Two Bills Drive

‘Because the Bills are desperate to rebuild their depth yet are still functioning with little salary cap room, general manager and president Tom Donahoe said yesterday that he will explore ways to obtain even more picks for his debut draft in Buffalo.’

‘We started yesterday, and the whole process will take us about the next 10 days. This is the most important phase of our preparation. Most of the work has been done, but now it’s a matter of sharing information, trying to figure out what we think about these players as potential Buffalo Bills players and setting up the board.’

‘Washington, who turns 33 on Friday, spent the last six seasons with the Buffalo Bills before becoming a salary-cap casualty this offseason.’

‘Financial terms were not disclosed.’

Seeking to add depth in the backfield, Bears vice president of personnel Mark Hatley has contacted Tom Donahoe about a possible trade for Antowain Smith. No trade is imminent, but the Bears remain interested and are waiting to hear back from the Bills. However, Chicago would likely only deal a latter-round draft pick to acquire Smith.

‘The Steelers seem to be the best fit for him, though, as they are the only team that will use the 3-4 as their primary defense this year as the Bills are switching to a 4-3.’

‘Washington, who has spent the past six seasons of his 10-year career with the Buffalo Bills, was one of the first free agents contacted by the Steelers early in the signing period. The Steelers, though, have been willing to wait until Washington tests his market value around the NFL.’

‘"[John Butler said] "By the way, my wife told me my contract expires in February.’ I said, "Let’s talk about it.’ He said, "No I don’t want to talk about it now. We’ll talk about it later.’" Continued Wilson: "Now when a man who deals with hundreds of contracts tells me he doesn’t know when his contract expires, what am I supposed to think?"’

‘The current (albeit slight) favorite might be a bit of a surprise: the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have floated contract numbers to Washington and his representative over the past week that apparently top the deal the Chicago Bears have been offering now for several weeks.’

‘[Former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson] will be back in town – this weekend, in fact, to sign autographs and chat up the good ol’ days during the Spring Classic sports card and memorabilia show at the Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center.’

‘[Empire Sports Network] will pass off to WNSA live coverage of the NFL Draft in two weeks…The cable TV station will just cover the draft on its 6 p.m. sports report. When Empire decided to focus more on the Sabres, the elimination of its live draft coverage was first being considered. Now it is a reality.’

‘Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr. has successfully petitioned the league to have a hearing on April 23 to rule on his refusal to honor the remainder of coach Wade Phillips’ contract.’

‘”We really want to promote the experience of being at a Buffalo Bills football game,” Honan explained. “We want the ads to convey the excitement of being there and being part of what the Bills are all about.”‘

‘The back-and-forth between himself and Butler in competing upper-New York newspapers — as well as that between quarterbacks Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie — is the stuff that has helped propel the World Wrestling Federation up the TV ratings. There have been accusations of betrayal, deceit and back-stabbing.’

‘NFL owners will vote on realignment at the end of May, setting up the format of eight four-team divisions when Houston re-enters the league in 2002 as the 32nd team… The league has extended the meetings scheduled for May 22-23 in Chicago for an extra day to take care of realignment, which must be done by June 1.’