msw2112

I've been to Boston, Providence, and Hartford too. Boston is clearly a destination. Providence happened to be "on the way" but seemed like a cool city. (And yes, Newport is an excellent place to visit and the mansions, the wharf, and the hike along the water are great). I've been to Hartford a couple of times and never thought much of it. I don't believe you can compare Buffalo to Boston on many fronts - the markets are just not similar. My point was that because of the Bills, Buffalo is more of a destination than other similarly-sized cities/markets - even when the Bills are not playing. Tying it back to the original post, while only one point of reference, I believe this survey speaks to the strength of the Bills/Buffalo brand, relative to other NFL markets (and relative to other non-NFL markets of similar size to Buffalo).

This survey/study is not the be-all, end-all. It's just one data point. It does show, however, that the Bills are a very strong brand. In addition to being a great team with an exciting young, talented QB, I believe that the Bills' fanbase has a lot to do with this. Lots of people move from city to city and around the world, but nobody retains and openly shares their love of their hometown and team more than Bills fans. Throw in the table-jumping, ketchup squirting, bowling ball shots, etc. (I've only done one of these 3...) combined with social media, and it only grows the brand more. Those who say the Bills stadium deal was a bad one don't fully understand the circumstances. This team, region, fanbase, etc. is not llke all the others. For example, I have numerous friends from other parts of the country who are not Bills fans (they are fans of their own teams), but can't wait to come to Buffalo to watch a game (preferably when their team is playing the Bills, of course). These are all people with good jobs and money to spend, which they will spend on hotels, rental cars, restaurants, bars, stores, ride sharing services, etc. when they come to Buffalo. I don't know people who are as excited to see a game in Cincinnati (a Super Bowl team), Carolina, or even New York. I know a guy who lives in Wisconsin, and is a big sports fan. When on summer vacation (the OFFSEASON), he chose to spend a couple of days in Buffalo with his family. They went out for wings, went to the New Era store, and other places. I guarantee that if the Bills were not in Buffalo, Buffalo would not have been on his family's radar for a visit. The Bills brand boosts the Buffalo brand, which attracts tourism and business, even when the Bills are not playing. I don't believe people are as interested in going to cities such as Fresno, Omaha, Tulsa, and Wichita, all of which have larger city populations than Buffalo or places like Sacramento, Providence, Richmond, or Hartford, all of which have larger metro area populations than the Buffalo metro area. The impact of the Bills on Buffalo and WNY is very real and it's economic in addition to "emotional."

And I hate to say it, but those same Texans beat our Bills in those playoffs. I do agree, however, that the two organizations have gone in very different directions since then. I wouldn't trade our current situations for that playoff win a few years ago. There are good people to be found in all organizations, even ones that are struggling. You just have to make sure you find the right ones.

For those in the Phoenix area, Pullano's on 51st Avenue and Thunderbird has some excellent wings. They are medium sized, so not the really big ones, but they have the crispiness and flavor down. They also serve Beef on Weck. The owners are from Michigan, so NOT from Buffalo, but it's a Bills Backers location, so there is clearly some connection. They also have a good variety of Buffalo sports (mostly Bills, a little bit Sabres) paraphernalia on the walls. The place is divided into two sides - one side is a family restaurant type of feel (but with TVs and Bills stuff on the walls) and the other side is the bar. It's a very down to earth place with a bit of a blue collar feel to it. Definitely not the Scottsdale crowd, but when I am there it is usually to eat and/or to watch the game, not to check out the assets. They recently had a bad fire, so I believe they are temporarily closed. Hopefully, they will reopen. If they lost their Buffalo stuff in the fire, we might need to organize some donations..... https://www.facebook.com/PullanosPizza/ (good picture of their wings on the top of this page) https://pullanos.com/

Agree. Can't hurt to kick the tires. Maybe Bradberry sees an opportunity for a ring and would be willing to negotiate a deal that would work for everyone involved.

I don't know much about Brady other than his year at LSU and his role with the Panthers, and just saw that he also spent some time with the Saints. I do, however, trust the current Bills coaching staff and management team and believe they did their due diligence on Brady before hiring him. If he was one-hit wonder who got lucky with one good season at LSU, I suspect they would have teased that out in the interview process and passed on the hire.

It's interesting to me how Samuel has defined a whole new type of player. I suppose Corredelle Patterson is also that type of guy. A strong, versatile WR who excels in RAC and is effective lining up in the backfield. Kind of a hybrid WR/RB. I think the Bills see Cook in that mold. It will be interesting to see if Blackshear is able to demonstrate that skillset sufficiently to earn a roster spot. My guess is PS for him. He was a good college player and very productive in a good conference.

I have no issue with Wallace's comments. He was open about what happened and gave his honest thoughts on it and specifically on what he personally could have done better. I don't think that his comment about letting themselves down vs. letting the fans down was problematic, when taken in context. He sounds like a good guy and I thought he was a solid player for the Bills. Despite all the negativity on this site against him, he beat out the competition for his spot year after year and played like a decent/average NFL starter. Not bad for a UDFA. Good luck to him (personally) in Pittsburgh. I don't wish any luck to the Steelers team, however.

I continue to be encouraged and impressed by the Bills' pesonnel department. I think that Beane and his guys are great at what they do. That said, we've "won the offseason" many times in the past. We've "plugged all the holes" and "addressed all of the areas of need." This is nothing new. Let's just hope it translates on the field and the Bills get over the hump and win it all next season. I certainly think they can and they have as good a shot as any team in the league.

This looks largely correct, except that it does not account for Duke Johnson. I suppose the line "Cook replaces Breida" could indicate that Johnson is gone. It also seems like some of these rookies could be good special teamers - would that mean (finally) the end of Taiwan Jones? I trust our coaching staff, and if they feel that Jones is essential, I'm all for it, but it seems like a difficult argument to tie up a roster spot to a special teams player who (1) does not offer anything at their primary position, even as a backup and (2) is not a young, developing player who might have a future on offense or defense.

This is no surprise. If Jones "is who they thought he was" they are not tied to the big 5th year salary and can move on from him. If he surprises and plays well, they can re-sign him, tag him, etc. If he plays well and they re-sign him, he may well cost more than the 5th year option price, but that would be a good problem for them to have and they are willing to take that gamble.

I have absolutely no idea what the Bills are going to do this year. I also have no idea what any other teams are going to do. This is the most unpredictable draft that I can remember. While CB is most likely for the Bills, any of CB, Safety, RB, WR or LB could be the pick, depending on a) how the board falls, and b) the Bills' future plans with current players such as Poyer, Edmunds, and Singletary.

So far, there are 2 that I can see.

Correct. To put more context to this tade, the Pats traded back 13 spots from their 5th round pick in exchange for a 7th round pick. Pats trade away to Texans: Pick #170 Pats acquire from Texans: Pick #183 and #245. I would say this trade is fair, but slightly favors the Pats. At that later point in the draft, the difference in quality of players isn't that great and the chances of them making the roster are about the same. I doubt there's a statistic that would show the success rate of Player #170 vs. Player #183, but I would guess it wouldn't be much different. So the Pats get a fairly equivalent pick, plus another flyer in the 7th round. It certainly seems like a silly trade for the Texans to make at this point in time. I could see it being made during the draft (as mentioned above) if there was a particular player targeted at that spot that the Texans really wanted and feared might get away, but why make that trade now?

And all of the other players on the list were on last season's team - Gilmore was not.

I went with Hughes. He's been a good player on the team for a long time and he still has some gas in the tank. He may not be as effective as he once was, but I believe he has value as a backup or rotational player. He might also surprise statistically if Von Miller is on the other side and has to be accounted for (assuming they don't exclusively play on the same side - and I honestly don't know, but I'm sure many others on the board do). Hughes has also gotten past his penalty issues from a few years ago and has become a real team leader who is a good locker room influence. It would also be great for him to be a part of what could be a very special season for the Bills. Williams and Klein can both still play and contribute and I wouldn't mind seeing them at the right price, although the signing of Saffold, matching the offer to Bates, signing Quesenberry (sp?), and re-signing Ike seem to indicate that Williams is done. Beasley is done. In addition to him appearing to lose a step, the Bills have already signed Crowder, a younger guy, to play the slot for less money, and it appears that some bridges were burned between Beas and the team, some (or more) of which could be related to the whole COVID vaccination thing. While the team may not have agreed with his stance on vaccination, I believe that they would have accepted it and been fine with it if he had not made such a spectacle of it on social media. I don't know that it had a major impact on the team one way or the other, but it was a distraction.

I bet we can get them to retain some salary and throw in a few draft picks too!

Agreed. It looks like his grade is early to mid third round. I don't see the Bills trading up for him, but if he falls to them, then I could see them selecting him.

I could see the Bills taking this player in the 3rd or 4th round, depending on who they draft ahead of him. You can never have too many weapons. I assume that if he was drafted, that Stevenson would probably be on his way out. While you never can have too many weapons, you do have a limit on roster size, so you can't keep every guy based on potential. It's safe to say that McKenzie is making the team, so I don't think they'd keep McKenzie, Stevenson, and Robinson, assuming they drafted Robinson. Stevenson has great speed, but he has a history of being injury-prone and I thought he ran a little "stiff" when I saw him play. By that I mean that he seemed to run very upright and while he may be fast, he may not be shifty or laterally quick. Those are just my own observations based on a very limited sample size. The numbers may well say something different.

True - but because I've had DTV all these years, I have not looked into other packages like YouTubeTV, fubo, Hulu, fubo, Sling, etc. I assume that a full package on those packages are less than DTV. I'd need one of those, in addition to the NFL package on Apple TV.

I'll be bummed if it ends up this way. I was hoping it would go with Amazon Prime or stay with Directv, which I already subscribe to. I also would have been good with ESPN+, as they now have the NHL, and with the Sabres improving, I was planning to subscribe next year. I also am more of a Google/Android guy than an Apple guy. I haven't been big on Apple hardware in many years. I find it too limiting and incompatible with other equipment. If Apple lands it, so be it. I'll buy in. I live out of market and the Bills are one my life's passions. The days of the annual haggle with Directv are coming to an end soon. I don't foresee Apple playing that game.

He also made one of the great plays in NFL history in a playoff game on national TV. That doesn't hurt one's brand. I'm sure most of the NFL fans on this board remember it well. You need to click on the "Watch on YouTube" link to watch it:

I have not seen him play, but based on the write-up, I wonder how Carson Strong would comp to Phillip Rivers?

I'd agree with this point. Also, the direction the thread was going was that the person posting did not know who Maclemore was and had never heard of him. Whether ones likes the Grammys or not, and whether the Grammys go to the most talented artist is not the point. I think the point is that a musician who has won 5 Grammys is hardly an unknown. Maybe the person who had never heard of Maclemore is a little out of touch with popular culture. I can relate, as songs come on the radio that my wife and kids know and I have never heard of. My wife knows who all of the Hollywood stars are and I have no idea who many of them are (and I really don't care), so I am out of touch with pop culture too. I have heard of Maclemore and like a couple of his songs and I am pretty far from the demographic of someone you'd peg to listen to rap music. Good for him, good for the Seattle hockey club, and good for the NHL. If the NHL wants to catch up with the NFL and NBA in popularity (a tall task), affiliating with pop culture stars who resonate with young people is a smart idea. Getting some connections with minority communities is also a good step towards widening its audience. As to Lynch, he definitely matured after leaving Buffalo. Given the presence of Fred Jackson at the time, and the stupid drafting of CJ Spiller, it made sense for the BIlls to move on from him. Lynch also, I believe, got paired with some good agents/management who have tapped into his "unconventional" charisma and turned him into a media star. My wife (again) who is not a big sports fan or NFL fan knows and loves Lynch, the media star, whereas I know Lynch the football player.

Here's a thought - set aside what is needed for draft picks and maybe a little bit for in-season moves. Use the rest to sign a cornerback. Truth be told, I doubt Beane is done and with other potential restructures, he'll find the necessary money for a CB.