WhitewalkerInPhilly

Hey, I'm for it. For 2.5 M a year, I'm willing to see what he can do.

Does anyone know whether or not he would be a MLB or OWLB?

Man, the Bills seem to love picking up first round picks who didn't live up to their potential.

i am also reminded of alan branch and that turned out. while i am hesitant, it seems like a decent journeyman vet signing. i'm not going to say he's amazing, but it gives us time to develop a later round pick with some promise.

OK, if the Bills lose Byrd to extend Williams and bring in Howard, I would be happy

I'm just mystified how they are going to be able to afford Graham, considering how much they just shelled out, with 28 million guaranteed. They had 2 million in cap room and they just started shelling out almost 9 million a year for Byrd.

i hope it is sign a contract. the man was a rock solid pickup.

I know the man can be a primadona at times, but he is probably the best CB in the league when healthy. Hypothetical here, so please hear me out: Assuming the Bills lose Byrd to the contract, they have a hole at FS. They had a great deal of success converting a starting CB who wasn't perfect into the role of safety in Aaron Williams, but Williams is probably a better fit for SS considering he has a bit more size and weight. What if we were to put McKelvin, who is currently being held at a very reasonable contract, at FS to replace Byrd while bringing in a shutdown corner in Revis? I'm wondering what it would be like to have all four of those players out in the backfield at one time, especially if you can play either safety as a hybrid CB if the defense runs a spread formation.

I guess he could be interchangeable with Wood. But yeah, if we are talking a 2-4 million deal for a proven LG, I would feel a whole lot better about taking one of the premier tackles in the draft.

Who said that we hate Thad Lewis? I don't think he's a league starter, and I've vigorously defended EJ as the teams starter, even if Thad's lows haven't been as low as EJ's. But Thad is a very nice backup plan. He isn't good enough that he'll win the game for you, but he typically can manage it well enough for the run game and defense to win it.

Please let that be so. Seriously, if the thought of having a really solid partner convinces Byrd to come back, I would be jumping for joy. Do I think that is going to happen? No.

Are you sure? Watching tape from last year, i think he may be suffering from a bruised ego. it can be a chronic condition that makes his foot hurt unbearably during training camp only to wane when he actually can bank some cash. i hear it can be a chronic condition.

congrats on calling it. honestly, I like the move. a williams really turned a corner last year and was all over the field as ss. the offer seems extremely reasonable and channels the 'next man up' mentality that you find in winning franchises. while I would have loved byrd back, it's good to see the money set aside to pay him more than he was worth used to keep 2-3 players.

Is anyone thinking that he will be? If the Bills are going all in on ej, we know they have a half decent backup in thad and they can save quite a bit of cap room by cutting kolb.

you know, mack is seeing more impressive the more we see of him. if whaley thinks that he would be a good fit at wlb, kiko, while not perfect fit, is a pretty good option for mlb. of course, byrd leaving does change things. i would sprint to the podium if clowney, robinson, matthews of sammy watkins was there at nine, but I have to say, between the run on qbs and clowney we may be in a huge trade down position. an early 2nd or late first would get a phenominal safety to replace byrd and there are a few players I value equally in the mid-first round.

I do think that's he's undervaluing safety a bit there, but overall, this wouldn't be a bad plan to go with this offseason. Maybe trade back a bit to still get Evans and another mid-round for a safety, but not bad.

I live in the Philly area, and I'll say this much: if the Bills don't tag Byrd, the local fans will be howling for him to sign with the Eagles. The Eagles made the playoffs under the efforts of Nick Foles, who took a season or two to get there (note EJ haters), but their safety Patrick Chung is reviled as much as Legursky and Pears are here. The Eagles have 26M in cap space, presumably more after dealing Vick so they could match any offer the Bills make, and are playing in a weak division so they have more than a fair shot of making the playoffs again and again. As much as we are going to scream about them poaching our players, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it...again.

I need to ask: How is a pass rushing OLB a necessity when you have Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes?

I've heard of him...of course, it was amidst howls of rage and frustration as we blew the Atlanta game. In all seriousness, if he's willing to take a contract similar to what we have been offering Byrd, I don't see why we don't tag and trade at this point. Both sides in the Byrd negotiations seem to be slamming against a brick wall. If we can bring in a decent replacement and get something for our pick by trading Byrd to Cleveland, it seems better than nothing. (Though I would like nothing more than both sides working out a long term deal)

Look, I'll be talking best pick available. Evans has, in my eyes, justified himself as a top 10 pick. But if a top 5 pick (if you argue Matthews or Robinson is one) falls that far, it's going to be a tough decision.

I was also pessimistic about Evans, but a 4.5 time? WIth his size? That would really round out our WR corp.

I do think that Hackett does share some criticism. of note is the decision to have Tuel throw on the goal line when you have summers and jackson. On the other hand, he called a great game winning drive in the first win against carolina and the bomb to Goodwin in the second game against the jets he called because he was on the sideline and channeled his players annoyance that rex was slowing down the game with a challenge on graham's catch. he had a rookie year and I want to see what he can do given a year where he doesn't have to split his attention between gameplanning and helping with E.J.`s mechanics.

OK, now I really want the Bills to beat the tar out of the Browns this year. I am *really* not a fan of Shanahan, and I don't think that he's the right guy to bring in when you don't have a solid QB in place. Also, the buzz is that Cleveland is hot for Johnny Football, and we've already seen what happened with Shanahan using a relatively short, light, running QB.

I'm going to buck the trend: Mosley, though I really am not sure if we need either of them. When people first started talking up the "Mack to the Bills" prediction on draft sites I kept hearing the same thing: "Wow, he'll be such a great fit for Mike Pettine's multiple defense, and the Bills haven't done anything to help the pass rush!" The second half was rage inducing all on its own (second most in the league in stats, with over 20 coming from our DE's), but let's deal with the first. Pettine is gone. While Schwartz is not likely to abandon the "attack" mentality there is definitely going to be a change in approach. While Mack is a pretty versatile, but his role is as a pass rusher. While it would be nice to have depth, you don't spend a first round pick on your third stringer. That's for the later rounds when you sometimes get lucky and very often don't. When you get down to it, one stat of the Bills defense really stands out: yards per rushing attempt. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of a heavy dose of nickel and 4-1-6 dime formations, Kiko does have to work on his tackling. I can think of some memorable plays where we whiffed at the point of contact, with it going for a big gain. (the 80 yard touchdown run for example) and often the running back would drag him backwards for extra yards. If there is something I would fix on this defense (assuming that terms are met with Byrd) it would be acquiring a 4-3 weakside linebacker or MLB and then move Kiko over to WLB like they intended when Buddy drafted him. Apart from giving up third down conversions and the run game, what else is out of place for next season? DT? Kyle Williams and Dareus went in for 17 sacks I believe and went to the Pro Bowl. Pass rusher? Again, another Pro Bowler with Mario Williams with 13 sacks and a fantastic situation rusher with Jerry Hughes, Alan Branch and Manny Lawson were both solid, though not electrifying free agency grabs and run DE and SLB respectively. Kiko was absolutely robbed of DROY and will be a stud in years to come. Byrd showed why we should pay him the money and Aaron Williams, out of nowhere suddenly showed a knack for being all over the field as a safety and somehow turned the corner (so to speak) when he was placed back as a CB. Gilmore looked alright after fully healing and, in a true shocker, McKelvin actually stepped up. I challenge everyone to mention a position on defense, where the starter underperformed more than at weakside linebacker. If we think that Mack would be a better fit there than Mosley, then go ahead, but people seem to be picking him for all the wrong reasons. Of course, I'm holding out hope for Borland in round 3!

I was looking at Draftek the other day Astro,and I have to say, the Mosley pick got me thinking. While I do advocate that the best thing for a defense to have is a good offense, if the Bills can keep Byrd their biggest weakness is in their linebacking. Manny Lawson is a decent choice, and Kiko was a revelation, but I do wonder whether it would be best to send him to WLB, where Bradham and Moats certainly weren't getting the job done. The benefit Mosley brings is that he could probably play at any LB position and fill that gap. I would also love ASJ as a TE pickup. I remember he used to be the frontrunner, and has slid a bit in "draft value" but if the Bills lose Chandler (and even if they don't). TE needs people who can actually both block and catch.