CosmicBills

Sure, cause a splash at WR is the easiest way to sell tickets. It's a need too -- but they're only going to make one big FA signing (if at all). This team has no intention of bringing in more than one impact free agent. They just won't do it.

Good list. Here is my take (for what little it's worth). Fitz is fine as the starter for this year if needs be, but this team has to find an elite talent at QB at some point. If that means trading up in the draft -- do it. The people that say "missing on a QB in the first round sets you back 3 years!" are crazy people. This team has nowhere to go but up. If they trade up and miss on a QB they won't be any worse than they've been for over a decade. At some point, they have to take a shot. But, I agree with you, this year is probably not the spot for it. The Bills right now have a #2 WR (Stevie) and a bunch of #3s and #4s. They have absolutely no talent at WR outside of Johnson and Nelson (and Nelson is limited). They need to upgrade WR with not one but TWO pickups. I'd love to see JB on the Bills roster -- but he won't slip far enough in the draft. I'd love to see Jackson and Bowe but that's a long shot. Here's what I see happening. The Bills will make a splash in FA this year at ONE position. Just enough to get people's hopes up. WR is the position that makes the most sense for this based on how many WRs are set to hit the market. I fully expect them to make a hard push for one of the big FAs ... and it's the right move. TE won't be upgraded much. Chan has no interest in it from what he says. I'm willing to give Chandler another year in the system. You can't get it all done in one year, and TE is a logical choice to ignore this off season when there are so many other needs. Absolutely CRAZY. The Bills Line is HORRIBLE. Outside of Wood and Levitre there isn't a single player on the roster who should be starting in the NFL. Fitz's quick trigger and short passing game is what made the line look good. Bell is an injury risk, Hariston is a good backup. Pears is awful. They have no depth. The fact that fans here think the O-Line is fine is shocking. Anyone who really watched them play knows this unit is one of the worst, least talented units on the roster -- and that's saying a lot considering how bad the LB, WR and DB corps are. O-Line NEEDS to be a priority in the draft AND FA. The Bills will only make a splash in FA at one position. My money is on WR (since it's easier to sell that move to the fans). But if it's not WR then DE would make sense. Still, I don't see it happening. There won't be a FA DE added to the roster (at least starting caliber). I feel they will try to address this in the draft. For the past 4 years and counting the Bills have had the worst LB corps in the entire NFL. Who would have thought I would have missed Keith Ellison this year? (Shudders). Now with the switch to the 4-3, this unit is even worse. Shep in the middle is going to take awhile to gel (but I like the flashes I saw from him), Barnett on the outside will work but outside of that, this team has no LB on its roster who would start on a D2 team. Yeah. They're THAT bad. This should be the position where the Bills focus on. It should have been a position they focused on for the last decade. But they haven't and if they don't take a LB in the first round, I don't expect them to upgrade this unit much at all. Williams is going to be good. The kid was impressive as a rookie when he was healthy. Raw, but talented. Outside of Williams, Byrd and the Senator, the defensive backfield is a joke. TM is a warrior, but injuries have caught up to him. A DB picked in the first round wouldn't be a surprise -- and would help. I would LOVE to see a big FA signing like Rogers but I don't see it happening.

I'll take it!

Oh boy, this is fun. Let's take these one at a time ... Is he the best we've got? Yes. Is he the best we've had in years? Sure. Is that saying a lot? Nope. But again. Worship average. It suits us Bills fans. If you don't think Fitz played a role in the 7 game losing streak I don't know what to tell you. Is he the biggest problem? No. Is he a mediocre QB who shrinks when the pressure is the highest? ABSOLUTELY. Fitz will never win a Super Bowl. I'll say that with 100% certainty. And he certainly won't win a Super Bowl with the Bills -- not how they're presently constructed. This is a talentless roster, with absolutely no inclination from the front office that they wish to improve it. In 2 years of Nix we've gotten exactly what we got under Brandon, Donahoe and Marv -- shuffling around of talent without any real plan in place.

Wanna be my agent?

Yeah! Unless you want to win a super bowl of course ... But if not, then shut up and worship average!

Chronicle was FANTASTIC

That's the whole point. You can't switch your entire scheme like a light switch. It takes time, it takes a plan, and it takes the wherewithal ($ and guts) to do that correctly. This regime came in with promises to be "football men" who know the game and most importantly, HAVE A PLAN. Now, either they are switching plans (after a very short period of time) because either they no longer believe in it (which makes me nervous about the merits of their next plan) or because they were incapable of executing it (due to incompetence or financial restrictions -- take your pick). THAT is why this is alarming news. I've made no bones that since Nix took Spiller I smelled trouble. This isn't meant to be a "I told you so" post at all, I'm just saying this in the effort of full disclosure. I am NOT impartial here. I have an opinion about Nix's abilities and so far he has done nothing to dispel those doubts for me. If anything, this team is in worse shape than it was when Nix took over. At best it's exactly the same as far as the amount of talent on the roster. And now he's saying it's time to start over ... again. Only this time we don't get the promise of a new GM. Instead we are rebuilding (again) with a guy who's already showed he doesn't have a clue what he's doing. You're combining two different trains of thought. There were plenty of people who said switching to the 3-4 would require a massive (if not complete) overhaul of the roster on the defensive side of the ball. Plenty of those same people rushed to Nix's defense after the first season saying, "give it time" despite all the raised eyebrows over questionable draft picks like Troupe. Everyone was happy to get rid of the Tampa 2. Every 4-3 defense isn't a Tampa 2. There are plenty of other ways to run a 4-3 and it's alarming that the coaches waited until 2 drafts, 2 free agency periods to determine that the talent on their roster was best suited for a DIFFERENT defense than the one they were building to. Oh, you have no idea how much I want OBD to change. I say blow the entire thing up and start over. And by that I mean at the ownership level. This is not a competitive team. It hasn't been a competitive team in over 12 years. TWELVE! At some point you have to wake up. Questioning your team's ability to compete doesn't question your fanhood. I've never claimed to be a football expert. But maybe I missed the point of a message board ABOUT football. And I'll have you know, my vagina brings all the boys to the yard. And they LOVE it. Sand and all (something about extra friction). You would too, I promise.

Won't deny that. "Scary-funny" is a great way to describe how easy it is to keep people in the dark about things -- even when they're working on the project. I'm actually not a big government conspiracy guy (at least in real life, in my professional life ABSOLUTELY). I just think that IF UFOs are real and IF the Government knew about it, they could keep it quiet for as long as they wanted. I set 'em up ... you knock 'em down. Well done!

But what makes you think that they've learned anything? They walked down a path for 2 seasons, then changed their minds (after not really trying to do it in the first place) -- who's to say they won't flip again? It's all a big game. One Bills Drive is either uncommitted to winning or too incompetent to win. Either way the joke is on us fans.

Great ... and I just got off the watch list too.

Stop thinking about what the change means for 2012 ... think about what it SAYS about the way the team has been run since Nix and Chan "took over". Does it REALLY say, "Nix is a good guy, he admits when he's wrong and will do what's right to change it even if it means admitting a mistake"? Or does it say, "it took us TWO YEARS to realize something everyone's been saying since we got here"? And if it's the later, doesn't that PISS YOU OFF? This organization is incapable of winning -- it doesn't matter what product they put on the field. They are flawed at a very fundamental level at the front office level. It's either due to complete and total incompetence by Nix (a guy who thus far has done NOTHING to elevate the overall talent level on the roster in 2 years of running the team -- instead he's just moved the pieces around) or it's due to Ralph not allowing Nix and company the control they need. It's one or the other ... And the Bills aren't going to start winning until that flaw is fixed. 12 years of utter **** on the field is enough proof for me.

I understand what you're saying. It's a funny and rational line of thought. But if you believe for one second that the US Government is not capable of keeping things secret, you're kidding yourself. If something is important enough to the government, they know how to protect it. Think about the scope of the UFO question. Admitting the existence of UFOs would not only be announcing the discovery of intelligent life in the universe ... but intelligent life that is visiting our planet. People would panic. ... At least they would have in 1947. But back then it was easier to keep it quiet or blame it on the Soviets. Which might explain why we've been slowly dripped more and more information about UFOs through every medium available: movies, tv, comics, books ... easy to write off flights of fancy sold as "entertainment". But over 20 years, that kind of constant bombardment desensitizes the population. Then you can start bringing out things from more legitimate sources and suddenly science fiction slowly becomes just science. Give that enough time, you find yourself with a population that would be ready to accept the existence of UFOs visiting our planet more in stride. It becomes less of a life altering realization and thus less of a threat to the government's ability to keep law and order. And if you think that's nuts, think about this date: April 24, 1945. Up until that point, US Vice President Harry Truman had never heard the words "The Manhattan Project". This was a government project that began in 1939 and employed over 100,000 people at various levels inside and outside of the US Government. 100,000 people knew what the Vice President of the United States didn't even know. Some would say the world has changed, communication has become global, information moves too fast for the government to control it. And they're right. The world has evolved -- but don't think for a second the government's ability to keep secrets haven't evolved right along side it.

You're not the only one pissed off. A lot of people on this board have said from day one that Nix and Chan were nothing but the same ol' same ol' at OBD -- and that statement proves it. It's an absolute joke the way this franchise is run. An absolute shame too. I cannot believe how many people on here are DEFENDING this ... they're so blinded by trees they're forgetting to see the forest. We deserve the ****ty team that is put out on the field week in and week out for over a DECADE. That statement is everything that is wrong with the Buffalo Bills as a franchise and a fan base. ... And if the toast was burning for 12 years without anyone saying "hey, your toast is burning" I'd be pretty pissed off.

You're right. A team's philosophy doesn't matter. Nor does its scheme. Changing core philosophies every 3 years has worked very well for this fine franchise for the past 12 years. Why not one more?

James Harrison isn't "dirty". He just refuses to learn the new rules. The hits he's been fined for were legal when he came into the league. Now, Vince Willfuk is a very dirty player. And he has scabies.

Ha! That implies this front office has a plan. They don't. As they made clear today. Nix is impotent and unable (or unwilling) to make the changes necessary to elevate this team. Year 3 of a rebuild and they're starting over on a SCHEME level. That's not a bad thing, it's a disaster. This franchise was a joke before. It's a goddamn trainwreck after today.

100% agreed. Though I'm not sure the world is ready for too much Creed. I could be mistaken but I think the Myans said a Creed spinoff was one of the first signs of the end of the world ...

CNN is a little late to this story ...

Which you have to admit is an INSANE way to run a football team. The General Manager removes himself from anything having to do with how much they're paying players? That's a fecking joke, right?

A loser's attitude.

Luck and RG3 seem to be the cream of the crop this year (I am no college scout or expert, I have seen about 12 of Luck's games but haven't seen RG3 at all). There's very little chance the Bills will be in a position to grab either of these guys as it appears they'll go 1 and 2 respectively, if not 1 and 4. Personally I'm all for the Bills moving up to grab one of these guys if they believe he's their guy ... but I doubt it happens. All that said, I really like next year's QB class, at least in terms of potential. Fields and Barkley are two guys I've seen a lot of and I think another year in college is going to help their game tremendously. I believe the Bills need a QB. But if they don't grab one this year, I'd be happy with them grabbing one in '13. But at some point the Bills WILL have to trade up to get an elite QB in the draft (even at the expense of future draft picks). It's the most important position on the field, it's the quickest way to make the franchise relevant again AND competitive.

Brilliant!

Follow up on this story. Picture included.

That clip has nothing to do with what we're discussing. No one is talking about censorship. We're talking about piracy and how that impacts not only the artist, but the consumer. I am no fan of the MPAA. But I do make my living in IP. I make my living working within the studio system but not exclusively. I do indie stuff, I do web stuff, I do all sorts of different avenues so this isn't about me being a pawn for the studios. This is about me explaining to you that you don't understand half of what you're saying. You're using buzz words and concepts without understanding what's really behind them. Calling a studio the middle man is just wrong. They make a product. They are one of the only ones who can make this particular product (movies) because of the financial realities of the marketplace. Investing in movies is the surest way to lose your money. The first rule they teach you at Stark (grad school for producers at USC) is to NEVER invest your own money into a project. Why? Because art is subjective and you never know what's gonna hit and what's gonna miss. With the internet and the ease of digital piracy rising through the oughts, you saw a rapid decline in the number of indie movies made each year. Why? Because piracy has made the already slim profit margin even slimmer for anything that doesn't make 100 million dollars at the box office. And face it, not many movies are MEANT to make that much money at the box office. Piracy won't "free" filmmakers to produce more movies. It makes it HARDER. If you remove the studios, who right now are the only ones willing to invest millions of dollars into film and television, then you will see even LESS movies and TV shows. Explain to me how indie filmmakers will get more profits if the studios disappeared tomorrow. I'll wait. The issue with SOPA is it doesn't treat the disease. It just treats the symptoms. The real problem is that no one in this town has figured out how to monetize the internet when it comes to TV and Film. The business model isn't evolving, it's being ripped up and thrown out every day. Yes, they've been ahead of where the music companies where but that's a low bar. The way things are going to end up working, and you're seeing this with Crackle, HBO On the Go etc, is the DVD market will disappear. It's already begun, but the studios right now are hell bent on keeping it alive for some inexplicable reason. They're trying new marketing and DVD release strategies but they will fail. In the end, there will be one copy of the movie, it will be owned by the Studio/Network/Producer/Filmmaker and kept on their server. It will then be available for upload to all mobile and home devices for a charge. That will make tracking piracy easier, it will limit the pirates' abilities to produce a quality product since they'll be unable to rip a DVD copy of the film, and it will give the consumer what they want which is entertainment WHEN they want it.