Bill from NYC

Nah. The Bills are awful, but the Raiders are even worse, And they are in cap hell this, and probably next season. That said, in a way we are in worse shape than the Raiders in terms of being tormented, We have cap space and are about to watch one of our only good players walk away. But seriously, how many Bills Fans are surprised by this?

I like Tyler Bray more than the kids that you mentioned. And he probably won't be ready to step in as a rookie. Either way, I am just floating ideas around.

You could be right. Some players are willing to take the risk of injury to be ufas Clements was a perfect example of this. He wanted out of Buffalo. I heard him say it on Sirius. Looking back, it wasn't THE worst move to let Clements walk. Teams should never devote a ton of cap space to corners. If you don't believe me, ask the jets, raiders or eagles.

trade down in the draft, and get extra draft picks? I am guessing that Moore could be had for approx. 3 years/18 million. In this scenario, they could acquire more picks, fill holes, and go after a qb next year. I suppose the question is whether or not Bills management thinks that he is better than Fitz. I lean towards thinking that he is. Opinions?

As they say, let's agree to disagree. And I am a fan of Wood. He is a bruiser, and he has a great work ethic. But Levitre would be harder to replace imo. He is a great pass protector and gets good angles on running plays. It would be awful to lose him.

Absolutely! As you know, I am a life long Alabama Fan. I can tell you point blank that if Fluker stays healthy, he will be a much better RT than Andre Smith. Fluker is as strong as an ox and doesn't get winded late in the game. Imo, he has a chance to be Bob Brown great. Andre has proven that he will let himself get out of shape. 9 mil is too much for Levitre, but nobody will give him that much. But the truth is, the Bills need to make him a freaking offer.

Agreed and as I recall, they traded up to draft Levitre. Before that draft I knew nothing about Wood, and was hoping that they would take Levitre in round 1. The Bills have ample cap space to solve many problems. As you said, this free agency period will be a buyer's market. But sadly, nothing dumb that they do on draft day would suprise me, and there is no reason to be surprised. I can honestly see them drafting Milliner or a wide receiver (a position they can fill in free agency). Even if Milliner is already grabbed by the Lions, they might draft the second ranked corner. It happened at safety in 2006. Thankfully, there are no sure fire RBs in this draft. Badol, please tell me about Matt Moore. Is he clearly superior to Fitz? Also, how do you rate Tyler Bray? Imo, he is the most talented qb in this draft, but I don't consider myself to be an expert at rating qbs.

Wood is constantly injured. One must wonder if his body is equipped to play in the NFL. How surprised would anyone be if he suffers yet another major injury? Odds say that it's a matter of time. Brown is WAY better than most think imo.

I like this post, but I'm not sure that I am in full agreement with it. Allow me to preface my response by admitting that I was pulled, kicking and seaming, into the reality that the rule changes have made the NFL into a passing, qb driven league. But, I have arrived. Now, as far as the bolded above, I am not so sure. Dalton is a kid. He, imo, has the potential to be in the same class as Schuab. Is Schuab good enough to win it all? This season tells us that he might be. The following is a list of QBs who did not reach the Superbowl this season: 1) Big Ben 2) Drew Brees 3) Peyton Manning 4) Tom Brady 5) Eli Manning Now, is Flacco, contract and all, an "elite" QB? I am not so sure. He has a cannon but I swear, I think he was lucky in the SB, particularly in the early part of the game. As Badol pointed out in another thread, the 49ers pass rush was weakened, and their secondary was exposed. And Kaep, with all of his amazing talent, is also a kid. He may soon be, but is not at the moment a QB that I personally would consider to be elite. I think that n the near future, intelligence and the ability to run will be huge factors in QB success. It's ironic, but Fitz is a genius, and actually, despite his frame, is a better than average runner for a qb imo. He just doesn't have the passing skills. It really is a shame. I don't know much about Dalton in terms of his IQ or wonderlic scores. Do you? What I DO know is that I would MUCH rather have Dalton, Kaep, or even Mallet on this team than lousy players such as Sheppard and A. Williams.

I totally disagree. Terrible is Langston Walker, Jerry Ostroski, Marcus Spriggs and Terrance Pennington. Greg Jerman was way beyond terrible. Pears, imo, is average vs. the pass, and above average on runs. Hairston, who admittedly did not improve this season, is strong, and has enough balance to fill in on the left side. Teams need a backup swing tackle.

Probably so, along with safety.

Your point is taken, but otoh, AW has absolutely nothing good to point at in terms of his entire body of work. There really is nothing. He was consistently beat by virtually every receiver he attempted to cover. What is WAY worse (and not his fault at all) is the fact that we passed on quarterbacks who can play in order to draft him. Icing on the ugly cake is that Nix said that he had offers to trade down in every round in that draft. Imo, Williams is symbolic of almost all of what is wrong with this franchise. He's a modern day Whitner.

The following, in the same format as my weekly "Thoughts," is not intended to be expert opinion. Through the years, I have been wrong as many times as I have been right wrt qbs, QB is not a position at which I claim any real expertise. I am a better judge of blockers, For instance, I knew how good Hasselback would be coming out of college. I also thought that RJ would be a superb quarterbck. That said, here goes..... 1) In terms of free agents, I like Matt Moore a lot more than Alex Smith. Neither is a franchise qb imo. In fact, this is pretty obvious. But Moore is better than Fitz (or so I think), and I see no upside in Smith. 2) The draft? My favorite qb is Tyler Bray. He coud very well be a head case, but his talent makes him worth the risk imo. And, Marrone is fresh out of college. If he is worth a damn, he should be able to handle a young buck such as Bray. 3) I am not high on Tyler Wilson. Why not? Because he isn't a pimple on Ryan Mallet's ass. I hope this is clear. 4) Geno Smith? He will probably be good. But imho he will need a few years to be comparable to Matt Schuab, who I tend to liken him to, at very best, and consider this to be his ceiling. 5) Barkley? Unimpressed. Lots of air under his passes. But, he might be a Brady type. I for one don't see it. So there you have it. Old timers like me on this site have not been afraid to be "wrong." Does it really matter? In a perfect world, we coukd trade down just a few spots and draft Bray, but do we take a chance? This is a very strange draft imo. I hope to see other opinions and have some fun with this thread.

Great choice Astro.Remember, he didn't get a ton of chances due to the unbelieveable talent around him. Saban likes to run, and he had both Lacey and Yeldon in the backfield, not to mention the freshman wideout, and every other great player on the Tide. Williams get open, and has very soft hands. It would be interesting to see how many reps he can do with 225.

Why not? I feel like we have done the same while chasing RBs and of course defensive backs.

Not to worry. Even if he is hurt and the Bills don't draft him, it might not change much. In 2006, Whitner was taken at #8, and he was the second safety drafted. Just last season, they took Gilmore at 10, and he was actually the 3rd defensive back taken in round 1. So you just might get your wish. It won't win us games, and will hurt the franchise yet again, but your prediction could come true.

Great idea. Maybe we should even trade up to get Milliner if need be. We must leave no stone unturned to continue wasting resources and to lose football games.

. Every year, under contract or not, he holds out or threatens to do so. Now, he is still talking about how great he is, and he's coming off of major surgery. I feel no sympathy at all for Revis, and I love that the jets are wasting so much cap space on a disruptive, injured corner. It's great to see a divisional rival be so stupid.,

The Transition Tag would cost approx. 8.5 for Levitre, and his agent would be free to negotiate a deal with ONE team and bring it to the Bills. If the Bills don't match, he walks and the Bills get no compensation. I am not positive, but I think that this is how it works. That said, it isn't the worst idea if need be.

Sorry if this is getting too much into semantics, but we both know better than the bolded. Maybe we should clarify what a "good selection" is. To me, it means more than the player being "good." Football teams are constructed primarily upon draft choices. GMs need to select players who will win football games for their team. If the team is losing, what difference does it make if for example Gilmore is "good?" One of the numerous QBs that the Bills passed on was also good, AND would have been better for the franchise, AND won us football games!!! This idiocy as we know is not limited to the QB position. Last season, this team in essence played with no quality linebackers. NE drafted Hightower at #25. In theory, we could have traded down, drafted a "good" player (Hightower), and acquired additional selections, or at least 1. Instead, Nix followed the Bills never ending trend of scooping up DBs and RBs with his best resources. And of course, the losing continued.

He showed some promise and as you said, he was a rookie. But his season was far from stellar. He had 1 interception in 16 games, was often penalized, and gave up some big time passes. Do I expect to see improvement? Yes. Was this a great season for a #10 selection? No, not imo.

Good point. Now, given the impact of the rule changes, would this make a guard such as Levitre actually more valueable? I always thought that pass protection was his strong suit, although he is a better than average run blocker as well imo. Because he played LT in college, he seems to have great balance and footing, and be tough to beat on passing downs. I guess what I am asking is will the smaller, more agile guards be a better fit in this new game than the big bruisers (who are NOT named Chance Warmack ) ?

I couldn't agree more Pete and as you recall, you and I have been through some funny, albeit painful drafts on this board. I think that the Bills are going to go after either Alex Smith or Matt Moore. Of those two, probably Smith becuse he has a high completion percentage. Then, they will go for a QB in round 2. This is only a hunch and what I am feeling at this time. This brings us back to round 1. I am thinking that if Milliner is there, they will draft him at #8. I really hope he is taken in the top 7, and I am a huge Alabama fan. Milliner is better than Gilmore in coverage. He's a very good player, but I don't want the Bills to draft him. Taking DBs early has destoyed this football team.

I think that this was a great signing for the reasons that you mentioned. Frankly, I am surprised that the got him at this low price. Btw, do you think that they will be able to sign Levitre? I know that it could be done, but if my life depended on it I am thinking that he walks.

Best post of the thread. The thing is, it really is true. I remember actually being worried that someone would be crippled or killed when Jerman was on the field. He was knocked on his ass, trampled, and/or tossed around on virtually every play, and it barely took 2 seconds. Then there would be clear, straight lanes to the qb and running backs. Unbelieveable.