SoTier

Actually, Eli wasn't technically a trade-up as he was traded for Rivers and picks. I think that might have been true of Elway, too. Between the 2000 and 2015 drafts, trade ups for first round QBs yielded 3 fails: Losman (2004), Sanchez (2009), and Griffin (2012). I don't believe you. Look at all the whining about Watkins "not being worth 2 firsts". If the Bills gave up a boatload of picks to move into the Top 5 to take a QB and he wasn't at least as good as Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees (ie, an elite QB), he'd be crucified, so the OP's criteria is probably far more realistic about fans' expectations than yours. Not delusional at all. Maybe you're willing to pay Nieman Marcus prices for Walmart quality but most people aren't. I don't doubt that knowing how both QBs turned out, many if not most Giants fans would say that they'd have preferred that their team have kept Rivers. Eli's two Super Bowl victories have been the only reason that Giants fans haven't turned on him although those victories may not save him if he doesn't play better in 2018.

If a team gets a solid solid starter or a reliable sub or rotational player out of any guy drafted on Day 3 (Rounds 4-7) that's a bonus not "a miss" IMO. It's virtually impossible for Day 3 guys to "bust" because the ceiling for Day 3 players is probably ST player. Most Day 3 guys don't make it out of preseason unless they can play ST or win a slot on a practice squad. Corner was a "hit".

I have no problem with an OLer at 21 or 22, but drafting a DB in the first will tell me that however much the new regime seems to be an improvement over the old regime, nothing much seems to change. It's not like the Bills don't need an upgrade at several other positions ... say RB, DT, LB ... even if they couldn't trade up or didn't want the QB(s) they could get.

I think Jauron had significant input into whom the Bills drafted because most of the players drafted during his tenure tended to fit the mold that Jauron liked best: fast, smaller players or "lunchpail" players. During this period (2006-2009), the only "star" or "difference maker" that the Bills drafted was Marshawn. Brandon came to the Bills from MLB where his claim to fame was that he successfully deconstructed the Florida Marlins, ruthlessly selling off the team's personnel assets and plunging the Marlins from first to worst in a single season. Since he became Wilson's surrogate with the Bills, he was undoubtedly good at seeing that the Bills improved their bottom line no matter how poorly organized/run the Bills were as a football team, and that's what counted with Wilson.

The Browns could take Barkley at #1 and a QB other than Rosen at #4 ... or another player at #4 if they signed Cousins ... and avoiding getting sucked into a pissing contest with Rosen in the process. I'm not saying that the Browns should or would do that, but with 2 firsts in the top five, a boatload of other picks, and plenty of cap space, they have lots of options. Trading away one of their premier picks to get additional lower ones when they already have plenty just doesn't seem to make sense.

I think this is very likely, far more likely than the Giants taking a QB with that pick while Eli is still on the roster.

I'm with the others who don't think Cousins goes to the Jests. I don't think living in the NYC metro necessarily appeals to him. I'm not sure why you are so convinced that Cousins is going to bust, but the reality is that any QB not named Tom Brady struggles to carry an offense when they don't have much of one, including Aaron Rodgers when most his WRs were knocked out of games late in the season a few years ago. Cousins is at least on a par with Dalton and Flacco IMO, and Flacco won a Super Bowl. I agree. I think with Minnesota it depends upon whether they are interested in Cousins; I think they keep Keenum and Bridgewater myself. I believe I read somewhere that Jax just gave Bortles an extension, so that means that they're out of the Cousins sweepstakes, leaving Denver, Phoenix, and the Bills.

Oakland has taken two kickers in the first round: punter Ray Guy with #23 in 1973 and place-kicker Sebastian Janikowski with #17 in 2000. Guy was inducted into the HOF in 2014.

Exactly. The idea that Wilson was poor is simply untrue. His net worth eventually increased because he owned the Bills but he wasn't dependent upon the team for his living. In the 1960s or 1970s, Wilson also raced Thoroughbred horses, and some of his were pretty good runners. Wilson was just a wealthy individual who was careful with his money and didn't waste it.

Why would they do this when they already have picks #1 and #4 plus a bunch of others in the first 100 picks (6 I think I read somewhere)? There are a limited number of talented players in any draft, and not all of them are going to be useful to a specific team because of the positions they play/style they play. They have 2 blue chip draft picks which they need to use to grab 2 play makers, so it would be smarter for Cleveland to use both those picks rather than parlay either pick into additional lower picks. While Rosen may have said he doesn't want to play in Cleveland, he's not the consensus #1 pick or even the consensus #1 QB as Eli was in 2004. There was a standoff between the Mannings and the Chargers FO, and IMO, drafting Eli and then trading him was a face-saving move by AJ Smith & Co. Moreover, if Cleveland thinks he's the best quarterback, why would they be willing to trade him?

Good article, Alf! McCarron makes Garoppolo look like a grizzled veteran with his 7 starts! Well, I hope that team isn't the Bills. I'd rather keep Peterman and draft a rookie because Peterman would be a whole lot cheaper, and I've been a loud advocate of upgrading from Peterman if possible. We've seen the worse of Peterman but who knows how bad McCarron could be if he started several games. The Bills don't need to reprise 2013. If the best the Bills can do is McCarron, then they'd be better served keeping Taylor for $18+ million a year rather than paying McCarron plus eating nearly $9 million of Taylors dead cap money.

Wilson was already wealthy when he purchased the Bills franchise in 1960. I believe he inherited a business from his father that was associated with the auto industry and expanded that. Keep in mind that $25000 *which is what Wilson paid for the just the franchise -- he would have had to invest more in actually getting the team up and running and supporting it until fans started paying enough admissions to show a profit) was a lot of money in 1960 when the average salary was maybe $5000/a year, the minimum wage was around $1/hour, and you could buy a livable if modest house for $10-20K.

It was a good excuse to not re-sign outstanding young veterans coming off who commanded market rate for their skills and replace them with high draft picks ... over and over. Essentially, the Bills operated as a "cash only" business (the cash from the current shared league money) and didn't "borrow" from expected revenues to add talent. Keep in mind that this was an accounting method. No team is legally supposed to exceed the current year's salary cap, but if teams pro-rate signing bonuses in their accounts, then they get extra current $ against the current cap. It's like buying a car on a credit vs paying cash. If your car budget is $3600 for the year, you can pay $3600 cash for a beater car or pay $300/month on a car loan and get a nicer/better car, although you'll pay that loan for several years ... and if you total the car or decide to you don't like it after a few months, you might end up paying for that loan when you no longer have the car. (That would be "dead money").

Can somebody please explain to me why AJ McCarron is being grouped and discussed as being close in stature with Cousins, Keenum, Bridgewater, and Bradford, all four of whom had at least 1 full season as starter? McCarron was a fifth round pick who has done nothing to distinguish himself in the NFL. He has played in all of 7 games in 2015, starting 3 and throwing 79 completions from 119 attempts for 6 TDs and 2 INTs. In 2016, McCarron played in 1 game and made no pass attempts. In 2017, he played in 3 games and threw 7 passes in 14 attempts with no TDs and INTs. That McCarron was almost traded to Cleveland doesn't improve his stature since all it does is prove that Cinci didn't think highly enough of him to keep him.

He'll be long gone by the draft. In case you've had your head in the sand, Washington has been a pretty crappy team except for Cousins, and he's been successful for several years on teams that lacked a lot of high level talent. QBs that succeed for 3+ seasons tend to have ability that survives through their careers. If Cousins doesn't turn out to be quite the "franchise QB" on a par with guys like Stafford or E Manning, he's also not likely to be the disaster that both Glennon and Osweiler turned out to be, either.

Cheaper options, maybe, but neither Keenum nor Foles can boast Cousins' record over several years, so the chances they crash and burn is a lot higher than Cousins doing so. QBs of the level of Glennon and Taylor were in the $18-$19 million a year bracket last year, so I think it's unlikely that any team is going to even consider offering Cousins < $20 million, and given that Alex Smith recently signed for $24 million/year, it's fair to say that $25-$30 million/a year is the current going rate for successful starting QBs in their primes. Cousins is certainly that. Denver, Phoenix, and maybe the Bills seem likely suitors since they're all teams that have potential to make the playoffs with reasonable upgrades, including at QB. If any of these believe they aren't likely to be able to get their QB in the draft, I could see them taking a run at Cousins. Cleveland might be as well but with the #1 and #4 picks in the draft, they seem likely to go the draft route. I'm not sure about the Jests. They have lots of cap space but is NYC Cousins' kind of town? Is the team good enough to be a playoff contender in a year or so? Where ever Cousins goes, he's going to get paid well.

There's lies, damned lies, and then there's statistics. A good OL protects the passer and opens holes for the runners. The Bills OL did that far worse in 2017 than in the previous 2 seasons with most of the same personnel, and against good Ds, they performed only marginally better than the horrible OLs fielded during the Jauron era.

When DTV increased prices in January, I dropped down a tier, which is not supposed to get ST. I had planned to upgrade in the fall, now I'm not sure. Since I've been a DTV/ST customer for several years, so we'll see how good a deal they offer before I decide.

More info on Tops and the Bloomberg story: Info on Potential Tops Bankruptcy

AND DRAFTING A TOP 4 QB HAS PROVEN TO BE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, TOO! Kyle Boller and Rex Grossman were the 3rd and 4th top QBs in 2003. JP Losman was the 4th of the top four QBs taken in 2004. Vince Young and Matt Leinart were the top two QBs taken in 2006. JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn were the top two QBs taken in 2007. Mark Sanchez and Josh Freeman were the top 2 and top 3 QBs taken in 2009. Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, and Christian Ponder were the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th top QBs taken in 2011. Robert Griffin III and Brandon Weeden were the 2nd and 4th QB taken in 2012. EJ Manuel was the top QB taken in 2013. Don't let reality intrude on your fantasy of the Bills drafting a QB Jesus.

Even Chautauqua County, which is much bigger population wise than Allegany County and two actual cities in Jamestown and Dunkirk, can't boast a Sonic ... Olean is in Cattaraugus County.

It doesn't matter how much draft capital the Bills have if the QBs available are only as good as the QBs taken in the first round between 2006 and 2012 not named Ryan, Newton, and Luck.

I used them as Bills specific examples of QBs who had either excellent physical or intangible traits but not enough of both to be successful. Feel free to use your own examples of first or even second round QBs who were "doomed" by their situations.

Austin Dillon, grandson of team owner Richard Childress, won the 60th Daytona 500 in the legendary #3 once driven by the late Dale Earnhardt ... on the 20th anniversary of The Intimidator's one and only Daytona 500 win. Dillon led only the last overtime lap in the a wreck filled race that saw most of the favorites wreck out. Dillon is the 9th different 500 winner in the last 9 years. Great start to the NASCAR season.

I disagree about the Bills QB depth chart because Taylor is a serviceable starter, and the Bills easily could upgrade their backup QB with a rookie drafted after the first round in 2018 whom might turn into a serviceable starter. Certainly drafting the wrong QB in the first round is infinitely worse than waiting a year or two to draft the right one.