MadBuffaloDisease

Sorry but a wet and wobbly ball usually will NOT be caught more often than not. It's hard enough to catch a wet spiral coming out at full speed, add wobble to it and it's a spectacular catch. And Parrish seemed to catch the ball well in mini-camp.

From what I recall, the ONLY positions that have been successfully developed in NFLE are QB and K/P. Maybe an OL here or there.

Yeah, and it was a dangerous and highly illegal spear job by the DB. The fact that Parrish didn't get hurt more than he did is amazing.

If the Bills had a crystal ball, they probably would have declined to redo Bledsoe's contract and planned to go with JP. But the season came down to the last game, a game in which virtually NO ONE played well, so it's not like WITHOUT the crystall ball they would have had much of a choice, especially with JP being hurt most of the season. And adding Bledsoe gave the Bills much-needed credibility back when they were a 3-13 laughingstock, and he recouped the 1st rounder spent on him by making Price look like a 1st rounder, and then using that pick to select Willis. As for Big Mike, $9M is WAY overpaid for a RT. They should have just kept Jennings at RT and gone in another direction at LT. But again, that's hindsight, and largely a function of lousy OL coaches over the year.

If only McNally had been around back in 2002, this might not have been an issue.

It's over. But you can feel good about the past 4 years if you like.

Ty Law doesn't factor into anything. This was his last year under his old contract anyway, and he was already released, meaning his dead cap hit is already accounted for, all in this year. And the Pats were just $1.5M or so under the cap before Brady's redo, and now gain an additional $1.5M, with about that much going to Chad Brown. He definitely could have gotten more on the open market. But he's still being paid a ton, and again, a hell of a lot more than he's ever been paid.

It doesn't destroy their cap, but it's well above the cap hits they were taking the past 5 years. That will effect them in terms of getting and keeping players.

They're not Manning numbers, but they're still a ton more than the Pats have been seeing in cap hit for Brady. Considering that last year, Brady's cap hit was just $5M, the jump up to ~$8.5M, and then considerably more after that, will affect the team, much like Manning's contract has affected the Colts' team, in terms of getting a good enough defense. I mean he effectively gets paid $26.5M in bonus, since there's no way he's gone after this coming season (except due to injury).

That's what I've read. He's also been walking with a limp, which sounds like it was caused by the stroke. And the fact that he hired an agent, whereas previously he hasn't had one (for several years at least, if not ever), tells me he's sitting out the season. The good news is the reason for the stroke (hole in the heart) is fixed and it didn't cause any major harm, but it might have left him with a long-term disability. Hopefully he's able to recover fully, and calls it a great career.

JP would be doing well if he came anywhere NEAR being sacked just 1.45 times per game. I just hope his mobility doesn't make him believe he's Houdini and can escape from every situation. And hopefully he's overcome the feelings of being Superman, after a big dose of kryptonite in the form of Troy Vincent.

I hope the fingertipless-guy sues...after the customer sues for money from the custard shop and wins.

I think his long balls are fine. It's his short balls that I hope he can dangle out there for his receivers.

I liken it to a Star Trek convention on the streets.

I think he'll make the team on ST's play alone.

He's probably a psycho, but as long as he controls himself on the football field WRT avoiding penalties, I don't care. I think the kicker thing was unfortunate, but I'm sure he knows that if he ever tries something like that, he'll be gone yesterday.

I liked this part: Again, how is 6' and 249# "undersized?" Again he's as tall as Thurman and Tatupu, and WAY taller than Fletcher.

Maybe no team will take the division title, but I can see other teams in other divisions beating them come playoff time. Again I didn't say they'd miss the playoffs, just that I don't expect them to make the SB this year, at the least.

They're still key players who contributed to the SB winning seasons, and their coordinators who also played huge roles, are gone. Like I said, they'll be hard-pressed to duplicate their success ever again, much less the year after losing so many key people.

Law, Brown, Phifer, Patten (led the Pats in receiving last year) and again Bruschi. All were guys with tons of experience who played key roles last year. To lose them and replace with guys like Terrell and Starks (and for Prisco to talk about them as if they're upgrades at all!) and not seeing a dropoff, is asking a lot, in face of losing some great coordinators as well.

Yeah, I figured it was the wannabe hack journalist, not the player. As for "only 9.9% of 1-AA players being in the NFL" as hurting Ezekiel, I laughed (and was amazed it was that many) when I read that. Okay, next!

I'm not saying the Pats won't be good, they just won't be the top team next year. With all of the losses I mentioned, I'd say they have to PROVE they're still the champs, instead of getting the BOTD. Oh and if Belichick can win without Crennel, Weis, and the guys they lost, he should be enshrined in the HOF immediately.

I read the article on Ezekiel linked on the TBD homepage. What I don't get is that the author, someone who admits to not liking Ezekiel (and I guess that should be my answer right there), calls him "unathletic" and "undersized." When I look at his combine numbers compared to the top ILB's this past draft (Tatupu, Thurman, and Ruud, all 2nd rounders), he is close or better in everything except 20-yard shuttle to Ruud and 40-time to Thurman. He's also as tall or taller than Thurman and Tatupu, and heavier than all of them. So I can't see calling him "unathletic" and "undersized" without doing the same to the other top ILB's. Other things he's got going for him is that he's pretty smart and strong like bull, and has a passion for the game. Now the run-in with the kicker is a concern, but I doubt something like that ever becomes an issue again with him in the NFL, and I don't know of any on-field problems with discipline/personal fouls. His major knock though, and what he'll have to prove he can overcome, is his small school background, which he dominated and that should count for something. But I like the other things about him and think he could be a real find.

Nice going, but winning 33% of your jury trials doesn't sound so bad. You made it sound like you've lost scores of jury trials over the last 10-1/2 years.

I wouldn't say Jonas "got lucky" either (although for him I think he was lucky that he was switched from RT to LT a few years ago), but he's not worth what the 49'ers paid him, or even the "hometown discount" he was allegedly going to give the Bills. He's a good but not great LT and always misses at least a couple games every year. To keep/overpay him because you think there isn't anyone to replace him is not the best route. We'll see what kind of ROI the 49'ers get from Jonas. At worst the line has taken a step back at LT. Big Mike is already in-shape and focused, from all reports. Villarrial has a year in the system. Anderson is an upgrade from last year. Teague is better for having Anderson next to him. That leaves LT which might be a problem, but again we don't know, and again the Bills will probably move the pocket/use a TE to that side to compensate for that if LT IS a problem.