Typical TBD Guy

Bennie Anderson a bad signing? Impossible! McNally can turn any player into a Pro Bowler. Try this: go take a dump outside on your front lawn. Then, call OBD and have somebody collect your fecal matter and bring it over to the Bills locker room. McNally will have your poo suited up and Canton-bound in no time. Bennie Anderson will be a special player. I know because The Great One signed him. Bennie will be an integral part of The Great One's masterful 6 year plan for the playoffs.

The word within the context of your first sentence should read "than" and not "then." A dubious mistake for a grown man with the cajones to make fun of other people's intelligence, especially people like Travis Henry who have documented learning disabilities... Oh well. Sorry for the brief disagreement with you and with the other members of the assembled TBD Rhodes Scholars Corp. By all means, continue with the incessant "Henry is stupid" jokes. A few hundred more times, and maybe these comments will start becoming funny. And if they don't, you can always switch to the "Henry is a child molester" put-downs. I mean, when a 50+ year old Bruce Willis bangs 18 yr old Lindsay Lohan, thats pretty cool! But a 19 year old having consensual sex with a 15 year old who lied about her age? Oooooh, that just pisses me off! Let's lynch this Henry !@#$er right now on this board! Yeah! - KH

Salary cap constraints. Especially if we trade for Shelton and plan to sign a decent replacement for Henry.

If the Shelton-Henry trade works out, I'd have to agree...which would give us this OL: LT: Shelton (350 lbs) LG: Anderson (345 lbs) C: Tucker (315 lbs) RG: Villarial (320 lbs) RT: Williams (365 lbs) That's a lot of beef! When a 315 lb lineman is the petite one, you pretty much know the gameplan - run, run, and run some more! I only hope JP enjoys running around as much as Willis does, because none of those 5 are anything above mediocre with respect to pass blocking.

Damn. I didn't know his injury was THAT serious...

Nah, your wording was fine. I guess my reading comprehension skills aren't so good this morning.

I think Raiola re-signed with Detroit.

I actually have to disagree with you on this one, d_wag. Even if TD did lowball DeMulling, that might have been a good move on TD's part. IMO, DeMulling is an overrated guard who's not even worth that two year contract Detroit gave him. He benefited immensely from those around him in Indyland - LT Tarik Glenn, C Jeff Saturday, and of course QB Peyton Manning. I'm not sure DeMulling would be as successful with Teague and Tucker flanking him, or with having to block for a first year starting QB. Plus, he's no standout in the run blocking department, which should be the bare minimum requirement for a starting lineman on this offense. There are better (and cheaper) LG options still out there for our offense. I'll name one right now: Bennie Anderson, UFA from the Ravens. He'd be perfect for us. But I am still with you on this larger "TD is an overrated GM" argument.

Gee Mr. Darin, I'm suprised you felt compelled to post yet another smug, sarcastic remark from that well-worn keyboard of yours.

IMHO, LG Bennie Anderson (Ravens UFA) - ASAP RB Anthony Thomas (Bears UFA) - after trading Henry somewhere, anywhere CB Ty Law (Pats UFA) - possibly in June, depending on both his health status and his contract demands

And it amazes ME how so many people around here are willing to find excuses for all of TD's moves (or lack thereof). Currently, discussion on this board !@#$ing blows. Though it doesn't help the situation when the two loudest voices of dissenting opinion happen to be Rudy and JP-Era Hey, I'm 100% sure TD has a plan for this offseason. In fact, I'm 100% sure TD had a plan for the 2003 offseason and for the 2004 offseason as well. But what resulted from those plans? NO PLAYOFFS. Enough is enough. For 2005, it's either playoffs or TD gets the pink slip.

Agreed, but only because of 2 words: Jeffrey Dahmer.

If we start out 0-4 again in 2005, will the hue of your glasses remain this rosy? Or will you begin to see TD - like I do - as a master marketer, a salary cap wizard, but nevertheless a mediocre talent evaluator?

Dear Rudy, I strongly suggest you stop trying to swim against the pro-TD current around here. Just lay back, relax, and enjoy the Kool-Aid. Trey Teague at LT? Brilliant! He was a Pro Bowler in Denver, wasn't he? A $9 million RT? Outstanding! McKinnie sucks in Minnesota, anyway, right? Rookies starting on the OL in 2005...with a rookie QB? Not a problem! I just saw McNally walk across Lake Erie! No playoffs in 2005? No big deal! We're only in year 5 of TD's 6-year master plan. Give the man some friggin time to do his work, eh? Sincerely, KH, proud member of the "TD is a top 5 NFL GM" club....aka The Stadium Wall PS: Same goes for you, JP-Era.

Playoff appearances in 2003 and in 2004 would have been nice.

Quinn Early was a positive?

Um, scratch Riley off your free agent wish list. My Google research revealed the following problems with him: 1. A domestic violence record 2. Fights with Saints teammates over the past 2 years 3. Led Saints team in penalties 4. Weight control issues Yikes.

G Bennie Anderson: 6-5, 345, 4 yrs exp, UFA for Ravens T Victor Riley: 6-5, 340, 7 yrs exp, UFA for Saints A couple websites have these guys listed as the best free agents remaining at their positions. What do you all think about them? Both should come pretty cheap at this point in the free agency period, but I wonder why they haven't signed yet? Any injury issues? Criminal issues?

, that's exactly what I was thinking! Stockar is THE prototype Dolphin FA pick-up. Well, almost. I don't think he has a criminal record yet, but he's still young!

Will DeMulling sign with the Bills? (In David Puddy's voice) "All signs point to YES!"

We already had our 2005 Vikings offseason. It happened in 2003.

I'd add that Teague was drafted as a C, a position at where he became an All-American during college. So it's fair to say that his most natural OL position is C. Surround him with better run blockers than himself, and he's a more than adequate C at the NFL level. But at LT, Teague is too slow for the good DE's in the league and too light to generate any sort of run game on the left side without an absolutely dominant LG spotting him. You get what you pay for in this league. Shift Teague to LT, and you get a very inexpensive replacement for Jennings. However, expect an increase in sacks and a decrease in yds/carry for Willis on the left side... In my opinion, here's what I'd do with our OL and with DeMulling: I prefer like many of you do to leave Teague, Villarial, and MW at the same positions as last year. That leaves LG to upgrade and JJ's old position to replace. Lions will almost certainly overpay for DeMulling, and he's not really needed here for $3 million a year. DeMulling is good, but the surrounding linemen/Peyton in Indy made him look better. Big ol' Pork Chop easily upgrades LG at a fair price, as I think he'd be a borderline Pro Bowl alternate at LG as opposed to either tackle position where he is just a tad bit too slow to operate in that much lateral space. Assuming we don't replace JJ internally, Shelton remains the best and possibly only remaining option for us in replacing (let alone upgrading) LT. Trade talks with Arizona seem dead, but that's ok. I fully expect the Cards to cut a $3 million/year backup lineman who the head coach hates. We can pick him up then, and we can save Henry for another trade with a more RB-starved team (soon to be the Colts?).

Terrence McGee?

First Pucillo, then Lawrence Smith, then Ross Tucker, now....BANNAN? Nah, I'd rather give McNally a real LG for once. How about Pork Chop? He should come cheap. And while he's a borderline effective RT, he'd be an upper tier guard in this league where his lateral movement is more restricted and his forward "plowing" is more encouraged.

True, and that's why I think the plan is to move him to C and free up Teague for LT. Sandwich DeMulling between two road graders (Villarial and a free agent LG - Pork Chops???), and he'll be fine. More than fine, actually. I bet he'd be a small upgrade to Teague at C.