Sisyphean Bills

This is a message board, is it not? Of course, posters are speculating and drawing conclusions. Does anybody not know that? My speculation of the various roles over the last 3 off-seasons is, however, framed from the various sources of information I have. It would be tidier for finger pointing exercises if we could dismiss the information from inside sources and people with access and just conjure up situations from our fantasies though, I must admit. So, you are correct. I'm speculating that some of the luster may have worn a bit on Dick's crown -- why would it not? -- and that Wilson's comments about some minor changes in the front office deck chairs may have been an indication of this. But, here are some scenarios that don't make sense, in contrast. Marv Levy lied to us and Dick Jauron had no say at all in how the team was going to be re-built in 06. They lied to us again when they said that Dick Jauron would assume Levy's football responsibilities when Marv resigned in 08. We were lied to that Modrak did not accept the de facto GM-ship of the team when Marv resigned and he has been calling the shots, so Wilson's comments about an inner circle were a smoke screen and monkeyshine for the unwashed masses. When Marv resigned they gave all football decision making responsibility to Russ Brandon, who's involvement with the team up to that point was as a business and marketing guy. Jauron and the career football guys watched from afar as Brandon made all the moves, helplessly with gags, blindfolds, and a last cigarette. When Marv Levy resigned the decisions he made and the areas where he concentrated were simply left vacant with nothing but tumble weeds blowing down the halls. Nobody within the organization handled that part of the business.

The Bills use cash-to-cap, so what Peppers makes on average over the length of his next contract is totally irrelevant indeed. What is far more important is the size of the up-front signing bonus. We don't know what that will be, but when you take the entire bonus plus any other initial bonuses plus the 1st year salary for Peppers, the Bills would have to pony up a lot more than $8 million this year to land Peppers. I'll believe it when I see it as far as the leopard changing its spots and making huge plays in free agency. It seems much more likely that the Bills will follow their plan of continuity and land a few 'B', 'C', or lesser free agents with contracts nobody else would offer them (going rates for 'A' players 2 years ago) so that the Bills could sneak up to the minimum salary cap from the short side...

Yes, it sort of applies universally here. The offense. The coaches. This thread. Posters. The topic of this thread. It's all confused and confusing.

Losing is tough. But, you can't let yourself get down.

I'm not really sure if I'd call out the trade for Stroud and relate it to free agency success, though. Another way of looking at it was the Bills couldn't do any serious work in free agency so they gave up draft picks to get a guy to anchor their DL. Thank goodness they didn't stick their head in a hole and assume McCargo would emerge, just standing by watching the parade go by. (BTW, Fowler is a UFA, right?) This article puts things in perspective. This smacks a bit of revisionism to me. At the time Levy said they were going after guys that were on the younger, unproven side, but guys that they thought had the right skills and temperament that when brought along by the Bills fine coaching staff would really blossom quickly into excellent players. They essentially got tattooed with a no hitter in 06, unless someone wants to claim Robert Royal is an up-and-coming excellent TE.

Last year, Jauron was to step forward and take Levy's "football duties" on himself. This probably wasn't all that much of a change from what it was, as Marv may have orchestrated and advised but I don't think he was ruling the war room with a steel fist by any stretch. The idea that Modrak's input would be given more weight was given in the context that the Bills had passed over a very good young QB in Jay Cutler, a player that Modrak argued for selecting. It was also suggested after the team had suffered a monumental meltdown and missed the playoffs yet again. The "elevation" of Modrak from remote office guy to the so-called "inner circle" is quite likely at the expense of Dick Jauron's authority. After failing to not post yet another losing season, Dick quite possibly had to make some concessions and allowances and having Modrak take more of a role in stocking the roster may have been part of it -- fact is, Jauron simply hasn't gotten it done.

Kelly was drafted 4 years after the Cousineau affair with Booker Moore (remember him, the 1st rounder that scored 1 TD in his NFL career?) and Perry Tuttle in between. Being drafted by the Buffalo Bills at that time was like getting the news that your family was moving to the Soviet Union, naked.

I kept thinking he sounded a lot like Dick Jauron when the questioning circled around and around on his reactions and emotions to criticism and the "tough, hard, rocky, difficult job" of being an NFL QB.

I'm confused. Are you talking about the WCO or something else? If you are a WCO, as defined by Bill Walsh, you do want a pass catching HB, FB, and TE. In the WCO, every snap is a potential passing play and passing the ball is the core identity of the scheme.

Modified WCO, indeed. AFAIK, they kept the terminology of Steve Fairchild who brought to Buffalo the Mike Martz system which descends from Coryell and not Walsh at all. Indeed, Fairchild's input pointed this team on a certain track, a big road grader OL (see San Diego), a vertical game (see Losman airing it out to Evans in season 1), ground and pound, downhill power running with blocking FBs, WBs, and/or TEs. It's unclear why Schonert, a WCO guy, was the QB coach, but he was and for the sake of continuity he got the job when Fairchild left to turn around a flagging CSU program. Schonert's efforts to simplify things, get more aggressive, and work WCO principles into Fairchild's system and players made for a situation that was/is morbidly curious. The Bills have a WCO QB, perhaps, in Edwards, but it's anybody's guess what they're really trying to accomplish.

We do realize that Matt Birk will be going into his 12th season next year, right? Assuming he doesn't retire, that is. And, that he's a native Minnesotan? Yes, he's been in the NFL longer than Jeff Saturday of the Colts.

The NFL would step in and order Albert to take a drug test. He would then be suspended for the rest of the season for being wasted out of his mind.

Thanks. There have been a few like Thomas Smith, Ken Irvin, and McGee that have stuck around to re-up... Still, there are just as many that have walked, it seems, Winfield, Clements, Burris, Jackson, Williams ...

And since free agency began, the last time the Bills extended a CB under a long-term contract rather than replace him with a draft pick was when exactly?

The great thing about dark horse picks is that when they don't work out, nobody cares. Like the Detroit Lions were a dark horse pick for more than a few talking heads going into 08.

He might come cheap.

Bingo! The scary thing is that you are right on the money. Which means, when the Bills draft a CB, Bill will probably be instantly catatonic, numb with shock and disbelief. Followed by bouts of rage and hysterical laughter.

Why go there when they could throw a #11 at Jimmy Laurinaitis and get the same production as the Cowchokes?

It's somewhat comical to read the same defense of Bills players applied over and over again. <insert name> has a lot of potential. <insert name> would be a very good/excellent/great player if the Bills would go out and improve talent at the X, Y, and Z positions around him. Whatever happened to "great players make those around them better"? In effect, the standard defense here is that the Bills players of the future, the wannabes with all that "potential", are not great players at all but rather JAGs (just another guy) that need a few great players (not on the roster) and a much better supporting cast in order to buoy them up out of the below average ranks.

Buffalo Bills: the annual dark horse pick.

Baltimore had more guys on IR this year than the Bills did in 07 and almost made it to the Super Bowl. The Giants suffered some big injuries/losses at key positions. The Colts and Chargers made late season runs with nagging injury issues and made the playoffs. Even the Pittsburgh Steelers had 10 guys on IR. Those teams also happen to have better coaching and front offices. The fact is every team has injuries, so you might as well plan for players to be lost to injury. The better teams have a front office that finds depth players that can play special teams AND can step up into the starting lineup when called upon. The better teams have coaches that can adjust to the players they have.

William Frederick "Niagara Bill" Cody.

What, you don't like Kelsay's high motor?

Check out the durability. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play...wMi99.htm?redir They'll be after him in a heartbeat.

Will Peppers bring it down in and down out or will he continue to take the majority of plays off?