Luxy312

All signs point to Jackson signing with the Redskins right now. Buffalo talk is (thankfully) a moot point.

Awful "gut". Almost every draft board and mock draft that I've read has Bortles the top QB pick and going first in the draft. Sure, Clowney and Robinson round out your top-3, but Manziel isn't going that high. Try this instead: Texans - Bortles. They are NOT sitting for a season wtih Ryan Fitzpatrick playing QB. Clowney is the best athlete, but they NEED a QB. Rams - Robinson. Don't disagree with this pick as their line has been atrocious. They could trade the pick as well for someone that wants Clowney. Jaguars - If Clowney is still here, the Jaguars won't pass on him. Browns - Manziel/Bridgewater. Brian Hoyer is not going to be the starter for this team. Alex Tanner is #2? Really? Raiders - Watkins. Trading for Matt Schaub tells me that they'll be looking for a weapon for him. Falcons - Mack. Best player in the draft (not the best athlete), and their defense needs help. Bucs - Manziel/Bridgewater. Here's another team with a POS chunk in McCown as the #1 QB on their roster. Not happening. Buffalo will be left with good options at #9. Matthews, Ebron, Evans, Lewan, Barr. There's a ton of players that would make an immediate impact for the Bills.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the employment policy of the organization. Jackson doesn't get a free pass because he wasn't convicted of a crime. Criminal activity is irrelevant to the discussion. If you simply want affiliation, the information is out there. It has been out there for the last 3 years. A rapper on Jacksons record label Jaccpot murdered someone. Another person was murdered at a house rented by Jackson. At that murder scene were a car title, gun permit and credit card receipts with Jackson's signature on them. Dial it forward and late last year he was flashing gang signs to DeAngelo Hall on camera. The Eagles are doing the right thing here and if I'm a GM, I stay well clear of him, unless I get significant assurances through investigation as well as stipulations in whatever contract he signs that any such activity would not only revoke his contract, but result in the team being able to recover everything they give him.

One simple stat catches my eye. No team has gone from the #1 overall pick in the draft to a Superbowl victory that season. That's enough for me...

Let's assume for a moment that they factually are looking for the #1 pick in the draft. It's great to "list" players, but to do so without any other thought makes no sense. I'll just take who most have as the top-10 on draft boards and give my comments. You can disagree, but I would like to know why. Jadeveon Clowney - Williams-Williams-Dareus are clearly every down starters on the defensive line. Hughes and Lawson were situational pass rusher, but clearly did a good job last year. Clowney would make sense if our new DC was trying to generate more of a pass rush with the front 4 such that the linebackers could be free to do other things. Right now Alonso, Spikes and Rivers are slated to start. This pick could make sense. Greg Robinson - Clearly the #1 LT prospect in the draft. There in is the problem for the Bills. Glenn was solid last season at that position and some would say top-10. Why would they move a guy from a position that he's playing well so that they can insert an unknown to protect a 2nd year quarterback? Also, why would they trade up to draft a LT that they would then move to RT, when there are some very good natural RT's that would be available at #9. Makes no sense that this would be the case. Jake Matthews/Taylor Lewan - Other tackle prospects, of which one should easily be available at #9. Neither grades out anywhere close to the top pick in the draft. Again, makes no sense. Bortles/Bridgewater/Manziel - The Bills front office said that they are very comfortable with the quarterback situation. Whaley said that they are "all in" with Manuel. While some may want to move on already from a QB with a whole 10 games experience, I don't see it happening. You would essentially have to call the whole front office liars at this point. To boot, none of these 3 guys stand out in any meaningful way. If they really wanted to draft a QB to compete with Manuel, they could do so at #9 or even in later rounds. Khalil Mack/Anthony Barr - Mack has been cited by some as the best football player in the draft this year. Not the best athlete (Clowney), but the best player. My problem with trading up to get him is that he could fall to #9 as well. Are they potentially trading up to trade back a few spots? We've seen that before, but I have my doubts. Mack isn't an every down pass rusher, which essentially makes him situational ala Hughes and Lawson, which we already know do a good job. Watkins - While I believe that the Bills are set with their receivers, Watkins my be a player of interest. Not sure that he has #1 value, but if it is the guy they think they need, I could see it. The downside is that the only receiver drafted #1-2 overall to ever turn out to be THAT good is Calvin Johnson. Watson isn't a big man-beast, but more of a guy like Percy Harvin. Multiple function threat. Also, if WR is the route they are thinking, Evans will likely be there at #9. Makes no sense to spend to go up. With all that said, Clowney is the only guy that would make sense to me. What team has routinely given the Bills trouble for the last decade? The Patriots. What teams have regularly beaten the Patriots in the regular season and/or playoffs? Teams with a front 4 that can get after Tom Brady. If the front office is basically saying they want a guy for the specific purpose of beating the Patriots, then I'm all for it.

Clowney is the only guy I could possibly see them going after. No other player makes any sense.

Tell me how well this worked for the Redskins. They spent the better part of a decade essentially buying a team and just continued to lose. Only when they got a player in RG3 did they really start to turn the corner. It remains to be seen whether EJ will be the franchise or the next Akili Smith, but I would rather see this team build talent from youth and retain it than attempt to do what no team in the NFL has done since the salary cap era. I'll rate this idea a solid FAIL.

I've seen all these posts going back and forth about "sellouts" and quite frankly they're ridiculous. Last year, Buffalo averaged 66,267. That was more than the Colts, Chargers, and Bengals who all made the playoffs. That puts them a little below average ranking wise at #19, but certainly not the butt joke of the NFL or suggesting somehow that the team doesn't have fan loyalty. A huge portion of NFL revenue is from TV advertising. That simple. Gate revenue for the most part is an afterthought and only comes into play when you're talking about individual team profitability. Which by the way, every team in the NFL last year made a profit EXCEPT the Lions. Also a non-issue. Economically, the team is going nowhere until 2020 at the soonest. For those that want to conjure up fantastic stories of how someone is going to magically change or eliminate lease provisions or be able to allow a family to completely ignore estate and tax laws, find a brain cell. 2020 on and all bets are off, pending what happens with new ownership.

This is just a case of extreme laziness and not understanding the terms of the lease. It's essentially a 7-year poison pill. ANY owner, existing or new, is still bound to the terms of the lease (which is with the team and not Ralph Wilson individually), and would require them to pay $400 million if the the team leaves in any of those first 7 years of the contract. After that, an owner would pay only a bit less than $30 million to do the same. So to the question of what's going to happen next, there will be a new owner or the family will retain ownership until someone shows interest in buying the team. In the meantime, they will still get ready for the draft and still play in free agency and business will go on as usual.

At the end of the day, he got a healthy fine of $100K. I would say that if there's a repeat incident that then you start looking at taking draft picks away and penalizing further. Intent was also not clear. To me it appeared to a degree that he wasn't paying attention to where he was, and the fact that he crossed onto the field. I say make all coaches where shock collars. If they cross the line, they get zapped back.

You're missing the point. They drafted EJ to be a franchise QB. There's very few rookie QB's in NFL history that are great right out of the gates. You don't draft a guy you intend to develop into your franchise QB and then turn around the next year and spend another high draft pick on a QB. The Bills have so many more needs. Glad that Whaley agrees with me.

These "draft a QB" threads are funny. If this team, and I mean TEAM actually had all the other pieces in play to compete, I would say yes to any of the big-3 with the #9 pick. The problem is that they do not. They're nowhere close to being like that Brady injury Patriots team that went 11-5 without him. Give a kid more than 11 games before hitting the panic button and get all the other pieces around him.

First ballot? I don't know about that. There have been guys out of the NFL for 10-15 years that have put up as good or better numbers than Steve Smith that STILL aren't in the HOF. I would actually think he would not make it before Reggie Wayne, who IMO is the only better receiver to come into the NFL in 2001. I think he was better than Ocho Stinko as well as Santana Moss.

His attitude is exactly what's got him shown the door by Carolina. Probably not what we need on this team at all.

The single biggest problem I have with this is the level of competition. We can say he looks great against that much lower level of competition, but it is just that. We're talking about entire teams of guys that weren't good enough to play at the highest level in college. In the last 5 drafts, there have been 25 players drafted that were not in Division I football, and not a single one of them have been a quarterback. To say "why not?" to Brock Jensen, you would have to say the same to Pete Lalich of California University of Pennsylvania; Jake Mullin of McMurry University; or Clay Belton of Findlay University? They were all dominant in their conferences but also didn't play anyone of note. Of those 25 players drafted, there's only 2 starters that remain in the NFL. They are Bernard Scott and Johnny Knox. They both went to Abilene Christian and also both were at the combine and were drafted in 2009. Everyone else has either washed out or are practice squad at best. Kudos to #34fan for the post. It's always interesting to look at guys like these, but I usually stop there. LOL.

Your exact comment though was: "There haven't been many examples of the Bills investing in their OL in the past 15-20 years". That statement is just patently false. Changing it and saying they didn't address the offensive line effectively is a different statement entirely. The team factually has been active in either free agency or through the draft in trying to address the position over that entire time period. When I think back over the last 15 years, I can name quite a few draft picks that were intended to fill a position of need. Mike Williams, Marquis Sullivan, Jonas Jennings, Terrence Pennington, Ed Wang, Duke Preston, Chris Hairston, and of course we know Eric Wood and Cordy Glenn. While those are just draft picks, there have been quite a few free agency moves to boot, including the two that stand out as a big waste of money in Dockery and Walker. For the record, I wasn't attacking you personally. I'm just a fan and prefer to keep things in the context of facts. The Bills offensive line was decent last season in the passing game but horrible in the run. We will see what Williams does when he's playing next to two players that are pretty good at their positions. He hasn't done that yet in his career either.

The backup situation is irrelevant. There's nothing to compete for. Campbell doesn't know the offense, where Lewis and Tuel does. That's already pretty clear. He's never been a decent quarterback and neither has Lewis. That is pretty clear as well. Our starting QB has 11 games experience and will have 16 more this season barring injury. That's all that really matters to me. Who's holding the clipboard for EJ or who's holding the clipboard for his backup who's holding another clipboard is irrelevant.

It's amazing to me how short term so many fans memories are. Last year we were sitting here talking about how Buffalo wasn't doing anything in free agency. Shame on us for swapping linebackers with Indianapolis to get Jerry Hughes. Never mine the undrafted Nickell Robey or free agents Dan Carpenter, Jim Leonhard, Alan Branch and Manny Lawson. Just mid-level players, right? About 30% of our sacks and interceptions came from those same mid-level signings. So we sit here and poo poo the signing of a guard to replace someone that is clearly undersized at the position. We poo poo an upgraded nickel corner in Corey Graham and now a good linebacker in Keith Rivers. IMO, this team is doing exactly what they should be. They're addressing positions of need with players that they know can contribute and not essentially "buying" themselves out of their draft position. They will be able to take the best available player at #9 without feeling like they must take a position because they have a need. Last year, I would have graded them a "C", and I was clearly wrong. This year, I would agree with the OP. They're doing a great job. Maybe not an "A" grade, but at least a "B" so far.

Career completion percentage - Campbell - 60.3%, Lewis - 60.4%. Rating, Campbell - 81.8, Lewis - 81.4. Yeh, they're not similar at all. Sure, sample sizes are different, but it's pretty irrelevant. Your false equivalency is that Campbell brings something we don't already have, which he does not. Just another journeyman quarterback that has seen too many teams in his career. I'll bet you his ability to hold a clip board is no different than Lewis or Tuel.

Billsvet, you're not living up to your namesake here. Derrick Dockery signed the 3rd largest contract in NFL history in 2007 for his position at guard. 7-years, almost $50 million with $18 million guaranteed. That same year they also inked Langston Walker to a 5 year $25 million deal with another $10 million guaranteed. $75 million with $28 million guaranteed in 2007 was a HUGE chunk of change.

Rotoworld said it best in that this is a pitiful quarterback free agent market. When a guy like Campbell is at the top of the list of that market, that tells you truly how bad it really is. When all is said and done, I look at the QB situation pretty simply. With very few exceptions, teams are not putting backup quarterbacks on the bench with the expectation that they're going to lose their starter to either injury or just poor play. Where that leaves this situation is that Lewis and Tuel both have a year of this offense under their belts. Lewis has almost identical performance measures to Campbell in terms of completion percentage, rating , QBR, etc. At the end of the day, Campbell isn't an upgrade to anything they already have. The QB situation will not be competitive in any way, so to a degree it becomes pointless to continue to pontificate about it. It would be more productive to talk about what the Bills are going to do with Dustin Hopkins now that they've signed Dan Carpenter. LOL.

Steve Smith is well on the wrong side of 30 (he's 35). I wouldn't trade for him or sign him in Buffalo. Aging veterans at the tail end of their careers isn't the way this team is even going. He had a good productive 13-year career. I don't think anyone would dispute that he did a lot more with less physical gifts than most wide receivers.

Cromartie huh? My view of the cornerback situation is pretty simple. McKelvin had the best year of his career last year. IMO, we finally got to see what the team expected out of him as a player when they drafted him. He played like a starter and he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Provided that he remains healthy, he is the defacto #2 CB and is on the field full time. Gilmore was a bit dinged up for much of last year and didn't play as well as he did in his first season. That said, the team wouldn't abandon him barring a career changing injury. It was only his 2nd year in the NFL. He'll be on the field covering the #1 WR on every play. Now they sign Corey Graham. He also had his best year with Baltimore last year. He's probably more of a ST guy, but will see playing time in nickel and dime packages. Add the fact that Brooks, Robey, Smith and Butler are still on the roster and that means the Bills are carrying 7 CB's right now. At this point, put the pipe down and step away from the meth. LOL.

Easy answer is that NO ONE else averages anything against him. It's quirky to say the least. Revis handles some bigger AND faster guys better, but Stevie gets his catches and yards. If you think 70 yards and scores are easy, that's up to your opinion. If you look at the actual numbers, Stevie is an outlier statistically.

Solid #3 CB for the team.