Archives for March 15, 2018

‘There is always an allure of the unknown when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL, and McCarron steps into a great opportunity in Buffalo. The only other quarterback on the Bills’ roster is second-year veteran Nathan Peterman. McCarron’s acquisition doesn’t figure to take the Bills out of the quarterback market at the draft – the expectation remains that the team will move up to select one – but it gives him a chance to establish himself as an NFL starter, provided he can beat out Peterman and a rookie (if drafted).’

‘Words like “experienced” and “veteran” have to be used loosely with McCarron. Despite spending the past four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, he was a backup who only made three regular-season starts and also started a wild-card playoff game.’

‘The Bengals had an agreement to trade McCarron to the Cleveland Browns at the NFL’s trade deadline in exchange for second- and third-round draft picks, but a paperwork error meant the deal wasn’t completed in time. The Browns were expected to be suitors for McCarron when free agency opened, but instead traded a third-round pick to the Bills for Tyrod Taylor.’

‘He missed all of last season with a torn ACL and MCL suffered last August, and was also due to be suspended for the first four games of last season for the use of performance-enhancing substances. That didn’t allow him to build on the nine-sack season he had in 2016. It also created a noticeable hole in the Redskins’ defense.’

‘He played outside linebacker for the Redskins, but will be a defensive end for the Bills. The Redskins ran a 3-4 scheme. The Bills use a 4-3 defense. Murphy is expected to be part of a rotation that includes incumbent ends Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson.’

‘A 6-foot-1, 230-pounder, Stanford appeared in all 16 games for the New York Jets in 2017, primarily as a contributor on special teams. He took 82 percent of the Jets’ snaps on special teams, but just 8 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. The 27-year-old finished with 19 tackles.’

‘”He’s a run stuffer in a league that’s ever more pass oriented,” Monson said. “His rookie year he was excellent as a run defender and had 37 defensive stops, which is a top-end figure, but since then it’s been a steady decline in performance and relevance for the Panthers. On a modest deal, he should at least be able to play nose tackle for the Bills in a way Cedric Thornton couldn’t, but it would need him to be significantly better to make it a big move.”‘

‘And even after it was announced that Tyrod would be traded to the Browns, we again started to receive donations in honor of Tyrod from Bills fans showing their support for his time here in Buffalo, and for the accomplishments he had on and off the field. We thanked him again on social media for being a part of the Olmsted Center for Sight family – and in true fashion of the standup guy that Tyrod is – he replied and thanked us for what we do.’