KOKBILLS

And the fact that the Broncos have a true #1 in D. Thomas, one of the best young TE's in J. Thomas, and arguably the best slot WR in Welker...

Agreed...It's something like this...Basically the teams that would be willing to give up something for Byrd have been told he wont sign there anyway...The Bills don't want to tie up all the cap space for a player that wont play for the whole season...So you just move on...

I'm guessing the Bills will look towards their own roster first with the extra cash...Securing Dareus and Aaron Williams should become the priority now... Nicks is too much of an unknown...He's a major underachiever and there is plenty of opinion out there that he is a Prima-donna...Plus he has a hard time staying healthy...Decker is going to command huge money and the question is how good will he be as a #1?...

I felt it was there all along... Though I do have to say this...If it's just a matter of Byrd not wanting to be in Buffalo because he wants to go to a contender, preferably closer to home...I can't really blame the guy for it...We all want what we want...And no matter how we all feel, the Bills as an organization (especially on the field) have given Byrd plenty of reasons to want to play elsewhere...

Well...Here's a hypothetical...Byrd turns down a massive deal from the Bills averaging more than $9 million per year...The Bills are 100% convinced Byrd no longer want to be in Buffalo and renting him for another year is futile...The Bills immediately look for potential trade partners...They find a couple teams that would be willing to give up at least a 2nd round pick...But when they go back to Byrd he flatly refuses to sign with those teams long term...And the teams that he wants to sign with are unwilling to give up a Draft pick for him...Those teams are concerned because they know he's already turning down a massive offer from the Bills and they don't want to give up a high Draft pick for the right to pay Byrd premium cash... In the end I would not be at all surprised to see Byrd take a Cliff Avril-type deal with a contender...I think he simply wants out of Buffalo and wants to play where he wants to play...

I can't see Carrington wanting anything more than a one year deal...He's still young, and coming off the injury I don't think he'll command nearly what he will in the open market after playing a full season...I'm a bit higher on Carrington than some...I think he's really, really good and I'm guessing he'll be in line for a big payday if he stays healthy for 2014...

I always thought a 2nd was possible in a trade to another team...And I still do...There problem there seems to be that Byrd has to want to sign with the team that is offering the pick...And it looks like the Bills could not match that part of it up...

Well...I was not opposed to re-signing Byrd because he's a Bill and clearly a good player...But I've been thinking for a while now my preference would be to trade Byrd and secure Aaron Williams instead...The main reason for me is the PF, and the feeling that there is a great deal of possibility that Byrd has peaked...Even though admittedly he may remain at that peak for a year or two...When the decline comes it will be rapid because the guy has PF in both feet, he's never been the most athletic FS anyway, and he's never going to get younger...Williams is three years younger than Byrd and just made a massive leap in his first year as an NFL Safety...There is no reason to believe that 3 years from now Aaron Williams will not be the better player of the two...And that's why I would rather see Byrd gone and spend the cash on keeping Williams and Dareus...

I'm guessing this is not necessarily the case...I think it looks far more like Byrd wanting to go where he wants to go...And of course he's hoping to land as big a deal as he can there...but I get the feeling he'll take less in order to go to a team he's really comfortable with...

Can't be any higher that a 3rd...Which it will be if the Bills don't sign a big time UFA...Compensation picks are about net loss...

So...If I'm reading that correctly...The problem with tagging and trading is that other teams are being scared off by the fact that Byrd is turning down the deal Buffalo is offering? Or am I missing something? Maybe it was as simple as the Bills finding a couple teams willing to trade for Byrd, and Byrd saying he's not interesting in signing with those teams (like Cleveland for example...A Franchise that currently seems to be a train wreck)...And the teams he is willing to sign with are unwilling to give up anything for him...It's probably just that simple... I'm guessing once Byrd does sign elsewhere the big question will be how much more was the Bills offer?...Not that it really matters much...I think this whole scenario is just pointing to the fact that Byrd does not want to be in Buffalo...And in the end it's really not going to be about money...He's going to be rich regardless...Sounds like he wants to be rich and play where he wants to play...

I am admittedly very surprised the Bills are not going to tag Byrd in order to get something...anything...back in return...Especially considering this is supposed to be the deepest Draft in recent memory...Even if you work out a deal for a 4th Round pick that's like a 3rd round pick in a normal year... Why not simply tag him...See what you can work out...And if nothing can be worked out before the Draft remove the tag?

I've never said I was right about it...But I have said from way back that everything about this situation screamed that Byrd (for whatever reason) simply did not want to sign long-term with the Bills unless they made him an offer that was so outrageous he could not refuse...I never really bought all the butt-hurt stuff, except for the understanding that Byrd did not want to be here, and he was upset they kept him from leaving for an extra year...I've said all along this could be as simple as Byrd wanting to play closer to home...He's a west coast kid after all...But all in all, I've had the feeling from the day the long term window closed, and Byrd could have simply signed his tender last year (like the majority of tagged players do when a long-term deal can't be work out), that he did not want to be here...And it's really just that...Nothing else...

Not sure if you read all the way back...But Beerball was talking about Aaron Williams...And he was correct...There was a great deal of debate going all the way back to his last year at Texas whether or not Williams was better suited to Safety in the NFL...One of my best friends lives in Dallas and is a HUGE Longhorns fan...He loves...I mean REALLY loves AW...But he told me before that Draft that Williams a better fit at Safety...My friends exact words to me after the Bills Drafted him..."When he moves to Safety he'll be a Pro Bowler...you're going to love him..." Many knew Williams was better suited to Safety in the NFL...His play at CB only furthered that assumption...

Actually I went back and read...From what I can tell the 4.68 was at the Oregon Pro day...Byrd did not run at Indy due to a groin issue...

Well... No one is going to replace Glenn at LT...That's not in the Bills plans...So he would definitely play RT in Buffalo... I watched every Michigan game...They're my favorite College team and have been for over 20 years...While I'll admit Lewan struggled at times, he also dominated a lot as well...I rarely saw him get pushed around as much as I saw him get sloppy at times and lose his technique...That's all coach-able stuff...You can't coach the kind of athlete he is...Is he raw? No doubt about it...But so is Greg Robinson (who I think is the #1 prospect in this Draft)...A good coach will take Lewan and make him a star...If he goes to the wrong situation who knows... I was mainly commenting on the fact that the scout said Lewan is " Not an elite left-tackle athlete..." And that is just a ridiculous statement...Like I said...the rest may or may not be true...We'll see...

So you don't think Lewan is "an elite LT athlete?" Purely athletically, you don't think he's elite?

Maybe for you... Innuendo is described as :an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one. Declaring innuendo is basically assuming purposeful suggestion. I did no such thing... I was describing the way a football player moved...The same way I would describe any football player that moved that way... Seriously though I'm just busting your chops... But truthfully I was not trying to be cute...

All the other stuff this anonymous scout said about Lewan may or may not be true...But the statement " Not an elite left-tackle athlete ..." is a joke...Lewan is basically the definition of an elite LT athletically...He was a top O-Line performer at the Combine in the 40 (1st), vert jump (3rd), broad jump (1st), and 3-cone drill (4th)...He's got 34" arms and did 29 reps...Athletically Lewan is unquestionably elite...No doubt he needs to bring a more physical element to his game...I should know, I'm a Michigan fan...But he's got the athletic ability to be very, very good in time...Like I've written here before Lewan reminds me of Nate Solder...Solder took a couple years, but he's a top 10 LT now...With the right coaching, in the right system, I see Lewan being as good if not better than Solder...

Don't discount the need for incantations for this team Pete...That falls under the area of anything can help...

On a side note WGR was using Graham's quote about the pleasantry of the Byrd talks this time around on their updates the other day...Naming Graham as the source...Yet they did not think this story was worthy of much consideration...Just thought that was interesting...

Mr.?...Not sure...

Ealy's getting love from who? I mean...I understand he's a first round prospect...But I've yet to see anyone list him in the top 15...Am I missing something? Interesting that Falcons fans would choose Barr over Robinson or Lewan...That would be a real shocker... And a little btw...I hope Ealy does go top 8 so someone else slides down to the Bills...But right now that's a long, long, longshot...

You can't follow the NFL and not know that Matthews is a bloodline kid...That's not the kind of sizzle/hype I was speaking about...He's known as a technician...Solid...High-floor kind of kid...There's not a ton of buzz about him because the other two OT's are freaks athletically...But Matthews may be the better player regardless...That's all I was referring to...