LABills08

My point is...logically speaking...the rule doesn't do what it is set out to enforce.

Gailey makes some of the most peculiar play calls. You could see that coming from a mile way.

Yea agreed. Sorry, I was talking about this offseason. Which might be a moot point in terms of trade talk anyways. Is Vick a FA? I forget.

Tim Graham TimGrahamESPN Agree wholeheartedly @kejax Marshawn is going to make the #Bills look even worse after he blows up the NFC West this season.

Not upset, just informed. And fair point, no indication as to what was on the table last week. My only point is, if it is true that Carroll has been in pursuit of Marshawn since August, it just seems bizarre that the trade happens now. And to learn that a press release had been drafted before the trade was pulled off seems a bit strange. I'm also making these points against the back drop of the other decisions OBD has been making recently.

I urge you to all take a look Link Once again demonstrates the erratic decision making that worries me about whoever is running this team. I am absolutely 100% now more than ever that Ralph or his minions are getting tangled up in Nix's affairs again. Nix might not be the astute talent evaluator that everyone wants him to be, but he is definitely a man of conviction. He does not strike me as the type of guy who will make a trade and then pull it off the table at the last second. Now, of course he could have pulled the trade off thinking that the Packers or Eagles wanted to get involved, but the reporting doesn't seem to indicate that. Anyways, take it for its worth. And yes, Ross Tucker, I remember when Edwards and Lynch were going to lead the Bills out of the abyss too.

It will be interesting to hear what the consensus around the league is over this, but looking forward, its not a bad trade. RBs are probably the hardest position to get value for in terms of a trade. They are an easily replaceable commodity, in fact, does anyone know when the last time was that a RB was traded for 1st or 2nd rounder? Now, looking backwards, its obviously a bit disturbing. We drafted this guy only 3 1/2 years ago. And he was a top 15 pick. Trading him for a 4th round pick isn't anywhere near what we got back for Willis McGahee. And Lynch is probably the more talented back! So, one has to ask, could they have gotten a higher value for Lynch prior to the draft? Even if they weren't positive Spiller would fall to them, they did have Fred Jackson. And as I've already noted, productive RBs can be found late in the draft and all over waivers. Overall, I can live with this. More draft flexibility is never a bad thing. I hope the conditional aspect of the pick is about whether or not the Seahawks finish in the top half of the draft or the bottom half. Because, if the Seahawks make the playoffs, this pick is pretty useless. Can we trade Evans now too?

I imagine that if its a corporate problem, it doesn't go much past the CEO, but regardless I agree. Can Ralph Wilson please sell the team?

So...is it worth reading all of these posts? Or is the general message that the Bills are still a mess? And Will be as long as Ralph Wilson is the owner?

Yea. They are. Sadly. I don't think you can underestimate how big of a role whiffing on Mike Williams and JP Losman played in setting the Bills back.

I agree to a point. The blind faith in Nix and Gailey is IMO, unwarranted. I don't think the recent failures all fall on their shoulders though, I think it is always the higher ups who cause this franchise the most problems. Nix and Gailey were hired in large part because they would not command total control over all football related decisions. In fact, both of these guys were desperate for one last chance to take on each of their respective jobs. Maybe desperate is too harsh, but my point is, there wasn't much coaxing involved in getting these two to jump on board. And the way I see it is, having both of these guys in place still guarantees that Ralph Wilson and his minions have 100% control over the organization. When RW wants Edwards released, its going to happen. You think if Holmgren, Shanahan, Cowher or Gruden were coaches that Ralph Wilson's interference would be tolerated? Doubtful. But, I digress. I think Gailey and Nix deserve a shot. And I know Bills fans want to believe in them so very bad. But, keep in mind the hurdles they're facing, both on the football field and up in owners box (does Ralph even go to the games anymore?). I hate to say it, but fundamental change won't happen until ownership changes. I just hope in the meantime that Gailey and Nix are able to put the pieces together to the best of their abilities.

Maybe. I agree with the part that if Edwards suddenly discovered brilliance on another team, there would be a lot of angry Bills fans. That being said, I think these two quotes are heavily exaggerated: Not really Burst of brilliance? No. Trent showed signs of potential. Maybe to some, signs of big potential. But, bursts of brilliance? The main qualities that make an average NFL QB a great NFL QB have always been missing in Trent. It was just assumed he could find them. Throwing down field, throwing over the middle of the field, throwing accurately into double coverage, etc, etc. At his best, he was picking apart a defense with 5-10 yard passes. I don't ever remember watching him make the big throws. He was toast the second Jauron dumped him last season and everyone knew it. I understand there wasn't much to lose, but there wasn't much to gain either.

What are the chances that Edwards plays the Bill Oct. 10th and absolutely lights us up?

I hope you're right.

You might be right. I probably would think less of this if the Bills had demonstrated some semblance of competence in the past 10 years. I should probably cut Nix and Gailey some more slack. It could be worse, like when Jauron decided to stay overly loyal to players. For me, its not so straight forward. I'm happy that the Edwards adventure is over. But, the way in which it was done makes me worried. It leads me to believe that something weird is going on behind the scenes. I might be totally wrong, maybe it was simply a mistake by Gailey to so easily have entrusted Trent with the offense. But, it just doesn't add up to me. I wanted to see an executed vision put forth by Gailey and Nix. Maybe I'm living in fantasy land to think that transitions happen smoothly. And maybe this is just a case of Gailey and Nix making the hard decisions. But, at the moment it just comes off like more reactionary decision making. And, I felt essentially the same way after it was reported that Fitz was replacing Edwards, so it doesn't have to do with him being released. It just has to do with the erratic decision making and my suspicions that there is still unneeded tampering going on from those higher up than Nix.

I agree with all that. I just would have preferred Edwards were released back in August so that I could at least find reason to believe that the Bills had some semblance of new direction. Instead, it feels like more reactionary decisions. At least the Trent decision has a net neutral effect aside from locker room discontent.

+100. I'm all for optimism. For the past 10 seasons I've always thought the Bills are going to "surprise some people". And guess what, I'll have that same feeling next season. But, its about time this organization earns our faith. Fans have every right to be suspicious of the crap this organization pulls.

I don't buy this preseason garbage. I'm sorry, this idea that "Trent Edwards had everyone fooled, again" just doesn't float. He played 2 decent games (1st game was awful and last game he didn't play). Nothing stand out, just decent. Sure, fans might have been like "okay, not that bad". But, if the coaching staff actually finished the preseason saying "yep, Trent's our guy", then I just can't see how they would see two bad games and release him. They knew what the fans knew all a long. That Trent just didn't have it. Evidence is in how fast they cut him in the regular season. The question is, why did they sell this whole charade?

Dean, I generally like your posts a lot. And find myself agreeing with you. But, I have to say, the fact that you don't understand the difference between the Leinart situation and the Edwards situation, is with all due respect, mind blowing. As long as Edwards is not starting, I don't really care one way or the other what happens. Whether he is on the bench costing the Bills money (which otherwise would be going straight into RW's pockets anyways) or off the team, isn't really a big difference. However, what does bother me is this constant cycle of dysfunction that comes out of One Bills Drive. I'm not saying the Bills need to do everything by the book. But, this strikes me as oddly out of place. Like I said, you cut him before the season, thats fine. Or you cut him before anointing him the starter fine. But, if you are going to endorse him as the starter and then cut him two weeks after the fact, I don't like it. Especially when you risk losing the locker room for further losing respect around the league. Some might say, "who cares what other players think" or "its a lie that players don't want to come to Buffalo". I strongly disagree. In fact, I don't have sources with the Bills, but I do know people involved with other teams. And the perception players have towards a franchise, whether accurate or not, do play a large role. Now, of course, it can't get much worse for the Bills. They can (and I believe will) turn this around. But, IMO, this is undeniably a bizarre turn of events all things considered. Oh yea, thats pocket change. Dude, that covers every receiver we have not named Roscoe or Lee.

Also, I think this says it all: I'm telling you. This decision came from up above Nix.

+100. Leinart lost the starting job in the preseason. He wasn't heralded as winning a non-existent competition and then released by week 3. Something is fishy and no matter what actually went down, the Bills, again....look completely out of their league. I'm telling you, there are some weird decisions coming down from Ralph Wilson.

That's also a fair point. But, if that were the case, I think the Bills would have leaked it in order to save face. Even the Edwards camp would likely be in favor of that being the rumor.

Why didn't we start Fitz week 1 and keep Brown on the roster from the get go?

It's true though. I mean, I think what worries me most is that it took them up until today to release what anyone who had watch a single Bills game last year knew.....Trent was done.

I don't think these two statements are contradictory. Or exclusive of each other. Sullivan said the move smacks of desperation (which, it did given as how Gailey and co. had anointed Edwards the starter long ago and then turned on him, rightfully so, after only 2 starts). And he wondered what took him so long, as in, why wasn't this figured out back in July. I mean, hindsight is 20/20 and you'll be hard pressed to find a positive Sullivan quote anywhere. He is a miserable dude. But, I mean, the Bills suck. The franchise has been mismanaged for a the better part of the last 15 years. And a common denominator of that is reactionary or erratic decision making. IMO, most fans should share Sullivan's irritation after how Ralph Wilson has run this team into the ground. Doesn't mean fans should share his bitterness, but I think a lot of his points are dead on.