WhitewalkerInPhilly

Aren't you a ray of sunshine?

I like Spiller. I like him a lot. People here absolutely ragged on him for his first two years until Freddy went down to injury. Last year he went into a new scheme, with a O-line that was worse than the year before and where everyone knew that the Bills were run first. That said, I would not be at all shocked if the Bills want to start polishing a new guy in case they don't think they can keep him when he becomes a free agent. Considering how much they just spent, I have to wonder if the concern is justified.

To their credit, I never expected the FO to pull this off. I was screaming that he was a nasty player, and that he was coming off an injury, that Patriot fans were complaining about how slow he was. I was shocked when I heard he was in for a physical. And so I dug around a bit more. Spikes always said that he was healthy to play. It seems like the reason he was on IR was because he angered The Hoodie. He is kind of slow, and not the best in coverage, but when you have Kiko playing Weakside (a much more cover centric role) and remembering that he pretty much guarded the weakside in coverage along with all of his other duties I think the two may complement each other really well. And he might be a punk, but he's OUR punk now. He's gone from a "love to hate" to "hate to love" kind of guy. I hope he gets to tackle Brady a lot.! I agree! Admittedly, I am skeptical of Williams and I don't know if Rivers is really expected to be a starter, but what holes I see really could be filled in the draft this year.

Wow, this is a hell of a way to start the morning. Agreed. With Spikes in, I can't say that I can think of any position that is cripplingly bad. There are still question marks, and positions I would like to see upgraded (FS, ROT, WR/TE and maybe a 3 down DE to complement Mario so they don't have to keep cycling Lawson and Hughes) but really, if we hit our draft picks like last year with everyone taken in the first three rounds becoming a starter/major contributor this is looking like we could be a whole and complete team for the first time in years. It really does then come down to EJ if we execute everywhere else.

Yep, pretty much sums this one up. If the board is right, I really wouldn't mind drafting him.

Or throw money at the LB group. Lawson is great at setting the edge, but Kiko tended to make tackles that allowed the back an extra yard or two and Moats and Bradham were non factors.

This is why I suspect that the Pats are going to let him walk. The Boston writers I looked at suggested that the Pats were looking to renegotiate to offset an 11 M cap hit and Wilfork wound not budge. It often takes a year to get back to full speed after Achilles surgery if ever (see Chandler). He was a great player, but now the risk far outweighs what he will likely demand for payment. Oh, and this would give the Pats 8 M in cap room.

I agree. I love our depth at CB for the first time I can remember. Losing Byrd has hurt, but we don't know what Duke and Meeks can do yet and there's always the chance the Bills look to fix the problem in the draft. The Saints were an expected landing place for Haha Dix, so Pryor could slip to round 2.

Or, you know, picking a quality player in the draft.

I will say this: last year was a case study of what happens when you ignore special teams. Our return game was subpar and we gave up quite a bit on our returns. We were penalized constantly.While we didn't have the other pieces to capitalize on it, I can't deny that April set up one of the better special teams units I've seen, and it is a tragedy that it has withered on the vine since.

I'd love this, if this is part of the "Special Teams Corp" that they talked about building. It does seem like an interesting idea to build your position depth based on their skill at special teams.

Ehh...the way I see it, Chandler has good size, alright hands and is a decent blocker with slow feet and mediocre chemistry with EJ. If they essentially redo his last two year contract I'm alright with it,but I still would like to see a round 2 or 3 TE taken.

I do like Fitz a lot as a person. And I always thought that if he had been willing to take a pay cut, he would have been good backup and a mentor for whoever we intended to draft. I highly doubt it, since he would probably have some hard feelings, and there is a great deal of dead cap money this year with his name on it.

I agree that Cordy shouldn't be going anywhere. But let's face it, Pears was not good at RT last year. Not as bad as the tire fire at LG, but I think he could do with a change of scenery. Matthews and Robinson look like some of the best tackles to be coming out for the next couple of years, and either could immediately start for Cordy if Cordy gets hurt. If either of them falls into the Bills' lap, it's hard to argue that there is a better pick available. But Lewan? No. Just no. There are better players at 9 (though if we trade back...)

i think this is required reading for the people freaking out about whether we'll be 4-3 or 3-4. the difference is slowly fading when you have to take guys out to run nickel and dime packages in the pass happy league.

this. i was trying to think of a time that we were ever this deep at cb and i'm failing.

what makes you say that? i'm honestly asking. i really thought that they would tag byrd so i didn't even consider the idea until last week. either way i'm increasingly ok with the idea of trading back.

what about haha clinton-dix? the two comparisons i've heard are earl thomas and eric berry and immediately fills the hole left by byrd at a fraction of the cost.

I hate to seem a bit skeptical, but what makes you so sure they won't take a TE or Tackle. TE, I could buy, since they claim to be happy and aren't in ideal drafting position for one. But Tackle? With a run on QB's, there's a chance that one of two very, very good players drops to 9. Clinton-Dix has gone up Draftek's board lately, and he almost certainly would be there when we go to pick (Considering the 3 possible QB's, 2 blue chip tackles,Sammy Watkins, Mack and Clowney).

Stop getting us excited over a hometown player actually excited to return! My pessimism is melting, MELTIIINNNNNG

Well, serves me right for being smug about them releasing Talib. Still, the fact that we have Revis' Kryptonite works for me.

OK, I'm glad that they haven't slammed this door shut yet. Like Doc mentioned, and other people have pointed out, his size and ball skills seem desirable and his decreased speed would be less of an issue. That would make for a potent backfield.

Well played. I think we need to get a .gif of that.

I guess A. Williams would be the cover SS if Robey moved to FS.

This is my favorite signing of the day. Reasonable price, and a very talented player that fills up an area that was thin in depth while simultaneously bolstering special teams play. I don't know about Robey being moved out of the slot. He is very quick, and great at covering short routes, as well as great as a rusher. But as a safety...I don't know if it's crazy. Robey could still tackle pretty well considering his size, and he has undeniable instincts when it comes to reading the play and he can really fly to the ball. Those were the things that we loved about Byrd after his rookie year.