silvermike

A GM (sorry, COO) four hours before the draft....mmmm, smells like trustworthy.

That's just the opposite of how we got Whitner - we zeroed in on safety and ignored greater talents. Staying with your board is how you do it - don't panic and take a crummy OT just because there was a run of them.

Wowza - Detroit had a very public opportunity to sign Curry and stop the madness, yet they decided to keep they cycle going by making Drew Stafford sorry, MATT Stafford the highest paid rookie in NFL history and what, the 3rd highest paid QB in the league? They might as well cut Daunte Culpepper now: there's nothing he can do that will help the team, least of all put together a good season.

And even if that happened, there would still be people here swearing up and down that we could never let go of Reed, Parrish, or Stevie Johnson.

Never trust Florio for actual football analysis. He gets good information, he's a whiz with contracts, and he's got great intuition on how owners and general managers think as far as hiring and firing goes. But he doesn't really know that much about what's going on on the field. And for what it's worth, this draft is allegedly coming from some random scout he won't name. Yeah, it's probably him, but if it is, he won't even stand behind it. He's just shooting the breeze.

Also, what's the weather like in London in February? Wembley Stadium is outdoors, isn't it? Sounds like a recipe for an ugly, muddy, sloppy game. It's not going to happen. They just had a vague conversation and leaked it to try to stir up some interest for future games in London. It fundamentally doesn't make sense.

Did you hear it on television, the radio, the internet, or in a newspaper? Or did you just overhear somebody chatting in a bar?

How would it work scheduling wise? I assume the NFL wouldn't want to eff with the starting time on the east coast, and 6:25 in Buffalo is 11:25 in London - so the game would end at 2:30 - 3:00 am locally. That doesn't make sense.

I'd go with something like this: $5M/season for the #1 pick, $4M for 2-10, $3M for 11-20, and $2M for 21-32. $1M for the second round, then $900k in the third, $800 in the 4th, etc. The total cost of this program would be about $239M per season, so on average, 1/16th of the salary cap would go to rookies. More or less. Then beyond that, every rookie contract would be for three years at that value, with 33% of its overall worth as a signing bonus (essentially, this makes the first year of the contract guaranteed and paid up front). No contract extension may be negotiated or signed before the first day of the player's third season. After those three years, the players would be restricted free agents if they had yet to sign an extension, the top 20 picks, I think, would automatically qualify for the top tender (1st and 3rd round picks) and the rest of the first round would guarantee a 1st round pick in return. I think it would also be worth introducing a higher tender still, where a team could tender an RFA at 200% his previous year's salary, or $5M whichever's greater, and ensure a franchise-level two first round picks. How's that sound?

The rookie cap doesn't even need to change the total amount of money paid to rookies, it just needs to give the damn thing some balance. The #1 pick will probably make over $40M guaranteed. The #28 pick that we acquired is going to come in under $2M per season. And even 2nd round picks get paid like special teamers long after they become starters. It's the agents who influence the NFLPA that keep this from getting done: less money for rookies would just mean more money for veterans, and the players in the union shouldn't care about that. But if there was a rookie payscale, who would give an agent a 3% cut of a fixed payment?

Yeah, there's nothing worthwhile coming out of the mouths of any personnel man in the league. Levy and Jauron were talking up Fred Jackson when we drafted Marshawn Lynch.

Marcus Price?

So as an all 1993-2009 acquisitions team, I'm going: QB: Flutie RB: Lynch, Henry WR: Evans, Moulds OT: Peters, Walker OG: Butler, Brown C: Teague DE: Schobel, Wiley DT: Williams, Washington OLB: Spikes, Paup MLB: Fletcher CB: Winfield, Clements FS: Vincent SS: Milloy P: Moorman K: Lindell. Take those players in their primes - how would they do in the Bills' 2009 schedule?

There's really no doubt about it: Bill Polian was the last good general manager this team ever had. February 3rd, 1993 was his last day in office. Look at what we've acquired since: Best Coach: Wade Phillips. A decent defensive coordinator who has yet to win a playoff game. Best QB: Um, Flutie? Edwards? Todd Collins? Drew Bledsoe? We're 0-fer since Jimbo. Best RB: They can't all be Thurman, but the Bills have spent first round picks on McGahee, Lynch, and Antowain Smith since Polian left. Add in mid-round Travis, and there is talent in this group - but why are we always replacing them? Best WR(s): Moulds and Evans doesn't give me anything to complain about here. Best TE: ...Jay Riemersma? The best TE to come on board in the past 16 years? Am I forgetting someone here? Best OTs: Well, Jason Peters was one, see what happened to him. Is it possible the second best tackle the Bills have brought on in the post-Polian era is Langston Walker? Fina was already here, other contenders are Corey Louchey and Jonas Jennings Best OGs: Reuben Brown and Brad Butler are actually starting-caliber OGs. Can't complain here, even though #3 on this list is washout Derrick Dockery. Best C: I don't want to talk about it. Trey Teague? Billy Conaty? Best DE: Aaron Schobel and Marcellus Wiley give us two respectable DEs, but then what? Maybe Jim Jeffcoat? Among DEs acquired in the post-Polian era, the sack leaders are Schobel, Denney, and Wiley. Best DTs: Here they get credit for free agent pickups and trades: Stroud, Williams, Washington and Adams. I can't complain about the longterm pursuit of DTs, though it seems like we could never keep two good ones together for more than six months. Best LBs: Again, a solid position for the new guys, with Spikes, Paup, and Fletcher leading the group. Add in Cowart, and you have a decent group. Best CBs: An all star team! Clements, Winfield, McKelvin, McGee, Greer, Thomas Smith, Jeff Burris! Though I should note: Only Clements is in the team's all time top ten in interceptions, since they keep going on to other teams. McGee joins him in the top 20. Best S: Again, a decent enough group: Whitner if you like him, Milloy if you don't, Vincent, Schultz, etc. Lindell and Moorman are clearcut winners as specialists, with McGee returning.

I guess the distinction here is that while he's complaining about his contract, he is still working. But if he's anything like Jason Peters, his featured client, he's probably not giving his all.

Seriously. Well, he's not refusing to work while negotiating for a contract, but DeMaurice Smith was somehow elected to the union's presidency without agreeing to salary terms or signing a contract. It sounds like any other contract scuffle: the union wants a 3-year deal, Smith wants 5. According to Pasquarelli, the sides are over $5 million dollars apart. The league is headed for a big disaterous labor action in the next three years, and the union can't even make sure they've got anyone on charge. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4087237

I'm pretty hesitant to give up a future first round pick, but given that Jauron would be fired on an off year, 2010 might be meaningless for him.

Yep - the bottom line is that a defensive end or linebacker is going to burst through at your quarterback once your worst OL misses a block, and while it's best for him not to come in on the blind side, it's not as disproportionate as the salary for the LT indicates.

I don't know how you can watch sixteen Bills games a season and still believe in a benevolent and loving deity. But in any case, since I'm not a Christian, this issue doesn't really come up.

I don't know much about other sports, but contract holdouts seem to be much, much rarer in the NHL, NBA, and Major League Baseball. Can the NFL get to that point? I think the fans are sick of this s#it. Is it a tradeoff for guaranteed contracts?

It looks similar to the TO deal, except for the extra two years. The average is 6.66 instead of 6.50, so that'd be a wash.

I really doubt there are any hardcore racists in the NFL - you can't go to work with at least what, 40 black guys every day since you were 13 and still somehow have an intense hatred for their people.

Whoever plays LT is going to struggle unless Seth McKinney is better than he seems to be. Walker looked good last year in part because he had Butler on his flank and it shored up the right side, while Peters struggled with Dockery.

Scheduling can be so fluky - the Bills played/will play the Browns in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. But before that, it was only once from 1991-2003. Granted, the Browns weren't playing a for a few of those years, but it took us six years to play the revived Browns once they showed up.

Honestly, I believe him. I don't think the NFL would work against the Bills to schedule games in Toronto, I'm guessing that the league and the Bills agree on a game. I guess the theory would be that they're trying to make Bills fans in Toronto, and are thereby giving them interesting games against traditional rivals.