Archives for January 24, 2017

'The Bills made Hogan a contract offer with the lowest tender, which provided a one-year salary for $1.671 million. Had the team given Hogan a second-round tender, it would have cost $2.553 million, or $882,000 more. More importantly, it likely would have scared teams away from making Hogan a contract offer, since they wouldn't have wanted to pay the second-round compensation.'

'Taylor would have replaced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is busy preparing for the Super Bowl. Oakland's Derek Carr and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger were the other two AFC quarterbacks originally picked for the game. Carr suffered a broken leg late in the regular season and has been replaced in the Pro Bowl lineup by Kansas City's Alex Smith.'

'Gilmore joins joins teammates Lorenzo Alexander, Kyle Williams (injury replacement for Miami defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh) and Richie Incognito (injury replacement for injured Baltimore guard Marshall Yanda) in the game. Running back LeSean McCoy was originally chosen for the game, but will not participate because of injury. Additionally, the Bills announced Monday quarterback Tyrod Taylor turned down a chance to participate as an alternate, also because of injury.'

'Brown finished second in the NFL in total tackles with 130, and also had four sacks, four passes defensed, two forced fumble and an interception. He wasn't shy about expressing his disappointment when the rosters were announced last month, tweeting "snub," shortly after learning Hightower and Baltimore's C.J. Mosley would represent the AFC at inside linebacker. "I said, 'damn, I didn't make it?' It was disappointing," he said. "I was hot. I ain't going to lie. I was mad. I felt like I should've been outright. It just felt that way."'

'Since the start of 2003, the Bills have had only three games where their quarterback threw for 344 yards or more — all three by Ryan Fitzpatrick, once each in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and Buffalo still lost two of those games.'

'In the cases of Hogan and Levitre, they wanted to keep both players but in the end had to make wise business decisions as they pertained to free agency and managing their roster and salary cap. In the case of Branch, who has a checkered resume, they made a wise decision as it pertained to paying money to a problem player who was given a big contract extension only to run afoul with the code of conduct.'

'After a slow start to the season, Gilmore played well much of the rest of the way and he led the Bills with five interceptions, most by a Bill since Jairus Byrd made five in 2012. He has 14 picks in his five-year career.'

'Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore was also announced to the 2017 Pro Bowl. This will be Gilmore's first Pro Bowl appearance. In addition to Brown, Gilmore will join Lorenzo Alexander, Richie Incognito and Kyle Williams.'

'Brown would start all 16 games with Buffalo on his way to a career-year. He finished second in the league in tackles (149) and added four sacks, four passes defensed, one interception and two forced fumbles.'

'"Rex never frustrated me," Incognito said. "Listen, I'll never say a bad thing about Rex. That's my guy until I die. It's one thing to be a rah-rah guy and to be fist-pumping out there when the team's kicking field goals and not really having much success, but it's another thing to be a player's coach and to want guys to compete and to push guys to play week in and week out. I think that's what (Rex and Mike Tomlin) catch. They can relate to the players and the players see part of themselves in the coaches."'

'"Buffalo is getting a championship coach," Kubiak said in a statement. "Rico's (Dennison's) success in this league speaks for itself. He's a great teacher, coach and man who will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to a fine organization in Buffalo. Sean (McDermott) has put together a great group of people to lead the Bills for years to come. Go get em, Rico!"'

'Gilmore, Brown, and Alexander were all named to the game as defensive starters for the first time in their career. Brown had a team-high 149 tackles for Buffalo, second most in the NFL this season. He added four sacks, an interception and two forced fumbles.'

'In his second season as a starting quarterback in Buffalo, Taylor put up reflective numbers from his first.'

'The loss of Culley, 61, will shake up the staff some. He’s spent the last 18 years as an assistant under Reid, dating back to their days in Philadelphia, and the last four as the Chiefs’ assistant head coach and receivers coach. He last coached quarterbacks in an official capacity in 1988, when he was at Southwestern Louisiana.'

'In his two seasons as the Bills starting quarterback, Taylor has led the Bills to a 14-14 record but has failed to get the Bills to the playoffs. Taylor is due for a contract extension at the start of the 2017 NFL year which will pay him $27.5 million in the 2017 season. The team does have the option to decline giving Taylor the extension, but he is not medically cleared by the start of the new year he is guaranteed the $27.5 million.'