msw2112

I don't know if Martin is right-footed or left-footed, but I'm sure Rex would be happy either way, as long as feet are involved. Sam Martin, the "Foot God?" I don't think Rex would be able to contain himself.

Martin is no Rex Ryan, but I still say "Don't Let Him Leave the Building!"

I agree with all of this. No need to hate on the guy for making a decision that is best for him and his family. Sure, I'd like to seem him in a Bills uniform, but I respect the decision he (appears to have) made. Let's hope the Bills can get a deal done with Martin so everyone can move on in this situation.

I'd like to see Kern in a Bills uniform, but if the guy, at this stage of his life, doesn't want to uproot his family, who am I to judge? From what I have read, Kern has $28M in career earnings, is in the process of building his dream house in the Nashville area, and is an excellent golfer who likes to play year-round. Those are some solid reasons why he wouldn't want to relocate to Buffalo and/or live away from his family. I see no reason why the story told by his father would be untrue. As to the Titans, after more than a decade wtih the franchise, Kern likely has a lot of connections and friends in the organization. I don't think their message was "don't sign with any other teams, as the rookie might not pan out and we want you to wait on hold for us." I think the message was more like "listen, if you don't want to sign with someone else, and stay in town, there's an outside chance we might need you, so stay ready if that's something you'd be interested in." The Kern story might also simply be posturing to get the Bills (or another team) to offer him more money. So let's let Kern do his thing and see what Martin has to offer.

Didn't Dodson make the team? And hasn't the team stuck by him, despite a somewhat checkered past? I'm surprised that he'd post a comment like this on social media (if that's what this is). Why bite the hand that feeds you? As suggested above, perhaps this is not legitimate, although who would spoof the social media of a relatively unknown backup linebacker?

What surprises me is not that Jones is a great gunner and therefore kept on the roster, but that year after year, they can't find a guy who they can coach up to be a really good gunner who is also a viable backup at a position of need. So many good athletes pass through that don't make it. Couldn't a backup CB, S, LB or (viable) RB be molded into a gunner over the course of a training camp or a season on the Practice Squad? Or is it just that specialized a skill and Jones just that much better at it? Given that I trust our coaching staff and front office, I'd have to say yes.

From what I have read, Rosen has matured. I assume he's been humbled by his lack of success in the league. That said, he's had more than enough chances. Even if he's the best teammate and hardest worker out there, he's just done.

Krammer/Kroger/Kromer is a good coach and will help a lot of the OL guys improve. From what I've read, Hart has played pretty well inside as a guard. He was beyond awful as a tackle in his previous stint with the team.

Stevenson will be gone to IR tomorrow - likely to open a spot for the punter. Hodgins is targted for the Practice Squad.

I assume that Stevenson will go to IR to open a spot for a punter (my money is on Kern, which isn't much of a reach). Not sure what other moves they might make. I wouldn't be shocked if they found 1 or 2 guys out there that are available at positions of need (backup OL has been mentioned above - looks like a backup C is needed if they commit to Bates as a starting G), but I also wouldn't be shocked if the Stevenson for punter move was the only one they made. I think they like their guys. I also think that they'll bring back most of their cuts to the PS, minus those who are picked up to be on other teams' 53.

I've always liked the concept of giving a guy with highly-rated talent coming out of college a shot in a "good" environment after he has failed on bad teams, the theory being that he was put in such a bad situation (poor coaching, dysfunctional organization) that he was bound to fail. It's a nice sentiment, but it doesn't seem to work out very often. Rosen has now been with the Cardinals, Dolphins, Falcons, Bucs, and Browns (and I probably missed one or two others). Clearly, he's done. I felt the same way about JP Losman, who I thought matured into a good kid in Buffalo with mobility and arm talent, but his 2nd and 3rd chances in Oakland and Miami didn't pan out either. Some guys are just busts who are great college players but don't have what it takes to succeed in the NFL.

How about Mitch Trubisky last season? While he may not have been guaranteed the option to start for another team, he would have had the opportunity to earn a starting job with another team and instead elected to be a backup for the Bills. Volek and Trubisky aside, this seems to be a decent decision for everyone involved. Jimmy avoids being cut or ending up on a team where he doesn't want to be, still picks up a nice paycheck, has potential to start and earn more money if (and when?) Lance fails, and he's a UFA next season with full control over where he goes. And who knows what's going on with him personally? Maybe he likes living in the Bay Area and doesn't want to leave.

I'm fine either way. If they keep him, he's a solid backup RB, he is a good pass blocker, and he has some power for short yardage situations. He's on the small side for a power back, but he's probably the best the Bills have in that role. On the other hand, if they can get something of value for him that fills another need for the team, their are other quality RBs in the stable (Cook, Johnson, Blackshear) that can handle carries. His value as a pass blocker may not be as great this year, as the Bills may want Cook on the field as a checkdown and/or to create the threat of a screen to keep defenses honest. I trust the coaching staff and front office to make these decisions.

I have not seen Lance play, but I'm not confident he will be successful this year. Arizona is an average team, at best, and Seattle is terrible right now. So I say Rams, if for no other reason, by default.

I am jealous. I live in the west, so it's mid-afternoon and I am in my office working. How I would love to be in a great sports bar pre-game with Bills fans! That said, I will be in LA in a couple of weeks, so my time will come.

I think that improved OL play will be much more important to the Bills' success than improved punting. I am very thankful for this.

I honestly don't care that much about Brady. I want to beat New England because they are a division rival and because they had such great success against the Bills for so long and their fanbase is an obnoxious, arrogant bunch of (M)ass-holes. Beating Tampa Bay and a FORTY-FIVE YEAR OLD QB, to me, is no different than beating any other team. Brady is still playing quite well into his 40's, but beating him and his current team at this stage of Brady's career doesn't do anything extra for me.

The THREAT of Allen's running should be enough to keep defenses honest and the amount he runs, compared to prior seasions, should be reduced. When a QB leaves the pocket and runs, he's fair game to be hit by defeders, just like a RB. Even if he slides or goes out of bounds, all it takes is one illegal hit by a defender (to the head, knee, etc.) and Allen could be out for several weeks and/or the season. Hello Case Keenum and bye, bye Super Bowl hopes. Not only does it impact his chances of injury for this season, it also adds to the overall wear and tear on his body for his career. I'm fine with Allen scrambling when there's a huge hole up the middle or around the edge, and in key situations in key games, but I don't like designed runs in non-critical situations. If it's 4th and inches in a tight ballgame and Allen is the better option to Moss, by all means run Allen. If it's first and 10 at the 50 in the first quarter, don't run a designed QB sweep. Give the ball to a RB. With an improved RB running game, the team should be able to decrease the number of runs by Allen. Sure, QBs get hit in the pocket on pass plays and get injured. Nobody is arguing that they don't. But that's not the question to ask. The correct question is how often do QB's get hurt when the hand the ball off to a RB? With proper blocking and playcalling, I believe that Singletary, Moss, and Cook should be able to get a lot of the yardage on the ground that Allen was called on to get in the last few seasons. The threat of Allen's passing ability should also open things up for the RB running game.

Knox is a good buddy of Allen's and a good locker room presence overall. He's gotten better every year and is developing into a top tier TE. I'm definitely in the camp of investing our "TE assets" into Knox versus bringing in an outside guy like Gesecki (who I just learned today cannot block). Would it be nice to have ANOTHER pass catching TE on the roster? Sure. But roster spots are limited and when we go 2 TE, it is likely that we need blocking from at least one them. Not sure Gesecki is that guy. Salary cap is also limited.

I'm not saying it's the best use of a roster spot, but the original question asked whether it was a special teams thing. The response was, that no, it isn't. They have different positions/roles on the team. I think they value Gilliam's versatility, particularly at TE. Keeping Gilliam on the roster may allow them to carry 1 fewer TE, while also having a blocking FB with a little more blocking juice than Moss has. It's arguable that Moss could do some of the things in the backfield that Gilliam can do, but it's not arguable that Moss can't play TE.

Crowder and Duke Johnson seem to be good trade candidates. Both are proven veteran players who have had some success in the league. I'm pretty sure the Bills signed both before the draft - before acquiring Shakir and Cook. By drafting those two guys and them both playing well in camp and preseason, Crowder and Johnson, along with their higher salaries, become expendible.

They play different positions. Gilliam is a fullback (blocking back) who also plays tight end. Moss is a running back (halfback). Gilliam is 3 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than Moss.

After watching this video, I am more convinced than ever that this guy is going to be a tremendous failure as a head coach. If nobody watching this video can believe or buy into what he's saying (which is clearly the case), the players are not going to buy in either. Young, slight guys need a certain charisma to be successful leaders of big, strong, alpha males that are on NFL rosters. Some guys have it - like McVay - but this guy doesn't. (And to qualify my statement, ALL NFL coaches need a certain charisma to be successful, but guys who are young/inexperienced and don't have a physical presence need it even more.) I do agree that it's good for a coach to hype up his players a bit to help them gain confidence in themselves (it worked wonders when Don Granato did it for Rasmus Dahlin with the Sabres last year), but this is just way too far over the top. To further add, while he's not young, Don Granato does not have a physical presence, but has a certain charisma that appeals to professional athletes - and the same could be said for Sean McDermott, although Sean was a bad-ass wrestler and did play college football as a DB. In both cases, I think that their honestly and directness has won over the respect of their players, whereas McDaniel is clearly fully of sh*t.

For what it's worth, Peterman had a year of NFL experience under his belt, including some game action, prior that preseason (despite the ugliness of that game action). Peterman also played his college ball at Pitt, which (arguably) plays against better teams and more NFL talent than Allen did at Wyoming. Nobody thought that Peterman was a better player than Allen. He was simply, in the eyes of the coaching staff, more ready to start a game. He clearly was not more ready to FINISH a game. Elam played in a better conference and against more NFL talent than Benford did, but they are coming out at the same time, so they have the same level of NFL experience. The "problem" with having a 6th rounder outplaying a 1st rounder (if that's in fact the case) is that the 1st rounder represents a much larger investment on the part of the team, as the team has spent a lot more draft "capital" on the player and is paying the player a much higher salary. I trust the Bills coaching staff to manage the "problem" and it will be fine. Based on what I saw in the preseason game, BOTH rookies played well against the Colts' first team offense, which is definitely a positive for the Bills.

I have not seen James play enough to know if he is better than Poyer. I would assume that he is. He's also 26, versus 31 for Poyer. This still is not good news for the Bills in the Poyer negotiations. As a side note, after reading the article, I realized that I didn't know/forgot that the Chargers acquired Khalil Mack. They've got some impressive talent on both sides of the ball and are going to be a problem. Of course, Chargers fans can look to the Bills' acquisition of Von Miller and say the same.