Archives for March 17, 2012

‘The Bills say the ticket office has been so busy since Thursday’s signing of free-agent defensive end Mario Williams that it added Saturday hours.’

‘"The point is when someone goes out and pays him $15 million (a year), if you paid him that, your team doesn’t get better when you do that," said Kraft on the talk show "Squawk Box." "I would say your team maybe gets worse, because you have less money available for other players. And only your personnel people understand the chemistry of how that works. And sometimes our fans get upset. We’re faced with a couple decisions like that, too."’

‘General manager Buddy Nix must continue to add vital parts (most notably in the draft) to this roster, and Gailey and his coaching staff need to get more out of it.’

‘Here’s hoping the signing of an elite player to the biggest contract for a defensive player in NFL history is the start of a new chapter in Bills football. It couldn’t come at a more critical time.’

‘”If we didn’t sign him while he was in Buffalo, we’d never get him,” Wilson said. “The agent would take him somewhere else, for more money. But this guy (Williams) made up his own mind and liked what he saw.”‘

‘2012: Base salary of $5.9 million, signing bonus of $19 million, workout bonus of $100,000. Total money paid: $25,000,000. Notes: 2012 base salary is fully guaranteed. Unofficial cap number: $9,166,667.’

‘Still, while making a guy feel welcomed and paying him a king’s ransom were important hurdles to clear for the Bills, landing Williams also took convincing him they are serious about winning. That’s why signing him was so unexpected.’

‘Morrison will back up second-year pro Kelvin Sheppard at middle linebacker in Buffalo’s new 4-3, but he can also play outside. The 6-2, 245-pound product of San Diego State entered the NFL in 2005 as a third-round pick of the Oakland Raiders. He played the 2010 season for Jacksonville before joining the Bills as a free agent last summer. He saw action in 14 games with the Bills in a backup role. For his career, Morrison has 771 tackles, 6.0 sacks, seven interceptions and 18 passes defended.’

‘”In my experience (in the NFL), you don’t get a lot of guys who are up front with you, there is a lot of blowing smoke from certain outlets,” Williams said. “The No. 1 thing coming here and them embracing me, the comfort level that surrounded me, and even seeing Jim Kelly was a big plus for me. He did some heavy recruiting. He showed me some of his hunting pictures.”‘

‘With Williams aligned on the defensive right, Marcell Dareus and Chris Kelsay should enjoy more isolated matchups on passing downs. Dareus, in particular, should benefit from the attention directed towards Williams. As the one- or three-technique aligned over the top of the guard, he will have the opportunity to work on his opponent’s edges without having to worry about fending off assistance from an additional blocker. Given Dareus’ ability to lead the team with 5.5 sacks while receiving little help from his teammates, the addition of Williams to the lineup could lead to defensive fireworks.’

‘Bills Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon today announced that over 1,000 new season tickets were purchased and over 1,000 season tickets were renewed in the past 24 hours.’