ChanOverChin

Just received a text from an NFL friend. I also saw it on Team Stream. Bills want to win NOW baby!!!!!!

Don't worry about that. It's also being predicted that they'll finish 5-11.

Jennings is going to sign with Miami. Why do we need another WR?? Seriously?? We have Watkins/Woods/Harvin. Hogan has upside, but is average at best. Easley will be on the team for ST duty. Goodwin is good at times, but man is he ever fragile. I bet Ryan's not too thrilled about that. J. Brown (signed off the Steelers' roster earlieer this year) is a player to watch out for. He's a big WR who could beat out Goodwin. Obtaining a vet WR on the cheap would seem to be a wise move. Thigpen is really just a KO/PR specialist and a very good one. I don't see the Bills using him as a WR. Having Thigpen and Harvin for KO/PR duty is somewhat of a luxury, but if the rosters expand to 55 players as has been discussed it would be a no-brainer to keep Thigpen. He's an impact player on ST as is Harvin, although exposing Harvin to too much ST duty may not be wise. Speaking of harvin, I expect him to be an every down player. Just having him on the field will open things up for his teammates. The defense will have to respect his speed and his run after the catch. He's a very dangerous player when properly motivated. For some reason, he wants to play his a$$ off for Ryan. Expect big tings from him this year.

Keep in mind that he's making this pick with Cassel as the Bills' QB. If Cassel plays close to the Pro Bowl form that he showed when he led the Pats to a 11-5 season then watch out. The Bills have McCoy - difference-maker. They have Watkins - a year older & wiser & a difference-maker. They have Harvin - difference-maker. They have Clay - difference-maker. But beyond all of that they have two really good coaches, Roman on offense and Ryan calling the shots on defense. Ryan knows how to Belichick. He's one of the very few who can match wits with him and he has the players on defense this year to get it done. Roman can take an average to slightly above average QB and make him look better than he is because he spends a lot of time and energy disguising what he's trying to do on offense and keeping things simple for his QB. He made Alex Smith look like a star QB after he was left for dead. He also made C. Kaeperneck look like a stud and I happen to think that Buddy Nix fell in love with manuel as a prospect because of what he saw how Kaeperneck played as a young QB. Ryan vs Marrone - It's not even close. Marrone gave us nothing special as an offensive specialist and was way too conservative as a HC. he was overmatched vs Belichick. Roman vs Hackett - again, not even close. Hackett was a neophyte at the NFL level. I loved his enthusiasm, but he was just feeling his way through games. He had no real insight, no real experience to draw from to help guide many of the younger players. Ryan/Roman have a solid, proven philosophy that works in the NFL. In short, they know what works in specific situations. If we get capable QB play I think 12-4 is very realistic for the reasons mentioned above.

I expect the Bills to sign LB B. Spikes after 5-12-15 (because if they sign him before then they will likely forfeit one of the comp. picks that they expect to obtain for next year. I also expect them to wait to sign S L. Landry until that time for the same reason. The Bills are thin at coverage LB, but not at LB overall, not in Ryan's scheme. I expect Ryan to draft hybrid guys to play outside (i.e. OLB/DE types). At least one, maybe two. He will definitely draft a CB, but the Bills don't have to reach for one in R2 since they already have Gilmore/McKelvin/Graham/Robey (4 solid corners) plus Brooks and Cockrell to work with.

Quite obviously, the Bills have done a great job in improving the team this off-season by adding RB L. McCoy, WR P. Harvin, TE C. Clay, FB J. Shelton, QB M. Cassel, QB T. Taylor, OG R. Incognito, and re-signing DE J. Hughes, but have they done enough?? Enough to win the Super Bowl, enough to win the division, .............even enough to make the payoffs?? Well, many of the NFL pundits would say, "ehhhhhhhhhhhh, no". That's mostly because there's this pesky team in their division named the NE Patriots. With that all being said, since the team is clearly going for broke this year, do you think they should try to improve the one position that would actually put them over the top and actually make them the favorite to win the AFC East, a favorite to make the playoffs, and a favorite to make it to the Super Bowl?? Yes, I'm talking about trying to acquire a proven, veteran, high quality QB. One who appears to be available via trade. His name is Phillip Rivers. The Titans and Chargers are discussing such a trade as we speak. You put Rivers on the Bills' roster, a roster that many NFL experts readily admit may very well already be the most talented in the entire league, and now you're talking about a true AFCE/playoff/SB contender. If I'm Double D (Dealer Doug), I'm searching for a way to make this happen (within reason of course). Your thoughts??

Yolo, You're right. Holmes was only about 5'-10", but he was the kind of proven vet WR that Rex liked to pick up. They had several big WRs. I just can't think of them all. J. Cotchery, Brad Smith, Braylon Edwards, et al.

I was going to write about this news myself. I think the Bills will eventually resign Spikes. That would give them Spikes/Bradham/Brown/Powell/Johnson. I think they would still need to draft a LB for added depth........possibly somebody better than Powell and Johnson who are both mostly ST guys. Getting a vet WR would really make a difference. Watkins/Woods/Harvin are all above average WRs. Hogan can catch, but he's not a standout NFL WR. He and Easley will mostly earn their keep on ST. Goodwin is an injury waiting to happen because he's so frail (about 179 lbs). I don't think he's in Buffalo's plans. I think Rex prefers bigger vet WRs. He had P. Burress, S. Holmes, other big vet WRs in NYJ and is looking to acquire the same in Buffalo. How about WR Vincent Jackson?? Obtaining LB Spikes, WR V. Jackson, and trading a mid round pick for vet OG J. Evans would be some nice gets for a team that many already consider to be the most talented roster in the the entire NFL. I would certainly explore the QB P. Rivers trade winds if we're going to continue to go big.

Fellas, fellas, fellas. Cassel is going to be the starting QB for the Bills this year.................that is, unless Manuel wakes up and starts to play with some real confidence. Taylor is an outstanding athlete. No doubt about. Just watch some of his VT highlights. Too good for the college game for sure. The problem is that most of his big plays were made with his feet and not his arm. That's not going to be good enough to secure full-time duty in the NFL. Cassel is a very savvy NFL QB. He won't have to be great w/ weapons like L. McCoy, S. Watkins, C. Clay, P. Harvin, R. Woods, F. Jackson and more to work with. He's just need to limit his mistakes by getting the ball into the hands of these playmakers. I do think that we may see Taylor play some minor role at QB in using the "read-option" or some facsimilie of the "Wildcat".

I agree that Spikes needs to be resigned. He's still a very good run stuffer and a great leader of men. I think the Bills still want him back, but just don't want to be able to sign him at a bargain rate.

Bills currently only have the folloing 2015 draft picks: 2,3,5,6,6 (5 picks). I think their greatest need is at OT not OG. They have Glenn, Henderson, Koundjio at OT. They have Incognito, C. Williams, Urbik, Richardson at OG. We played most of 2014 without C. Williams. He and Inconito would be an upgrade over what we had at OG (Urbik, Pears, Richardson) last year. The Bills apparently see it that way as well. They actually offered OT B. Buluga more money in FA than GB did, but he chose to stay with GB.

It'll be Cassel. Just look at how well he has performed when give the chance to start. He's very savvy and was groomed by one of the best. The Bills did very well to get him instead of settling for someone from the relatively weak 2015 FA QB group. I'm still rooting for EJ, but I think Cassel will show that he is better ready right now to lead the Bills to the playoffs....and that's what Rex wants. Remember, Rex has no allegiance to EJ so he's not about to get the benefit of the doubt.

I predicted that the Saints would go this route because they weren't very good last year, they're $20M+ over the cap, and they have a 36 yr old QB who is getting paid waaaayyyy too much money on a team in that situation. Most teams blew it up when they're in that situation......and the Saints apprently are no different. That being said, the Bills owe it to themselves and the great fans of Buffalo to explore what it would take to pry the future HOF QB from the Saints. The Bills are built to win now. The one glaring missing piece is a vet QB who can produce wins in the clutch and who can perform with the likes of T. Brady. The Bills are NOT going to be able to find that type of QB in FA or in the 2015 draft. Offer a R2 and R5 in 2015 plus QB Cassel plus future considerations for Brees and see what they say. The Bills will not be able to acquire a more impactful player this season or next. Think about it.......Brees/McCoy/Clay/Watkins/Woods + stellar defense & ST + Rex Ryan = great things!!

Close this post down. It's been talked about before.

With Miami signing a name TE like Cameron it seems as if Miami has resigned itself to losing out on Clay. We shall see. I think Clay ends up in Buffalo as a result. Word has it that he was not just visiting, but looking a potential real estate while in town.

Chandler was waived for cap reasons only. The Bills may actually bring him back at some point since Roman likes to have 4 TEs available for use in his offense. At some point I could see the Bills going into training camp with Clay (they love his versatility), Fasano, Chandler, M. Gray while also drafting a TE. Those 5 plus Gragg and the Canisius TE would fight for 4 spots.

YOU don't know what they'll want until to have the conversation. Is Drees more valuable than acquiring some slob OL/Harvin/Clay/etc.?? The Bills need a starting caliber QB. NO is having a fire sale. They just traded their all-world TE (J. Graham). Now they're looking to trade their all-world QB. The Bills would be fools not to investigate this fully. If I had told you that the Bills would be acquiring L. McCoy this year, would you have believed me??

Show me where the hell us that someone has provided proof and posted that NO is actually considering trading Brees this year. I'll wait.

Did you happen to see this?? The link: http://buffalo.suntimes.com/buffalo-bills/7/116/91589/bills-drew-brees-rumors-reaction/.

I think I mention multiple times that New orleans is in dire straits with their cap AND that since their team did not fare well last year with what they had that they would likely make the decision to start anew.....and possibly blow things up. I even proposed that they would be willing to trade 36 yr old QB D. Brees and his huge salary. Well that's just what they appear to be doing. See link: http://neworleans.suntimes.com/new-orleans-saints/7/126/116312/saints-trade-brees-jameis. The question is, should the Bills be interested?? Do the Bills really think they can win the division and make the playoffs with Manuel or Cassel at QB??

New Orleans (currently in cap hell) is currently shopping their all-world TE J. Graham.........among other players. Imagine that!! It looks like being more than $20M over the cap is forcing them to make some pretty difficult decisions..........and not just having them adjust some signing bonuses like was suggested on this site. Word is that Seattle just acquired him in a mega deal.

It would be very bad news if the Bills aren't able to resign Hughes. That's because there is no guarantee that they would be able to sign any of the other guys that have been mentioned. Our defense would definitely take a big hit if that were the case.

The Bills lost a big time player in S J. Byrd who NO paid $10M+. What draft picks do you think we might be awarded for losing Byrd/others in 2014?? With only a R2/R3/R5/R6/R6 in 2015 we could sure use more quality draft picks.

I don't thinkt the Bills are done at QB. Adding Cassel just helped to bring in a vet guy who capable of competing with EJ and starting. I think the Bills are not satisfied with what they have. The problem is that they only have so much money AND the FA QB crop is not that good this year. I'd like to to see them add a vet via trade or FA rather than draft a project guy like Petty or Grayson. I'd love to see EJ emerge as the starter after a fair competition, but I'm willing to root for whichever QB can help the Bills to win now. Having three viable QBs on the roster is not too many as far as I'm concerned.

Marshall has had trouble staying healthy, but would be well worth acquiring is he's not seeking to break the bank. He may demand $10M/season as a FA. E. Cromer, our new O-line coach, was Marshall's OC in Chicago recently so I'm sure he would be consulted on this issue. The Bills really need a big receiver to go with Watkins and Woods. With L. McCoy on the field opposing defenses will need to put 7-8 defensers in the box leaving the outside WRs in a lot of 1v1 situations. Having a big WR who can win those 1v1 battles will do wonders for our offense.