Dan

It most certainly is. However, to this point, the Bills' FO made a great decision. Could you imagine the scene here if the FO had given Peters' big money this summer and then he have the camp and pre-season he's had so far in Philly? Granted, all things would be different if he were in Buffalo and its a somewhat silly notion to even pose the question; however, at this point... the Bills traded away a headache and got a couple of promising players that are doing their all to succeed here. While Philly has gotten the same effort we all saw last season from our franchise LT - next to none. I, for one, hope the season continues to prove that the Bills' FO made a great decision.

Can't any one say anything positive about Buffalo and actually mean it?

Perhaps Maybin's agent had been hoping for the Crabtree deal to get done; but with camp ending and Crabtree's deal nowhere in sight Maybin and/or his agent settled for the "standard" deal the Bills put on the table a month ago?

Excellent news!! I was curious to see how this would play out with you and Schefter going head to head on scoops. That guy is good! I can't express enough my gratitude for someone of your caliber posting here to keep us informed and knowledgeable. Thanks and keep up the good work... so I can avoid working and just read this board for updates all day.

Maybin has the same agent as Vick, yeah? Any chance the guy was working overtime on Vick and just let the Maybin negotiations slide until the Vick deal was done??

I definitely like the inability for new members to start a new thread for a bit. 25 posts?, but 50 wouldn't be so bad. I'd also suggest allowing all members to see when a poster is on probation or whatever cautionary action the moderators may have taken. It would be nice to realize someone is about to be banned for posting crap. I'd also be in favor of a moniker for posters that repeatedly fabricate sources in feeble attempts to scoop everyone with information they don't have. That way new posters could know Soprano was really clueless, for ex. The suggested rankings seem fine. However, I'd say spread the post counts out more (or add a few more categories) I'd suggest keeping the top 2 or 3 rankings to the top 10% of current post counts (more or less). my 2cent

Point taken. But, what's the point then? I finally read the article and I've already read half of it in his twit/blog page. Not to mention how much time does it take to think of all those creative ways to say something as opposed to just typing the actual word.

Which begs the question... how much is too much? So you're hired to write articles. Then the news goes 24/7. So now you're writing an article every day. How much research and editing can be done in less than a day anyway? Then the internet age comes to fruition and you have blogs in between the daily articles. Because someone decided we need to hear people's informal thoughts in between the daily articles they're writing. Now, you have the tweets. Why? Because I have to know every waking thought in someone's head? What's next a direct live feed to a writer's brain? Am I the only one that would prefer fewer, better written/researched articles over daily useless tweets that have little redeeming value whatsoever?

Agreed. And therein lies the rub... as fans, we don't know what the Bills are offering nor what Maybin may have asked. Hence, we don't really know if he's being low balled or if he's being stupid. And probably never will.

I'd completely agree! Is it just me or is the season starting extremely late this year? But, you know the players will be arguing for all that money. Again, I'd say the discussion is currently centered around what makes everyone the most money; when it should be centered around what gives us the best sport in the world.

And the chances the Bills let their franchise, probowl LT become disgruntled and trade him are pretty slim as well. I'd say don't bet against the Bills' FO when it comes to paying large sums of money to players. I'm only suggesting that the Bills may very well not budge, whether he sits all season or not would be his choice.

If I'm an owner, I want to see some assurances that the increased TV contract would make up the difference. There's no way you can count on ticket sales. Imagine the Bills selling out 2 meaningless games in the dead of winter.

But there's absolutely no guarantee you get that extra money. If you just showed up to work you would have gotten $2,000 for those few weeks (in example 1). So, do you go with the sure thing or hope to get the extra money, knowing that if you hold out for the extra cash, you may get fired?

So where do these smaller market teams get the money for the increased salaries? You'll almost certainly have pay each player more. Plus, you'll have to increase the roster from 53 to 58(?) or 60(?) to account for injuries. That's significant money.

Sure it does. The significance is surely debatable. But, 18 is greater than 16; therefore, you're diluting your product. I think the question becomes what's the tipping point. At what point are you decreasing the fan experience just for the sake of making more money. I'd argue we're getting dangerously close to that now.

More games equals bigger player contracts equals significantly increased salary caps equals increased difficulty for small market teams to compete. My question is what's the goal of the league? To make as much money as possible? Or to remain the most watched, most popular sport in the country? IMO, more games does little to make the sport more popular, its all about more money.

Agreed, again. The Bills have signed all of their draft picks this year and in previous years, right in line with the salary slotting. Why would they suddenly devalue Maybin and low ball him? It makes no sense. The holdout almost certainly has to be initiated by Maybin's agent to see if he can get a few million more due to Crabtree. What Maybin should be thinking is.. is it worth it? On the surface yeah, a few million bucks is a few million bucks. But, what if the Bills don't go higher? What if they say take the standard offer? Both of those are bad for him. And both are highly likely considering the Bills recent contract talks with players demanding more money. Sure if the Bills are offering him less than the #12 guy, he's got a beef. But, as I stated, I'd find that extremely hard to believe.

There are several things that have made the NFL the greatest sport to watch. Among those are the relatively short season and having most all the games on one day of the week. By only having 16 games, you maximize the importance of each game. In baseball, say you miss a few weeks in June - who cares. In football, if you miss a week or 2, you've missed a significant portion of the season. Also, by having all the games on Sunday, you allow for football parties. As well as the ability for people to plan their week around this one glorious day when you can get all your football. It's simple, its easy, its fun. All they're doing by adding more regular season games and adding more playing dates (Thurs. and Sat. games) is diluting the product, IMO. Yes, you see some increases in revenue. But, you see a decrease in the rabid nature of fans that dedicate themselves to the sport. I guess it comes down to what's more important for the league - more money or increased fandom? I'd say that spreading the draft out over 3 nights, playing games in London, playing games 4 days/week, moving the Pro Bowl, and now possibly extending the season is all about making money and caring less about fan appeal. IMO, Goodell is all that's wrong for the league. Why not make the Superbowl a best 2 out of 3 series? Imagine all the money you could make on 3 games as opposed to one.

Care to give a synopsis for those of us to cheap to register?

I would have kept them out there... you know you're ready for the season when you can outrun lightning strikes.

I'd agree completely. There's no way Ralph and the Bills pay Maybin more just because Crabtree got more. OF course, that doesn't stop his agent from trying. We all know it won't work - just ask Peters. But, I suppose they gotta try. It just sucks, because the guy has now missed all of training camp and half the preseason games. I'd guess it's a very short list of rookies that have missed this much off season time and had any sort of productive rookie year.

Beautiful. And if they had caved and paid Peters $11mill/year, they'd be at every agent's mercy that wanted more mercy as well. So is there any way the Bills' FO could have "won" given Peters' demands? Maybe if they just refused to pay, but also refused to trade, and just let him sit on the bench taking up a roster spot for 2 years? Regardless, its beyond time to get Maybin into camp. He's lost considerable valuable time and few rookies make an impact after missing the majority of training camp.

Thanks!

Found this site for radio. But, haven't tried the links yet.

Seeing as how the game is in a few hours, does anyone have a suggestion that doesn't have a 24hr registration time period? (Not that I don't appreciate the link for future use. Thanks.)