2003Contenders

Hopefully the expansion was becasue they feel that they can still reach an agreement. However, a less optimistic view is that the extension was to help the teams in SERIOUS cap trouble to give them a couple extra days to work out contract extensions and the like -- to help avoid a bigger mass exodus of players than we'd have likely seen otherwise. Remember that the teams didn't even know for sure what the cap would be until Wednesday night. A CBA extension likely would have meant a cap more in the $105 M range than the $94.5 M it was set at. Of course, teh teams that are in trouble knew fully well that there may not have been a CBA extension, and I don't see where it is fair to the teams that have done a good job of managing their cap to give teams like the Redskins, Jets, and Raiders a stay of execution.

Let's also not forget that the future of this team does NOT live or die by ONE pick in the draft. The key is that we have 3 other Day 1 picks -- all of which are at the top of each respective round. You can normally find very good interior linemen prospects, for example, as late as the 3rd round. There is a possibility that there will be no OL of decent value at the #8 spot -- and we may be able to get a quality DT in the 2nd. Provided that we address our OL/DL needs in free agency and elsewhere in the draft, I have no problems with the Bills taking the BPA, provided it isn't at a position that is totally lacking in need. And when you are 5-11 and haven't made the palyoffs in this millenium, there are darn few positions that can't be considered a position of need. Assuming that all of the expected players go in the top 7, I would have to trust the scouts' grades on Ngata, Davis, J Williams, and Huff to make the determination on which player is the best to draft. That -- and looking at an eye toward the next round to see what the dropoff would be between the player at each position and the best player likley to be there at the same position with our next pick.

Maybe not so silly. In his press conference at the combines Leinart reminded me A LOT of Tom Brady.

I hate to say it, but based on this teams recent woes, we will be in the position of having to OVERPAY for any free agent that we court. If we are serious about Bentley then we are going to have to pay him what he wants. That likely includes a $12M + signing bonus. So, depending on how long the contract is and how much money he is set to make in base salary in the early years of the contract, we could be looking at a cap hit as low as $3.5 M to $4 M this season. I'd say it's worth it to help immediately make a clear improvement to the line.

Maybe a bit of dry humor by Marv? Just a few days ago Nate indicated that he had spoken with the front office and they had told him that they wanted him here long term and would franchise him if they didn't get a deal done in time. Now maybe that doesn't mean that Marv and Nate spoke directly...

And why exactly would Drew campaign for Big Mike in Big D?

The short answer is that it was TD's refusal to properly address the OL, do a better job of retaining some of our key free agents (e.g. Pat Williams), and trying to be too cute with some of his moves. But in the longer haul, it was a chain reaction... starting with the trade for RJ. Remember that the trade for RJ took place shortly AFTER the acquisition of Flutie. In hindsight, we should have kept Todd Collins on the roster and let him and Flutie duke it out. Of course, I don't think anyone on the team at the time realized how good (or even adequate) that Flutie would be -- at least for one year. We would have kept that #9 overall pick, which turned out to be Fred Taylor. (We wouldn't have drafted Taylor... more likely Tra Thomas.) Not only did RJ turn out to be a waste of valuable cap space and draft picks, but the controversy and feud that developed between him and Flutie is what ultimately led to Wade's demise. (I'm not excusing Flutie's role in this either.) Well, that and the Touchdown Throw Forward, which led to its own sad chain of events... Since TD wanted to go younger and felt no obligation to the previous regime's mistake(s), he chose RJ over Flutie. The result was a 3-13 season and Alex Van Pelt starting by late season. That led to the Bledsoe trade (which I still maintain was not a total mistake), which led to the Price franchise tag and trade, which led to the drafting of McGahee. Although McGahee wasn't a "bad" pick, it was an unnecessary pick -- as Travis was coming off a 1400-yard season. We've also seen since then how EASY RBs are to acquire. And I'm saying that now knowing that Willis has been able to make a near-full recovery from the knee injury that had him fall so far in the first place. Imagine what we'd be saying if this hadn't been the case. It simply was not a risk worth taking. TD also made the mistake of allowing so many key contributors on offense to walk out the door that off-season. As a result Drew regressed badly in 2003, which led to the hysteria to land a first-round QB in 2004. Clearly the verdict is still out on JP, but if TD doesn't make that move to trade up and get him, then Drew is still here in 2005. And who knows what our season may have been like last year. But then again, maybe it would have meant another year of MM and TD... Like I said, a chain reaction.

Actually if we lose BOTH Reed and Moulds then I think we need a QUALITY free agent WR.

One other point I'd like to make is that Holcomb benefitted from a more balanced offensive coaching philosophy. I remember being at that home game against Miami, KH's first start. And I remember watching MM make better use of the running game and place KH in a better spot to succeed than he ever did with Losman. In fact, that to me was the great failure last season. MM and TD supposedly saw what Pittsburgh was able to do with Big Ben and felt that they could do the same thing here with JP. The problem is that MM never tried to really follow Pittsburgh's blueprint by spoon-feeding JP and bringing him along slowly with a strong running game. They threw him into the deep end... but were much kinder about playing it safe, when they inserted KH. Also, KH's big wins came in two home games against Miami and the NYJ -- two games in which I feel confident that JP would have led us to victory as well. Both games also exhibited the same problem that we saw with either QB -- an inability of the offense to do anything in the second half. The lone game that we won with KH behind the reigns that JP may not have pulled out is the Cinci game. However, I would trump that by pointing out how inept the offense was in the KC game before JP came in off the bench. It's sad that we are having to debate which less than adequate QB is better. At least in JP's case he has the upside to get better -- and I'd like to see if that upside exists before I even think about giving up on him.

Innocent until proven guilty indeed. The only problem is that he supposedly failed a drug test. Even in the most innocent of circumstances -- say he took a vitamin or a supplement that he didn't realize contained a banned substance -- it is still his responsibility to KNOW the ingredients of anything he puts in his body. Remember Jim Miller? With that said, remember a few years ago AFTER Leon Lett had already been suspended for a year for failing a 4th drug test -- and he failed a 5th? After an appeal his suspension was knocked down considerably.

Actually the Bills did make an offer to both. Now, the offer to Jennings was not one that he'd have ever accepted -- but at least an offer was made. As for Big Pat, he wound up signing with Minny for not a whole lot more than TD offerred him.

Remember TD did not leave of his own choosing. He was fired becasue the team had failed to make the playoffs during his 5 year tenure. Had Ralph not fired him, I fully well believe that he'd still be here.

This report is worth ignoring... Clearly the Post "borrowed" tips from the Buffalo News this morning. That would be Mark G's article, which was pure speculation.

Has everyone forgotten the fact that Culpepper had a SERIOUS knee injury last season? His future is in question, especially with his style of play.

If Clayton said that the Chargers would cut Brees, then he doesn't know what he is talking about. Unless the Chargers use the Franchise or Transition Tag, Brees will become a free agent and they won't be in the position to "cut" him. That tag will also cost them at least 20% more than they paid him last year, which is in the $10 M range.

Not really. That 2002 draft was actually pretty weak. In fact, the only player out of the top 5 selections to merit such a pick was Julius Peppers -- and everyone tabbed him as a can't miss prospect. 1. David Carr (TBD) 2. J Peppers (Great pick) 3. J Harrington (Bust) 4. M Williams (Bust) 5. Q Jammer (Bust) So, yes, TD crapped the bed on that draft -- but then again, so did many other teams.

True. It's amazing how lousy of a coach you appear to be when you lose guys like TKO and Pat Williams. Yes, I know coaches like Belichick have managed to get their teams to play well despite injuries to some of their star players. But maybe that says something more about the overall depth of the football team than the coaching involved. Yet another reason to blame TD.

It's pretty clear that the Bills will have to Franchise him, as he wants to play for the highest bidder. That $5.9 M cap hit isn't the end of the world and it is a reasonable salary for him this year. However, I wouldn't expect them to tag him again in 2007, as his cap hit then would increase to at least $7 M. (He would be gauranteed either a 20% pay increase or the top 5 CB salary, whichever is greater). Also, does anybody think that his moving to Houston sends any signals?

Here you go: 2006 Cap Figures These numbers are a few weeks old, but they should be updating them soon. FYI, the Bills rank in the middle of the pack.

While I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said here, at the time, TD had visions of Reed being a WR in the Hines Ward mold. While he didn't have all of the measurables of some of the other WRs taken in that draft, he was considered by many scouts to be rather polished and NFL-ready. Many insiders felt that he should have been a first round pick. Looking back, he had a nice rookie season -- but was placed in a bad situation the following year after Peerless left. Perhaps in a different setting he may have been a decent #2 WR. However, he was poorly suited for Gilbride's offense, and there was too much pressure placed on him. Personally, I still think that there is a spot for him on this team. Aside from catching the ball, he does a number of things well. And last year he seemed to overcome his case of the dropsies. With the "I love you man!" kind of atmosphere that Marv and Jauron are likely to bring to the team, I really think that this may be the year that Reed finally steps up.

Not to mention that MW seemed like a good character guy, while McKinney came across as something of a head case. In fact, MW was a pretty decent rookie, while McKinney held out most of his rookie season. Obviously their fortunes have changed since then -- although Levi Jones, taken 10th overall buy the Bengals -- turned out to be better than either of them. The writer of this article was so busy working up his hatchet job on TD that he failed to add this to his list of grievances. Oh, and I'm not sure where he comes off calling Denney an undersized DE. The draft that year was full of undersized DE -- and Denney was one of the few that was actually big enough to project to be strong in run support. That's why TD traded up to get him -- that, and the fact that he wanted to screw Pittsburgh who was all set on taking him with the next pick.

That is exactly right. I think the bad 2002 draft is further magnified by the horrible drafts that Butler had in 1999 and 2000. It's very hard to sustain a winning team when you have 3 bad drafts in four years.

Maybe they should check the accuracy of their comments... Marv's last team went 6-10 in 1997. (Recall that was the year that Todd Collins was calling the signals.) It was the following season, in Wade's first year, that they went 10-6 and lost to Miami. Still, the point is well taken that those 1998 and 1999 teams that made it to the playoffs were loaded with Marv's players.

The players know fully well when they sign the contract that they are unlikely to ever see the final big dollar years. However, the large up-front signing bonus makes that situation much more desirable for them.

I pretty much agree with VABills assessment. The only thing that I will add is that in the right situation, a healthy Lavar could fit in nicely as a pass rush specialist.