Virgil Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I've been working my way through our team, position by position, to see where the big opportunities are. At this point with the Bills, I'm just hoping to put a good core group together and wait for new ownership to do something with them. In any case, in regards to our QB situation, I believe us to have 2 major issues. Durability and Consistency. If we find that Trent can play the way he did the first 4 weeks and against the Chargers on a regular basis, and the other games were due to the concussion, then I think we are good at QB for a long, long time. However, with the jury being still out on that one, we still need to see another full season of Trent to know. For durability, let's face it, the man hasn't finished a full season in a long time and, no matter how great he may end up being, you need to be able to rely on the guy playing the majority, if not all the season. I'm not saying he can't ever get hurt, but we can't go into the season expecting him to miss atleast 4 games. With this being said, I think we have one of three options: 1) Bring in a journeyman qb as a backup. This gives Trent 1 year to prove himself capable of being both consistent and durable. If neither, we have someone who can come in and atleast not lose any games for us. Possible Outcomes: Either Trent proves he is our guy and that's that. Or we have to start from scratch at QB and Trent is our back-up 2) Draft QB fairly high in this years draft. This would be the same thing we did with JP. This gives Trent time to prove his consistency and durability, while letting the rookie learn from the sidelines as the Bills take the overall chance that most teams take with a rookie qb. Possible Outcomes: a) Trent proves his worth and we have a back-up who continues to learn our system. b) Trent goes down and the rookie qb proves just as ineffective. c) we find our Tom Brady (minus the part about him that makes me want to kick him in the balls) 3) Get an established QB in the offseason. If we can get someone who we know is more of an upgrade now via Trade or Free Agency and relinquish Trent to back-up status, do we do it? Possible Outcomes: Abandoning the Trent Experiment and the team goes entirely in new direction Overall, I don't think there is a QB out there we could get that would be a major improvement. Personally, and I know it's been discussed with much disagreement, I would love to see us get McNabb and let Trent be the back-up until McNabb retires. While Trent scared me with his play in our slide, I mean the man just looked lost, I am more concerned about his durability. I like the kid, but I wonder if we've seen his peak performance. In any case, there is no one that can be 100% sold that Trent is the answer. I think the best option is to draft a QB in rounds 3-5 and hope for the best. The college system has proved to mimic the style of the NFL more recently and we've seen rookie QB's adapt much quicker in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I vote for number 3. Let's try to win next year and one of the ways for us to get the biggest bang for the buck is to get a real QB. Yeah, Trent may be OK if he gets another year. But are we willing to risk another year like this to find out? I'm not. Presently Collins, Garcia, and Warner are free agents. Try to get one of them. Bulger may become available after the coaching change in St. Louis. I'd take him as well. Who knows, maybe McNabb could be available for trade. He'd be an improvement as well. Number 1 would be my second choice. I avoid number 2 like the plague. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanInSouthBuffalo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I think this is actually one of the major issues facing this team. Good post indeed. I don't think the Bills can afford to draft another QB high (meaning first three rounds). However, I would like to see them develop another QB besides Edwards for the mid-term (over 2-4 years). It would be nice for them to find another gem instead of continually bringing in undrafted free-agent QB's for traning camp fodder. I'm not saying the Bills should explore this, but it is my prediction that Derek Anderson of the Browns will become next years Chad Pennington. If I'm the Lions or Jets, maybe even the Bears I make that trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanInSouthBuffalo Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 BTW, here's the only list of free-agent QB's I could find. I don't know how accurate it is. Pos Player Name FA Status Previous Team Current Team QB Charlie Batch UFA Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent QB Brock Berlin RFA St. Louis Rams Free Agent QB Kyle Boller UFA Baltimore Ravens Free Agent QB Brooks Bollinger UFA Dallas Cowboys Free Agent QB Todd Bouman UFA Baltimore Ravens Free Agent QB David Carr UFA New York Giants Free Agent QB Matt Cassel UFA New England Patriots Free Agent QB Kerry Collins UFA Tennessee Titans Free Agent QB Bruce Eugene RFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick UFA Cincinnati Bengals Free Agent QB Charlie Frye UFA Seattle Seahawks Free Agent QB Jeff Garcia UFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent QB Rex Grossman UFA Chicago Bears Free Agent QB Joey Harrington UFA New Orleans Saints Free Agent QB Drew Henson RFA Detroit Lions Free Agent QB Byron Leftwich UFA Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent QB J.P. Losman UFA Buffalo Bills Free Agent QB Jamie Martin UFA San Francisco 49ers Free Agent QB Luke McCown UFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent QB J.T. O'Sullivan UFA San Francisco 49ers Free Agent QB Dan Orlovsky UFA Detroit Lions Free Agent QB Patrick Ramsey UFA Denver Broncos Free Agent QB Chris Simms UFA Tennessee Titans Free Agent QB Brian St. Pierre UFA Arizona Cardinals Free Agent QB Marques Tuiasosopo UFA Oakland Raiders Free Agent QB Kurt Warner UFA Arizona Cardinals Free Agent QB Anthony Wright UFA New York Giants Free Agent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 QB FA list, with brief analysis, and discussion is here: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=80614 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 BTW, here's the only list of free-agent QB's I could find. I don't know how accurate it is. Pos Player Name FA Status Previous Team Current Team QB Charlie Batch UFA Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent QB Brock Berlin RFA St. Louis Rams Free Agent QB Kyle Boller UFA Baltimore Ravens Free Agent QB Brooks Bollinger UFA Dallas Cowboys Free Agent QB Todd Bouman UFA Baltimore Ravens Free Agent QB David Carr UFA New York Giants Free Agent QB Matt Cassel UFA New England Patriots Free Agent (Will be Franchised) QB Kerry Collins UFA Tennessee Titans Free Agent QB Bruce Eugene RFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick UFA Cincinnati Bengals Free Agent QB Charlie Frye UFA Seattle Seahawks Free Agent QB Jeff Garcia UFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent (Expected to be Re-Signed) QB Rex Grossman UFA Chicago Bears Free Agent QB Joey Harrington UFA New Orleans Saints Free Agent QB Drew Henson RFA Detroit Lions Free Agent QB Byron Leftwich UFA Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent QB J.P. Losman UFA Buffalo Bills Free Agent (Absolutely No Way) QB Jamie Martin UFA San Francisco 49ers Free Agent QB Luke McCown UFA Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Agent QB J.T. O'Sullivan UFA San Francisco 49ers Free Agent QB Dan Orlovsky UFA Detroit Lions Free Agent QB Patrick Ramsey UFA Denver Broncos Free Agent QB Chris Simms UFA Tennessee Titans Free Agent QB Brian St. Pierre UFA Arizona Cardinals Free Agent QB Marques Tuiasosopo UFA Oakland Raiders Free Agent QB Kurt Warner UFA Arizona Cardinals Free Agent (Expected to be Re-Signed) QB Anthony Wright UFA New York Giants Free Agent There really isn't anyone on that list I would want. That's why I see what it would take to get McNabb or draft a QB high. Based off our the last two season's, whoever is ourback is going to start a quarter of the season and needs to be someone we can count on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofton80 Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Former Bear Rex Grossman or or former Lion JT O'Sullivan will be manning the clip board. Shane Matthews anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Good post. I think we should give Trent one more year. However, i would like to bring in a veteran starter if possible to be the #2 because Trent as we all know seems to be injury prone. Ideally, like you mention, I would want McNabb. But I really don't see us trading for him and I'm sure his salary is above Buffalo's standards. We would probably be able to get him for two 3rd rounders, I'd assume..or maybe a 2nd and a third. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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