All_Pro_Bills

If I might, I'd like to expand the draft strategy point and call it 'player acquisition'. Because there are two other aspects to acquiring players, professional free agents and college free agents. Of the Bills pro free agent pickups I'd classify the Edwards signing as solid. Good, productive player, nothing flashy but does his job. That's about it though. D. Nelson looks like a undrafted gem for this team so a hit there. I have no problem with the Spiller pick. You need playmakers on both sides of the ball and he's definitely a guy that can fill that role. On the defense, who do we have you'd call a playmaker? Outside of Byrd's sensational rookie season more or less nobody. But rounds 2-7 of this year's draft produced no starters and outside of Troup nobody contributing at all. Granted there's some injuries. But if you're strategy is to trim 'dead wood' and replace them with players you acquire through the draft (and free agency) how can you do that when the players you drafted cannot beat out incumbents on the roster? Most of whom aren't getting the job done? If you're a playoff contender then breaking into the starting lineup might be tough for most rookies. But if you're team is a cellar dweller what's the implication to that?

Your reponse is dead-on with my view on the subject. I'll go out on a limb and say that Nix and Gailey want to win, that losing leaves a foul taste in their mouths. They are probably more disgusted than most of us here. However, I can't honestly say I believe that desire trickles down from ownership to the real power brokers in the Bills organization. Namely, the finance guys. Unfortunately, for Nix and Gailey they work in an environment that puts constaints on their ability to do their jobs that other members of their profession in the league do not have to deal with in managing and coaching their respective teams. All the talk about high-profile candidates not wanted to come to Buffalo has less to do with the city and more to do with the organization. In the end, Sullivan's flaming of Nix and Gailey only distracts attention from the real questions that need to be asked and answered, by ownership. Simply, is winning important and are you going to do all that it takes to get back to the Championship game? Did you really hire the most competent GM and coach or where you just unwilling to meet the market price for the top candidates? I really don't get Ralph. If it is was me and I had the financial capacity and the desire to win the big one before I checked out I'd do everything possible. When your dead what does it matter if you die with $800 million or $780 million? You're still dead. Appologize for getting a bit off topic.

To this point, only one 2010 draft selection has made any significant contribution. The others are either injured, waived, or riding the bench so I see little justification for faith vs. worry.

Sullivan's column aside, it simply appears the front office doesn't have any kind of master plan and are making decisions on the fly vs. as part of a well thought out consistent strategy. And a team that philosophizes about building through the draft (Spiller, Troup, Carrington, Easley, Wang, Moats, Batten, Brown, Calloway) but gets close to zero (Spiller the exception) out of their draft class is in trouble. Frankly, I don't want or need an explanation of anything. But what I do want is competency. Swing and a miss on that one so far from where I sit. JMHO

Unless there's some specific stipulation in the will (which none of us are privy too), ownership of the team would transfer to the spouse of the deceased. There is no estate tax in this case. However, it's been stated that Mary Wilson has no desire to run the team once her husband has passed on. So, we need to assume the team would be put up for sale. I'm no accountant but I don't see the financial advantage of the surviving spouse selling. Sell the team for $800 million and you pay a capital gain tax on the sale. Let's say 20%, so you net $640 million. Then when you pass on the net procedes of the $640 million sale are subject to an estate tax. Why cough up an extra $100 million or so to incure two taxable events? For somebody many label as 'cheap' this seems incomprehensible even in death. The bidding process would involve many parties, ownership, bidders, politicians, the league. Just how those dynamics play out is the question but I don't think we should automatically assume the team will be sold to the highest bidder and relocated. I also heard Trump is part of Kelly's group and while I think the guy's a shameless self-promoter his giant ego guarantees that winning would be a priority. Which is what we need.

The what comes first the franchise QB or a solid O-line is a debate without a correct answer. It has been done both ways with success and with failure. If you think Luck, Mallet, or Locker is that guy then you take him. But you better be right or else you've set yourself back another 3 years. The problem with the Bills front office is not with the 'plan'. Every team pretty much has the same plan. Nobody goes into the draft or free agency planning to fail. The question isn't the plan but their ability to execute it. Based on recent draft and free agent pickups by the various regimes during this decade its difficult for me, being a relative optimist, to have any confidence that all of a sudden the Bills are going to start hitting on their draft picks and bring in impact free agents. And while I like Spiller, look at the first Nix/Gailey draft. Who is contributing, who is starting? Meanwhile other teams, most importantly, those in our division are able to identify, draft, and plug in a couple rookies and put more and more distance between the Bills and themselves. What was it Buddy said? 'Show me the baby'.

The other factor in this trade, one more off the field indiscretion and it's a one year suspension. When, not if, is the question to that.

No argument with what you're stating but in general, teams have relocated for either stadium/facility issues, attendance problems, or both; not explicitly because they could generate more revenue elsewhere. At present, the Bills have neither a stadium or attendance issue. Surely the Houston market is much larger than Nashville yet the Oiler moved to Tenn and morphed into the Titans. Maybe someone else recalls, but why did the Oilers move out of the 4th or 5th largest US market to much smaller Nashville?

Unfortunately, this is rebuilding from rock bottom in progress. Years of poor drafting, lucrative contracts to sub-par free agents, bad coaching, and poor front office management got us to where we stand today. This is year one of what is probably three. My optimistic side tells me they should be more competitive in the second half of the season. Learning a new system and then actually executing it takes time. If suffering through a season like this is what it takes to become competitive once again then as a fan I'm willing to suffer through it. No doubt we're looking at a top 5 choice in '11. My concern at this point is this year's draft class. What do we have here? Spiller seems to be getting less and less work each week, along with Troupe. Carrington hasn't even seen the field unless I missed him yesterday. Moats? Wang hurt still. And throw in Maybin from last year. Play these guys. You are losing anyway and I presume they are going to be part of the future. One other note off topic with appologies.... Please no crying the blues talk from management about the poor old small market Bills. You just way overpaid at $24 million over 4 years to a player that wouldn't start on any other team in the league. Obviously they've got money to waste because this is definitely a waste.

That statement is true because the team is losing with no shot at the playoffs or the Super Bowl. Players will want to come to the Bills when, and only when, the team is winning. Given a choice, with money just about equal, a free agent veteran will choose a contender over a rebuilding situation every time.

I was pulling for Edwards but he lost me at the end of the Miami game where he had 7 opportunities (3 from the 1, and 4 from the 20) to complete a pass, get a couple first downs, and give the team a chance (however remote it was) to tie the game. What did he do? Throw the ball away, a couple check down and short throw attempts. 4th and 10. Throw the damn ball down the field. It gets intercepted? So what, you lose anyway. You think the players in the offensive huddle had any confidence or respect for Trent after that event? We know the O-line is a deficiency but I'll wager you put any NFL quarterback behind a solid line and he'll perform effectively. But the fact is the QB doesn't always get to play under ideal conditions and it's those plays under pressure and how you act and re-act that generally determine the outcome of a game. The bottom line, 'this dog just won't hunt'. IMO, the timing can be questioned but the move was the right move.

Right on..... I’m not happy with the first 3 weeks of the season, and being out of town I’m already hearing crap from fans of other teams, but I seriously doubt there was any expectation with ownership and management that this team was capable a winning record this season. And after one draft and free agency period I can’t see how that is enough to evaluate Nix’s 1 year tenure as a failure. After a decade of muddling around .500 this franchise needs to hit ‘rock bottom’ and build from there. The truth is this team needs rebuilding, not reloading. IMO, Buddy Nix is going to spend 3 years rebuilding this team and then hand over control to Doug Whaley. Whaley was brought into the Asst. GM position with the understanding that a succession plan is in place here. In the meantime, we the fans are going to suffer through this season. The 3-4 defense transition is going to be painful because most players are unfamiliar with their roles and responsibilities, have very little experience with it, and in some cases are not suited for playing the positions they’re asked to play. And along with a new DC stepping into the coordinators role for the first time, the only way to learn, is to do. Experience is the best teacher it is said. We know the deficiencies in the offense, upgrade to QB, O-line, somebody to step up into the #2 receiver role. Some of this is going to be fixed through experience, the rest through the next couple drafts and free agency periods. I understand the concern because we've been down this road too many times this decade but I also believe for the first time in a long time that we've got a GM and coach who know what they're doing....

However bad it seems now (and I think it is bad) this team needed to hit rock-bottom before things could improve. All those 7-9, close to .500 seasons, were really a mirage. This team has drafted poorly (willing to give the new regime a pass on this year's class) and team derived little value out of most of the high-priced FA signings this century. I empathize with you about the emotional detachment after just two weeks. After what might have been the 6th sack last Sunday, I muttered something to the effect 'you've got to be kidding me, what kind of block was that', then went outside and proceeded to clean the bugs and road crap off the bumper of my car That's my rock-bottom - I'd rather clean dead bugs than watch the Bills. IMO - this team is a 3 year project. Year 1 - bottom out. Year 2 - pick up starter-worthy QB and fortify the lines, offense and defense. Year 3 - tactical draft, FA pick ups to fill in the missing pieces and then compete for the division and playoffs.

We'll see some marginal improvement in the offense with Fitzpatrick at QB. From past performance he has a couple things on Edwards right now. For starters, better recognition of the play and defenses along a willingness to throw downfield into coverage vs. always looking to the check-down. Another plus, the intelligence to know his offensive line sucks vs. playing like the QB actually has enough time to throw on most plays. Is Fitz the answer here? No, but the real question isn't who's the QB, it's when does this team get NFL caliber OT's.

Agree with most with the exception of Bell. I won't argue about him playing the best of anyone on the O-Line but that's more of an indictment of the other members of the line than it is praise for Bell. On Packers sack #6 he engaged Matthews at the line of scrimmage and just got caught flatfooted with no arm extension as Clay Jr. just pushed him aside, took one step outside, and then jumped on the back of our QB. All in about 3 seconds of elapsed time. I've seen more contact on a first date good night kiss than on that play. This team simply has no NFL caliber OT's on the roster. On another subject, next years draft, on Saturday I watched a the Arkansas and Washington games to see two of the 'hot' QB prospects. On that day, IMO, neither of them look dominant or for that matter terribly impressive.

The other angle to consider is what the player is looking for. I break it out into 2 types of FA's (there might be others or subsets but to summarize): 1) Younger players, up and comers, at the end of their rookie deals looking for a big payday. 2) The seasoned veteran who's been displaced by a younger, cheaper alternative on his original team or has simply reached the time to move on for whatever reason. These players are looking for different things. In the 1st case, money. In the later, a chance to hook up with a contender to win a title before shuffling off into retirement a few years down the road. I think the record shows the Bills are willing to spend money, and have signed some big dollar contracts with FA's. Unfortunately the record also shows that money was not spent wisely as the performance of most of these players leads you to conclude the Bills overpaid. The other reasons for not attracting the #1 type FA are probably among those cited in the tread most of which seem pretty valid. The Bills as of the past ten years could not attract the #2 player. There might be 5 or 6 teams around the league that would attract this type of FA. Until the time when they turn it around and string together 3 or 4 winning seasons along with playoff appearances don't expect a lot of veteran FA to consider coming to the Bills. Putting yourself in their situation, you've got 2 or 3 years in the tank so are you going to spend it 'rebuilding' in Buffalo or take a chance at the SuperBowl right now with a contender? Easy choice.

I received two mailing from the Jets concerning season tickets. Uh, sorry dudes, I'm a Bills fan. A buddy of mine at work has Jets season tickets and was moved from the upper tier 50 yard line to the upper tier 5 yard line in the new stadium. After some time and seeing the viewing angle, he broke down and paid a $4K PSL per seat to move to the lower tier. And the team even had a financing plan to loan you the money for the PSL at a 'fan friendly' interest rate. Nice of them, right? All these unsold lower tier seats are going to hurt the teams home field advantage. In general, the corporate seat buyers at the bottom are not the ardent, hard-core fans. Gonna be a lot of noise generated from the 'real' fans in the upper tier but silence from the lower levels. And empty seats don't make noise for the defense on 3rd and long. That's good for us......

A team that has cronic problems with scoring (that in 2009 had 12 games with 20 or less points) drafts a player #1 with the potential to take it to the house each and every time he touches the ball is guilty of making a luxury pick? Sure there are other areas of need too but a luxury? The term is overused and inappropriate....

The Jets biggest weakness is their arrogance. They were 2-4 in division games last year. They won nothing last year. And the meter goes back to 0-0 every season. Its no sure thing that any of their offseason acquisitions are going to pan out anymore than it is for the Bills. They picked up two head cases at CB and WR. The fact that their old teams were willing to take very little for these 'stars' speaks loudly. Nobody seems to be listening to that message right now. Wait until they start screwing up under the NY media spotlight. And their free agent acquisitions while good players are past their prime. Looking at the Bills, the #1 problem they had against the Jets, and Dolphins, was stopping the run. They surrendered a staggering 1,004 yards rushing in those 4 games and by way of turnovers won 2 of them. Stopping the run and acquiring players for the 3-4 was the Bills priority in the draft. How good a job Buddy & Co. did won't be clear until they hit the field and start playing. I work with several long-time Jets season ticket holders and I find it interesting that while they are looking forward to the season they do not share the blind optimism about their team that some have expressed here. Perhaps through experience, they are cautious about expections similar to what most Bills fans have become. That all said, the Jets roster still looks superior to the Bills at this point in the offseason and a split looks good right now.

Maybin's only 22, the same age as most of this year's rookie class. He's got some growing up to do physically, emotionally, and intellectually if he's going to succeed. Will he do it? We'll get a pretty good idea this year. Did he make any impact last year? No, we can all agree on that. In the meantime, I'm willing to cut the guy some slack. Him becoming an impact player on defense will help this team and in the end we'd all would like to see that happen. The 3-4 can create a lot of uncertainty and confusion for the offensive blocking schemes if employed correctly. That might play to his strengths and minimize his weaknesses (being engulfed by larger OT) displayed when coming off the line from the DE position. IMO, labeliing him a bust is premature because he didn't play enough nor was he utilized very well last season by the previous coaching staff.

Got to disagree about Campbell. He is not ready to start at LT in the NFL. His 'measurables' at the combine were exceptional but his blocking skills are marginal and his techincal is bad. Someday he might be a good NFL tackle but at the moment he is a project pick. On the NFL network this morning, Lombardi and Casserly were discussing which of the 4 top QB's would see action this season. Their opinion was only Bradford was prepared to assume the starting QB position. That all said I would have prefered the Bills selected Charles Brown in the 2nd to address the OT situation. He went to the Saints with their pick late in round 2.

Few quarterbacks that are #1 overall draft choices win Superbowls with the team that draft them. In recent history you've got Aikman in '93, '94, '96, and and Manning in '07. Elway was drafted by Baltimore, Eli Manning by San Diego. Warner was a free agent, Montana a 3rd round choice, Steve Young was drafted by Tampa, Farve a 2nd round choice by Atlanta, Brady, we know the story there. The lesson is there's no tried and true scientific method to find a franchise quarterback. Its a lot of work and more times than not a lot of luck too and taking one early in the 1st round in no sure thing.

The defense couldn't get off the field on 3rd down but some of the fault was the result of offensive ineptitude. Last year's defense was 24th in third down conversions, 40.4%. And tied with SF for most 3rd down attempts allowed, 240. The defense was 32nd in rushing 1st downs surrendered, 134. This validates the focus on addressing upgrades to the front 7 on D.

That's exactly it. The draft experts don't get graded, second guessed, or fired. Because their picks never have to be proven out on the field on Sunday's. Only the 32 teams making the actual picks are subject to criticism and have to back up their work with results.

Perhaps some 2-back sets with Jackson and Spiller? Break huddle 2nd and 6, and Spiller motions off as the slot receiver. Defense in basic 3-4-4 or 4-3-4. Who's gonna cover him? LB, haha, safety, good luck. Runs 7 yard crossing pattern, catches ball, off to the house!! Still let's get some line help 2nd, 3rd rounds.....