dpberr

I'm in the camp of Wait and See. The contract is friendly to the franchise. He'll either earn all that money or he won't. The thing about the article is that it's based off a Matt Williamson chat on ESPN. Considering there's been no OTAs or Training Camp, I'm not sure how or where Williamson or ESPN is watching Merriman.

I think you've got to bring back all the linebackers. This is a unit of the defense that needs plenty of depth. Jboys makes an outstanding point about players who are already familiar with the system. That's a distinct advantage for players like AA this year and their respective 2010 teams going into this season.

The owners are going to be the last group in the room rushing a deal through as fast as possible. The large market teams saddled with debt have more to lose than the small market teams do this time around.

Perhaps somebody has already discussed this, but how would the NFL realign itself if a team or two teams moved to LA? I see this issue being the reason that Buffalo stays put. I don't see the majority of NFL owners, especially in the AFC, going along with a vote for a move if it requires massive realignment of the conference. The AFC East and West are the same as they were in 1960. Would the NFL kill those rivalries for the sake of a team in LA?

If Ralph is going to spend money on a free agent, I'd hope it'd be at TE. I'm tired of the Bills being the only team that continues to deny it's existence as a legitimate position on offense in a football game.

Wasn't Ralph Wilson right about the first CBA? If he is objecting to this deal, I trust it's for a valid reason.

I'd put the Redskins as an obvious choice for having a bad year based on MB's post and that Shanahan looks completely disinterested on the sidelines and John Beck is the "starter" going into any theoretical 2011 season. While being a Bills fan can be challenging, I think being a Redskins fan would be misery.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have to be included in any "move to LA" article. The Glazers own the team, but the stadium is largely owned (as the Glazers own some of the property) by Hillsborough County. The Glazers and the County have always had a rough relationship. Coupled with the brothers' financial troubles, the team's attendance, even during their Super Bowl run, was adequate to poor. I don't think Florida can support three NFL teams. It's either the Jags or Bucs.

We can do NBA too, if you'd like. The league allows more playoff teams. I think the analysis of the leagues demonstrates the lack of historical perspective of the commentators that teams swoon for long periods of time, as if that's going to be remotely relevant to what they end up saying anyway on television. Anyways, the candidate for NBA "minor leaguedom" is the Toronto Raptors. Why not the Sacramento Kings (no NBA finals appearance since 1951) or the Timberwolves (last in the playoffs in 2004) or the Clippers (who did not smell the playoffs from 1976 to 1991)? As a long suffering St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals fan, being a Bills fan, while depressing at times, has been way more enjoyable. The Cardinals went decades (not just one) without seeing the playoffs, and outside of their most recent Super Bowl appearance, you had to go back to 1948! It wasn't too long ago the Cardinals, and not the Lions or Bills were considered the worst run and worst performing franchise not just in football, but in major league sports.

I understand your point with baseball. My point was that the Padres before 1984 and the Yankees during their 80s swoon were about 3,000 miles away from the playoffs. They weren't just mediocre teams, but bad teams. While the Pirates have missed the playoffs since 1992, they are hardly the only team that's been that bad for stretches, missing the playoffs, Dave Winfield, like the Nationals (1981) and Royals (1985).

A big so-what to ESPN. The fortunes of teams are in the shape of circles. Just some teams have a longer circle between good, mediocre and bad. At one time, the Heat, Yankees and Patriots were the worst in their respective sports. Hell, Dave Winfield's San Diego Padres finished no better than 4th from 1969 to 1984. He was also part of a crappy Yankees era in which they missed the playoffs 11 years in a row, eight of which while he was in NY.

While I'd absolutely hate to see it, a cancellation of the 2011 football season would probably do the league some good. As of right now, the league, it's players and owners, are locked on a course of unsustainable finances. If it takes a canceled season to strengthen the long term financial prospects of the league and its teams, so be it. MLB is in serious trouble. Their business model may have been viable in 1971 and their hesitation to change it has doomed the entire business.

I listen to Rome and Cowherd. I like my lunchtime radio torture to have some variety. There are times Rome has a guest that's boring or he's talking about lame horse racing strategy and I'll tune into Cowherd. Sadly, both beat listening to the local stuff that just talks Eagles and Phillies. I think the Phillies were more interesting when they were horrible. Dare I say that Rome's show *can* be hilarious despite Rome himself, due to the people who write into the show and the sound effects. I'm a long suffering Buccos fan too, Ryan.

The more I read about Tiger Woods and his fall from atop the golfing game, I see the circumstantial evidence of steroid use. The erratic personality, prevalent use of Ambien, and the chronic tendon and joint injuries makes me wonder.

Anybody who has read "The Penalty of Leadership" would never clamor for a losing season. I had to memorize it in 8th grade, and recite it, but the lesson lasts a lifetime. I see a losing season, any losing season, as the hammer of mediocrity patiently chipping away at the granite of a proud franchise. http://caddyinfo.com/wordpress/?tag=saturday-evening-post

Steroids wage war on your body. Your immune system. Joints. Tendons. Emotions. Cognitive process. It's the credit card of substances. You'll pay later, for what you get up front, and Merriman did with the years of injuries. The longer you use, the more you pay. You use heavy or for a long time, you end up either like Lyle Alzado or Chris Benoit. If Merriman been clean for a while, with the steroids long gone from his system, it's *possible* his mind and body have recovered. Certainly, I believe either the Bills or Merriman himself have invested a lot of time and money into getting his body detoxed from the steroids. It's just as fans, we would never hear or read about it. In my opinion Nix's confidence in Merriman stems from how well he has detoxed and repaired his body from the steroid use.

Nope, not the only one. I found his PbP obnoxious.

Lots of young men lose their way, but I wouldn't be surprised Russell becomes one of those stories of redemption where he gets his head screwed on straight, beats the addiction to the syrup and revives his career. With him, it's not the lack of physical talent that ultimately led to his disastrous career. I wonder if he ever had a clear head while he played, given that there was evidence of his drug use before he was drafted. His problem is drug addiction. That is, if he survives finally hitting the bottom of his own barrel, which I'm not sure he's hit. From everything I've read, he was the sort of man who reflected the support structure (or lack of) around him.

Coffee is for closers only. If you want 3-13, you put. that coffee. down.

Ryan Clabo and any of those TEs, but preferably Zach Miller. Both would be outstanding pick ups at position of need and worth the investment.

It's Ralph's wall. He can put up whoever he wants, I suppose. I'm a long-time Bennett fan, as he too, is one of my favorite players. The dust up in 1996 when the Bills didn't match the Falcons offer is probably still fresh in Wilson and Bennett's minds. Wasn't the nicest parting of ways. It was overlooked by the fanbase mostly because the Bills got Chris Spielman shortly after Bennett went to the ATL and he formed a dynamic LB corps with Bryce Paup.

Weak sisters? Buffalo and Cincinnati have two of the more profitable, stable franchises in the league, and that's what the owners and players really value. If you want to cut teams that aren't performing, you'd probably be folding Detroit or Miami (teams that had an operating net loss) or the heavily leveraged teams on a path of unsustainable debt service like the Jets where an increasing majority of their cash just goes to paying off debt.

+1

Had to be done.

I listened to the chat. You guys are fortunate in Buffalo to have a radio show with that sort of Q&A. It's part Nix and part the hosts. I have to put up with the tired skullduggery of Andy Reid and Joe Banner trying to out think the fanbase every time they are on the radio. Eagles fans have never gotten that sort of candor from a radio interview.