purple haze

It's business. If he wants more than what the Bills think he's worth then they should let him walk. Maybe Levitre wants more money than the Bills think is reasonable for his talents. Maybe Marrone agrees with that take after watching the film. Maybe Nix/Marrone/Hackett want a different type of OG (i.e. bigger and a mauler) for the system the Bills will run. Maybe the Bills are willing to let Levitre see what he can get in FA. It's no guarantee he will get more money than the Bills would give him which means he might wind up back in Buffalo. I think what's happening is what I suggested all along. Byrd was seen as more valuable because finding an all around safety who creates TO's is harder to find than another OG. I also think the Bills want to spend money on impact players: WR, LB in FA. Kraig Urbik is a good guard, taken off the Steelers PS and signed at 4 million a year. Rinehart also pulled off a PS has played fairley well when he plays. And he's big. They might just resign him and keep it moving.

Barkley has a gun? Geno has worse decision making? How many USC games did you watch this past season? I live in SoCal. SC is on just about every week. Barkley has an okay arm. Woods and Lee get a lot of yards after catch. And Barkley made many questionable decisions this season. He's okay. Smith is okay. But between the two Smith has the stronger natural arm. He's also the better athlete. There are things to like about Barkley, but over Smith? No. If Smith is gone then Barkley enters the discussion w/Wilson, Nassib, etc... Truth? Barkley reminds me a lot of Fitz w/out the wheels.

Totally agree with your take. They can resign Rhinehart to play LG. Or get a cheaper, pro bowler in Moore from the Jets, who Marrone is credited with taking to the next level. Or they can draft an OG because they've filled many holes in FA. If the option is Levitre and nothing much in FA or letting Levitre walk, but getting some combination of Ellerbee, Moore, Landry, Bowe, Keller, Cook,Kruger, etc., I will take the combination of good players who can also fill holes before the draft. Folks need to remember, in the salary cap era every team will have to let some players they want to keep walk away. It's just not possible to keep them all. Eric Wood's contract is up after next season. Spiller the year after that. It's about now AND the near future. Does giving Levitre big money mean Wood has to go? I'd rather keep the center. Harder to find a good one. And you know CJ will get big money if he continues on his current pace and stays relatively healthy. It is what it is. I like Levitre, but we aren't talking about Larry Allen...

Levitre is good, but is he 8 or 9 million dollars good? I don't know about that. I hope they keep Levitre, but OG are easier to find. Urbik is a good OG and he got pulled of the Steelers practice squad. Rhinehart is okay as well. Another PS guy. And don't forget, Brandon Moore, the guy Marrone is credited with turning into a pro bowl player, is a FA and would come cheaper than Levitre. All depends on what's important to the Bills. Do you pay Levitre and forget about some other areas or do you let him walk and use Levitre money for a guys like Moore, Ellerbee and Bowe. They might be able to get more good players and fill more needs before the draft by letting Levitre go.

He led WVU to 70 something against Clemson in a bowl game last year. You can't base anything off on one game good or bad. What about Barkley would cause you to take him over Smith? Barkley has a weaker arm. Less athleticism. And was a decision making grease fire this past season. He fell off this season too and pretty much from the start. He also didn't participate in the Senior Bowl or the combine. If you like Barkley better cool, but it seems like there would be better reasons than the one's you stated. LoL. It's a team game. Geno Smith didn't play defense. Many of the games WVU lost they had over 30 points.

Football players play the game. If Clowney sat out, by next April there would be other great prospects more than likely who would take over the top spots. And the question would be if Clowney could still play at the same level after missing so much game action. The next question would be if he really loves football or is just in it for the money? He would be described as selfish for leaving his teammates at South Carolina in the lurch for his own personal gain. His draft stock would be damaged to a degree and his reputation would too, most likely by the same bloggers who suggest he sit out. None of that is worth sitting out a year. It's ridiculous to even posit the idea.

You are funny. Smith is another Pryor? Yet you get offended when he compares Nassib to McCoy. Smith and Pryor are very different in terms of accuracy. Smith was a much more accurate college QB while having just as much if not more arm strength than Pryor had. Pryor is a much better natural runner. Pryor is much bigger too. Smith hasn't been a diva where Pryor was a bit high maintenance (not a bad kid though). They are not the same QB at all. Bills should take two QB's in this draft if they don't sign one in FA. I think TE comes in FA too. LB, WR comes in draft.

No he didn't. In the grand scheme of QB contracts, Fitz received average QB money. Just turned out Fitz ain't worth average QB money. For a while he looked like he was. No shame in giving him the contract he got. If he had gotten top 12 money then you could say he screwed the pooch.

Barkley is just okay. I see alot of SC games in Cali. His arm is not better than it's given credit for. His decision making, this season at least, was very suspect. He is not the most athletic either. Intangibles? Fitz has intangibles too. We'll see if Barkley does well at the combine/pro day. Maybe his arm strength has improved, but... To me he's a Fitz "type" with a higher profile and less athleticism.

Those were fighting teams. Played with an edge. Very gritty.

True. But no team will ever be able to keep everybody even if they want to and Nix has said that in the past as well. That said, I hope Levitre isn't the one they let walk. Byrd will be back, I think, one way (contract) or another (tag). Pass defense wasn't that great either. Just saying Milliner has to be on the table depending on what players are available at 8.

I think Hairston is going to be alright. I'd love Ogletree or Jones, but Milliner is very intriguing. They have to be able to cover to run Pettine's schemes. Some folks won't like it, but Milliner is a distinct possibility.

But Poz was replaced by Barnett pretty much. And Whitner didn't want to be there. George was his in-house replacement. Searcy was drafted to eventually replace George.

Not necessarily. The player you don't hear teams talking about or talking about negatively are often times the player they want. And we're getting ahead of ourselves anyway. By the time the combine and pro day workouts are done many of these QB's will move up the draft board. My prediction is the Bills will grab a LB/DE at pick 8 then trade back into the bottom of the first round and grab their QB.

Horton was on Wednesday. Whisenhunt on Tuesday.

It's funny how many assumptions are made and then turned into fact on the boards. Nix was involved with the hire. Word was the Bills wanted a coach who had some HC experience. Sound like what Nix said when he was looking for candidates three years ago? Why couldn't it be what it was. Russ/Whaley/Nix/Overdorf interviewing candidates and picking the one they decided met their agreed upon criteria? I don't get the impression that Nix is the type to be a figurehead. He would just be out.

The desperate teams will be the situations he's avoided already two different times. The man is an attention whore. I won't say he'll never get to the NFL, if he truly wants to do that. But it won't be any time soon. The word is out...

You don't even know what he's being paid. And signing Marrone ain't moving tickets b/c he coached Syracuse. They thought he was the best cat for the gig out of the coaches they interviewed. I preferred Lovie, but if it's Marrone he must have been more convincing than the other candidates.

Read this. Scroll down to where he talks about the Bills and how Russ and Whaley are viewed around the league. Very different from what you believe: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000122460/article/andy-reid-gives-kansas-city-chiefs-a-proven-winner

But it's not a wholesale change to the 3-4 which we don't need. Lovie knows they have talent on the D side of the ball. That's part of the reason he reached out to the Bills.

Once a pic is posted it's out there forever. Doesn't matter if he shuts his account down.

Tim Graham just botched a report the other day. It happens. They find out what they can. "Sources" can be wrong. There are no guarantees. As long as it's not a recurring theme w/a journalist. But this new age of technology, the proliferation of blogs, websites, twitter, Facebook has given information gathering more urgency and less accuracy in general. It has also turned, seemingly, many writers/reporters into pundits/opinion givers rather than straight reporters.

You're right. And it is ridiculous. An unfortunate byproduct of the Bills losing. People have become used to complaining about any and everything. Russ Grimm might never have been someone they were going to interview. A lot of erroneous reports are flying around about a lot of coaches and teams. Gruden and Cowher are not available as far as anyone knows. They seem to be happy on TV. But folks keep bringing them up like they can be bought off. Many have already tried. They didn't want the money. Holmgren might be good, but he's 64 years old. Not the direction the Bills seem to want to go in at this point. Lovie is my first choice. But Russ said they wanted to do things differently. Kelly would be that. Although that lack of any NFL experience could backfire like a mofo.

Freeman has been at CBSsports website for quite a while. You not hearing about him is on you. That said, he's not the only one who speculated about Smith winding up with the Bills. Ian Rappaport of NFL.com also mentioned that possibility. Check out his WGR interview from this a.m. And there is a good chance the Bills will need a stop gap. Fitz won't be that QB more than likely. He could split loyalties in the locker room if they kept him around. Smith isn't so great, true enough, but he doesn't have Fitz's baggage in Buffalo. Meaning he hasn't stunk it up for the Bills and he has played good enough to help his team to the playoffs. And if they decide a young guy is better the players won't be split like they might with Fitz. I'm sure the Bills will draft a QB, but there is no guarantee that player is ready to play from opening day in spite of our desire as fans for that to be the case. Got to cover all the bases.

Because his Defense caused a lot of havoc. And he's well regarded in league circles. Also, the Cardinals only fired Whisenhunt and the offensive staff. The Defensive staff was not relieved of duty. And Horton has a second interview with the Cardinals it's been reported. Must be impressing in interviews. http://profootballta...dinals/related/