Dr. Trooth

Babin certainly meets the Criteria for being a Bill... "C" list free agent with marginal backup potential. Git-r-done Russ.

Yes, they do. He gives the Bills a barely adequate backup at G & C. And that is what they were looking for.

Attention... who wants to get their attention. What we need is ACTION!! I got a better idea... and one that works. How about 20,000 season ticket holders not re-upping. Garo-frikin-teed to get more than just their attention.

Average players? The guy is a 4-time Pro Bowler and a 2-time First-Team All Pro... I ain't schittin... look it up. He wasn't even in the top 5 vote getters this year. Pro bowl? So what. How soon we forget Ruben Brown was a fixture in the pro bowl for years... and undeservedly so.

Why all the fuss over this guy? He was a backup guard in the pro bowl by default. By subtracting those mentioned below, at best he's the sixth rate guard in the AFC... and, in reality, closer to the middle of the pack. The pro bowl votes cast by the writers had Faneca, Dielman, Mankins, Hamitlon, Steinbach, and Grubbs as the finalists. Whitworth (Cincy), Kemoeatu (Steelers), and Gallery should be given consideration after that, as left guards. Waters is 32 years old. What can he do to bring the OL to the a level they need to be at to be a top 10 offense, or better? So, for 1, maybe 2 years he might be able to provide a level of play at LG as good, or better, than the Bills have had in the past 8 years. So what, that ain't saying much... they've all been stiffs. If you expect big things from the offense, then you need to think bigger than bringing in Waters at LG. Continuing to bring in average players as starters, will deliver average results. If you're happy with 6 to 9 wins a season, Waters is your man.

Well… a very dismal free agent signing period for the Bills so far. Usually, fans are so giddy after the first 3 or so days that they are pissing koolaid all over everything. On the contrare’. I don’t recall seeing Bills fans so riled up after a week of free agency. And, I’ve been riled up enough to put the over/under on season ticket sales @ 42,000. So, that brings to mind the question… what does PT Brandon have to do to create another koolaid drinking frenzy? He can’t be this stupid to believe by signing two backups that the Bills are a better team now than at season’s end… cuz it just ain’t, and we ain’t stupid enough to believe that they are better. So… I’ve been trying to rationalize this…maybe there will be June bargains. I don’t know, but let’s look at reality. 1) The CBA expires at the beginning of FA in 2010 2) There will soon be a new Players Assoc. Pres. (T. Vincent?) who will have to hit a home run to keep the rank & file happy, or at least stand his ground. 3) Owners who took it in the sphincter at the last CBA, and are hell bent against it happening again 4) A league that has made significant staff cuts in lieu of the economy. 5) Owners that are in a bit of a crunch with the economy tanked. 6) A commish that is seeing an increased cash flow gap between the “haves” teams like the Boys, Skins, Giants, Jets and the “have nots”… Bills, Jax, Saints, Packers and will likely look at spreading the wealth around to keep the playing field as even as possible 7) Potentially an uncapped season in 2010 if no new CBA is reached. So this has to be a huge consideration for any team in free agency… especially teams like Cincy, Bills, Jax, Cleve, and a few others. Teams that spent big in FA will have to cut a few players loose in June. Those teams that resisted spending in FA now, and reserved significant cap space in doing so, may reap the benefits in June. Players signed in June on count toward the 2010 cap… a potentially uncapped season. Teams well under the cap are really the only teams that can safely go after players. Sure a Jerry Jones and Danny Snyder could sign a bunch of players cut in June, but, then they run the risk of a new CBA being struck and a cap. If that happens, they’ve got to cut a schitt load of players, and also risk dead cap money that could handcuff them in 2010, and perhaps beyond. So, I guess we’ll have wait til June and see what happens. If I were a season ticket holder, I wouldn’t even consider re-upping now without a seeing some significant talent infusion on this team. Me? I’ll pass on the koolaid for now.

See... this is the beauty of the whole structure for Ralph. No one knows who the phukc is in charge. You don't have a traditional GM or Asst. GM and a clear pecking order. No one individual seems to be held accountable. It's run be committee. They all get vote, or so it seems, and Ralph makes the call. The assumption is that John Guy, head of pro personnel, makes all the decisions on who to bring in from the pro ranks, and Modrak being head of college scouting drafts the players. Neither is true. Guy and Modrak are just gatherers of information and evaluators. They have video and a dossier on every player. Do you think Guy rates Hangartner higher than a Matt Birk or Nick Mangold? Of course not. Hangartner ain't even in their class. The dude that's making the call is Ralph... Guy brings the book of Free agents to Russ (PT BARNEM) Brandon... also known as Ralph's B word. On Ralph's orders, Brandon tears out the pages of any free agent on the A list or B list. That leaves the C and D lists. Next year Guy should remember not to scout any players that could be potentially A or B listers... he'd save himself a lot of time by just scouting the C's & D's and hand Russ the list.

Right brainiac... put a 30 something James Lofton on this team and you get nothing. Right... and the Texans and Titans picked up a used up Moulds too... how'd that work out? How dare you compare this team to the 89-90 Bills!! Lofton was effective only because of Kelly, Thomas, Reed, two pro bowl tackles, a pro bowl center, an LG and TE that were the best in Bills history. There is know current Bills player that is in the class of any of those guys, save for perhaps Lee Evans. Coles is done... stick a fork in him. He might catch a few in New England with Welker and Moss demanding double coverage and an all pro QB slinging the ball.

I'm guessing you've confused Fowler with Tuten Reyes. The bottom line is, you're right, the Bills paid too much for a backup center.

Dudes... forget Coles... his only value was as a deep threat (as in used to be). He's not a possession or over the middle type. So we get Coles and he's basically a washed up version of Evans (and Coles never was even close to being as good as Evans). He gives the Bills nothing. If you bring Coles in at a $3M or more salary, you have the top 4 as Evans, Parish, Reed, & Coles. Where do Johnson and Hardy figure? That means the addition of Coles potentially takes plays and minutes away from those two. If the Bills are going to latch on to someone and pony up big time $$$ why the hell would they do it with a player on the downside of their career? It's not like this team is a player or two from playoff contention. They are a HC and several players away. The only value I could see Coles being brought in is for Brandon to say he brought in an "I've heard of him" player, thus serving up another pitcher of koolaid for those fans whose brains are in their sphincter.

I was talking to one of the custodians and he said that he spotted Ralph in the morning in one of the large conference rooms entertaining 3 entrepreneurs from Toronto. This afternoon he says Ralph was giving a tour of the facilities to a group of business men from LA. So, yes, apparently there were visitors today at OBD.

Oh, I don't think you'll have to wait that long... by Oct. 9 there will be cries for a public hanging.

Its always a "possibility". But, reality is, what rookie is going to come in and start for the Bills from day one, and achieve a level of play that makes a significant contribution, ie sacks, ints, TDs, enforcer, penetration up the middle, basically a player that every opponent must account for on every play. I know there is a lot of rumblings about Maybin @ #11. But, again, reality tells me that he's not going to unseat Kelsay or Schobel as a starter, nor Denney in the rotation. Even if he were to be an excellent situational pass rusher, the Bills would have to move him all over the place in passing situations. And then, if he goes down with an injury, the Bills defensive game plan takes a significant hit. As you say... it has to be a hit... a lucky powerball lotto hit. Pretty sure the Bills wouldn't know what to do if they ended up with something like that. The front office is abysmal and an embarassment.

Whewie... I'm overwhelmed with excitement. * cutting two overpaid marginal NFL Starters * signing a backup QB with a 15pt. lower rating than the starter, 9 less NFL starts,but 2 more yrs. in the NFL. Now that's what I call competion, and more important, insurance for when Trent gets hurt again. * signing a backup OL...marginal NFL starter (diff. between he & Preston = + 7 starts and -20 lbs.) * a lot of cap and cash to cap left but no-one of impact left. They could sign a lot of marginals to help maintain the inadequacy * an owner that has his crosshairs set only on p&l not w&l. * a HC that really belongs coaching in NFL Europe (especially since it is now defunct). * a draft pick at #11 that will not provide any immediate impact. * a tanked economy with entertainment bucks competing for shelter expense bucks. Welcome to the 09 Bills, same as the 07 Bills, same as the 08 Bills... spinnin instead of winnin. So far, this offseason, the team has taken a step backward, not forward. Therefore, for your wagering consideration, I hereby set the over/under Bills season tix sales @ 42,000. They get what they deserve. Lastly... if & when the Bills decide to move out, it will not be you guys' faults. When the Bills field competive teams they sell out. As fans, you hang in to the bitter end. You may not always like what the Bills do, but that's only because you care and show 200% more passion than the owner and front office. Phuck the Bills, long live fans like you.

Per ESPN

Really? So, why don't the Pats just trade Cassel for Peppers? Answer... because they already have two damn good DEs and don't need a bizillion dollar backup.

Lelie, along with Brandon Lloyd are thetwo most girly a$$ WRs in NFL history. Why any respectable NFL team would want either one on their roster is beyond me... totally defies logic... they ought to be able to do better than that.

Dude... he's a POS as a QB. If he was any damn good at all, the Bills had nothing to lose and everything to gain and would have played him when Edwards went down rather than the lame duck and inept Loss-man.

in a heartbeat I'd trade him.

STOP!!! the HC is still DJ. DJ=LOSER... He wouldn't have won a division title with the 89-93 Bills.

Not sure what the question is. Youtube has a clip of him in DeFrancisco's Gym bench pressing 225... 31 reps... a standard exercise which is done at the combine. For a fullback, those are impressive numbers.

Dudes... go to youtube and run a search for Tony Fiammetta. Impressive. Put up 31 reps of 225lbs... 24 of them in about 23 seconds. Goes about 6'1 240. Can he block, and more importantly, consistently 'blow' up an NFL linebacker?

Bills potentially going DE in the first round? What? Don't tell me Copeland Bryan has fallen out of favor. Say it ain't so.

No schitt. But, the pats new the Bills were stupid and would take Bledsoe and give em a number one to boot. Not only did the Pats get a number one as compensation for Bledsoe, the Pats knew Bledsoe was a loser and could easily be game planned for and defensed. If the Pats had received a bad jar of peanut butter for Bledsoe, they'd have been ecstatic. Bledsoe moving to the Bills assured the Pats of not only a W, but as well it removed the Bills from being a factor in the divison. Trust me Cassel is a hell of a lot better than Bledsoe and makes better decisions. He ain't worth two number ones though... and the Pats ain't gonna get that.

probably not... because the greater consideration is... will the Pats trade him within the division? Short & quick answer... NO.