Chuck Wagon

5th round pick for Vernon Davis

He gave us an extra 5th rounder. I expect Harris and Iupati or Boling to be two of our first moves. I have a hunch Revis will be a Bill if the Pats decline his option.

The one that gets me is "used to playing for the playoffs". Over the last 4 years the Eagles have missed the playoffs 3 of them.

That's pretty good. He chose to go to Pitt, which is 3 1/2 hours away from his hometown of Harrisburg. I get playing HS, College and NFL in the same state and it's a cool story, but Buffalo is only 5 1/2 hours away from his hometown.

They are trying to fix it. A few years ago we just would have stuck with EJ for 5 seasons with Tuel level backups.

Rick Spielman is in Houston begging AP to at least pretend to be willing to play for the Vikings so he can trade him for a 4th round pick.

Obviously we aren't going to be the 2nd coming of the Saints and chuck the ball around 40 times a game. IMO the biggest thing Cassel brings is intelligence and experience. What makes Brady and Peyton so successful is everything that happens before the ball is snapped, they get their teams in the right plays and identify the best matchup. I expect Cassel to know when a run won't work and a check off is needed and to not turn the ball over. It's tough judging Orton knowing what we know now. When did he decide he was hanging it up? Was he playing the whole year just for one final paycheck? I think there were several times last year that Orton crossed the line in regards to self preservation. I expect Cassel to have a little more guts in that regard. Adding his first hand experience of BB and Brady certainly doesn't hurt.

This is true. I expect we're about to see some real head scratching contract offers in the next week. Part of the reason I want to go after Revis, get in quick and give him his ~$17 mil before guys like Byron Maxwell start getting $12 mil or more.

That's a really good take. I think another factor is Shady is the type of player who doesn't look twice at Buffalo if he were to hit the open market. I have a lot more faith in defensive guys buying into Rex and signing here than I do offensive guys. Realistically, short of us giving him an insane deal, I don't think DeMarco Murray would give us the time of day, and he's the only offensive FA I think could have a Shady type impact on our offense.

I agree with that take on our 2nd. That's kind of why I'm leaning with them taking whatever QB they have ranked highest at that point. I'm on the edge of my seat going into this FA period. I could see us coming out hot and making a play for the Revis/Iupati's of the world. At the same time, we don't really have glaring holes outside of QB and I could see a more measured approach, basically waiting for the draft/post June 1st cuts to use our cap space in hopes of landing some compensatory picks. Incognito and Shady have basically put every option into play.

I agree with you in theory, though I tend to look at it more in tiers. In every draft there's usually between 5-10 players that everyone agrees is the cream of the crop. When you get into the mid teens the guys really aren't all that different than guys who go in the 30s/40s, it usually comes down to team need or guys having red flags. The end of the 2nd through to the end of the 3rd/top of the 4th is the next tier. (Guys you are still hoping to be starters but at least are expected to make the team and contribute). Then you are into scratch-off lotto ticket territory. Typically it's viewed to be a successful draft if you get 3 starters and 2-3 other contributors.

Kelly and Roseman are in a fight over control of the team. Roseman used to have say of the roster and tried to get ownership to tell Chip to shove it. Ownership sided with Chip and took the power away from Roseman. Shady is just the latest in a string of moves (Trent Cole, Herremans, James Casey) that Chip is doing to get rid of Roseman's players and shove it in his face. It's got more to do with that than just adding Ducks.

But we don't have a 4th, given the picks position it's essentially the equivalent of our 4th round pick.

I don't think it's dramatic to point out the distinction between our regular, middle of the round 5th and the 1st pick of the 5th round. Though it's still a 5th and realistically you should be happy to land someone who makes the roster and contributes on special teams with the pick.

It's our 1st of 2 5th rounders, which is Tampa's, ie the first pick of the 5th round.

As others have mentioned, they aren't going to raise Shady's cap number in "giving in to Drew's demands", they'll give him more guaranteed money which can be spread out over the life of the contract and lower his number. We're fine. There's a lot of things that can be done. At this point nothing will shock me, including landing Revis. We can do some cap gymnastics, sign Revis and still bring in a guy like Harris and another OG.

I think the Bills are in the business of not guaranteeing anything to anyone. I think the Browns are in the business of telling you whatever it takes to get your name on the line.

We did that last year. I see some 3-4 outside backers / block eating dlinemen being taken late.

People know Spiller is a year older than McCoy, right? If we renegotiate Shady's deal and lower his cap number to ~$8 mil while CJ signs with someone for ~$5.5, I think it puts a pin in a lot of the detractors.

That pick is essentially a 4th (though compensatory picks need to be factored). Speaking of compensatory picks, I'm starting to wonder if that's a consideration in some of these deals. Hughes might put us in line to get pretty good compensation (relatively speaking) while signing a Locker/Hoyer/Moore would have been a hit in the formula. Back on topic to Cassel, I see him as the babysitter to push EJ but be a guy willing to coach him up as well. I'm thinking we're leaning Petty or Grayson in round 2.

When I was playing with the cap simulator, cutting Rivers and Chris Williams and restructuring Mario got us up to just under $40 mil of cap space. Obviously there's a lot of shoes to still fall, but I'm wondering if he's incorrectly looking at Shady's $12 mil number instead of the $9.25 mil number to start with.

That cap number seems off. Cassel does nothing for me, but it's tough judging without knowing what picks. Is it too much to hope we traded our 2 5ths for Cassel and the Vikings 4th?

No way would the Cowboys do that deal.

Right before it he said the Bills are deep at linebacker with Brown and Bradham and mentioned the David Harris connection. Sometimes I really wonder if Simmons ghost writes some of his stuff or if he's just pandering to impress the boss. A comment like that is classic Simmons, present a strawman argument to try to prove your point while ignoring the point you've decided against.

I typically like Barnwell's stuff, but he lost me when he said "Wouldn't you rather have Forsett and Alonso than McCoy and a hole at linebacker?"