silvermike

Rusty Jones is now the most overrated man in the history of the Buffalo Bills. Not that he wasn't a good strength coach, but he wasn't some godlike genius either, who had completely solved the problem of football injuries.

Yup. If the Bills had played a healthy Rob Johnson every game since 1998, he wouldn't magically become a Super Bowl MVP like Peyton Manning is. It's worth cautioning against change for the sake of change (dumping successful schemes/coaches/players), but seriously, it's not continuity that causes winning, it's winning that causes continuity.

I don't want to cut another starting tackle, this time just because he's 'injury prone.' He's arguably the best offensive linemen on the team. We can replace him if we have the opportunity to pick up someone better. This team does not get better by cutting Butler and giving his job to Demetrius Bell any more than it got better by cutting Langston Walker. And what have you seen in Chris Ellis that makes you want to start him?

I think the franchise tag will pay Owens at least $5M more than any actual team would next season. 37 year old WRs rarely collect $10M salaries.

Bruce Allen and Mike Holmgren are not necessarily great GMs. What did Allen do in Tampa? Blew some major draft picks, ignored the line, botched the QB position, and left a shell. Meanwhile, Mike Holmgren's old team had to fire him as GM before that team could pull anything together. It's not like they were obvious, slam-dunk choices. We need to hire the right front office staff, not the fastest.

The Bills are likely interested in GMs and coaches currently employed by other NFL teams, which we are forbidden from speaking to.

Why stop there? In that time frame, we also invested first round picks in John McCargo, Marshawn Lynch, and Eric Wood. That's seven first round picks without a clear hit. Wood may become one, McKelvin has shown flashes, and Maybin, I dunno, maybe there's hope. But still, on day one next year, the Bills may be starting only one of their first round picks.

I'll give him a pass for the balance of the season. Very few players ever perform in a season where they start on the PUP. But next year is really it for him: he needs to show up to camp in shape, get to work, and earn some looks on the field, or he'll be looking for work in the UFL.

I'll take a crack: QB: Chad Pennington RB: Fred Jackson WR: Lee Evans WR: Mark Clayton TE: Shawn Nelson TE: Derek Fine LT: Russell Okung LG: Andy Levitre C: Eric Wood RG: Kendall Simmons RT: Brad Butler DE: Aaron Schobel DT: Marcus Stroud DT: Kyle Williams DE: Aaron Maybin (please let this be a good idea) LB: Paul Posluszny LB: Kawika Mitchell LB: Bryan Scott CB: Leodis McKelvin CB: Terrence McGee FS: Jarius Byrd SS: George Wilson. Still, I think at least one of the jobs up there will go to our 2nd round pick, and there may be at least one more UFA starter, unless the new FO just blows the thing up.

Bruce Allen was fired after never winning a playoff game in Tampa Bay. If he's the hot GM prospect this year, it's not like he's coming in with a great track record of success.

I think also, many of the players who get injured are so irrelevant, that they just go on IR rather than lingering on the roster. I don't really know about the severity of most of these injuries, but it's not like there's a reason to save a roster spot for Marcus Buggs for 4-5 weeks.

I mean, if we had signed him, he would have crapped out and been cut without too much fanfare at the end of the season. It's not like he's a legend in San Francisco.

In the universe, but probably not in the history of pro sports.

Yes. The Bills coaching search was limited to the unemployed before the end of the season.

It's not a race. I don't care when we hire a GM, I care who we hire for GM. Bruce Allen wasn't some crowning success in Tampa - he took a team only a year removed from a Super Bowl victory, and managed no playoff wins. He failed to acquire a quarterback in a number of tries. He burned first round picks (and high ones) on Michael Clayton, Cadillac Williams, and Gaines Adams. I'm not impressed. Even Holmgren hasn't scored a hit in quite a while. He was a better coach than GM, and was relieved of his job in Seattle and then rejected when he tried to get it back.

I mean, all the at-will stuff only counts if he didn't have a contract that specified otherwise. Jauron say, was fired and still is entitled to the balance of his pay.

I'm trying to think of which QBs, touted as top-10 picks before staying in school, really improved their stock in the next season. Brady Quinn, Matt Leinart, and Brian Brohm went the other way, and all three are disappointments. It's possible, of course, that the scouts knew something and told them to enjoy stardom while it lasted in college.

The Bills also, as a team, lead the league in INTs. Imagine if we had a pass rush!

Yes - most recently, Orlando Thomas of the Vikings in 1995.

If we cut Evans, let Josh Reed go, and call it the end of the TO era, who are our starting WRs next year? Steve Johnson and James Hardy?

If Maybin makes even half of them up against Brady, it will all have been worth it. Not that that's, you know, likely.

There is something remarkable about how when a misquote (if this is a misquote) becomes so representative of people's feelings about a person, it becomes more relevant than anything true. Or sometimes, not even a misquote: a parody will suffice. Sarah Palin never said "I can see Russia from my house," but Tina Fey's line sort of got to the heart of what people thought she was like. Ditto Al Gore's "I invented the internet." He didn't say it - but it was a pithy version of his bad habit of exaggerating his accomplishments after eight years of VP obscurity. Or Gerald Ford's falling down, or, I guess, Dick Jauron's line. He said a lot of stuff like that, so if he didn't say the actual line, it's what people think he meant. I'm not saying this is good. Anyone see "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance?" When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. People's sense of journalists wasn't any better 50 years ago.

Excellent, thank you. What did Bruce Smith play? I keep remembering that we had him mostly in a 2-gap system, which means his stats aren't just beastly, they're legendary.

And further note: the only late-round pick still active from that time span is Kirk Chambers.

And the Jaguars are in playoff position, and have been a competitive team for most of their existence. If they slumped like we have that stadium would draw UFL-sized crowds.