Sisyphean Bills

Since when does free agency start at the end of July? Or 10 days before opening day? And yeah, I can see how keeping solid veterans that know what it takes to be a professional around in the locker room would be a disaster.

Actually, it was reported that Walker and Schobel took training camp off that year -- just going through the motions. Who was "handing him his ass"?

That can be viewed from the small end of the telescope as well. Ralph hired the GMs that he wanted directly because they were people he trusted to toe the line and run his ship exactly as he wanted it run, including whatever restrictions he wanted placed on spending. Does every other team have 2 GMs retire in midstep and a head coach up and quit? By the way, not every other team views non-starting veterans as a football liability that needs to be solved before the players even hit the practice field.

Oddly enough, people that have worked for the organization have said that it is actually how things work.

Did you hear about how Lawyer Milloy was cut as a total surprise to the coaches and GM at that time? Somehow, saying he doesn't have the "FINALLY call" [sic] seems weak, when the transcript reads like an ultimatum. "We were told we had to cut $X million and given a list of players to choose from. We had to make a decision or have one imposed on us."

The cause and effect are missing with this argument. Just because the Bills will be contractually obligated to spend a certain percentage of the cap does in no way mean that they will spend that money on good players that are motivated to work together and win football games. Paying Chris Kelsay over market value or giving Ryan Fitzpatrick "a solid starting QB" contract does almost nothing to right the ship. Let's face it, if the Bills continue to fail on the field, then everything becomes more difficult. For instance, while it's great that they re-upped the Toronto deal to continue the channel to the non-football accounts, it is also sad that the vast majority of fans at those games either cheer for the opposition or are utterly indifferent.

Levitre is not as isolated a case as some would wish. (On the other hand, the Bills have drafted poorly enough in recent years that the "bind" of having to re-sign the unmitigated busts that they've drafted does not occur too often.) Ask Bill in NYC about the CB ferris wheel or the RB merry-go-round. (There are several examples of OL players that have been traded, cut, or ignored in free agency to paint a picture there as well.) I'm not saying they shouldn't try to be disciplined on their spending, etc. They're going to run the business as they see fit anyway; and, they have done exactly that. The point though is why throw top picks cyclically at a G, FS, CB, RB ... and just keep spinning the wheels in the mud? OK, they re-signed Leodis McKelvin (for a change) but that guy has zero ball skills and can't crack the starting lineup against guys with walkers and canes... How do you feel if Wood leaves and Spiller gets tagged and traded for example? Is it still, "gee, all teams lose players and besides saving money for more valuable positions is a better plan?" And what positions are we talking about anyway? QB? Manuel is on his rookie capped-by-rule contract. If he turns out to be the real deal, he's a bargain. PS: The "money saving" of the Gailey-era went to Super Mario who was supposed to make the Wannstedt defense emerge. Calling that a train wreck is an understatement.

Eh, well, I never thought Young's problem was his arm. His problem seemed to be that he thought the world owed him boundless success. Tebow has awful mechanics, but he did take an NFL team to the playoffs. The spotlight that comes with that guy is blinding to the rest of the organization though...

My issue with the Levitre situation is that, as Andy said, the Bills decided to not even put their hat in the ring. They (correctly) determined he was one of the more prized players going into the market, and didn't even make an effort. Now part of that might be that they valued Byrd more and decided the cash outlay for two upper tier players wouldn't look good for their bottom line. But, if you objectively consider that statement, it is an anti-motivation for the Bills to execute the "Buddy Plan" and draft well and keep their own. Their cash flow equations can never be optimized for the business if they have to try to sign players that are truly among the very best at their positions to second contracts; that is, pay the going freight league-wide. Instead, it smacks of business as usual. Team building amounts to hoping young guys come in guns blazing and outplay their rookie contracts (optimizing value to cost) and back fill the holes with budget contracts to journeyman that you hope can get coached up enough to not completely suck and maybe sprinkle in a marquee name once in a while to spark some fan interest.

On the other hand, if Manuel is another JP Losman, wouldn't it be better to know it quicker rather than prolong the agony? In a way, if Manuel can't beat out a journeyman scrub like Kolb, then was he really the franchise savior some are dreaming about? There is not a lot of room for late bloomers in today's NFL... players or coaches.

And miss out on an opportunity to blame fellow fans?

Overdorf handles contracts. Nobody but you equates this with Emperor Palpatine.

Didn't mean to derail the conversation with a single letter spelling error. Must be another slow news day.

How different is the front office really? Russ Brandon has been around throughout the draught as has Jim Overdorf. Remember him? The guy in charge of negotiating contracts? Doug Whaley was Buddy Nix' right hand man and got promoted into Buddy's chair. There have been changes. Ralph is no longer running things by phone. Buddy is now consulting from afar now. Whaley revamped the scouting department a bit (which won't bear fruit instantly). And, then there is the Bills routine change of underwear, er, I mean coaching staffs. Nothing new exactly, but this time the Bills are going with a younger, energetic coach with something to prove rather than the retread old coach at his last stop before getting bounced. So, yes, some things have changed on the management side of the equation, but this has not been a complete house cleaning. There are still very familiar faces in the organization, especially on the money side. The situation does make for good debate.

On the other hand, some fans do realize this is another push of the reset button; and, yes that is "another" as in nothing new about that.

Hear, hear. Crazy talk trying to equate Byrd to Reed. It's like saying Schobel was the same player that Bruce Smith was.

Maybe it was the booster rockets that malfunctioned. After all, the car didn't make it into orbit, now did it?

I've heard this before and don't watch Syracuse. Did they really line up in a traditional WCO most of the time? That is with the QB under center and 2 backs in T formation? That would be seriously old school, btw. Using a FB in today's NFL is almost like going into the bar and ordering your drinks in Latin.

Maybe it's more of a spelling problem than the language. http://www.merriam-w...tionary/re-sign http://www.merriam-w...m/dictionary/resign

Nothing that some pixie dust can't fix.

In the Peters case, it was Parker's position that the Bills fairly compensate the best LT in the game. The Bills chose to look at the situation from the standpoint of how many times they had already bumped up his UDFA contract, which had elevated that player to the 4th highest paid lineman on the team. (They also decided to reward Lee Evans at the time, though he was entering the downhill portion of his career.) With Byrd, there are similarities. Byrd made a position change from college to the pros and has very quickly ascended to become an excellent player at his new position. The Bills grossly underpaid him for his production so far, just like Peters. There is also some expectation that Byrd will continue to improve his game. And, of course, there are the same negotiating groups at the table with Parker on one side and Brandon and Overdorf on the other.

http://www.abc.net.a...rt-says/4656622 I wonder if she gave permission in her suicide note. (But, yeah, here in the USA we have the FCC...)

Well, they snapped up Nick Barnett, so why not his backups?

When you say coveted, do you mean http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/spec-rel/standings.html