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Dolphins get #3. Raiders get #12 *. Dolphins win 2200 pts. to 1680 pts. Rams get #8 & #71. Bills get #16, #46, #78 & #222. Bills win 1642.6 pts. to 1635 pts. 49ers get #18. Cowboys get #31 & #74. 49ers win 900 pts. to 820 pts. Falcons get #22 & a 7th round pick in 2015. Rams get #30, #92 & #198. Falcons win 780.5 pts. to 764.2 pts. Vikings get #29. Patriots get #52, #83, #102 & #229. Patriots win 648 pts. to 640 pts. From a point perspective: The Dolphins fleeced the Raiders in their trade up. The 49ers got a great deal in their move up, the Cowboys should've gotten an additional 4th round pick in that move down. All the rest were very even trades, with the Bills and Pats being the only two teams that moved down that got full value for their pick.

I thought the Patriots fleeced them too, but upon further inspection it's right in line with the Bills Rams trade. The Pats gave away pick #29, worth 640. The Vikings gave up #52, #83, #102 & #229, worth a total of 648. The difference in math is +8 in the Patriots favor, nearly identical to the Bills +7.6 differential with the Rams. The team that got fleeced was the Raiders giving up 2,200 and getting back 1680 in return. I guess they liked Hayden enough to take him at #3, so they were pretty much willing to take anything to trade down knowing he'd be there a bit further down.

So according to Jason whitlock, nawrocki is gutless because he won't appear on Jason whitlocks podcast to explain his position on geno smith. Nawrocki doesn't owe Jim any explanation....that article makes Whitlock sound like an entire clown.

Yes, you are talking about Nolan Nawrocki of ProFootballWeekly.com. The guy is the best in the business, hands down. Yea, he takes some flack when he criticizes a QB, and gets called a racist when he's down on a black QB (Geno Smith, Cam Newton), but he's only calling it like he's hearing from scouts. But onto his mock draft......Unfortunately it appears tha ProFootballWeekly is on their way out, and by out I mean out of business. Their comprehensive 2013 NFL Draft Preview had a very ominous outlook on their future as a business going forward, because people simply don't buy things in print anymore (think newspapers). And their website doesn't get nearly as much traffic as some of the other big ones we all know and use. I've noticed they've had very little new content on their website these last few months. Last year Nawrocki put out 2-3 mock drafts, along with draft value charts leading up to the draft. This year, absolutely nothing. I'm still holding out hope there's a final mock draft released tomorrow, but it doesn't look good. If PFW.com is indeed dead, I hope Nawrocki continues somewhere else because he's an excellent resource. For the poster who said he had Matt Barkley and Robert Woods going to the Bills.....tell me where you saw that????? Or were you just playing around, cause I've seen zip from him.

If we trade down all the way to #30, we need Atlanta's 2nd rounder and their 1st rounder in the 2014 draft, and I don't think that's a price that Atlanta would be willing to pay. It would be a great deal for the Bills, but I can't see the Falcons parting with that many resources to get up to #8 in a draft that is considered relatively weak at the top. So the question becomes........if you're Buddy Nix do you accept a trade down with the Falcons if they only offer #30, #60 and #127 (Atlanta's 1st, 2nd & 4th rounders, respectively)? If you look at the draft trade charts, that scenario is clearly in the Falcons favor from a point standpoint, but it's a buyers market for trading up because it seems so many teams want to move down. So would you accept that compensation from the Falcons......#8 for #30, #60 and #127. If I was Buddy i'd probably want an additional mid rounder next year (3rd or 4th) for me to begin considering pulling the trigger.

IMO, DeAndre Hopkins is the #1 WR in this draft, ties with Tavon Austin. I like them both better than Patterson, because I believe they're readt to "start right now" in the NFL, and I think Patterson might not be a plug n play starter. I've always thought 1st rounders should be ready to play immediately, and I think Hopkins and Austin are ready to start immediately. Hopkins ability to track the ball and contort his body to make difficult catches is Grade A. He also has great leaping ability to go up and get it as well as strong hands to rip away those 50/50 balls. You can't overlook his 18 TD receptions last season either. A very impressive statisitic given Clemson only had 13 games. My predicition is that Hopkins goes somwhere in the 15-25 range. Would love him as a Bill, but unless the Bills move around in the 1st round I don't see it happening because I think #8 is just a bit too high for Hopkins and I don't think there's a chance he's there at #41.

While Alan Branch seems like a decent signing today, knowing that it will likely cost us a 3rd or 4th round compensatory pick in the 2014 draft hurts. As of today we've lost LeVitre and Rinehart (Jones and Nelson do not count because they could've been retained via RFA tags). We have signed Manny Lawson and Alan Branch (Kolb doesn't count, as he was cut), meaning we no longer have a net loss of FA, which will keep us from being awarded a pick. So let me ask you this........do you think Alan Branch was worth forgoing a 3rd or 4th round pick in next years draft? I say he's not.

I agree with the above poster in regards to Tavon Austin. IMO, he's a pretty safe draft pick and might be the type of offensive player Nix would consider at #8. I've heard a lot of GM's talk about taking a guy high, who is electric with the football and can score TD's every time they touch the football, and that's exactly what Tavon Austin is (similar to CJ Spiller). Tavon also happens to play a position that the Bills are sorely in need of. While he might not be the big bodied outside receiver the Bills really want, Austin would take our offense to another level, and would make any QB's job a lot easier. Tavon had a great year and has had a great offseason, and I think he's the best skill position player in this draft. #8 wouldn't be a reach for him at all, IMO. For the record I have DeAndre Hopkins as my top rated WR tied with Tavon Austin for that spot. Would love either of these guys in a Bills uni.

So the signing of Kevin Kolb does not count against us for a compensatory pick next year, because he was cut, correct? At least that's good news.

Stand pat and wait to sign a few UDFA's and other teams waived players after the draft. This way we can take advantage of picking up a couple of compensatory draft picks next year due to our net loss of FA's this offseason. One of those picks should be high due to the contract LeVitre signed with Tennessee. If we sign 1 or 2 more FA's during the FA period we risk losing these compensatory picks, one of which could be a 3rd or 4th rounder. I don't think theres anybody left on the open market that would be worth sacrificing a mid round pick on........do you? Bottom line is: we're going to suck this year, so don't go after short term band aids that will cost us compensatory picks next year. We need all the picks we can get with this new regime that will certainly be turning the roster over on both offense and defense over the next couple of years.

Okay so I have a few questions regarding the requirements that go into being awarded compensatory selections. I understand 90% of what goes into the awarding of these picks but here's what I'm wondering. Will Donald Jones and David Nelson (assuming he's signed) be considered losses. The reason I ask is they were both undrafted and we would have been able to keep both via restricting them as free agents, but we chose not to do so. So I'm wondering if undrafted free agents aren't considered in net free agents gained vs. lost, and I'm also wondering if the fact that they could've been retained via RFA tenders, but were not has any bearing on the compensatory consideration. Anyone who might know the facts on these fine details, enlighten me. A third question, would then be........does a player (David Nelson) have to be signed by another team, in order to be considered a "lost" FA? And a 4th question - does signing one of your own FA's (Tashard Choice) count as an added FA? I'm assuming not since I thought it has to be a FA from another team. The reason I'm asking all of this is I'm thinking losing out on Fred Davis might be a blessing in disguise when compensatory picks are handed out next year. So far we've lost - Andy LeVitre (6 years - $46.8 million), Chad Rinehart (1 year - $1.75 million), Donald Jones (3 years - $3.71 million with $4.5 million in incentives), and David Nelson (once again not sure if he counts, because he remains unsigned).................and we've only signed 1 FA, Manny Lawson (4 years - $12 million). So by my count we're in line to receive multiple compensatory picks, one of which might be a 3rd or 4th rounder due to the departure of Andy LeVitre. Then again it might not be multiple picks if Nelson and Jones don't count because they were originally UDFA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZiCyUxIh0k

He's definitely not the "talked" about QB prospect this year, but in a class with no standouts he' my favorite QB in this years draft. I think there's a small contingent of fans who are well aware of Dysert, especially after John Murphy had Josh Norris on a couple of times from Rotoworld.com and he gave Dysert some serious props. I recall him saying that Dysert was a top 40 prospect, but this was back in early November. When it comes to judging a QB, I place a huge emphasis on pocket presence, and the ability to make plays in a muddies pocket. I think Dysert is the best of the nuch in this years class at doing just that. I'm also big on accuracy, and hile his accuracy isn't off the charts (which I though Andrew Luck's was last year) I think it is decent. I'm wondering if Josh Norris still thinks he'll go in the top 40. I believe there's a better than 50/50 shot he'll be there for our 2nd round pick, and would love to have him.

"Deers in your backyard" w/ Mario Williams Ticket selling gimmicks by Russ Brandon "High School bands will perform halftime for free!?" With Ralph Wilson "My seat has no cupholder" w/ random season ticket holder

I find it very interesting that Dominik says, "that's all he's got on those three" when discussing the 3 players he's shopping around the league for a trade. He then only mentions the CB, EJ Biggers, and the T, Jamon Meredith. I really wonder who the 3rd guy is, in light of all this Josh Freeman gossip.

Buddy Nix will never draft an OG period. His philosophy is to draft T's and convert them to G's, if they dont work out as tackles. I'm not sure Nix has drafted one OG since hes been with the team. If you remember Mark Asper was viewed more as a C by the Bills when he was drafted. You might be able to get Justin Pugh from Syracuse in the 2nd round who has the ability to play tackle.or guard, and probably wouldnt be much of a dropoff from Warmack. If we're to take Buddy at his word, which I do, theres virtually no chance a G will be considered with the 8th pick.

What are we thinking as far as the money is concerned with Leodis? I'm saying a 3-4 year deal coming in somewhere in the vicinity of $3.25-$3.75 million per year. Let's say 3 years - $11 million. Sound fair?

Remember too while cutting Fitz this season doesn't save much from a salary cap perspective ($450,000 savings) it does save the Bills quite a bit of cash, and because the Bills follow a "cash to cap" business model that cash savings means something. Also the $10 million in dead money this year would be negative, but long term it'd be good, as Fitz will be totally off the books moving forward. This means more money for the Bills to spend, from a salary cap perspective in 2014, when they'll have decisions to make on guys like........ Jairus Byrd, Eric Wood, Scott Chandler and Alex Carrington.

I always like to assess a situation based on what the Bills front office is or isn't doing in the offseason. When it comes to Fitz's situation I think there's some logic to suggest the Bills are definitely contemplating his release. If the Bills were 100% sold on keeping Fitz this season, it's my opinion that they would've discussed a paycut a while ago. Worst case scenario he declines to rework his deal and then the Bills figure out what they want to do from there. The fact that they have not even approached him yet about decreasing his pay strongly indicates that there not sold they even want him on the roster. It would be a very insulting and insensitive move for a franchise to ask a guy to rework his deal, have the player accept to do so, only to cut him a couple of weeks later. It just wouldn't be a classy move on the part of the franchise and I think that's why they haven't done so yet. It's possible they still haven't decided what to do with Fitz, but signs are strongly pointing toward a release, especially when you look how fast they resigned T. Jackson, and the rumors that they were sniffing around Alex Smith. In the end, if they do release Fitzpatrick, I think it's for the best. Sometimes a team has to take a step back before they can take a step forward and I think that might be what we are in for this upcoming season.

I still can't believe the NFL draft advisory board gave Taj Boyd a middle round grade. I think he would've contended Geno Smith to be the first QB taken in the draft. Certainly a solid first round grade. There was no reason for him not to come out. I think a lot of it had to do with the advisory board clearly giving him bad advice, if you ask me. Wished he was an option for the Bills in this years draft.

Trade away a first rounder that may very likely be a top 10 pick next year, for the 31st pick overall............probably not a good idea. I'm not a big fan of trading away future #1's unless you're getting a stud, think what the Falcons did with Julio Jones. If the Bills absolutely loved a QB and had to part with a future 1st round pick to get him, I could understand the logic. But to part with one for the 31st pick would be a head scratcher. Why not just trade your 2nd and 3rd to get back up rather than part with next years #1. For a team that has so many holes to fill I think it's best for the Bills to consider trading down rather than up.

Shaun Phillips.

The keyword is COULD. I understand they play different positions, Beatty is a LT, which is a position that pays a lot better than LG. So maybe a very good LG is worth the same money as a good LT. Beatty's deal is 5 years for $38.75 million, including a $12.5 million signing bonus and $19 million guaranteed. If LeVitre is willing to take a similar deal in the $7.5-$7.75 million per year range with similar signing bonuses and guarantees, I think a deal could maybe get done. For the record (as I've stated in previous threads), I think LeVitre is set on testing his value on the open market, and I don't blame him. It's likely he'll cash in north of $8 million per year, with guarantees over the $20 million mark. At this point I'm pegging the chances of LeVitre returning to Buffalo at about 20%, and I think the chances the Bills tag him are extremely remote, even if a deal with Byrd get done prior to March 12.

After taking a look at this site, I can envision Scott Chandler being cut if he's not going to be ready to go for the '13 season. It's the last year of his deal, and he's due $300k in bonuses and a base salary of just over $2 million. Cutting him would result in $2.35 million of cap savings, which could be used to help lure a FA tight end to replace him, or even help sign a FA at another position. I like Chandler, and if he gets healthy he's worth his pay, but if he's not going to be a contributor this season there's no sense in paying him that money to rehab. If he had a couple of years left on his deal it'd be a different story, but he'll be a FA after this season, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's a goner.

You're right that many of these contracts contain bloated years at the back end of the contract, that the players will likely never see. I think most astute teams and agents around the league probably care more about the guaranteed money as well as the money thats paid out in the first 2-3 years ( which is money very likely to be seen) I did not:ice that the arrangement of the contracts handed out to these guards are all over the map as far as structuring is concerned. Some teams hand out big signing bonuses coupled with relatively low base salaries the first couple years. Other teams hand out very low or virtually no signing bonuses, but pay out a high base salary, and guarantee the first 2 years of salary