Saint Doug

Funny thing is, if this was any other Bills player not named Merriman, Chan/Nix would have been placed him on season-ending IR by now. It seems to be a trend nowadays - if you have any injury that's going to take over 4 weeks to recover, you are placed on the IR. Maybe the Bills did pick him up just to get the comp pic for him leaving during the offseason. Thing is, at this rate, he's not going to get his big payday. No team would be that stupid (except maybe the Bills, they like to pay for trash).

Huh? I have multiple degrees and over 12 years of education past high school, but I just don't understand this. I guess/hope your being sarcastic. Well, if anything this interview does, it should stop The Senator from stating Luck is staying at Stanford ad nauseum and like it's gospel in every thread.

This is fantastic news. Usually coaching changes mid-season are usually worth about 3-4 wins. They won't be picking first.

Agreed. I don't know what some people are smoking. Fitz single-handedly lost those games for us. No one else was throwing those INTs. Maybe they don't understand the QB position, where games can be lost based on single plays they make. You need to be perfectly mistake-free. Games usually aren't lost on a single missed tackle, but games can be botched on a single play by the QB. He is involved with every single play on the offensive side. Not so with any other player - except center. People have to ask themselves this: all things being equal, to begin building your team, would you draft either Manning/Brady or Ngata/Matthews?

Leave $20-30 million on the table? Bradford got 50 million guaranteed money last year. Expect him to get around $55+ gauranteed money. It would be a naive move to pass that up. In effect, one would never have to worry about money ever again. I really don't think anybody on this board can actually understand how this would feel and how it would change our lives.

They may be if they don't have the surname Luck. Otherwise, I don't really see any can't miss or run-to-the-podium players in spot 2-5. As for "throwing in the towel", of course not. The Bills are fielding a very fun to watch team right now. One of the biggest reasons I watch football is for the entertainment value. Is winning more important to the fan than entertainment? If it was, then one could just skip watching the game and just check the score when it is finished. Sure, winning is great, but it's not the be-all, end-all for the fan. Which game would you chose to be in the stadium for; the Bills-Ravens game or a game where the bills beat Dallas 3-0. Assuming Luck declares, having the #1 pick would be very handy. Maybe it's a generation thing. When I was younger, I had no prior exposure to the Bills before Kelly came. It was fun to watch Kelly. With him, you knew every game was winnable. Without him behind center, the Bills were an above-average team, but with him, they were elite. I want this feeling back.

Merriman's impact will be that we will win 3-4 games this year instead of 1-2 and will extinguish our hopes of getting a franchise QB in the draft. As a result, we will roll with 4-7 wins for the next 5-6 years. I've heard of him though. Wonder if Russ had anything to do with this pick-up?

In fact, we should've traded Kelsey for him. Kelsey probably would look like an average player (as opposed to the bottom of the barrel) surrounded by Steeler defenders. Looks good. In fact, the Bills should be raiding the Practice Squads of decent teams. These kids wouldn't be any worse than our current starters. We'll get some great quality young players this way. It would be like a mid-season draft.

I'm with APV; we are not a horrible team. A horrible team would not have taken two division leaders, with a combined 10-4 record, into OT two weeks in a row. For us fans, winning is not everything (although maybe it is for the players and coaches). Fans should be caring more about entertainment value. We buy expensive tickets and spend our Sunday afternoons looking for entertainment. They guys are giving their all and are very fun to watch. I'll sit back and be satisfied for now. After all, it could be worse - just look back to our first 2 games. In fact, if highly entertaining, the Bills could lose all their games. Let's not kid ourselves, we're not ready to do any meaningful winning and we're not in the playoff hunt. Let's sit back and watch the fun and be rewarded with excellent draft position knowing things will be very different next season.

You put it perfectly. This is exactly why we all need to calm down about Fitz. With a defense, Fitz has 3 wins. That is, we would be 3-4. And this is all Fitz will do for us, get us to 7-9 or 8-8, which, by the way, we have been doing for the last 20 years. Fitz is a great back-up, a real find. But lets not crown Fitz a franchise QB.

Breaking news from the mainland: Bell is not on the practice squad any more.

He's actually right, just saying it a humorous way. Anyone who thinks Fitz is the long-term answer for this team is delusional. In this case, winning isn't everything. The Bills have played two very entertaining games in a row and they showed plenty of heart. I applaud them for that. Isn't that the major reason we watch them anyway?

You always got to be wary of the players who put contract negotiations as their number one priority. These are the players who will quit on you as soon as they get their fat contract. Contrast these players to the ones who love the game and just go out an play. They may whine about their contract, but they are at least on the field and at practice while they whine. These are the ones we should be rewarding.

If Luck has any doubt about staying in school for an extra year, he should look at Locker. Point is, he has no where to go but down at this point. He's like money in the bank right now. He should just cash his chips in while he can.

Is it me or is Bell injured an awful lot?

Or, he might just end up being a Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Jay Fiedler, or Yancy Thigpen.

Roger Goodell: "With the Number 1 pick of 2011's NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills select - wait, there has been a trade. The Buffalo Bills have traded away their Number 1 pick for a "Culture of Winning" plus a revision of their 1-15 season to 8-8. The Carolina Panthers are now on the clock." How great would that be?

3 teams in 5 years. What exactly do you think a journeyman is? Someone old? Doesn't have to be. That said, hats off for Fitz for giving us some great entertainment, but he's not a long-term answer. He's the epitome of all the bills 7-9 and 8-8 seasons. Myself, I think we need to try something new.

Everyone hates losing, but to be fair, you do have some valid points. This franchise has been spinning its wheels with no results for nearly 20 years. People like to think about the Superbowl years like they were yesterday, but they were not. They were ages ago. We have been a sub-mediocre team since then. We have had many 7-9 seasons and many draft positions in the teens. Is this really what people want again? We need an elite quarterback. Fitz is a very good QB at best. He is not elite and he is not Jimbo. He is not going to be the guy who is going to get us to th playoffs for the next 10 years. He is good enough to win us 7-9 games though. He is not a franchise QB like Manning or Brady. I repeat, is this what people really want? We may have a very rare opportunity come this off-season, a #1 pick. We need to use this on a Manning or a Brady. We should not be abandoning the idea of drafting a QB because we have found a journeyman QB that has played decently the last 4 games. And remember, elite/great QBs always find ways to win. Sure, Fitz can suit up for the defense, but he can certainly help our defense by keeping them off the field.

I agree with you. Some people are acting like he is the second coming of Christ. Don't get me wrong, he has been playing excellently. But, very well for just 4 games. The rest of his career suggests otherwise. He is an above average QB at best, not an excellent QB nor an elite one. He lit it up against a team that was most likely already looking past us to next week and we were coming off a bye. In addition, Gailey is known for polishing turds. Now, he very well be our answer. But let's wait until the end of the year. We have another half season left and let's see who declares. For us to pass on an elite QB for another one of Gailey's one-hit-wonders (when we'll have the best draft position in years) would be devastating to this franchise.

This is insanity. No way the Eagles ship out their QB of the future. This is just ridiculous. Vick or no vick, he's going nowhere. And we all know Vick is very hot and cold.

The raiders have announced all their players are available. Any warm bodies from their o-line the Bills would be interested in? http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5695925

Speaking of Pyrite Gal, what ever happened to him/her?

I feel the lack of a CBA is the only thing that would keep Luck out of the draft. He's going #1; he knows it, you know it, 'nuff said. For what other reason would he stay in school? And extra year of football is not going to improve his draft status. If he wants to "stay in school" and complete his Communications degree, fine, but he can do that later. If he wants $50+ million in guaranteed money, then he should declare. If he wants to run the risk of a suffering a career-ending injury before signing said $50+ million-in-guanteed-money contract, then stay in school.

He's not bad. He's actually a great back-up QB. But, with this defense, it doesn't matter. Can't win games with opposition scoring over 30 points each game. However, even with a decent defense, I don't see him getting us to the playoffs, especially within our division.