Bill from NYC

You make one point that I strongly agree with. Hutchinson was one of the best guards I for one have ever seen. The rest..... Hutch came to Minnesota in 2006. This was the year that the Vikes ripped up McKinnie's old contract and gave him one for 48.5 mil., with a 13.5 mil. signing bonus. He was rewarded for his play BEFORE Hutch got there. And, good LTs are worth their weight in gold. They don't have to be on the level of Pace, Munoz and Ogden. Ever watch Brad Hopkins play? Or Tarik Glenn? They were very good players, even if they weren't all time greats. McKinnie fell into this category imo, or perhaps slightly below. Either way, you have to grab players like this early. The bolded above doesn't apply to the LT position. Generally, only morons like Levy/Jauron look past blockers to draft players such as Whitner, McKelvin, Lynch, etc. I know this is your brand of football, but it results in loss after loss. Bell only has a job based on hopes that someday he might be as good as McKinnie. If McKinnie (or for that matter Carey) is healthy, we should sign one of these guys and distance ourself from the Jauron method of losing.

Didn't we just draft a corner at the beginning of round 2?

I hear you my friend. But I am not at peace with the overall mindset of neglecting positions that matter so much. They will only spend so much, and signing Whitner lends itself to more of the same imo.

I see your point, but I hope that the Bills devote resources to OT and TE (Boss).

Thanks for this. I take this to imply that he is healthy.

I fully agree. The thing is, imo he is better than anybody we have, including Bell IF he is healthy. I will always believe that the Bills should use an early draft selection on an OT. Failure to do so (as well as the Mike Williams mistake) has left us hurting year after year at this extremely important position and has hampered the football team big time. Even if he is a stop gap player, he might win us a game or 2. If they don't sign him I won't get overly excited. It's a bit suspicious when teams get rid of top blockers. It almost never happens, other than the Bills trading Peters.

Not me. If he can pass medical tests, I would be all for taking a chance on him. If he is healthy, he is far better than any OT on our team.

How would you feel about this Dave?

Did he say why? Ownership? Wasn't he very fond of the Gailey hiring?

But this is revisionist history wrt McKinnie. He was nowhere near as bad as you portray him to be. He was a very good LT for many seasons. So good, the vikes re-signed him in 2006 to a 7 year/48.5 mil. contract. This included a 13.5 mil. signing bonus. You can continue to berate him and/or call him a bust, but it just isn't so. Please name me the players we have drafted since 2002 that are as good as McKinnie (not counting the 2011 draft). It shouldn't take too long.

Ya think? How about McKinnie, Henderson, L. Jones. Shockey, and C. Grant? Any of them are better than virtually any player we drafted since 2002.

Maybe so, but McKinnie was FAR from a bust. He never reached the Pace/Ogden level but he was a probowl LT, and a major part of any success that the Vikings had, including Peterson. With all of your criticism of McKinnie, will you be waving pom-poms if Nix does decide to sign him?

Or, overpay him a few million because this is such a drastic need. Guarantee twice what the Giants will, toss in some more money and our odds of getting him will dramatically increase.

Alabama!!!!! Teams will be lucky to average 7 points per game against them next year.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/2011/08/boss-still-unsigned-so-giants-ink-patrick Not that this necessarily matters, but it can be viewed as promising. Boss has stated that he wants to stay in New Jersey, but I am clinging to hope that Nix will make a big move at this player, who imo would be a perfect fit in Buffalo.

With all due respect, the Whitner pick was worse imo. Marv spurned numerous, generous trade down offers. He said so himself on Sirius. Jauron was a horror show, but Marv was actually worse. He hired this moron and presided over the drafts.

It is certainly possible, but many players (Clements comes to mind) cash in for more than they are "worth" by waiting to become UFAs. There is a huge risk factor in doing so, whereas in injury could wipe out theur career. In our case, the need for this player is strongly marked. He would diversify the offense, and help both the running and passing games. He would also add size up front. If they offer him him for 30 mil./6 years and guarantee at lest half, me might bite. Who knows? What I do firmly believe is that he could win us a game or 2, and the cap space is sitting right there.

I have not seen enough of Miller to know if he is a "much better player," but I have seen a lot of Boss and agree that he would be a fantastic player for the Bills. In fact, when talking to R.Rich just before free agency I told him that Boss was probably a better fit for the Bills than any other free agent out there. As you noted, we have problems on the OL, specifically OT. Boss would be a HUGE help to these players. And while he doesn't put up big numbers in terms of receptions, I am telling you having watched him play that Boss is a very clutch player. He seems to want to stay with the Giants, but this is a situation where I think he could be had with a much bigger offer than the Giants seem to be making (after all, he is still unsigned). I do mean MUCH bigger, and they can guarantee half of it. Guaranteed money might be our best lure to bring players into Buffalo. Fingers crossed!

They should offer him a truck load of money. He would make the team stronger the second he walks on the field.

As far as I know Boss is still out there as well? Or did I miss something?

You don't have to but feel free. And make sure that you do list the good football players. Then, please recite the list of high round dbs and try to apply it to wins. Thanks.

Good post as usual. I want to offer a reasonable response. Once again, the Bills bolstered their secondary by re-signing Florence, and using a very early pick on Williams. They also signed a UFA gadget player. Last season, they blew a #9 on a gadget player. My point is that year after year, it's the same nonsense and we lose football games. Who would you rather have on this team, Clabo or our latest gadget player? I for one wish they would have offered Clabo an extra 10 million over the life of the contract and guaranteed it, along with the 11.5 that Atlanta guaranteed. That would have given him 21.5 mil. come hell or high water. The extra 10 mil. is more than people make in a lifetime. That alone would guarantee a life of financial security for his wife and children. Now, we have Spiller, McKelvin, Parrish, and Smith. We are stocked with situational players who have cost this club much needed cash and early picks. But, we cannot block. Even the Lions have started to build properly while we plod ahead making the same stupid mistakes. It really is frustrating to watch instant replays of how to lose football games.

The above doesn't even take into account idiotic picks such as Spiller, McKelvin, Whitner, Lynch, Maybin, and probably our second round corner this season. Think about it. Last season we wasted the 9th pick of an NFL draft on Spiller, a situational/gadget player. In the 2011 offseason, we used the 4th pick of round 2 on a corner. We also re-signed a corner and signed a UFA who appears to be a gadget/situational player. It is pure and unexplainable stupidity. While repeating the same stupid mistakes, can a rational person expect this team to improve? Sorry, I think not.

Yes, but they played behind a solid OL. I know how much you believe in the Jauron philosophy, but reality tells us that an OL is actually a good thing. The free agency period is not over, but as we speak we retained a cornerback and signed a situational player. This mentality, as dear as you seem to hold it, has resulted in the Bills losing football games. I am glad that you are pumped about the way things are going. I almost envy this frame of mind but I'm unable to look at idiocy and praise it.

I'm not. When he drafted Spiller, Nix made it obvious how much they liked gadget players, and this assumes that Ralph wasn't involved. I think that the biggest enticement to players is guaranteed money. According to this thread, Clabo is guaranteed 11.5 million. I am thinking that another 1.5 or 2 mil per season and 20 guaranteed would have been enough to sign him, but I admit that we will never know. Oh well, it's time to go back to the scrap heaps and garbage dumps to try and find a blocker.