jahnyc

Cuomo and Schumer have been relatively strong and vocal in their views with regard to the sale of the Bills and keeping the Bills in Buffalo. Has Senator Gillibrand spoken a word on this? Very disappointing.

I also think it helps that it is an election year for Cuomo plus he may have aspirations for higher office. Having the Bills sold to a new owner that wants to move the team out of New York State would not look good. Even worse for him would be having a new owner want to keep the Bills in Buffalo but not getting any state support for a new stadium.

Interesting. I thought he was a real possibility as the next owner of the Bills. I am really hopeful about JW's post. I hope this means that there are local interests (individually or collectively) trying to purchase the team. Maybe the lease and recent activities and statements from the State and Goodell are narrowing the field. I still believe that a new stadium will need to be part of the agreement to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Ultimately, this may be the most significant hurdle.

I don't know if Byrd was best the player on the defense last year, but I do know the defense started playing better after his return from injury. Our o-line is a work in progress and is nowhere close to being one of the most dominant lines in the NFL. Our guard play was poor last year and we needed an upgrade at RT. We have some new pieces, and we will see if the combination of the signing of Willams and draft picks will lead to improvement this year. I like the additions at LB. This unit should be better this year.

Some thoughts below: 1. We will see whether the Bills bet appropriately that Watkins will be a star for the team. For me, the bigger bet that is being made by the front office and coaching staff is that EJ is our franchise QB. If anything, this second bet seems to be the riskier bet, particularly without a number one pick next year if EJ fails to deliver this year. This is a double bet, and for Watkins to be successful, we need EJ to prove that he is a quality NFL quarterback. 2. The Bills have added some depth this year in many positions through free agency, the draft, and trades, including at the linebacker, the offensive line and at running back positions. What I do not understand is the failure to address the back-up QB situation. I assume this means that the front office and coaches are satisfied with Lewis and Tuel. Based on their play last year, I would not be too comfortable. Maybe the Bills will add another veteran QB. I hope they do, but they will need to do it soon. We all experienced what happened when the Bills tried adding some veterans at the end of the preseason and early in the season. The learning curve for the offense was too steep and the new QBs could not immediately contribute. 3. Not sure what to make of the Stevie Johnson trade. It does seem that we take a step forward and two steps back at times. Can Watkins play at a quality starter level in his first season? Will he be better than SJ would have been this year or would the two of them playing together been the best scenario for the offense this year? 4. With SJ traded, who will mentor this group of young wide receivers? Maybe SJ was not the right person for this role, but it seems to me that this group could use a veteran WR presence. I do not think Williams is that guy. 5. I like Whaley's passion and drive for the Bills to make the playoffs this year, but if he is going to be successful, he also needs to have wisdom, patience and judgment. I am a little worried that he has not developed all of these characteristics to this point. The other concern is that the front office and coaching staff know that the next owner will clean house if they fail to make the playoffs again this year. This is a lot of pressure, but there still needs to be some oversight so that the future is not mortgaged by the front office so that they can show the team is improving in the short term. 6. I think the overall roster is better, but I am not sure if our talent level surpasses any of the teams in our division on an overall basis. This means that it will come down to coaching, and I do not think that Marrone is a better coach than Bellichik. We will find out if he is a better coach than Ryan and Philbin. I have my doubts. 7. Still seems like we give up more when we make trades than we get when we trade away picks or players. I thought we gave up way too much for Bryce Brown. Didn't we trade Lynch for a fourth round pick and a conditional pick? I like Watkins a lot, but the price for trading up was very steep. 8. Similar to the point above about making trades, it also seems that we overpay for players in free agency. SJ's contract was above market for his play, and we are paying Mario Williams much more than any other defensive end is getting. Even McKelvin is overpaid based on the contracts that CBs have been getting in free agency the last two years.

Since this article was written by JW, here is a question for JW: Does the speed at which the sale may take place favor the Bills staying in Buffalo or is there no connection between how quickly the sale occurs and whether the new ownership group intends to keep the Bills in Buffalo? Thank you.

You would have to believe that Milstein must have some assurances that he would receive the requisite vote from NFL owners to purchase the Bills if he is the winning bidder. He lost out in his bids for the Redskins and the Browns, and I doubt that he would throw his hat in the ring (assuming it is true) if there was a chance that the owners would reject him.

I guess the NFL schedule makers do not think the Bills will be improved this year. Only a Thursday night game (which is what each team gets at a minimum).

I would be happy with any new owner that will keep the Bills in Buffalo, but I like the idea of the Jacobs family purchasing the Bills. Owners of a local big private company, experience owning a major sport team (Bruins), and a family that may want to keep the team in the family for an extended period of time.

I hope the NFL and the other owners understand that if the Bills move to Toronto, they will lose a significant number of current fans. I am concerned that a winning bid from a group that wants to move the team to Toronto will be perceived as a postive for Bills fans since Toronto is within driving distance. It is not. If the price gets to $1.5 billion, it will be tougher for an owner that wants to keep the team in Buffalo, particularly if the new owner used debt to fund part of the purchase price.

I think an online peitiion to keep the Bills in Buffalo would be easier and potentially more effective from a PR perspective, particularly since the petition would be open to all NFL fans and others interested in keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

Thanks, JW.

JW, I appreciate all of your insights and information. There are a lot of pages in this topic and many of the others that relate to future ownership of the Bills. To cut to the bottom line, do you get the sense there is a real possibility of local ownership or at least a potential owner from outside of the area that will be willing to keep the team in the Western New York area? Thank you.

I think it would be over if the Bills move, unless the Buffalo area shows significant economic and population growth in the future.

Some thoughts: 1. Whaley and Marrone must feel a lot of pressure to perform this year. If there is new ownership is in place before the beginning of the 2015 season, I would expect that they will want to hire their own people to run the team, including a new GM and head coach, particularly if the team does not perform well this year. If Brandon stays or is part of the new ownership team, then this may not be the case. Otherwise, the team's performance this year will have a significant impact on the future prospects of Whaley and Marrone, both with the Bills or with another opportunity in the future. 2. I hope there are other potential owners whose names have not surfaced up to this point. I had not heard of Haslan or Kahn (other than when he bid for the Rams before purchasing the Jaguars) before the purchases of their respective franchises. Bon Jovi would be a disaster since he is a part of a group that seems to want to move the team to Toronto. I cannot believe current league owners would be excited about Trump owning the Bills. I also read an old Wall Street Journal article about Milstein, which seemed to suggest that the NFL had issues with him when he was bidding for the Redskins because of his prior ownership of the Islanders. 3. I hope that Schumer and Cuomo will do whatever they can to ensure a local ownership group. In an election year, it would look bad for Cuomo to lose the Bills to another state/country. 4. I think there would a lot of support from the fans of other teams (maybe players/former players as well) for a drive to keep the Bills in Buffalo. I live in NYC, and I am always amazed that very few fans dislike or hate the Bills compared to other teams. How about an online petition to keep the Bills in Buffalo? If there was an organization/entity behind it and money available, hiring a PR firm would also help. NFL owners will always want to maximize revenue, but they will be wary of the bad publicity associated with moving the Bills. 5. My biggest fear is that the new owner will buy the team and be silent (or coy) about future plans or at least silent about what happens after the new lease has expired. This would give the NFL and the NFL owners enough cover to approve the sale of the team, even if everyone understands that the new owner will ultimately really want to move the team. 6. Seems that our current front office is more willing to take on players with more complicated backgrounds (Spikes and Williams). 7. If the Bills move to another city, I will stop being a fan of the team.

I am hoping that it is some combination of Jacobs, Pegula and Golisano.

I think it is too early to tell what this means. One negative that is that if the team is sold quickly, the group working on a potential new stadium will not have an opportunity to make progress. I also want to understand whether the Bills are being held in a trust that will require, as a fiduciary obligation, to sell to the highest bidder without regard to any other consideration. If there is discretion as to the selected bidder, that potentially would be a good thing. If not, then it could be a problem. I do not think we can count on current NFL owners to bar a potential new owner because they may suspect that the new owner will move the team. Any smart bidder will either wait until the lease escape year or be very fuzzy about future intentions as to relocating the team.

He will be one of my favorite people if he can somehow help steer the ownership of the Bills post-RW to a local or other group committed to keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

I agree. If the team is a playoff contender and there are sell outs for all games with a strong season ticket holder base, it will be harder for the team to be moved.

I think Cuomo is up for re-election in November. If that is the case, shouldn't Buffalo and Bills fans put maximum pressure on Cuomo now to step up and do everything NY State can do to make sure the Bills stay in Buffalo long term? Seems like there may be a window here given the impending election in November.

If Watkins falls to the Bills, I believe they will take him. Otherwise, I think it will be one of the top three OTs or Evans. If there was a top DE available at 9, I think that would have been the pick, but none of the mocks suggest there is a DE worth taking in the top 10 other than Clowney.

I like the Corey Graham signing. The signings of Rivers and Williams are scary. Why would the Bills need to sign these guys so early in free agency? Makes no sense to me.

I really do not like this signing. Cut by the Bears, worst performer on the St. Lous o-line. Shouldn't he be a guy making the veteran minimum? Unfortunately, we are paying him more than what a back-up would make, so for the Bills, this means he is a starter.

I think Williams will be the starting LG with the money we are paying him. Contract seems to be for more than what a team would pay a back-up. Kind of typical how the Bills operate.

There is no plan. Even if there was a plan, it would be difficult to execute given the realities of attracting players to Buffalo and a team that has not made the playoffs in 14 years. I know that many posters believe that it is a good thing not to overpay for our own players. I disagree. Until the team shows the willingness and the ability to keep its own players, the team will not have success and will not be able to attract free agents. Continuity is important, and when the current players see their peers leave, sometimes with bitterness, it creates future problems and hurts your ability to keep players in the future.