Nihilarian

Kind of idiotic to make that trade up for a non-QB in my view... Jags the new Brownies?

awesome to keep that guy away from NE

As long as the NY Giants take Carter I'm happy so far.

I'm reading a lot of mocks that have the Bills taking Starks at #30. which, when I think about it, I like it a bunch as I recall how good that Buffalo secondary was with Hyde, Poyer running all over. S, DL, CB, DL are my first four.

I would like to see the Bills go overboard on defense this draft, as the defense falls on its face year after year due to injuries. Fill the positions with studs and depth. I think they find a WR, RB in this draft though...

I was thinking CB in round one, and now not so sure. \ What is funny to me is that the Chiefs have an inside guy in the Bill's scouting department, so they know what Buffalo is going to do beforehand. Ever since that 2022 draft, when both teams needed a CB and the Chiefs traded up to snag Trent McDuffie. Meanwhile, the Bills scrambled to draft Kaiir Elam with a trade-up. Then last year, with both teams looking at WRs...now this year with both teams needing DL, CB. Just makes me wonder...this franchise's biggest rival.

It's a start in the right direction to improve the Buffalo secondary this offseason. Nothing is etched in stone about anyone starting, except perhaps for a guy named Josh. Those injuries take a long time to heal and I give the Buffalo scouting dept credit for knowing that Tre can still play at a top level.

A CB or Safety with that first pick

In 1979, under then-HC Chuck Knox, the Buffalo Bills drafted Linebacker Tom Cousineau from Ohio St with the number one overall draft pick. The Bills acquired the pick as part of a package of five draft picks from the San Francisco 49ers in a 1978 trade for OJ Simpson. (great trade) (My take is Chuck Knox was responsible for this, as he had a huge part as de facto GM) At that time, the Buffalo Bills named GM was ex-Buffalo AFL player Stew Barber, who, after the draft, called Tom Cousineau and invited him to dinner in Buffalo to discuss his salary as a Buffalo Bill. Stew Barber never showed up, never called, nothing! Needless to say, Cousineau was upset, and the CFL Montreal Alouettes doubled what the Bills had offered Cousineau, so ole Tom left for the North County. Cousineau was a star in Canada. Now, in 1982, Tom wanted to return to the NFL (even though he had never played a down in the NFL so far). The Houston Oilers attempted to sign him, but the Buffalo Bills, who still held his NFL rights, matched the offer. The Cleveland Brown's owner at that time was Art Modell, who had long wanted to acquire Cousineau for obvious reasons. The Buffalo Bills then traded Cousineau to the Cleveland Browns for their first-round draft choice in the 1983 NFL draft, plus a second and third in later years. That first round pick from the Browns in 1983 just happened to be future Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly!!!!! That right there seems like some pretty serendipitous she it. Now, Cousineau signed a five-year contract for $2.5 million, the highest contract ever at the time by the Browns. Tom played four seasons for the Browns and never made the Pro Bowl.

My hot take is that the 2025 Buffalo defense will be hard pressed to finish with the #1 ranking in turnover ratio again this season, like they did in 2024. The 2024 Buffalo defense finished 11th in points allowed, 17th in yards allowed, and would have won far fewer games if not for that unreal turnover ratio. Buffalo #29 in first downs allowed? Can that be right? This year's team is desperate for a solid defensive secondary. AFAIK, the team didn't even offer CB Douglas a contract, and they traded away backup CB Elam. Plus, they lack solid proper depth all over the defensive side. It seems like each and every year, the last few seasons, the Buffalo defense falls on its face at the end of the season due to injuries. All I can think of after watching the Philly Eagles demolish the KC Chiefs offense is that "defense wins Championships". Yes, the Eagles did score 40 points against that top ten "Spags" called KC defense. They went 15-2 in 2024 and were owned in that SB by Philly...a thing of beauty! The Buffalo Bills have ten draft picks in the 2025 NFL draft, and I'd be happy to see them spend them all on the defensive side if they could field a top-five defense this season.

What many Bills fans didn't see was that in the AFC Championship game against Denver that year, the Bills won 10-7. So many Buffalo injuries to the Bills players were what caused them to look so bad in that SB. Heck, during that AFC game, the Bill's O line was so banged up that TE Pete Metzelaars was forced to play tackle because everyone else was out injured. Not to mention, I think that was the year that the NFL cut down the time between the Championship game and Super Bowl to one week. Not only that, Buffalo's defense was just terrible that season. The Bills defense ranked second-to-last in total yards given up as Bruce Smith missed most of the season due to injury. Plus, the Redskins were the better team by going 14-2 that year. Then, the jackass Buffalo assistant coach made fun of the Redskins "Hogs'' O line players. Bulletin Board material that caused Marv to fire him. A confluence of bad luck.

That was a very strange time in Buffalo Bills history, and the Bills' owner, Ralph Wilson, who was a very "hands-on" owner. Simply put, the entire NFL world knew about this notoriously cantankerous and frugal owner, and he had a difficult time finding a solid, suitable man to fill that Buffalo GM role. As others have mentioned, the "marketing guy was the de facto GM (Russ Brandon), and all Wilson wanted was a figurehead GM. Ralph hired his old friend in Marv Levy. Let's also not forget that that particular owner was very much like the Dallas Cowboys owner in Jerry Jones in that, while not the literal GM, he was in the draft room making "his" choices for players. The man loved him some running backs and defensive backs. While very frugal at times, Ralph Wilson had a big heart, as in for that first Super Bowl in Tampa, he took everyone associated with the team from ball boys to the office staff to that game, he then learned that getting to a SB is very expensive. Also, every time a team gets to a SB everyone involved thinks they now need a raise. Yes, Marv Levy did choose Dick Jauron as HC...but alas, his other choices were shot down by the owner. Just to give you an idea of how "hands-on" Wilson was...during the NFL regular season, he was on the phone to Jauron every day from Detroit discussing the team. When Bills GM Buddy Nix wanted to hire a new head coach, he found out that anyone who was a quality candidate didn't want to work in Buffalo for this owner. The reason why someone like Chan Gailey was hired as the new HC by Nix was because during the interview, he told the owner that he could win games in the NFL without star players. Nix couldn't get assistant coaches to interview for the job. Gailey was the Miami Dolphin's OC in 2000-2001 and left the NFL to be a college coach (GT). He returned to the NFL in 2008 to be the KC Chiefs OC and was out of football for a season before being hired as the new Buffalo Bills HC. So, how does a guy who gets fired by his last team as an OC and sits out for a year get a new job as an NFL Head coach? The Marketing guy becomes the GM...HC Rex Ryan was stunned to find Russ Brandon in the Buffalo Bill's cut room during training camp on the phone to players. Was there any wonder why Buffalo had a near 20 year drought for such a dysfunctional franchise? Still better than Cleveland 🤣

Simply put, Ralph didn't want to pay him. The difference between Tom Cousineau signing with Buffalo or walking away to the CFL was like 20k. Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson was notoriously frugal and wasn't a billionaire like the owners of today. He had a lot of hobbies, such as keeping racehorses, and he needed the Bills to actually make a profit. Let's not forget that other owners were forced to sell their teams because they lost money like the Cleveland Browns and Art Model ...(who is now so loved in Cleveland.) 🥺 There were several times over the years that Wilson contemplated selling the Bills. GM Bill Polian talked Ralph Wilson into making Jim Kelly the highest-paid QB at that time along with stadium upgrades and paying other FAs, and star players. Kelly was met in Buffalo like the savior of the franchise as he was mobbed by Bills fans. Kelly is loved by older Bills fans like Josh is now. Kelly came to Buffalo at the perfect time as HC Marv Levy hired Ted Marchibroda (ex-Colt HC) to run the offense. Ole Ted noticed that Kelly was excellent at running the 2-minute drill and implemented that "no-huddle" hurry-up offense to run all game long. Ole Ted also taught Kelly to call his own offensive plays. No other NFL QB was as tough as Kelly. He had his choice to play QB for Miami or go to Penn ST and play linebacker for Joe Paterno. On another note, What made Marino so good was his quick release and the reason Miami didn't win an SB with him was that Don Shula had forgotten what won him his early SBs... that was with the no-name defense, and the run game with Mercury Morris, Jim Kiick, Larry Csonka and instead put it all on Dan's arm.

Just think of that offense with Jim Kelly throwing to Andre Reed, James Lofton, Don Beebe, and Thurman running, catching balls outta the back field. He was Marshall Faulk before Marshall Faulk. That 90's Buffalo Bills team was the greatest show on turf that season...woulda, shoulda, coulda...

Again, looking back at that SB in Tampa the NY Giants vs the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were nearly 20-point favorites to win that game. To most, it was a foregone conclusion that Buffalo would win. Partying or not. What most didn't see was that Giants HC Bill Parcells had a secret weapon as his DC in Bill Belichick and his ability to move the ball on the ground against anyone. Let's also not forget that the Bills had beaten the Giants that season in week 14, 13-17 IN Giants stadium. Their starting QB Phill Simms was injured and out for that SB while their backup QB that nobody had ever heard of was starting in Jeff Hostetler. The 1990 Buffalo Bills were the highest-scoring in the entire NFL offense that season. The 13-3 Buffalo Bills had just beaten the 12-4 Los Angeles Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship game. To me, that SB loss was on the Buffalo coaching. But then, the entire world was thinking the Giants didn't stand a chance.