WhitewalkerInPhilly

Maybe not Boothe in particular, but it would do good to be reminded that, yes indeed, you can get quality guards on the cheap without much fuss.

Shut up with your "not panicking" and "use logic" talk!" Ok, I'm still panicking, but this is a good point. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to scream "RUN THE BALL!" last year, especially during the Titans game. During the last offseason I kept telling myself, "If I'm Chan Gailey, I'm spending every moment trying to think of how to use Spiller and Jackson at the same time" and I think that if there was one thing we can all agree on it's that running back was a tremendously underutilized position. When we used it, we won games. I kept thinking, "We have one of the most talented D-lines in the league, how are they still gouging us on defense?" and in the end I still don't know. If Marrone, Hackett and Pettine can at least abstain from making horrible decisions we should still see some improvement, even with the talent we see now. Also agree. It's looking increasingly like we'll have a rookie QB under center. Even if we somehow get the brass ring in Geno Smith, we're starting with completely new systems on both sides of the ball. This is my prediction: we spend one year showing some signs of improvement (this year) but come out guns blazing next year. Also, that the same thing is happening to the Dolphins. As much as I hate to say it, the Phins took a gamble on a rookie QB who no one thought was going that high and clearly needed some fine tuning and remarkably got better. Now, with a guy they know under center and a lot of free cap space they're swinging for the fences.

...ok, NOW I'm nervous. Not that Rhrinehart set my world on fire, but my justifcation for taking a rookie QB as a starter was "Well, we have two great Running Backs and a damn good O-line", but suddenly we're looking thin at a place that we have no reason to be thin. Before I could tell myself, "Eh, we could probably make due by shuffling who we have". Not anymore.

Manva Silva, if I remember correctly. But even then, from what I've heard of Pettine's defense he tends to like playing with three safeties and mixes up their roles to make coverage harder to read.

I think that there would be the best case scenario. Apart from Dansby, none of them are on the wrong side of 30 and all should come at the same general cost, and with enough cash to sign our new crop of rookies.

I swear, the man looks like exactly what I wanted from Landy...only CHEAPER! Take him Buddy! Take him now! With as much subtext from those words as necessary.

Sounds like an extremely fair use of cash. We've frontloaded it, so if things don't work out as he gets older he won't be hard to jettison. If the Bills could make about three more deals like this (between SS, LB and WR) by draft day I'd be feeling pretty good. I'd be curious to see if Mario Williams could be a DE of something along the lines of JJ Watt, considering they are of similar weight and height.

OK, I have all kinds of respect for Manning and no doubt the Broncos are going to be in great shape this year...but yeah, eventually they're going to be paying the piper for all the cash they're spending on one player. Of course, we don't play them in the regular season next year and they WILL be playing the Pats, so good luck to them.

What's with all the Stevie hate? Seriously? What's the worst that can happen, the guy comes and meets with the GM and Buddy decided it's a no go? Look, I'm not sold on DHB, and from the sounds of it he's Lee Evans 2.0, but seriously, if we can get a CHEAP Lee Evans 2.0 we fix the problem that was never solved when we got rid of him: a deep, speedy threat to get attention off of Stevie. If we could get a rookie 1st or 2nd round pick on the outside, and put Stevie in the slot where he wants, suddenly we are looking a lot better.

The man sounds like exactly the kind of pick I was hoping for last night: a solid player who fits into the roll without making too much of a splash cash-wise. It would be nice to maybe get a few more, and a decent #2 receiver in the mix but I already feel a bit better.

OK, I admit that I was freaking out a bit. I really, really wanted either Landry or Ellerbe. Landry is on a plane to Indy and Ellerbe went to Miami. But as the haze of rage fades, I'm left with remembering that we have so many things to fill that as much as I would want a high market signing I would rather see a second tier player in at OG, each LB spot and an outside receiver.

Well, they have more money to offer and they're a playoff team. Welp, I think we lost him.

I think they're about to. According to Chris Brown, this is coming at as June 1st cut, meaning that the now the front office has another 7 million to play with now that they will have to pay in 2014. They wouldn't do that if they didn't intend to spend it.

Sounds reasonable for backup money. I swear to god, the story broke between me leaving the house and me getting to my car...

Get it DONE Buddy...it may be one of the last things you do as GM.

Seconded. I balked when I saw his age but seriously, those numbers from last year are phenomenal It's certainly worth considering, especially as his price would likely be on the lower end and I would immediately feel better about our CB situation.

Look, I don't think that anyone here thinks that Fitz is solely responsible for our failures and successes. But the truth of the matter is that we saw Chan Gailey use Fitz about as well as he could possibly be used, and it simply isn't good enough. Metzelaars pretty much summed it up: Fitz is an average to below average QB. You can win with an average QB if you have a dominating defense. We didn't, not will we this year, even with Pettine. I do see the line of reasoning in "Fitz isn't the best long term solution, but he's the best for now"...in fact, I used it last season quite a bit. Marrone has zero obligation to or history with the man. Marrone and Hackett are bringing in their own system, and all signs are pointing to it being very West Coast Offense, which relies on very accurate passing. All that does matter, and *should* matter is whether he thinks Fitz is capable of running his scheme. Nix's comments released today do not bear that up.

Also agreed. Would I love to have Levitre back this year? Oh hell yes. But now that he's made it to the open market, and with all the other problems we have the money we spend on him would be gilding the lily of an already solid O-line while our LB and WR corps are abysmal.

That is, admittedly, me reading into it. But again: last year, and even now THIS year, you have draft "experts" talking about how Glenn would be a perfect fit at guard instead of Tackle where he is now. If Buddy's designs were indeed to move Glenn to that position, then he would not be "set at tackle" because his starting Left Tackle would be elsewhere and we would be in the exact same situation as last year. Might I be wrong? Yes. Might Nix consider Levitre's departure so serious that he couldn't even CONSIDER someone else on the roster. Also yes. But it certainly would affect the odds if I was going to bet against the Bills taking an OL player in FA or high in the draft.

You know, while I have to say that the Deadspin people should definitely be looking into getting a good lawyer on retainer I have to say it's kind of nice to get a quick peek in at how things are going. It confirms that Nix feels the same way about the QB situation as many of us do: There is no immediate clear cut answer at this point as to who will be starting (at least until the draft), Fitz is not making backup money and is causing serious cap problems and if he's not going to negotiate the best plan would be to simply bite the bullet and cut him. To me it also is comforting that Nix feels safe about our O-line, even with Levitre departing. Considering the number of people who have been screaming "Take a tackle at 8 overall and move Glenn to guard" it makes me feel better about that situation. Overall, I don't think Buddy looks any worse than he did already.

Meh, I'd be ok with this. Last year I was shocked when Florence got the cut and not McGee, for what I assume was a salary related issue. I'm ok with him doing what McGee did last year for less money than McGee.

Dear God...so, the 49ers, who already had the talent to be a Superbowl team, get Boldin for a 6th round pick and STILL have 14 PICKS! The Ravens are losing a lot of players to free agency, while the niners are looking strong with young talent. I'm glad we don't have to play them this year.

I think we're paying him waaaaaaay too much. OK, he's a great returner, but this is an awfully big leap of faith for his coverage skills.

Exactly. There has been a trend to make the DE mode than just a line occupier, like how JJ Watt is being used in Houston. I can see a three man front of Williams-Dareus-Williams. Yes, all the time as being a coach for the Ravens and DC for the Jets leaves him completely unprepared for running a 3-4 defense...wait, I can't tell if you were being sarcastic or not.

Also, after thinking for a moment, I can see Scott fitting in well into 46 formation. I've rambled on about it before, but it essentially has the OLB and one ILB in a 3-4 system rush the line while keeping one ILB and the SS in at run support. It seems to fit Pettine's desire to bring pressure, and fully utilizes his tweener nature.