Archives for April 2006

‘Losman will never be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. At best, he will be about as good as Dilfer, whom the Ravens deemed not good enough to lead their title defense in 2001.’

‘Willis McGahee and Takeo Spikes also missed the camp, but Jauron said both were excused: McGahee had a scheduling conflict, and Spikes is recuperating from Achilles’ tendon surgery.’

‘Jauron likes the fact his team will get to test itself early against division foes, but clearly was miffed by the lack of respect the NFL’s schedule makers showed Buffalo and new general manager Marv Levy, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even Oakland, 4-12 a year ago, will make two Monday night appearances. A record 25 teams will play on MNF.’

‘The Bills will give massive offensive lineman Aaron Gibson, a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 1999, a chance to resuscitate his career. Gibson, who last weighed in at around 370 pounds, signed what’s believed to be a one-year, no-strings-attached deal to try to make Buffalo’s roster.’

‘It’s believed Wilson’s big fear over the future viability of the Bills is that on top of escalating player costs due to the new CBA, the owner would be saddled with debt service on the purchase of the team and the likelihood of helping fund a new stadium, debt Wilson currently doesn’t have. Wilson founded the Bills for $25,000 in 1960.’

‘And as Wilson explained, new ownership would not necessarily change the Bills fortunes. Under one proposal in the new NFL collective bargaining agreement, new owners would not be able to share in the league’s robust pot of shared revenue; money that currently sustains the Bills franchise.’

‘”Most of them have been here for three weeks,” Jauron said following Friday’s workout. “This is the first time we got out there as a football team, got in and out of the huddle, all the things that resemble a football game at times, so it was good."’

‘The 87-year-old owner reiterated his deep concern about the long-term viability of small- and medium-sized teams such as the Bills. One of the qualifying elements under the new CBA the league will be voting on is to exclude any new owner from revenue sharing. That would deeply impact a future sale of the Bills and keeping them in Buffalo. "I went in to see Gov. Pataki, and I wanted to put him at ease," Wilson said. "I said, ‘Governor, quiet down a little, I’m not going to ask you for any money.’ He took a sigh of relief there. I just wanted to explain what’s going on."’

‘"We’d like to have him in, but we also understand his position in this thing," said Jauron, who took over after Mike Mularkey’s abrupt resignation in January. "It’ll straighten itself out over time one way or the other. We obviously value his abilities a great deal."’

‘"We can build a $600 million stadium across the street and it would make no difference," he said. "Western New York is a poor area. We have no pricing power (to sell tickets and suites at a high price). We’d have no more pricing power (with a new stadium) than we have now."’

‘In other high(low)lights, Buffalo hosts Tennessee on Christmas Eve and is at Baltimore on New Year’s Eve.’

‘"You can read into it if you want," said Jauron. "But it’s just begun and it’s good. It’s going to be the case at every position, but we understand that quarterback will be the focal point."’

‘For Bills fans, the scariest element of the new collective bargaining agreement could be one that concerns revenue sharing when a team is sold. Under the new deal, when a franchise is sold it loses its ability to collect money from revenue sharing. Hypothetically speaking, that means any future owner of the Buffalo Bills would not receive money from the league’s wealthiest teams, and have an even harder time making the franchise financially viable in Western New York.’

‘If you’re judging by last year’s records, the Bills’ schedule seems manageable because they only face off with five teams that made the playoffs in 2005. Nonetheless, they still have to face a bevy of up-and-coming teams who either just missed the playoffs in 2005 or are being picked to contend in ’06.’

‘Singling out owners Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, Daniel Snyder of the Washington Redskins and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Wilson said: “They, to me, and this is just my opinion, don’t have the same values about the league as the old guard did.”‘