Bob in STL

Chan has indeed alluded to work ethic issues with Maybin. Howe many times has he said "it is up to him" and "he has the talent". What has Maybin done to bulk up and play the run? I dont' see the desire or the attitude at all. Childish celebrations for making 4th quarter sacks against 5th string players in preseason games. That is all I have seen of Maybin. OK, he also does the occcasional piling on after a tackle, let not forget that either.

You guys are slipping. I was scrolling down looking for "pay-off not donation".

Me too. Once again I feel that way too little was done to adddress the skill level of the tackles. They drafted another OT prospect in the 5th round. The well intended atttempt to acquire Clabo was unsuccessful. Bell and Pears do not strike fear into anybody. Worse ... what if they get hurt?

I still remember his goodbye Buffalo tweet.

Wow, our three biggest questions marks are all going to be great. Thanks Buddy. You rock.

His college career was about 10 games. Looking at the contract he scored he already won the lottery, that is part of the problem.

Poor rationalization. Hindsight being 20-20, trading up for MaCargo was a waste of two picks. No other way to look at it. I totally agree with the last part though. Pick the best players on the board, do not reach by position.

LOL. WOW! You actually think we can sign players by fans tweeting to them to come here? Too funny. Quick, lets all tweet to Payton Manning next. Ha Ha!

? Fletcher and Spikes never played with Biscuit, or Talley or Paup. Biscuit played with Paup for 1 year. I remember Tracy, Jacobs and Stratton in the 60's. Lets not forget Skoupan and Villapiano, and Isiah Robertson in the 70's. What about Conlon, Carleton Baily and Ray Bently and Marvcus Patton? Of course there is also Covington, Maddox and Holocek? I cannot recall when we had worse linebackers than now, maybe in the early to mid 70's ... and that is a maybe.

Clabo - We went after Clabo which was the right thing to do. He was by far the best player to add at RT a position of need. Clabo stayed put. Some people see that as a problem with Buffalo but I think it says more about the great program Atlanta has going on right now. I do not know what we offered Clabo but I am happy we did not overpay for a RT. Anyone notice that no other teams were bidding for him? The rest of the RTs are a big drop, including Gaither. Not sure the rest of the RTs are any better than Pears. I would prefer to sign a vet but after Langston Walker and Cornell Green maybe holding on to the cap space is a better plan? Seems like the Bills are content to see what Pears can do and to develop Wang and Hairston. 2. Poz - He took the money and ran. I liked him ok and wanted to keep him but not for $8M. No way. 3. Burnett - Would have been a good replacement for Poz. Don't know why we did not try? Maybe we did? 4. TE - Maybe we do not have any big plans for a TE in this offense? This is oen area that amazes me. Again, no one else is knocking the door down for these TEs. 5. Moats - Sounds like they are giving him first opportunity to get in the field more, even if it is at ILB. You people that think playing him inside is hurting his development crack me up. He is still unproven on the outside as well. He will most likely play both positions in the preseason and if he makes plays he will be on the field in some capacity. I am sure Moats undserstands this is an opportunity, not a punishment. 6. Punt Returner - Brad Smith is much more than a punt returner. Good signing here.

It is much clearer now ... we are using the Pittsburgh Pirate model, not the Pittsburgh Steeler model. The Pirates are having their first winning season in 18 years!! I feel better now that you provided that common sense.

I guess beating the offer might be a novel approach? Seriously though, is Poz worth this kind of dough? Nix is saying they are not going to be big player in free agency. What happens when the Bills do not meet the minimum salary threshold?

Great move Buddy ... what did you say "we draft'um, develop'um and then sign'um." ???? Not a huge fan of Poz and he is not a natural 3-4 ILB but he still is the best LB on the team, now gone. I sure hope they pick up a decent vet from somewhere. I see a gapping hole at ILB.

Last year Wood played some center and he did ok. Gailey kind of called him out a bit but after the season he did give him some props. Wood is definitely a gamer, he plays injured, and he could be a star in the future. For some reason the "experts" on this site do not like Hangartner but I think he has been mostly pretty solid, and until Wood beats him out in a competiton then Hang is the center. Urbik is a guy that TSW experts are ready to anoint as the next Billy Shaw. I say if he was that good no way does Pittsburgh let him go. I guess he has potential but lets see it on the field. Bottom line for me is that if Wood moves to center then I worry about both RG and RT instead of only RT. Most of the players on our OL are either unproven (Urbik, Pears) or journeymen (Hangartner, Wrotto, Rhinehart), or projects (Bell, Wang, Hairston). Other than Levitre and Wood that is what we have. When I see this line open holes, protect the QB, and dominate in short yardage situations then I will believe it. Right now I still have to question the talent here.

Let us know when all of Buffalo's "local Billionaires" start lining up.

Good enough for 5-11. Urbik and Pears on the right side? Oh my. I prefer: Bell - Levitre - Hangartner - Wood - Clabo (if they are serious about him)

Fletcher was a fantastic football player and a great leader. The "tackles beyond the line of scrimmage" is a bad rap because the guy played behind some crappy DL's. Fletcher made plays from sideline to sideline and he has great respect from the players and coaches everywhere he has been. If Poz develops into another Fletcher that will be great. To the original question on Poz. Yes, we should make a great effot to sign him to the right contract, not an inflated contract. We have nothing else. Poz will get better when the support around him gets better. Bob

Flozell Adams and Terrell Owens ... oh, no wait ...

We drafted tons of help on defense so cut he two weakest links in the defense last year: 1. Stroud - already gone, enter Dareus. 2. The "other ILB" next to Poz - Davis/Adeloye/ or whoever. Enter Sheppard. That does not even adequately address last years most woeful Bills linebackering corps ever, including Maybin. We need Merriman to make a comeback and then move Kelsey to backup DE where he belongs. Clear out the junk at TE and RT. We need a backup QB too. Lots of room for improvement on this roster.

Does Wilson concern himself? No. He owns an NFL team and is happy with that. Let's face it, he does not have the energy to do what Pegula is doing and he most likely does not have the right people around him to do it for him. Does he follow suit with Pegula? No. Ralph has had more money than he can ever spend but "spend to win" does not motivate him. Wilson wants the league to run like it did in the old days. That is winning to him. Wilson has nothing to lose by "going all in" but the there is no gaurantee that spending big will get you a championship. Ask Danny Synder. You have to build a winning infrastructure and you have to create an environment that breeds success. That is a stable environment run by the best people you can find. Pegula knows that and he is working all aspects of the Sabres (fixing their image, improving the facilites, improving the front office people, the scouting, the training, and the developmental aspects, etc). Pegula is laying a foundation, he is not just randomly throwing big money at players. Wilson may be running out of time.

Blame the Bills. BTW -- Brandon is copying Pegula on the uniform change, making similar comments about listening to the fans. If I were in town I would go to the Sabres event. No doubt it will be better coordinated. I thought it was strange that the Bills will be showing the movie "The Blind Side" at the event. Another quality player missed and we drafted who that year? This organization has been blind for a decade so maybe it is appropriate.

Yet another “if we only had better uniforms” post. I thought you were joking about replacing all ties with players from the current uniform era. Then I read your post and I must say it is filled with some ridiculous comments, confirming my belief to skip all uniform threads forever. I sure hope you are kidding on Moorman.

Wow. Batten has not played a single game yet but he equals Bryce Paup, a Pro Bowler and a sack leader. Can we wait and see if he makes the team first?

We had the worst run defense in the league. We have no TE and our OL is still suspect. Fitz is a gamer but his numbers look like an average QB. We need to improve the talent in these areas: QB, TE, OT, DL, and LB. We addressed DL in the draft but LB is still a major question mark as is OT, TE and QB. Ever wonder what happens if Fitz gets hurt? I don't see "Plax" being a piece to that puzzle. He might not even make the team.

Can't believe that I am getting sucked into this one. What a crazy rating. Here is my shot at it: Buffalo Bills: 33 Owner: 6 - Hall of Fame owner has kept the team in one place for 50 years. Consistently votes to maintain a competitive league for the small market teams and for the fans benefit. He has made several key front office errors, and his leadership has slipped in the last decade. Quarterback: 4 - Fitz provides great leadership but his numbers indicate a middle of the road QB. No franchise backup in the wings. Coach: 6 - Gailey is a proven excellent offensive mind but the jury is still out as a HC. Front office: 3 - Has been very poor for the past decade but recent improvments have been made with the addition of Nix and Whaley. Still too early to judge the current FO. Coaching staff: 7 - Adding Wannstadt is a key plus. Intangibles: 7 - Great fans, excellent marketing, college atmosphere at the homegames. The stadium could use some upgrades. The Toronto experiment makes money but is failing.