Two Bills Drive

”’We probably put as much time and effort into the seventh-round players as we have in the first- and second-round players. That’s just our philosophy on the draft,” Donahoe said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. A lot of times, people think after the first-round selection, the draft is over. But we’ve always felt it’s just beginning,” he said. ”There’s always good bargains in the later rounds."’

‘Peerless Price will be offered – at the very least – a one-year, $5.01 million contract to play next year, but he doesn’t have to sign the contract if he doesn’t want to. If he doesn’t sign by Week 10 of the regular season, he would be ineligible to play the rest of the year.’

Buffalobills.com and partner M&T Bank were proud to introduce the M&T In the Huddle Contest during the 2002 season.

Grand Prize Winner Marc Adler, from Western New York, shares his Hawaiian experience.

Consistent is the one word that describes Reed's rookie season. Although he didn't get the opportunities that Eric Moulds and Peerless Price had, Reed made the most of his chances. The second round pick by the Bills in 2002 (36th overall) caught a reception in 15 of 16 games (first 13 games) and became the seventh Bills rookie with 500+ receiving yards (514) and first since Andre Reed had 637 in 1985.

‘"We’re scratching our heads because no one has informed us of anything," McGee said by phone. "As far as we’re concerned, he’s not even franchised because we’re hearing it from the media. The Bills haven’t given us the professional courtesy to call."’

‘Price’s $5.01 million salary — he made $433,000 last year — counts immediately on Buffalo’s salary cap. The Bills are still an estimated $4 million under the cap for next season.’

‘It’s not out of the question that the Bills retained Price in order to get value in a trade. The problem might be getting a first-round choice. This is considered a good draft for tall receivers with speed.’

‘The Bills can remove the franchise tag later.’

‘Donahoe will have a bit of quick fence mending to do. McGee hadn’t even been told by the Bills about the franchise tag late Wednesday afternoon when contacted by Ch2 Sports. Price was sitting right next to his agent at the time, and both seemed a bit miffed they hadn’t even received a phone call before the news broke in the local media.’

The Buffalo Bills all but assured themselves of retaining their rights to wide receiver Peerless Price on Wednesday by making him their franchise player.

The Buffalo Bills today slapped their “franchise” label on Price, meaning the team hopes to re-sign the receiver before the start of the 2003 season.

The Bills were 5-8-1 in 1960, their first season in the AFL. Earlier that year, Syracuse University won its first and only National Championship. Al Bemiller helped the Orangemen win the title as an All-East center, nevertheless, he was still surprised when Buffalo chose him in the seventh round of the ’61 draft.

The Buffalo Bills have decided to place the franchise tag on receiver Peerless Price.

"We did place the franchise tag on Peerless Price today and we continue to try to find a way to sign Peerless and keep him here in Buffalo, said President/General Manager Tom Donahoe via phone from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. "We remain optimistic that this will be accomplished."

The Bills would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the following Buffalo Bills Kids Club members: Dylan Drzal (2/17), Jacob Hodges (2/17), Tyler Valentine (2/17), Dylan Gruschow (2/17), Breanna Kowal (2/18), Maya Armand (2/18), Ben Thompson (2/18), Sean Niles (2/19), Cheyenne Mongeon (2/19), Julie Williams (2/19), Ryan Zielinski (2/19), Jacob Petkovsky (2/19), Joshua Jones (2/20), Patrick McNamara (2/20), Philip Piendel (2/20), Brandon Prince (2/20), Seth Anderson (2/20), Maddie Csont (2/21), Casey Edsall (2/21), Phil Kattato (2/22), Matthew Wise (2/22), Emily Hall (2/23)

Few teams got more production out of their first-year players than Buffalo. Two draft picks became instant starters (OT Mike Williams and SS Coy Wire) and four others (WR Josh Reed, DT Justin Bannan, DE Ryan Denney (only 5 games – mostly at end of year) and CB Kevin Thomas) received significant playing time over the course of the season.

Sprinkle in the contribution of a couple of rookie free agents (RB Joe Burns, DE Grant Irons) and the rookie class of 2002 shows a bright future.