Dawgg

That's window dressing. Modrak has been running the Bills' scouting department since '02 or '03 and is largely responsible for the so-so drafts. The scouting department has remained largely unchanged during that time. Overdorf has been the chief contract negotiator/capologist for the entire decade despite doling out illadvised contracts year after year. John Guy has run the Pro Personnel department since TD got here and has whiffed bigtime on free agent acquisitions, particularly in the offensive line. In essence, the same clowns are running the circus that is the Bills' front office. I love how you compare nationally syndicated columnists who have regular appearances on national television with a columnist who writes for the Buffalo News. Of course they are more powerful than Sullivan. In any case, it's not like any of the local columnists have inside access. They simply regurgitate what the Bills brass tells them, which in most cases is fluff. I suppose you enjoy that.... which is fine. But if Sullivan is the only writer in Buffalo willing to speak out against Bills management, more power to him.

Why does that matter? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sullivan is willing to call out the ineptitude of the front office and the poor performance of underachieving/overpaid players. Of course that won't win him any friends within the organization. If plain vanilla writing is what you want, read Gaughan and Wilson. It's as if he mounts a soapbox each week to tell us he's mad as hell and isn't going to take it anymore. The only times in the past year where he's deigned to give any inside info is his weak shot at Wilson for chuckling in the locker room after a bad loss. And even then he overinterpreted - indeed misinterpreted - Wilson's reaction. "Columnists' usually have some access along with their soapbox: Apples to Oranges comparison. Lupica, Rhoden, Whitlock, Cannizzaro -- they all work in markets where results actually matter. If the teams in their locality missed the playoffs for 10 years straight and allocated their resources poorly, they'd be run out of town in a few years. In Buffalo, they receive promotions for their work.

Yes because the Bills jumping in on the first day of free agency has worked so well the past few years. They should do it again!

That's the niche Sullivan has carved out for himself -- to speak up and challenge Bills' management. Does he go over the top sometimes? Sure he does. In this case, however, he is dead on. Though there's no reason to be bitter about the ineptitude that has plagued the Bills front office for the better part of a decade is there?

Right. That's why the Bills outspent the entire league by making Derrick Dockery the highest paid guard in football and rewarding him with the richest contract in franchise history.

7-9 7-9 7-9 No playoffs for 10 years. Poor drafts. Ill-advised free agent signings. Those are facts. Don't let that get in the way of your delusion.

They sure have.

That's probably because you were all for signing him to the ridiculously inflated contract. Even the Bills Front Office is admitting their mistake. You can too, Dean. One step at a time...

Actually, Buffalo is a very desirable free agent location, particularly for players who live on the East Coast. Not everyone can play in Florida or New York. Buffalo's a 1-hr flight from all the major cities in the East Coast, which many players find convenient.

Talk to Ramius, he opened the floodgates. I was restricting this discussion to Milloy until he chimed in and opened up the discussion.

Donte Whitner has had an impact on the most important team stat out there: 3 straight 7-9 seasons. It's funny how you use team stats to justify your convoluted logic because clearly Whitner's individual stats don't measure up. Making matters worse, he doesn't measure up even when you take stats out of the equation. He missed tackles with regularity, got beat by tight ends, and failed to make plays even when they were staring at him in the face (such as the Denver game where he whiffed on a sure INT). Or the Miami game where he made Anthony Fasano look like Tony Gonzalez. How about the Dallas Monday night game when he stood around and watched the onsides kick roll by him, costing the team the game? It's unfortunate that you can't recognize poor play when it stares you in the face. Then again, you were convinced McCargo was the real deal.

He accused Milloy of negotiating with other teams while on the Pats. He ripped Milloy for bickering with the Patriots about his contract. He wrote about how Milloy looked like a fool for leaving the Pats and playing for a losing team while he was on the Bills. Finally, when Milloy and the Falcons part ways because he is a free agent, he reports that Milloy was "whacked" -- riiiight Peter, Milloy was whacked. Just like Jabari Greer was "whacked" by the Bills. Just like Haynesworth was "whacked" by the Titans. In any case, I'm not making Milloy's case for the 2009 Pro Bowl. He obviously showed signs of slowing down. The Falcons made the right move in letting him walk. Having said that he was STILL better than Whitner in terms of his play on the field. He rarely missed tackles and he covered tight ends fairly well. Whitner, on the other hand, frequently missed tackles in run support and sucked against tight ends. If you can watch Falcons games and say Milloy sucked, yet you can't see how poorly Whitner played in a Bills uniform, then I question your judgement. I would certainly rather have an underachieving Whitner than an aging Milloy. But to call Milloy a me-first player when he was elected team captain for 3 years in a row is absurd. It was simply King's chance to rip him once again and it's pretty obvious. Mike Smith repeatedly cited Milloy as a leader on this team. Head Coach Mike Smith 12/29: Head Coach Mike Smith 11/12: Head Coach Mike Smith 11/10: Head Coach Mike Smith 7/26: If you want to gobble up whatever King says, that's your prerogative.

Way to state the obvious. I clearly stated that Milloy was allowed to leave in free agency because his best days are behind him. I too would rather have Whitner at 23 than Milloy at 35. Duh. That doesn't mean Whitner outplayed Milloy this year. Milloy had a fairly mediocre-to-solid season. He spent most of his time in the box but at least he was a sure tackler. Running backs generally didn't get by him. He wasn't run over by jouneymen like Sammy Morris. He covered tight ends fairly well. Whitner's play was poor in comparison. He needs to step up his play. He's certainly capable of doing so, but thus far it's just talk. And make no mistake, Whitner has an awful lot of "talk" in him. Yawn. Leave it to you to cite team stats and use them to extrapolate the value of 2 players on the same team. Did you watch the games? Did yo see how Whitner was abused time and time again by tight ends? Did you see how Bryan Scott, a free agent we picked up off the street was far more effective than Whitner at his supposed position of strength? Did you watch Sammy Morris bulldoze Whitner in the New England game (And injury is not an excuse. Whitner tried to tackle the guy head-on, which is a basic no-no when you're a small DB) Did you see Whitner miss tackles on a semi-regular basis? Most objective Bills fans saw that. I watched a lot of Falcons games. Milloy clearly lost a step. Despite that, he was more consistent and more effective than Donte Whitner. Does that mean I'd rather have an aging Milloy on the team than Whitner? You said that, not me. In any case, it's only fitting that you failed to see the sub-par play of Whitner. Afterall, you were singing the virtues of John McCargo for quite some time. You sound like a kindergartner. I'm here to talk football... Whitner was supposed to be a major piece of the Bills' puzzle. You can cite injuries, "team rankings," pass rush, or any other hairbrained excuse that has seemingly become your specialty. It doesn't change the act that he has been a disappointment thus far. Here's to a breakout season in 2009.

Yes, because King was so objective in his reporting. I presented facts as to why he isn't objective. Those 2 have a history and it's fairly obvious. If you can't handle facts, that's no surprise. True, he is past his prime. The sad thing is.. despite being past his prime and over the hill, he has played better than "your boy" Donte Whitner. He covers tight ends better than Whitner (well that's not saying much, my grandma does). He is better in run support. He is 35. Whitner is 24. If only it were that simple. Perhaps my dislike for Whitner has to do with his lack of production on the field. While you and the rest of Donte's peanut gallery continues to manufacture excuses for his sub-par play, those that actually watch the games with an objective eye know that Whitner really needs to elevate his game to justify your man-love for him.

First of all, Milloy wasn't "cut." He was a free agent. That's akin to saying the Bills cut Jabari Greer. Second, PK has no clue WTF he's talking about. Milloy was universally praised by the coaching staff week after week. He was a team leader and was like another coach on the field. If he was so selfish, why was he elected team captain for the 3rd season in a row? Peter King and Milloy have a long history of beef with one another ever since King accused Milloy and his agent of negotiating with another team while still under contract with the Patriots. After the Bills' opening day victory against the Pats in 2003 ("The Milloy Game") King reported: Bottom line, Milloy was allowed to walk because he's getting up there in age and his best days are behind him. PK is full of it on this one and he took a swipe at Milloy just because he could.

Seriously. The biggest play Whitner made last year was a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he drew against the Raiders.

Bryan Scott was a better player than Whitner last season.

Let's not kid ourselves. The Bills have shown absolutely no fear when it comes to reaching in the draft!

Actually, Schonert said the opposite. He said that we "need" a true fullback on the team and took a veiled shot at Fairchild for using a Tight End in that spot. One year later, he's looking to do the same thing.

Pretty much. The fact of the matter is that DE is a big need on this team. The front office messed up bigtime (suprirse surprise) when they overpaid Kelsay and extended Schobel with 3 years left on his deal. The sad thing is that the same bozos are still in place now so it's hard to imaging things changing at OBD.

less than 2 years after Marv and the "circle of trust" invested $73.5M in the defensive end position? It's a good thing we have new people in place in the front office so that similar mistakes won't happen again.

Believe me, nobody is worried about what Buffalo will do.

Riiiight... because there has been so much to be positive about during the past 3 years with 3 straight sub-500 finishes. You call it "mindless." I call it "reality." Sending Crowell to IR was a senseless, knee-jerk move, one that severed relations with a good young player and a standup guy. Making it even worse is the fact that the Bills were willing to carry Denney and Schobel on the roster for two-thirds of the season. Crowell was a dedicated member of the team and didn't deserve to be treated that way. Tim Graham has said he's not coming back. He is a respected reporter around here, one who knows his stuff. He speaks regularly with Crowell. He has multiple sources within the Bills' organization. He also speaks regularly with his agent, Todd France. Those are facts. He addresses it again here. If you want to believe the BS Crowell said to a local Buffalo reporter, go right ahead. That falls pretty much in line with your "mindless" posts.

And you think that didn't cross Crowell's mind?

I salute your gullibility. If you actually think Crowell meant what he said, you're pretty naive.