Chuck Schick

Yes, because if we know anything, it's that aging vets with big contracts have TONS of trade value in the NFL.

I got a mostly apathetic response from my non-Bills fans when I asked "Can you believe Sammy Watkins got traded??" Made me realize he's not the household name/ generational talent we all still think he is. For reference, Brandin Cooks got traded for the #32 overall pick and his stats look waaay better.

Drew Bledsoe

If you project Watkins to be relatively healthy and put up approx 1000 yds and 10 TDs (which in this offense would be a realistically "good" season), and for Darby to play solidly as a zone CB in the new scheme, how many wins do you think the Bills are losing out on by having Matthews and Gaines instead? I know it's a guess, but I find it unlikely that the outcome would be that different when all is said-and-done.

This problem has very few solutions. I played DIII about 25 yrs ago and people were saying the exact same things that Rosen is saying. The school I went to was in the NESCAC, and the league seriously considered pulling out of the NCAA, an organization has long since outlived its usefulness. But the criticism was overwhelming as the Rick Reilly's of the world all made a huge stink about it and it never happened. But I think we will soon see the power conferences break free of the NCAA, and some of the ridiculous regulations (that hurt the kids just as much as the schools) will be done away with. I could see a scenario where a kid gets to play football/basketball with a very minimal course load but with the ability to finish his education in the future, for example.

You're skeptical about the success rate of a 3rd round OL....So the Bills trade back up to the 2nd round and only sacrifice some mid round picks to get a better prospect....but if he tears his ACL...

Gilmore seems like a very odd guy. From the minute he was drafted, his facial expressions and emotional (or lack of) displays just looked kind of weird. On the playing field he also has shown that same erratic behavior: often good, but many times blatantly grabbing onto receivers, avoiding contact on blocks and tackles, looking back toward the line of scrimmage after getting burned, etc etc. Even when he got that pick in the Pro Bowl-- the way he stuck the ball out and just stood there while the play was still live, was not a normal reaction. I would be very skeptical of giving this guy a huge payday and expecting to get your money's worth.

I completely see your angle. You've decided that you have taken the moral high ground, and it's unthinkable that another opinion could diminish or even discredit that opinion. I don't think you're offended by this t-shirt. Nor do I think you are at all concerned for Kaep's safety or loss of rights. I get the vibe you just don't like the type of person that would buy and wear one of those things.... Red necks? White trash? "We" hate Brady for reason X....which is cool. "They" hate Kaep for reason Y. They must be stopped or at least publicly humiliated for their opinion.

I admire your resolve/ stubbornness. You make it sound like Kaep is some type of martyr who needs protection from the oppressive majority. No..... He's a guy who intentionally pissed off a lot of people and some have decided to give it back to him. No one is telling anyone to actually shoot Kaep, just like no one actually wants you to bring Brady's dead body in.

I would argue that Brady's is worse. "Wanted dead or alive" vs the crosshairs..... Again, you're seeing what you want see. Neither mean anything in real life. Unless your point is that a certain group of people are so stupid that they will act out on what a $15 t-shirt jokingly implies? So there cannot be even a hint of provocation toward that group, for the good of humanity? Hmmmm

They are NOW emboldened? I would say the opposite- anyone with anything to lose (job, reputation, etc) can't say a damn thing that might be construed as racist or derogatory. As for the T-shirt.... You and others are seeing what you want to see. Kaep chooses to kneel during the anthem; vendors at away stadiums need a "hook" to sell shirts like they've done for ages; voila, an old-west style poster playing up how he's the enemy. Nothing more, nothing less.....

That's pretty funny!

Sox fans in New England more than proved themselves in the many years leading up to '04. Going to games did become a trendy thing to do since then though, so demand and ticket prices have gone up. And the newer owners definitely capitalized on it. If there had been a Stub Hub back in the 80s and 90s those games would have been technically sold-out too. But the interest in the Pats is a totally new and different animal from the old days.

I am a little worried about AWilliams......he seems to do a weird spin-around thing whenever he's pursuing a ball carrier. Check out the few Pats highlights and you'll see it. Almost looks afraid to commit to the tackle.

I love the time lapse, where the sweatshirt starts out dry and he gradually soaks through it. Got to question his planning skills, thinking at 6:30 AM and 65 degrees that a sweatshirt will still be a good wardrobe choice for a mid-morning June practice in Fla.

If Buddy's Bears D wasn't enough (!) , check out what he did in Philly in the early 90's.

Too bad this isn't the CFL... His value would be way higher

He's not saying turnovers aren't important. But it's lazy to say that it's the only stat that matters, when deep into the 4th quarter the Bills were winning without having a TO advantage. It's like whenever the announcers would say something like "The Cowboys are 9-0 when Murray gets 20 or more carries." To which my wife would say " Why don't they just give him the ball 20 straight times and guarantee a win?" There's obviously a lot more going on than just some statistic.

We are going to get pinched, sure. But I don't think the logic was that bad. McCoy was brought in to do exactly what ended up happening: give us a legit running game. The national media is actually heaping praise on our o-line, even though we all know that's questionable at best. If McCoy were to have held out or sat because of phantom injuries, I don't think our running game would have amounted to a thing, plus Tyrod would have gotten teed up even more. By not extending him, this would have been a real possibility. I think that money was well-spent.

How quickly we all forget. This franchise was FAR more dysfunctional just 5 or so years ago than they are now. The way we hired GMs and coaches...pathetic. How we drafted players and signed free agent talent...equally pathetic. I'm not saying we are now a Super Bowl contender, but to not recognize an improvement in the system (call it culture if you like) is crazy.

Great thread, and just what I needed after another sleepless Sunday night. Stepping away from the "Same old Bills" routine, there really are some things to like about the team and organization. Most of them have been mentioned earlier, but I will add: it takes time and some trial/error to go from one of the worst-performing franchises, to an average one, and then (hopefully) a good one. We all hoped that we could skip over that middle step, but in reality we are probably at the exact place we should be: a very difficult opponent but with enough flaws to keep from being a legitimate contender. I think cooler heads prevail and we continue to get better and more consistent.

Crazy how anybody that limps off the field at this point in the season ends up on IR a couple of days later.

What in the world does "getting hit in the head is part of the game <of football>" have to do with anything, when in all those other sports, kids often get hit in the head? The numbers I've see show concussion rates in HS football as 11.2 per 10,000 athletic exposures. Lacrosse comes in at 6.9 and girls soccer at 6.7. Apparently there's data showing ice hockey and wrestling may be higher than lax, but I didn't see anything backing that up. I also think an argument can be made that "athletic exposures" in football are now drastically lower since rarely do coaches have players do full-speed live hitting any more. Games are once a week and there are far fewer games in a football season than other sports. So theoretically, even though the rate of concussions may be higher, the occurrences can be lower than other sports due to the fewer exposures. (I'm only talking about youth sports here, not the NFL).

To stick with your cancer analogy, playing soccer or lacrosse rather than football would be like chewing Copenhagen instead of smoking Marlboros. Those sports may not quite have the concussion notoriety as football dies, but they are in the same neighborhood. All football needs is someone to either invent some type of helmet/harness/??? that will drastically reduce concussions and this will all be forgotten. There's way too much money on the line for it to just fade away.

Reading your posts, I think you may be one of the biggest hypocrites I've ever "met". With your beliefs, how can you, with any good conscience, watch and support the game of football? Hell, you're even a 4,000+ post guy on a football-only discussion board. So you think it's suicide to play the game and wouldn't think of having any loved ones play it, but you're more than happy to cheer on those who do play and probably don't know any better? Nice.