Olean Times Herald

‘Rodgers carries a 4.6 handicap, both Brady and Allen an 8.1 and Mahomes a 13.2 but under the glare of national TV, there were numerous errant shots, plunked spectators and splashed irons.’

‘“Josh is just a guy … that’s the biggest thing in the locker room” he said. “People aren’t scared to talk to him, He’s one of the highest-paid players in the league and he doesn’t act like it.”‘

‘The rematch of last season’s crushing divisional playoff meeting between the Bills and Chiefs is set for Sunday, Oct. 16 at Kansas City, Buffalo’s lone late-afternoon start on the current schedule.’

‘The flaw, you see, is that those assessments are based on how a player performed in college and the subjective perceptions of scouts via their grades. And, as we see, year-after-year, there are busts even in the “make hay” first through third rounds when teams expect to draft starters.’

‘So, with Beane’s four deals — two up, two down — he finished with eight draft picks, though it would seem Araiza will merely take the place of Buffalo’s underperforming punter Matt Haack on the roster.’

‘Buffalo has no fourth-rounder, having moved up two spots in the first round by sending it to Baltimore to draft Elam. However, the Bills have their own fifth-round pick, four — count ‘em — FOUR sixth rounders and one seventh rounder.’

‘Clearly, Buffalo had the 5-11½, 191-pounder graded higher than Booth, who wasn’t taken in the first round.’

‘At cornerback, there has to be a sense of desperation for Buffalo.’

‘Beane’s draft legacy will always be defined by his first-ever Buffalo pick, having the courage and wisdom to select quarterback Josh Allen — whose lack of accuracy scared off several teams — in the opening round of the 2018 lottery at No. 7 overall, after Baker Mayfield (Browns, No. 1) and Sam Darnold (Jets, No. 3). But that glittering home run masks the fact that his first four drafts have been mostly so-so.’

‘In the dressing room prior to a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, McDermott told the Sabres he sees what they’re building and they remind him of his 2017 team, which ended the Bills’ 17-year playoff drought.’

‘What really interests me most, though, is the whole new stadium debate where cost doesn’t seem to be an issue on the fan level … just pay those extra hundreds of millions and put a roof on it, the money will come from somewhere. And, so what if 300 Buffalo families are displaced to make room for a downtown stadium.’

‘It’s clear Buffalo had no interest in re-signing its other free agents: defensive ends Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison and Bryan Cox and offensive lineman Bobby Hart. Sanders hasn’t decided whether he will retire.’

‘So Buffalo, which seemingly won’t re-sign Breida or Taiwan Jones, are still in the market for a difference-making back as Devin Singletary, despite an improved second half of last season, and Zack Moss, have failed to enhance Buffalo’s ground game.’

‘That said, starting this past season, the NFL, despite all its tsks-tsks about gambling, partnered up with 11 betting sites certified to take pro football wagers. Indeed, in ESPN.com’s story about Ridley’s suspension, one of the pop-up ads was for a sports book.’

‘But opponents of that decision are championing a location in downtown Buffalo with a dome, an alternative supposedly preferred even in a survey commissioned by the Bills. It would cost about a half-billion dollars more than the Orchard Park site and would be completed two years later. There are also several other arguments against it. One is that some 300 homes would have to be displaced to build it and another is the inevitable inner-city, game-day traffic nightmare.’