hondo in seattle

Good find. Nice to know there's some national sentiment on our side. I'd be happy if not a single NFL franchise moved over the remaining course of my life. Tradition ought to mean something.

If Casserly wasn't a smart guy, he wouldn't have lasted 3 decades in the NFL. I think he was the Assistant GM for 1 or 2 of the Redskins Super Bowls. Then again, as GM he once picked Heath Shuler with the 3rd overall pick. Even smart personnel guys are often wrong about QBs. We all remember who Bill Walsh liked. EJ only played 10 games last year. They weren't great games. Then again, most QBs have poor-to-mediocre rookie seasons. No one can yet say with any certainty what kind of QB EJ will be in his sophomore year. All we can do is wait and learn. In my mind, QB is neither a strength nor a weakness for the Bills. It's a question mark.

We haven't had more than 1 productive WR in a long time. Last year, none of our WRs really shined. We need more good WRs, not less. OBD seems to be collecting WRs to create competition and see who emerges... and I'm all for it.

Thanks for posting. Under Ralph's leadership, the Bills won something like 46 or 47% of their games. He wasn't great at fielding a good product. But his loyalty was awesome. And my bottom line is I'd rather have the Bills go 7-9 in Buffalo than 9-7 somewhere else. So I have to be thankful to Ralph.

Thanks Ice Bowl. It's great to see class and graciousness aren't yet extinct.

Interesting idea. But exactly how does this keep the Bills in Buffalo?

The fans cannot keep the team in Buffalo. There aren't enough fans. According to Peter King, Buffalo was the 18th biggest market in the U.S. when Ralph created the franchise. Buffalo's now the 49th biggest market. Not only is Buffalo already a small market team, comparatively speaking, it keeps getting smaller. In another 50 years, we'll be the 75th biggest market. Buffalo just doesn't promise the same bright future that other cities might. On the other hand, it's far, far cheaper to keep the Bills here than move them. No relocation fee. No fee for breaking the lease. No stadium expenses to be had by the owner. Depending on who's dong the math, this could be $1 billion in savings by keep the team local. So while we fans can't keep the team here, one rich fan could. A billionaire with a connection to WNY could have a reasonable business case for buying the Bills and keeping them in Buffalo.

Forbes values the Bills at roughly $900 million. If media reports are true, the league will impose a maybe $200 million relocation fee. Then there's the $400 million fee to break the lease. So an out-of-towner will have to pay 1.6 billion to buy the Bills. Realistically, I don't see any market supporting that price other than L.A. But L.A. has it's own problems, particularly a stadium. Bringing the Bills to LA could cost $3 billion - including roughly $1.4 billion for a new state-of-the-art stadium. Not sure any of LA's billionaire's want to reach that deep. Another way to look at it, local bidders are getting a roughly $600 million dollar - or more - discount because they won't be assessed any fees and won't have to fund a stadium. Even without a 'no relocation' provision in the trust, the Bills have a good chance of staying here.

Good post. Sometimes people simplify Carroll's defense - especially after the WSJ article came out - by saying they have aggressive corners who commit PI on every play knowing they won't be called for it. There's so much more to what Pete's doing with the Hawks and, given their success, I'd love to see Schwartz incorporate some of their concepts.

The ad hominem stuff wasn't necessary but you make a good point. Pettine's D was very flexible with a variety of alignments. Many D's use multiple fronts. With teams passing more than they run, defenses these days play nickel and dime about 50% of the time rather than a standard 4-3 or 3-4. No team runs the same defensive alignment play after play. So until I see what Schwartz actually does as the Bills DC, I'm not going to worry about how our players fit his scheme.

Forbes ranks the Bills as the 30th most valuable NFL franchise. Back when Ralph bought the Bills, Buffalo was a major, thriving city. It's now a second tier metropolis and it's relative strength as a market is declining. Regardless of TV ratings, the franchise would have more value somewhere else. On the other hand, I'm really hoping Ralph instructed the trust to sell the team to a party willing to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Hopefully we hear that in the next few days. Some other considerations. The purchase price of the Bills will be maybe $900 million. But anyone considering moving the Bills will have to pay $400 million to break the lease and a maybe $200 million relocation fee to move the team. That brings up the price to 1.5 billion - perhaps a little discouraging to an owner from L.A. who would also have to win a 3/4 vote from the owners just to purchase the team. There are hurdles for an out-of-town buyer if the trust considers that option.

The argument isn't whether or not Britt is better than Stevie. He's not - or at least, he's never shown it. The question is whether or not he's better than the worst WR on the roster. Would he make our WR corps better - at a reasonable cost?

He's a McGill University student and McGill is sometimes called 'The Harvard of Canada." It's a very good school so, yeah, he's a very smart kid. Good luck to him!

I don't like when people use the expression "dirty Sanchez." Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds racist to me. I personally don't care what race he is. Nor do I care about a lot of the complaints I've heard about his personality. I think some of those complaints are overstated. But I do care about his stats. Sanchez completes only about 55% of his passes with a modest 6.5 yards per attempt. His QB rating is a humble 72. In this day and age, you really need more from a starting QB. So if we'd sign him to be a backup - and he's certainly well-qualified to be a backup - the question becomes what kind of mentor would he be for EJ?

Britt certainly hasn't lived up to his collegiate promise. But given the state of our receiving corps, don't you think he's worth a flyer? Let him compete and see what happens.

Funny joke.

A lot of NFL players - and coaches - start to show their worth in their sophomore years. Marrone, Hackett, EJ, Kiko, Woods, Goodwin and others are entering their sophomore seasons. It'll be interesting to see if they all take steps forward.

Mallet's completed 1 of 4 NFL passes and has thrown 1 pick. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/14037/ryan-mallett

A Raider fan told me the reason Oakland was so bad last year wasn't their coaching, it was something like $30 million in dead money. They'll get to go on a shopping spree this year.

I think the Bills go BPA at 9 (disregarding QB). But I do expect an OT amongst the Bills' top 2 or 3 picks.

Stevie has flaws but I don't see how getting rid of the only proven WR on the team is a good idea. We desperately need more good receivers, not less.

Been wondering the same thing.

What a fantasy! But I'll play... If Kelly won all four he'd be a legend. He'd become the epitome of playoff success, the role model of big game performance. People would say things like, "Manning is a great QB but when it comes to big games, he's no Jim Kelly." We'd hear Kelly's name in all kinds of conversations. But Kelly still wouldn't be greatest of all time. Regular seasons matter. And as much as I respect Kelly's skills, there are other guys who are more accurate, read defenses better, etc.

Cool find. I love NFL historical stuff like this. By the way, 1921 was the same year Buffalo was cheated out of the NFL championship.

As an econ major, I wonder if Schwartz is into analytics.