BillsVet

The Bills will need Byrd more as the season wears on and teams have more film of the Bills defense. For as well as that unit played yesterday, teams adapt and it's at this point where you need the most talent on the field at one time. In a league predicated on scoring, particularly through the air, turnovers are key. Buffalo isn't going to get 5 picks and some contests may turn on 1. I'd prefer a healthy Byrd over what played yesterday, even considering the result.

BTW, who is the backup QB should the starter get injured? I hope it doesn't happen, but EJ gets me worried when he takes off and doesn't exactly slide. That's the most dangerous scenario and their backup is an undrafted rookie FA.

If the Bills follow your guidance, the chances they sign their own players long term or in-demand free agents is even lower than it already is. You don't call players out and try to shame them into going on the field in the professional ranks. The Bills, according to LaCanfora, put out an offer about 1M per season less than what the market is paying for top safeties. Fans want to see Byrd on the field, but throwing him under the bus makes the rebuild even harder than it already is.

When it's too tough for the Bills it's just right for Eugene Parker?

Hard to disagree with this statement given the near 20M in cap room they entered the season with. You'd think they'd anticipate the secondary group, given their youth and inexperience, might need some veteran leadership.

Building depth is done when you draft well year after year, which is something the Bills haven't done in a long time. But if you're not drafting well in this era, you can somewhat off-set it with value signings in UFA A good example is a guy like Alan Branch who is playing this season on a reasonable contract. When you don't draft well, particularly in the middle rounds, and aren't willing to make up for that with value signings, it's hard to maintain the sort of depth required to offset injuries. I don't expect Buffalo to spend all their cap dollars every season in a pursuit to establish depth, but it's ridiculous to believe them to not have injuries during the season. If Gilmore goes down, Rogers is still on the field. If Stevie goes down, it means an unproven type gets immediate PT. That's not what I expect from a franchise which tells us everything is supposedly new. It's their M.O. for going on years.

I thought the owners were greedy and that's how the NFL worked?

This. Doesn't matter who the GM has been, the Bills in this 13 year run of ineptitude have not developed depth, particularly on the OL. Part of this is not drafting well. This inevitably leaves them with rookies and street free agents as primary depth, which is what's happened (again) this year. Most worrisome is they've decided to go with 2 rookies at QB. I get why Manuel is starting, but it's extremely questionable why an undrafted rookie free agent is backing him up. When Kolb was injured and Matt Leinart stunk up the place, they never attempted to get someone with any semblance of experience in case their 1st round QB was injured. That's organizational ineptitude and it's been present across multiple regimes. Why?

No one demands depth at every position. But aside from RB and perhaps DL, the Bills had little veteran depth at any other position. This is a common denominator of how this team has been operated for several years now. I don't expect them to splurge in UFA, but this lack of veteran depth is part of the reason they are hit hard by injuries: they can't plug in a player with experience and a little talent.

One could have said the same thing early in the Jauron or Gailey eras. The point remains that merely rebuilding is no longer an excuse with teams improving during the early stages of the process. It's not unfair to expect 8 wins during the first year of a new regime. We were told a few years ago that it takes 3-4 years to rebuild. In a 21st century NFL, a strong organization doesn't need that much time. Yet, in Buffalo that somehow becomes reality. The standard seems awfully low here versus other franchises.

That amid all this change, roster building is not much different during each new regime. It seems like each time they add a player, another is removed. There's attempts to rebuild but no actual building going on. I don't see depth anywhere on this team, which is becoming increasingly obvious each week. The Bills, like every team, sustain injuries except the drop-off from starter to backup is precipitous.

Notwithstanding the 20M in cap room they possess. They finally realize, after Nix was effectively moved to GM emeritus, that they need a QB. But not before they allow their best OL out the door and thus make that rookie QB's life more difficult by plugging in NFL retreads like Colin Brown.

But why are they rebuilding every 3 years or so? Is it simply because the front office and coaching staffs are that inept, or could it be a deeper more systemic issue not solved with a new QB, HC, or even GM? After all, someone hires those guys, and rarely does anyone question those transactions. 20M under the cap and 13 years without a playoff season. The writing's on the wall with this franchise.

LT ain't all that great either today. Wouldn't be surprised if he kicks inside and Welch starts at LT. Geez.

Well, it is a rebuilding year.

Lot of organizations I'm an active member plus job stuff right now. I also choose to not get worked up until more sustained success, which you're well aware of.

I hope Austin Howard isn't starting this week for the Jets.

This will be taken wrong, but there were big wins at the beginning of the 2008 and 2011 seasons as well. At the time it was big to come from behind against Oakland at home and three years later at home over New England. Unfortunately, neither win signaled an end to the futility exhibited by this franchise, There were good signs today from players taken in the most recent draft at difficult to find positions. Hopefully they carry this the rest of the season, but it'll take more than one come from behind win to build a season.

The on-field people have changed but promotions in the front office ensure some of the same faces remain. There's a LOT of season left to begin formulating opinions on everyone. But giving someone a new title that's been a part of the organization doesn't clear them from criticism.

Thank you God!

Kirwan wrote a book a few years ago that listed the order of importance on OL as: LT, RT, LG, C, RG. Take it for what it is. However, the case can be made that pay indicates value. Contracts for LG's are far and away more numerous and higher than centers. Jahri Evans, Davin Joseph, Logan Mankins, the old Hutchinson deal in MIN, Levitre, Dockery way back when, Carl Nicks, and others. According to sportrac, 2 centers have base salaries of more than 4M per. http://www.spotrac.com/rankings/nfl/guard/'>http://www.spotrac.com/rankings/nfl/guard/ 8 guards have 4M+ base deals. http://www.spotrac.com/rankings/nfl/guard/ I realize there are bonuses and such, but the demand is clearly on guards over centers.

NO allowed Nicks to depart after they gave Jahri Evans a huge deal. Hutchinson's contract contained a poison pill such that SEA couldn't match. Vasquez got a 4 yr 23.5M deal, which isn't massive. Your argument is pure sophistry here. And so what if this was the first year guards were drafted higher? Teams have been paying more for them for years, particularly LG's who need to be mobile. Finding interior who can move and pass block is more challenging given the pass-happy offenses which have evolved. Teams aren't looking for the OLineman that Nix preferred, who needed to be 320+. I criticize the Bills for having stunk for almost a decade and a half with another rebuild staring them in the face. If criticism isn't warranted now because there are new people, then so be it. Fandom does not mean living in fantasy land. We've been down this road before.

It's more nuanced than simply saying pay the man obviously. Certainly positional value, the player himself and scheme must be factored. However, it's clear teams have re-evaluated interior lineman and placed more emphasis on the mobile types who excel at pass-blocking, which Levitre certainly was. More are being drafted and guards are getting bigger contracts. The Bills went out and spent a first round pick on a new QB and proceeded to allow their best OL to depart and replaced him with journeymen. When we talk about synergy, it's certainly not at OBD because for each talented player they add, one is removed from the equation. In this case, they did it before the QB came on board. I'd even argue that a LG is more important than a center, given the physical requirements to be good there are far less available than playing center.

We're back to the player being required to bow to the will of the team. When did that become so? Parker went to the team with a well-researched offer and the Bills didn't agree. Thereafter, there was little to no negotiations. Why would a player and agent take a likely large hometown discount with the entire NFL community, players, agents, team executives watching? Parker would lose major points for having his player agree to something beneath the going rate as would Byrd because it short-circuits other players from winning bigger contracts when they're up. Players go from hero to zero among the homer crowd faster that a Ferrari goes 0 to 60.

Spiller is signed through 2015. Dareus through 2014. Neither have any Pro Bowl or All-Pro selections yet, but apparently will merit new contracts down the road. There isn't a soul on this board, who, if they were in Byrd's shoes, would be happy with a 1 year guarantee. Nor would they be happy with a one year deal when fellow and sometimes lesser talented players have 4 or 5 year contracts with plenty of guaranteed money. A guy like Goldson or Weddle have a minimum of 18-20M coming their way. Byrd has his 6.9M. If only people could place themselves in the players shoes, but apparently fandom overrides that ability.