Cash

Problem is, Fitz is one of the very few players who actually looks like he's trying his hardest and gives a damn about the game.

I agree on both fronts. Kelsay, while not horrible as a 4-3 DE, is a waste of a roster spot as a 3-4 OLB. Poz will never be the superstar that his supporters want him to be (white guy with a Polish name! I love him!), but he's a solid starter. Poz isn't the problem, although he's not good enough to be the solution either.

It doesn't look like it. Yes, Nix has a new title, and is now the guy who deals with the media, but it doesn't appear that the organization has really changed the way it does business. When there's a true FO overhaul, typically you see a lot of veteran cuts, replaced by players who are more the new GM's guys. Especially when you have a drastic change in scheme like we had on defense. An overhauled FO probably would've cut Trent, Kelsay, probably traded Marshawn, etc. Instead we got more of the same. And don't tell me about how many roster spots turned over this year. Every team turns over a third of its roster every year. On opening day, there were only 4 starters that were new personnel: 1.) Spiller, although he's being used lightly in a timeshare, and neither of last year's backs was moved. 2.) Cornell Green, who stinks and was only signed because Brad Butler retired. The Bills would have been happy to run back last year's opening day line this year. 3&4.) Dwan Edwards & Andra Davis, who actually fit the mold of new guys being brought in to fit the new scheme. Reggie Torbor didn't play in week 1, but should probably be mentioned, since he typically starts at OLB. He was a Dolphins' camp cut and has been moved to a new position. That's not much roster turnover where it counts. All the changes so far have been largely cosmetic, except for the move to a 3-4, which unsurprisingly has blow up in our faces.

Spelling aside, I agree. We're building, not re-building. We were re-building during the Gregg Williams era, and we failed at that. We have no holdovers from any good teams to "re"-build with. We're attempting (poorly) to build from scratch here. What a crap game by a crap team. This sucks.

Looks like Moats' arm is broken. Send another guy to IR. Do the Bills put their guys on no-calcium diets or something?

And now he's hurt. Wonderful.

I wonder if he still "expects to win" every time the players take the field.

Moats in the game at OLB. Probably won't get a chance to pass-rush, though.

At least Steve Johnson is still playing.

Fitz is our whole offense.

The Manchise? What the F is that?

Exactly. They don't want to run up the score on us, so they're throwing to prevent more touchdowns.

Should we start punting on first down?

I for one am shocked that our inside linebackers coach-turned first time defensive coordinator isn't an elite DC.

I guess week 1 was just an aberration. Our defense stinks, but happened to play their best game against Miami.

Also keep in mind that with Andra Davis out, Torbor has moved from OLB to ILB. That means they need another body at OLB.

He means you, for not taking the time to read the board and realize that there's already a thread for this news.

Fair points, but the bottom line is that while it is likely that Brohm will amount to nothing, it's still uncertain, because he's only played 1 game, and he didn't even know the playbook yet in that game. Also keep in mind that Brohm wasn't a street free agent when the Bills signed him, he was on the Packers' practice squad, and credible journalists have written that the Packers did match the Bills' contract offer to try to retain Brohm. Only in recent years have teams started the move of only keeping 2 QBs on the roster, with the 3rd-stringer on the practice squad. Traditionally, a pick as high as Brohm would never have been cut, and would still be on the Packers. If he's improved his play since then (which sometimes happens with young QBs), he could theoretically have won the backup job from Matt Flynn. It's not crazy. Yes, Brohm did clear waivers twice, and that can't be discounted -- it's a bad sign. But there's still no proof that he stinks, and all the evidence for him stinking is circumstantial. So there's still uncertainty, and where there's uncertainty, there's also hope.

Bummer. I really liked Veek.

The problem with this line of reasoning is that if the Bills thought there was any realistic chance of Kelsay flaming out, they wouldn't be giving him an extension right now. If fact, if they weren't specifically happy with his play in the new defense so far, they wouldn't give him an extension right now. I disagree with the notion that the Bills can just cut bait with Kelsay at any time and only lose the guaranteed money. The fact that this extension came so early shows that the Bills really like Kelsay, and consider him part of the rebuilding process, not a stopgap until they can get someone better. That's my take on it, anyway.

Wrong. There is no salary cap, but the Bills have a finite budget. Every dollar spent on Kelsay is a dollar that can not be spent elsewhere. Furthermore, he's being paid big-time starter money, which probably means that the team feels he's a good starter, and won't look to replace him via either free agency or the draft. I would much rather see Chris Ellis or even Antonio Coleman play OLB than Kelsay, because they're young and have some upside. Ellis has looked better than Kelsay so far this year. And then consider that Ellis and Coleman combined probably make about a third of what Kelsay makes, maybe less. Is Kelsay three times as good as Chris Ellis? He's being paid like it. Is he twice as good as Reggie Torbor? Again, that's how he's being paid.

This sucks. I would very much like to like Aaron Maybin. He seems like a nice kid, he always says the right things, by all accounts he has a tremendous work ethic, but he's just not any good at all. Which would be fine if he was a 5th-round pick making near the league minimum, but he was #11 overall and makes about $5mil a year. It's not his fault that he was brutally overdrafted, and he seems to be trying his best to live up to his salary. But seeing him out there getting destroyed play after play is just demoralizing. And then the excessive celebrations. I would actually like his enthusiasm if he ever did anything productive - I like the fact that he gets just as pumped when a teammate makes a great play as when he makes a tackle (which is the closest he's come to making a great play). If he ever becomes a good player, I will definitely like the guy, but I don't really see that happening.

2010 is already a capless year. Not sure what you think is approaching, but it's not a capless year.

Chris Ellis and Reggie Torbor are both better at Kelsay's position. But that's not really the point. I challenge you: Find another 3-4 OLB who is comparably good, who makes $6mil a year. Anywhere in the NFL. I don't know if you'll find one or not, but if you do, my guess is that it'll be a 1st-round bust on his rookie deal, not a 31-year-old veteran receiving a new contract extension. The Bills have a limited budget, just like every team. They can't afford to pay out significant portions of it to bad players. And beyond the fiscal concerns, there's also the message it sends. By extending Kelsay and keeping him as one of the highest-paid players on the team, the Bills aren't saying "he's not that good, but he's the best of a bad bunch, so we'll keep him around for now." They're saying, "this is one of the cornerstones of our defense, and for us to get back to the playoffs, he has to be a big part of it." That's just terrible.

I had been harping on drafting Bryant McKinnie for months before the draft, and I wasn't the only one. McKinnie was generally considered the #1 O-line prospect that year, and a natural LT. Williams was the consensus #2 prospect, and it was widely believed that he would be able to transition from playing RT in college to LT in the pros. That was wrong, of course, but even without the benefit of hindsight, it was a questionable pick. The plan was to play Williams at RT for a few years until he could make the move to LT. Even at the time, a bunch of people questioned the wisdom of spending the #4 overall pick on a right tackle, even if you expect him to eventually play left tackle.