thewildrabbit

Are you aware he was a clipboard holding backup his entire NFL career?

My question to you was has any other college player been offered 2x the money that the NFL offered by the CFL? Cousineau was mistreated by Stew Barber wasn't even made a decent offer by the Bills, why select him #1 overall if you don't want to pay him. Did you even read the link I posted? “I was incredibly flattered to have been drafted by the Bills and I looked forward to playing with them,” the now 47-year-old Cousineau said. “Chuck Knox, the coach there at that time, was a great coach. He was what they call a players’ coach. I just looked upon it as a great opportunity.” But that feeling lasted for only a few fleeting hours – if that. “My relationship with the Bills got off into the weeds, and it happened almost immediately,” he said. When Cousineau went to fly on draft day from New York, where he had been for the draft, to Buffalo for a press conference with the local media, he found when he got to the airport that there was no seat for his agent, Jimmy Walsh. On top of that, the flight was sold out. After that matter was finally cleared up and Cousineau and Walsh arrived in Buffalo, they were supposed to go to dinner that night with Bills owner Ralph Wilson and general manager Stew Barber. “We waited down in the hotel lobby for them, but they never showed up. They didn’t even call,” Cousineau said. “I didn’t need to have my rear end kissed by the Bills, but the way they treated me was about as rude as it gets. For whatever reason, the Bills were playing hardball with me right out of the gate. “Barber had played with the Bills, and I found out later that he didn’t treat any players very well. This was at a time when a lot of players were leaving Buffalo.” Feeling insulted and with his and his client’s pride hurt, Walsh quickly called the Alouettes to see if they were interested in having Cousineau play for them. They did. “By that evening, we had a deal,” Cousineau said. “Buffalo went ballistic when they heard that. They were very unhappy. They thought I was bluffing. “I wanted to play in Buffalo. I really did. I didn’t expect them to match the offer I got from Montreal, because it was very good. We told the Bills that if they were just close to that offer, I’d stay. “But the Bills came back with an offer that was less than half that of Montreal’s. I didn’t want to make it about money. I really didn’t. Like I said, though, the thing just got off in the weeds right away and never came back out.” http://www.geocities.com/cfl_historical/CousineauTom.htm The guy was a star in the CFL

Lawrence Taylor was going to be a star no matter who he played for, other players need help making the transition from college to the pro's If your stating that good coaching can't make a player better, then your just dense and foolish.

You made a post awhile back about how the QB's in Buffalo seemed to regress, I agreed. The play calling at times was horrific last season. My problem with Schonert was how JP Losman was supposed to have a break out year in 07 because of how well he finished in 06. Then he really stunk it up and was replaced by Edwards. This season Edwards seems to have regressed like JP did last season.

I am ecstatic, my wife thought I was having a coronary when I read this on NFL network One word echoes in my head, SHANAHAN...SHANAHAN...SHANAHAN

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!

The case I was making about John Elway has nothing to do with the fact he signed to play baseball for the Yankees,that was common knowledge and just a ploy. He wanted to play in the NFL,just not for the Colts and Robert Irsay. My statement was, The fact is that Wilson and the Bills refused to sign the first overall draft pick in 1979 and the CFL paid him 2x what the Bills offered him, you don't think that had ramifications for years for other players? Has that EVER happened before or since, that one instance made me think that the Buffalo Bills and Ralph Wilson were the cheapest team at the time.Even worse then Paul Brown, Bill Bidwell and Robert Irsay. You know the latter right? The guy John Elway choose not to play for... The reason Elway opted to play baseball rather then play for the Colts was because of how Robert Irsay treated Elway's favorite QB, Bert Jones. It wasn't about the money, it wasn't about baseball. It was about an NFL owner and his reputation of how he treated his players.

I did post this, Ralph Wilson hired an ex Buffalo Bill to be his GM in 1979, Stew Barber. He had a reputation for being hard headed and played hardball with some players. So I didn't throw all the blame at the owner, although he should be to blame for anything his employees do in his name. Sorry, you just can't equate the AFL/ NFL and USFL to the CFL, the CFL is a joke and is not even considered a decent farm league for the NFL. Has any player, not to mention the very first overall pick in the draft, opted to head to the CFL rather then the play in NFL like Cousineau did? Has any CFL team offered them 2x what the NFL team was offering, what message did that send to you? The 79 Bills had Chuck Knox as the head coach, this same coaching staff had Shane Nelson-Fred Smerlas-Jim Haslett among others. I'd have to say that the coaching Cousineau would have received in Buffalo would have far exceeded what he learned in the CFL and could have conceivably made him a much better player. His bad choice cost him dearly IMO.

I don't hate Ralph Wilson or the team, I posted from what I can remember reading In the local newspapers. Which part did I supposedly invent? You may think that it was a godsend that the Bills didn't sign Cousineau, I don't. Had the guy been signed and brought into camp, and trained and coached properly by NFL coaches, who is to say he couldn't have developed into a better player? The fact is that Wilson and the Bills refused to sign the first overall draft pick in 1979 and the CFL paid him 2x what the Bills offered him, you don't think that had ramifications for years for other players? Has that EVER happened before or since, that one instance made me think that the Buffalo Bills and Ralph Wilson were the cheapest team at the time.Even worse then Paul Brown, Bill Bidwell and Robert Irsay. You know the latter right? The guy John Elway choose not to play for...

Yea, the cold was one reason. the Buffalo Bills history for not wanting to pay their players is another. Tom Cousineau ring any bells, he was the Bills first overall draft pick in 79 and signed with the CFL instead, who paid him 2x as much as the Bills offered him. Ralph Wilson hired an ex Buffalo Bill to be his GM in 1979, Stew Barber. He had a reputation for being hard headed and played hardball with some players. Jim kelly was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1983 draft, for some reason you don't think Kelly could have heard about the Tom Cousineau story just a few years earlier? http://www.geocities.com/cfl_historical/CousineauTom.htm revisionist history huh... I mentioned the salary cap being the main reason for Black Sunday, other teams found ways around the cap by restructuring contracts with up front cash. Wilson didn't want to do that, so they all were forced to leave Buffalo. Bruce Smith went on to play 4 more years for the Redskins, is there some reason the Redskins could afford to fit Smith under their cap and the Bills couldn't...or wouldn't! Bruce Smith was was almost a Denver Bronco at the end of his first contract, he signed an offer sheet to play for Denver and Buffalo had the right to match that offer, or get 2 first round draft picks. The Bills did indeed match the offer, which was way more then what they had first offered him. From what I remember reading Ralph Wilson wanted the draft picks and Bill Polian fought with him to sign Bruce. Could the Bills have signed Jason Peters...yes. Did they...heck no. They didn't want to pay him the going rate for pro bowl left tackles. The same with all of the players I mentioned, they didn't want to pay them the going rate of what the others teams were willing to pay. Last season Jason Peters was Buffalo's only pro bowl player, and now plays for a different team. If Pat Williams wasn't resigned because he was over 30, then Tom Donahoe was truly retarded, because Williams made the pro bowl 2 years later.However, I don't remember ever reading that. If you have facts that prove otherwise,post them! From what I can remember Pat Williams was let go because he was a free agent and Buffalo didn't want to match what the Vikings offered him.

On that particular day, He was beaten by the better TEAM. You're the one who thinks it all comes down to one player. Montana also had a great team around him with the best receiver to ever play the game in Jerry Rice. Arguably the best ever head coach in Bill Walsh, who invented a great offense that is still used by the vast majority of teams today. Great teams make players look great, Montana didn't fair so well in KC after he left SF, he never made it back to the super bowl without Jerry Rice. Both Rivers and Cutler have played on better teams then Trent Edwards, better players, better coaches, better schemes. I'll take Mike Shanahan and Norv Turner over Jauron and his band of morons any day.

I notice that out of an entire post you select one statement to go off on, Did the Bills win those games against Denver and San Diego? Did Trent Edwards play well in those games? Did he have time to throw? Frankly, I don't shiv a git that the other 2 QB's had better stats that day, or that year. Both Rivers and Cutler have better teams and receivers and coaches. Why not address the other parts of my post? The Bills are still lacking a decent pass catching tight end, they realize this and tried to trade for Tony Gonzalez, but he turned down the trade. The Bills still lack a good fullback, they try throw the ball on short yardage plays because they don't have a short yardage back. Do the Bills have anyone even close to the ability of Antonio Gates? The Bills offensive line has been revamped every year the past 4 years under Jauron, it is no wonder any QB gets gunshy or unloads the ball to the checkdown. This coaching staff doesn't know a good linemen from a bad one, it is why they keep bringing in new players only to drop them the next year.The Chargers were 14-2 not long ago with LT leading the NFL in rushing, that O line is 5x better then Buffalo's I'm not sure why your on a Trent Edwards witch hunt, he basically pulled out some wins last season against the Raiders, Rams, Jags with come from behind passing plays. If the receivers get open and he has time, TE can be as good as most any QB in the league. Try not to forget that it is a TEAM game and the TEAM needs to play well to win.

Talk is cheap, you sound like SKOOBY... What GM's do you talk with? I think your full of it. #2 YOU stated: 2. His presence would NOT dramatically improve the Bills passing game. We already have one of the Top 5 WR corps in all of football with a QB who can not get them the ball. Can we wait to see if this years receiving corps ACTUALLY accomplishes anything before YOU anoint them to #5 overall! TO is rated around 10th and Evans around 20th and Reed / Parrish are 50+.Even with TO the Bills will still be good but not great. I think the addition of TO can really open up the Bills passing game. If it does and the Bills actually do have the #5 receiving corps and IF Trent Edwards has the time to throw, Buffalo might actually win some games. You are a true fool if you don't think that replacing Roscoe Parrish / Josh Reed with Brandon Marshall would improve the team Dramatically, with the trio of Evans, TO and Marshall I'd say the Bills would have one of the best,if not the best receiving corps in the NFL. #3 so what, The rumors about Cutler being traded were denied at first also, where there is smoke there is usually fire. Like Denver asking the Jets for a player and draft picks, oh another rumor.

Tom Cousineau ring any bells, he was the Bills first overall draft pick in 79 and signed with the CFL instead, who paid him 2x as much as the Bills offered him. Black Sunday, the Bills let go of Thurman Thomas- Bruce Smith- Andre Reed because they needed to get under the cap, instead of trying to restructure their contracts and keep them in Buffalo, they were forced to move on. Thurman a Dolphin, Smith a Redskin and Reed Denver / Washington. Jim Kelly cried on his living room couch at his home in Houston when he was drafted by Buffalo, why do you suppose he did that? If not for Bill Polian fighting tooth fang and nail to pay Kelly, he would have joined the Raiders. Bruce Smith was low balled by the Bills after his first contract was set to expire, Denver offered the Bills 2 first round draft picks and a ton more money to Smith then the Bills were offering, Smith signed with Denver and would have happily moved on if Polian didn't talk Wilson into matching the offer from Denver. Only Bill Polian and the good lord really know what kind of team the Bills would have had in the late 80's and early 90's if Polian wasn't there to fight with Wilson. Oh Wait,well maybe the late 90's and 2000-2008 teams show that. Jabari Greer- Nate Clements- Pat Williams- Antoine Winfield- Jason Peters -all come to mind the last few years. It almost seems like the Bills are a farm team for the NFL for cornerbacks. The going rate for top corners is more then Wilson wants to pay,lets see if he coughs up the dough to keep Terrance McGee.

The offensive coordinator stayed the same, Martys son. Nobody really knows how good Mark Sanchez can be, just know he will have one of the top receiving corps with Brandon Marshall on the team.

Ralph Wilson is notorious for being more then just frugal, if not for Bill Polian the Bills would have never signed Jim Kelly or kept Bruce Smith after his first contract. The list of players lost is more then likely countless because of RW unwilling to pay them the going rate. Sometimes that can be understandable,other times not. Love him or hate him the guy could have moved the franchise away from Buffalo dozens of times and made more money in the process, he choose to keep them here. To Wilson, Pro football is more business then passion, he would rather make money then win super bowls. I personally believe he will die knowing he won some AFL and AFC Championships and went to the SB 4 times and did it while making as much money as he could given the location he chose, and he will die happy.

You're kidding right? The Bills offensive coordinator stated in the Buffalo news that the passing offense suffered last season because once opposing teams double covered Lee Evans it shut down the passing game, It is the reason they opted to sign TO. As much as you hate Trent Edwards ( not sure why, did he bang your wife or gf? ) He can't make the blocks and run the routes while trying to throw the ball. The Bills are still lacking a decent pass catching tight end, they realize this and tried to trade for Tony Gonzalez, but he turned down the trade. The Bills still lack a good fullback, they try throw the ball on short yardage plays because they don't have a short yardage back. The Bills offensive line has been revamped every year the past 4 years under Jauron, it is no wonder any QB gets gunshy or unloads the ball to the checkdown. This coaching staff doesn't know a good linemen from a bad one, it is why they keep bringing in new players only to drop them the next year. I'm not sure why your on a Trent Edwards witch hunt, this is the same QB that outplayed Cutler in Denver, and he out played Phillip Rivers in Buffalo, he basically pulled out some wins last season against the Raiders, Rams, Jags with come from behind passing plays. If the receivers get open and he has time, TE can be as good as most any QB in the league. Try not to forget that it is a TEAM game and the TEAM needs to play well to win.

#1 You make it sound like you have spoken to many NFL GM's with that statement, how many confided to you about Boldin and Johnson? #2 The Bills didn't have a receiver that makes the top 10, much less the top 5 as much as I like Lee Evans he is rated in the 20-25 range. Now with TO in the lineup lets see how Edwards does, if he has time to throw to him that is. #3 Just because you haven't read about it doesn't make it false, The Ravens, Jets, Giants are all trying to trade for Marshall, believe it This is one of many posts I've read recently about the teams chasing after Marshall. Brandon Marshall rumors migrate to the other New York team Posted by Mike Florio on September 3, 2009 7:14 AM ET With the Jets quickly in and then out of the Brandon Marshall trade discussion, the team with which they share a stadium now finds itself in the center of the scuttlebutt. 104.3 The Fan in Denver, one of the Denver-area sports radio stations, has posted on its web site an image of a plane bearing the Giants logo on its tail, at a Denver-area airport. The easy -- through probably grossly incorrect -- speculation is that the receiver-needy Giants are working out a deal for Marshall and whisking him to New York. Though we won't rule out anything in the stranger-then-Playmakers NFL, we can't imagine the Giants welcoming into the shop another major knucklehead only months after purging a guy whose story the writers of the shuttered ESPN football melodrama would have rejected as way too unrealistic. Still, you love rumors. So rumors we give you. And now we wait for the follow-up report that the Giants aren't pursuing Marshall. http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jet...shall-1.1415259

As I posted a week or so ago the Pats have a Welker clone in Julian Edleman, the guy is an amazing steal in the draft for them. My take is they already know how good Wes Welker is and want to give Joey Galloway more time with Brady. Galloway is being given a chance to lock up that 3rd WR spot over Greg Lewis. They are calling Galloway a freak to be as fast as he is at age 37, and you know how much Belichick loves the older players. Welker spoke with the media in the Pats' locker room Tuesday and said he hoped to be ready for the team's season opener against the Bills. While he didn't say the he would be available for sure, the fact that he was even speaking of his injury is an indication that it is not severe, given the way the team usually handles things in that department. (Rotowire.com)

Is Brandon Marshall one of the top WR's in the NFL.... YES! Top 5?... YES! Only Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Randy Moss are better and only because Cutler is no longer throwing to him. Would his presence dramatically improve the Bills passing game...YES! Is that why the Ravens, Jets and Giants are all trying desperately to trade to get him...YES! Is Denver really interested in trading him?....NO! They traded away their franchise QB and are just now realizing what a bone head decision that was, the fans in Denver want Josh McDaniels head on a stick for that. If they traded Marshall to the NY Giants I'd say he would have as big as impact as Plaxico Burris did for them, it would propel them into the SB.

The Chargers let Brees go because they had Philip Rivers behind Brees, 1st Brees was coming off a severe shoulder injury and not many expected him to to recover like he has, Lou Saban in Miami took Culpepper over Brees. 2nd nobody expected Brees to develop into the player he has become, considering his height is only 6ft. 3rd, his height really bothered AJ Smith, its why he drafted Rivers who is Big Bens' size 6'5'' 250 LBS. Eli Manning pulled a John Elway and stated he wouldn't play for the Chargers because they were a losing orginzation previous to that draft. I'd say that AJ Smith has developed into a Bill Polian clone, they guy has an amazing eye for talent. It really is to bad that Wilson didn't realize that AJ was such an astute judge of player talent and kept him to be the Bills GM.

If Ralph Wilson is an Idiot, I'd like to be one also... He does own a team worth how many hundred millions? Jauron was hired by his old friend and best head coach ever in Buffalo Bills history, Marv Levy. I'm certain he gave Jauron the extra time this season to show he can win because of Levy, JMO. If he falls on his face for a fourth season I just don't see RW keeping him, in fact It seems like a TBD consensus that should Jauron not win any games against the Dolphins-Jets-Patriots in the first half of this season, Jauron & Schonert will both be gone.

Go listen to Jauron being interviewed by Chris Brown on the Bills website, Jauron states the Bills are in the process of game planning for Thursdays game against the Lions and also doing some planning for the Patriots a week from Monday. So, the Bills do some game planning, they just aren't very good at it.

I take great offense to that statement, The Bills players are not clowns, they do give their best effort and play tough hard football. The problem is that they are lead by clowns, who don't know how to game plan properly, who don't know how to prepare properly, who don't know how to adjust a game plan if it isn't working!!! This entire staff needs to be fired...the sooner,the better.

The receivers are part of the problem considering even Turk Schonert stated that opposing teams double Lee Evans and it shuts down the deep passing game. But they are not the biggest problem, the biggest area of concern is the pass protection schemes and run blocking schemes, meaning the O line is not getting it done. Turk calling for 5-7 step drops calls for 4.0 seconds of pass blocking, tough to make anything happen when you only have 3 seconds. Granted, Edwards didn't look very good, but neither did the the running game and special teams. The entire offense looked horrid to me, it was only after the Steelers put in their 3rd stringers did the Bills start to move the ball. Even then they still didn't even get a FG.