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Haven't seen anybody mention much of anything about Clements' performance on Sunday, and I think it's worth noting. The Bills rarely if ever have spent time and effort flipping their corners at any time in the recent past. I don't know why, but if forced to guess I'd venture that JGray has minimal experience or background incorporating that into his defenses and didn't feel comfortable coaching it, or perhaps the Bills just didn't feel they had the kind of dominating CB in any of their recent training camps to make it worthwhile to add the complication to their D. Whatever the case, their tune seems to have changed as on Sunday they were certainly flipping corners for the first time in recent memory, and doing it for the express purpose of having Nate chase Andre Johnson all over the field. Johnson may not get a lot of press due to the fact that he's young and stuck with a recent expansion club, but don't kid yourselves, that cat is one of the NFL's best receivers. And Nate just completely and utterly owned him all day. It even appeared that some of the Bills sacks and Houston's incompletions came as a result of Carr watching AJohnson and waiting for him to come free, but it never happening because Nate spent the whole day glued to his underarmour. In fact it got so bad that later in the game the Texans were sooooo desperate to get the ball in theri primary playmaker's hands that they started runnign a bunch of hitches for him just so Carr could get the ball to him before Clements locked him down. It worked for about 18 big yards. Outstanding effor for Clements; the only complaint I have is that the network hardly ever showed us what was certainly a world class match-up. Cya P.S. Hey Michael Clayton, eat all the Wheaties you want but you'll still be on my FFL bench this weekend.

So many perspectives have been voiced since his contract has been nearing maturity. I myself felt that he should be kept if for reasonable money. After seeing and realizing our defense can be so dominating, it's important that we keep the youth and nucleus intact. Clements and McGee can be the cornerstones on this defense not just now but more importantly, in the future. How many more years do Vincent and Milloy really have? We have a great mix of youth and mature players on our D-line and LBs. Not really knowing the potential of our back-up LBs I think it's safe to say that we should get at least a few years out of Spikes. Fletcher and Posey, well, I'm not quite so sure. Looking and insulating the future can start right here, right now. It's best not to try and replace all the parts at one time. I say let's secure our secondary now. Our offensive players at the skilled positions are young and are built for the future. This team can and will have a great several years in being dominate. Sorry if this post is a little incoherent, but it was just a passing thought before I leave work. Matter of fact, they're turning the lights off on me now. Gotta go but before I do I just want to congratulate every Bill fan on a fantastic year. Go Bills!

Exactly what was Nate Clements doing playing late into the second quarter of the the last preseason game. Every other team is resting their starters in that last preseason game; and in fact Detroit had their third string QB in at the time. I understand the offense getting some extra work, but not a veteran defense which has been playing under the same system for three + years. EVEN WORSE, Clements and our other starting CB were returning punts and kickoffs late into the second quarter. Hey Mike those games don't count, but the game Sunday does, and Nate is a question mark for it. However you feel about Mularkey using starters for so long (and for returning kicks) in the last preseason game, it was a controversial move. And yet, not one word of discussion about it from those stellar "commentators" Tasker and Levy.

What's the word on Nate Clements? How serious is his injury? Nothing like playing a superstar in the final preseason game.

The other Clements thread became a spitting contest on a single play from 2004. Getting back to point, what I want to bring up is that I think we should wait till this season is over to negotiate with Nate. If he is not going to settle for anything less than top money then let him prove it THIS season! The only reason you extend a player a year before he hits free agency is that the player is willing to drop his price to have as insurance against an injury in that final year. If Nate isn't willing to deal then let him prove his worth in the final contract year. He may have an off season, which will drop his price, or he may have a top cornerback season in which he proves his worthiness of a top contract.

If Nate dose not sign before the season starts, could he be hit with the Franchise Tag? If so would we get a 1st and 3rd?

He will make plays you love and he will kill you as well.......

Thats all I have to say.

We need to keep Nate Clements in Buffalo for another 5 years. The guy is a playmaker and probably the best CB in the NFL today. Here's my feelings on how to keep him here. Cut Eric Moulds or London Fletcher next year and give that money to Nate. Eric and London are both getting up there in age and both are replacable if you ask me. London Fletcher can be replaced buy one of our LB's already on the roster. We can move Lee Evans to our #1 guy and find a free agent WR to fill the #2 spot. Eric Moulds is past his prime, time to move on. We need to get Nate signed to a long term deal before the season starts this year!

Rising starts at each position in the NFL This guys must really hate the bills....Clements who is making play after play is not even in the list of 5 CBs that are rising stars in the league.... And Bryant McKennie is there...but no Mike Williams....Uhh.. And Marvin Lewis is ahead of Mularkey....Hello....Lewis was 8-8 last season....Mularkey was 9-7 in his rookie year and almost went to the playoffs...

WTF? Why not add Josh Reed to that list or Jeff Posey? I guess I shouldn't be that surpised though, Roscoe got the fuggin game ball because he caught 2 passes for 14 yards. Anyway you try to polish a turd, it's still a turd. Peace

Buffalo CB Nate Clements. If you want to see a textbook example of how to play tight-coverage at corner against a good quarterback, watch Clements reading Kansas City's signal-caller Trent Green in the third quarter. The stats will say five tackles, one pass-defended, no interceptions. But the guy played big. Green knows. When's the last time he put three points on the board. Funny, I watched the same game (at RWS) and saw Nate make no plays, except complain about an Offensive PI non-call. Not a word about Angelo Crowell, or London Fletcher, or Aaron Schoebel, three guys who played out of their minds. But hey, Peter King sees all...knows all. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Avtq...cnnsi&type=lgns P.S....Peter's hair looks like it's held on with an elastic band. PTR

I would do this trade anyday of the week! I think that this is a VERY realistic trade. I think the Vikings will draft Leinart, and he'll be the new coverboy for the minnesota vikings!

Some light reading. Enjoy the article and check out those graphics!!! http://sports.ign.com/articles/660/660453p1.html

I know it was early and there was alot of football to be played, but the Bills had just sacked Brooks and NO was ready to punt...with the 7-0 lead at the point and about to get the ball back, the Bills could have been in business to up the score. Instead, Clements gets flagged and the Saints go down and get a FG, and more importantly, lots of confidence. The Saints knew they could move the ball from that point forward.

Depending on whether or not Moss plays, I think next week will be a deciding factor in what we do with Nate. If Moss is held to marginal yardage because of Nate, I think the Bills would be foolish not to re-sign him. Plain and simply, QBs seem to look off whatever receiver Nate is covering 75% of the time. That results in more INTs for McGee as QBs try to force passes to the receiver he's covering. Either way, with or without Moss, I think Buffalo wins next week.

Steve Smith just threw Nate under the bus. He said that Nate isnt as good as Nate thinks he is. His basis was that alot of corners think they are good but they always have safety help. He implied that Nate was one of those guys. Smith also listed some of the top corners. He had Champ, Dre Bly, Delta O'Neil. Smith also called Fred Smoot overrated. Sounds like players in the league think "The Playmaker" is overrated.

Not that I thought Nate was a great cover corner but with the switch to the cover two a solid corner with cover skills is no longer a must for the team. His cap number will be alot lower this year which makes me feel he will be franchised! What do U guys think??

While I was watching the game (sic) today I had one of those ?huh moments watching Nate get repeatedly burned. Has his free agent season got so deep between his ears that the guy has forgot how to play? Or is he soooo convinced before the play that he might get burned that it inevitably happens? Seriously... he looks as if he has completely lost it in coverage this year. I still think he's a solid corner; but the best part of this year for him is the fact that it ended today. P.S. I'm also tired of announcers saying what a good tackler he is. Coming up in run support and diving at a guys legs (with no attempt to wrap him up) hardly defines a great tackle®. This isn't so much directed at Nate as it is the announcers who repeatedly rave about those "tackles." when is the draft?

I like Nate, and think he has tremendous talent... but, taking the position of Bills management, why wouldn't we have Nate return punts this year? He was clearly better than anyone we have fielded. Also, and I know this is an unpleasant angle, leaving him in this role might also pressure him to sign a new contract because of the increased risk of getting hurt. To try to answer this question myself, my two best guesses are: 1) Losing Kevin Thomas made an injury to Nate a devastating possibility, the same as TKO's injury (I believe) caused us to pull Fletcher out of the kick return wedge. 2) Suspecting we'll be without Nate in 2006, we're looking for a move permanent replacement in this role (and Fast Freddie doesn't look like he'll cut it). Doesn't his contract situation negate the usual concern about exposing one of your stars to a greater likelihood of injury?

Seriously, how fickle are Bills fans? Last year, Clements next to Spikes was the best player on our defense. He has constantly made big plays throughout his career. Now, granted his play is down this year but what the hell? But he came out stated he was the best corner in the league. Oh my God, what an a-hole. A confident corner, what has the world come to. Clements is matched on the best wr in man to man for most of the game. He is forced to play 10 yards off, on a team with a very suspect pass rush. Has he missed tackles? Yes. Has he got beat? Yes, especially lately. But you know what, so has Champ Bailey. And when he misses tackles it's not a case of him going in scared. It's more of him being too aggressive. No one was complaining last year when he was shutting down Chad Johnson last year. My point is that Clements, at 26, is one of the best corners in the league who is having some down moments. And as a corner, they tend to stand out more than a LB. But if he leaves and goes to a team with a good front four, trust me, we will regret it big time. But then again, some of you will just talk about how he doesn't speak well or isn't smart and treat him like crap ala Travis and Flutie. But I guess Clements has no class.

Okay, I've heard all the talk about how we should let these two go because of their play vs. salary cap implications. . . But, we should sign/keep both Nate and Moulds if at all possible. Reasons: Question # 1) What are we going to replace them with cheaper AND better? Answer: Nothing. We'd sign lesser players, and be calling for their ouster in one year. (See: Jonas Jennings, Ruben Brown leaving and Gandy, Villarial, B. Anderson coming in) Question # 2) What would that ridiculous TD do with any cap savings anyway? Answer: Nothing. He'd squander any cap savings and overpay on some fringe type players who aren't going to make any impact. (See: Teague, Milloy, Vincent, and a host of others the past 5 or so yrs.) So, why let your #1 CB and #1WR walk when you're obviously not going to improve the team by doing so? (granted, these guys aren't the greatest) Do you really think that any helpful big time FAs will get signed in Buffalo, by TD, anytime soon? Reality check, folks. . . not happening.

Since Nate has been such a lively topic of conversation, I thought I'd throw my two cents in. >Nate has had his share of struggles this year; for a couple weeks right around the Game 5 mark, vs San Diego, on a couple plays yesterday. But these struggles were entirely predictable, in fact they were predicted; and not by the many members of the "he gave up a completion, he sucks" crowd who know next to nothing about defense and even less about corner play. But the same individual who predicted these problems also knows that that they can be fixed. >I've even heard some ridiculous comments about how Clements has no heart. What-f'ing-ever. The guy sticks his face in the blender as much or more than any corner on the planet, but yeah, he really lacks heart. >As a former DB, Jerry Gray really ought to know better. I don't think I've ever seen a defensive coach who so consistently puts his corners in such untenable positions. He never lets his guys press, constantly allowing opposing receivers free releases and then somehow our corners are supposed to interfere with the timing of a route, not let their cushion get broken by a guy with a 10yrd head start, defend short zones and cover downfield all while being denied the opportunity to create contact early in the route. Starting a play 10-12 yrds off teh LOS is occasionally a good place to attack a route from (i.e. 3rd/10, 2/20, etc), but starting a play 10-12 yrds off the LOS is an absolutely horrible place to defend a route from. Yet our corners are asked to do those on every conceivable down and distance and against every conceivable offensive set. It is absurd and reason #2 that Jerry Gray deserves free air-fare out of town. Yesterday. >I've also heard repeated commentary about Nate's "stupid penalties", and I assume people are referring to that ridiculous call in the 4thqrtr yesterday. Can somebody please explain to me how it is a personal foul to throw down a receiver before the whistle is blown when he has both feet in bounds and is still fighting for yardage? I suppose Clements should have just let him go and hope an official calls his forward progress stopped for .015 seconds. >I find it hard to believe that yesterday's game could be a catalyst for all this Clements bashing. The guy is second on the team in tackles, defends a few passes (the last one vs the white-hot Chambers from the 1yrdline with :20 seconds left), gives up no touchdowns, forces a fumble, draws penalties and keeps the handful of catches he allowed right in front of him where he quickly secures the tackle. Yet somehow he becomes a primary target for crtiticism because he's around the ball and people know what # he wears. For future reference, of all the wildly under-rated Chambers' huge numbers, less than half of them came against Clements. >I imagine a few people are going to call me a moron.......again. They'll probably be the same people who called me a moron when I explained why I was worried about Nate before the season. Before they make fools of themselves any further, they should realize that I've been playing corner for 20 odd years (some of them very odd:-), often across from a former NFL All-Pro, and have learned a thing or two about the position over that time. So if you're going to do nothing but screech about how much Clements sucks with no analysis to further your point, then don't waste either of our time as I officially declare this a moron-free thread. i.e. if you act like a moron, your post will be removed.

He proved he isn't worth paying top dollar for.

I blame Jerry Gray for much of this. Nate is constantly lining up 7-10 yds off his man whether in zone or man to man. Thats tough for any corner to stop slants, crosses, fades etc. That why Rod Smith appeared so open all night. I think if Nate and Mcgee were allowed to be up at the line and play some bump and run it would be different. On the other hand Milloy and Vincent are so poor in coverage maybe Gray feels he can't risk it. We are in BIG trouble at safety people, may need to take that kid from Texas with our first pick despite the needs at both lines.