Two Bills Drive

‘McKenzie, a seven-year veteran with 29.5 sacks in his career, split last season between Chicago and Green Bay. He had eight sacks each season from 1998-00.’

‘McKenzie, 29, spent the first five weeks of the 2002 season with the Bears and started three of the four games in which he appeared before being released. He then re-signed with the Packers in November and appeared in five games for Green Bay at the end of the year.’

‘Price’s agent, Tim McGee, handled the complaining in his client’s name saying the former Tennessee star understood that Moulds was the team’s No. 1 receiver and he wanted to go to a club where he could fill that same role. No mention was made of Price’s contention that he wouldn’t mind being franchised. Suddenly, being assigned that tag was tantamount to his being dissed. Sorry Peerless, but rather than being an insult, the franchise tag is the highest form of flattery.’

Safety Coy Wire will lead the Bills three-person team into battle against squads from other area companies in the Ninth Annual Corporate Spelling Bee to benefit the Community Music School.

February 24, 1965 – BILLS TRADE COOKIE GILCHRIST TO DENVER

The Bills traded running back Cookie Gilchrist to the Denver Broncos for running back Billy Joe, the AFL's rookie of the year in 1963.

‘Hollis was consistent for the Bills this season. Although he didn’t always have many field goal chances, he accumulated a good number of PAT’s (40) and finished with 115 points.’

‘Presumably, both Price and the Bills want a long-term deal. And that’s the tricky part: McGee is free to shop his client’s services to any team (and there are several interested), but if another club signs Price, it has to compensate the Bills with either two first-round draft picks or a different package that fits president Tom Donahoe’s liking.’

‘According to several coaches and scouts, as many as 12 defensive linemen could go in the first round and up to 20 in the first two rounds combined.’

‘Harris started four games for a bad Bills team in ’69 and only a couple the next two years in Buffalo. He said racism was a constant obstacle. "There was a lot of hate mail, a lot of name-calling during that time, a lot of postcards with negative pictures," he said. "Those were things I had to work through and play through. I had to look beyond that."’

‘But the more serious problems to be addressed in the offseason are on defense, where there was very little pass-rush. Buffalo’s defensive linemen accounted for only 20 sacks and tackle Pat Williams, their best defensive player, didn’t have one of them.’

"I'm a Peerless Price fan. The fact that we know he's going to be back with us next year, I'm excited about the fact we are not going to decrease our offensive explosiveness. The way we're able to keep the football offensively by doing the things we want to do and to continue to expand on what we did offensively this year, helps our defense also. We'll continue to work this offseason on improving our defense. But he was a pivotal part of keeping our offense intact."

‘According to sources close to the negotiations, the Bills are offering more than $3 million per year with a split signing bonus of $4.5 million this year and a little more than $2 million in 2005. It is believed McGee wants more up-front bonus money.’

‘[Q:] Reasons for franchising Peerless: [A:] "We still feel we can sign him. We wanted to have more discussion. We’re hopeful that the discussion starts to be two way instead of one way. The only way we could do that, the only way we could guarantee that we could do that was to put the tag on him. Our intentions are still to try and sign him to get a long-term deal done, and we’ve been very upfront with the agent right from the beginning. We’d like to keep Peerless, but it has to fit within the framework of what we’re trying to do."’

Franchise (FFA): Unrestricted free agents who have been designated as the "Franchise" player. Current team has the right to match any offer. If they refuse they are given compensation by the new team the player has signed to play for.

‘Donahoe, who plans to meet with McGee today, said there’s no urgency to hammer out a new contract before Feb. 28.’