Erik

You do realize that Stevie is only 25 right? Seems like he's got a lot of years left to make up the difference.

Scott's a free agent. He signed a 2 year deal before 2010, it expired after the season.

Too obvious...

“Progress was made,” Johnson told FOXSports.com of the meetings in Indianapolis conversations. “Hopefully, everything comes together within a week or so.” http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2012/02/25/stevie-hopes-deal-done-in-week-or-so/

That's not how I remember it. The whole point of the franchise tag was that they wanted to stop the big name players like Reggie White from just waiting until the end of the contract and go for the biggest pay day and it would give them incentive to sign with their current team. If the NFLPA knew there would be loopholes that would allow teams to tag marginal guys just for the sack of trading them (like we did with Peerless Price) or simply tag a guy to buy one year year of service before they let them go (like we did with Nate Clements) they would have never signed off on it. Obviously it was their own fault because the loopholes were always there but that was not what the franchise tag was originally intended for.

Isn't that funny since that was the whole point of the franchise tag in the first place?

One thing that Chandler must not forget because other NFL teams surely won't is that Chandler had zero catches in 2+ years in the league before he came to Buffalo. A guy like Kevin Boss got 4 million a year and he was a consistent player since his rookie year with the NYG.

I was just about to ask how long before the 1st Pat Moran joke but you beat me to it... So...cold medicine at the border? Is the mystery solved?

And the cap number is significantly lowered which is what is important for right now.

Buffalo Bills @buffalobills #Bills & CB Terrence McGee 2day agreed on a restructured contract.In accord. with team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed

How on earth do you get yourself in as bad a situation cap wise as the Steelers have?

Sorry, still not buying it. Yeah there was the Miami game but again they switched to Urbik and Rinehart right after that game and the line seemed to settle then. Again, and it's just my opinion, but I think Rinehart was equal or maybe even a bit better of an option than Hantgartner so I don't think we really missed him. I think you could make the argument that the coaching staff should have realized that Urbik was the better option at C than Levitre rather than keeping Hantgartner over younger and possibly better players on the line. As far as Evans goes, he never fit the offense and he never would have. He couldn't work the middle of the field at all. They want a fast receiver but a fast receiver who will produce in their system. I'd bet any amount of money that the speed receiver that they get for the roster will be able to work underneath. Also will put money that he'll be at least 6 feet tall. Why keep a guy at $9.5 million who would be 4th or 5th on the depth chart? That's not being cheap that's just obvious business. Not to mention that we got a 4th round pick for Evans for 3 catches with Baltimore (assuming that they cut him after the one year). Again, I agree on the left tackle but you can really make the argument about the draft going back years now for numerous positions and missed picks. It all goes back to the original point of the thread. Regardless of all this they need to sign Stevie Johnson to an extension or they are just spinning their wheels again.

I think your analysis about last year is way off. Rinehart was just fine as the primary interior lineman back up. Wood is one of the best centers in the league so whoever replaced him was a downgrade. I don't see the big downgrade, if any, from Hangartner to Rinehart. Evans was a disaster in Baltimore and dealt with a nagging ankle injury all year so there is no way in assuming that he'd be part of the solution rather than another part of the problem (ie a guy who couldn't contribute because he wasn't healthy.) You have a point about left tackle but there is no way I pick an LT over Dareus in the draft. I can not honestly believe the difference between losing 7 in a row last year and not losing 7 in a row last year was trading Evans, cutting Hantgartner, and not drafting an LT with our top pick.

A lot of times also agents have relationships with certain writers and they leak stuff to help try to get leverage for their clients. Scott Boras has several MLB writers in different cities do this for him. Not saying this is what Wawrow is doing but it's one of the things that go on. Truth is there are dozens of reasons and ways for agents, players, teams, executives, coaches, etc. to leak things.

I'd probably put him on par with Florence so I'd say 4.5 - 5.5 would be decent market value. Some guys are worth the overpay, I don't think this guy was one of them. The question is when the guy who is worth it comes around does Buddy pull the trigger?

3 yr./19.6 million per LaCanfora

I can't believe guys like Drew Brees and Ray Rice are still unsigned.

I'm not sure if this was discussed but Russ Brandon sent a random succession of tweets earlier talking about how much he wuvs Western New York: Russ Brandon @RussBrandon Buffalo Bills players, coaches, staff & countless alumni r proud 2 call this community home & work every day 2 make the org. prosper in WNY Russ Brandon @RussBrandon We embrace Buffalo. We all volunteer at the same schools, serve on the same community boards, own homes in the same neighborhoods ... Russ Brandon @RussBrandon We support the same businesses & attend the same churches as fans who support our team. That's what makes the NFL exp. special n this region Russ Brandon @RussBrandon We are proud of the impact we have on WNY & will continue to build a team that will win games & make the community proud this fall & beyond. They all went out in succession...seems random but the guy is in marketing. I wonder what he was going on about. Also, how did my picture get on here?

The only reason that he even called his agent was because he was cut before midnight.

They Changed Twitter, so I'm not sure how to link it but here's the tweet: Jason La Canfora @JasonLaCanfora CB Stanford Routt, released by Oakland today, has visits scheduled with Buffalo and Tennessee #insideslant Actually I think you can check it out on LaCanfora's page https://twitter.com/#!/JasonLaCanfora

Now that was brilliant.

Wait a minute...did he cut his hair?

That's all well and good but I still don't understand why people see a need for the rush. People need to realize the concept of an expiring contract in relation to a non-expiring contract. Freddie will get his money but what good is it prioritizing him ahead of guys like Stevie and Chandler whose contracts actually expire in a few weeks time at this point. Further what good is it prioritizing re-signing him to a new contract instead of negotiating with free agents from other teams during the free agent negotiating period. There is about 4-5 months time to get a deal done after you deal with the guys whose contracts are actually expiring. Let's what until at least April to complain about it. While we're at it can we stop pretending that Nix doesn't have a plan in regards to re-signing his own? The pattern is pretty clear. You work on the contracts going into the last year starting in the prior off season and try to work to a deal by the end of training camp or during the season if the player is open to that. Last year things got pushed back a bit by the lockout but he has already extended 5 players whose contracts were expiring this year (Kyle, Fitz, Pears, Sanborn, Lindell). He'll deal with Jackson, Byrd, and Levitre in the summer.

Exactly...do people really believe that a guy like Parcells didn't have any part in mentoring all of these successful coaches. Not even to mention the revisionist history regarding Super Bowl XXV since Bill Belichick became successful. I don't know how many times I've heard people give credit to Belichick for that game for the past 10 years. They beat us with ball control offense, they held on to the ball for 40 minutes, not sure that the defensive coordinator would be the one to devise that strategy. The media is just really arrogant and fickle sometimes and that's not good when they are the guys choosing things like the Hall Of Fame and post-season awards.

Actually I think the coordinators might be the two biggest factors. The ironic thing about that is supposedly a handful of writers at the Hall of Fame committee used the argument that the only reason that Parcells had a Hall of Fame resume was Belichick and that's why he's not deserving of the Hall...by that logic I guess Crennel and Weis should go in ahead of Belichick.