gobillsinytown

I know what you mean.....I just liked the description. Internet writer or not.....we all know what opinions are like.....

I live about an hour from Cleveland............NO NO NO to Hillis. One of the internet writers that covers to the Browns described him as a "recalcitrant, quitting D-bag"

EJ's play certainly has been encouraging, but he's got a way to go before he can be considered a bona fide starter. He made a couple of bad mistakes yesterday, so that's the bad news. The good news is that he overcame those mistakes. The pass to the deep middle that was picked was a mistake. A pass like that is almost always going to get intercepted in the NFL. Hopefully he learned from that. The fumble on the sack was his fault also, he wasn't paying attention to ball security. But that being said....he didn't panic and he didn't let the mistakes get him down. So far, so good.

No I think he's protecting his sister Sarah........

I thought EJ did very well considering it was his first pro start. The playcalling may have been limited, but I noticed some formations where he had four wide sets. Four wides is pretty complicated since he would have at least four people in the read progression. So it seems like the coaches have a lot of confidence in him. Since it was expected to be a blow out, a one point loss against one of the best QB's of all time is not a bad showing at all.

Frank Reich said as much himself. He said that the laces of the ball were supposed to be pointing straight toward the goal posts, but when he got the ball and spun it into to position, the laces were facing slightly to the right, so the kick went slightly wide right. Norwood blamed himself, but all of his teammates took the blame also, because they felt that they shouldn't have put him in the position to have to kick a 47 yard field goal to win.

I thought the price on one of the long sleeve shirts was pretty good. On its way to me!

You're absolutely right on that. I have no inside knowledge of the NFL whatsoever, but I know historically that holdouts and protracted disputes usually don't end in the player's favor. I understand the need to make the most money possible, since the average player's time in the NFL is about four years. All players are one serious injury away from effectively ending their careers. So I see both sides of it. Personally, I hope he gets whatever he's looking for. But historically, NFL teams tend to shy away from players who appear to be divas. In reality he may not be, but appearances count for a lot. Especially if he wants to be traded to a contender. At this late stage in season preparations, it's unlikely that any other teams is going to be willing to pay the Bills asking price, which would be at least a #1, plus multiple other draft picks, plus a player.

I don't understand his thinking. He's essentially holding out as long as he can to try to orchestrate a trade. It doesn't sound like he understands the business particularly well, or he's getting bad advice. The team is going to want a ridiculous amount in return, and I can't imagine any team would be willing to give up what the Bills will be asking. Especially with Parker as his agent.

Those are this year's cap numbers.....from the NFL website. I realize this is a quick survey and certainly not complete. The one that really caught my eye is Cincinnati at 28 million under the cap this year....and they went 10-6 last year. I think the whole cap situation is enormously complicated for every team and too much is placed on it by fans. NFL contracts are very complicated. Most teams have a separate legal staff dedicated to them. I live exactly one hour between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, with most of the media coverage in my town tilting towards the Browns. All of your complaints about the Bills front office are echoed by Browns fans about their front office. The same for Cincinnati....until they started winning. The Bengals are 28 million under the cap this year. Don't you find it strange how you don't hear Bengals fans complaining about how cheap Mike Brown is now? The exact same thing will happen if the Bills start winning. The same Jeff Littman was handling the team's finances in the 1990's. Very few people complained about him then. The Steelers also run a tight ship financially. But now that the Steelers are beginning to falter, the complaints are starting to get a little louder. This is a very simple equation: Win and everything is fine. Lose.......................

"It's been 13 years since this team made the playoffs --- THAT'S GETTING OLD -- the fact that Ru$$ is still in charge is an embarrassment -- the fact that Bills fans sit and take it is sad. I've been a fan my entire life and constantly have defended the FO to friends and fellow Bills fans --- the proverbial straw broke this camel's back when I saw a post of this message board a couple weeks ago with a link to the salary cap space site --- the fact that the Bills have $25M and chose to let Levitre walk, not to sign FA CB's or ILB's is just wrong --- it's not about being a hater or complaining, it's about WAKING UP and trying to do the same to the inept FO that we fans are left with" You know, I used to be angry about it also. I've been a Bills fan for 45 years. I used to get angry about it, but then I realized that it's entertainment. I also realized the simple fact that if I was so angry about it, I could stop supporting the team. I still support them, and I do it not because I'm stupid with my money, but because it's entertainment and therefore occupies the correct proportion in my life. I can choose to spend discretionary income on whatever I would like. The point here is that you also have the ability to choose. Express your anger by not supporting the team. You might feel a little less angry.

I did a little research and here are some highlights: Dallas - $51,000 under the cap. Record 8-8 Baltimore - 7.2 million under Super Bowl Champs Cincinnatti - 28.9 million under Record 10-6 Indy - 11 million under Record 11-5 Not exactly a complete sample, but does show that salary cap room and record aren't always joined at the hip.

Just saw this on ESPN crawl.........Schefter reports that Gronkowski may go to PUP, which means he won't be eligible to play for 6 weeks. If true game 1 just got a little more interesting.....

I hope the gamble pays off for Byrd, and by extension, Parker. There is a much higher risk of injury after a hold out. I hope this doesn't happen and he plays like a beast all season long, but it he gets hurt, the chances for a career long contract with the Bills (or any other team) will drop considerably. But looking at the other side I can understand why Byrd wants to make as much money as he can while he can. The average career in the NFL is 4 years.

I'd call this the "RGIII effect". Shannahan learned that the hard way last year. I think Marrone is playing it safe. If it were during the regular season he might be out a week. Now we can find out whether either of the other two QB's on the roster can make a good backup. So I'll take the positive side and say that now we can find out if Kolb or Tuel can play backup, or whether the team needs to bring another vetran in.

Sounds like the end of professional football and the world as we know it.

I was a kid when it opened but heard a funny story from someone who was. They were sitting at about the 50 yard line, a few rows up from the field. It was about 45 minutes before kickoff and the players were warming up. One of the 'Skins players was walking by and spit. So this little old lady stands up and started scolding the guy for "spitting on our nice new field. Where are your manners young man?". So the player somehow keeps a straight face and says "I'm sorry ma'am. Thank you for reminding me". The whole section is laughing. Sounds like everybody was having a good time.

I'm EJ3 B!tch!

This is when I feel sorry for professional athletes. They work their butts off to get in shape, study, and focus on their jobs. Then something as stupid as a wet rubber mat screws things up. I like Kolb, and I think under the right circumstances he could be a decent starting QB. Unfortunately last year he was with a team that had turnstiles for O-linemen, so he got knocked around quite a bit. He was in a perfect situation in Philly, because they had a good O line and players who complimented him. I don't think Buffalo is going to be a good situation for him, because we don't have enough players who compliment his skill set. So he'll be the vetran EJ learns from and hopefully Kolb can at least keep the team on an even keel for EJ to learn from the sidelines for a few games.

Antiboitic resistant infections have been a real problem for a while. The Browns had three players with serious post op infections. All of the surgeries were done at the Cleveland Clinic. They spent a tremendous amount of time and money eradicating a particularly resistant strain, which I believe took three years. Completely revised their infection protocols. Sounds like Gronk is having the same problem, although given his............energetic lifestyle, he may have contributed to the problem. "Caution" and "Gronk" are two words that definitely don't go together. Still, he seems to be a pretty likeable kid.

All of them have big egos. Without one, there's no way they would even be on a leauge roster. I'm not sure how many QB's are in the NFL, but let's assume 3 per team. That's roughly 96 guys out of how many hundreds of college level QB's that want to play in the NFL? To take the kind of punishment that a starting QB has to take requires a certain sense of invincibility.

Buffalo Bills Football...............DOOOOOMED! TM

I don't have a problem with it. The starting QB is going to be pretty much an open competition, even if they draft a QB. I don't think Kolb's price tag was all that high based on the story, since it said "as high as" 13 mil, which means it's based on incentives. Why not? The more the merrier. Let 'em fight it out in camp.

I think the numbers are pretty stupid too, but putting myself in their shoes, I'm not sure what else they could have done. There definitely isn't any other QB in free agency that could compete with Romo for the starting job, and this year's draft is weak at QB. Jerrah also seems to be pretty loyal to the players he likes, plus Romo is very marketable. And since Jerrah's got plenty of money, the numbers don't mean all that much to him.

Supply and demand. QB's have always been at a premium, but with the evolution to primarily a passing league, the going rate is probably the highest that it's ever been. That being said, the contract numbers are definitely inflated, because no QB is ever going to see the full amount. It's the upfront and guaranteed money that matters.