ChasBB

I don't think he'll play today unless starter Gerrard has a total meltdown in the 1st half.

I completely agree. The Bills can't quite trade as well as the Patriots yet simply because of the lack of talent on the squad, but I agree that is is a goal to operate like this. And I completely agree about Evans. I'd very much like to see him dealt for another pick next season. It's time to move forward without Evans. I'd rather go with the young guys this year since -- barring a miracle -- the playoffs are out of the question anyhow. May as well go with the youth movement at this stage. If we can get a 3rd or 4th for Evans, that would be wonderful news.

Buffalo 26-24

If Fitz gets hurt, we can be sure of some enlightening commentary from Dierdorf: "When you're looking at Brian Brohm, you're looking at the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills."

Um, fans don't run players out of town. We're not that powerful.

Levy may go down as THE worst GM this team has ever had. I'd say he's already earned the title.

Was wondering that myself. Maybe he was a little too candid ("I saw the same game you saw") for the FO's liking.

This is not really a new thing, either, which is why they have been a virtual dynasty. They know when to cut a player loose while still getting value. Bottom line, they know what they are doing.

No way I want to see Kyle Williams dealt. I'm not saying he's the prototype NT in a 3-4, but he's a gamer and I want him on the roster. Stroud, on the other hand, I'd be OK dealing him.

I need to revise my own post a bit. We do actually have 5 out of 9 players from the 2006 draft still on the roster, so it wasn't a horrid draft, but it also could have been better. We still have Whitner, McCargo, Youboty, Kyle Williams, and Keith Ellison on the squad from the 2006 draft. Brad Butler was also in that draft, but has retired, of course. Ko Simpson, Terrence Pennington, and Aaron Merz were also drafted in 2006. So, it wasn't quite as bad as 2007, but the top two picks that year were big-time REACHES and that's what hurts the team today from that draft. The Bills have GOT to hit on their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks. That is essential to building a winner.

Very sad, indeed. The drafts from 3-4 years ago essentially DEFINE the team you are today. It takes about 3 years for a lot of draftees to become regular and solid contributors to their teams. Also, given that the average NFL career is 3.5 years, you could make the argument in ANY year that the drafts 3 and 4 years prior are what defines a team 3-4 years later. So, based on our 2007 draft, in addition to our relatively pathetic 2006 draft, it is easy to see why the team is winless 3-4 years later.

+1 I don't know why it is so hard for people to understand that the market dictated that we got what we did. Obviously, if there were trading partners out there willing to give up a 3rd rounder, Buddy would have made that deal. We got what we could.

You can't make a decision today based on what happened 3-4 years ago. You make a decision today based on what is best for you NOW. It's the only thing you can do. It's not like the selection of Marshawn in the 1st round can be undone. It is what it is. You do the best to get value and move on.

I don't think anyone is calling this a "good" deal -- it's just the best we can do with the cards we have.

Agree, from a big-picture perspective, this is yet another failure by the Buffalo Bills organization. Having said that, all we have is the PRESENT and the present dictates that we get what we can for him. And sometimes, the opposite happens -- we get value for a guy who was once a rookie free agent -- e.g. trading Jason Peters for a 1st round pick, so win some, lose some (and not wanting to discuss particulars of Peters here -- just stating that sometimes you get a guy for nothing and can trade him for something, so the Bills don't always lose on these situations, but they do lose on them too many times. Bottom line, you have to start where you are and that is what is on the roster TODAY and where do we go from here. Bashing the regime of Marv Levy, while valid, doesn't change the fact that we are where we are. We only have the players on the present roster to deal with and that's just how it is.

You've got to deal in the present. Presently, that is all Lynch is worth. The real mistake was made when he was selected in the 1st round, but hindsight is 20-20.

For one, Lynch is ONE mistake away from a full season suspension. That's quite a gamble the Seahawks are taking. Two, while Lynch may be putting forth the effort and doing his best, he really doesn't want to be here and is probably not a locker room kind of guy -- a guy who picks up his teammates. He's probably just going through the motions right now. Three, he's just not the type of player Chan wants to have around. I would have liked to see the Bills wait another week or so until the trading deadline got a little bit closer to see if they could have gotten a 3rd, but I don't fault the organization for this move. It was inevitable. They need draft picks right now and if the scouting department does their work, they can do well with the 4th and hopefully the conditional pick, as well.

I do not fault them for this. It is simply posturing to say he is not available. If they publicly say Lynch is available, how does that help?

This is a salvage operation at this point. You do what you can under the circumstances. Lynch is not Chan's kind of player and probably was never going to return to his old form while in a Buffalo uniform.

Nice value under the circumstances. A 3rd would have been nicer, but just got to move forward. The Bills need to stockpile draft picks right now and this is a good start.

Agree. It's also very, very sad when one of the team's captains -- Lee Evans -- is the biggest QUITTER of them all! Very sad, indeed.

+1 Almost made this identical post until I read this.

Ralph needs to blow himself up -- step away from his hands-on approach to football operations or sell the team.

I'll confess that I figured Nix/Gailey knew what they were doing -- that they had a plan to improve the OL. In hindsight, really got to wonder what their thought process was here. I can understand Gailey maybe not wanting to deal with Incognito's penchant for insubordinate behavior, but geez, until you've got an adequate replacement, you deal with that and keep him around.

Eagles want the Bills to toss Marshawn their way for free -- to make up for sticking them with Peters.