Koufax

I don't particularly like this trade. I think a low 4th is not a lot of value, but certainly is something that will help us in the future. But I think we are a worse team now because of it. Over five years I think we are better off, and Nix did add overall value to the organization. I would have been okay with a 3rd, very sad with a 5th, but I can live with a 4th. Randy Moss (different circumstances) got a 3rd. On the 2011 Bills side of things, we certainly have to navigate the morale and "why?" issue that Florence is vocalizing. I think that Evans has been a one trick pony for a while, and that trick worked well with JP, and isn't going to work so well with Fitz. NOt sure how much of that 1-dimension is Lee's fault, revolving QBs fault, or revolving coaching staffs, but the reality is he has not been able to emerge as as useful and valuable a player as we had hoped. I think in Chan's eyes, we are not much worse right now, and that his scheme will not use a lot of deep balls overall, and that getting a 4th for a decoy is probably fair. It remains to be seen who steps up with the opportunity, and if they can perform close to as well as Lee would have. And in terms of Florence's reaction, veteran players ALWAYS overvalue other veteran players, especially when good clubhouse guys like Lee, and so the outrage is common when a veteran is traded or cut, and usually overstated once the dust clears. Disappointed, but I understand, and I think we are slightly worse for 2011, but not significantly so, and the pick will help us in the future. Most of all I wish Lee well and will be rooting for the Ravens a little this year because of it. He suffered through a lot in Buffalo and was always classy. He deserves a trip to the playoffs, and I think he will get it.

I don't want to see Lee traded. I have always liked him and think he has some good football left. But I think we as Buffalo Bills fans probably overvalue home compared to his potential 2011-2013 ability to help this team win. I still focus on the 83 yard bombs from JP, something that isn't part of Chan's game or Fitz's game. And with our depth at WR and our likelihood to have a lot of passes go to RBs as well, I'm not sure Evans will get enough touches to have the impact we all want. But he is still clearly valuable. If there is a team out there who overvalues him like we fans do, a trade would make sense. I don't want to see a dump for a 5th round pick, but realistically despite our expectations of some success for this year, doing what is better for the team in 2012 and beyond should be first (although winning in 2011 goes a long way towards growth for 2012 and beyond), and getting picks for aging vets is generally a sound philosophy when the vets are somewhat replaceable. So I won't get Nix voodoo dolls if he does trade Evans, and I will be happy if someone overpays us for him, but I think based on what is likely going to be offered, I would rather keep Evans.

News flash, most QBs are bigger than most WRs and tougher than they look. They get roughed up by the 300lbers in the pocket, but I don't think they are going to get man handled by a CB most of the time.

Who said weight is solid muscle? It is easy to lose 10 lbs being sick. Most water weight lost comes back pretty quickly, but muscle and fat can also be lost during illness. 228lb tight end? What is this 1974?

They went to the SB with one named Mike Gandy. I wonder if he is any good?

I guarantee we won't finish 3-11.

First off, I am definitely a Bills optimist. It is part of the fun. I have had ample opportunity to jump off the bandwagon in the several decades I have not lived in Buffalo, but choose not to and enjoy the ride. But taking a realistic step backwards, does anybody think our defense will not be dramatically improved? Adding Dareus and Williams, swapping ILBs, adding Merriman, having Carrington and Troup get a year under their belt (both seem headed clearly in the right direction), having no downside of their career veterans (Kelsey doesn't count because he never had an upside), being in year 2 of a system (that by the way they struggled to start with at 0-8, then finished 4-4), and adding Dave W. to the staff. I don't know how much better, but anybody who doesn't think the D is better should come up with a decent argument as to why. The offense will also be better. No QB controversy/change, year 2 of Chan, nobody on the downside of their careers (except possibly Lee, who will not find it hard to improve upon his 2010 numbers), getting more than zero from CJ, Freddie is still low mileage, not having two of your starting OL coming off huge injuries and not able to even practice regularly in 2010, etc. I think most agree that Fitz is near his ceiling, but I would expect improved accuracy, timing, and decision making in his first full year running things from the start. No miracles, but he should be able to more consistently do things at the best of his abilities. Add in that the NFL is WAY WAY WAY less predictable than everybody says each year, and scanning through the calendar and picking wins and losses based on last year is so inaccurate. There are lots of teams that you think will be 10-6 which will end up 6-10 and vice versa. This team is much more talented than the #31 ESPN ranking, and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be expected to get back to the 7-9 Jauron territory fairly easily. So if you add in a few good things happening and a few good bounces, and I think 9-7 is certainly a possibility even if not super likely. But right now I'm just excited about them getting to 1-0. Go Bills!

Yeah, because guys like Mike Gandy and Jonathan Scott will never get a sniff of a Super Bowl...no wait, both of those Bills castoffs started in the Super Bowl at tackle right? I definitely do not love our tackle depth and am reserved about our tackle talent, but I think Bell will be above average this year and not a big focus of blame. Remember last year he was coming off the major injury and limited in practice reps, etc. And we all KNOW no matter who plays there, RT will be better this year than last year. It is still the #1 position I was hoping we would reinforce, but I don't think things are as dire as your statement indicates.

I wish him well, and think he is a pretty good player. He was always fighting against his draft slot and Ngata, and that cost him a lot in the fans' eyes. But on the field he was not a bad player. If he and George Wilson traded draft slots I don't think Donte would have been so unpopular. But not a big loss for us as long as Byrd and Wilson stay healthy (I think Donte is better than our safety depth). Like with Poz, I think the guy at the top of our depth chart will be fine and we won't suffer there.

Yeah, we better come in last so we can get Alex Smith and not risk getting stuck with Aaron Rodgers at the bottom of the round. If we get Rothlisberger instead of Eli we will set this franchise back a decade. The #1 pick QB stuff is done and over. Sometimes good, but not always necessary. And rooting for your team to tank is not an effective way to build a winning franchise. No one draft player is sure enough to be valuable enough to have the negative impact of a losing miserable season for the team. Prediction, Fitzpatrick gets us back to the playoffs as our starter, but is not the starter when we win the Super Bowl

I will take the over on that bet. But I am an eternal optimist and focus on the positive things: 1) Year 2 of a defensive system that we sucked at last year, adding the #2 pick beast, a pro bowl OLB when healthy and some other talent while losing not much and not having any older players on the downside of the career. And adding a very talented defensive coach to the mix. 2) Year 2 of an offensive scheme and the first training camp as starter for Fitz, without having two starting linemen limping off major injuries. Again almost all players on the upswing of their career, and very likely we get more out of Spiller than we did last year. 3) A team that finished 4-4 after starting 0-8. The second half record is used a LOT as a predictor of future success, so I don't see why it doesn't apply to us. How many wins those improvements translate to is hard to tell, but there is more upside than the common feeling here. Nothing guaranteed, but if the ball bounces our way I can see this team being the best we have had in a while. Some recent results of teams coming off 4 win seasons, 10 out of 18 got to 8 wins the following year: 2010 Chiefs 10-6 2009 Bengals 10-6 2008 Falcons 11-5 2008 Jets 9-7 2007 Browns 10-6 2007 Bucs 9-7 2006 Packers 8-8 2006 Jets 10-6 2006 Titans 8-8 2005 Dolphins 9-7 The 8 teams that did not make it to .500 following a 4 win season (with previous year second half in parentheses): 2010 Raiders 6-10 (3-5) 2009 Browns 5-11 (1-7) 2009 Seahawks 5-11 (2-6) 2008 Chiefs 2-14 (0-8) 2008 Raiders 5-11 (2-6) 2006 Raiders 2-14 (1-7) 2006 49ers 7-9 (2-6) 2005 Browns 6-10 (1-7) So it is more common than not for a 4-12 team to rebound to a .500 or better season AND only once did a 4-12 team have a "strong finish" and fail to do so (2010 Raiders). Probably an inaccurate small sample size, but just an example that aside from our team getting stronger, etc., it is normal for 4 win teams to rebound, and the ones who don't usually didn't finish strong the year before.

From someone who followed the whole soap opera in the local media here in San Diego, let's be clear on one thing. When healthy he is an explosive game changer and always has been. He has had some injury issues obviously, but they are they type that don't lead me to believe he is Bob Sanders fragile, just not too lucky so far. He made a bad decision a few years back by trying to play through a knee injury instead of having surgery in the offseason. No guarantees of any football player staying healthy, but I am very excited to see him play while he is healthy, and I wouldn't be surprised if he stays much healthier than people think he will.

In other news, Al Davis has decided that the vertical passing game and drafting the fastest players doesn't really work, and is suggesting the team try to check down a little more. He will be drafting pass catching running backs and slow blocking receivers in the 2012 draft. Said Davis: "I have finally realized the error of my obsession with speed and vertical passing, and within a couple of drafts we should be able to build a winning team around Trent of players who refuse to go more than five years downfield". But I am in agreement that the Zona hit changed him, and he was lots of fun until then, so I wish him nothing but the best, and hope he can stay in the league at least a few more years without getting his brains scrambled again.

And I wanted Ngata. And nobody wanted Kyle Williams in the first four rounds. Imperfect science even though I think at time TBD would have outperformed Jauron & co. All that matters is if he can be a top 53 Buffalo Bill this year. I have some doubts that he will be, but he still has a chance.

According to Atlanta radio 790, nothing official according to Falcons sources and the longer it takes the more it looks like hometown team might keep him.

Not at all. We are waiting for the Falcons to match because at same dollars he stays. So out of Bills and Clabo's hands, and he is not going to sign until he gives Atlanta a last chance to match whatever it is. I think this probably isn't going to be decided in the next hour or two, and might have to wait some more.

So now we are waiting to see if Atlanta will match Buffalo's offer. We all know that at same dollars he stays a Falcon, so it is exclusively up to the Atlanta front office to decide if they match or not, and not just Clabo making a decision or the Bills making a decision. The twitter-verse doesn't seem to have any hint or clue on what the Falcons are actually doing or how long it might take them to decide. So I think this is on hold until we get some real news coming, and there won't be anything else from the rumor side of things unless Clabo signs up for Twitter himself really soon.

Agreed. And they would HAVE to overpay to get him, because he would not come to Buffalo for the same money he could get to stay in Atlanta, that is just the reality of it. So hopefully they don't match our offer and it happens, and we aren't just a bargaining chip with them.

This and Hayensworth deal both make the Patriots a better team this year, but I don't think either is tremendously relevant to the Bills chances of upsetting the Pats this year (we will rightly be underdogs in both games), or of a miracle 10-6 return to the playoffs. It does make the Pats a little older, and a little more salary-cap constrained over the next couple years.

I'm a Jasper fan and think he will be successful. Now I don't think it will be quite like when Kyle outperformed McCargo despite being picked four rounds later, and I think Dareus is our guy. But given that he was coming out of NAIA at 450lbs switching positions, there is no way this guy would be a higher round pick, even if he has all the talent to be a great football player. So the groundwork is there for him to be a very successful 7th round pick, and we know that between 6th and 7th rounders and UDFA there are very often impact players. Now add the things he has going for him: 1) not a finesse position, 2) Super hard worker from the videos we have seen and the 75lbs he has lost working hard, 3) Some immense physical talent including the NT talent of just being really big, 4) a nice, well spoken, level headed kid. Sounds to me like a winning combination. And people talk about D-Line depth and numbers, but injuries happen. I see this kid getting a chance and making some plays, and being a fan favorite for a number of years even if he is rotating off the bench.

Darn it! We only have two receivers on our roster and they will both be locked down. If only we could sign a third or fourth receiver or a tight end in free agency or find ourselves a back who can catch passes and move in space. Unfortunately none of that is possible, and Chan doesn't know anything about creative offense, so we are doomed. Perhaps we can get a safety and find a way to win 2-0, because obviously we can't score if they have Revis AND Nnamdi.

Can you explain the splash? You say you mean literally a big splash. Did you mean literally only for the big part and the splash part continues to be used figuratively in the way that an significant news is referred to as a splash. Or is there some water based offensive line training I am not aware of? And if you haven't seen David Cross rant on the misuse of the word literally it is worth checking out. Back to football, I am definitely interested in Clabo, but don't see his motivation to come to Buffalo if it isn't for a lot more dollars than Atlanta is offering. What is their cap situation, and could we outbid them without going crazy?

The lesson is that they won the following year, and it was more enjoyable than any of the Yankees 27 championships. As a Bills and Red Sox fan, it was a pretty wonderful moment, and made all the waiting worth it. What is important is that the Bills act like the Red Sox and not the Cubs where losing is okay. Nobody cares about Bill Buckner anymore. Hopefully we can get Scott Norwood off the hook in the next few years.

I agree with the general concept. I wanted to keep him, but probably not worth what he got. But it depends on what we do with that $7M instead. If it is spent wisely on a very deep free agent market, then I don't think Poz is a loss. If it is used to tack a couple more years on to Kelsey, or to be put back in Ralph's pocket, then it would have been nice to have Poz instead.

Poz left for a 4-3, not for lack of cash on the table. And I would like it if nobody talks about Andrew Luck for a little while please. I don't think he is going to fall to the #32 pick, but we can keep our hopes up. I liked Poz like I liked London Fletcher, two good guys who give it their all at ILB, and for a variety of reasons never seemed to make a big play or change a game despite being good players. He wasn't a great fit for the 3-4 and is replaceable in that role. Anybody who is going to take the under on a 4-12 repeat should stay away from Vegas. A lot remains to be seen, but this team has all objective signs pointing to improvement: another year in new defensive scheme that was a big adjustment, no QB controversy, a solidifying young line, not a lot of downside of their career players, a rookie stud in the middle, and a team that finished 4-4 after adjusting to new schemes and a new QB.