Archives for March 2015

'"I got the sense that they were a team on the rise."'

'Hotel and restaurant owner Russell Salvatore has spent tens of thousands of dollars in recent years to buy unsold Buffalo Bills tickets so the team's home games wouldn't be blacked out in the western New York TV market.'

'"There are no hidden agendas or anything else," Ryan said. "This is who we are, this is what we want. There isn't anybody in this organization that doesn't want anything other than building a championship team. That's what we're all about. Everything thing we do is based on that. Everybody is on board."'

'"The trade for LeSean happened really quick," Ryan said at the NFL owners meetings. "We were all sitting there. We were having organizational meetings. … And all of the sudden we get this call from Philadelphia and I think that was when the trade started. Probably 30 minutes later, the trade was done."'

'“Obviously we were interested,” he added. “We knew it wasn’t going to be cheap by any stretch, and losing a player like Kiko Alonso is obviously a steep price, but we felt really good about it.”'

'The 2016 cap hit is rather extreme for a player at his position, however, the Bills can lower the cap number significantly if they so choose. Since the large majority of the $13.5 million cap hit is tied to a $10 million roster bonus, Buffalo has the option to restructure the contract and convert the roster bonus into a signing bonus, which would then be prorated into the rest of the contract.'

'“It’s probably not an ideal situation right now,” Ryan admitted. “You’ve got four guys competing instead of just going in with a clear cut number one, but nobody has established themselves yet. We’ll probably try to speed up that competition.”'

'“The reality is, the way we consume content is far different today than it was when most of us were growing up, especially the millennial generation,” Brandon said. “They take in content in a much different fashion than we do and to be a part of that landscape of where that is heading in the next 10 to 20 years” is exciting. “The NFL is always a thought leader when it comes to how it distributes its content and we’re excited to be a part of it.”'

'The move seems to be an obvious response to the political pressure that has been placed on the NFL to abandon the blackout policy, especially for teams such as the Bills, who have one of the larger stadiums in the league that is more difficult to sell out than others. The Bills had no blackouts in 2014 and one in 2013, although local blackouts were more frequent in earlier years.'

'It gives independent injury spotters the chance to stop the game before checking a player who might be showing signs of a concussion.'

'"We definitely have a stronger crowd when the Bills are on," said Matt Gleason, a manager at The Distillery. "We always receive calls in regards to whether we're showing it (if games were blacked out, which they could not). I'm sure it will help us out. Last year was nice because they had a winning record and didn't have any blackouts."'

'The practices will provide no shortage of storylines, as Bills coach Rex Ryan and Browns coach Mike Pettine have a long history with one another. They coached together from 2002-2008 as part of the Baltimore Ravens' staff before Ryan took the head coaching job with the Jets and named Pettine his defensive coordinator. Pettine left to become the defensive coordinator in Buffalo for the 2013 season before landing the Browns job.'

'The Bills and Jaguars are scheduled to kickoff at 9:30 a.m. at Wembley Stadium in London on Oct. 25.'

'Pettine and Ryan came up with the idea to revive the Browns-Bills training camp clash, which also took place in the early 2000s under former Brown coach Butch Davis. The Browns traveled to St. John Fisher back then, but also practiced with the Bills in Berea, Ohio and at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania.'

'According to a Dolphins source, Miami felt safe Clay would return because before free agency, his agent was trying to negotiate a long-term deal with Miami for $6.8 million a year and $13.8 million over the first two years.'