Lurker

Buddy's logic was to add a franchise QB after a few years of improving the roster...NOT to draft one too early and throw him to the wolves with a team full of holes. IMO, the plan was working until the wheels fell of last year. The supporting talent was being upgraded, a few high profile FAs were signed to bolster the defense and they were, on paper, ready to make a push for a playoff spot. Way too many "experts" bitching and moaning today have selective memory about the buzz around the Bills in training camp last year. Then Wanny fell on his face, the WR corp fell apart and Chan had a mental freeze up in the second half of the year. Buddy's plan went 'poof' like the foam on a can of beer. Now, it's back to the drawing board. My biggest fear is that Nix will placate the 'torch and pitchfork' crowd and draft a QB high from a mediocre crop of prospects and we'll just end up throwing the kid to the wolves anyway...

True. But that's only because of all the local coach potatoes with nothing better to do than sit in front of the boob tube. In the 'real world' of endorsements and cross-promotional marketing opportunities and TSN talking heads chatter, it's still Hooterville. With no connection to Buffalo, Roy is just like the high profile NFL free agents that want to play in major media markets and/or legendary cities and don't give a thought to the Bills. Sure, these guys can occasionally be bought off (like Mario Williams), but I'd like a guy who might have some history/commitment to Buffalo (i.e., Dudley, Carriere) who doesn't have to be knocked out by dollar signs to come here...

Ralph (and his heirs) would never sell to a fast money $hitthead like that... http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/03/jeffrey_gundlach_loves_bonds_p.html

IMO, Byrd's contract situation is the only one that matters out of this group. The other FAs are dime-a-dozen players who won't be a priority until after the draft, if then. Moore flashed a bit last year, but not enough to get excited about...

Yeah, I got it. IMO, you could send an 18-year old Wayne Gretzky back to the Ramparts and it still wouldn't make Roy any more predisposed to follow him back to Buffalo in a year. Roy has a lot more NHL marquee value ("juice") than an 18-year old prospect who might light up the Q, but is still unproven at the NHL level. My take is that whatever success Roy as an owner/GM at the junior level will have little impact on his willingness to step onto the small stage in Buffalo, despite the $$$$ that Terry Warbucks might dangle in front of him. Anyway, I'd still prefer Dudley, who's a lot more seasoned as an NHL exec...

Sure, the Sabres are going nowhere and any kind of playoff experience is good experience. You don't have to be a 'GR wizard to put that 2+2 together. I can't see Roy going to a low end media market like Buffalo. More likely, he'll bide his time and wait for a major market opening, hoping all the while for an existing team to relocate to Quebec City. Now, enticing Rick Dudley to leave the Habs assistant GM position for Buffalo...THAT I could really see happening (he still lives in Lewiston, so the commute would be pretty short). http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/montreal-canadiens-rick-dudley-assistant-general-manager/

Is that all? I think that description would apply to only 6-7 established NFL QBs, let alone this mixed bag of rookie prospects. People better lower their expectations a bit, IMO. Just because this is the year the Bills go QB, I don't see anyone in the draft that will have all of the qualities you mentioned right off the bat...

No mystery at all on why Grigs got sent down. He'll play 25+ minutes a night in the Q--including PP and PK time--rather than 7-8 minutes on the Sabres 3rd or 4th line. You don't get better riding the pine...

http://www.financialsamurai.com/2011/04/12/how-much-money-do-the-top-income-earners-make-percent/ The top 10% earn 46% of the income and pay 70% of income taxes. As a card carrying member of the top 10, I have no problem with this type of progressive tax system...

http://movie-sounds.org/old-movie-samples/goodfellas/they-sobered-him-up

Since the 'ignore users' feature is limited to 16 pages, how about adding an 'ignore everyone' setting, with the ability to 'opt in' selected posters....

+1 A big loss...

This means absolutely nothing unless you compare, on an apples-to-apples basis, the passing plays for each team. If Kolb's offense favored more intermediate-to-deep passing routes, he was at greater risk of taking a sack than Fitz, the dump off king...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-chicago-bears-lance-louis-making-visit-20130313,0,6822253.story "Louis will surely be seeking starting money and he is expected to be healthy at some point this summer. An ACL injury isn’t a serious concern for an offensive lineman."

Come on, Eball...no one on TSW is absolutely ridiculous or naive

The operative phrase here. Andy was an excellent player, but when your're doing triage like the Bills are this year, you can't devote that much of the budget to a position that can be filled at one-third to a half the price with a player likely 90% as effective. Put that $7.8 million into the WR or LB budget and help the team in a bigger way...

As far as I can tell, the only 'talk' on that front pertains to culture and accountability from this coaching staff. I can't recall anyone at OBD saying they were going to put a better product on the field this year. It's highly likely they realize this is going to be a 'red shirt' year for Marone and his staff, who'll start building a culture, just like his first season at SU.

Hence the title. The $hitt going down today is 2015's old ESPN blog post. It's interesting that in 2010 Buddy was seen as a good front office move when today he's being slagged as the second coming of TD... Just like Miami was the big winner on day one of free agency in 2010: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=4969924

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/21630/rest-of-afc-east-leaving-bills-behind Wonder what Tim thinks now with the 20/20 hindsight we all have... (Mods...go ahead and delete this...there are enough LAMPs on right now to cause a brownout)

Indeed: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4969924 "One of big prizes on this year's market, Dansby reached an agreement with Miami on a five-year deal after visiting the Dolphins in the opening hours of NFL free agency. Dansby's contract is worth $43 million, and a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that includes $22 million in guaranteed money, which makes him one of the highest paid inside linebackers in the game."

Scott turns off the servers...

Wow! What an original new thread...

WTF does that mean? Mario was the #1A free agent last year. Wallace and Ellerbe aren't in that territory. . Walker's a really, really weak link on the ESPN football squad...

Agreed. But the math says $7.8 million per year right now, and the number of OGs making that kind of coin can be counted on (less than) one hand. It will be interesting to see how much is guaranteed, which will be the real important number. I'll look around for a better link to average salary figures by position...

Not really. You can structure contracts in all kinds of ways, but it's likely his 2013 salary will be heavily front loaded. If so, he'll be near the top of this list next year and well above his peers overall.