RuntheDamnBall

How is it a hardball question? How the F is Manuel supposed to answer that question? I'm sure EJ doesn't give a crap what this very, very small person has to say to him, and if anything he'll go to sleep more motivated to make him look like an idiot next season. Though Graham doesn't need the help. http://www.sports-re...j-manuel-1.html EJ Manuel college accuracy is in the high 60s every season of his college career. Could we stop feeding this myth and perhaps acknowledge that a rookie season riddled with injuries might have made it difficult to get on the same page with his receivers? And that a knee injury and footwork issues (which a QB coach can help settle down) might have also had something to do with this? Of course, Andrew Luck didn't improve from his rookie year accuracy of 54%. Nor was Kaepernick's accuracy under 60% this year. Oh, wait.

I'll admit for awhile that I thought people had been too hard on him, but he's since gone full douchebag with his twitter conduct and this kind of stuff. He is a very small man. And I don't want to run journalists off this site - it's definitely a privilege to get to hear from people who work in the business and do it well. I wouldn't put Graham in that category. He is trying to remain relevant and if he has to make himself the story, he will.

If you're worried, I'm worried, Dr. Barbarian. I'm sure it was an unintentional oversight. We regret the error.

Oooh, baahhhhurrrrrn, Tim Graham. You so crazy. Seriously, !@#$ this guy.

Also often a triumph of marketing over product.

Tim Graham is Skip Bayless without a TV show. I actually don't mind him asking Graham that hack that question, because Graham that hack was obviously being confrontational for his own purposes, not for any journalistic reason. WTF is EJ supposed to say? "I don't think I deserve the job?" "They should bring in competition?"

Then the two questions are, do we have Byrd's replacement, and is his play in decline? If the answers to both of those questions are "no," then I think you need to pay him. His contract will ostensibly be a three year deal with good guaranteed money and backloaded salary / bonus structure so he will be cuttable if his play falls off. Well, let's lose most of them and franchise one guy. Has worked out pretty well so far.

Earl Thomas is on a rookie contract, and if he hit the market right now would exceed what Byrd earns. Don't you think Seattle will try to keep him, or to draft his replacement (someone we do not have right now)? You're also looking at some pretty selective data. 2013 playoff appearances is one thing. Look back a year or two and the Ravens, Giants and Steelers have playoff histories with those players. Safeties are important in today's game because they are often the victims of mismatches if they aren't good enough. Ask the Niners or Patriots from these playoffs how important safety play can be. Regardless, good players come from everywhere. I argue we need more good players, and we shouldn't be in the business of letting any of them go unless we have his replacement ready and able to fill in without missing a beat. If we reach that salary cap ceiling, solve that problem then. Nothing is showing me right now that paying Byrd is going to hold us back from paying CJ Spiller or Dareus what they are worth -- in fact, I feel that Byrd has a stronger performance record than either of these two.

If Aaron Rodgers could and wanted to come here, and it only took Byrd, Mario and Kyle Williams restructuring their contracts to do it, you bet your ass it would happen.

I am not really in the crowd that thinks Martin should be here, but I'm floored by the group that thinks bringing in Incognito is a good option. I understand we need guards, but the Bills need outside distractions like they need another 6-10 season. You can draft and develop better players than Incognito if you look for them in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, you don't need to pay them veteran money, and you don't have ESPN and co. waiting for his next event. The guy is a journeyman for a reason. He hasn't brought Miami any hardware and I don't think we should be picking up their garbage.

That's a fair argument, but "you can't pay everyone" is a trope that comes up often from a couple of posters. First you have to provide a real good sense of whom on the team is overpaid. Mario might be. His was a statement signing. Most everyone else is signed to a contract commensurate with their performance, or in some cases - Kiko, Woods, Glenn - to good value rookie contracts. You need to pay your stars, especially when you're letting other strong performers like Levitre go, and especially when you have room under the cap. Let's not even add to this the money and cap room that has literally been flushed down the toilet on players like Fitzpatrick, which is the worst kind of message - "we could afford to waste money on player X, but can't / won't pay you despite the fact that you're an All Pro."

Other duties as assigned: Guard the remains of Chuck Lester Wash and wax Mr. Wilson's 1993 Ford Taurus Call Mr. Levy to remind him when his library books are due

The Bills can be generous, or they can be competitive here. If I were Whaley, I would say they have to wait until we hire our DC.

This, also, the Flutie benching wasn't his call. Plus, Flutie was a chump riding the coattails of that good defense at that point. The league had the little man figured out. Anyway, this is about D-Coordinators.

I'd settle for a filter that auto-converts his name to: Tim Troll Graham

I'm listening...

Here's one in the plus column for Wade - he has been through the ringer as a HC and likely will not be feeling the hunger to take on that position elsewhere. If it's going really well here, we can probably count on him to stay. I still think a scheme shift is dangerous in terms of what it means for putting together a roster, but the guy has had success virtually everywhere as a DC.

If Cleveland got this done a week ago we could have interviewed Horton.

Yeah, it's sh---y that Cleveland had to take so damn long that the Bills' DC position is simply fallout. Horton would have been a nice addition and it sure would have been nice to be able to at least talk to the guy. I know people here are getting misty about the attitude and preparation that Pettine brought to the defense, but to leave now is a pretty mercenary move for a team that hasn't finished what it started. I don't really wish him any luck at all, because of where this leaves the Bills. And that goes double for the owner.

We should all make a pact to stop sharing his material, talking about it, and reading it. It adds zero to the conversation.

Doesn't that seem, to you, to be kind of an extreme scenario to use to judge the guy? Before that he ran the defense that stopped Tom Brady in the Super Bowl.

BARF

Tim Graham is the NY Post headline of sports writers. It's all "look at me" sh--. I'd take 5 Mark Gaughans over one Tim Graham.

I could deal with Spags for the reasons you detail, and I could be persuaded on Wade. I do think that the poll skews his way because of the history, a sense of unfinished business, and the fact that he is such a known quantity. Does that all outweigh ANOTHER switch of system? I'm not sure. I'm intrigued by Norton and some of the college names tossed about, but I think most of the college guys are in better situations than they would be with the Bills. It really has to be somebody who has a hunger for the NFL. While continuity might be best, the names in-house right now don't really thrill me. I'm a "no" on Schwartz, and a "meh" on Singletary

This would be a textbook definition of sh-- stirring. Bills fans will fall for it.