purple haze

Overpayment based on what criteria? People pay for what they want/need. They needed a multi-dimensional TE for Roman's system. Clay might not have been worth it for several other teams, but for what the Bills want to do, it was. At some point, every team in the league is going to run up against the cap and have to make hard choices. It just so happens to be the Bills turn this year.

Isn't Jim Overdorf is in charge of the salary cap? He's the contract guy.

Team friendly deals are the types Whaley terms, "Dust settles" players. If its a big ticket FA, the cost will usually be prohibitive at some point. Cost of doing business. Why it's important to win during the window the contract isn't killing the team.

I don't think a football player over 30 is going to willingly take a one year deal to prove anything to anyone. He's shown his worth already, and his agent can always blame last season's results on the change in scheme. He might take a one year deal to play for a team like the Seahawks or Patriots, but outside that I doubt we see him sign for one year.

Cops suggested charges. The DA would be the one's to actually charge McCoy, et al. The DA has no obligation to take the cops suggestion if their investigation leads them in a different direction.

That's what it sounds like. But the DA's office is going to operate independently of the FOP. The DA could see this as a career builder. They could be trying to play Shady and his friends off each other, seeing if one of them rolls on the others, just due to the extendend time of the investigation, they could be discovering the off-duty cops had a bigger hand in the fight than originally spoken about. Or they could be waiting to see how the medical diagnoses plays out for the cops to determine if job altering/life altering injuries are present or not; which could mean elevated charges or a simple payout for med expenses, etc. Or I could be totally wrong about all of it. It does seem strange that it has taken so long to vet a fairly common occurrence.

I think it is driven by the league and their desire for corporate partners, i.e. the money people who will pay exorbitant rates for boxes, suites and seasons, PSL's, etc.

I exposed myself? The point is, we are all predisposed to seeing things through a prism of race. Does it mean every situation is racially motivated? No, and I never said that. What I did say is our country was built on a foundation of seeing race. That permeates the fabric of American society; laws, organizations and social convention buttressed this for centuries. In America we even identify ourselves by ethnicity. In other countries they identify us as American. (Although other countries have their issues with ethnicity, nationalism is a more strongly used discriminatory vice.) I'm not sure what you mean by overcompensating for past injustices. The past informs the present. I spoke of history to enforce the point that today, race is still an issue. It does not just go away because one wants it to. One can acknowledge that not every situation has a racial component while entertaining the possibility that there might be some in any given situation. How many pages are we into this thread, with people on either side of the issue and other issues around race and perception? Which re-enforces my point. Work in progress is right. And on we march.

Interesting article. Some good points. This one wasn't one: And let's just say you were a virulent racist, would there be a worse way to spend your time than watching a sport where black people represent 70% of the athletes? Wouldn't it drive you insane to see black people winning all the time? You wouldn't just have to be racist, you'd have to be a sado masochistic racist. Racism isn't rational. And no, it wouldn't drive a racist crazy, per se, because the black people playing the game are probably viewed in a couple of ways: one, they are just pieces on a board. They play the game. The racist fan routes. Fair exchange. They don't have to have any dealing with them outside of that context, or two, the black players playing the game, who they "love" are "different" from other black people. They aren't seen as the same as "other" black people who they perceive in a racist way. There was a time in my life I would have agreed with that particular point of the author. Then I worked on a film. Had a woman I hired to do background work, who I had done some battle for over money owed by the production. She got her money. Last day of working she's crying, hugging me, telling me how she loves me and will miss me, etc. Then a P.A., who happened to be a black man, walked in our vicinity and she said and I quote,"I love you so much, but that n#@@#$ over there, I hate his guts." When I called her out, full of offense, she cried even harder, swore up and down she wasn't talking about me. She said and I quote, "You're different..." What she should have said in continuation is, "until you upset me in some type of way." I had experienced racial episodes many times before that, but that particular type was a first. I talked to people I knew, from grandparents, to my peers and they had similar bizarre experiences such as the one I encountered. Racism and prejudice is a complicated ugliness.

I appreciate your passion, but your vehemence ignores the foundations this country was built upon. Race is always present in this country; it's baffling to me that there are people who are surprised or upset that it continues to be a sticking point or a lightning rod. Race only appears irrelevant to those who want it to go away without having to deal with its implications and indictments. Hopefully, most would like to see the conversation be unnecessary, because the prism of race, and perceptions and actions based on it, is not how people are viewed any longer. But that won't happen unless these difficult conversations are had. And outside of Cam Newtwon or any comparisons between he and Peyton Manning, that report had many racial overtones within it that are disturbing in and of themselves.

It doesn't invalidate anything. The point of the piece is that people don't truly know Manning, that he is dirty and not what he appears to be, but because he is who he is, including racially, he is getting somewhat of a pass compared to his contemporary, Cam Newton. Whether one wants to deal with that interpretation or not, the question remains: is the story true? And did he/his father intentionally lie about the situation and about the woman bringing the lawsuit? Remember, the Manning's have been called "the first family of football." Peyton, et al. have cultivated the down home image that is portrayed in the media. That type of PR better be true because bad habits have a way of finding the light. But for those who think race is overplayed, from the article, based on the official documents: Before she left, though, two staff members of the school, according to the documents, asked Naughright if she would consider blaming the entire incident not on Manning, but on another athlete — a black one. According to Naughright, the staff members (named as Mr. Wyant and Mr. Rollo), went so far as to actually name a specific black athlete she could blame it on. Of course, she refused (see pages 18-19). Yeah, race is overplayed...

I heard it said on ESPN that he did not want to play RT and the Giants have Ereck Flowers to take over at LT.

Yeah, but a high powered football program could siphon off interest if they're doing well and the Bills aren't at any given time. Although, I think that is UB's best hope because they don't seem able to raise money to do the things they want to do with the football/athletic facilities. Honestly, I think they should focus on building a new basketball arena and putting money into that program. Since Buffalo is devoid of pro hoops UB, like Pitt, can be that for the city. Quiet as it's kept there are many hoops fans in Buffalo. They might all be on the East/North side, but they do exist.

Yes, judging an entire group of human beings is wrong. Judging the way a person performs his or her job is not. That's what I'm doing. There are many good cops, but there are others who are not, who bring various biases to their job or are simply drunk on their authority. The fact they have guns and other weapons while at the same time getting the unquestioned support of government operatives or general citizens can lead to issues. I have known too many people with bad interactions with police. I have had bad interactions with police and I do not have a "record." I would love to feel about the police the way many do. I appreciate that the police have a difficult job. I appreciate those that do their jobs well. But where I'm from there is too much history and too much present where the police are concerned. You might see the police come and think nothing of it. When I see the police I think, "Lord, help me." Experience is a hard teacher. McCoy, et al. could be totally in the wrong. I'm just saying I don't automatically take the cops side because they have a badge. We shall see.

The police are not a race of people. The police are men and women, most of them with good intentions, who are public servants, and as such should be open to scrutiny. They are not a private security force. I don't think your correlation is a good one.

Ironic that people go to places like this to to avoid issues yet still wind up finding issues. Alcohol is a hell of a drug...

True and, at the same time, lot of cops are the same way.

How do you know the off duty cops weren't "shady?" We don't know who started the incident. We don't know if the off-duty officers identified themselves as such. What stands out to me about the little information we have so far is that they were all kicked out of the bar and no arrests were made. McCoy is seemingly the biggest name within the incident so of course his name would be in the headline. We shall see what happened soon enough, but I'm not as inclined as you to give the police the benefit of the doubt. Particularly cops who are not in uniform.

I thought it was funny. It's good the former players aren't haunted by it. What's done is done. Being upset now won't change the results.

He didn't report anything that I heard. He was speculating on Twitter what might happen. I think Rotoworld is click-baiting.

Spence is the goods. If he's there at 19 they should take him over anyone except possibly Jaylon Smith.

Totally agree. There are several players, including Thomas, who are better WR's than Miller right now. But Miller's potential is extremely high. There would be so many things a guy like Roman could do with him in his offense. I think that come draft day Miller won't go in the first. I think top of the 2nd, unless someone trades into rd. 1 to get him at the end of it. I like Ragland a lot, but no way. I can't see Whaley or Rex leaving Smith on the board if the Bills doctors give him the okay. His talent at 19 is a gift one should not turn down.

You say get a real #2, but do they have the money to get that player? That is the real question. They can, and might, draft a WR, but rookie WR's don't always hit right away. The Bills are built to win now. Harvin, if he came back, would not be getting paid much money. If he plays anywhere he's probably looking at the minimum plus incentives. When he plays he has shown his worth. Is Harvin, at minimum, plus incentives better than a guy we know is less talented, or a guy who might or might not, take time to make an impact? I get why you feel the way you do, I'm just not sure there are viable, better options.

There's nothing to wish for. The Bills could have been gone twenty years ago, with an owner with less pockets than the Pegula's. Bills aren't going anywhere for the forseeable future. Enjoy that and stop letting tired writers with tired viewpoints scare you into paying them attention. If my aunt was a man she'd be my uncle. Whatever.

Preach... Gilmore was inconsistent at the start of his career. It's like folks think about a player one way, they will never change that view in spite of evidence to the contrary. I don't get how anyone can watch Gilmore and think he's not gone to a another level. He does get nicked up, because he is a total corner. He will throw his body around. Needs to work on his technique, no doubt, but there's nothing not to like about Gilmore, especially compared to most CB's in the league. What is this common sense you speak?