2003Contenders

The Giants at #20 could be another possible trading partner.

It is hard to say who will be there and who won't at this juncture... I would break it down like this: DEFINITELY GONE Russell, C Johnson, J Thomas, Landry, G Adams, B Quinn PROBABLY GONE A Peterson, Okoye, P Willis, J Anderson, Levi Brown Now, of course, there is a chance that any of the guys I have listed as "probably" gone could fall to #12. Still, if things go as I expect them to, I would submit that the following players can realistically be expected to still be available at #12: L Hall, A Branch, T Ginn, and Lynch. In the event that one of them isn't, that would have to mean that one or more of the guys I cited above fell. Of the list of "Probably Gone", the only one that I wouldn't be happy about drafting is J Anderson. Assuming no one falls, I likewise would be OK with any of the other plays I've listed above as likely being available. Of course, Marv could throw us all a curve ball, as he did last year, and take someone like Poz at #12, even with some of these "higher rated" players still on the board... Given the number of holes we have, I would sure hope that Marv would seriously look at trading down, given that scenario. Also, I highly doubt that Lynch would be gone before we pick, as that silly pro-AJ Smith article suggested. And there is even a remote possibility that both Lynch AND Peterson could still be on the board at #12.

Relax. Turner had just completed his Tennessee trip when these comments were made. This was BEFORE the trip he made to Buffalo today. Thus, he had no basis for speaking about Buffalo one way or the other at the time the question was posed to him. I imagine if the same question is posed today or tomorrow by the Buffalo press that he'll respond in a similar manner replacing the word "Tennessee" with "Buffalo".

While I agree that there are greater needs, I would not complain at all about the pick. It could fortify the DL -- and make it one of the team's greatest strengths. A strong DL will only serve to make the LBs and CBs that much better. Still, if it comes down to Willis versus Okoye (if they are both miraculously somehow still there at #12) it would be interesting to see which way the Bills go.

While I tend to agree, I gathered from the report that Turner was in no hurry to get to Buffalo, saying he'd wait about a week or so to reschedule his flight. Remember that to a certain extent, time is a factor -- as Turner will only remain a free agent for another couple weeks before he becomes the sole possession of the Chargers -- and then is at the mercy of whatever trade partner they find. Of course, he could also say screw it at that point, sit on the bench for most of 2007 -- and still collect over $2 M from the Chargers in the process, before becoming an UFA in 2008. Thus, the Chargers too would love to avoid letting the clock tick too long for that reason. The Bills are probably in no great hurry, because they would love nothing better than to wait until draft day to see who is still on the board when thye pick 12th. All of this tells me that something is going down with the Titans -- and either the Titans have agreed to offer more in compensation than the Bills have said they'd be willing to dish out, Marv is dragging his feet hoping to wait until draft day, or the Titans are actually willing to give up their 1st and 3rd round picks by signing Turner to an offer sheet. I doubt the latter, because I think we would have heard about that by now if it were the case.

Unless, of course, the Titans decided to bite the bullet and are willing to give up their 1st and 3rd to sign Turner to a contract, thereby forgoing trade talks with San Diego altogether.

Can we please stop with this Turner = Jordan stuff? If you take a look at what Jordan did in 2005, his first season starting for the Raiders, he posted about 1600 all purpose yards and double-digit TDs (in just 14 starts) for a not-very-good football team.

If the Titans really are the front runners, that would simply mean that they want him more than the Bills do. After all, Buffalo picks about a half dozen spots higher each round than they do, thus, the Bills would have higher draft picks to offer than the Titans would. Thus, it would be in the Chargers' best interest to swap first round picks with us -- or just give up a second rounder. I'm pointing out the obvious, I know, but if the Titans do wind up giving up either their 2nd or swapping firsts to acquire Turner, it must be that Marv did not think that highly of him.

Here is a wild (and admittedly incredibly unlikely) scenario... Say we trade our #12 pick and our #43 pick to the Bears in exchange for Briggs and the Bears' #31 pick. Then we forget about working a trade with the Chargers and simply make Turner an offer. Assuming they don't match it, the Chargers would then land our #31 pick and one of our 3rd round picks. Thus, we come away from Day 1 of the draft with Briggs, Turner, and a 3rd round pick. Financially, I understand that this would never happen, of course...

I'm also not sure that Detroit would pull the trigger on Thomas. Remember that they just traded for Foster.

Allow me to take this opportunity to go on a tirade about just how AWFUL Buffalo's local reporting has been, since the season concluded. Why is it that all of these trades are being reported by the national media without any of the local guys providing a whiff of it. Now the local media is talking up something they got from a Message Board? Wow! I honestly believe that there are multiple posters on this board that could do a better job reporting on the team right now than the lazy know-nothings at WGR, Buffalo News and Rochester D&C!!!

The other funny thing is all of these references to the Raiders' acquisition of Lamont Jordan being so awful. Well, in 2005, the year that the trade was made, Jordan was arguably a top 5 running back: he accounted for over 1000 yards rushing (close to 1600 rushing/receiving) and 11 TDs. I realize that he had a horrible season in 2006, but he was injured -- and the Raiders as a team were putrid.

Well, either Marv was blowing smoke when he indicated that we were not interested in Chris Brown at this time -- or Brown's camp is exaggerating our level of interest. Considering that Marv has little to gain from issuing the statement that he uttered earlier this week, I suspect that you are right that Brown is trying to make it sound like Buffalo is interested to help drive up his perceived value for the the Titans. I also thought it was funny that Brown's agent went out of his way earlier this week to mention how close Brown and Jeff Fisher were/are -- which contradicts what I heard at this time last year.

Willis = diarrhea mouth and a constipated brain. Too bad he danced so much -- and didn't hit the hole the way he ran his mouth...

Since the Bills pick higher than GB and Tennessee in the draft, I would say that the ball is their court...

The funny thing is that he has not started THAT many games in his career.

Yea... I'm starting to think that Willis is a no-brainer pick if he is still there at #12. The trouble is, I have a bad feeling that he'll be gone.

Marv says they want to go in a different direction. Does that mean that they are close to dealing for Turner -- or targeting an early draft pick? link

Willis may not even be there... I have a feeling that he may not get past the Niners.

Well, we won't know right after the draft either. Think back to last year... Who in late April would have thought that the Bills had (what looks like now at least) to have been one of the better drafts of any team in the NFL? Still, to take a stab at answering your question, last year their aim was to heavily attack the secondary. In so doing, with that single draft, they were able to fortify both safety positions -- and possibly found a future replacement for Clements in Youboty. (Obviously the verdict is still out on that.) If they can do the same thing this year in addressing the weak underbelly of the defense -- by addressing the DT and LB needs in the same manner -- then I will call this draft a HUGE success.

The reality is that this team still needs what it has frankly needed for a number of years: a quality SLB. Jeff Posey was adequate at best in the role, prior to being released last season. The coaches tried to move TKO there last year -- and IMHO his ineffectiveness there had almost as much to do with his playing out of position as it did with the slow recovery from the injury. Yes, when he is healthy, TKO is versatile enough to play any of the LB positions, but he is MUCH better playing WLB than SLB. The fact that Ellison came on and played pretty well at WLB -- and Wire provides decent depth at the position -- is what has made TKO expendable. So there may be some truth to the cynics complaining that this is all about money. Of course, YOUTH has something to do with it too, and if TKO is likely to head out the door after this season anyway, why not try to get something for him, while he still holds some value. Getting back to my original point... we are still faced with the reality that we need a SLB, which would have been the case with OR without TKO on the roster. I really do have a deep-down suspicion that Marv and company are targeting Poz in the draft... I can't wait for the draftniks to criticize the Bills for "reaching" by taking him with the #12 pick...

I think Marv -- to his credit -- has given Brown a take it or leave it offer. Brown and his agent are trying to raise his market value. The problem is that everyone knows that the LAST team that he would want to sign with is Tennessee, as he managed to land himself in Fisher's doghouse.

I hear what you are saying, but if Frank Gore, Willis McGahee and Maurice Clarrett can drafted fairly early...

He IS a major medical concern, which is why he is NOT being mentioned in the same breath as Lynch and AP. However, because of the upside of what the guy can do when he is healthy, SOME team is going to take him earlier than he probably should go -- even with the risks involved. In fact, it would not surprise me if he doesn't last until the 3rd round -- the point at which I said I would be willing to take a chance on him. I actually would NOT want the team to invest such a high pick on him, if they are relying on him to be healthy anytime soon. However, with the insurance of A-Train and Chris Brown (hypothetically, if we were to sign him to a frugal deal), I believe that the potential reward would outweigh the risk.

Actually, if the team were to sign Brown, I think that we will be in pretty good shape in the short term at RB with both Brown and A-Train to go along with the unknown Fred Jackson commodity. Under this scenario, I would advocate going defense with both of our first two draft picks -- and taking a chance with Michael Bush in the 3rd.