Dan

I, most assuredly, am not.

As sad as it is to admit... I agree with this attitude more and more each day. I have almost no optimism for this team at this point. With that said, I might get a titch of it back if: They re-sign Stevie. If they let him walk, for any reason, this franchise is going no where. Period. They re-sign a few of the other key players currently on the bubble. They extend Freddie. Do that, and they show they're able to recognize talent currently on the team and they want to keep it and build around it finally. Go after a quality WR and pass rushing DE or LB in free agency. Do that, and they show they recognize what our biggest offensive and defensive needs are. Have a solid draft. That's all I can hope for here. Until we see who they re-sign and pick up as FAs, I can't see hoping for any particular player(s). Do that, and they're continuing to build a solid foundation. Get Fitz into a core strength and training program and working with someone on his foot work. His greatest problem is down field accuracy. At least attempt to correct that and we just may notice an improvement in his game. Do all that prior to or concurrent with the OTAs and I'll consider it a good offseason, and entertain the possibility that this team is heading in the right direction. Don't do each of those things, and its the final proof that they truly are just spinning their wheels. So until I see what happens with Stevie, imo, the first domino that will fall, I have little to no feeling one way or the other about the future direction of this team.

That's what I've been saying for a while. The Republicans need to stop worrying about their base. Their base is already fired up and will vote for anyone that isn't Obama. They need a nominee and VP running mate that will fire up the independents. That, in my opinion, is exactly why Newt (or Santorum) would lose a general election. They can get the conservative base fired up, sure, but not enough independents.

My link Yes. Its gotta be rough being the poor guy.

So take the Bills of 2011 and change the HC and we're a game away from the Super Bowl?

No. I didn't. JH inherited pretty much all of that team. How much rebuilding did they do last off season? The 49rs of last off season and the Bills of 2yrs ago are not analogous at all.

How do you figure a one year turnaround? Smith, Davis, Gore, etc. etc. have been on that team quite a bit more than one year. The core of that team has been there, they just needed a coach to pull it all together. But to say that team was built in a year is disingenuous at best.

From the other thread, he was being courted by the Jets, as well. So apparently, he chose the lowly Bills over the high flying Jets? Interesting; could the worm be turning? Personally, I don't know if this is a good hire or not. But I really hope he can help Fitz work on his mechanics and thereby help improve his down field accurcy issues.

I would disagree. I think it's more an indication of poor coaching coupled with excessive injuries. Is Maybin the complete waste that can't even get on the field that he was in Buffalo or is he a 5 sack a year guy that he was in NY? I agree with several posters here, we have fewer holes than I think many realize. The problem is they are important holes. How do you run a 3-4 defense with only 1 decent LBer on your defense? We desperately need to get good LBs, a DE, a WR. In that order, IMO. Yes, we have needs at many other positions, but that's to build depth or just to upgrade. OL, for ex, yes, it would be nice to upgrade our LT; however, Bell is not complete crap like our LBers are. So, I don't see how that can be considered a hole. Same with QB. Fitz is ok (especially if we get a starting WR to go with Stevie). But, yes, it would be nice to draft a guy to replace him in a couple of years. But QB is by no means a huge hole on this team. Get some adequate coaching which maybe we've done with Wanny, fill some of these glaring holes, continue upgrading and finding good depth, and watch several of our existing guys improve dramatically. Obviously, we can't address every hole and every upgrade this year. So do you draft a young QB this year or do you continue filling other areas of greater need? That's an answer that I would expet depends upon the player available this year vs next year. But, IMO, you have to address the major holes, first. Then you worry about the upgrades/depth.

Yes! He's not currently on the Bills roster, ergo he must be better than anyone on the Bills roster.

That's my thoguht as well. Why is Polian getting all the blame in Indy? Shouldn't the HC shoulder a large portion of the blame? Yeah, with Painter as your QB, you don't expect the playoffs maybe. But the complete and total collapse of the entire team, IMO, has to be on the HC as much or more than anyone. Irsay is nuts.

The biggest problem with his antics is it disracts everyone from the real problem on this team... a defense that gave up 40points to a divisional opponent. Stevie was stupid to do it. Chan made a point, in a meaningless game, that his behavior wouldn't be allowed. But the real problem is... we finished another pathetic season with another pathetic team-wide effort.

In an effort to get thisthread back on track... thank god is all I was thinking at end of this game. Another craptacular season is finally over. I don't have to watch that team any more ...till next august. This game re-inforced several things for me: 49points! If there's any further proof that we need a huge makeover on Defense, starting with the Coordinator, I don't know what it could be. 21 points and moving the ball with Stevie. Nothing without him. Re-sign the guy! Also, get some other WRs that can actually catch and not tip the ball around. 1-5 in the division. Chan is on thin ice. He's just gotta do better. Period. I think its time someone tell him being the HC, OC, and DC is not working... higher some damn assistants. Fitz needs to work seriously on his downfield accuracy. Otherwise, next year should be his last year starting. It's hard when your receivers are better at bouncing balls around than they are catching. But he has missed entirely too many wide open WRs downfield due to being wildly innacurate. This team needs a solid off season, because after this year.. its gonna be damn hard to get excited about this team otherwise. Two years in... they still have a long way to go.

You're forgetting a standard TSW truism... Lynch is not on the Bills; therefore, he's a good player and we should pay extra to get him. Jackson is on the Bills; therefore, he's not even starter quality and we shouldn't over pay to keep him.

See now, you're completely making stuff up. Stevie's agent is on record as saying he wants $7.5mill/yr; not $10. But, ok, I'll play along... read below. Exactly. We're no where near the cap AND we have to spend considerably more just to get to the new league minimum. Who are we going to spend that money on? Let Stevie walk and hope to find a FA of equal or better caliber to spend the money on? Why not just pay the player that's actually produced for the Bills, has chemistry with our QB, and likes the other players and the City? Even if you have to "overpay"; what's the big deal. Until they start overpaying every player, we don't have a problem. Honestly, if Ralph is cheap... it's only because he's giving many of the fans exactly what they're asking for. Pay the man. (freddie too)

Exactly. As far as I'm concerned, pay Stevie whatever it takes to keep him. This team is better with him than without - it's really that simple. No, you're not. I've been saying that for a while. No, Poz is/was not the best LB in the league and perhaps not worth his salary. But, who cares? He was the best LB on the team in 2010. Keep him, let one or two of the other scrubs walk, and sign Barnett. That would have given us a much stronger LBing core in 2011. It's the same with Evans, and now Stevie. Keep Stevie, Nelson, and then add a decent to good FA WR and we're a better team in 2012. Let Stevie walk because he wants a million or 2 more, only to replace him and the team is no better than they were. Unfortunately, this has been the Bills for a decade. Let a good player walk rather than give him a new, higher paying contract; only to draft/sign someone to replace him. As a result, we've had the same holes on this team since forever. It's been the very definition of spinning your wheels. Now the new FO says they want to change that; they have a plan. They've re-signed a couple of players, which is good. If they re-sign Stevie, I just may believe that our FO is turning a corner. If they let him walk, regardless of the reason, then this FO is no different than the last several. IMO, signing Stevie means far more than just signing a player; it will show that this team is serious about trying to win. If they let him walk, regardless of his new salary, it just demonstrates that winning is not the most important thing to this FO.

Stevie is perhaps the best and most consistent player on our offense (outside of Jackson). The Bills are well under what will be the league minimum for total player salaries in 2012. Nix and company have stated they want to build through the draft and develop their players in house. If they don't re-sign Stevie, regardless of the price tag, then there truly is no hope for this franchise. Period.Pay the man. He is far more valable to the Bills than any draft pick/FA.

lol ... so true! *lowers head in shame and quietly sits in corner*

I'll admit... at the beginning of the season, I really thought Evans would have a huge year and really help to tramsform the Raven offense. Whether due to his injury, attitude, or whatever, I was wrong.I also, FWIW, really thought OchoCinco would have a career year with Brady throwing him the ball. Again, I was wrong.It reminds me of the old adage that free agents are more valuable to their existing team than to a new team. There is definitely some truth to that, despite the few examples (Sproles, for ex) of FAs really helping their new team. It's also Preseason thoughts like this, that remind me... I'm just a fan and no GM. So, like it or not, we gotta give Nix a chance to do his job and just hope he's better than a fan.

Perhaps not properly though. Dependind on the model, I believe most Honda cars are mostly made in OH. In the entirely screwed up world we live in, buying "American" car brands means American corporate owners benefit, but American workers lose out. Buying "foreign" means American wrokers have jobs, but the corporate profits go overseas. Nissan trucks, I know are made in MS. So if you really wanna be a good redneck, you need to drive a Nissan not a Chevy.

Here's what I don't think you're getting... I'm not arguing "worth". I'm saying that Stevie is our best WR. You don't improve the team by letting your best WR walk only to try and replace him with an unproven guy or some second chance FA. What difference does it make how much they pay Stevie? The team has the cap space nor is it my money. I want the team to actually improve. And to do that, you keep your better players and replace the non productive ones - regardless of whether our best players are the best players in the league or not. What half the people here seem to wish for is a continued spinning of the wheels. Similar to what we've done with the RB position. How many draft picks have we wasted because they simply refused to make McGehee happy here? Like him or not, he's still a fine back in Denver. But, everyone would rather rail on a guy, see him walk, then draft his replacement. All the while, the team keeps running in place. Letting Stevie walk, regardless of the pricetag, is completely unacceptable if you actually care about fielding a better team next season. I can see no scenario where this team is improved by letting Stevie walk.

I completely agree with that. We need another big time receiver bad. In particular, someone who can adjust on the fly and make circus-type catches on all Fitz's inaccurate passes. Not only does that make the team better, but it also means the burden isn't entirely on the shoulders of a young guy like Stevie to always produce the game winning play.

Bottomline is you do not build a winning team, with depth, by continually cutting your best players and keeping the backups. We did it with Poz.. let him walk and kept his back ups. How much better would we have been if they had paid Poz and signed Barnett, and let Davis or dang near any of the others walk. Same with Evans. Evans, Johnson, Nelson is a much better WR core than Johnson, Nelson, take your pick. And we could go to several other positions. Just face it, sooner or later we have to start keeping our better players, and yes.... gasp... paying them more money. Not ever player has to be the best player on then team. But I'd rather have an immature Stevie J. than a nice mature great guy like Donald Jones any day of the week.

I could not agree with you more. All analysis and talk about the offensive side of the ball is mute, until the defensive issues are addressed. Once again, the defense allowed the other team to march down the field at will throughout the game. Yes, they look better in the second half, but that's only because the other team has a nice lead and begins playing more conservative. Once you're behind by 2 or 3 scores right outta the gate, the entire offensive gameplay is thrown out the door. We've seen this week in and week out. You don't let Spiller run the ball when you're down by 3 scores in the second half. Edwards is horrendous as a defensive coordinator. We're missing 1 (KW) maybe 2 (Merriman) impact players from the defense. Yet everyone is out of position, late to the ball, undisciplined, and just generally apathetic. It's a horrendous defense playing far below their talent levels. If Chan doesn't correct this miserable mistake, then he needs to go as well. It's bad enough he hired him in the first place. Now, just man up, admit you made a mistake, and bring in a proven DC.

Maybin is the poster child for the Bills defensive coaching staff's ineptitude. He's the exact same player, same weight, same moves, same experience level on the Jets as he was the Bills. We cut him him because he's a complete bust and useless; a few weeks later he's getting it done as a Jet.The mantra here has always been we need players with more talent. Well, I offer Maybin as a prime example of the talent level being adequate. It's just our coaches are clueless in how to develop and properly use the talent. Face it... The Bills won't have a winning season until the defense improves. The defense won't improve until we get new coaches that can ....coach.