Two Bills Drive

RJ and Cowart in free agency, TD on trading down, plus McKinnie, Butler & Cottrell rumors.

Buffalo-Carolina meeting Sunday will impact draft

Buchsbaum: The Buffalo Bills’ first pick in the draft next year will either be an offensive left tackle or a quarterback. The only quarterback Buffalo would consider with that first-round pick is Fresno State’s David Carr.

The draft pecking order could be affected by next week’s Buffalo-Carolina game. Both teams have one win going in, and the loser could actually end up being the winner.

‘After losing the AFC Championship game to Cincinnati in 1989 and an AFC Divisional playoff game to Cleveland in 1990, head coach Marv Levy made it clear that he wanted to rebuild his team around younger players. Joe Devlin and Art Still had been already told there was no longer a place for them on the team. Fred Smerlas was put on the list of unprotected free agents, meaning any team could now bid for his contract.’

‘Of the 22 players who were jettisoned from the 53-man roster of Wade Phillips and John Butler’s final Buffalo team, only six have gone on to play regularly for new teams. Seven are contributing little to their new teams, and nine are out of football.’

‘"He’s probably got another couple of weeks of the bone healing, but we hope that he’ll be able to get back into the practice situation within a couple of weeks and start to work on the field and be able to do some non-contact things," Williams said.’

‘Tom Brady, All-Pro. Tom Brady … MVP?’

”’Sometimes you are ahead, you get further ahead, sometimes you are behind, and you catch up. That is what it is about. It is about where we finish, not where we are in the middle of December. Right now it is Buffalo, that is it. 9-5, that is all we can do anything about, that’s where we want to be.”’

‘Now, with three games remaining and all of New England watching, Brady is set to face a whole new battery of tests and an entirely new level of expectation. It’s guaranteed to be more intense than anything he’s experienced yet.’

‘With Willie McGinest still on the shelf and depth on the defensive line at a premium, the Patriots turned to a familiar face yesterday, signing former Patriot and North Attleboro native Chris Sullivan.’

‘In a number of ways, Andruzzi is the perfect symbol for the Pats this season.’

‘Chris Sullivan is a Patriot again.’

‘Has it dawned on Roman Phifer, Otis Smith, Anthony Pleasant or Bryan Cox that they could be playing golf by now?’

‘The 33-year-old linebacker is having what coach Bill Belichick considers his best season.’

‘”Buffalo and New England have played tight, competitive games the last few years,” Belichick said. “It doesn’t matter if the quarterback was Bledsoe, Friesz, Brady, or Flutie or Johnson for them. It doesn’t matter if the game was early in the season or late in the season. It doesn’t matter if it was sunny or snowing. They’ve been tight, physical games, and we better be ready for a tight, physical game on Sunday.”‘

‘Brady said the physical conditioning aspect of playing his position can be addressed with off-season workouts. “But mentally,” he added, “it can be quite a grind because every week you are putting all your energy and emotion and focus into one opponent. Then you play the game, and it’s out the door. “What you did last week means nothing for what you are doing this week.”‘