BarleyNY

That's funny because what I worry about is him never managing to stay healthy long enough to ever be dominant. But I bet if he does he won't have any issues with the fans.

How he values himself matters little. How other teams value him matters a great deal. Let's face it, the reality of the situation is that a team without an average LT would be happy to have him and they'll pay him very well. The other part of that reality is finding a replacement LT should the Bills lose him. Capable or better LTs are usually first round or sometimes early/mid second round picks. Rarely are they found outside of that and even when they are those players don't generally start right away. If the Bills lose Glenn and can't replace him with another capable LT (and I don't see how they do that outside of early in the draft) we are going to see some real problems.

Don't forget Incognito. He is a FA after the season and needs to be a priority assuming a reasonable contract. Extending Gilmore would make a lot of sense and free up some cap space for next season. Glenn shouldn't break the bank and would be nice to retain, but I expect him to hit free agency. Once that happens he's likely gone as some LT needy team will overpay. The Bills probably missed their opportunity with him. Woods would be nice to extend as well. He's not a top talent but he keeps his mouth shut, works hard and (typically) can be counted on to give maximum effort and know his assignment. He's a WR you can start if you need to, but is best as a rotational guy. Teams need guys like him on the roster. If he's willing to take a contract commensurate with that, then sign him to it. Bradham is almost certainly gone. He hasn't excelled in Ryan's scheme and cap space will be tight. Some team will give him a chance and a decent payday based on last year's performance.

Absolutely. Harvin is gone and I don't think the team can count on Watkins being healthy. Even if he is they still need another quality starter. The Bills should have known better and any other team that gives him guaranteed money deserves what they get. If I'm a GM the only way I sign him is to a vet minimum contract with high incentive bonuses for being on the field and performing. Well said.

WTF? Not any good? He was runner up DROY. A risk because of injury concerns? Granted. But "not any good"? Ridiculous.

I'm really not one to call names, but whenever I hear or see "Sammy Watkins" my brain now translates that to "Fragile Sammy Watkins". He'd be a great asset to the team if he could stay healthy (obviously), but the number of injuries he's had and the manner in which they've occurred is not promising. If I'm the Bills I'm still looking to address the WR position in the offseason as Harvin won't be here and Watkins can't be counted on to be on the field. I like Woods and all, but if he's my #1 then I know I have problems.

Any reasonably sophisticated model would take things like that into consideration. But don't forget that those models give odds and report the most likely scenario. Better (and worse) scenarios can have decent chances too.

fivethirtyeight is well know for political predictions (it is unbiased and usually the most accurate) and does a lot with economics, science, etc. They've also been into modeling predictive models for different sports so I'd wager ESPN partnered with them to get their modeling expertise on the sports stuff. The Freakenomics guys do similar modeling and actually showed that Sumo wrestling was fixed in certain cases. Apparently they did the same with horse racing, but instead of making the data and conclusions public they decided it'd be better to continue to bet on the races. Which was probably a really good way to go since a bunch of people in the Sumo community wound up murdered by the Yakuza after that scandal broke.

ESPN is hemorrhaging money so you'll notice a lot of cost cutting measures there.

Thomas has quietly played through some severe injuries in his career, including last year. He's still one of the best LTs in the league and arguably the best in the game today.

Lots of good ones. I'll add Aluminum by The Bare Naked Ladies.

That last bit about wanting to be here and contribute is an odd thing to have to say about a player.

At what? It sure isn't football. A Gino led Jets team is sure a lot more beatable than a Fitzy led Jets team. That matters a great deal to a team that probably has to beat them twice to make the playoffs.

Probably. Not sure if it can wait until after the season or not though. In any event it's on his non-throwing hand so if he can still take snaps he can probably gut it out. The Jets are definitely better with him at QB than Gino so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

He really hasn't played that well this season from what I've heard. Possibly ill effects from last season's injury. In general he's been an excellent zone blocking center who has done an exceptional job with recognition and line calls.

Actually I try to take emotion out of situations and look at them realistically and I'm doing that here. Saying that sometimes teams with mediocre records at the midpoint turn around their seasons and make the playoffs is true, but misleading. It happens, but the odds of it happening with any one specific team are very low. That's reality. That the Bills have given me precious little reason to think they'll turn things around is also reality. That's subject to change (obviously) but it's where things stand.

I was just joking around. I've seen a fair number of posts like yours and while I can appreciate the optimism I find the cherry picking of statistics amusing. Yes, it's not technically over. In fact according to fivethirtyeight the odds of the Bills making the playoffs increased from 16% to 22% this week. Yes, being .500 at the halfway point means the Bills would have a chance to make the playoffs. But the reality is that right now the odds of the Bills making the playoffs are not great and that the play of the team has yet to give much reason to believe that is likely to change. And even if they were to make the playoffs, then what? They're still a very long way from competing with the best in the league. But you never know and it doesn't hurt to root hard and hope.

I think history will show that the Bills don't make the playoffs. Ditto teams without quality QBs. So maybe don't hang your hat on the history thing.

That would appear to be what's going on here. Honestly, it's probably what's best for them. The Bills can't afford either player and if either has a say in where he goes (Mack definitely does, not sure about Thomas) I can't see them wanting to come to Buffalo. Neither will get top dollar here and this isn't the place for someone looking for a ring.

Rex's shtick is a lot of fun when his team is doing well, but gets pretty old pretty quick when they're not. It is what it is. He was smart when he dialed it back in NY when things weren't going well. I suspect he will be here for quite some time to come though. Anyone thinking that firing him due to his span of 7 games as HC is justifiable should maybe just take a step back. I don't agree with everything he has done, but he's a good coach and nothing positive would come from firing him anytime soon. It would not help the perception of the team and it would not help the reality of it. The worst thing a team can have is incompetence in its front office and coaching ranks, but the second worst is constant turnover which often looks just like the former.

I'm with the OP except my expectations were not as high as most. I expected the 6th playoff spot and a loss in the divisional round. They certainly look like they will fall short of that. The defense is not as bad as it appears to some, but it has not been a top 5 as expected. Specials have been poor and not met expectations at all. The offense is about as expected overall. I expected the QB position and OL to hold this team back. The OL really hasn't. They haven't been great or anything, but they also haven't been the big liability they were expected to be. The QBs haven't been great. EJ has been terrible. Taylor has been decent, but doeant look like long term starter material. His passing needs to improve if that's to change. He still can make plays with his legs, but he does that too often. He's not big enough to last taking shots in the NFL and I cringe every time he takes off or runs a read option. What I'm looking for the rest of the way out is improvement in Taylor's passing and improvement in scheme/player usage. Seeing those things - even some of them - would give me hope for next season.

That's always been Tanny's game. He's a WCO style QB, a short to intermediate thrower - and that's in Florida. In Buffalo in the wind whipping winter, he's a short thrower. If he had arm strength he'd be a franchise QB, but he doesn't and he's not. NE aconsistiently played with 9 or more defenders up on or near the LOS. The rushed hard, jammed his receivers and dared Tanny to beat them over the top. You saw the result. That's why I'd want no part of him.

Yup. Their cap space wad has been shot. Retaining or replacing Incognito and Glenn should be their primary goals. Other than them they'll just be looking for deals - and a QB.

I agree with all of that. Glenn and Incognito are the two FAs that need re-signed. My one minor difference of opinion is that McKelvin was listed as one of the expected CBs next season under the Brooks section. He's been injured so much of the last couple years I'm not sure that he's on the team in 2016.

I firmly believe that the very quietly implemented HGH testing has a lot to do with it. Seattle had a ton of positive tests when it first got implemented (the year they won the SB), but mostly that got swept under the rug. Ditto with some other teams. Excuses were made. The NFL didn't want the bad press so there was little done publicly league-wide. A few players were allowed to retire surprisingly, but fairly quietly. Willis (SF), Worlids (Pittsburgh), etc. Hopefully the HGH testing helps level the playing field long term.