Dr. Trooth

alas... those guys are the "core of their teams". The Bills have not defined their core yet. If you go on the premise that Dick J. and Marv ride into town and continue Donahoe's work, I can see where you might conclude this. But, those guys rode into town... took inventory, tried to slavage what they could, wrote off the obvious right away (Adams, Moulds, Milloy, Williams), plugged in pieces they thought would fit.... Ellison, Whitner, Simpson, Williams, Royal, Triplett, etc. and continued their evaluation throughout the entire season. Now they're in phase 2... It would appear that they do not consider Clements part of the core... nor Kelsay and are not going to risk throwing $$$ away. They know Reyes was a dumb move, Triplett might be, Spikes may not totally recover, McGahee has demonstrated he can't be trusted to carry the load, and they learned some valuable knowledge on Evans, Peters, and JP. So, before this season they need to lock up Evans, and possibly JP. They've already extend Peters. Like I said... Ralph is still spitting the bad taste in his mouth from the last round of free agents... When he sees the pieces fitting together, he'll pull the string appropriately.

True... but at what cost? Do you bring in big name FAs and handcuff yourself slary cap wise... ending up not able to sign one of your own key players like Lee Evans and perhap JP Losman... and players yet to be defined as part of that new "core"? And... true that Clements helped the rookie safeties... something that wouldn't have happened with a lesser cb. But Simpson and Whitner have a year under their belt now...so, whomever plays that position next year may very well be in the reverse situation... having capable safeties watch his back. Levy and Jauron are putting their signature on this team and until they have a few more pieces of the puzzle added, they just are not ready to mortgage the future... and that's just what you almost have to do when you sign the big names. Take a look at the Redskins...building through free agency. How's that worked out? And, San Diego, building through the draft... that hasn't worked out too badly. Indy mainly signs their own and trades for a player rather than taking the FA route... I guess that's worked fairly well too. I've got a hunch that most of the posters (not you) that are having a hard time dealing with Marv's approach are probably under 30 and skip their regular dose of ritalin. If they'd just take a step back and look at how pro football works... they would know that there isn't a magic bullet and that the Donahoe fiasco has put this team right back where they were in 2000 and 2001. All those high priced big name FA signed in Donahoe's era yielded what, a couple of .500 campaigns? That's reason enough for Ralph to to hold off... he's still spitting out that bad taste in his mouth.

1) Jauron and Levy have immpeccable reputations when it comes to plyers wanting to play for them. They ltreat players like men, not whipped animals and players love that. 2) The GMs and coaches do not talk to a player without first approaching their agent... then things get rolling. Agents usually do all the negotiating for the players. They aprise them of each team's situation, if the organization is a good fit for them, etc. If it's a "go" then they start talking cash. 3) Let's keep it real and simple. This team is in "rebuild" mode. So, anyone expecting playoffs is going to be disappointed. The core of this team is no longer Milloy, Moulds, Bledsoe, Brown, Spikes, Fletcher, and Clements. Folks need to deal with that and move on. Right now, the Bills are in the process of "DEFINING THEIR NEW CORE"... Evans, Peters, Whitner, and Simpson are locks. JPL, Kyle W may be part of that. Until this regime defines their core, you can damn well bet, and carve it in stone, that they will not lay out significant kwan to any free agent. So, if this scares potential free agents off, so what. Most top free agents are in the 27-29 age bracket... which makes them on the wrong side of 30 in 3-4 years This team is building through the draft right now. This team may very well be the youngest team in the NFL next season if Spikes, Fletcher, Villarial, Reyes, Shelton, and Gandy are gone. Once they get the ship "righted" and up and running, then they'll add a free agent or two... maybe.

Where did you hear that TKO was cut? The official word was that they were evaluating his status. We know he did not have a TKO type of year.... and one thing a LB, in this defense, must do is "RUN". If TKO can't do that anymore, then I suppose he would get the axe at some point. Also, based on the Buff News article... cutting him would save $2.8M on the cap... not that they need cap space.

You're still a dickhead. You toss out a 'wouldn't this be something' statement and buffer it with a 'but probably won't happen' clause. NO... I GUARANTEE IT HAS NO CHANCE OF HAPPENING. What a friggin waste of bandwidth initiating a worthless post. The only thing I think it showed was that you knew AJ Smith had some job with the Bills once upon a time. Wow, thanks for sharing that gem. Go back over to myspace for crap like that. Dammit... this board needs to increase the age mimimum to at least 21 or the IQ minimum to 45.

Brilliant. Just goes to show how much you know about the Bills. I'll bring you up to speed. When JB got canned as GM by RW... AJ Smith snubbed RW. Not that RW even considered him a candidate as a successor, but AJ Smith & JB were joined at the hip... and JB was sick and tired of RW and his meddling. AJ Smith knew first hand what JB was dealing with and gladly followed JB to SD. Goddammit I hate it when dickheads try to start stupid rumors.

All due respect... If Willis "will do" for this year, then the Bills will not see significant improvement on offense. We've already seen the extent of his ability and productivity and, if you consider a career 3.9 YPC "above average", I'd like to know what you consider 'just average' or 'below average'. 4.0 is what is considered average by NFL standards... which means a 4.1 YPC would be above average by definition. God help this Bills team if it's hopes are dependant on Willis' production.

Let's forget Willis' off field allegations and such. If we consider just his "on field" production, we've learned that he is one dimensional and below the curve. Sure, he can catch a pass and he can run the ball. But, with how much effectiveness? He scares no defense. He is not only a non-factor in the passing game, he's actually a liability. He constantly misses blitz pick ups, and when he does catch a pass, he goes nowhere. His lack of running abilty is well documented. With, for the most part, a three year career as a starter plus a rookie season in which all he had to do was rehab, learn, and eat pablum, he still has managed only a 3.9 YPC production... not even the NFL average for a RB. The Willis apologists will always blame the Oline or whatever. At what point does Willis 'own' his own lack of productivity? And, you are 'right on' that these ridiculous posts proposing Willis be traded for something of value are contradictory... and also flat out stupid. Right now, I dare say there is not one single team in the NFL (outside the Bills and perhaps not even them) that consider Willis a viable option to fill their team's #1 RB position. In other words... no team is considering Willis as an answer to their RB woes. At best he would be considered to 'share' the load or perhaps fill the #2 RB. With a year left on his contract, if he were offered up in a trade, the Bills would be lcky to garner a 4th round pick. Anything higher than that, the Bills ought to be cited for gouging.

Get over it, let go, move on. Clements is wearing different threads next season.

I STARTED IT. Right after Ii discovered water.

Nate was quted as saying that on a radio interview a month or so ago.

Dude,.. Nate had it written into his one year contract that he signed. End of story.

Atlanta would take $30M cap hit... if they got the #1 pick from Oakland, they wouldn't be able to sign em without cleaning house. It was brilliant for Blank to sign a QB to $130M with a career rating of 76, a comp. % of 54, and never passed for 3,000 yds. On the otherhand, Oakland's cap hit would be minimal to none because Minn. took the hit on Moss' bonus when they traded him. This is an excellent example of why it's bad business for the Bills to re-sign Clements. They would have to sign him to an approx. 6 yr. 50M deal with at least 1/3 of that in bonus$$ based on today's cb market value and the Champ Bailey deal of a couple of years ago. Nat's avery good CB, but he's not a lock-down cb, nor is he a difference maker.... and he's not a marquis ticket seller. So, you don't handcuff a team salary cap wise in the 2nd year of a total makeover with a player like Nate. TKO might be another example... He's not been the same since his injury, but the bills are stuck with him for 2 more yrs. and would take about a $6M cap hit to release him now. He is a player that looks like he does not figure into the future of this team with the new regime.

"I would take Wade Phillips to coach the Bills, over anyone who has been in Buffalo since he was fired...Wade gets way too bad a rap..." Wade is not a head coach. He can't keep things under control. He allowed the RJ/Flutie thing to divide the team. He doesn't take criticism well, and he did not give 'squat' about special teams. He was a decent game day coach... that's all all give him credit for as a HC I will laugh my ass off if he becomes the next HC in Dallas... handling TO, Terry Glenn... that will be a great side show.

I wouldn't count it out. Marv likes sm. college players... Hansen, Beebe, Reed. The one thing Marv and Butler used to say was that a sm. college player must dominate at that level for them to have a chance... and it seems like this kid is dominant at that level. The only question now is does he have footbal smarts, can he block & catch, and be an ASSET in the passing game? Will he hit the hole and leave a footprint on someone's chest?

Son, grow up... and get over yourself. Just because 99% of real Bills fans think Willis sucks, is a bum, and ought to hit the bricks doesn' mean he's hated. It just means adios! Willis had 3 years to prove himself. By NFL standards and how RBs are measured, he is below average and in the league's bottom third. The Bills ranked 30th in offense this season, yet Evans and Losman had very good seasons by NFL standards. Oh yeah... now you're going to blame the Oline for Willis' lack of production... how pathetic. When is Willis accountable for Willis? Willis has no game. He doesn't even avg. 4.0 YPC. He has no elusiveness. He has no more speed than an average back. He's a not just a non-factor in the passing game, he's a total liability... from missing blitz pickups, recognizing defenses, and receiving passes. This offense cannot get any better than it is until Willis is gone. If you don't recognize that, then you're either totally blind or you paid way too much for your WM jersey and won't admit it. This team needs a back that can do everything that Willis can't... and that's a lot.

The word on the street... and I believe somewhere Nate was quoted as saying that it was written into is contract when he signed the one year deal after the Bills franchised him last year. In any case... I've seen in numerous articles that the Bills agreed to not franchise him again. So, either we've got a slew of irresponsible writers or it's true (and both of those are probably true).

keep in mind... it's the doctor's theory... not fact. No doubt the dude's gotten a little whacky from football, but, I have a hard time believeing if he's alzheimerish, he has enough cognitive ability to know what's going on and to conciously calculate/plot his demise.

You mean if Curtis/Furrey are my only choices? Let me see... Curtis, 40 receps. and 4 TDs this year. Furrey, 98 receps. and 6 TDs this year. Well, let me ask you this... assuming you like ice cream. Would you rather have one scoop, or two?

IMO, Brady Quinn is one of the most overhyped QBs ever. ND was on TV every weekend. I watched most of those games. My conclusion... BQ is not a difference maker. I'm not even convinced he'd make a competent backup in the NFL. To me, I see Rick Mirer. And, there hasn't been a decent QB to come out of Notre Dame in over 25 years (Joe Montana), unless you consider Steve Buerlein decent. I think opinions of him will change, if not after the bowl games, certainly after the combine and individual workouts. Not being a wise ass... it's just that there is nothing that I've seen from him that would indicate to me he'll be a good NFL QB, let alone worthy of a #1 pick. Charlie Weiss tutored a few QBs when he was with the Pats... and he gets a lot of credit for Tom Brady. I'm beginning to think Tom Brady's success is more Brady than Weiss... Brady would have been good no matter where he ended up. He has a natural ability to process information quicker than most people.

Just a few words to those of you critical of London Fletcher. If I understand you, he sucks, but was OK when the Bills were the #2 ranked defense in the NFL 3 seasons ago? Fletcher is extremely effective when protected. That's why Sam Adams was brought here to begin with... to team up with Pat Williams and clog the middle. Without a formidable tandem in the middle to protect the MLB, they all suck. Zach Thomas sucks when he doesn't have big boys in front of him, ditto Ray Lewis... when Siragusa retired and Sam Adams moved on in free agency, Ray Lewis wasn't nearly as effective, and what's more, he wore down and got injured. There ain't an MLB in the NFL that is effective without protection from a NG or pair of DTs...Even Urlacher would not be as effective as he is without the Tommy Harris/Ian Scott tandem. So, give London his due. He left it all on the field. He was the spirit of that defense. He can't help the fact that the Bills hierarchy hung him out to dry by getting soft in the middle and leaving him to fend for himself. You're asking a small LB to take on 325 lb. linemen. That's not his strength. Mark my word, he will end up with a team that has beef in front of them... and he could play weak inside LB in a 3-4... and hopefully not along side Bruschi... that would be rubbing salt in the wound. I agree London should move on. It's obvious he's not a good fit for what the coaching staff wants the defense to look like. That, and the fact he's on the wrong side of 30. But damn... he deserves a lot more respect than what he's getting from a lot of folks on this board... I mean Christ almighty... Less than stellar DTs in front of him, a pair of rookie safeties behind him, a rookie at LB to the right of him, and a one legged TKO on his left. Come on... it just ain't right to say goodbye to a warrior like him by saying he sucks and good riddance.

What I believe the Bills (or any team) should get with the number 12 pick is an impact player... someone you can plug in as a competent starter from day one and get a reasonable return on the investment. I don't know that there is such a player @ #12 this year for the Bills. However, with all these juniors coming out early (Michael Bush too, even though he's technically a senior), the Bills are in a good position draft wise. There very well could be a few players @ #12 that the Bills would pass on because they're set at the specific position(s). A team that either has a lower pick or no pick in the 1st round could potentially move up by partnering up with the Bills in a trade. The Bills could potentially add another #1 or #2, and even a player or more picks. This would be extremely good for a few reasons. 1... Next year's draft could be a tad watered down because of the juniors coming out this year. 2... it's said to be a deep year for receivers, 3... with the addition of the juniors to this draft, potential #1s slide to round 2 and #2's to round 3. So garnering extra picks may be a good thing in this draft, to maybe go after a Bush or similar player.

What do we have here? The tail wagging the dog? Let's build the team to suit Willis? WTF? How bout either WM play, or the Bills get a RB that can play? If we go with #1, it comes with a condition... add a great run blocker (at the expense of pass protection). What do we gain? Willis still sucks, he's a zero in the passing game... the passing game that you've just watered down by losing pass protection. If we go with #2, the drafting of Lynch still comes with a condition... pick up a FA TE. Alas, are you absouletley sure Lynch is a franchise back? We're talking a #12 pick here...does Lynch give you 1600 yards combined rushing/receiving? If not, he sure as hell does not merit a #12. How bout this... we shore up the defense first. WM is still under contract for next season. I don't see how he can be worse than he's been this year... If he isn't we still get the same amount of production from the run game next year. Basically, barely adequate. However, we end up shoring up the defense ... which gives the Bills 3 more wins with out shooting themselves in the foot salary cap wise. Then... if Willis is "God", like so many people seem to think, and has a very good year, the Bills have the option of "franchising" him and either re-upping him or trading him.

Actually...Williams house is in Texas. Hell, a house like that in NY...well, if you can afford a $4M house, in NY the taxes are ging to be unbelievable. However, a $4M house in Dallas would probably sell in upstate for about a third of that. As far as a tax %... there isn't a set %. It's all driven by what county, city/village/township, and school district. Most of the taxes are county and school. I'm assessed @165K and I pay $7500/yr. $3500 county, $2900 school, and the rest is town. Freakin ridiculous. Can't wait for retirement... I'm outa here.

Whatever they damn well please. There's no cap. Ain't this why you left?