RuntheDamnBall Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Correct no more players born in the 70s time for players born in the 90s (puke) that only know the Bills as a laughing stock, doormat, minor league team in the NFL. A rebuilding team shouldn't be signing players over the age of 35 for long-term starting roles. If those guys want to come as depth role players, I don't see how they would be doing so with visions of the f---ing glory years in their heads. Mike Williams came in as a fan of the Bills' super bowl teams growing up. That worked out awesomely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We do not know what Nix is going to do in his second year.....it could very well be that he wanted a year to evaluate the talent on the roster before figuring out where to spend free agent money. it is my hope that he targets a couple of good players at need position......now that he has had a year to evaluate the talent on the roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdawg in philly Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I actually think that the front office can make some smart additions with mid level free agents. You can't fill starting roles effectively but you can get role players and add depth. Here is a list of guys the Bills can actually get that would help them out. 1- Pat Williams (Not sure if the guy is open to a return or will retire but he still is a capable NFL DT and I think can play in the 3-4) 1.1- If we can't get Big Pat back we can add Ron Edwards from KC to add depth to the D-line. 2- Stephen Cooper (A guy who has played in the 3-4 forever in San Diego can backup Poz when he misses a few games and can teach younger players the system) 3- Marcus Spears (Can be an effective 3-4 DE cut Stroud, Spencer Johnson, and McCargo add Spears as a guy to rotate in) 4- Jermey Trueblood (Help depth at the tackle position) 5- Anthony Becht (Solid blocking tightend) 6- Mike Vrabel (Not sure if we could get him but a good insurance policy for Merriman and a good leader) If we got 4 of those guys (Not big names, not going to require big money with the possible exception Pat Williams and Vrabel the Bills could easily get all of the others) that would add a lot of depth and make the roster much more complete. And that's the problem, mid level players. We have a roster full of them. We need solid impact starters. We have depth in places and that's all we have. We need STUDS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 And that's the problem, mid level players. We have a roster full of them. We need solid impact starters. We have depth in places and that's all we have. We need STUDS! You make your roster more complete in free agency (Depth role players) as the Bills can't draw impact players via free agency. The Studs need to come via the draft the players I listed are reasonable to come to Buffalo at the right price and can fill roles that currently we don't have solid backups for. Mid level players as backups and role players are really what this team needs. We suffer one or two injuries and we have no one on the bench. Free agency is a good way to acquire depth. Is Stephen Cooper a good MLB no he is average at best but when Poz goes down for 4 games he is a guy that can come in and hold things down and play starting NFL caliber football for the time Poz is out. But if we don't have a Stephen Cooper on the team we roll the dice not having someone that can step in and at least play OK for a length of time. Last year our haul in free agency was Andra Davis and Dwan Edwards not exactly setting the world on fire so its about knowing your limitations and doing your best to shape and improve the roster even at a secondary level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooly22 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I wonder who Shawne Merriman has talked to about joining the Bills? It would be nice if he could influence a couple solid FAs. I am in agreement that if we can sign 2-3 starters that it would make give more flexibility in the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Wayne hunter, Thomas howard and Matt spaeth...buffalo likes to sign back ups Hunter-RT, swing tackle for the jets, very athletic, and even though he is a back up, he is a vast improvement. Howard ilb 6'3" 240, fast, considered to be one of the best cover LB in the league, we need to stop TEs at some point. spaeth- TE, tall, good blocker, father was a bill if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I wonder who Shawne Merriman has talked to about joining the Bills? It would be nice if he could influence a couple solid FAs. I am in agreement that if we can sign 2-3 starters that it would make give more flexibility in the draft. Good question. What I want to know is, what's the latest regarding FA? Are players not allowed to sign FA contracts after the season, without a CBA in place? I had heard that FA doesn't begin till after the draft, which alters the landscape (and especially the draft approach) drastically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair GM Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I might be crazy, but I see a feww real good players out there that are more realistic possibilities than some may think. There are a few teams who have multiple free agents that would be upgrades on our team, and are relatively impact players where they are. New Orleans: They have 2 big name Offensive linemen that are free agents in Jermon Bushrod (OT) and Carl Nicks (OG). Considering they made Jahri Evans the highest paid guard in the NFL last year, they'll focus on resigning Bushrod, leaving Nicks subject to a cap casualty. Nicks is a very good guard, and if Wood moves to Center full time, he'd be a great replacement. Minnesota: Both E.J. Henderson (OLB) and Ray Edwards (DE) are free agents. Henderson comes back from a horrific leg injury and doesn't miss a beat and Edwards performs at his usual high level of play. Can the Vikes afford to resign both..? I don't think so. I'd take either one. Jets: Almost everyone on the team is a free agent...David Harris is a stud who instantly improves us @ ILB. He also make Poz better just by being next to him. Baltimore ; 3 of the 4 OT's are free agents. They've been said to believe that 2 of them can fill in as a serviceable starter if they lost Gaither. The drama surrounding the Gaither/Oher swap put a bad taste in both the Ravens' and Gaither's mouth. My only fear is that he will demand a premium and want to play LT and the fact that this staff stuck with Bell says something about they're confidence in his development. Giants: Another team with a ton of free agent starters. Kiwanuka is comming off an ijury and may be worth a shot as I don't believe he'll garner a tier one contract and could be worth the gamble to see if he returns to form. By the way, I didn't see Tony Scheffler on the list of TE's and I believe he is a free agent. I'd take him over Bo Scaiffe. As for the draft, Fairley may slip to us as Carolina may shock everyone and make Green the #1 overall pick. They won't take a QB now that luck isn't coming out and they may want to go DE to fill the hole left by Peppers, but Clausen is going to need someone else to throw to besides Smith if they're offense wants to be even mildy effective. Champ Bailey is a free agent and I don't see Denver resigning him as he's on the downside of his career and they'll need to replace what was a strength on the team, so I see them taking Peterson. If we don't land Fairley, there's still Dareus with Green as a wildcard (I hope not) and if we're smart and sign one or two of the above mentioned free agents, I'd look for us to go Jimmy Smith @ CB out of Colorado. the rest of my draft predictions are listed below: Rd 1 - Fairley/Dareus Rd 2 - Smith (see above) or Phil Taylor, DT out of Baylor. Transfer from Penn State @ 6'4" 340lbs. would be a beast in the middle next to Williams in the multi front D that Gailey is talking about. Rd 3 - Casey Matthews, ILB Oregon. Look for a good combine to jump him up, possibly to a day two pick. Rd 4 - A. Andre Smith, TE out of VT. Monster blocker with great hands. Is a BIG target @ 6'4" 272lbs. Rd 4 - B. Donte Moch, OLB Nevada. at 6'4" 245lbs. he ran a 4.25 40 last spring and consistently runs in the 4.3's. If he does that at the combine, he'll jump up to a day 2 pick. Rd 5 - Tyrod Taylor, QB out of Va. Tech. Perfect fit for Gailey's offense. The kid just keeps getting better and a 5th round pick is worth the gamble on another late round QB selection. Rd 6 - Nick Bellore, ILB CMU. HIGH motor guy with 19 career 10+ tackle games, 3 consecutive 100+ tackle seasons and a 51 consrcutive game starter. Rd 7 - Kai Forbath, K UCLA. Lindel is slipping and getting old. This kids got a boot and could even beat out Lindel in an open competition. FLAME AWAY!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 (edited) We do not know what Nix is going to do in his second year.....it could very well be that he wanted a year to evaluate the talent on the roster before figuring out where to spend free agent money. it is my hope that he targets a couple of good players at need position......now that he has had a year to evaluate the talent on the roster. With all the game tape available on players at all levels(NFL, college, CFL, etc...) if it took Cooter a year to figure out who sucks and who doesn't, the Bills are in bigger trouble than I originally thought. Edited January 21, 2011 by LabattBlue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 David Harris is a must sign for this team if they're serious about the 3-4. The LB corps is the weakest unit on the team by far and certainly the worst group of LBs in the entire league. Harris is a leader, tough, has tons of experience and still has good years left ahead of him. Taking him from the Jets would not be a bad thing either. Seriously ... they should be targeting him at the stroke of midnight and make him an offer he can't ignore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 With all the game tape available on players at all levels(NFL, college, CFL, etc...) if it took Cooter a year to figure out who sucks and who doesn't, the Bills are in bigger trouble than I originally thought. Why? The tape probably gives them mixed reviews that indicates that the players excelled in certain systems, or against certain competition, and not in other situations? Taking at least a year to evaluate makes a lot of sense. Unless you want to fill out the whole roster with practice squad-level players who are only there because you picked them, eliminating all the dead weight isn't going to happen all at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Why? The tape probably gives them mixed reviews that indicates that the players excelled in certain systems, or against certain competition, and not in other situations? Taking at least a year to evaluate makes a lot of sense. Unless you want to fill out the whole roster with practice squad-level players who are only there because you picked them, eliminating all the dead weight isn't going to happen all at once. So while other teams can turn their fortunes around in one year, the Bills spend the same year evaluating players and dropping to 4-12. Sounds like a solid plan to me. In Cooter we trust! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 So while other teams can turn their fortunes around in one year, the Bills spend the same year evaluating players and dropping to 4-12. Sounds like a solid plan to me. In Cooter we trust! Sounds like someone needs a bottle. Other teams turn their fortunes around because they have a base of underachieving talent and aren't really that far away. The Bills had an overachieving group of guys who are basically undersized specialists not suited for most of the rigors of the NFL. They also came very close to surprising two of the top-8 teams left, and one of the Super Bowl contenders. I know close isn't close enough, but this team is on the right path. It might not be enough for you, but I'm more confident than I was at any time during the Jauron era, and that includes 5-1 in that ill-fated season. Would you feel better if they canned Trent in the offseason and he went somewhere else to succeed? Or if they cut Maybin and McCargo and signed a few corpses for the inactive list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Sounds like someone needs a bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 armchair, I don't think the NFL would allow buffalo to sign bushrod..levitre, wood and maybe Wang, plus bushrod... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair GM Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 armchair, I don't think the NFL would allow buffalo to sign bushrod..levitre, wood and maybe Wang, plus bushrod... HAHAHA!!! They would litterally earn the nick name "The Unit!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I like Matt Spaeth at tight end. Also, I think Daniel Fells could be a pretty solid player. He did ok for the Rams when his # was called. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 So while other teams can turn their fortunes around in one year, the Bills spend the same year evaluating players and dropping to 4-12. Sounds like a solid plan to me. In Cooter we trust! Why it takes OTA's, Training Camp, 4 pre-season, and 16 regular season games for coaches to know what you've got is beyond me. I chalk it up to the arrogance of the coaching staff in thinking they can make certain players better merely because of scheme or their coaching. It also could be that they had no other options and weren't going to get any in free agency. So they went with what they have, e.g. Trent Edwards and hyped them up. Atlanta has gone from mediocre/average in 2001 (7-9) to bad in 2003 (5-11) to good in 2004 (11-5) to mediocre/average (7-9, 8-8) in 2005-06 to bad in 2007 (4-12) to average/very good in 2008-10 (11-5, 7-9, 13-3). For Buffalo to be mediocre/bad for 11 seasons running is a complete joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Why it takes OTA's, Training Camp, 4 pre-season, and 16 regular season games for coaches to know what you've got is beyond me. I chalk it up to the arrogance of the coaching staff in thinking they can make certain players better merely because of scheme or their coaching. It also could be that they had no other options and weren't going to get any in free agency. So they went with what they have, e.g. Trent Edwards and hyped them up. No doubt. It's clear that this team was the right head coach away from greatness. All the pieces were in place. But also, the players onboard sucked, which should have been obvious. If only we had gotten a proven winner like Shanahan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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