Two Bills Drive

One player Buffalo won’t be taking is defensive back Miami’s Ed Reed, who projects as a free safety, who Dave Smith scouted: "He didn’t show a lot of physical talent, but he has good ball skills." Conclusion: If he’s not physical, he’s not going to be in Buffalo next season. But Reed is still in Buffalo today to visit with the team; Smith just doesn’t seem to like him very much …

Some facts and figures on the 67th Annual National Football League Player Selection Meeting

DT Ryan Sims (North Carolina) says he can fit in anywhere. Does he fit into the Bills plans? Here are the top defensive line prospects.

‘"Our job is to look at the player. There’s only one way to evaluate a player coming into this league and that’s to sit down and look at the tape…the tape is still the most important thing. But the draft has almost become a cult…and people have so much fun with it. Still, a lot of information out there is not necessarily how we feel and we can’t react to every piece of information that’s thrown out there by a draft guru."’

Q: What went through your head when you heard that you had been drafted?

A: I was a little disappointed I thought that I was going to go higher than I did. But then the way it turned out, this is probably the best place for me. I got the opportunity to get out on the field right away and showcase my talents. That’s what I am here for and that’s exciting for me.

‘Hollis signed for the veteran minimum of $650,000 with no signing bonus. Under a new league rule he will count only $450,000 against the salary cap.’

‘As for his first pick on draft day April 20, Donahoe vowed the Bills would opt for "the best available player" regardless of position. "When you are 3-13, I don’t think you have a starting anything," Donahoe said, referring to the team’s showing last season.’

‘”I have no idea,” said Harrington when asked point-blank if the Bills are going to take him. “Not a clue, not an inkling of an idea, I’m just as clueless as you guys.”‘

‘”Buffalo was a little more impatient and wanted to get something done,” said agent Jim Gaetano, who confirmed the deal. “They really wanted Mike.”‘

”’All we’ve tried to do with any of these other quarterbacks is to research them and see if it makes sense. Obviously, we have to go to camp with more than two quarterbacks. We’ll have four quarterbacks when we go to camp. Will that be another veteran? Will it be a draft pick? Will it be a young guy? I don’t know the answer to that at this point.”‘

‘”We have two pretty good quarterbacks here,” Donahoe said. “Alex Van Pelt did a quality job for us last year and Travis Brown is an outstanding prospect. Obviously we have to go to training camp with more than two quarterbacks. Will it be another veteran? Or a draft pick? Or a young guy? I don’t know the answer to that at this point.”‘

‘Hollis had hoped to get a bigger deal in free agency but his bargaining power was hurt when he made only 18 of 28 field goal attempts last year. The Bills told him they would make the offer to another kicker if he didn’t accept and he decided it was his best option.’

‘”They both got something out of it,” Hollis’ agent, James Gaetano, said. “It’ll help Mike in the sense that here’s a team that needs somebody in that position. And with the way they played last year, they looked like they could’ve been helped by somebody that could give them a boost in that area.”‘

‘They met the media to map out their draft plans today and GM Tom Donahoe offered little clues as to which way he’s leaning. He did say there’s a lot of speculation and guessing about draft picks this time of year.’

"Everybody is (talking about trading down). Like I said, nobody is going to give me a straight answer. ‘Well, we like you, we might take you or we might trade down or we might pass on you, or we might take you and trade you.’ There are no straight answers."