Acantha

I never saw the discussion at the time, but I heard recently he was suspected to be Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Something else to note, this wasn't just Whaley's move. Of course those that are against him will ignore the fact that this decision was made all at once by Whaley, Rex and Pegula while they were on Pegula's yacht. And there's pretty much a clear record that Whaley is not in charge of contacts. If my memory serves, and it very well may not...I get a lot of posters confused over the years, but this is a personal argument. There's a cop in the family. I'll admit, my first thought after hearing the news was, "maybe this means they can get rid of him!" He may be a good RB, but I just don't like him and wish he wasn't on the roster, especially with this cap hit. It sounds very likely that he's not going to get convicted of anything here, but is everyone so sure the Bills don't have some kind of standard behavior clause in their player contracts that get them out in cases of arrests/convictions?

IMO, all of these ideas will end up just as bad as what the NFL has tried the last few years. The game will never be competitive, no matter the location or gimmick. For those that have never been, Pro Bowl week in Hawaii is full of events that the various players attend. Nothing ground breaking, but just various things for people to attend and get to see some of the leagues best players in person (especially in a location that never gets to see NFL players). I don't see any harm in keeping an All-Pro event in various cities and even countries. Maybe keep a skills competition. But trying to milk TV viewership money out of it is just never going to produce real results. Pay the players some extra money, give them the All-Pro title for their contract negotiations, let them promote their various charities, let non-NFL locations get some access to the sport, and call it a day. Otherwise, just let the whole idea go. Serious question; does anyone really care about NFC vs AFC anymore? It's pretty much the last thing I think about when rooting for any team. I"m not saying there's no reason to care, it's just been so long since I've though about it I'm surprised to hear that others do.

Hope everyone keeps their heads.

In businesses that deal with the public, corporate culture is being forced to change. The internet, and far more importantly social media, are requiring companies to be far more user friendly and to be able to change with the times. Everything is becoming more transparent, and companies that are too slow to change are having trouble keeping up. The NFL is a money grubbing, stubborn, anti-everything that doesn't 100% benefit them organization. Businesses simply can't survive long term with that kind of mindset anymore. The NFL is also a behemoth and basically has a monopoly on the countries favorite pastime, so it's not like they're going to go broke in a couple of years, but I feel pretty sure that if they continue business as usual, they will begin to fall back down to earth in the not so distant future. I'm sure plenty will call me crazy, but in my opinion one of the most important things the NFL has going for it is Fantasy Football. Without the rise in popularity of that game, it wouldn't have the same growth and bullet proof mentality it has today. People are so consumed with their FF leagues, the first thing they think of when someone has a concussion or gets arrested is how it's going to affect their scores.

I think this is true when it's not artificially generated. Posters having different points of view is what makes this forum great. Posters that get off on having a contrarian point of view no matter what the topic are tiresome; just like Sully.

The other poster said they COULD develop QB's, not that it was the only way a D League could help NFL teams find talent. Player X is not in the league (passed over). Player X plays somewhere else where NFL execs/coaches get to see him play and decide that they may actually be worthy of a chance. Player X goes to the NFL. Whether that league did anything for the development for that player or not is beside the point. Neither of those players would have even seen an NFL roster spot if it hadn't been for their play in other leagues. Again, it's easy to spout your nonsense when you make up your own rules. You're final point is the only thing that makes a lick of sense. You're right, those other leagues have failed over and over (outside of the CFL). IMO, that has a lot more to do with fan interest than in the possible benefit to NFL teams. If they could generate enough interest with the fans to financially support the league, There's no reason NFL teams wouldn't want to have the potential talent (small as it may be) on display in front of them.

Well done in creating your own rules in order to discuss the topic. Regarding Freddy, who said anything about having to be a star? Fred Jackson was passed over by the NFL and was given a second chance after playing very well in NFLE. He's still playing in the NFL years later! That is about as perfect a reference point as you could ask for. Flutie only played in the CFL because the NFL thought he was too short. So let me try to understand you here. Flutie was passed over by the NFL because the league didn't think he would be able to play successfully in the league. He then went to the CFL, played well for years, and based on that performance was given another chance in the NFL where he was an NFL starter who played a role in getting his team to the playoffs and continued after that for a couple years as a backup. And that doesn't count as a reference for helping non-NFL players get into the league? This whole line of argument has nothing to do specifically with the chances of the league succeeding or not, it's about whether there is a place for a "D-league" in football. Those examples above are just two that specifically relate to the Bills. I don't keep a record of other players that played for secondary leagues like NFLE and CFL that were then signed to NFL rosters, but I assume those weren't the only two.

Or more north. I bet places like Provo or Boise would love an NFL experience.

I know there's things to do to give us some cap space. I was just saying I don't think Whaley is relying on something like this deal to get them through 2016.

Even if all $450M were split up over the 32 teams, it would increase the cap $14M per team. That's pretty much gone after Glenn signs. As you pointed out, we only really get to add the difference between the old deal and the new deal, AND it probably won't kick in quite so quickly. I doubt Whaley is considering this deal a way out of cap trouble.

I can't get to the website from work, so I didn't get to see that. $50 is probably way too much money to make it work. It's a hard set-up really; on one hand they have to be able to pay these guys for playing a tough game, and they can only play so many games without destroying the rosters with injuries. On the hand, nobody is going to pay $200 (plus gas, food, etc...) to go watch minor league football. It's just not a realistic venture IMO. I can take my wife and son to a minor league baseball game (which is great for the family because they have lots of activities for kids in addition to the game) for $25. Spend as much or as little as you want on food and have a fun night out without breaking the bank. Unless a football league can find a way to compete with that, it's just not reasonable. I'd rather go to the local high school on Friday night than pay $50 for the leftover NFL talent. IMO, the NFL should subsidize one of these. Get the ticket prices down and have a place to try out new things and get a look at players and coaches. Without their involvement, one of these leagues would have to find a way to draw talent away from the NFL, which is impossible with the money the NFL has.

I think they're at least starting off with the right frame of mind by finding locations with no NFL or MLB teams and not trying to compete during the NFL season. These leagues really have to have the right frame of mind and reasonable goals. Admit what you are, which is basically minor league football, even without an official NFL affiliation. Try to give the stadiums and games a fun family atmosphere without a family needing to break the bank in order to enjoy a night out. If those are the expectations, I think they CAN "succeed". But since it usually ends up being less about fun and more about $$$, it will likely go the way of the rest of these leagues.

Seems that guy should have descended the dusty gravel ridge instead.

None of that answers the question about how you handle the QBs on the roster. McCarron was drafted two years ago; if you're drafting a QB every year, how do you develop McCarron? And when the new guy doesn't light up the world in training camp and preseason during his first NFL year, do you just dump him next year for the new draftee? The point that the Bills should have been taking flyers in the 5th round when EJ was their starter is different than the philosophy of drafting a QB every year, which just isn't practical in reality.

I'm not a fan of Rex; never have been, and I happen to agree with the last two paragraphs of that article. That said, the rest was trash, which is Jerry's basic formula. Throw in a couple of obvious insights around a bunch of garbage and throw it against a wall. Whaley is good at his job, and should be allowed to do it without interference from Rex. It's not like because Rex isn't there, Whaley is running around blind without any idea of what kind of players he should be looking for. These people do actually have conversations you know. Whaley and his staff will get Rex and Roman the best players they can for their systems. Jerry can put his pen away, at least in regards to Rex, until the season starts. Unfortunately I'm sure there will be plenty of negatives to write about then.

I lived in NM for a few years and finally made it to Roswell during the UFO festival shortly before I left. I thought it would be kind of a fun, corny thing to do. I swear it was the saddest thing I can think of. If you're ever thinking about going, just save the time and let someone kick you in the nuts a few times instead.

I wouldn't even call this stupid. Seems like pretty harmless fun outside of a freak accident.

At least the Avery's can take some solace knowing that everyone is going to make as much money on them as possible while the story is hot!

Ready to dust off the old resume? Circuit City trying again.

I've watched this almost all the way through twice (my wife didn't want to watch it the first time but then just had to when all of her friends started talking about). While there's no telling what happened, I feel like a lot of people are saying things like "I'm sure he did it, but..." or "I assume he's guilty..." But I'm starting to feel like everyone is just hedging their bets against the bias of the documentary. There's simply nothing from the show that I can pick out that makes me think he did it. Not one bit of evidence really stacks up and makes sense, and in fact most of it makes me think he's innocent (because it just makes so little sense when you really drill down). I've read a lot of articles that goin depth with things that were left out of the documentary that supposedly make it seem way more likely that he was guilty, and they've all ended up being speculation. Again, NOTHING that makes me think he's guilty. So he wasn't a great guy, what does that have to do with guilt? Anyway, just curious if someone that has said they assume he's guilty but the cops were also dirty (or something along those lines) can point to anything at all that actually leads to that conclusion (and not just circumstantial stuff, like the *67 thing), because frankly, I just don't see it.

I've considered Miller a high floor, low ceiling type of guy. He doesn't strike me as a guy we'll see in the pro bowl, but he'll hold his own as long as the play around him is solid. If I'm wrong, hopefully it's in the good way!

Haven't heard of martial law being declared. Not sure how that works for city police.

No doubt about hurricanes. I lived in central FL for about 10 years and went through the gamut of hurricane categories. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't an over reaction, I'm saying there is ALSO an over reaction in response. I have lots of family and friends in central NY along with some in Northern VA and the Carolina's, so my Facebook feed is full of both sides.

I wasn't there in 85, but I was around in 96. That storm caused somewhere around 150 deaths and 100's of millions in damage, and dropped around somewhere between 20-30", depending on the location. I know the media is ridiculous like always, but I also think there's an opposite reaction lately of everyone jumping out to degrade those worried about the storms. It's a little annoying. These storms do kill people, and when it's relative or friend of yours, that's kind of a bid deal. Hope everyone out there remains safe. Anyway, if you want a toned down reaction to weather, come on out to MT. It's actually weird how little bad weather seems to be a topic of discussion here. edit: I looked it up, and the 96 storm damage caused up to around $3B in damage.