Offside Number 76

Three months ago I was considered a jackass for suggesting him in the fourth or fifth. He wasn't even worth that, I was told. Hmm.

The NFCC is great as is their intro program. And Thoner, you forgot speedskating. That's pretty damned legit.

1) No, they did not create a partnership. If they had, the players would have every right to see the books. But they didn't. 2) The players are employees; as others have said, the owners' financial affairs are none of their business. The NFL dictates the terms and conditions of employment. At the early stage of a player's career, it's a take-it-or-leave it proposition because generally, a player must play for the team that drafted him or not play pro football at all. (Very few players can Elway themselves to a new team.) Later, the NFL still dictates just about every non-salary term of a player's contract. Because there is no real competition, the players are invoking the antitrust laws. This doesn't mean that I see any merit to their suit, btw.

I remember a certain QB who was saying these types of things before he got to the NFL. He seemed to acclimate (pun intended) to Buffalo just fine.

Kaepernick is the best late-round guy out there.

This tells me nothing unless I know how corporations are taxed in other countries. What gets deducted? What credits are available/used? Are the cited tax rates the statutory tax rates or the effective tax rates? Etc. Way too much information is missing to come to any kind of conclusion whatsoever, much less to conclude that the United States taxes its corporations more severely than other countries do.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12801812 Sorry to say, but yeah, it kind of did.

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks album cannot fail.

Don't expect the US to be a major player in this one. It's "Sarkozy's War" if it's anyone's.

I'm not a fan of the Iraq war and believe it was founded upon lies, I supported and continue to support the war in Afghanistan, I think that W did more to harm our country than to help it, and I still for the life of me cannot figure out what the hell the OP is talking about. It appears insane. Anyway, I came here to look at some opinions on what's going on in Libya. On to that, then.

He's a complete jackass, but this team really needs a TE, so why not?

My favorite other team is whoever is playing Miami. Similar to BillsWest above.

You didn't want him in the fifth round a week ago (http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/126107-reasons-to-not-pick-a-qb-in-next-draft/); what made you change your mind?

I like him (and I remember who shouted me down last week when I said I would take him with a fifth round pick), but I would never take him before the 3d round, and maybe not even until 4th. 5th, it's a definite for me, if he's there. With all of the press he's getting this week, he may not be.

I wrote in another thread that if Kaepernick is there in the 5th, he's worth the pick; got shouted down...

Thanks!

Dear(est?) Wisconsin: First, please, understand that we not only like you, but we love you. You make cheeses. And meats. And beers. And you do it so quietly, so unassumingly, that we don't even know that you're there, most of the time. Until, well, the Packers get far in the playoffs or UW does something once in a while. (Let's face it; the Bucks are hopeless, and the Brewers, well, it's not likely to be 1982 again--which is good, because I really don't want Culture Club anywhere near the top forty chart, anyway.) EVERYONE loves you. Again, you're giving (meats, cheeses, beers), but unassuming, and you're not self-promoting the way that Stillers and Cowgirls fans are. You've got your three Super Bowls, but you're not jackasses about it, and for that, again, we're appreciative. All this is leading up to one point: Please, for the love of all that is good, let's hope your team beats the Stillers. The entire country, or at least those parts that care about hockey and football, are sick of these a*sh*les. "City of champions," we hear again and again, as if the Pirates didn't exist. They are a die-hard group, to be sure, with little besides sports to entertain them or be proud of (oh, I've been to Pittsburgh a bunch of times, and it's sports, sports, and more sports (except, of course, baseball--I would ignore that too if I were there); it's not an arts & culture town); but even appreciating that, I don't think that the rest of America can deal with another Pittsburgh trophy in any sport. The smugness might destroy the entire Rust Belt. Green Bay truly is "America's team," when it comes to football, anyway. I mean, you're the kid brother that we all pull for, the Lucas who is going to catch that touchdown pass. You're from some smallish town NEAR Milwaukee without actually BEING Milwaukee, and that's really kind of cool. I know what Dallas calls itself, but everybody freaking hates that team. You've got "America's Team." Does anyone outside of Chicago, Detroit and Minne-Paul hate Green Bay? Of course not. The fans and players are too unassuming and polite for hatred outside of the division. Here's the important part, though: Please, keep your polite, "hey, we won, but we won't be jerks about it" ways. Please, stay humble and unassuming. And please, beat the hell out of the freaking Stillers. /oh, and may this UB grad see Starks as a SB MVP!!!!!

He was offsides too often.

A real New York team, not one from the suburbs? Did the Jets move back into Shea or something?

Nope. My point is, you'll have equal luck finding that "hidden" QB stud in the 5th as you will that "hidden" LB or DL or whatever stud. Equal there, right? But in free agency or trade, you will have an easier time finding that "hidden" stud at ANY other position than QB. No one wants to trade away a QB, even a Levi. So use some mid-to-late pick, again, depending on what's out there. If you find your QB, fine; if not, you weren't going to find him in FA or in a trade anyway. And as far as what you would have done otherwise with that pick, THAT, you CAN do through FA or trade. Teams guard QBs jealously (in comparison to other positions; I fully realize that some get released or sent to PS), no matter what round they were picked in. Teams do not do the same of mid-round linebacker picks.

A "#2 QB," veteran or not, isn't what we're looking for. We're looking for the guy who is going to start in two or three years. It is tougher to find a QB in free agency or through a trade than it is to find a player at any other position, so it's not a "waste" to take a QB with a mid-round pick, see how he develops, and pursue the other positional needs via free agency or trades. I'm not sure how much either Mallett or Newton are blue-chip prospects, but those are the two guys I had in mind when I mentioned the third round, if they fall that far. I don't think they will; I think other teams will be dumb enough to blow first-round picks on these guys, whom I don't believe have first-round talent. If Colin Kaepernick is available in the 5th, I'd take him and find that average-to-below ILB that you're going to draft 5th through FA or a trade instead.

There is no reason not to take a QB in this draft. In fact, the Bills really should take a quarterback in this draft. They just shouldn't do it in rounds 1 or 2, or maybe even 3 (depending on who is available at what positions, including QB, by then).

Neither QB is worthy of #3 overall, and if this team drafts a CB or WR in the first or second round, I will be physically ill. If Nix feels that Quinn is better than Bowers or something like that, I'll trust his judgment.

Frankly, the whole episode with the sheriff reminds me of Jon Stewart's warning to Begala and Carlson.

I didn't see it--I certainly believe you--did he call out anyone else (specifically, from the other side) by name? If not, I'm pretty disappointed in him.