of signs of being a great player as a pro, but if theBills are picking him with idea that he is going to replace F-B then likely this D abd tean performs even worse with this talented rookie manning the MLB spot in the Tampa 2 than we did with Fletch in there. Fletcher is in many ways brings a great combo of skills to the MLB spot in the Tampa 2 (as seen in him leading all LBs and the Bills team in INTs this year). The bottom line is that though Willis brings good one on one coverage abilities and great tackling ability to the game, he simply will read and diagnose plays with the ability of a talented rookie playing the game in his first year, while F-B brought many years of seeing NFL plays to the table, Slotting Willis in at MLB will force the Bills to lodge his playcalling duties elsewhere as it will a while before Willis can call plays at MLB and an open question whether either safety who started (actually played) for the first time as rookies last year could perform this duty. It makes far more football sense to me if one is going to look to the draft to bring an LB starter it actually makes more sense to move Crowell to MLB and then you draft an OLB (Poluszny and Timmons for example) though my sense is you actually are probably better helped at LN by getting a proven pro like a Briggs as he can have the immediate respect of his teammates as a proven performer rather than the uncertainties which make all draft choice speculation at best until proven otherwise.

While I find most of your ideas quite possible, there are still too many variables out there for my little brain to buy into idea as a probable outcome or to wonder wether we might not get better results from other doable choices. Not to advocate anything, but to request your sharing the information which led to your conclusions I have a few questions as to whether you think the players you noted as being released are folks you think SHOULD BE release or do you think they WILL BE released by the Bills braintrust. Specifically: 1. I think Villarial will almost certainly be released (and he is one player I think should be released as we have better alternatives on the roster which I think is essential that we have an alternative or can easily acquire one). 2. I also agree that Reyes will be released as the braintrust had him inactive for the most part at the end of the season and thus we have real alternatives on the current roster. 3. I think Tim Anderson will likely be released as our problems on run D mean we almost certainly need someone new at DT and of our current roster he is the guy leftover from the old regime and most likely to go once an alternative is found. With Hargrove actually as a swing player and fan favorite likely to stay (though IMHO opinion his cheerleading and enthusiasm were fun to see, I was not all that impressed with his play and his over-enthusiasm seemed to lead to a couple of penalties so it would be fine with me if he got beat out in competition) and with your idea of acquring Smith I think we would have better alternatives than Anderson. 4. Do you think Greer will be released and do you think he should? My major problem with him is not that he is untalented because I think he is quite speedy and also talented, However, IMHO he is a far better pre-season and practice player than a real game performer and I could see him being beaten out, but the problem is that assuming NC goes, and also it is my understanding that though Kiwaukee Thomas and Jauron have a good relationship, I have heard Thomas apparently wants to play closer to where he grew up (wherever that is). If we lose both these CBs then since it is tought for beggars to be choosers, Greer might stick around. What do you hear and what is your thinking regardibg Greer/Thomas? 5. Do you see Price as being cut because you think he will be or because you think he should be. I have not heard anything to indicate that the Bills think Price failed last year even though I think most fans were deeply disappointed in his play. Price had a rediculously low ypc avg. I think fans who remembered the speedy Price catching long TD passes when he was last here were at first surprised and then pretty disappointed when he did not succeed in being a huge deep threat (particularly with media reports from pre-season that he still had blazing speed. However, as best as I could tell Fairchild used Price as a short route possession receiver and really did not have him go long as the intended WR that much. As a possession receiver, PP finished up with just shy of 50 catches, did not have a bunch of drops, and made a couple of nice catches were he got a foot down for 1sts and TDs. I Just haven't seen anything to indicate that the braintrust feels bad about Price's work even though many fans do and that they are not necessarily as settled on getting a good possssion WR as Bills fans are in terms of identifying needs. IMHO PPs output as a #2 WR was inadequate, but I tend to see Fairchild;s playcalling and use of the #2 as the problem here and not Price really, It would be sad to get a new possession receiver only to have him not used to his highest potential by Fairchild's playcalling and looking not only 1st but also 2nd and 3rd at locking too much on his favorite target. When one adds to that the Bills will be charged anyway on their salary cap for the rest of PPs bonus I am not all that sure he gets cut. Why do you reach thi conclusion.

Now starting A-Train instead of me is uncalled for.

Would you prefer 9 home games or 8 home games. I prefer 9 and the Bills playing one of their west coast opponent on the road with them being the "host" in a foreign country in Toronto would be great for the Bills IMHO.

Okay, stop hyperventilating for a moment (if you are) and read. The model for this is the effort the NFL is msking to earn nickels and dimes by having the Fins host a game somewhere in Europe. The theory would be that the NFL has a strategy of expanding their game into new markets to try to sell more items to a fan base which aware of but may not have had the full NFL experience. Under this scenario, by having the Bills play in Toronto in ONE of these games into foreign markets, you not only bring the mountain to Mohammed is bringing the NFL experience to the doorstep of millions of Toronto sports fans who right now follow the Maple Leafs and the CFL Argos, but you would expose them to the Bills who actually are within spitting distance of Toronto if the choose to go across the border to the Ralph to see more games. Even better for the NFL bucj making strategy, this game in Toronto is bound to attrack tons of corporate interest for getting eyeballs to see your product by your being a sponsor of that game. By having the Bills be a participant in this game, you give a great introduction to the Bills marketing staff to these Toronto based corporations and may get more new potential ad buyers at the Ralph than Tim Hortons. To me this is a fine idea for Bills fans as it not only would likely guarantee another date on TV (even if you applied blackout rules for this as a homedate which is not impossible or even hard to reach for Bills fans to go to a soldout Toronto game- for example if we were playing some team like AZ at home late in the season unless the game had homefield playoff implications for the Bills it would be a difficult sell, but if this game were in Toronto it would likely sell out. The real advantage for the Bills and Buffalo fans however would come if the Bills played in Toronto, but rather than making it one of the Bills homedates you actually make it homedate for the opponent like a Seattle, Denver, KC or SD. If you do this, you actually still get the one-timer sellout to Canadians for this novelty game, you help the Bills cash stream by not complicating their season ticket package by really only offering 7 dates (as I am sure the Fins are doing with their packages next season as their season ticketholders are not going to be required to by a ticket to a game in Europe, likewise, even though many Bills fans will head to Toronto for a game, the season ticket package for the Bills that year if they played a homedate in Toronto, would still at least have to have the option of folks only buying 7 games in their season ticket package as likely the game would sellout to Canadian buyers anyway and customers are not going to be required to drive 2 hours for a game that the Buffalo contingent normally drive half an hour to attend or even worse given the Bills regional marketing strategy between Erie and Syracuse a number of season ticket holders would be asked to drive 4 hours one way to the game instead of 2. It seems quite doubtful that a Bills homedate in Toronto would be part of the package and it could well be a Bills homedate in Toronto would cost the team in immediate dollars even if it increased longer term ad sales. However, of the game was an away date for the Bills, they not only get the usual gate receipts from an away date, but even better, enough of the Bills faithful would show up and many Canadians would be predisposed to root for the Bills instead of AZ or whomever AND in essence the Bills would have 9 home games that season as we would practice and players would live at home for the game. Thus, I totally join with what I read WM as advocating that the NFL invade the Canadian market with the Bills and if this was done as one of our away games and we got to play a west coast game in our timezone it would be all to our advantage.

From my read of what he said (which may be inaccurate as I only gave it a fairly quick scan as I do not seem to care what Willis is talking about unlike some who seem to devote a lot of attention and posting to this issue) he did not say move the team. What he seemed to say was that IF the NFL was going to chose a team to play A game (or possibly gameS, but I don't know for sure as I do not seem to care what WM is saying as much as some others)in the non-American market of Canada (just the same as they chose the Fins to play one of their home games in the non-Americans market in Europe to nickels from the Europeans, then it only made sense to him to chose the Bills for such a game as it would likely guarantee a strong crowd of Buffaloanians coming to see the Bills and party like mad in Toronto.

A variety of reasons that I see: 1. Some care as much about the soap opera aspects of the game as they do about the football production- its entertainment so whatever floats folks boats. 2. Some seem to care what he says. My personal sense is that if you do not sleep with WM then your chances of becoming one of his baby mommas is low and why folks seem to think his musings on the business aspects of where the Bills play are worthy of much thought or comment is beyond me but so be it. 3. Sone folks like complaining about things and rich people are a great target for them. There are certainly other reasons and maybe some good ones, but for the most part staying the course and seeing how he performs next season and acquiring another player cheaply in FA or on the second day of the draft that we think will compete with him, seems by far the most prudent course of action for us as his leverage is fairly low after a less than 1000 yard season.