Bill from NYC

I think that unless things dramatically change, you are correct. He would be relatively easy to replace and it would cost next to nothing. Eddie Lacy was the 61st pick of an NFL draft. He might have actually been the first RB selected. I would MUCH rather have him on the Bills than CJ Spiller.

You know what they say about blind squirrels..... This was a superior move, one frankly I didn't expect. I don't even know the contract numbers and I don't care. The Bills have tons of cap space.

As you may recall, I never thought Pears was a bad RT. He will never be great, but he is not at all a bad player. Marcel Daerus once said that he belongs in the pro bowl. Many want to replace him but it will not be that easy imo. I am not seeing a DJ Fluker out there. Are you? And I think that Fluker went at #11. Teams were hesitant to draft RTs and OIGs that early before the new CBA because they were reluctant to pay rookies at these position 30-35 million dollars. Times have changed, whereas draft picks are all relatively cheap. Quarterbacks get all the money, great or not. And for those who disagree, I point to Tony Romo, and keep your eye on Cutler's contract when he hits the market.

They both played very well, and I was particularly pleased by the way Urbik was there to stop defenders from recovering Spiller's fumble.

1) Once again, the Bills need to call the agent of Alan Branch and lock him up to a contract TONIGHT. Did anyone else notice that on the first series, Branch was on the field and Dareus was on the sidelines? I was afraid that MD was hurt. Branch kicked ass yet again. 2) Gilmore was OK today. He dropped a sure, easy pick and gave up a long pass, but his coverage was good. No complaints here. 3) Kiko is amazing. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. He plays like a seasoned veteran, and there is NO quit in this kid. And btw, he looks like a skinny twig. I repeat, I don't know how he does it. 4) Robey was an out and out monster today! Seriously, how much better could a corner play? What a totally amazing pickup he was!!! A player in his situation might be easy to retain, especially when the cap space is there. 5) Hate me, call me a crusader, block me.....it's all cool. But CJ Spiller proved at the end of the first half that he is, and never will be anything more than a situational player. His run out of bounds at the end of the half was one of the dumbest displays I have ever seen. Plays such as this can easily lead to a loss. Imagine if we lost a playoff game due to something this unthinkable? And btw I blame Marrone too for even having him in there in that situation. Would Fred Jackson do something THAT stupid? 6) Mario Williams really hurts opposing offenses. Tannehill had nowhere to go on the first sack of the game. If he didn't step into Kyle Williams, Mario was going to crush him. My man MW earns every last penny of his contract! 7) One long party from front to end, Tune to the whistle coming round the bend. No big hurry; what do you say? Might as well travel the elegant way. 8) OK.....here it goes: At this point, and I am only talking about RIGHT NOW, I am more comfortable with Lewis at qb than I am with Manuel. He did make mistakes and yes, he was aided by one of the best defensive performances I have ever seen by the Bills. I will even go a step further and praise the play calling, but he looks more poised than EJ. And he is a better runner, if for no other reason he takes off earlier and gets a much quicker start. This board is going to ROCK in the offseason. Btw, his best pass imo was the one to Lee Smith. Could Manuel do this? I hope the answer is yes. 9) Once again, I am going to praise Searcy. I SO much appreciate his effort. He has made many key and clutch plays this season. I would take him on my roster any freaking day!!!!! 10) This game proved what many of us already knew.....there is a TON of talent on this roster. When the qb and yes coaching issues are settled, this football team has more than enough talent to make and advance in the playoffs. Yes, I said this and I mean it. 11) Kyle Williams was sick today. The way he was using his hands was incredible. Seriously, he was just out of control on virtually every play. 12) Gotta give kudos to Leonhard as well. The Bills pitched a shutout sans Aaron Williams, who has been a key defender this season and didn't miss a beat. 13) I respect the "lose out for the draft choice" sentiment. I do, and I admit that I have felt this way in some seasons. That said, this was a statement game, at home. Trade up or trade down. Or stay put and draft right. But again, this was a statement game, one which I would NOT trade for a few slots. 14) My man Woods should not have lost his cool, but he sure can play football. 15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16) Once again: GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I totally disagree. This IS the case when a team pays their QB 15-21 million per season. The Bills pay all of their QBs combined 15-21 cents per year. Even if they use their heads and draft another early round qb, the cost will be minimal. AND, they have 21 million in cap space, no? They can basically afford just about anything they want to do right now to improve the football team.

Why is this, because of the rule changes? Because the offense knows the count and fires out on runs, most offensive linemen prefer running plays. On passing downs they are backing up and getting hit. And I doubt that the Bills blockers are thrilled by the emphasis on the hurry-up, which imo the Bills run WAY too much of.

I agree 100%, and thank you for saying this. They can also get very passive aggressive imo. I LIKE differences of opinion and more often than not, personal attacks don't even bother me. The thing is, the "always positive folks" as you characterized them have little to defend. I would like to give an example if I may: The 4 starters in the Bills secondary consist of 2 early first round picks and 2 very early second round picks. That is a TON of resources, no? The defensive front might actually set a record for sacks to make the game MUCH easier for them. That said, where are the wins? Some will defend this (and of course 1st round running backs) but there is no basis to do so because this team loses football games. So when posters express the desire for another qb, I don't blame them. Manuel needs to earn his job. I am not going to jump on his bandwagon just because he LOOKS the way one would want a QB to look, and I don't get excited when he poses after one of his rare TD passes. I want the Buffalo Bills to win football games. PS: For what very little it's worth, I expect Lewis to play well tomorrow.

I do not see the need for the above. What's the difference? People can make a case for Manuel being very good some day, or in fact not being much good at all. It's that close imo. At this point, I do not see a disadvantage playing Lewis in terms of this game only. I ain't seeing much difference. In terms of the posters who applaud every move the Bills make and the "critics," those pointing out the futility of this organization have a pretty good case. Their opinions shouldn't be summarily shut down. Jmo.

I can see this scenario playing out. As critical as I have been of Gilmore, I would never deny the fact that he is exceptionally strong. I could see him moving to safety and Brandon using this as an excuse to let Byrd walk, and putting the money back in Mr. Wilson's pocket. It might even work too, but would this mean another first round corner? Sadly, you never know with this team.

Good question. If he plays well I for one hope that they keep him AND draft an early round quarterback. Very early. That said, I look forward to seeing Thad play on Sunday. Many disagree, but I enjoy it when QBs take off and run. Thad is very good at this imo. I would like to see him pick up more than 50 yards running, to include key first downs and hopefully a TD or 2.

Do understand that if Gilmore plays up to his billing I will be the happiest poster on this board, by far. Why? So they will refrain from drafting another first round defensive back!

LOL those were fun days!!!

What about Gilmore? I know that he has been hurt, but he has been a major contributor to losses this season imo. He has given up far too many key completions, let alone penalties. I was never high on McKelvin, but he has been able to take advantage of the Bills great pass rush this season. Gilmore has not done so. I know that he has potential, etc., but he just has not played well.

SJB, these guys know each other for many, many years. If today was a Sunday at RWS and John and Badol were together, they would be having fun. I am thinking that you are taking this either too seriously and/or too personal. And believe me, I have been there so I am NOT throwing stones. Imo, the best thing about this board is to get different perspectives. We all put way too much into this but we are having fun doing so. Badol isn't required to anoint Manuel as Dan Marino. It makes no difference in any event. And you are not obligated to think that he sucks. The truth is, your opinions probably meet somewhere in the middle. And btw, here is mine: The Bills would be absolute idiots not to draft a qb in round 1 or 2 if they think he is a good one. The position has just too much value to pass on under almost any conditions. I leave you with 2 stories: 1) Many years ago I was hanging out with Badol and his crew before the game. I told him that I thought that Robert Royal, despite his bad hands, was able to get open. He told me that this was incorrect. He said that Royal's hands were SO bad that opposing defenses didn't bother covering him. I would not have thought this was possible at the NFL level. Well, I had great seats and Royal would run into the flat and be ALONE. Nobody covered him and he also dropped passes that day. 2)When Glenn was drafted to play LT, I was skeptical. His tape on youtube looked OK, but he was only a LT for 1 year as I recall and had played mostly OG in college. One poster was all over the fact that Glenn was a great pick. This was you. Now, week after week I praise Glenn and he is doing a great job. My point? Relax. Both you and Badol know of which you speak, and agreement is not necessary on every topic. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make no mistake FTL, Dockery and Walker were both painfully bad as well. Walker couldn't get out of his stance and seemed to be in poor condition. Pears blows him away. Dockery got the big bucks and put zero effort into his game. He was never any good after the big contract. In those days Ralph wanted running backs to sell tickets (this lasted as long as to the year Spiller was drafted) and Marv wanted defensive backs. The 2006 draft tells us everything we need to know about how much the Levy/Jauron Era set back this franchise.

Travis Henry sold me on the fact that a brain is a good thing for a RB. Travis as I recall would run to the wrong side on many plays.

Ya think? You must be forgetting Derrick Dockery. How did you like that 48 million dollar contract at the time? He not only couldn't block, he WOULDN'T!!! The man had the cleanest uniform in the NFL after games. Stubborn? Perhaps. But on this end, I am sensing an all out effort to defend any move the Bills bumbling front office makes, however stupid. That said, I appreciate the dialogue.

So true. And IF the Bills are looking for help at both guard spots as well as RT (very debatable given their history), I am not seeing a DJ Fluker type RT out there. Are you? I see at least one guard (Gabe Jackson), but filling these holes will certainly use up a ton of resources, this if they actually do it. They should have locked up Levitre and kept him until they needed the money/cap space to pay a qb 20 million or so. This is how the league works these days.

Thank you.

There is little reason imo to look and see what AL is doing for the Titans. To really know, wouldn't one have to watch virtually all of their games? What we do know that he was our best, most durable and versatile blocker. We also know that the Bills cap hit for the QB position really might be the lowest in the NFL, and this is where the money goes in this league. The union signed off on the rookie cap thinking that "vets" would make more money. In fact, they are making less. The QBs cashed in, that's about it. What are the most important aspects of a winning team today? I think QB and head coach. Do you realize that next season, Jay Cutler will be paid approx. 4 times as much as our head coach and all of our quarterbacks COMBINED? Romo already is. The money was there to pay Levitre, yet they let him walk and replaced him with bad football players. This while ushering in a rookie QB considered raw, and putting him in a "hurry up" offense. Does this make sense to you? Hey, we are happy about a win against Jax. I am 100% sure that we would have won more football games if Levitre was still here. And it certainly would have been great in terms of developing EJ. It even might have helped Marrone but I am less sure of this.

I do. He could have packed it in and continued to collect and count his millions. Instead, he is playing football and although he didn't have the great stats, he was very important in terms of the win with his almost constant pressure.

Thank you for this, and I meant every word that I said. If I was the GM I would offer his agent some nice cash and see if he bites. Positional players (meaning other than quarterbacks) are making WAY less these days. QBs garner in the cash since the new CBA. For instance, I predict that Cutler will be paid more than 15 million per season next year, perhaps even a lot more. They need to offer Branch 9 mil. or so for 3 years and see if he will jump on it. The Bills can afford it because of the comparatively small amount of money that they allocate to the QB position, let alone their huge amount of cap space.

1) My condolences to Stevie Johnson and his family wrt the his mom passing away. I am not going to mention him today in terms of this game. 2) I give Mario Williams a lot of credit. He is making SO much money. The team is out of the playoff hunt, and the man still brings it. I am proud to have him on our football team. 3) Although I cannot say that I was thrilled by EJ today, I do see this game as progress. I do like the fact that he ran more often. There is no reason for him not to. Please don't construe this post as me hating on the kid. Again, I view this game as progress. 4) On the sack in the first quarter by Kyle Williams, Branch was double teamed, and was actually pushing back the pile. I don't know if he is signed to a one year deal, but Branch is a player that we truly need to keep. He is making life easier for KW as well as Dareus. If he is due to be a UFA at the end of this season, Whaley should be calling his agent tonight. Seriously. 5) I was proud of Robert Woods today. The kid really does go for the football, and he is showing that he can get open, as well as hold onto the ball. 6) I don't know about you, but I was pissed when Marrone went for the 54 yarder under these circumstances. I would have rather went for the first down, or even punted. 7) Life may be sweeter for this, I don't know. See how it feels, in the end May Lady Lullaby sing plainly for you, Soft, strong, sweet, and true. 8) Between the first down pass that he allowed and the costly penalty (both late in the game), I thought that Gilmore was about to give away the game. But he came back with the late pick and I was thrilled. Btw, he also had a nice block on the play in the 1st quarter after Williams had that nice interception. 9) Plays going to Summers seem to work more often than not, no? 10) I have defended Pears for quite some time now. I still hold to the fact that in terms of the Bills, he is a good RT. We have had some horrors at this position. But he didn't play well today. 11) Legursky was flat out awful. He was beaten and abused. This is too much of a weakness for an NFL football team to hide. Defenses smell blood and exploit holes this big. 12) I give Chandler credit for manning up after his recent debacle. 13) Kudos to Kyle Williams. He made great use of his hands today on pass rushing plays, and did all he could wrt the run. 14) Yeah, I know that this win hurt our draft slot, and I don't really blame those that wish we would have lost. That said, I cannot think like this any more. Bills wins are so precious and few that I crave them. We are a mess, but we won a football game today!!! 15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely great stuff Ken!!!