Dan

I can understand your wanton desire to defend the Pats**, but you're stretching so far beyond rational thought its hard to imagine you even believe what you're saying. The issue with Brady's phone is quite simple, the league says you must cooperate fully with all investigations. Brady did not. For whatever reasons he had, it's irrelevant. He was asked to provide information and he declined. Was he hiding information? Was he trying to protect someone else? Was he just being pissy because he disliked Wells? We will never know and it doesn't matter. When you're under investigation, you don't withhold evidence because the public may misconstrue it. When you say you don't know someone because "you asked me about McNally, I just knew him as the deflater"; you're being disingenuous. You want to keep implying that there's no direct evidence, as though you want a date-stamped video of Brady standing over McNally with a pressure gauge in one hand and a bag of footballs over his shoulder while McNally is holding a picture of Brady's private birthday party as he's inserting pins into footballs, both wearing league issued ID badges while the PA announcement can be heard in the background stating that the game is underway and all league certified footballs must now be present and accounted for. Rarely in any case is there such direct evidence that removes every possible shadow of doubt, But as KTD pointed out, the preponderance of evidence adds up to one rational conclusion and that conclusion is that Brady was unhappy with the footballs and instructed the, self proclaimed, deflater to fix it.

I've never understood the argument that a player was taken a little too high. We had the #50 pick, wanted a player that probably would have been gone before our next pick. So, what are they supposed to do? Trade down... what if no one wants to trade up 10 spots? None of us are in the war room. We don't know what moves they may or may not have tried to make. You can also say, they could have taken this other player. But maybe their paid, professional scouts didn't think he was a fit for our team? I respect a lot of the opinions of a lot of people here, but none of us are paid by the Bills to evaluate and rank the players in terms of best fit for the schemes our coaches want to install. It seems they had their players ranked and took the guys they wanted, when they could get them. The notion that they could trade down a few spots and still get a guy is all reliant upon willing trade partners and none of us know what was pursued or not. Personally, I'm completely underwhelmed by our draft. But, I suspect it was a very good draft for us because Whaley seemed to get exactly who he wanted with each pick. In a couple years, we'll know if he was right.

I say offer Clay and Kiko straight up! (And for those saying but Dan we already traded Kiko away... I say.. Obviously we would have to trade Cassell and Harvin to the Eagles for Kiko first.) Get er done!

Just because he can't contractually be traded does not mean we can't start meaningless threads about how he could be traded. This is the place that routinely wants to sign players that aren't even FAs. Every player can be had and traded if only Whaley is smart enough to do it!

The Probowl wouldn't be so bad if they actually played a football game. But as they've changed it... It's a farce. Then add having it before the Super Bowl, and half the stars don't even show up. So, what's the point other than for player contract negotiations? Move it back, to after the Super Bowl, give the players some incentive to actually win the game and it'll be a much better event. It'll never be great.... But it doesn't have to be... That's what the Super Bowl is for. It just has to be watchable, which it currently isn't.

I really agree with you. And normally, I think the absolute worst way to build a winning team is through Free Agency (and trades like this season). But, the Bills have been floundering In mediocrity for entirely too long. And drafting players and waiting for them to develop just hasn't worked. Now, maybe the moves this off season won't work either. But one thing that has happened, in just the span of a few months, the Bills have become relevant again. With Rex, Roman, Shady, Hughes, Harvin, Cassell, etc... The Bills are seen by most all people as a team that's making moves and doing everything they can to improve. All the draft picks in the world wouldn't be able to make the Bills relevant again. So, yeah it may not be the move for established teams with a history of competing in the playoffs. But, for a team lost in mediocrity, I'd say we're having just the type of off season our young players need. Now.... It's up to Rex and company to put it all together and actually make these players into a winning, play off caliber team next season. ...And up to Whaley and company to keep drafting guys that can keep it going in a couple years when all these FAs leave or get too old.

I agree. I keep reading how bad our Oline is, and I don't completely disagree that we need to add better players there. But, I also don't think we should forget that Marrone had a completely contrarian point of view regarding the Oline. As I recall, he made statements along the lines of.... Just get your 5 best players out there, regardless of position, and continuity is not an issue. Hence he continued jumbling the line all the way into the season. Given that our line played worse each year under him... it could very well be that his philosophy towards the line was completely wrong. And our players aren't as bad as they appeared (if in the right position, with the right scheme, with time to build cohesion). I guess we'll see come September because I don't see any significant upgrades, other than draft picks at this point in the year.

Since Warren Sapp got in... It's officially the Hall of Pretty Good Players I've Heard Of. So, sure, why not? Induct everyone that hasn't completely sucked. IMO, Willis shouldn't even be talked about as HOF, let alone considered. Which means... He's probably a first balloter.

Thanks guys.

It's inconceivable that anyone could looks at this team, as it stands today with FAs still to be signed and the draft on the horizon, and not think there have been big improvements. We've replaced several players with lots of "potential" to be great with players that have actually proven to be great. We replaced a lower tier college coaching staff with actual NFL level coaches. And there are still moves to be made. Yes, some of the moves are risky (i.e. Harvin). But I prefer to take that risk and have Harvin on the field and not rely on Hogan continuing to develop. And, yes, we still have to see how or even if it all comes together on the field in September. But, there's no doubt the Bills FO is serious about making moves to improve this team, and there seems to be no one that's hindering them moneywise. Finally, yes, I'd love to see several good linemen brought in like most everyone. But, I think we also have to consider that with the completely inept offensive coaching we've had the last couple years, its entirely possible we have decent young linemen on the team right now (if they're put in the right position and coached properly). So, yeah, anyone looking at the Bills' off season to date and thinking its not going well is definitely not seeing the picture with open eyes. Step back for a day, go out get some sunshine, then get geared up for the rest of the ride. Because it's actually looking really good to be a Bills fan for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Please... Say you're joking.

This is exactly one of the primary reason teams, or any business, don't openly acknowledge their plans. Sure, you don't want to give your competitors a clue as to your strategy, but you also do yourself and your players absolutely no good by letting the world know you wanted to trade them but the deal fell through. In your scenario, the insider is still very much an insider. But, no deal is final until the ink is dry. I guess, for me, I read all inside "scoops" with a bit of caution until that poster gains some credibility. And by that I mean they're right more often than not (even broken clocks are right twice a day). For the insiders, it also wouldn't hurt to just say... I heard it, but it seems the situation changed. For the non-insiders, it wouldn't hurt to just... Not be a *#%$ to everyone.

Some mod cut some posts. Pegula got wind of it and said... No way, I'm the top Pegs, I can fire everyone. So they put the posts back, and graham reported it wrong.

I couldn't agree with the sentiment of your post more. Fred is the heart and soul of our team and has been through many a lean year. Cutting him now, just as we all feel we're on the brink of finally turning a corner, would ..suck balls. Should Fred be our starter... No. Should Fred be on our team... Absolutely. I'll also add that if anyone thinks this scrub RB from philly is the difference between playoffs and bust, you're delusional.

Essentially, its the TBD truism... Any player not on the Bills is better than any player on the Bills. Problem is, this year, there are no truly better QBs out there that can be had. But, people refuse to see that because EJ is clearly the worst QB in the league.... Because he's on the Bills.

What's fallen apart? The pats cheated. They've cheated in multiple ways for multiple years. How does something Jerry Rice did, or any other player, have to do with that? Or are you contending that the entire league cheats; therefore, we should ignore it all and just let them all keep on cheating?

It's called the dumbing down of America. Intelligent, rational discussion and analysis is boring. Off the cuff blow hards out-shouting someone with their unsupported opinion is interesting and good to watch. Hence, I watch almost no pre-/post game shows (or even news channels) any more.

Absolutely spot on in every respect. Myself and everyone I watched the game with were absolutely speechless after that play. People can bring all sorts of stats into the conversation. You can talk about the players doing this or that. But, in that situation, you run the ball. Period. It's just that simple. Seattle coaches out thought themselves and handed their season to the cheaters. It was so dumbfounding of a call, it makes me wonder... Does the league actually dictate who wins and loses? Because surely no NFL coach is that dumb. Right? Apparently they are.

My take... Terry and Kim are busy people running a $4billion empire. The only way you do that is you have a CEO type overseeing each separate entity. In this case, call him a football czar. But, I doubt seriously pegs has the time or knowledge to oversee all the operations of an NFL team. Hence, hire someone that does.

I haven't had time to read all of this, but the jist of it seems to be... That Brady got his team mates behind closed doors and told them he likes to handle supple balls. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/deflate-gate-report--11-of-patriots--12-game-footballs-were-under-inflated-043620937.html

All sounds completely reasonable.... And why there's a rule against under inflating the ball. There's a range that is permitted; hence, there's zero problem with anyone checking and making sure the balls at the high end of the range are deflated to the low end. That makes sense, and is allowed. But, clearly, the league decided that you couldn't do what ever you want in the name of fairness. Nothing you quoted here indicates that Rodgers or any other QB cheats and gains that unfair advantage. He's just stating that QBs would like flatter balls because it gives them an edge. Some players/team, however, disregard the rules and do what the want apparently.

I get that... Like real "champagne" is only from France. But, if they got the cows and continue to breed and raise them according to that tradition, are we splitting hairs a little? And I'm asking because I've heard this beef is the next best thing. And I've eaten it in steakhouses, it's pretty darn tasty. So, I'm genuinely curious what the resident cow czar has to say about it.

What about Snake River Farms, in ID? Pretty good stuff.

In football, you can score on offense, defense, and special teams. In baseball, the defensive team can not score. The comparison is ridiculous. If Seattle kicks off, GB fumbles the runback and Seattle scores. Should they have to give GB another chance? Because, ya know, it wasn't fair that Rodgers didn't get his chance. When does it end? What if you play a full (or reduced time) OT period, but the coin toss winner goes on an epic 14 minute drive? Should we extend play, so the other team gets a fair chance?

We currently have one QB on the roster, plus Tuel. Does anyone expect Rex to say anything differently? of course, they're going to look at all possible avenues to bring in at least 1 or 2 more QBs. And until Rex sees who that is and how EJ plays in practice, there's no way he says who the starter is.