simpleman

Thanks for the info on Brown. I had not read he was being so reasonable. Players like that are the type I would like for team chemistry. I like his potential, and if he was reasonable about a one year "prove it" deal I would be all in. If he comes back like he was pre-injury he should earn a long term deal even before the 1st season is completed. As you said, Schwartz is limited, so as long as he does not expect a crazy deal he could be a good signing. I still see Riley as too Byrd like in seeing the worth of his own value. Enough of those type of players for me, if that is the case.

SJ will have a cap of about 9 million next year. He will not be around next year. Getting a Jones now on a lower contract will give us a better value priced number 2 or 3. Not that Jones is better than SJ, just that the Bills have a horrible contract with SJ for his relative value. Plus we now have a good 2-3 in both Woods and SJ. Maybe a good 3-4 in Goodwin in the future. We are in no way set at WR. Hopefully we will draft a real #1 WR, but it is not a sure thing. Jones at a good price now helps give us targets for EJ now to give him his shot at proving he is a viable QB. Plus a better value 2-3 next year to replace SJ.

FS - Stevie Brown I would be very cautious with him with little, no guarantee. He is a high risk signing. He might never come back fully from his ACL injury. If he comes back, great. But he has to prove it first with a low guarantee, incentive laden contract. OG - Geoff Schwartz – Can’t argue with him. Appears over his hip injury. Not so sure he could come at the price you say, but if it was not a high guarantee it would be a good signing. ILB - Perry Riley “The Post previously reported that Riley was seeking something similar to the five-year, $34.75 million Dannell Ellerbe got from the Dolphins. It would be a hefty sum for a player that graded out 46th among 55 qualifiers at 3-4 inside linebacker in PFF's grades” - Rotoworld.

Free Agency is about to start. Using the stated Bills philosophy about FA, these are picks that I believe would strengthen the Bills. None are superstars, but just good solid players. Each gives the Bills time to draft and develop players at positions of need. None will break the bank, but they fill an immediate need and give the Bills breathing room to develop draft picks into starters. None are superstars, but simply just good solid players. Chris Clemons, S, Dolphins James Jones, WR, Packers Austin Howard, OT, Jets Who are your 2nd level free agents that will immediately improve the Bills this year and help them compete now, not just maybe someday in the future?

I brought this up in the Byrd thread and everyone hated it, but if the Bills only want to pay 2nd tier FA dollars then Chris Clemons of Miami is a FA. He will come cheap and on a short contract. He is a solid player, not a Ward or a Byrd, but solid. He can play either SS or FS. AW is solid, but moving him creates a hole. Getting Clemons fills the hole cheap enough for the Bills FO, and gives them breathing room to see if either D Williams / Meeks really has any kind of real future. Searcy is a depth player at best. No more filling from within without a real plan B ala Lev. It works out so well.

Same old Bills FO. Losers! Don't even have the grit to fight to the end to get something out of Byrd in trade, just let him walk away smirking and flipping us the Bird!

They aced it in the first two rounds, getting both my favorites. When the Bills traded up in the third, just before they selected TJ Graham, I was so excited. Surely they were going for Wilson, a real steal in the 3rd. But no, they traded up for WHO? Sadly I loved the rest of the draft that year, so what did I know. Aaron Williams. Thought he was a bust, but I turned out wrong. Wish I could say I wanted Colin Kaepernick, but I really wanted Kyle Rudolph. Well I was 50% right. That was the year I really bought into the Jasper frenzy. Not my best year.

Sadly this whole discussion has made it easy to pick out who I would choose on this board to hang out with. The tough guy RI defenders show just how stable and emotionally developed they are, and how comfortable and sure they are with the state of their masculinity. No one is perfect, but if I had to share watching a football game with either Martin or RI, I would feel more comfortable watching it with Martin, he sure is the more stable of the two. Not sure about Martin's actual football ability, but I certainly wouldn't even hire RI to park cars during the game,lol.

I still believe the best option is tag and actively trade Byrd. Then bring in a quality late 20's FA replacement in the 3-4 Mill range. Use the money to bring in another FA WR and Guard in the 3-5 mill range. Byrd may be a good safety, but no safety is worth 10 Million a year as far as impact when you are not going to go to the Superbowl or the conference championships in the next two years. 10 million is worth it when you actually have a real chance to go all the way, but not until then. Letting Lev go was the right choice, as is letting Byrd go via a trade is this year. The problem as many have said is that the Bills did not bring in the quality FA replacement for him, which needs to be addressed if he is traded.

I just read the article about the combine and Byrd posted on TBD. http://www.wgr550.com/two-bills-drive/18464850 It discusses how there does not seem to be any confidence in Searcy and discusses the fact that the Bills would not be likely to pay both Alan Williams and Byrd big bucks. If it is really going to be an issue of loosing AW, I would definitely lean to a tag & trade on Byrd and bring in a quality free agent at a more reasonable cost that would allow us to keep AW as well.

For those that would consider learning from last years debacle when Lev was not resigned and the Bills failed to replace him with another less expensive Quality Free Agent. To see what they made last year as a reference see the spotrac link. If Byrd is tagged & traded, here are the FA options: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/2/18/5335164/top-nfl-free-agents-2014-safety http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2014S.php http://www.spotrac.com/free-agents/nfl/safety/

This is a draft I could drink to. Our critical needs are met. I would hope we got a WR in FA to go with it.

I wasn't underestimating AW. There was no negative intent meant on AW. Bring in a quality FA to fill the hole if Byrd is gone. Moving AW just shifts the deck chairs around on the deck of the Titanic. It does not fix the hole, just relocates it.

You sound exactly like the Bills were last year with Lev. Look how well that turned out! AW is where he should be. I can't believe the people on this board can not learn from past mistakes. Meeks & Williams have not shown anything to believe that they are quality starters. Searcy in coverage, a disaster in the making! The draft won't help this year, it is for the future. If you create a hole, you need to have a piece to fill that hole before you make it. You need a quality FA to replace Byrd if you let him go. Someone like a Clemons, solid, reliable, experienced, cheap and willing to sign a short term contract. NO more holes, we have enough already.

For all the talk of tag and trade, I see little discussion of who would replace Bryd. I don't think a draft choice of a safety is a viable solution to solve our safety hole THIS year, a draft choice needs time to grow into the spot. What other quality FA safety would you get to replace him for THIS YEAR? I mentioned Chris Clemons, Dolphins. Age: 28. I had no issue with the Bills not overpaying Lev last year. I did have an issue with there being no solid plan to get a solid quality replacement when they let him walk. I would not want to see that happen again this year. I can understand the Bills not overpaying Byrd, but you at least need a solid replacement when you loose a top 10 player at their position. He does not need to be another top 10, just a solid and reliable starter, not another hole to be filled.

WR MIKE EVANS 9 TEXAS A&M - The board seems enamored with him now after the combine, so I took him. Not as sure as the others. Would rather trade down if I had the chance. But could live with him at 9. G XAVIER SU’A-FILO 41 UCLA - Our biggest need at guard filled. ILB SHAYNE SKOV 73 STANFORD - Our inside run stuffer to pair with Kiko on the outside. Our run defense really needs an upgrade. TE C.J. FIEDOROWICZ 105 IOWA - We got our real receiving target in Evans. Another big, fast alternate target for our QB with soft hands and more importantly, also a good blocker for our RBs to up the running game QB AARON MURRAY 137 GEORGIA - Someone else in camp to challenge if EJ doesn’t cut it by mid season. I do not want to see Tuel the backup behind Lewis if that happens. S HAKEEM SMITH 169 LOUISVILLE - With Byrd a question after this year, another prospect is here. WR CODY LATIMER 201 INDIANA - Can block for the running game and for the other receivers, big, tall . What can you expect in the 7th.

If Cleveland offered us their 2nd 1st for Byrd I would take it in an instant. If the Bills had a plan in place. How about they sign FA Chris Clemons from the Fins. Yes he is a step down from Byrd, but still a very solid player. A whole lot less money, and less issues than Byrd. Reliable and durable.Can he play FS? Using a mid round draft pick could get us another decent S prospect for the future. Ahmad Dixon SS, Calvin Pryor FS, Deone Bucannon SS. Hakeem Smith SS, Kenny Ladler in later rounds for development. And add in a trade down with our 1st, wow, what a draft the BIlls would have to totally transform the team in one year.

Thanks for the heads up, I will check his performance this weekend

Sadly, I see this as a Bills trend over the years. Setting the bar so low that mediocrity is the standard. The team has no "dire" needs, since it simply seeks to maintain the level of mediocrity it has had for over a decade . A team that aspires to being among the best in the league would define "dire" needs much differently.

"The reality is, an NFL draft pick has about a coin flip's chance of sticking in the league." Love this quote from ESPN. For all we do and all the real NFL scouts and managers do, the draft is still a 50/50 chance of finding a player that fits. That is why I would prefer to trade down from 9 and pick up extra high round multiple picks, especially in a year that the talent is so deep even into the 4th round at positions of need for the Bills.. Better odds of "winning" in the draft.

As deep as the draft is at positions of need for the Bills this year, I would trade down anywhere in the first as long as I picked up extra 2nd round and 3rd round picks according to trade value. We could easily get a great TE, ILB, RT and OG and fill our other needs with later picks. It is not about should we do it, it is can we find a trade partner to do it. I would be ecstatic with a draft like Pete mentioned. Most of the others mentioned would make me very happy as well.

I would definitely put DE43 at a P5, if there is such a setting. OC at P4? Is that so you can get a player and convert him to OG? If using that logic, wouldn't LT also be a P4? I see WR is in both P2 & P3, would adding ILB in P3 as well give us a better shot at getting a ILB in the draft sim?

Astro. I agree with your reasoning. But I can't agree on the timing on the needs THIS year. If the Bills were a great team now with the luxury of not having any current needs pressing now, I would agree 100% with what you are saying. But the team is in dire need of so much this year. How many years are you going to work on yet another 3 year rebuilding plan? . Schwartz is a D coordinator. What are his chances of even being here next year? If he does well, he could get another gig as a HC next year. 4 years, 4 D coordinators - 11 Edwards,12 Wanny, 13 Pettine, 14 Schwartz. Build a team around a D coordinator, questionable. Are we even sure Schwartz is inflexible and will run a wide nine? Has he said so? Hughes will probably be gone next year, agreed. I would hope Mario and Dareus are here for at least the next few years. I sure don't foresee them not being here this year, hopefully the team will keep both next as well. Kyle, short of major injury ending his career, I see him here at least two more years. Branch, I hope he lasts two more good years. More short term role players to fill out the wide 9 can be gotten on FA for Schwartz's wide 9, if needed. Our needs are just too pressing this year, for the right now, to spend needed high, middle round choices on two years or more out. The O-line beyond Woods and Glenn are questionable for protecting a rookie QB. A run stopping ILB to pair with Kiko is a real need. Either a TE to block and help CJ and the run game, while also being that big tall target for catching passes (best option), or a big tall WR are a real need early. If you get that TE early, not sure you use another high, mid pick on a receiver too. Get your WR in later rounds IF you get that TE early. Not to mention EJ may or may not be the QB for the team. And while Lewis may be an acceptable backup, do you really want him as your starting QB? We have a real need for a plan B next year if EJ bombs out this year. A mid, late pick on a QB makes real sense, especially if it becomes clear that EJ is not your man by mid season this year. Again, your needs listings are very solid. It is just the order of priority THIS YEAR that I question.

It starts out great in the first two rounds, but does nothing to address our LB needs. A 7th round throw away pick does not seriously address a pressing issue. The dline is the only strength of our team and we use two picks on it while not filling a critical need at lb. I still believe that the best possible outcome of this draft for the Bills would be if we can find a partner and trade down in the first for another 2nd.

Converting OT to G is always a possibility. In addition to the others mentioned these are players I have for value picks in the later rounds if they should last longer than expected. 1.) If trade down, late 1st Taylor Lewan (LG) 2 Cyril Richardson (LG), 3.) Morgan Moses, OT 4.) Dakota Dozier (LG) Anthony Steen (LG) 5.) Brandon Thomas (LG), 6.) Chris Watt (LG)