RuntheDamnBall

I'm insulting nobody. Just pointing out that it's an easy ride to not caring enough to help out your fellow reader. If I bungle something, I go and correct it so that whomever is reading me can get what I really meant. It's really not a big deal, honestly. I just know more and more what to click on, and what not to. Water under the bridge.

Brawndo, it's got what plants crave.

http://pitchfork.com/news/54292-stream-the-war-on-drugs-new-album-lost-in-the-dream/ I'm not a big-time OTW poster these days, but I figured this record would appeal to some of the crowd here. Definitely some overtones of Tom Petty, early Springsteen, Dire Straits, 80s U2 production, and some classic Americana moves and solos. Don't let the pitchfork link fool ya, this is definitely not a straight-up hipster vibe, even if there's a drum machine here and there.

You obviously have the power to infer a lot from 30 or so words. It does seem like a typo, but even if it were "Bears to release Peppers," it wouldn't be accurate. In a world where we want to hold the people who report the news to higher standards, can't we at least keep our discussions of the news accurate? Is it, like, really really hard? "Looks like Bears might release Peppers," even, is fairly accurate and clearly suggests there is some speculation. How about if I posted "Bills looking at trading up" for a draft thread, then posted: "The Bills should be looking at trading up." Wouldn't you feel like you wasted your time?

Could OP get the thread title to say "planning to" or "look like they are going to"? I really thought Peppers was already on the market based on the title.

I just threw up in my mouth, and not just a little bit.

Matt Flynn was traded for to take the starting job and was usurped by a 3rd rounder.

You know what, if he shows these same tendencies, he'll definitely fail. He has a coaching staff in place and his full offseason in the NFL to work on it all, though. I'm still mystified as to how many people are one and done with a QB that everyone called a high upside prospect who was still pretty raw coming out. He has a lot to prove, and he should get a chance to prove it. Again, Andrew Luck is not walking through that door, and the 4th best QB in this draft is not turning into him overnight, either - nor is Ryan Mallett. Which is what the thread is about, or have I mistakenly not picked up on the code that this is another round for the EJ hate brigade? I'm all for competition, but I'm also all for being realistic about it. QBs drafted under Doug Whaley: EJ Manuel. That's a pretty huge sample to evaluate.

While on principle I think you're right, Matt Flynn might disagree. Good QBs come into the league and also tend to have bad games in their rookie year. Pittsburgh was surely among the worst. What about the second Jets game? The Panthers game?

He seems pretty ancient to me, but then I look and see he's actually younger than Josh McCown, whom I wouldn't mind here. People who want competition for EJ wouldn't like it. People who want a stable backup might.

Because the right price in a deal with NE is going to be inflated? Average play from the WR and TE might have won the Atlanta game for us. Average play from the run defense might have won us another one or two. QB is important. Everybody gets it. We only get reminded every 2 minutes around here. The whole team needs to get better and Andrew Luck is not walking through that door. You either roll with what you've got - somebody you've invested in - or you jump at the next opportunity for every shiny new thing. That is not working out for most teams, either. Build a team and if there is an improvement at QB to be found, get him then. SF and SEA have shown the wisdom of this. Please share with us where someone, anyone, is saying this. Or perhaps we could bring in Peyton Manning, so we can only win one championship, go to two more SBs and be considered a failure?

It's surprising that you read something that says the complete opposite and yet it tells you what you want to hear. Running up the middle 71% of the time tells you that EJ Manuel had a problem? With what, is he bad at handing off the ball? This whole offense needs to grow, EJ included. I think we all expect major steps forward to be made. The QB position is the team's primary question mark, but not its primary weakness (um, run defense much?), yet. We'll have more information after this year.

The upshot here is that if you want somebody who wants the biggest contract he can possibly get, you have to overpay him on a contract extension. Letting him get to market was almost certainly going to result in a lot of interest around the league. We could also, conceivably, look at this as trading Byrd for whatever players the Bills pick up using the funds made available. If for $50MM over 5 years you can get an OG and a LB, it might be worth it. On the other hand, I think they could afford all three if they really wanted to.

I am not touting the merits of Mallett, but in any universe we'd call that SSS (small sample size) buoyed by the fact that there is an elite, HOF entrenched starter ahead of him. No one is talking about bringing Drew Brees' backup in on the basis of his NFL career, either. I think Bill only brings him up because he liked Mallett in college, which is fair.

Despite the exclamation points, he is a pretty strong writer. I wish him the best. I think we glorify too much the people who hog the camera and win with brute force, and don't champion enough the fact that these are whole people with a lot of personality. On a similar note, I might root for Arian Foster no matter where he plays.

And they would hang up on that offer. The thing is, what is a guy that you hope is a decent backup, maybe a little bit more, worth? Definitely not more than a 3rd. If you trade more than a 3rd you are betting on the guy taking your starting job. The Bills simply aren't in that business this year. If they somehow stumble into a situation where Bridgewater or perhaps Manziel is there later than expected, I see them pulling a trigger. But if not, it's just another misallocation of resources. You can't just believe that any QB could be the guy just because he's not the one who is tops on your depth chart at present. Also, as noted above, investing in Mallett means investing in a QB whose skill set is wildly divergent from that of the current QB. It may create enticing change of pace scenarios in an injury situation, but I can visualize exactly how opposing teams would game plan for a slow, rocket armed QB.

I was going to say the same. I am not sure after three years that anyone can legitimately make the argument that he has more upside than EJ. I think if it had been there, we would have seen it already. Not saying he couldn't become an excellent QB, but the clock is ticking as he enters what should be the prime years of his playing career. I think if he goes anywhere, it's to the Texans. That could be a good landing spot for him for a variety of reasons.

I'm sure they'd be fooled by his guile and generally smooth demeanor, before they politely laugh uninterrupted for the subsequent 5 minutes.

This dude burned too many bridges. Say what you want. A professional at least keeps his market value up by not talking sh-- about anybody. I am over Whitner, but I can't see the Bills wanting him, or him really wanting them, to be honest. If he did, it would be purely for leverage, IMO. And there's this.

Whaley: "Hey, SJ looked pretty broken down this year and dude is kind of a headache, and not even really cheap, but do you want him, plus picks, for your top echelon veteran receiver?" Rival GM: *dial tone*

That's probably true. Wonder if this year's second and third plus next year's second would get that deal done. Guess it would really depend on how far Ebron fell (if he did). I'd say if Ebron fell to 25-30 you almost have to make that move. The need for an impact player at that position is so great, and it's been great for years here.

That'd be pretty f---ing baller. The odds that one of those guys could have a very good rookie season are decent.

It's really only worth trading up from 9 in this draft for a QB that is more NFL-ready with higher upside than EJ. The talent is deep enough to secure a very good player at a variety of positions.

I'm mocking Moran about his conduct after the fact. You don't make yourself more legit with outlandish statements like that. Merriman was once a (chemically enhanced) beast; he became a schmo, which is what he was before and after he left the Bills.

I'd sacrifice my daughter if this isn't true.