BarleyNY

Ok. Then please clarify your stance. Arguing against something isn't the same thing as saying what you're for.

I thought the same thing about Cleveland.

I think a case can be made for both San Diego and Buffalo. SD has gone two years longer and had more collective seasons without a title. Buffalo has been closer to a championship more often, however. SD has had two World Series losses and one Super Bowl loss. Buffalo's four straight SB losses to go along with two Stanley Cup losses puts them over the top in my opinion. Close, but no cigar is a different level of torture than just not making it.

I'm a 47 year old native Clevelander who moved to Buffalo 4 years ago. Cleveland teams will always come first. The Sabres are my only hockey team. The Indians are my only baseball team and the Cavs are my only basketball team. I absolutely love football and I'll root hard for the Bills unless they're playing the Browns (except for any Browns-are-out-of-it-Bills-are-still-in-it scenarios). The wife is a Steelers fan (tough times, these last 19 years), my daughter is a nomadic fan that follows her favorite player (Peyton Manning and now Zeke Elliott) and my son has taken my path. The Bills are the NFL team we can all root for as a family. (We all root for Ohio State too.) I wanted so much to see Cleveland gets a championship in my life. I'd love to see Buffalo get one, too. The pain of being so close so many times wears on you, as you are all aware. There is no comeback for ridicule that you have to endure. The expectation that something will go wrong, that someone will choke is always there. You do things like blame Jose Mesa for choking in the bottom of the 9th in game 7, but you also realize that the pressure must've been beyond belief. What Lebron just did cannot be overstated. Lebron's block, Kyrie's pressure shot and Love's defense were the plays Cleveland hadn't made in 52 years. Coming back from being down 3-1 in the finals, something no NBA team has ever done, against the team with the best regular season record ever and having to take 2 of those 3 on GS's home court (where they only lost 2 in the regular season and 1 previously in the playoffs) was unbelievable. Historic. I expected to lose it and break down in tears and have it be done with, but that didn't happen. I cried a little bit when it happened and a little bit several times since, when something about it strikes me. The emotions are coming out a little bit at a time. There was a moment of disbelief when it happened. The scenario almost seems manufactured. Lebron's return. The circumstances around it. Lebron's "This is for you, Cleveland!" That's what you dream about, but you don't get to experience it in real life. You give Brian Sipe a standing ovation when he enters a restaurant for the first time after Red Right 88, to show him you appreciate and know that he gave it his all. You wonder if that's how you show appreciation for the people that brought you the hardware, a championship. That even feels odd to type. "Hardware" seems a lot more approachable a word than "championship". Then you realize that these people had the same admirable qualities. They were just rewarded for them this time. And so were we. I could make a joke about how it feels. Something like "It's like having truly great sex for the first time. You bask in it for a little while, then you want it again." But that's not quite right (or quite wrong). It's all I could've imagined to say at such a time last week though. No, my biggest takeaway is that winning now seems possible. The next time a Cleveland team is in the playoffs the mentality will be that of "We can do it!", not "What'll go wrong this time?" The "loser" label is shed along with all of the internalized mental issues that go along with it. I sincerely hope that Buffalo fans take what the Cavaliers did to heart. Watching Cleveland win a championship should tell Buffalo fans that it is possible here too.

Holy crap! That's unreal.

I agree that that's the conclusion. I was confused about what the argument was. It didn't make sense that people would be arguing that having top CBs is nice only when they're on their rookie deals or otherwise cheap contracts. If having a quality player at a particular position is important, then those players/positions are valuable in terms of cap dollars allocated. I thought maybe the argument was that elite CBs are not worth their huge salaries and that cap space is better allocated elsewhere, but that doesn't seem to be the argument. I just read where someone made that case for OTs and OLmen in general so my mind was on that line of thought.

Because Gilmore is a much more proven commodity. Gilmore won't have a realistic chance to get $15M/year unless he playes 2016 under his option and becomes a FA next offseason. Remember that Norman got that figure as a FA. $15M/year is his asking price at this stage of negotiations, nothing more. From what Whaley has stated the team is at $13M/yr and Gilmore is at $15M/yr. They're fighting over at $2M/yr now. Don't get too wrapped up in it all yet. They haven't gotten down and dirty yet. This is likely to go on until near the start of the season.

Bills new slogan: "If it can happen in Cleveland, it can happen here!"

Cleveland last won in '64 so San Diego already had a longer drought in terms of years.

Okay. I wasn't sure if that was what was being argued or not. Yeah, it's a very thin argument. True, but why are you assuming Gilmore will be one of them?

I had a partial labrum tear that required one anchor. My arm was immobilized for almost 2 months. Rehab started after that when the brace came off. What procedure did you have done?

I'm not sure why some are making a distinction between top CBs that are highly paid and those still on their rookie deals in the process of earning a top deal. I'm not being snarky here. Is there a reason? I'd think that a top notch CB is a top notch CB.

My plan would be to stay seated, quiet and motionless. I think there's a fair chance that I'd stand, boo and flip him off tho.

Seems like a typical Upper Arlington pretty boy to me. (That's for Yolo and the Cbus/Ohio guys.) Seriously though, the Cincy Bearcats have a decent program these days and this is his 5th pro team since coming out in 2014. I'm not sure how much he can be expected improve at this point. Seems like a longshot to make the team.

Yup. Talk is cheap and the only national press that gets me excited is the stuff you get because you're winning (or at least progressing/improving). As Al Davis said, "Just win, baby!"

Rex has always been good for the media. He gives them a lot to work with and gets a lot of coverage - including national coverage. But that's not the same as being relevant. The coaches that succeed and win are relevant. Rex has had success in the past, as a DC with the Ravens and early on with the Jest. But now that's fading. Every season that his team - and especially his defense - doesn't succeed is a step toward him just being some has-been loudmouth who's still talking crap about his glory days, but who can't back it up anymore. His book isn't closed though. He's got a lot to prove and still some time here in B-lo to prove it. For the Bills' and Bills fans' sakes I hope he does, but he sure hasn't yet.

Believe it or not, there are things that happen and get talked about off the record. A well run organization's management will always show themselves to be united publicly. Writing a story with no on-the-record source that directly calls out the owner, GM and HC of an NFL team as liars isn't likely to do a wrriter's career much good. You think there aren't strong disagreements at the top of organizations all of the time? A decision gets made and everyone publicly supports it, regardless of how they feel. To do otherwise is career suicide. That's how the world works. In this instance there was also a big downplay of what Rice did until the full video went public. Then everybody pretended they didn't see the video and were suddenly outraged. It wasn't a matter of standing by a wife (fiancée) beater, it was a matter of an employee doing as he was told by his boss, offering a plausible story to the public and hoping everything would blow over. The full video going public blew up that plan.

So that's where the sides are, $2M/year apart. Just playing with big, round numbers here, but if we're to be tagged each of the next two seasons his salaries would be about $11M, $14M & $17M. That's $42M for 3 years, or $14M per season. Obviously the Bills don't want to have to tie up their tag for those two seasons - especially since the possibility of needing it for Taylor next offseason is a real consideration - but those numbers are something to work with. No, but Haden was compensated for his stellar play prior to his signing his last contract. He actually played great overall up until last season when he was absolutely abysmal.Still, that season is a caution to both sides. Playing under a tag is a huge risk for Gilmore. A bad season or injury and he could lose tens of millions of dollars. Of course, hitting free agency could net him that much more. Still, Norman was a pfree agent when he signed his deal. Gilmore isn't. There's a discount on overall contract for mitigation of risk and cash in hand. I expect to see him top 7 in average salary, but not at Norman's level. Probably in that $14M per season range. Here is a link to CB contracts: http://overthecap.com/position/cornerback/

"I wish!" - Rex

In the 2016 season would you rather the Bills make the Super Bowl and lose or lose in the AFC Championship game to a non AFCE team?

Wilkerson hasn't signed his franchise tag yet? I'm betting he's getting a "Remember, NO FIREWORKS!" text from his agent every hour.

Kim and I are the only ones in the building who can do this with our arms!

Agreed. If the offensive plan is to be a run first team with a vertical passing attack sprinkled in, then the defense will have to do better than last year. If it doesn't, then the Bills won't be able to stay in that game plan as much as they'd like.

I worry about a safety keying on Watkins. The KC game last year was eye opening to me. Sammy did a spectacular job in the first half. He beat double coverage because he was so fast that safety help wasn't getting there in time. He did a great job of getting executing his routes too. But in the second half he got shut out when the CB got aggressive and the safety shifted over him more. Another deep threat at WR opposite Watkins to take some defensive pressure off of him would help him and the offense immensely IMO.

Well, that's horrifying. I can't imagine what the family is going through. I never want to live in gator country. Horrific bug populations usually go hand in hand with gators and I can't tolerate them either. On a related note, my son's friend and his family are moving to the Orlando area next week. Shudder.