Two Bills Drive

‘The Bills aren’t being bashful about their interest in NC State quarterback Philip Rivers, one of the fastest rising players in the draft. Buffalo is in the market for Drew Bledsoe’s eventual successor and taking a quarterback with its 13th pick is being heavily considered.’

‘Coach Mike Mularkey recently sat down with Brown to discuss his future with the club. Part of the conversation addressed Brown’s falling out with the previous coaching staff. Brown was excused from the final game of the season at New England after arriving late for a practice and having a confrontation with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.’

‘For now, trading for Drew Henson remains a possibility for the Bills. But the more Buffalo explores ways to acquire Henson from the Texans, the more difficult a deal appears.’

‘Tom Donahoe and Tom Modrak haven’t missed on many drafts during their careers as president/general manager/college scouting gurus, so we have to believe they will make the right choice. The good news for the Bills is there won’t be any wrong choices at No. 13. The Bills’ needs are specific – quarterback, speed at wide receiver, interior offensive line, cornerback (if Antoine Winfield doesn’t return), pass-rushing defensive end and tight end.’

‘Winfield said he’d like to return to Buffalo, but the Bills won’t get into a bidding war. His bargaining power improved last week when some of the top free agent cornerbacks were either franchised (Oakland’s Charles Woodson and Baltimore’s Chris McAllister) or put on the trading block (Washington’s Champ Bailey).’

‘”No. 1 is “smarts,’ ” he said. “I want players with football intelligence. If I’m told a player needs a lot of repetitions to get things right I’m not interested. The NFL is far different today than what it used to be. Defenses are so sophisticated now it’s like looking into a box of coat hangers for linemen deciding what to do on a blitz.”‘

‘Some lucky youngster will get the thrill of a lifetime this spring if he wins the auction for a special turkey hunt with Buffalo Bills center Trey Teague.’

‘Q: What was the biggest reason why the defense improved so much over the year? -Derek Grimm (Red Lion, PA)

NC: We had more talent by far. We get more and more talent on the defense every year. We gelled together. We just had that mentality that we are going to beat the guys across the ball from us.’

‘"The size was impressive and some of the guys who did run, ran fast," said Donahoe. "It’s really unusual with the number of receivers who are 6’2" and 6’3". In past years you’d get a guy or two, but now you have a whole host of them and it seems that the players that everybody has at the top of the draft are all bigger receivers."’

‘”I think we need to discuss it further, but I didn’t want to prejudge him,” Mularkey said last week. “We have evaluations coming in on all the positions and I want to evaluate him as a player first. Obviously, he still can play. We’ll see where we are with him with that, the whole line really, then we’ll talk more.”‘

‘Off the field Bruce was far from perfect. He did his share of whining at contract time and certainly angered his share of sportswriters. But nobody meant more to the Bills defense in their hey-day. And now Bruce deserves one more day in a Bills uniform.’

‘”Free agency is a continuous process,” Guy said. “We usually get started in April for the upcoming year. We call it projective free agency because we project the players who we think will be free agents. Sometimes contracts or incentives will take players out of free agency and other times those things will make players free agents.”‘

Expecting to upgrade at the position, the Houston Texans have released free safety Matt Stevens, a move that will save the team about $2.5 million in cap space. This marks the second time in two years that the Texans released Stevens but, unlike in 2003, the much-traveled eight-year veteran will not be returning to the team. Stevens, 30, is now a free agent and can negotiate with other teams. In stints with Buffalo (1996), Philadelphia (1997-98), Washington (1998-2000), New England (2000-2001) and Houston, he started in 42 of 104 appearances. Stevens has 276 tackles, 13 interceptions and 31 passes defensed for his career.

And I liked what the Bills had me do. They asked me to rate three aspects of NFL life in order: the Super Bowl, financial security, and the Pro Bowl. I put them in that exact order, with the Super Bowl being the most important. Financial security is nice, of course, but to be a champion would mean a lot to me. The Pro Bowl is nice too, but you have to fly over a lot of water to get there, and as you’ll read, I’m not a big fan of flying these days.

‘Bledsoe’s successor isn’t on the roster. He’s only 32 but has started since entering the league and has taken a tremendous beating over the last five seasons. The Bills need to start looking for a replacement but the pickings are slim in free agency. Billy Volek of Tennessee will likely have several suitors. On the offensive line, McNally has made a career of thriving with low-round picks that will play the style he teaches. Like almost every team the Bills could use help rushing the passer.’