I never thought Ralph Wilson was a great owner, but the worst, hardly. He was, however good for the leagues, both the AFL and NFL. Stating that the merger would have still happened if two franchises folded is speculation. Ralph would have been involved in a very small decision that began the poaching war and that was brining in the first soccer style kicker, Pete Gogolak. The Giants subsequent signing of Gogolak was the trigger. It changed the game.
I met Ralph once. He was walking through a hotel lobby in Palm Beach. I introduced myself and told him I was a Bills fan. He stopped and talked to me not for a minute, more like fifteen. His face lit up when he talked abut the Bills. He was a gentleman.