CosmicBills

... sure, but it takes two to tango. Just because the Rams want to trade the pick now doesn't mean anyone else is going to volunteer to get fleeced.

Are you really trying to say Cam Newton wasn't worth the first round pick? Or are you just trying to make excuses for Fitz? Holy lord, I agree with half of your post but then you lose your mind in the second half. Do you have any idea how good Cam Newton was last year for the Panthers? Did you watch him play or only sports center highlights? Cam not only shattered passing records for a rookie, he did it on a team coming off a 1 win season with as little (or less) talent on its roster than the Bills had. Plus the Panthers were in year one of a coaching change. The guy threw for more yards than Fitz, had almost a 10 point higher QB rating than Fitz, he scored 11 more TDs while throwing less INTs. And he matched Fitz's win-lose record as a rookie on a team where everyone was gunning for him. Cam has more athletic ability and a better arm than Fitz. He has better touch on his throws than Fitz. He is a force on the field that defenses have to scheme around. Fitz isn't. More than that, Cam Newton INSTANTLY made the Panthers relevant in the NFL. The Panthers have someone to build around now. They are going to be a dangerous team JUST because they have Newton on the roster. Fitz is a tomato can compared to Newton.

I know there are a few of you on the board here ... I could use some help researching a project. I'd love to pick someone's brain over PM about the International Space Station. Are there any experts out there? Thanks!

Valid question. Not many people think this is really going to happen. Some may wish the Bills would make a move for RG3 -- but most know the odds are long. The Rams are going to ask for too much and the Bills front office and coaching staff is not going to forfeit their own job stability by putting all their chips on a rookie QB. Especially not when they're entering the third year of a regime which has only won 10 games out of 32. The reason why this topic generates so much discussion is because it speaks to the fundamental problem with the franchise: the lack of talent throughout the roster. The QB position is the most important and glamorized position in all of sports so when there's even a chance of getting a guy like RG3 or Luck, fans are going to have very vocal opinions about it. And bingo -- you've just hit on what's really underlying this whole debate. Your statement implies that the Bills can somehow sink lower than they currently are. But the reality that many fans are starting to wake up to is, maybe the Bills can't sink any lower. Think about it, this team has finished dead last in the AFC East for 4 years in a row. They haven't seen the playoffs in 12. And during that stretch, the Bills have won just 76 games while losing 116. That's a winning percentage south of 40%. That that sink in. In 12 years, this franchise has won LESS than 40% of its games. The last time the Buffalo Bills as an organization were relevant outside of Western New York, Clinton was in office. There are some fans who believe despite that jarring history, this team is only a few players away from being competitive again. But to those fans I would ask, competitive to what end? What's the goal? Is the goal just to get back to the playoffs or is it to win a damn Super Bowl? If your goal is to win the Super Bowl, the one constant over the past decade since the NFL morphed into a pass-happy league, is you need an elite QB to win the Super Bowl. Why? There are many reasons. The simplest (to me) is that the NFL playoffs are now a crap shoot. If you get into the playoffs, you have a chance to win regardless of whether you're a wild card or a divisional winner. So the goal can't be just to get to the playoffs once and hope for a miracle run -- the goal has to be to build a team that's capable of going to the playoffs repeatedly. Thus, upping your odds of winning a ring. Back in the days before Free Agency, you could build continuity on your team and keep its core in place. And if you didn't have a super star QB (or in the case of the NFL before it became video game football, a super star RB), you could still be a dominant team with just a great defense. But in today's game, that's just not the case anymore. There is too much turnover from year to year to keep a team together for very long. And if you try, eventually you run your team right into cap hell and are forced to undergo extreme rebuilding processes -- something Bills fans are all too familiar with. But what teams can do is retain super star QBs and build around them because elite QBs make everyone around them better. In order to give your team the best chance to win multiple Super Bowls, you need to make the playoffs consistently for a period of 5 to 10 years. The easiest way to accomplish that is to build around an elite QB. An elite QB is someone who's capable of masking the deficiencies of your team enough during the regular season to get you into the playoffs year after year. Once you're in the playoffs, you need a QB who is capable of getting hot for 4 games and complete passes into tighter windows when the defenses are at their finest. There are some that don't agree with this theory -- but each year those ranks are dwindling as more and more start to understand just how much the game has changed since the 90s. But, for the sake of argument, let's say you do agree with that concept, then the decision to give up picks for a prospect like RG3 makes more sense. You're not wrong in stating that making this move would leave the Bills with even more holes than they have now. But let me ask you this ... what's easier to find? An elite QB or a LT? The Bills are not going to contend for the Super Bowl in '13. They probably won't contend in '14 either. If you have a chance to get a franchise saving QB who has the ability to anchor your team for the next 10 years you take it -- even at the expense of your '13 season. Because what's one crummy season more mean in the grand scheme of things if you believe that the QB you're getting can usher in a new decade of winning? Fitz isn't the problem with the Buffalo Bills. He's just not the answer. I will say this ... and mind you, this is coming from a guy who thinks Ralph has run this franchise into the ground ... the Bills' inability to land top tier FA's has nothing to do with the front office or the city and EVERYTHING to do with winning. If the Bills start to win games, and players come to see Buffalo as having a realistic chance of getting a chip, signing free agents will become much easier. Imagine how much easier it would be to coax Stevie into resigning, or Bowe or Jackson, if they knew that the Bills had someone like RG3 throwing them the ball?

I said the Rams hold all the cards right now... ... meaning that of course the Ram's asking price is going to be ridiculous right now. The Dolphins know it -- and so does the rest of the NFL. The Dolphins and Skins (or Bills) would be nuts to try to trade for that pick right now because the Rams have all the leverage. We're saying the same thing.

The only ones rushing to make a deal before the draft are the Rams to avoid dealing from a position of lesser leverage. The Browns know they can make the best offer -- why would they rush to make a move now? If the Dolphins or Redskins try to make a deal before the draft, the Rams certainly will call the Browns to let them know and give them a chance to counter. If I'm the Browns, I let the Rams sweat.

I did quote you. And responded to the only point you have actually made: "What you need is a team that scores more than it gives up" ... Thank you for your brilliance. Please, tell me more of this "score more than the other guy" doctrine you've invented.

I hear ya, but I think it's all posturing. The truth is right now there is no rush for any team to make a move for the #2 pick. The Rams have all the cards right now, only fools would try to deal from a point of no leverage. Let Free Agency play out, see where Flynn and Manning land. Then let the clock start ticking after Indy officially selects Luck. That's when the deal will happen. St. Louis will still get a king's ransom, but it won't be as absurd as what they're asking for right now. All that said, I don't think the Bills will make a move for RG3.

Yup. And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

So ... you're saying that the key to winning football games is having a team that scores more points than it gives up?

You haven't raised any points of value. And you would pick Fitz over Eli as your QB. That says enough for me.

Thinking is something you should try doing once or twice. But thank you for proving (once again) you haven't a clue as to what you're talking about.

It is obvious ... to everyone but you.

Sorry for your loss. It's never easy to lose a friend.

Cleveland and the Skins can (and will certainly get the opportunity to) top any offer the Bills can throw at them. That's the only rub. The Rams are going to get a fortune for giving up this pick, and unless the Bills throw in a player to sweeten the deal, draft picks alone won't get it done. It's not impossible of course, a lot of crazy things can happen between now and the time when the pick goes in -- but I highly doubt it will happen. I'll be surprised to learn the Bills would even consider making a play for him.

Clooney's the new Jack.

It's not the same. The league is different for one (new CBA). Second, I don't think it would take 2 whole drafts to make the move. At best, it's 7 picks spread out over 3 years with the bulk of them coming from this current draft. Like Saint said, IF they're convinced RG3 is the guy, it's not too much to ask for a franchise saving QB. Something this team needs more than anything (in the grand scheme) other than a new owner.

The Bills have 9 picks this year, at most they'd have to give up 4 of those this year. For argument sake let's say they give up 3 more in future drafts. That's 7 players given up for one. 3 of them first rounders. It's steep, yes, but not insurmountable. Plus, you're say it would destroy the Bills depth ... Which they have none of to start with. You can't destroy what you don't have.

You're right, and it's why I think the Bills won't make a move. But the reason why teams like Browns and Seahawks (or Dolphins) will make a move for an unproven payer is the fact that no position can turn around a down trodden franchise faster than a legit QB prospect. Personally, I haven't seen RG3 play enough (only 2 games) to have any opinion on his ability to be a success in the NFL. But if youre a GM from a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in 12 years, and hasn't been better than dead last in your own division for the past 4 and you think there's a good chance RG3 is an elite player, it's a no brained move to make. Someone will pay a kings ransom for RG3. While I don't think it will be the Bills, I wouldn't lose any sleep if they did surprise us all by making such a bold move.

More than the Bills would be willing to part with. To move up from 10 would take a 1, 2 and 4 from this year and at least another first and third in '13 (and honestly that might be light). But with so many teams in contention, it will become a bidding war and someone will over pay by giving up 3 first rounders and a player.

More people are beginning to realize there is no worst case scenario anymore. This franchise is already there. Four straight years of dead last in the AFC East, the longest playoff drought in the league (over a decade) ... and the sad part is last year showed us all just how far this team has to go before it's relevant again. They have a serious dearth in talent on the roster and are in dire need of playmakers AND depth. But then again, that's what we've been saying for 12 years and counting. Things aren't getting better -- they're staying the same. So what if they roll the dice, waste a couple first round picks and RG3 ends up busting? This team isn't going anywhere, and worse, they don't seem to have a plan. In short, this front office needs to do SOMETHING to jolt the franchise back into relevancy -- and that starts with finding a marquee QB. I think if the Bills did make a big move to get the #2 pick, a lot more people on the board would be okay with that this year than they would have been 3 years ago ... All that said, there's no way the Bills are going to move up to get RG3. Fitz will start for this team in '12.

He did own Disney. Disagree. Moneyball was great but that script was rewritten by almost a dozen writers before going into production. Payne and company more than deserved the win tonight. As did Woody.

Sure. But a great writer leaves the interpretation of the story and its meaning up to the reader, or in this case, the viewer. Castaway is as close to a Terrence Malick study in existentialism as Bob Zemeckis will ever get. You don't have to see the deeper meaning in it if you don't want to. Which is the art of it.

You need to watch more movies.

I watch a lot of movies and this is a constant topic that's brought up with my fellow movie nerds. Great topic. That said, this list needs some more definition. Are we talking movies that are so bad you laugh? Or movies that you know are horrible but yet you find yourself being unable to turn them off when you start watching them? I'd argue these are two very different lists. But like I said, I'm a nerd. Here's my list: 1. REAL MEN (my all time favorite bad movie that's actually GREAT) 2. BATTLE LA (Most fun I've had at a midnight screening since that time in high school with Julie Banks. Nothing compares to Two Face giving 4 monologues in the same scene and then closing that same scene by saying, "but none of that matters right now.") 3. STARSHIP TROOPERS (NPH at his finest. That's all I need.) 4. WAVELENGTH (1967 film. It's a 45 minute slow zoom across the room of a Manhattan loft while a sine wave gradually builds in volume until it's just a high pitched buzz. Seriously, it's hilarious.)