jahnyc

Will be the worst offensive line in football.

One of the worst trades of all time. Trading an all pro LT tackle in his prime? Horrible. Oh yeah, here is the other bad news: the current front office will be selecting the players for these draft choices. Good luck.

Just read on the board for BuffaloBills.com that WIP (I think a radio station) is reporting the trade is for Philly's 28th pick in the first round and a fourth round pick. If this is true, the front office should be fired immediately. We will have the worst offensive line in the NFL.

This is an unmitigated disaster and the worst possible news. Excellent management to trade your best player and only all pro level player who is in his prime for what is likely going to be draft picks.

I think the drafting and the free agent acquisitions have been fairly consistent across the Donahoe and post-Donahoe eras, which makes sense since many of the same people (Modrak and Guy) have been leading the efforts during both periods. While I believe our drafting over the last number of years merits a slightly above average grade (maybe a , I think our efforts in free agency should get close to an F (maybe a D-). I am shocked that Guy is still around, and I think the team would be significantly better if we had more success in our free agent signings since our drafting has not been terrible.

They should do whatever needs to be done to keep him. I understand that his play has been uneven and his recent actions (i.e., holding out last summer) beyond aggravating, but the reality is that losing him would leave a hole too big to fill. There is no assurance that if the Bills select a tackle in the first round that he would even become a starting caliber player, let alone a pro bowl type player. Do you trust the current front office's ability to make a good pick? Moreover, the Bills have a new center and need a LG. They cannot start the season with a rookie at RT (if they move Walker) or a rookie at LT and a rookie at LG or Chambers or Bell at LG. This would be a disaster, possibly the works offensive line in the NFL. Finally, in terms of the financial impact, I assure you that if Peters is traded, the Bills will end up searching for a quality LT for the next ten years. That is about how long it was between Fina (during his prime) and Peters, and Fina was barely a quality player.

Trading Peters will create another gaping hole and the Bills will not receive equivalent value. No one here wants to pay him the money he is seeking, but there is really no choice but to do so. If Peters is traded, left tackle would become the biggest need and the Bills will draft a tackle with their first pick. A rookie LT, Chambers or Bell at LG (or even a rookie) and the new guy at center would be a recipe for disaster, particularly with an injury prone qb. I would suggest that even if Peters agrees to a new deal or does not hold out, LG may be the biggest overall team need. Assuming that Peters is not traded on or before the draft, I can still see the Bills taking a LT prospect with their first pick to hedge their bets (they can play him at LG if Peters stays). I would really like to see the Bills use the first pick on an outside LB such as Cushing or Mathews, and then in the second round take the best OG (i.e., Unger, Mack or Robinson). Starters and upgrades are needed at LG, LB, DE, TE and Safety (maybe DT as well). I would argue that our offseason has once again been about creating new holes and not filling enough of the old holes.

Some of the posts cited by the original poster were not about a lack of signings on the first day, but about the problems we have had over the last number of years with coaching, the draft and free agency. Frankly, I am tired of people telling us to relax and be patient, as if this FO deserves the benefit of the doubt.

How else can you explain this mess? Dockery is released without any replacement on the roster and free agency and the college draft are weak at this position. Will they sign the guy from Carolina for three or four million a year? Does that make sense given that Dockery was going to make about four million a year for the next five years? Based on prior free agent acquisitions by this FO, what are the chances that this guy will be an upgrade over Dockery? I think zero. It would have been one thing to release Dockery if the plan was to go after Jason Brown, but that clearly was not the plan. I just don't understand why the Bills constantly create new holes when they have outstanding old holes to fill, particularly in a year that is weak in terms of available free agents. The Bills cannot fill all of these holes in the draft and will be lucky to get one starter for this season out of the draft. By the way, I don't think it looks good to potential free agents when you cut a guy like Dockery after two years. Finally, with limited funds available each year, missing on a guy like Dockery is devastating and leads to the departures described above. This money could have been spent elsewhere with better results. In the last five years or so, the Bills have lost Clements, Winfield, Williams, Fletcher and now probably Greer. Through our efforts in free agency, we have failed to acquire players that perform at a high level. Drafting has been fair, but players like Whitner and Poz have not yet (and may not) become great players. All of the experts panned the picks of Whitner and McCargo and the overpayment to acquire Dockery. Seems that they were right. We need a real football GM who can make decisions regarding free agency, the draft and coaching.

Why should we relax? After the release of Dockery and the creation of a new hole with no immediate fix in sight, I continue to have zero confidence in the front office. We have struck out with almost every free agent acquisition in the last five years, while letting decent players leave via free agency (Clements, Fletcher, Winfield, Williams and probably Greer). Why will it be different now, particularly if we only acquire so called reasonably priced players? In the past, we have failed with the expensive acquisitions (Dockery) and cheap acquisitions (Reyes). Yes, it is only the first day of free agency, but we are a weaker team now than we were at the end of last season and no one understands the plan to move forward and improve.

Sorry to say, but Greer and Dockery are better players than anyone the Bills will sign this year as a free agent.

How do the Bills expect to improve by creating new holes and then trying to fill new and old holes with second and third tier free agents? Currently on offense, the Bills do not have a starting starting center, LG and tight end. They also need a back-up QB (and maybe RB). Please do not tell me that a back-up from Carolina and a guard from Pittsburgh with diabetes and coming off a ruptured achilles are the answers. We have already lost out on Brown and Andrews, the best options at center and guard. We cannot possibly fill all of these holes in the draft (we will be lucky if get one or two quality starters this year out of the draft). I know it is early and patience will be preached, but I am already reminded of the year we acquired Tutan Reyes as the answer at guard.

This makes no sense to me. At approximately $4 million per year over the remaining five years of his contract, Dockery's compensation is not crazy. The Bills have no replacement currently on the roster and it is a weak year for guard in the draft and in free agency. This is a big hole, and with another big hole at center, how does this get fixed? Clearly, Peters and Dockery regressed this year. Does our o-line coach know how to coach? Do we miss Mouse?

It really unfortunate that the Bills have lost some decent players over the last few years via free agency, including Winfield, Clements and Pat Williams. Greer appears to be next (and Crowell, if he is healthy), and maybe McGee next year. What are the ramifications? Constantly trying to replace talent rather than upgrading talent. This problem is magnified since the Bills have received nothing for the loss of these players (other than possibly a supplemental draft choice or two). Have many teams lost this number of quality players over the last four years or so? It is interesting that while the Bills currently have one All Pro player (Peters, which is subject to much debate), Winfield and Williams have been named All Pro since departing the Bills. One positive--whoever scouts cbs for the Bills has done a good job. Winfield, Clements and McGee are all better than average, Greer is probably as well, and McKelvin seems to have much potential. Not a bad record for drafting corner backs.

I think the Bills would have drafted Tra Thomas (Eagles) with that pick. He has had a very good career as a left tackle.

I have no idea what happens here. Even if the charges are dropped or Lynch pleads to a misdemeanor, it is conceivable that he will be subject to suspension under the NFL conduct policy. In the event that he is suspended for four games, I do not see how the Bills go into the season (and for the first four games) with only Fred Jackson and the back-ups we had last year. I really like Freddy, but I can see how this scenario could result in a poor start for the team, which would be devastating with the tough schedule in 2009. Under all scenarios, I think the Bills will be forced to either pick up another RB in free agency or use a draft pick in rounds 2-4 on a RB. We need to hope that the charges are dropped and that the NFL does not suspend Lynch. Even if this happens, the question will remain as to whether the Bills need to make contingency plans given Lynch's problems in only his first two years with the Bills.

I have a feeling that the Bills will make no effort to sign Greer. I have not read that there has been any contact with his agent at any time. I don't think this is the right decision, but I predict Greer will not be re-signed and McKelvin will start in his place next year.

With Schonert, I find it really strange that he was not able to have any success against the 3-4 defense. Was it the quality of the teams or a real problem in figuring out how to attack that defense?

Some observations below: 1. With two coordinators without prior coordinator experience, I am not surprised that the Bills have had difficulties. As many of the newly hired coaches begin filling their staffs, you see a common interest in trying to fill the coordinator positions with fomer head coaches or coordinators with prior experience (such as Linehan, Ryan (from the Raiders), Nolan, Haslett, etc.). I think the lack of experience of our coodinators really has hurt this team over the last number of years. 2. Interesting that some of the articles about Jauron returning to the Bills indicated that he seems to have final say over his coaching staff. I wonder if this provision was in Jauron's contract because of what happened with Wade and his special teams coach. 3. Fewell's post-season comments about Poz have been interesting. He praises him about his smarts but seems to indicate that he is not making enough big plays. 4. I have had the feeling that since TD, the Bills seem to think that they are smarter than other teams when it comes to drafting (and that the draft experts and fans don't get it). This is clearly not the case. Most teams/experts did not have Losman going in the first round, and many pointed out that he had maturity issues. Whitner was an okay pick, but would have been a much better value late in the first round. Ngata should have been the pick. Trading up for McCargo was met with a lot of criticism, most draft experts had him at best as a third round pick. He is a bust. The Bills traded up for Poz, but many teams/experts had David Harris more highly rated and there were concerns that Poz could be a bit too slow to be an impact player. My point is that most of the draft experts have been better at assessing our picks than the the Bills. 5. I wonder how the poor economy will affect the offseason plans of the Bills. 6. I think second WR will be a big need this offseason in free agency, but there is little available this year. I don't think we can expect Hardy to be ready for the regular season and he will miss valuable practice time as he rehabs. Because of this, even when he is ready to return, I doubt he will make much of an impact.

If the rumor has some basis in truth, I doubt it involves selling the team. These are not ideal times for a sale, particularly with any financing that would be necessary in connection with a sale. Could it relate to possible tampering by other teams with coaches on the Bills' staff (i.e., April)?

Interesting that John Guy was not included as being in attendance?

According to the Buffalo News. Sorry, no linky.

If the winds are as strong as predicted, any chance the game does not get played on Sunday? Could be dangerous if gusts really reach 60 mph.

Not happy that RW is looking to increase the role of Modrak, at least according to the article. The Bills need a full-time football guy as GM. This sounds like another band-aid, or a way to keep the status quo. I think this is the most important need at this point, particularly since this is the person who should make the decision about the head coach and staff.

No contest, JP is worse. RJ played effectively at times, JP never has. Please don't misundersand me, RJ did not have it, and neither does JP. The difference is that when RJ had a lot of time to throw, he could look good.