ax4782

And don't we already sort of know this offense won't work in Buffalo? Wasn't that Martz style offense supposed to be the reason that Steve-the-Mike-Martz-Prodigy-Fairchild was hired to come in and be the OC? Maybe I missed something but that didn't seem to work out so well for us. I think that the offense we had in place last season will be much better with TO here, and bringing in yet another OC with yet another offense for these players to learn is going to do nothing but set us back for another guaranteed losing season even with TO. And as for Jauron being willing to get rid of coordinators, you were paying attention to the fact that he was pretty much ready to fire SF at the end of the year in 07 had SF not gotten that job at Colorado State, right? And Lori, as always, you seem to be right on.

This means that Buffalo should have a shot at getting one of the top three DEs in the draft, hopefully Everette Brown. If that's the case, Buffalo should be able to address our three biggest needs in the draft with our first three picks, DE, OL, OLB. After that we can really try and build some depth across the balance of the team.

Can we just say no to some of these retreads. For crying out loud, if the 49ers don't want him, he can't possibly be worth the price we'll have to pay.

Goff and Simmons would be good additions. I think the Bills are likely to sign Kendall Simmons when he realizes that the money he wants isn't coming his way, and that the Bills offer is pretty good. Otherwise, I don't think we should really bother with most of these guys. There's solid guard talent available in the 2nd-4th rounds this year, which is where we really need the help. And the Bills will sign Peters at some point before training camp. Neither side can afford the effects that another hold out would cause.

Like the Mock you have at the bottom Astro. Good as usual, but I just don't see Ayers still being there in the second round. I think Buffalo is only going to get one of Pettigrew and Ayers.

Ayers is long gone before the second round. I also think Pettigrew is a bit overrated and plays at a position that should not be our top priority. We need to get a DE, OLB and G/C as it stands now before we worry about getting a TE. A pass catching TE is a luxury that teams which are solid all around can invest in. Buffalo is not one of those teams. As it stands today, I like the deal, but if Ayers's stock is rising as fast as some think, Buffalo won't have a shot at getting him even at #20. If Everette Brown does not fall to us at #11, Buffalo should entertain the possibility or trying to trade back assuming no other top DEs (other than Maybin who strikes me as being the next Erik Flowers) are there for us. If Buffalo does the trade, I like this scenario. #20-Michael Johnson DE/OLB (if Ayers is gone. Otherwise Robert Ayers, DE) #33-Alex Mack C #43-Best DL Available #75-Best TE Available, likely Travis Beckum -G -DT -LB -Best Available

If Buffalo drafted Raji at #11 (which will never happen, but just for sh-ts and giggles we'll assume), they could draft Ayers or Michael Johnson in the second and grab either a TE or a C/G in the third, which would pretty much take care of our most pressing holes on the team, allowing us our later choices to add some depth where it's needed most, the OL and at DL and LB. Never going to happen, but it's fun to speculate.

Guess it's a good thing we grabbed Owens. The Pats would have taken him, regardless of what they were saying at the time. You think other teams having to play against Evans and Owens will be difficult, imagine if we had to play against Owens and Moss twice a year. Anyway, he's another target for Tom Rickety-Leg Brady to throw too. They better hope he's totally healed from that surgery and not suffering a honeymoon hang over or the Pats' season could be done quick. No way Matt Guttierez, a third string quarterback at U of M, is going to be able to do what Cassell did for them last year. Unless the Cheatriots are still doing what they do best.

Completely agree. Particularly on your analysis of the LB situation. I also think the same thing is happening with Kendall Simmons. Buffalo offered him a deal, but he didn't take it. Of course, no one else has offered him a deal either, so we'll just have to wait and see what materializes from that. I guess G is not a real position of need for most teams this year, which could work out nicely for us in the draft as well, considering that there are some really solid G prospects to be had in the second, third, and possibly even the fourth round.

BFD.

And the reason for a lot of the push back is that not only was this discussed, but I think the general concensus was that trading Edwards alone, not to mention sending him with a bunch of draft picks for Cutler is a STUPID IDEA!!! For proof, perhaps one should look at the actual game tape of how the two performed against each other in the game last year, particularly in the Fourth Quarter. Cutler hasn't done any more or less in his time in Denver. Why the *&^$ does everyone think he's so great? He couldn't win one game over the last six for his team last year to get them into the playoffs, finishing tied with SD at 8-8 in the AFC West last year, which is the weakest division in football. I wish people would stop hoping that we make trades for players we think are all that but are really just mediocre and overrated.

Why is it when the Bills bring in players to look at them and interview them, people complain that the Bills are wasting money on bringing people in for visits and trying to do their due diligence. But if the Bills don't bring anyone in for a visit, then their FO is terrible because they aren't doing anything in FA? Some people just have a no-win attitude when the team does anything. Buffalo hasn't signed a ton of guys, but we have made some pretty good progress. Two real needs have been addressed in FA and the Florence signing isn't too bad either. The fact is the Bills have made offers to a number of guys who have come in but they haven't signed. Of course, many of those players haven't signed a contract with anyone else, and if things don't get better, they'll be back. We're a long way from done in FA, and I think we're still likely to pick up a couple more good FAs to fill a few more holes on the team. I wouldn't be disappointed if they resigned Crowell, and also added Keiaho to the LB corps. We need more veteran talent in the mix and those two guys would be great to have.

Those trades are great, but never going to happen. The Broncos are not going to give up Scheffler for a 4th and a 7th. You're going to have to give up a second or a third probably to get him, something the Bills should NOT do. We have a lot more pressing needs on this team, particularly on the D-Line and at OLB. With Owens, a TE is more of a luxury than a necessity. As for the trade with Philly, maybe that happens, particularly if Smith falls that far back (no way Oher makes it to 11). The Shaun Rogers trade, however, is intriguing, though Cleveland is going to want a third or better for him in all likelihood. He's better than any other DT you could draft in the third round when he's actually trying to play, so that might be worth it for Buffalo.

Actually, I just read the article on the updated situation, and looked at the home page and saw nothing more on Julian Peterson. I certainly saw nothing about him being shipped to Detroit as part of the Corey Redding trade. If you could link that, please do, because otherwise the latest news is still that he is likely to be released to make room for Seattle's salary cap problems.

Which was almost half of our offenses' production in that game. The numbers for Lee had nothing to do with Bodden and everything to do with a blizzard. When the snow is flying and the wind is blowing at 35-50 mph, you'll find that throwing the ball gets to be a bit difficult, particularly down the field. I'm cool with giving credit where it's due, but the credit for slowing LE down in the 07 Browns contest needs to go to mother nature, not Bodden.

The Bills signed Dockery to a 49mil dollar deal, not a 67 million dollar deal, and the money spent on Schobel and Kelsay would not have gone to paying Peters. It would have gone to the two guys they would have had to bring in to replace Kelsay and Schobel. People aren't just going to appear for free and play defensive end out of the goodness of their hearts. Should Schobel have gotten an extension. Yes. Should it have been as much as it was, no. Should Kelsay have been resigned? Yes, but as a player for veteran depth and backup behind someone they brought in as a starter at DE. That being said, Buffalo will get a deal done for Peters and they will have to overpay, but that's better than trying to bring in a first round tackle who will want a Jake Long sized deal, or trying to find a less than adequate answer in FA, as there aren't a whole lot of options available at the tackle position. PTR, I completely agree there is nothing to say that Peters won't begin whining again in another year or two if someone else on another team gets more money than him, and at that point Buffalo is screwed. You can't tell a 10M player to go ride the pine. They truly are too expensive at that point, and that means you also can't trade them. However, Buffalo could restructure the contract in such a way that he gets paid his massive money now, say for the next two years, but that the amount will dwindle down to about 8.5 mil in say year five, thus easing some of the impact. That might be a contract that Peters and his agent would be willing to do, which would save the Bills some money in the long run. Either way, both sides aren't in great positions.

Peters isn't worth a 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. Maybe a 1st and 2nd this year and a fifth next year, but not all four. Plus Philly has a lot of holes they need to fill as well, and I'd prefer we not draft a top five pick and end up paying him the same amount of money anyway. Peters is established and a known quantity. Jason Smith looks like he will be good but he hasn't played a down in the NFL and will be demanding about the same amount of money as Peters. Better to pay Peters whom we know is above average, than pay for an unknown quantity. Mike Williams was supposed to be the shizzle when he was playing OL for Texas, and we all know how overpaying him worked out for us, right? Peters should get a paiy raise and probably deserves it more than many of the players on our team who have gotten them in recent years. I also think that seeing Dockery and Walker come in and start at a higher salary than what he was earning rubbed him the wrong way as well. Get him signed, but down mortgage the franchise to do it. A five mil per year on average increase is fine. Give him more guaranteed up front and in the first few years, then begin to taper it off in years four and five, and see where the team is at that time.

If Brown is available at #11, Buffalo should take him. He was used in the 4-3 at FSU and was scary against even some of the best O-Lines in college football. He's quick, has really solid pass rushing moves and can really disrupt an offensive backfield. If he's gone and Buffalo decides to go DE with the #11 pick, I'd rather take Ayers or Michael Johnson than Maybin. I just see Maybin as the next Erik Flowers. Though Ayers and Johnson are likely to be considered reaches, Buffalo needs DE help more than anything else in the draft, so unless we trade down, they should stand at #11 and take the best DE available, other than Maybin.

Peters is just posturing. The Bills are going to have to shell out probably 8.5-9.25 mil a season to keep him, though they can put some strings on that if they get him signed to a longer term deal. 5yrs 44-46 mil wouldn't be that bad in terms of the cap, and only adds about 4.6 mil per on average as he already makes a significant amount as it is. That being said, Peters knows that his stock dropped some last year, and that if he holds out again, chances are, he'll be in an even worse position. And technically, if the Bills really wanted to hurt him, they have him on contract as is for two more years. Buffalo doesn't have to release him and he doesn't have to play. A guy out of football for two years who is decrying the fact that he should be getting 11 mil a season instead of 9 mil per season isn't going to have much of a reputation left, and certainly isn't going to get a contract worth 11 million a year. That's just too much risk. As such, I don't think Peters has much of a choice. He'll take the deal once it gets over 9 mil per season and that'll be the end of it.

Crowell would be a good hold if Buffalo can get him to come back. I would like to see if the Seahawks officially release Julian Peterson this weekend, because if they do, I think Buffalo should strongly consider going after him. If they could sign Peterson and one of the June/Keiaho/Crowell trio, Buffalo would instantly have a much stronger LB corps than most of the teams in our division. Further, Peterson knows how to get to the QB, as he has averaged 8 sacks per season over the last three years and has been a perennial pro bowler. Let's hope the Bills truly aren't done in FA and can sign one or two of these guys for veteran depth at LB.

Hardy seemed like he had the talent to produce for us last season and showed flashes in a couple of games. Hopefully he has recovered well from his surgery and can really learn how to use his size as an advantage by watching T.O. and getting as much experience as he can. Hardy should develop into a solid option by the end of the season, which should help the offense going forward, in the likely event that the Bills don't sign Owens to a longer term deal.

See post above concerning the money situation in Seattle, particularly after the signing of Housh. Another solid FA cap casualty that the Bills would do well to sign. Hangartner was a guy the Panthers really wanted to keep but in order to try and keep some of superstars, they had to make some unwanted cuts. Such was the case here. Peterson was a huge signing when he went to Seattle from SF a few years back, and the Bills would do well bringing him in to play for us. He is a solid tackler on the outside and he is a fairly good blitzing LB, who would compliment Mitchell well bringing pressure from the other side, something that Ellison was not effective at last year. I still like June and Keiaho, and I think the Bills should also bring one of those two in to solidify the LB corps with veterans, but Peterson would have a huge impact on the starting rotation. Let's see if we don't at least bring him in for a visit.

Funny how people who want the Bills to just change things up all over the team every year forget those little facts. I think Trent showed in that game that he is as good if not better than Cutler. Cutler has an arm, no question, but armstrength isn't everything. And I would note that Edwards did not have a "bruised pinky on his non-throwing hand." He actually had pretty serious injuries last season and came back from them before predicted and played through some tough games.

I agree that Trent should be throwing the ball downfield this year as he has a better receiver in the number two slot, and Reed and Parrish moving back to their natural positions in the slot. Should allow for them to have better numbers and better YPC. That being said, a checkdown is also a designed play, much like the WR screen (which is a play that I hate, but think would be very useful in the Bills arsental). The only difference is, on a WR screen, the screen is the first option (and usually the only one) whereas with a checkdown, you are throwing a designed route to a third or fourth option. Not really all that different. People complain about too many checkdowns, but the alternatives of not using them are mostly (but not completely) negative.

I'll bet he was there to look at Robinson as a replacement for our LG who's missing, or as a backup for Whittle/Simmons, whichever the Bills use to start at guard on opening day. The guy showed real talent at the guard position during the season for Oklahoma.