ChasBB

Also, Bruce was vocal, kept in contact, etc. Peters goes off to God knows where and doesn't even communicate with anyone save for one text message a month to some teammate. With Bruce, you knew he WANTED to be here, he wanted to play ball, but he demanded compensation (and rightfully so). I just don't get that same vibe with Peters. While he can probably make an equal or close to equal claim to be well-compensated, it's the other intangibles that leave questions marks. Does the guy really want to be a standout player? Does he love the game like Bruce did? Is he a leader like Bruce was? At least Bruce kept the lines of communication open during his holdouts whereas Peters just totally shuts down -- just don't get a great feeling when that kind of thing happens.

JP will land with some NFL team before the season starts at least as a backup.

Well, that has some merit. However, I also think it is easier for a defensive player to hold out and still be effective. I think it is more difficult for an offensive lineman because greater cohesion is needed to run an offense effectively than on defense. Not saying you don't need that on defense, too, but just that it is more essential for a successful offense.

Totally agree with you! Here's what Jauron SHOULD say: "If Peters gets his butt in here for offseason workouts, we'll prepare as if he's a part of our offense. Otherwise, we are moving on and when/if he does return, he'll have to EARN his starting position back -- it won't be handed to him."

I agree with most of this. I'd like to see the Bills keep Peters, but I'm concerned the guy will just be an annual holdout. Let's say Buffalo comes through somehow with $11 million per season for Peters. Next year, some other left tackle somewhere gets a bigger contract. What's Peter's gonna do? Hold out again in 2010 because he's the 2nd-highest paid left tackle in the NFL? I hate the idea of him helping another team, but I just don't see how the Bills can reward his behavior at this point and there is simply no guarantee that he won't pull this crap the remainder of his career -- at least while he is in Buffalo. The money they gave to Dockery & Walker was ridiculous and I can well understand why Peters was pissed, but I don't see this guy EVER being content with his earnings.

It's kind of like evaluating former US presidents. You can't really evaluate them until years later. It's just too soon to give Brandon either a failing or a passing grade. I'll say this -- I think he's TRYING. I think he does actually CARE about fielding a winning team. That's half the battle right there.

Fred does not have the typical wear-and-tear of a long-time starter. We need to have both Lynch and Jackson. The Bills need to get a deal done with Jackson. It's not just the right thing to do, but it's also the smart thing to do. He's got a LOT of football left in his legs and he BRINGS IT every week. Please take care of business NOW and reward this guy for his contribution to this team.

Super news! Just fantastic. Way to go, Joe!

I'm glad TO is going to be catching footballs for Buffalo this season, but geography obviously wasn't his thing. Last time I checked, "North America" was a continent. In alphabetical order, here are the countries that belong to the continent of North America: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America Kind of makes distinguishing Buffalo/Toronto from Dallas by referring to the Bills as "North America's team" kind of a goofy remark. Obviously, everyone knew what he meant, but us citizens of the United States are not the only "Americans". We sure can be quite centric regarding ourselves. What's even more interesting is that I have not heard even one challenge in the media to this statement -- interesting. Also, if you are from Canada, you are a Canadian. If you are from Mexico, you are a Mexican. If you are from the United States, you are an ... American?? -- how messed up is that? If you are a citizen of ANY of the above-listed countries (or even the countries of South America, for that matter), you can say you are an "American". It would be like the Italians saying they are Europeans (which they are, of course) *and* intending that remark to mean that ONLY they were Europeans -- as though the citizens of the other European countries were NOT Europeans. It's just kind of funny that we don't even have a legitimate name to call ourselves and have it be unique. Well, I guess we can always go by our states -- New Yorkers or Pennsylvanians or Floridians, etc., but "Americans" doesn't really work (in terms of distinguishing us as United States citizens) and neither does "North Americans".

Or, you just ease him in. You don't dump it all on him at once, but in certain situations, you let your QB make the call. If that goes well, you expand on that.

What I want to see from Turk is to let go of the reigns a little bit. I think the QB has the best feel for the game. The OC needs to prepare his QB all week and game plan and so on, but come game day, I think he needs to let Edwards take a little more control of the playcalling and so on. I think the more successful offensive coordinators don't have huge egos. Look at how successful Ted Marchibroda was letting Jim Kelly run the offense on game days! Not saying Edwards is Kelly here, but I'm just saying that I'd like to see the reigns loosened just a little bit.

I was wondering that myself. Maybe he counts single-digit losses as "victories".

My thought is that Preston was part of the reason the Bills were never at the top during his time here. Certainly not him alone, but he certainly wasn't the answer, either.

Agree. As soon as there is just one other left tackle making 11.1 million, he'll be back to holding out again. He's got to go. Not so much on his talent, but the negative impact on the team of him not being there for workouts, camp, etc.

Exactly! The Bills got more than their share of national media attention during the Super Bowl years because they DESERVED it. Right now, this team does NOT deserve it. It has to be EARNED. It doesn't matter how good our team is on paper. Until the Bills make a serious playoff run, the Bills do not deserve much attention. And, that is probably a good thing anyhow.

Look around at the OTHER divisional polls -- MANY teams got left out. I wish everyone would stop viewing every dinky little thing as some sort of slight against the Bills -- just ridiculous.

Lou Saban -- my favorite Bills coach, bar none.

I'll take the liberty of revising CJPearl2's response to fit your question: 1. Losing 2. Losing 3. Losing 4. Losing 5. Losing Seriously, I think Brady will be rusty and may not have a great game, but it still comes down to Belichick vs. Jauron and I don't like those odds.

What a load of crap this "story" is.

When the Bills were making all those repeat Super Bowl appearances, weren't those uncapped seasons, too?! Just goes to show that a small market team CAN have success w/o salary caps.

Agree, but when the bar is already lying on the ground, there's no place to go but up.

Yes, agree -- I'm hoping for that, too. This could be quite an offense to deal with. I hope the coaching can keep up. I'd like to see the coaches give the QB more leeway (like Marchibroda did w/Jim Kelly). Not saying Edwards is fully ready for that, but I think it helps the team when the QB is calling a fair number of the shots on the field. The players just have a better feel for the game and the flow and are often in a better position to know what will and won't work.

Oh, but remember, he won the "Ed Block Award"! Gotta keep him forever now. Agree -- I would like to see him simply cut or traded, if possible, for ANY draft pick we can get.

I wouldn't make it optional -- it'd be more like "you'll be taking a pay cut or else ..."

Does there HAVE to be a "bad guy"?! Stupid question.