2003Contenders

Wouldn't it be funny if Eric discovered that the market for a 30+ possession receiver, whose barely averaged 10 yards per catch in recent years is not what he thought it would be? And then he decided to return to the Bills and take the paycut that Marv originally presented, since it turned out to be his best option after all?

I think often there is a misconception about the term "2-down" player. It does not usually mean that the DT lacks the stamina to play 3 downs. It normally means that the player is well suited as a run stuffer -- and likley to be replaced by a pass rusher on obvious passing downs.

Also, not to rain on anyone's parade, but those 1999 Rams played in a dreadful NFC West and didn't have to face the Pats and Dolphins twice each. Even so, I'd like to keep faith alive too, as the Pats are on the downside -- and we SHOULD have beat the Dolphins twice last year.

You are making my point for me. Namely, Marvin Lewis decided to stay the course and did not panic, when the Bengals started out 2-5 under Palmer. Maybe if Kitna had started those first few games, the Bengals would have had a better record, and maybe they would have even made the playoffs. However, in the long run, Lewis believed that it was for the betterment of the franchise for Palmer to take his lumps as part of the learning process. I doubt that there were many calling for Kitna to start last season. Conversely, MM jumped ship when the Bills were 1-3 with JP -- and, even worse, at the end of the season, when there was nothing to play for, MM refused to let JP gain any additional development experience. Regarding the decision to hand JP the job in the first place, remember also that the Bills' situation was unique in that the team had just cut a proven starter in Bledsoe -- and the team was coming off a 9-7 season. Rightly or wrongly, the perception last year was that the team was playoff-ready with Bledsoe in tow. The Bengals situation differs in that the perception of the Bengals team was that they were an up and coming group -- and the switch to Palmer was an inevitable part of that process. Also, although Kitna was coming off a very strong season, when the reins were handed to Palmer, well... this was Jon Kitna who lost his job, not Drew Bledsoe, who ranks among all timers in career stats. As subtle as it may seem, the decision to CUT Bledsoe, rather than to just demote him (as was the case with Kitna) likely created any even bigger raucus for JP to overcome. Don't get me worng I have my reservations about JP that go above and beyond the lousy situation MM placed him in last season. For one thing, I seriously question his leadership abilities and whether or not he has that "it" factor. Jeff George was one of the most talented QBs to ever throw the football, but he was a failure because he felt that "leadership was overrated." Again, I draw upon the Moulds situation as a greater symptom of this dysfunctionality. Maybe it wouldn't have been such a bad thing if JP had grabbed him by the throat and told him to shut up...

I think the open battle for the starting QB job is the best thing that could have happened to JP -- and the team. Although I am not endorsing JP, there are a number of valid points to bring up about what went dreadfully wrong last season... 1. Simply handing the unproven JP the starting job without at least a semblance of a fair competition was a very foolish thing to do. He lost out on having the chance to COMPETE to EARN the starting job -- and TD/MM likely created some unnecessary locker-room friction. That is, we know that a number of veterans were unhappy that the job was "handed" to JP. 2. While the decision to move toward Holcomb after 4 starts may have been worthwhile, as the season was still salvageable -- it always struck me as asinine that the coaches' offensive philosophy changed. Perhaps part of that philosophy was a result of Holcomb's dink-and-dunk style as opposed to JP's gunslinger approach. But it is also fair to say that the team was more dedicated to the running game, when Holcomb was in there. In fact, the offense looked its sharpest in weeks 5 and 6 -- at home against the Dolphins and Jets -- when there actually appeared to be a rhyme or reason to the play calling. Of course, like virtually every other game last year, the offensive production was primarily relegated to the first half, as the coaches failed to make proper halftime adjustments (but that's for a different thread). Throughout the season, there never seemed to be a real rhythm or gameplan offensively, when JP was behind center. It was almost as if you could imagine MM telling the young QB, "OK, JP, go make some plays!" 3. MM may prove to be a fine coach one day, but during his time in Buffalo, especially in his final year, he just never seemed to push the right buttons. For me, JP's season was effectively lost in what was ironically his finest game as a passer. We all remember that infamous goal-line interception that proved to be the turning point in a game that originally looked to be a route. The INT started a crazy chain of event above and beyond ultimately losing that game. -- The kid was clearly down on himself after the INT. The coaches made no attempt to give him the standard, "Hang in there!" pep talk. While JP deserves blame for having thrown the ball -- I think MM deserves even more blame for having called such a play in a first-and-goal from inside the 5 yard line situation, when the team was leading by 3 TDs. -- MM showed little confidence in his young QB by pretty much asking him to sit on his hands for the remainder of that game. -- JP was denied the experience of having a true "breakout game", as the bad taste left by the INT and lack of action in the 2nd half of the game outweighed the great peformance in the first half. -- Then, of course, there was the Moulds situation as it related to that game. While that may seem unrelated to the discussion at hand, it is yet another symptom of the underlying friction that Moulds was likely causing behind the scenes as it related to JP being the starter. Recall that Moulds wound up being suspended for the next game -- a blowout loss against New England -- prior to being reinstated. By the way, Holcomb was named starter for the first game of Moulds' return. 4. In going back to Holcomb for those final games, MM essentially gave up on JP's progress and further castrated him in his teammates eyes. If JP has any shot at ever gaining their respect, he will have to seize the QB job the old fashioned way -- by earning it. I'm sure you've all read Marv's quotes about the Nall signing by now: "I think this is a better competitive situation for J.P. . . . not to have the new savior, the new first-round savior draft choice [label] to come in. I think it tends to lead us to a more level-headed quarterback competition. It's open for all three of them." This tells me a couple of things. One, despite speculation on this board, the Bills are NOT interested in drafting one of those elite QBs coming out of college this year. So you can put the Leinert-Young-Cutler draft scenarios to rest. Also, we've already seen Holcomb's upside, which isn't significant. The offense would really be in for a world of hurt if he were to win the starting job. However, Nall adds an extra dimension in that we do not know exactly what his upside is. That is to say that he serves as the perfect competitor to JP in that it isn't simply the case of Youth/Talent Vs. Experience/Guile as it would have been with JP versus Holcomb. Indeed, Nall should provide the perfect competetive balance here of a player who is good enough to compete and to push JP to make him better -- but is unlikely to be good enough to actually win the job. Of course, if Nall is indeed good enough to win the job, then it makes his signing an even smarter one.

It's still theirs -- for the time being. We heard all along that they wanted to move up in the first round. The question is: Was the move to 15 sufficient? Or are they eyeing an even higher pick -- and this move to get into the top 20 was just to better position them to move further into the top 10?

Note also that the Redskins really do not even need to save much cap room for the draft, since they've traded almost all of their picks away.

Which may add some credence to the suggestion yesterday that Holcomb was the odd man out.

Did Neal come in before or AFTER the Bills presented Wells with his offer sheet?

I find this JP compassion on both sides to be funny. And I liken it to how we fans in general behave and form various factions. There is always going to be a contingeny of fans who back every single decision that the front office makes. I remember living in DC several years ago -- and there were a number of fans that swore by Heath Shuler, even though he had never really done much of anything on the field. Then, after he left for New Orleans, these same fans said that the Redskins had no choice but to trade him because he never did anything on the field... Then there is the next contingency of fans. We all know them... They are the contrarians that are NEVER happy with anything that the team does. ("Jim Kelly sucks!") Sometimes you question whether or not the person is really even a fan at all. Then there's the rest of us that just wants the team to be the best that they can be. Sometimes we agree with the decisions made by the front office -- sometimes we do not. I'm personally ambivalent about the JP situation because I do not think he's done enough to garner the kind of blind loyalty that some fans are heaping upon him. At the same time, I have not seen enough of him to say that he is a bust either. To say that he missed most of his rookie season with a broken leg -- and was the victim of horrendous coaching and a lousy offensive line last year is not an attempt to make excuses for him. Thus, if it were up to me, I'd like to see one more year out of him, where he is at least given a halfway decent chance to succeed. With that said, I am not privvy to what goes on in the locker room to see how other players feel about him -- nor do I know how much command he has in the huddle. If Marv honestly feels that the kid does not have the "it" factor and suspects that he never will, then I am inclined to agree with their decision to move on without him, if that is what they choose to do.

I've been thinking about what we've seen out of the front office in free agency. They've only been entertaining and signing players that are -- for lack of a better word -- sleepers. That is, guys who are somewhat under the radar but potentially could be up and comers. If they take the same tact in the draft, instead of investing in a high profile prospect, I would expect them to use the #8 pick to trade down to acquire more picks -- and take some guys that may not have as much upside, but who may be less of a risk. While that should be a good way to handle this draft, there could be many of us screaming bloody murder if Marv decides to trade down with someone like Ferguson still on the clock. Of course, if that were to happen, we'd have to hope that the additional draft picks would be too lofty for him to refuse.

Considering that Willis was just a two-down player last year, maybe Morris sees a window of opportunity here.

Macaroni, the compensation is based on the tender offer that the original team makes. Based on the tender offer the original team is entitled to anything from simply Right of First Refusal up to a 1st AND 3rd round draft picks. In the Cardinals' case, they offered more than the minimum tender -- but only the next highest tender, which was just enough to net them the round in which Wells was originally drafted (6th round) as compensation.

Collins is almost certainly headed for Baltimore, where is likely to get a pretty nice paycheck.

I'm with Bill. It's not that I don't like Moulds, but his production on the field is not worth a fraction of what he's getting paid this year. I'd like to see him back -- but not with an almost $11 M cap hit, which is more than the hit that the Cowboys are taking on TO.

It also depends on what they mean by "odd man out". The consensus seems to be that Nall was promised to at least have an opportunity to compete for the starting job. The question, then, is this a 3-way competition? Assuming that it is, one of the 3 would have to wind up as the #3 QB on the depth chart. Maybe that's what Riggo meant by "odd man out" -- that Holcomb was destined to be the third string QB and that the starting job will either go to JP or Nall.

Any details on the $ involved in the contract? That should give us some clue of what Marv's plan for Nall really is.

It isn't September yet...

Recall that one of the reasons that TD made the trade in 2004 to move up and get JP was because he was looking forward to the 2005 draft -- and saw a considerable drop-off in QB talent the following year. Indeed, Alex Smith, who was taken #1 overall last year, probably would be the 4th QB (at best) in this year's class. Personally, I would like to see them give JP another year before giving up on him, but Marv and the rest of the front office are much closer to the situation than we are. They know how the other players feel about JP -- and we've heard some of the quotes from various players that would lead us to believe that they are not sold on him. Also, maybe Marv feels that the fire is hot, while we have a high draft pick and a good young crop of QBs in this year's class. With no ties or loyalty to JP and a desire to start a new era, maybe they are hoping to draft a franchise QB. If that truly is how the coaching staff and front office feels, then I have no problem with them using JP as trade bait to negotiate a deal that leads to us positioning ourselves to draft one of these top QBs. Then again, maybe all of this is pure speculation -- and JP will be our opening day starter after all. I don't see how the acquisition of Nall impacts JP's status, since Nall would be filling the #3 role vacated by Matthews anyway.

I was thinking about this last night when the NFL Network was doing a profile on Troy Aikman. He was 0-11 as a rookie starter. Still, in order to be a really good starting QB in this league, you have to have the "it" factor, which outweighs any physical talent. Part of that "it" factor is being a natural leader. Maybe Marv just doesn't see that in JP...

I guess you missed my point. Harrington did NOT take a ton of sacks in Detroit. Thus, he did not sit in the pocket and take a beating, which makes him the anti-RJ. Thus, while someone like RJ or JP may suffer from some sort of shell-shock after being beaten to a pulp, Harrington is already programmed to get rid of the ball quickly. I'm not endorsing him here -- just trying to set the record straight, so that misinformation isn't spread that this guy is another QB that hangs oonto the ball too long.

I seriously wonder whether or not the regime new will give JP a fair shake. Since he was a TD/MM investment, they may not be so willing to continue down that road. I've always felt that JP was a Sam Wyche project. Sam was the one that scouted JP and insisted that he preferred his workout to Eli Manning's. Wyche was also his mentor and confidant. Now that Sam's gone, I have to wonder if JP no longer even has a cheerleader.

One thing about Harrington -- he may have played behind a not-so-good line, but he took VERY few sacks during his time in Detroit. To be honest, I'm not sure what his problem was. He had a selection of good, young receivers -- top 10 draft picks three years in a row. He had a 1000-yard rusher in Kevin Jones. He seems to have all of the tools, and despite the quote from some poster above who is NOT in the know, Harrington is not a shrinking flower. In fact, he had a reputation at Oregon for being a tough competitor. The problem, I think, is that the Lions are probably the one organization in the NFL that has been MORE POORLY run than the Bills over the past few years. Maybe, just maybe, a change of scenery COULD do him some good. Being that Jauron was his head coach for a few games at the end of last season, we should get an indication of what someone from the inside thinks of him, whether he gets an invitation for an interview -- or not. Note that one of the reasons that Millen cited for firing the Mooch in Detroit was that Mariucci was reluctant to play some of his younger players. So what was the first thing that Jauron did when he took over as interim head coach? He decided to start Garcia over Joey.

Being that he's a bit long in the tooth, we could present him with him with a heavily back-loaded contract with a minimal signing bonus that could average out to $5 per year.

He's the guy that got smacked in the eye by a ref's flag -- or the bb's in the heavy part of the flag. He almost lost his eye and sat our for a year or so -- then came back and was pretty good for the Ravens.