DJasper Probincrux III

Littman and Overdorf I agree but I mean other people like Scott Berchtold, the marketing people, the administrative assistants. New ownership will want to make their own mark and a lot of the people we don't see every day or have a particular problem with will be casualties. Not that the change shouldnt happen, it's just a reason for RW to show up and thank the worker bees in person because he knows lots of them will get the axe.

Also, re: the Holiday party. If he is going out I also suspect that he would want to make the effort to come to the Holiday party in person to thank all of his employees in person. He doesn't need to necessarily tell everybody there what is up but he could thank people individually for their hard work and the reason for doing so would make sense later after they showed the video. There are some people who have worked at OBD there for a very long time in a variety of functions who will probably lose their jobs in an ownership change.

FWIW - I choose to believe this because the tax ramifications are monstrous. Rich people don't get to be rich by pissing away hundreds of millions of dollars on taxes when they don't have to. I have to admit, it would be at least slightly amusing to have to thank the government for raising taxes to bring this situation to a conclusion.

I don't know about that. The Holiday party is a closed function where he can stay as long as he likes and it doesn't really matter if he rambles or loses his place mid-sentence etc because all the people there are employees. For what would be his final press conference and something that will be watched and re-broadcast everywhere I could understand RW not wanting to look like a jackass or a doddering old man. With video you get edits and re-takes. Live can go horribly horribly wrong. Seriously, if it were you and you knew that your words don't always come out right or that you lose your place mid-sentence or sometimes slur or any of the other things that happen to 94 year old people and you also knew that the whole world would watch what you sad a million times I think you'd do a video too. Let the guy maintain some dignity on the way out.

Peyton Manning 1994 Gator Bowl 189 yards 1 TD 1 INT - win (true freshman) 1995 Citrus Bowl 182 yards 1 TD - win 1996 Citrus Bowl 408 yards 4 TDs - win 1997 Orange Bowl 134 yards 1 TD - loss Was injured in SEC Championship game

Which good NFL QBs had terrible bowl games? I honestly don't know and am about to look. First up Aaron Rodgers. 2003 Insight Bowl - 394 yards 2 TDs 2004 Holiday Bowl - 246 yards 1 TD 1 INT Tom Brady 1998 Citrus Bowl 206 yards 1 TD - win 1999 Orange Bowl 369 yards 4 TDs - win

Did he complete a pass downfield at all today? Every one I saw was nearly a lateral or some sort of screen pass. Nassib wasn't fantastic either but he had some drops mixed in. The deep ball I saw him throw was underwhelming. I didn't see anyone who jumpedoff the screen as the guy I have to have. Nassib faced a terrible defense and was decent. Smith faced and average defense and didn't do much of anything. For me, the weather was highly relevant. We need to have a guy who can perform when the ball is wet and slick and there is some sort of wind. If you can throw a ball when it's wet you can throw it when it's dry.

The Andre Reed HoF thing was a great guess.

OP didn't say they were there today. He just said was/is which could be really anytime recently. We know for sure Gruden was in Detroit yesterday so let me add a dash of fun to this nonsense. Lets say he broke bread with Brandon on Friday night flew to Detroit in the AM and payed homage to the Emperor in Grosse Point before heading over to the stadium for pre-production meetings.

#1 - Money #2 - You get a chance to pick your own QB, which is not a small deal #3 - You have some decent players to work with with )Spiller, Johnson, the D-Line, the O-line when healthy) but there's enough immediate room to make your own mark and bring in your own guys. #4 - Arrogance - all football coaches are arrogant, think they can fix everything, and honesty some like the challenge Given that I think he's a long shot but with the new lease stability you never know. Who do we think he'd tab as his coordinators? Here's my guess. OC - Marc Trestman DC - Raheem Morris ST - Bobby April after Philly cans him. It's also possible Russ was asking him about his former QBs coach in Oakland, David Shaw.

Or a plastic one with no holes...

IMO - the rule changes the NFL have made have made QB mobility less important. You can't hit the QB anymore almost at all so if you have a big stout guy who can shrug off arm tackles, move enough to get the ball out and take some abuse you have a benefit, how many 15 yard gifts do the pocket guys get compared to the injuries the runners get?

I will take Jerry Burns right now at age 85.

Thinking positively, 7 years also allows for the team to have a new stadium built in Niagara County or even in Erie County without County ownership without crazy penalty. The 29 million dollar fee at that time likely aligns nicely with what the county is kicking into the current stadium in years 1-6. If it lines up with an estate tax situation then Mrs. RW will hold the team and sell in in year 7. From RW's point of view it gives his family one shot at an out if situations change between now and then and he's no longer around. Realistically, RW also knows that in order to get anything accomplished re: a new stadium there has to be some sort of opt out otherwise they lose all of their leverage and the state, county, etc. will suddenly forget where their wallets are. Sort of like what happened to Art Modell in Cleveland - they promised him a stadium forever watched the old stadium crumble around him then basically told him to piss off. I see this as a 6 year window to get the long term stadium situation sorted out. Once THAT is sorted out then we can come back to the Bills with the very long very iron clad lease. Ideally it's done and ready to open in year 7 so the lease for the new bldg gets done in year 6, they move to the new bldg in year 7 (cutting a check to Erie Co if necessary) and we move on.

1. The Bills, despite spending on a couple FAs this off-season were 11.7 million dollars under the salary cap as of November 1. For perspective the only teams with more cap room available are as follows, of those teams 1 has a winning record. 1. Eagles - 20.1 million 2. Browns - 14.5 million 3. Titans - 14.1 million 4. Chiefs - 13.8 million 5. Seahawks - 13.5 million 6. Bills - 11.7 million 6. Buccaneers - 11.7 million If this were a one year phenomenon it would be one thing, but this is consistent. Because it's consistent, understand that the money RW spent this off-season was banked from previous years of unspent money from TV revenue sharing. It's not that HE spent money, it's that he put all of our money in a piggy bank and spent it later. He is putting another 11.7 million into his own coffers this year as a minimum and that is before any of the unshared revenues that they earn. 2. RW is not only a meddler, he's a bridge burner. He has systematically chased every single successful coach not named Marv Levy and executive out of Buffalo. Saban got fed up and left twice, Chuck Knox got tired of RW's penny pinching meddling and left (remember it was under Knox's watch that RW refused to pay the #1 overall pick and lost him to CANADA - They also lost Kelly in 1983 over money so twice in 5 drafts the Bills lost their #1 pick because they refused to pay), Bill Polian was fired ultimately because RW jammed Linda Bogdan down his throat as a scout and Bill got fed up, Wade Phillips was meddled with insanely, John Butler and AJ Smith left also over meddling and money, Tom Donahoe was fired, Mike Mularkey refused a contract extension because he didn't want the strings that came with it. There are entire coaching trees of people who won't work here because of the way their mentors were treated when they were here. It takes a toll over time and it limits who you can actually get.

Everybody knew Ryan Leaf was going to be good as well and it was far from a lock that Manning would go #1. A large number of personnel people had Leaf rated more highly based on his superior physical tools. Edgerrin James and to a lesser extent Joseph Addai would both disagree with you re: the running backs. Reggie Wayne still looks pretty darn good post-Manning and he and Marvin Harrison were both #1 picks. Polian also built and consistently reloaded an excellent offensive line. You're shortchanging the man and it sounds silly. He was very successful in Carolian as well and he built that from the ground up. Before Kerry Collins' drinking got out of control he was on the path to big success and he did eventually QB a team to the Super Bowl despite that.

Should something happen I'd be more than fine with Polian as VP of Football Operations even if that meant Whaley was gone as well. Presumably Whaley hasn't been a wallflower around OBD and has some culpability for our dreadful drafts and misguided FA acquisitions such as Mark Anderson and the insane trade for Tarvaris Jackson.

Polian but we know it won't happen so long as RW is alive so there's no point.

Ralph prefers passenger pigeon, of course he's also senile so he forgets this and shoots every bird that flies in because in his mind they're carrying messages for the Jerrys over No-Mans Land.

Momma Cass it is then!

Yeah, he likes the Tampon 2 defense. We can bring back Monte Kiffin to coordinate it.

RW and Mike Brown are having a running competition to see who can be cheaper and less informed about football. RW is winning. and this is precisely how RW has held the taxpayers hostage for corporate welfare since the late 1960's. Read this article from 1969 and tell me it doesn't sound like it could have been written 10 minutes ago. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1082018/1/index.htm

From that list these are the ones I think are possible. I deleted all the hot coordinators for lack of experience. I deleted all the college guys because they will all want much more money than RW will pay a coach. I deleted all the successful former coaches as they will also be too expensive. I deleted Brian Billick because he is a gigantic blowhard who was an offensive "mastermind" when he went to Baltimore, couldnt find a QB his whole time there and rode Marvin Lewis and Rex Ryan to success. I deleted Andy Reid because he's going to San Diego or BYU. Everyone remaining on this list except Metzelaars has a track record of failure and ineptitude in some fashion that makes them damaged, cheaper, and less likely to go elsewhere.

What? Ralph treated a coach poorly? Inconceivable.