offsides#76FredSmerlas

My guess is that Kelsay, Torbor, and Maybin are gone and Coleman is on the fence. Kelsay was always an adequate back up defensive end but he was one of the worst linebackers at setting the edge I have ever seen. He also cannot cover anybody coming out of the backfield. I think it's time we cut hime loose and move on with the youngsters.

Not true, Kelly is colorblind but said himself he focussed on the jersey not the helmet. The red helmets came because of Fergy, who is also colorblind and they didn't help him at all. That year he threw a bunch of picks and was released the year after.

Aaron's days were numbered and his play was slowing down quickly as a defensive end. Do you really think he would have been a stud OLB when he was beginning to struggle at his natural position? He was a good player in his prime but I don't think he would have helped us very much at all... Butler hurt us a lot more by quitting, IMO...

I have been thinking the same thing. Can he play at a high level without steroids? I don't think he can ever be as good but can he play at a high level, nobody knows that answer yet but he's anything but a sure thing.

I'd like to get in on that bet. I don't believe this Gailey led team will lose 10. I think we'll win anywhere from 7 to 9 games. Let me know if you'd like to throw some money down for real...

I like Brooks Reed; plays with a nasty approach every down... Him and Dareus would bring and attitude and toughness to our defense.

wanna bet?

I would think HGH is what most guys are now on. I know that a lot of these guys are loaded and money is no issue but the main knock on HGH over steroids is that HGH is a lot more expensive. HGH helps you stay more lean, aides in strength and helps you to heal from injury's quicker. Steroids gives you a quicker turn around when it comes to bulking up and getting strong.

I think it's a little quick to judge Jarius Byrd. Gailey went out of his way during the season to praise him and Gailey has been a straight shooter when it comes to talking about his players. I thought Byrd improved against the run big time from his rookie season. I thought he was awful in run support his rookie year. As far as his interceptions, give the guy a little credit, sometimes you create your own luck. Let's see what he does once the NFL gets back on the field. The Bills drafts have been pitiful but we can't judge Gailey/Nix on everything that has happened in the past. I like where were heading with these guys until they prove me wrong. Spiller was a little questionable only because we had some other major holes but I'm sure he is going to be a fan favorite before it is all said and done.

I had a friend who played on an NFL team for 8 seasons and he was a starting offensive lineman (mid 80's early 90's). He told me directly that he was on steroids and had been taking them since his senior year in high school. He gained 100lbs from the time he was a senior in high school to the time he was drafted. He said that the vast majority of players at that time were juicing on his NFL team. He said that his supplier would tell him when to get off so that he would pass his test. He mentioned some other ways to get around it but I can't remember all the details from our conversation many years ago. I do remember him also saying that you didn't get randomly tested until you have been busted previously. Things might be different now but he said he had to keep up with the jone's back then because so many players in the league were jacked up.

I have worked as a school teacher in NY and NC for the last 15 years and have been at 6 different schools. I have worked for both city and suburban schools. In my 15 years I have never been at a school where the scores between black and white students were even close. Every year the principals get in front of the teachers at our staff meetings and preach to us on how we need to improve the scores of our black children. I understand that there are some individual black students who do well but on the whole the statistics are staggering. The QB position is the most cerebral position on the field. Is this why we have such a disparity in the amount of white QB's compared to black QB's? In every school I have been at the blacks were the clear star athletes in basketball, track, and Football (except for QB). The whites dominated in baseball, volleyball, soccer, hockey and in the classroom. I have never seen a black valedictorian. These are the facts and I'm pretty sure this is Nation wide.

Because he is just claiming the obvious...

He'll be cut before the first game!!!

There is no doubt that Most NFL players are juiced up. I had 3 friends who have made it to the NFL. One is still playing and the other 2 enjoyed long successful careers. What do they have in common? "they all juiced" and they all new how to get away with it...

There's a lot of fans bashing you on here for this post. I think that's just typical of alot of Buffalo fans which is why I don't post on here much. Fans love to be negative and most have very little knowledge of the game and how things in the front office work. I personally don't think we'll throw the bank at this guy only because we have several other pieces to fill and we may need one of those first round picks for a future QB if Fitzy doesn't pan out. I do think though that it isn't imaginable because he is the premier defensive lineman to put in the middle of a defense. He's a flat out stud and would improve our team drastically. If we decide to draft a QB with our 3rd pick then maybe they attempt this deal. I think most NFL agents and players see Buffalo as a team on the rise and not a team on decline. Therefore it's possible with the right money in place that Haloti might come here and play with his buddy Dwan.

-1 Ralphs not cheap

Unless you think that Adams would have been a missing piece to get us to the playoffs then why would you spend any money on an aging veteran? Buffalo did the right thing and brought in some young guys who I think will help this team in the future. Besides he would have never come to a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years. He probably would have been happier to just retire if that was the case. I think you are just one of those fans that likes to find things to bicker about. "glass half empty"

. No you said Buffalo is a pithole and I can't totally agree with that. I've been to a lot of places and yes I would pick some other places to settle down but again your missing the point. You brought up Green Bay and Pittsburgh, which is a complete joke. Green Bay is the frozen tundra of the NFL and its population is around 100,000 and it looks like Niagara Falls. Its not better than Buffalo. Pittsburgh's population is down to 300,000. Its very cold and its not a great city but these teams have something the Bills don't and thats good ownership, good FO. Ralph NO LONGER pays for what it takes to win. That's a fact. At one time he might have, but he has only really brought in 1 winning coach the entire ownership and that was Chuck Knox. TODAY around the rest of the league and Bills fans that deal with reality realize the front office has been a complete joke for some time now. I love the guy for keeping them in western New York an area that has its problems, but we have great fans, we are usually in the top ten in attendance even with 7-9 teams yet he runs the Bills as a business and doesn't care. Don't blame it on Buffalo. Win and prove you want to win and players will come. It happened before. Wow, that is exactly what I have been trying to say. Don't blame Wilson for being cheap. Draft well, win some games and players will want to play here AND RALPH WILL PAY THEM!!! I said when you're a losing franchise without players to compete THEN PLAYERS WILL SAY "LOSING + LIVING IN BUFFALO = NO WAY!!! I can't say it any simpler than that. By the way did you see that RALPH opened his wallet AGAIN and hire Wannstedt. I'm sure he didn't come cheap. I guess Dave Wannstedt is not a big coach. He just was a former NFL and college head coach and won a super bowl as a defensive coordinator. Donahoe theory just got thrown out the window. Ralph is not cheap...

[. http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/8/1/1578327/august-1-1985-frank-reich-ends An insane line of crap? If telling the truth is a line of crap then what you said is??? Do a little research. You might want to actually get your facts straight BEFORE posting. Bruce signed his contract before the Bills made him the number 1 pick in 1985 Also you called Buffalo a "not worn down pit holes like Buffalo" so yeah I quess thats better than calling it a ####hole Ralph has the reputation throughout the entire NFL for becoming a cheap owner and while he did play players like Smith and Kelly the very BEST contracts at that time he reverted back to his old ways. He no longer pays for PROVEN FO and coaches. Free agents like Paup and Speilman came here on the heals of 4 AFC rings and wanted to play for a winner and Ralph payed them well for it, but again thats when he payed to be a winner. Its reality. Accept it. You'll sleep better. I only hope Jim Kelly and Billy Shaw aren't blowing smoke because new ownership is our only hope. Okay, so I'll parially give you credit on the Bruce deal but the bottom line is every time that #78 held out and cried for more money Ralph stepped up and paid him. Bruce is one of the originating whiners who started crying about a new contract before his deal was actually up; now players do it all the time. All I said was those were your words about Buffalo being a #%&*hole, which is true, but I have not once backed off about Buffalo being a terrible weather city that's run down with no employment and a population declining yearly. Like I said, I lived in Buffalo for most of my adult life and I love my family, the people, the food, and the Bills. If the Bills ever leave the city of Buffalo though, it would become a ghost town except for some hockey fans. When you travel to other cities the people always look at Buffalo as the arm pit of the US. They say, I heard the people are really nice but then they joke about our ugly city, our terrible NFL team, and our awful weather. Those are the truths Seq004, sorry if it's hard to swallow. You are funny when you talk about Ralph reverting back to old ways. Ralph has always been Ralph. He will pay top buck, although he often spends it on the wrong guys; Lee Evans, Sean Dockery, Langston Walker. There is no doubt he has made some bad decisions but he is not cheap.

I just found 2 more things that you spoke about that I just can't ignore. Jim Kelly was sitting in Ralph Wilsons office ready to sign a big time contract "according to Kelly himself" when Ralphs secretary walked in to the meeting. Kelly said he was literally minutes from signing a deal. The secretary said that Jim had a phone call and at that moment Houston made him an offer. He said he did not want to play in the cold Buffalo weather at the time and Houston would be a much better situation. My point is Ralph was going to pay him. Money wasn't the biggest factor. Also, we don't have any idea why Cowher and Shanahan didn't take the job in Buffalo, but we can speculate. My guess on Cowher: he hasn't accepted a job from anyone in the last sevral years, not just Buffalo because his family was going through alot with his former wife having cancer. I think that had more to do with it than paying assistant coaches and free agents. If he wanted to coach he would have a job tomorrow.

Thank you in many ways for backing up what I said in my first write up. Jim Kelly had the highest QB salary in the league when he signed and Bruce Smith was signed as the highest paid defensive player. Ralph has never been a cheap owner. By the way, the Bills didn't pay for Bruce Smith before we drafted him; that's just an insane line of crap. You and I also agree that free agents want to come to a winning organization. I didn't call Buffalo a shithole, those were your words but it's not a city where most would want to live. You would have to be blind if you haven't noticed the decline of the population in Buffalo in the last 20 years. I love Buffalo because it's where I'm from and I have a lot of family and friends there but if I wasn't from Buffalo I would never in a million years move there. Now, if I was a player in the NFL and I could go to Buffalo for a few years of my life and have a shot at going to the playoffs then that's a different story. But as we know that hasn't been the case in 11 years. Pittsburgh is similar to Buffalo as a city but because their team wins, free agents will move there and play for the Steelers. You also brought up Green Bay a team that went 3 decades without winning and because they drafted well now they get free agents. Hell if you can just draft a top QB and he performs at a high level you can get players to your team. Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers and that my friend brings hope every year.

I'm so tired of people like yourself saying Ralph is cheap. Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith were drafted and he paid them because they performed. The reason it looks like he doesn't pay free agents is because no free agent wants to come here. Free agents want to join winners or teams that are in warm weathered cities and not worn down pit holes like Buffalo. I spent 27 years in Buffalo and it doesn't have much to offer other than great people. The bottom line is the Bills drafted well in the 80's and because we had a good nucleus of players "thank you Polian/Butler" other players who were free agents wanted to play here. Bryce Paup, James Loften, and guys like Sam Adams wanted to come to Buffalo because they knew we had a team that could compete. Ralph Wilson will pay guys to come here but you can't force them to come when you are not winning. Also, as far as coaching goes: there were many years when Ralph went after the top coordinator such as Mike Mularkey and Greg williams. Is it his fault they couldn't get the job done? He also had guys like Wade Phillips and Chuck Knox who were coaches who had previous success. By the way this year he tried and went after all the big names, Gruden, Cowher, Shanahan, etc... Insiders were saying RW would have spent the bank to get one of them but guess what "they didn't want to come to a team with no talent". THE CURE------>start drafting better and Ralph will pay for all the missing pieces.

It goes by strength of schedule unless the strength of schedule is a tie. Then they look at head to head.

Denver and Cincinnati both win; the Bills have the #2 pick after Carolina. The Bills would also pick second in the second round (34). Denver loses; Cincinnati wins. The Bills have the #3 pick after Carolina and Denver, but would switch with Denver in the second round and still have pick 34. Denver wins; Cincinnati loses. This is variable; the Bills would either pick 2 (and 35) or 3 (and 34). In order to get the #2 pick, all four results below need to occur. Denver and Cincinnati both lose. Again, variable; the Bills would either pick 3 (and 35) or 4 (and 34). To get the #3 pick, only three of the four results need to occur. There are only four games that matter for strength of schedule: Philadelphia beats Minnesota (Tuesday night) Oakland beats Kansas City Houston beats Jacksonville Indianapolis beats Tennessee So, the teams to root for are Denver and Cincinnati, and then Philly, Oakland, Houston, and Indy if Cincinnati loses. I got this from a guy on Buffalo Rumblings- HOPE HE IS CORRECT!

Root for the following teams to win next week and hopefully the Vikes lose on Tuesday. Buffalo's strength of schedule is close with Cincy. The teams we have played have 1 more win than do the Bengals opponents. If their opponents have a good week next week we can jump them for the third spot in the draft. Falcons, Bucs, Panthers, Saints, Browns, Chargers, Ravens, Steelers