Dibs

I quite agree. According to this..... http://www.overthecap.com/top-player-salaries.php?Position=RT .....Pears is currently the 13th highest paid RT in the league. I think it very likely that he will be cut if he can't maintain his starting position. ($3.45m cap hit with $2.9m saving if cut). I really don't understand why you would add this part though. Irrelevant to what one thinks the Bills' method of operation has been(or is now)......it seems that Pears' getting cut if not the starter would make basic sense for any team with any method of operation.

He was talking about "Pettine's" coaches.......to which Marrone only fired one.

I'm pretty sure he meant Kiko added to Woods panning out could make the 2013 the best 2nd round ever for the Bills.

I find it interesting that the article deals with the two main areas which could help convince Bills fans that they are serious about winning. Signing Byrd & dumping Toronto would likely be worth the money simply on a PR level IMO.

You are right. Pettine could have been upset/annoyed/angry/disappointed/irate/frustrated(any or all of these) with the sacking of Driesbach. I think however that it is a large stretch to think that it would have in any way effected Pettine's decision on taking the Brown's HC position.....or effected his professional relationship with Marrone. I assume that Pettine is very professional in his attitudes relating to the management issues of the game.....if for no reasons other than his experience in the league, and my respect for his achievements.

I was thinking about this also(Goodwins non-bomb production when called upon). Apart from injury, I see no reason why he couldn't develop into a very good WR. Is it likely that he puts on a few more pounds of muscle over the next couple of seasons? He already is heavier than Roscoe.....a few more lbs will see him similar to Welker. (all listed at 5'9")

I wasn't meaning to add/detract from the potential Marrone/Pettine acrimonious thing. My comment was really in relation to WEO's comment of "...thought he was good enough to rehire--immediately". (Implying that Marrone sacked a good coach & that he shouldn't have done so). There is good reason to suspect that Pettine's personal relationship with Driesbach has clouded his judgement on assessing his abilities. Even if there was friction created between Pettine & Marrone over this......there is no logical reason to think that Marrone has done anything wrong/bad/unusual/rash by sacking him.

I think the fact that Driesbach was the man who gave Pettine his first collegiate job might be factored into this somewhat.

Step 2: Get a top QB

I'm not surprised that he didn't mention Byrd. As of this point, Byrd is not on the Bills' roster. As some of the decision for Byrd remaining with the Bills will be determined by Byrd himself, I would think that Schwartz has to assume that he will not be on the team. To mention him would have diverted the focus onto the whole re-sign/tag/let go issue.

I'm not saying you are wrong(regards to Eagles)......and it certainly seems to have been a very smart way to manage the cap. I think however that perhaps with the new rollover rules, it has now become unnecessary. With the Eagles having nearly 18m in cap space at this point, it will be interesting to follow what they do over the next couple of months(before the new NFL year starts) to see if they continue to follow the model that you have laid out.

Well.....at least they exempt parents. Still crazy though. One would think that there should be a small maximum spend allowed to cover friends(& extended family) giving Birthday/Christmas presents or paying for lunch(or a drink) when appropriately normal. It's laughable really. Good friend(& new millionaire) EJ calls in on his friend Winston to catch up.....they go out to lunch.....but only McChucks because that's all Winston can afford. I guess common sense is difficult to legislate sometimes.

Yep.... 2nd paragraph: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/66533588/

....and the reverse as well. Garbage time can turn a solid thrashing into an 8pt or less victory.

This is crazy. As I read it, any parent of a student-athlete who buys their child a gift for Christmas(or tries to help them generally with a car or some extra cash etc) would be placing their child in violation. Most likely there are some more detailed rules not listed in that link that would allow for these minor things.

I'm glad you wrote that as I was going a bit loopy trying to figure how your OP(modified) solicited all of the discussions about Chandler. As it stands.....great OP.

Your list not including 2009+ players(where I believe we started to draft better)....9 drafts(& UDFAs)....13 players(I deleted Justin Bannan from the list as he took 6 seasons to become an NFL starter). 13 players in 9 years is really not good.....especially considering that several of those players who become decent players only last 8-10 years in the NFL. We kept 8 of those 13.....and of the 5 that left, only Poz might be considered due to the Bills and not the player. (Lynch a mess, Clements enormously over-paid, Peters would not stay, Whitner rejected Bills offer & ended up playing for less elsewhere). Marshawn Lynch: Was a train wreck in Buffalo. Couldn't be kept. Nate Clements: Obviously greatly overrated in FA. Bills wisely knew he was not worth a record breaking contract. Jason Peters: Did not want to stay......Bills got Wood as compensation. Fred Jackson: Re-signed & productive Lee Evans: Re-signed & over-paid Stevie Johnson: Re-signed & arguably over-paid Paul Pozluzny: Better player desired(than he showed with the Bills) Leodis McKelvin: Re-signed & productive Terrence McGee: Career Bill(10 years).....not a star player Donte Whitner: Better player desired(than he showed with the Bills) ....plus he didn't want to stay. Aaron Schobel: Career Bill(9 years)....not a star player Kyle Williams: Re-signed & productive Chris Kelsay: Career Bill(10 years)....not a star player From those 9 years, we had very few decent sized contracts come through our systems, let alone big contracts. The last 5 years(2009-2013) we get another 13 players(though I personally don't think Bradham should be counted, but Robey should be added instead.)......a much better yield of productive player. Andy Levitre, CJ Spiller, Eric Wood, Robert Woods, Kiko Alonso, Stephon Gilmore, Jairus Byrd, Cordy Glenn, Marcell Dareus, Alex Carrington, Aaron Williams, Nigel Bradham Nickell Robey, EJ Manuel All teams have good-solid players walk. It is simply the nature of the FA era NFL. We obtained Mario.....we can't keep Clements. That's just how it goes. Finding only 13 players in 9 years though is not enough IMO to be competetive. Mind you, having a top QB would pretty much solve everything. Not only would we be a playoff team(IMO)......but the extra $15m in QB salary would bring us right near the top in cap spending(ceasing any real discussions about the Bills being cheap).

No apologies needed there, all's good . For me, I am pleased with the actual signing......but more pleased with the style of this signing. We just lost our first coordinator in over 20 years to a HC job & we instantly go and get somebody who is highly respected with a wealth of experience. Is it just me, or does the Bills FO seem to be a lot more focused these last 2 years?

Oh no.....I'm really liking this hire. The numbers I posted were to show the poster "Doro" that he can and does stop the run. Seeing the rankings in chronological order shows him taking a crappy Lions run D, and gradually improving it to 6th.......as well as showing how he re-established his run D after it dropped off while DC at the Titans. This to me is very important. He has taken two low ranked run Ds and improved them to 5th/6th. This has me very encouraged.

Schwartz? As HC at Lions (2009-2013) 25th, 24th, 23rd, 16th, 6th As DC at Titans (2001-2008) 5th, 2nd, 1st, 18th, 22nd, 30th, 5th, 6th

I don't agree with this......but I think if you somewhat reverse the statement it would hold a strong element of truth. That being.....if you are unwilling to spend more then you have less chance to win(which I think is your point). I don't believe that the Bills are working with a smaller budget than the cap dictates.......though I don't think that this isn't the case either. It could well be the case......but there are other factors which may give reason to the concept of us not spending to high levels. After coming out of the cap hell incurred in the late 90's(?), the Bills have drafted exceedingly poorly. Very few players, once finishing their rookie contracts developed to even a solid level of play. This greatly reduces ones cap spending as we were continually replacing rookie contracts with other rookie contracts. When we did spend big in FA, the players were bad choices.....leaving us with either mediocre performances on the field or large dead cap hits. We are finally in the position where we have a number of young players that we will be wanting to sign past their rookie contracts. With the recent success we have had with our recent FA signings, those extended rookie contracts will easily boost us up to near cap levels. Like I said, it is possible that the Bills have deliberately set themselves a budget lower than the cap in regards to spending.....but there were plenty of other factors to give doubts. The next few seasons will be quite telling IMO on whether there is some truth to the concept.....and for me, it will start with Byrd.

I'll take some fault here too....I could have tried to guess how you could be so far off the mark.....and as I haven't got you blocked(and I've read many of your previous posts), I should have looked for legit reasons for your comment before assuming a negative one.(I think I would have twigged to it if you had mentioned ESPN initially though). ESPN are the only ones who use that rating.....and they call it "Total QBR". http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr ....and you are likely correct as Geno's Total QBRs for weeks 14, 16 & 17 were very good.....though it's impossible to combine them as ESPN's Total QBR is not purely based upon hard statistics. Sorry for the comment(though it did clear up the situation). I think we can safely place most of the blame upon ESPN who have invented their own rating system......have named it something similar to the industry standard QuarterBack Rating system.....while still listing the standard QBR on their main passers page..........and then talk about their in house QBR as if it is the standard QBR. All very confusing IMO.

Is that the last 3 games(82.3QBR).....or the last 4 games(83.6QBR)? I call BS on this......and shame on you for making this up and posting it as a fact. Btw......EJ finished with a 105.0QBR game. (Even EJ's QBR over the last 3 games was better than Geno....let alone P.Manning's)

I haven't studied it fully.....but I don't tend to think so. Looking at cap space for teams in 2013..... (Cap space is a better indicator of spending IMO as it shows a greater spend over the last couple of seasons rather than just the 2013 season) Least cap space is the Rams, Giants then Saints. Broncos, Seahawks, Patriots & 49ers are 11th, 15th, 13th & 16th respectively with cap space. There looks to be a little bit of correlation at the bottom end with the Browns, Jags, Bills, Dolphins & Eagles all having large cap space......but last season the Seahawks would have been in this group which firms my belief that cap spending is more situational(more dependent on the players at hand as well as the perceived view to be able to improve to the next level). http://www.overtheca...e.php?Year=2013 It seems to me that when things come together in a team(totally unrelated to cap spending, usually meaning they find a good QB)......they start winning. I say totally unrelated to cap spending as it seems clear that simply spending money does not relate to winning. Spending an extra $12m/year on a player will typically raise a teams cap spending(close to their limit).....but usually doesn't translate to any extra wins. That one additional player(who raises the cap number) might get injured(Percy Harvin), under perform in the new team(Mike Wallace), or simply not provide enough bang for ones buck. It seems to me that when things do start to fall into place in any given team(where they feel they have a shot at the SB), they will then start to spend into future cap years(mortgaging the future) to achieve a SB win(ala Saints). Even this though is dependent on the legitimacy of said teams belief that their "window" is open(see Cowboys as mistake made in this regard). With so many teams spending close to their cap limits in 2013......and most of those teams being quite uncompetitive.....it is fairly clear that spending the money available does not directly correlate to wins.