Archives for April 22, 2011

‘The Bills haven’t hidden their admiration for Newton, whom they have researched exhaustively and believe could flourish under an offensive-minded head coach such as Chan Gailey. But Nix and Tom Modrak, vice president of college scouting, gushed over Gabbert as well during a recent meeting with the media.’

‘The Bills, notorious for keeping their spending to the salary cap and not going over it, are going to have to swallow very hard when it comes to negotiating with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. Due to the gross inflation of salaries for first-round picks over the past decade, that player is due to sign the richest contract in Bills history unless owners and players sign a new collective bargaining agreement soon and agree to a rookie wage scale.’

‘This could prove to be a banner season for defensive ends drafted in the first round, Modrak said. How many could go? "I really don’t know the answer to that," he said. Modrak said it’s not just depth that makes one position strong but it’s lack of depth at other positions. "Truthfully, it’s not just the depth at that position but it’s the lack of players at other positions sometimes, which will drive that train," he said. "Let’s say there are holes in three or four other positions. … It starts a run that goes fast."’

‘Kevin S. Sapp, 36, formerly of Seneca Street, pleaded guilty to the theft of a briefcase containing the memorabilia that the sports legend left in his unlocked car two years ago.’

‘I agree that Newton and probably Gabbert would back up veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick for the entire 2011 season.’

‘It’s possible Buffalo may wait until later on to take a quarterback, however, and instead focus on repairing the deficiencies that exist on a defense that was the NFL’s worst against the run in 2010.’