Dragonborn10

I strongly felt the days of NFL football in Buffalo were numbered. But I must agree that Jax, Minn, and San Diego are franchises that seem more likely to move than Buffalo. In fact the only compelling arguement for the Bills leaving is RW dying. It's not mean to say his days are numbered - it's just a fact. The issue will be who buys the team. Look at the Oklahoma Thunder of the NBA, formerly ythe Seattle Supersonics. They were bought by an owner with ties to Oklahoma city and the lease on their arena was up. If RW dies in the next year or two and their is no long term lease tying the Bills to Buffalo, then the new owner can move them without too much difficulty. Please don't say the NFL will step in and stop them. They didn't stop Art Modell from moving the Browns a team with significantly more history with the NFL than Buffalo. The new owner by law can not be predetermined by RW unless he sells the team before he dies. He can not put any conditions on the sale of the team due to estate tax issues. I think another arguement against them moving is - where would they go? If Jax, San Diego, or Minn moves to LA where else would another team go? San Antonio? Portland? Oklahoma City? I just don't see Toronto being a long term success story. The tax implications for the players would put them at a significant diasvantage in FA. It's a minor issue for the basketball team due to relativley few FA's in the NBA as compared to the NFL. Here is my best arguement for them staying. What other tax base would vote to build a new stadium in any city? San Diego and Minn are saying no. I suspect a new tax would pass overwhelmingly in western NY and a new owner could basically dump the entire cost of a new stadium on a willing group of taxpayers who blindly sell out a stadium that is too big for their market size and for a team that has been historically bad with exception of the Kelly and Kemp eras.

RW predicted it would occur in 1911 though...

Assuming Gabbert goes # 1, Trade down and let Minn take Newton picking up Minn's # 2. Then draft Miller, Quinn, or Jordan at 12. Take another front 7 defender and a RT in round 2. Then hope Locker falls to the third round. By all reports Quinn was fantastic during the Senior Bowl week of practices. He will go in the top 15 but not at #3. Dareus at any weight is going to be a fantastic 3-4 DE over the RT.

You are correct about the time constraints with regard to reforming the union. It was years after the last decertification I think almost 7(1987-1994) before they reformed.

The players are locked out. If there is no lockout then the current players would be working under the current CBA agreement. I guess the players could find replacement owners though...

I'm not a lawyer but I thought had the union not decertified then the league could have imposed it's own working rules claiming the union was not negotiating in good faith. By decertifying the league can't impose workplace rules and individual players can sue the league for anti-trust. Also the judge can impose an injuction on the NFL basically enforcing the current CBA. It is possible Doty does this in the near future and FA may start before the draft along with all other normal off-season activities. It is possible the league year will begin under the old rules while the process works its way through the courts. The problem there is that teams will be signing/trading/drafting players not knowing what the ultimate agreement will be.

And do you think the fans will stop watching if the players get 48% or 55% or 60% of league revenue??? The fans will be there and the TV money will be there. People say the baseball strike drove fans away. That is wrong. Baseball as a TV event had been and will continue to fade. We the fans will show up the moment the games are on again. What are you going to do/watch on Fall weekends in Buffalo? Syracuse football? Tennis? Golf? Please. The fans are used as a pawn because the owners and the players know we have no other good options and like a battered spouse will come back over and over again paying $20 to park a car or in my case hundreds of dollars for Sunday Ticket.

The players may have lost that strike but they won in the courts. The strike set the stage for the union to decertify and for the players to move ahead with lawsuits. That is how FA was born. Remember Freeman McNeil. His only claim to fame is it was his name on the law suit that created FA and helped forge the current CBA structure. The only difference now is it is a lockout and not a strike. It's the owners that want a new deal and not the players.

I read the following: 1. Rookie wage scale for first rounders with the money saved guaranteed to go to the veteran pool of money. Big win for the vets. 2. Rookie 2-7 round money would be stable to go up. 3. Less OTA's and a 16 game schedule at least for the first two years of the deal with an 18 game schedule to be talked about in the future. Win for the union. 4. More shared financial information in the future 5. Each team would get about 10 million more in revenue before sharing with the players. That is 1.32 billion instead of the 1 billion they get now. The owners originally were asking for 2 billion be excluded from the players. 6. Teams must spend up to at least 90% of the salary cap What I have not seen is what the NFL proposed as the percent of sharing of the remaining 7.68 billion (9 - 1.32) in TV revenue.

Please stop with this it's about the fans nonsense. The money comes from TV and TV alone. That money comes from huge corporations buying advertising funnelled through Madison Ave. To the NFL, you are a more important fan if you stay home and watch the game instead of showing up at the stadium. BTW you do realize the owners are billionaires. The minimum wage guy should side with them? Me thinks you are a Tea Bagger.

Obviously I don't have all the details but from what I read about the NFL's proposal it seemed ok. It seemed to me the league met many of the unions demands and moved to the middle on the money. I understand the union is afraid they are being duped by not having access to all the information they need but the proposal from the NFL included more shared financial information. I suspect there would have been an out clause in the deal they union could have exercised just like the owners did if the deal wasn't working for them a couple years down the road. I think the union believes the courts are going to be more fair than the owners. However our national court system is filled with Bush I and II era appointments and the Supreme Court is decidedly pro-business. I'm not so sure the courts will consistently be on the players side. Maybe this Judge Doty will be but any decision he makes will be appealed higher to courts that are likely much more conservative and pro-owner/anti-union.

Wouldn't that be Detroit at Number 1 then? Remember the Bills had a lot of 7-9 seasons drafting around 8-11.

Dareus will play a 3-4 end in the NFL. He would be perfect for this team especially in running situations. Kelsay is garbage. A rotatoin of Carrington, Edwards, and Dareus would be quite good at DE. Dareus can also move inside to and line up next to either Williams or Troup when they want to switch to a 4-3. Personally I want a trade down to 8-10 and take Quinn or Cam Jordan, or stay at 3 and take Gabbert or Von Miller. I would be fine with Dareus though. I want no part of Fairley and his bumb shoulder or the Newton experiment, no thank you.

Step 1 - CBA talks breakdown with now a near certainty there will be an abbreviated or cancelled 2011 season Step 2 - RW dies Step 3 - Sale and relocation Step 1 is here. RW's days on this Earth are numbered. We may have just witnessed the last of the NFL in Buffalo.

Pre-draft where there is smoke there is rarely fire. Hopefully if both Newton and Gabbard are still on the board at three they can trade down with AZ, Minn, or Wash fo rmore picks. There will still be a Quinn on Cam Jordan at those spots in the draft.

The dude is white. I've had enough of the Big Ten and Big 12 white guys on this team. How about we go here the talent is ... the SEC.

The first rule about pre-draft interviews and statements from teams is it's all bullshat. Don't believe anything they say. If there is a deal to be made and Buddy thinks he can still get his guy a few picks later I suspect he will make that deal. Anyone know if he was part of John Butler's team when San Diego traded down with Atlanta and still got Tomlinson? I'm fairly certain he was there when San Diego traded down with the NY Giants and BTW still getting the better QB in Philip Rivers.

He had knee surgery after an injury during senior bowl practices, I think torn cartiliage not a ligament. I think the injury drops him to the second round.

After a solid combine performance and coupled with Mallett's interview meltdown I see Locker coming off the board in the second round. If the FO passes on Gabbert in round one and if they are able to trade down and get an additonal second round pick, then I see Cameron Jordan around pick 10 and Locker will be their guy in the second round. Yes I know another trade down scenario. But if Gabbert throws well at his Pro Day there could be several teams just after the Bills wanting to move up to get him. Would I be upset with Gabbert at 3 - no. Would I be happier with a stud DL and a potential franchise QB in round two - yes.

He was suspended last year for breaking NCAA rules. Next he will be mowing down old ladies on Niagara Falls Blvd. Just pass. Remember talent without character will not cut it in this league.

As others have pointed out on my posts about TE's, it looks like the draft will be weak on TE's. FA is the way to go.

It appears most everyone misunderstands the use/value of the franchise player tag. It is used to keep an unrestricted FA from leaving. Often times the player tagged is not a top 5 player. The risk is the player will sign the one year deal locking in that amount. Most of the time it is simply used to buy time to negotiate a long term deal with a UFA that will pay the player significantly less than the franchise tag. Therefore using the tag on Poz or Florence would be a reasonable idea. If you assume there are too many holes on defense already(now even worse with Stroud gone at least in terms of serviceable bodies) then using the tag to keep at least one more starter puts less pressure on the FO to draft defense(ie. need over value) in the draft. If the player is signed to long term deal the tag can be used on a different player next year. If you equate the tag with a top 5 player at their respective position, then there is no player even Moorman at this point who is currently on the roster worthy of such a designation.

Tamba Hali - same school, same body size ld the AFC in sacks in his 5th year after struggling for a long time. Give him more time. What is there to lose?

In today's world do guys ever really add muscle? How many of these college athletes can actually add muscle to their frame without juice? And even if they do add twenty pounds there is no way that doesn't affect their quickness. In addition to not drafting guys that haven't played their projected position in the NFL, how about we just draft guys that are all grow'd up???

Deon is in the top 3 CB's of all time - so yes he deserves to get in on first ballot as should have Sharper last year. What shouldn't have ever happened is Richard Dent making the HOF or Art Monk. I'm not sure either are in the top 40 at their respective positions.