Rock'em Sock'em

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/story/11600062 Trade ups that worked: Cutler Ngata Bills trade ups that didn't work out - are there any that ever worked out for the Bills? Losman - hated that pick because he sucked so bad in the senior bowl. McCargo - hated that pick because I never heard of the guy. Bills trade downs that worked out. Passed on Kenyana Walker and drafted Nate Clements and Travis Henry. I hate the trade up.

It's not just the picks. The Bills also saved $10-11M per year which they can use to go out and get a top FA next year. It's equivalent to the 3 draft picks, Orlando Pace (who signed for $5M per), and T.O. ($6M) for Jason Peters. Though Jason was a good player for us, I think the Bills did fine to move on.

Pluses: Added draft picks in what's considered a deep draft, T.O., cleared a salary room, avoided overpaying for a good LT who didn't want to be here, got to see a really funny video of the "monster tackle" LB Thomas made on Turner last year. Minuses: New holes created at RT and TE (assuming Walker moves to LT) and Chambers plays LG. Grade: Incomplete.

1.) Find a way to move the ball and score against 3-4 defenses. 2.) Pass rush

I believe that the Bills have not been drafting any O-lineman early for a variety of reasons. 1.) The Bills signed a couple good FA lineman to huge contracts a couple years back and also "hit" on Jason Peters. At least for the last two years, that formula worked fairly well. Dockery, Walker, and Royal were all good additions that helped solidify an offensive line that was kind of horrible prior to their arrival. Note - they never addressed the GLARING need at center in a timely fassion. 2.) An O-liname takes longer to develop than some other positions. With FA five years away, the Bills probably see just a bit extra value in other positions for their draft picks as the get more potential starts. 3.) More value can be attributed to the young players you draft if they can play ST. 4.) The Bills have done a very good job of developing their later round picks and undrafted FAs. I think it's one of their strengths. For instance, I would start Peters, Chambers, and Butler over any combination of expected 1st and 2nd round picks available in this year's draft. In other words, I would not trade Peters for a 1st, nor Chambers or Butler for 2nd round picks - even though our guys were originally picked later (or not picked at all in the case of Peters). All of that being said, I'm hoping for a trade down scenario where we pick both DL and OL early. Then LB and TE in rounds 2 and 3.

http://static.nfl.com/static/content/publi...ular-season.pdf A second AFC east game moved outside of the Ralph... Thursday night game on 12/3.

If the Bills don't get at least a mid-level first rounder plus a 3rd, they should hold on to Peters this year and try it all again next year. Peters is better than a single draft prospect and he's still under contract for two more years. If Peters holds out until week 10, he will cost the Bills just over $1M this season. The Bills can probably get a roster exemption. Otherwise the Bills can expect a repeat of last season for just over $3M. His trade value should be about the same next year.

If the Eagles offered me a 1st and a 3rd, I'd sign Orlando Pace.

What to do with Peters... The Bills could: 1.) Cave in and make him the highest paid LT in the league - even though he is maybe in only the 5th-10th best range. Is Peters the dependable type player that the Bills gamble the franchise on? He's missed games due to injury in the last two years. 2.) Leave the current offer on the table and if he doesn't show up for work, pull the offer and play hardball. After fines and missed game checks, if Peters does not report until week 10 he will end up playing for about 0.5M this year whilst not helping his market value. I guess the Bills would count on T.O. to take the media spotlight and minimize the disruption. Under this scenario, they would need to trade Peters in 2010, perhaps for a 2nd round pick. 3.) Trade him in 2009. For at least a late first round pick I would think. I think he's worth more than that, given he's pro-bowler, proven starter, and under contract next for two more years. My hope is that Peters signs on the Bills terms. I'd rather have him than a 1st round pick in trade. I doubt Peters forfeits any game checks. But if he does miss games, it cost the Bills disruptuon and a roster spot - for which they'd be able to get an exemption.

Chase Coffman had 90 catches for 987 yards and 10 TDs in 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=177294 Pettigrew had 42 for 472 yards and 0 TDs in 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=158483 I'm not sure Pettigrew qualifies as the best pass catching tight end. Many reports have Pettigrew as the best blocking TE. Either player would be worth a 2nd round pick IMO.

Good stuff. I love the one with Chris Cooley. Sorry if already posted.

Not a magazine, but www.walterfootball.com is a decent source for draft info.

Would you rather have a 2 time pro-bowler LT, who is under contract for 2 more years, who fills a need on this team and who might be a distraction? Or would you rather have an unproven, yet to be developed 1st round prospect who you would have for 5 years or so. Tough choice, but I would not except a single late 1st round pick. If I was the Bills, I'd go with Peters for 2 years whilst trying to sign him long term at a rate that works for the team. Then tag and trade him for a 2nd or 3rd rounder - or keep him for a 3rd year.

2006 - hoping for Hawk, would have drafted Ngata. 2007 - hoping for Peterson, would have drafted Lynch. 2008 - hoping for Sedrick Ellis, would have drafted DRC. 2009 - hoping for Crabtree or Raja, don't know who the Bills will draft. I would draft Tyson Jackson.

Cap-wise the Bills are in fine shape. They have a $10M adjustment for last year's LTBE and NLTBE bonuses that were not paid out. Current NFL cap = $127M. As it pertains to the cap, a team has flexibility to structure deals how they want. A guaranteed 1st year salary of $24M would count against that year, whereas a signing bonus of $24M would be spread out. Some teams try to structure things so that to money fills up remaining cap room, thus leaving a maximum amount of cap room in future years. They do this by carefully planning and also by restructuring deals near the end of the season. But the downside of that approach is that it makes it appear a team has a lot of cap room when in fact they might not have enough operating capital spend - and then the team is perceived as being cheap. Under cash-to-cap the Bills can spend another $35 million more this year. (They were under by about $45M before the last few signings.) Rookies maybe cost $5M because they are being paid the salaries of players that end up cut. That leaves enough to give a nice signing bonus to Peters, plus get a starting OLB, plus maybe even a RG. The Bills can also reduce cash-to-cap hit by guaranteeing future salaries. Will they spend it? Does cash-to-cap also include the salaries of non players? Who knows.

Somewhat off-topic, but if the Bills would have traded Dallas a 7th rounder for T.O. then: a.) TO's would have been under contract for 3 years (with 1st year money less than what Bills paid). b.) Next year's comp picks may have been better. It seems like a team can tack on an extra pick or two if optimizing for it. I'm happy that T.O. came here on his own terms, though. That's important too.

Scratch that, any comp pick would get negated assuming we sign a replacement FA to a comperable contract.

If Bucs sign Crowell to a one or two year contract, do the Bills get a compensation pick? If so, would you rather have Keiaho and a 6th round 2010 compensation pick or Crowell? Either way works for me?

3 years if you count an optional franchise tagged year.

Jeremy Bridges - Carolina Panthers Jake Allen - Green Bay Packers Earl Bennett - Chicago Bears Nathan Bennett - Baltimore Ravens Simeon Castille - Cincinnati Bengals Jonathan Goff - New York Giants Ali Highsmith - Arizona Cardinals Edwin Harrison - Kansas City Chiefs Eldra Buckley - San Diego Chargers Antoine Cash - Tampa Bay Buccaneers Kevis Coley - Houston Texans Quinton Culberson - St. Louis Rams Jay Cutler - Denver Broncos Jake Allen - Green Bay Packers Brett Favre - New York Jets http://www.buscook.com/content/view/16/9/ Not sure if this is current, but is says 2009. Parys Haralson - San Francisco 49ers Jason Hatcher - Dallas Cowboys Antonio Johnson - Tennessee Titans Calvin Johnson - Detroit Lions Marcedes Lewis - Jacksonville Jaguars Ken Lucas - Carolina Panthers Steve McNair - Baltimore Ravens "Retired" Martrez Milner - New York Giants Marvin Mitchell - New Orleans Saints Randy Moss - New England Patriots Jerious Norwood - Atlanta Falcons Tony Scheffler - Denver Broncos Fred Smoot - Minnesota Vikings David Stewart - Tennessee Titans Adalius Thomas - New England Patriots Michael Turner - Atlanta Falcons John Wade - Oakland Raiders Chris White - Houston Texans

And I think the Bills would be all over that kind of contract extension. No doubt.

Peters has two years left on his contract, so even if nothing happens this year, a trade is still possible next year. Unrelated, but Peters has 2 career TDs. One was JP Losman's first touchdown (against Houston, I believe). The less memorable one was the blocked punt against Cinci. Any new contract with Peters should mandate that he play "Wedge Buster" during any future pro-bowls.

Incentives for Kelsay could be include: new guaranteed money, less risk of being cut at the end of pre-season, roster bonuses in future years that remove the risk of late pre-season cuts. That being said, if I were the Bills and had a starter that I didn't think was worth $5M per season, I'd look for an upgrade.

This would be crazy for the Bills, short of at least 2 first round draft picks. Even if we can't get a reasonable deal done, Peters is still under contract for 2 more years. Then the year after that, we can use tag if needed. Or we can do a tag and trade in the 3rd year.

Or Evans (63-1017)?