Bill from NYC

Thank you. This is why I was SO pissed at losing Levitre. They could have done a deal similar to TB and Revis. TB guaranteed his first season only. After that every season is up to the team. I don't understand why they are stockpiling cap dollars THIS season and tying up space for 2014.

Isn't Fitz a 7 million dollar hit in 2014? And what about Anderson? Also I am under the impression that teams will soon have to spend almost the entire cap, no?

You raise a good point about Wood and Manuel. That said, I want Carrington to stay just as much. He is entering his prime, and the blocked kicks and passes are huge. Btw, Branden seems to be piling up dead cap space for 2014. Is this to avoid spending real dollars? I hope not, but it is suspicious.

Yeah, we sure show them who is boss!!!

Yes, and to his credit, Wood appeared to be playing injured much of the time. Not all of his games were great, and I think that the injuries mattered. Levitre was far more consistent than any Bills blocker in many, many years. And I get your point in terms of your assertion that you didn't want to spend top 5 guard money on Levitre. But this begs the question, where is this money going? From where I sit, it looks like they are piling up dead cap space for next season (isn't that when they have to spend more cap dollars), and unsuccessfully trying to throw big money at a safety. This mind you with a rookie quarterback. If this makes sense to you, that's fine. I try, but it looks bizarre from where I sit.

Levitre is not "good" in pass protection. He is superb, AND durable. He isn't "weak at the point of attack" either. He just isn't a monster. It is a huge reach to think that Glenn, with not much experience, would be an upgrade over Levitre. And as for the Bills not being able to "exert control" wrt Levitre leaving, I respectfully beg to differ. He only received 10 million in guaranteed money. They could have matched this easily. They also could have guaranteed his salary for a year or 2, and then cut him without a cap hit. But despite having a qb who is a rookie and another who is brittle and has been beaten half to death, they let him walk, only to focus on Byrd. How is that working out?

No, it isn't that simple at all. How many top quality left tackles do you tremember being moved to guard? Wolford is one, but he was more than 35 years old at the time. You cannot find me an example of any NFL team moving a star, or even very good LT out of position, can you?

Is it safe to assume that the coaches do not think that he is or will be a great LT? I don't remember Pace or Ogden trying out at left guard.

I will never agree with this. The Bills guards have sucked for two decades, and so have the Bills. Last year, they had a good pair of guards and even decent backups. They let go of their best blocker in order to chase yet another defensive back who is waving his middle finger at this franchise and it's fans. This with a rookie qb, and another who has already been beaten half to death. Sorry my friend, this was a blatant act of stupidity and more of the same. Btw, Colin Brown is a decent player but imo he is a center, not a guard. I hope to be pleasantly surprised but how often does it happen?

I fully agree with this post. In the last 20 or so years, the Bills have fielded all of 2 good RTs (Peters and Jennings). Pears and Hairston are both somewhat above average for any team, and great in comparison to what we have had.

I think that Colin Brown looks pretty decent at Center as well. And as much as I like what Wood has shown us for a few games, he doesn't have the body of work (imo) to characterize him as dominant. Levitre played his position consistently well, and made life much easier for Glenn, a rookie left tackle. As K-9 suggests, the loss of AL, big or small, will be soon recognized.

Now they have dead money from Anderson as well, no? The could have taken the hit this year with little impact imo. And I am curious as to how the new contract with Smith will be distributed. Did they lower their cap hit this season for no reason?

Anderson was rather unheralded coming out of Alabama. He put together a couple of statistically productive years, others were not so great. I don't know a ton about him, other than he was, when healthy, a fairly good pass rusher. I would like to know more about when the minimum spending rules take hold. There is no reason I can find for the Bills to NOT absorb the full cap hit now. If they do not, I am going to view this move as a possible hybrid version of "cash to cap."

Yes, I do know that. I also know from being a Bills Fan that professional teams are able to exploit a hole on an offensive line. I have watched this happen to the Bills for the better part of 2 decades. Levitre did his job and did it well. And yes, he was a better pass protector than run blocker, but he did his job on the run quite well imo. As much as I love the dialogue, I am having trouble seeing anything sensible about not re-signing Levitre. Along with Ruben Brown, he has given us the best play at OG that we have seen in almost 20 years. Now, we brought in a quarterback who is a rookie, another who was beaten half to death before arriving in Buffalo, and took away from them the most reliable blocker that we had on the roster. I want to, but I cannot see a logical equation here.

Great post. In addition, there is a lurking "consensus" on this that Wood is a better blocker than Levitre. He is not. When he is on the field and not out injured or playing hurt, Wood can be a bruiser, which fans naturally do like. Levitre relies more on finesse, which is starting to be more appropriate in a pass driven league. And in terms of his play on running downs, one needs to look at Spiller's YPA before complaining.

>>>>I disagree with BillfromNYC's earlier post about the Mankins comparison. But I agree with his later post about drafting Levitre in a high spot and then letting him walk. The disconnect in his drafted value and his free agent value comes down to a change in regime.<<<< Look again SJB.....it wasn't me who brought up Mankins, but I do get that poster's point. If Levitre had been drafted in round 1 rather than Wood, his play would have justified this to be on the better end of first round picks by the Bills in the last 20 years. He did all that was asked, and more. Moreover, who were the 2 best guards on the team since the superbowl era? Ruben Brown and who? This team sends out bad messages. The re-signed McKelvin, a #11 pick in round 1, who is a lousy corner. They franchised Byrd, who is symbolically sticking out his middle finger to the Bills, and wants far more than he is worth. If they sign Byrd long term, Mario Williams will have a better chance of living up to his contract than Byrd who is good, far from great. Levitre only got 10 million guaranteed. This was not a tough deal to match, especially if they used imaginative cap strategy. Now we are breaking in a rookie behind a big hole at LG. It never seems to end.

>>>>>Plus the Patriots don't really spend money on anyone who isn't Brady or one of a very select group of guys like Gronk and Willfork. They identified Mankins as one of those select core guys to give that kind of money to. Just because New England gave crazy money to their LG doesn't mean it would have been smart for the Bills to.<<<< Then why draft him at all? They traded up to the 2nd round to select him and since then he has outplayed everyone on the OL, including the beloved Wood. In fact, it isn't close. Was the purpose of taking him to merely help win a few games for a lousy team? The Bills, especially since Levy/Jauron, whiffed on pick after pick. This time they really did click and just let him walk.

eball, let's make no mistake. The Bills are not a well run team. Next, they have what, 18 million dollars in cap space? They could have guaranteed Levitre's first year and part of his second year and not taken any risk in terms of cap problems. This is what Tampa did with Revis. After his first season, Revis can be cut with no cap hit. JohnC >>>Is Levitre better than his replacement, whoever it may be? Probably so.<<< Probably so? He was our best pass blocker. A left guard with LT agility. They didn't draft his replacement. No, they ae going with a bargain basement journeyman. We have seen the Bills do this to their OL time and again. How often did it work? This is bound to hinder both Manuel and yes, Spiller. Let's hope the defense improved. Btw I had to answer in this format because my enter key still doesnt work while responding to posts. It's getting quite annoying and apparently others have this same problem.

To be honest, at times I think of Manuel a a running quarterback. I think he is a fine, instinctive runner. When a QB has this much ability in one area they tend to go for it as a reflex, or so it would seem. For instance, Bledsoe had a circus arm. He knew that if given time, he could drop a 60 yard pass straight down into the hands of a reveiver. This would cause him to at times wait too long to throw. And on those Bills teams there was little to no time due to some of the worst offensive lines ever assembled in the NFL. I am really looking forward to watching this kid. He does seem raw, but he also seems to be a smart player. I think that this can set him apart from Losman. JP had talent galore, but imo he never had a feel for the game. And Badol, not to beat a dead horse, but why would the Bills give up their most solid pass protector (Levitre) under these conditions? Does this indicate that they expect Manuel to run alot, or am I reading too much into it?

Hope is great but there is no logical reason that I can see to think that the Bills will be a playoff team this season. It can happen, but it is far from likely. My biggest complaint, as you already know, was losing Levitre. With the new CBA, salaries are going down at every position except QB. Those guys are getting rich, and the shrinkage of rookie contracts is going directly to the QBs and nobody else. That said, our QB signed for 4 years/8.9 million. This is literal pocket change today. Levitre was only guaranteed 10 million in a long term deal. They let him walk, and this can only hurt Manuel and yes, Spiller. Instead of considering the above circumstances they franchised Byrd, and things don't look so good. The truth is that they should have kept both of them. They could have signed Levitre AND tagged Byrd. The cap space was there. In a semi-related matter, I watch a lot of clips on Manuel. From where I sit he is chock full of talent. Please explain to me what prevented him from being a top 5 pick in a poor draft for QBs. What was it that scared other GMs away from him? Why did even Jax pass on him?

No, his name belongs in a different discussion.

Great to see you posting!!! My friend, do you truly think that YPA was the only factor in Elway being a better qb than Holcomb? I know that you do not. Teams had to account for Elway's ability to run. They also had to account for his ability to throw tape measure long passes, as well as perhaps the best fastball ever. In short, there was no true way to defend against him. That said, it IS interesting that he didn't win a superbowl until he relied more on his running game. However, that was then. This is another era. As you know, I was dragged kicking and screaming (and much of it by you and BADOL) into facing the reality that the game has dramatically changed. A young John Elway in this era would make Luck and RG111 look like bad qbs. Can you even begin to imagine a protected (by the rule changes) John Elway? And imagine his salary if he was a UFA!!!! If Flacco is worth 21 mil and Rogers is worth 25, Elway would be worth 40 mil, because he had more talent than both of them combined. Again, great to see you post!

It's true. He purchased 2 very expensive cars for the Houston PD. Let that sit for a second if you will.....there are segments of the American culture who might see this as an act of being a traitor for political, and other reasons. Mario doesn't care what they think, and put his own money down for the safety and well being of his community. Imo, he is a literal hero for doing so. This thread (and probably the article which I didn't read) are indicative of society. He is remembered for a wacky court battle with an ex. He is remembered for ONLY registering 10 1/2 sacks on a lousy defense, this while playing injured. He SHOULD be lauded for looking out for his community. PS: He is the best player on the Buffalo Bills.

Yes, Mario IS forming a pattern. He continues to make HUGE donations to the Houston PD so they can purchase equipment to protect their community.

I don't want to get caught up in semantics, but I cannot agree with the bolded. The difference is that plays that are now considered "dirty" used to be a legit part of the game. The big change is the passing game. In the days of Lott, Tatum, Atkinson, etc., going over the middle was a life threatening experience, especially if the pass was high. They would crush receivers with timed hits. This is out, and when it does happen the fines are huge. Also, qbs are protected like never before. Some of the old timers would have had longer, better careers under today's conditions. Teams were always built around QBs, but not as much as today,