Dan

So you're saying we need a LB, right?

Now, you've really lost me. Where do we find the answers if not in FA or the draft? Space Aliens? Clearly I'm being fecetious, but really what do you suggest if we don't have players on the team good enough, we can't sign FAs that are good enough, and we can't draft players that are good enough?

Very much agree with that statement. It's not like he sucked either. I wonder why he's not re-signed already? Perhaps he thinks he can take advantage of the free money as well? I can easily see us getting a later round CB, but if Thomas or not FA signing comes in, it could be much higher in the draft than I've been thinking.

I thought about that and wondered what he would have to say abot this. But my guess is that he's reasonable enough to see those numbers and realize, Nate just couldn't fit into our plan like that.

Yeah, I see your point. I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking more just in terms of talent. Not so much numbers. I'm still hoping we sign K. Thomas back as well. So that would help a little with numbers as well.

I'm not sure I'd say that. I think too many people are cutting Youbouty short. They drafted him last year for a reason. Just because we, as fans, see him as a big unkown (and therefore tend to discount him); I'm not sure the coaches see him that way. I guess time will tell and I may eventually change my mind here. Although I think CB is an area of interest, I would rate our biggest need right now as LB. I know many think DL and I could make a strong arguement for that as well. I think the braintrust see Triplet, McCargo, and Williams and say we have something there. Not that it can't use some more talent mind you. But, in comparison to LB (especially if TKO is on his way out) I'd say the DL is marginally better. Now, if Willis is traded; I might change my mind and call RB our biggest need. I mean who do we have after Willis? A whole lotta nothin.

I knew I liked you and your posts. Excellent post! Finally, the line has been given some proper attention. Regardless of how it turns out, at least Marv has tried.

No... you've missed it. Now that Ralph actually spent some money, they're on the "Ralph wasted his money on bad players" horse. See either way they come out bitchin. No FAs signed today... Ralph is cheap. FAs signed... no problem, what a wast of money on those no bodies that I haven't heard of. See the perfect circularity of thought.

I completely agree. And as Dibs said a post earlier, we just signed one of the 3 best FA guards. What more do people want? All this talk about Reyes, the one thing that some people are forgetting is... what did that bad decision cost us? Not a whole lot. So, in the end, it wasn't that bad of a decision at all. It was a shot, that's all. Now Walker and Dockery could be big mistakes, given the amount of money they appear to be getting. But, for anyone to come up now and say they're undoubtedly big mistakes is just BS. Dockery by all accounts appears to be a solid player that the Redskins wanted to keep. We just paid him more and got the guy we wanted. Walker is a little more of a question mark for me, but until I see him fail in Buffalo, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he'll at least be a little better than CV. Some people just can't be happy. There's little doubt that we just seriously upgraded the talent on our O-line today - even the "experts" on ESPN, NFL Network, and Sirius recognize this fact. Yet, some people would rather find fault. It's actually a fairly pathetic attempt to garner attention, IMO.

Total Access reported he's been talking to Seatle all day.

It was. I posted that just before I saw Nate's numbers. And I was thinking $49mill would have been alot for Nate! Man am I glad Marv has more sense than to pay that much to one CB.

When I see that, I'm quitting my job. Because the end of the world as we see it is surely not far behind!

Seriously!?! That's outrageous! No way you can fault Marv or Ralph?

Thanks PtP. It's good to see you take the high road. I've tried to make this point the last few days... do you give a CB the 7yr/49mill deal or do you give that money to a quality Olineman? Thankfully, we have a GM that knows what this team needs. I hate seeing Nate leave, but given our needs, it really is pretty obvious that it had to happen,

It seems several people owe Marv an apology for their posting over the last few days. And while you're at it, throw some thanks to cheap ole Ralph for spending top money on a top OG. I'll look forward to reading the apologies.

I'm not gonna complain about any attempt to bring in offensive linemen. The more the better.

And that's pretty much how I see it as well. However, if they don't bring in another FA then it tells me they think Youbouty is ready now. Either way, I see no sense in drafting a CB to replace Nate. How could a true rookie be better than Youbouty? (Unless, he really sucks wind big time.) So, if they see Youbouty as having that potential, all we need is a reasonably priced stop gap.

If we select a CB at #12 I, for one, will find that indefensible and look with genuine concern for the first time at Marv's GM performance.

I think we find out what the coaches think of Youbouty when/if Clements leaves. If they don't go after a FA CB or draft one high, then I think we have our answer - they see Youbouty as an adequate replacement for Clements. Until then, I agree, its a huge unknown.

And did Marv not take a fair amount of heat from some for letting Moulds go? Looks like a great move now. Imagine that.

Value.. value... we don't need no stinkin value!

OK. if he's the 53rd rated DE, what does (or will) his salary rate after all FAs have been signed? And then of course, you have to look at when those guys were signed. For ex, as many have mentioned, Schobel makes much less. However, Schobel signed a deal 2 years ago. There's little doubt he'd make considerably more than his current contract if he was a FA this spring. I understand what you're saying.. that you think we way overpaid. But, I'm not sure that's exactly the case. I haven't seen all the numbers on other players of his caliber. So, maybe the price of mustard has just gone up? I'm not sure I buy its the "talk of the league". I watch NFL Live on ESPN; I watch NFL Total Access like its a religion. I'm not even sure I've seen mention of it, let alone anything that would classify it as talk of the league. All the Bills talk I've seen has been in reference to McGahee and Clements, with Fletcher being a distant 3rd. So, I'd have to request some documentation on that one. And even if it is the talk of the league, why is that a bad thing? Maybe that's what we want, the whole league saying.. see if you go to Buffalo and play solid ball and keep your nose clean you too can get overpaid. I guess I just don't see that as necessarily a bad thing - to have the league talking about us because we signed a FA to a good contract.

Hopefully, not banned. But, I fully expect to be ignored.

The entire premise of this thread is absurd and I'm a lesser person for commenting on it, but I just can't read anymore without saying something... First we bash Marv and the Bills' Mgmt. because they're not spending any money and we're gonna lose all our FAs. None of the players want to be here and the organization is a mess. Willis must go.. why doesn't Marv do something. Now, Marv has re-signed Kelsay and did so by opening Ralph's wallet a little so Kelsay never even tested the Market - yet you say this is bad. We tender offers to 2 other guys - yet no congratulations. You immediately rush to the judgement that Kelsay is overpayed. Price is overpayed (talk about dragging out skeletons). It sounds like everyone Marv signs is overpayed, yet everyone that is released its because Marv's too cheap to pay them. So which is it? Is Marv cheap or a spend thrift? I know you'll want to say, he's just dumb and making bad decisisons. But, free agency hasn't even started, so Marv could very likely be attempting to keep other players like Clements here as we speak. And we've had no time to wait and see what other DEs earn on the open market. So, to make any inferences on Marv's decision this offseason is premature at best. Not that it matters, but what would be the suggestion regarding Kelsay. Offer him league minimum, piss him off, allow him to test the open market, re-enforce the notion that the Bills are cheap just so everyone can say see I told you so, getting in a bidding war with other teams, sign someone with more promise that doesn't know our system just to save a little money. What's the best move here? I, personally, thought resigning Kelsay was a great move.

That's exactly what I was suggesting. I just have this strange feeling that Marv and Jauron could easily look at the rookies being in their second year, so they should get better. Triplett started playing better as the season progressed, so he'll be better. Now we re-signed Kelsay and still have Schobel and Denney. Conclusion: the D-line is sufficient. However, to address the inability to stop the run; get a new LB or 2. I'm not saying I agree with this line of thinking. I'm just saying, it seems totally plausible that Marv and the coaches could be thinking like this. Result: we pass on Okoye in the draft.