JohnC

I understand your position but disagree with it. The Bills need to identify the top tier qbs in this class and be aggressive in putting themselves in a position to get that particular prospect. Why wait for the prospect to drop into your lap when because of the demand other teams can take that same prospect before you or trade up ahead of you and take your preferred prospect. No one is arguing that you should recklessly and wastefully give away picks to get your preferred prospect but being passive this year and hoping your prospect falls to you is playing this draft board too passively. This is the year to get a high end prospect in the pipeline. Why not judiciously use a portion of your draft assets in this draft to get a franchise qb that you have lacked for almost a quarter of a century? If not now, then when?

I wouldn't be surprised in this case if the Redskins told Cousins that if you don't want to be here then go to the market and get back to us so we can work out a compensation deal.

Quote of the day: Talent gets paid, as it should. Or another way of saying it is the relationship of performance to cost. If you keep that in balance then you are doing the right thing. You are astute, perspicacious and adroit.

The problem with signing Cousins is that his contract will limit your options when trying to sign some free agents. From a cap standpoint it would be better to deal picks to get a high end prospect because if that prospect develops into a franchise qb you will have a number of years on his rookie deal where you will have more cap and player flexibility. Russell Wilson on his original deal is the ideal situation for us. I'm a Lamar Jackson fan. I don't consider him to be the best qb prospect in this draft but if the team keeps its picks and decides to draft him or Rudolph with one one their first round picks then that would be a reasonable option to take. There is no one route to take that is the best approach. More often than not what you want to do and what you can do don't always fall into place. My one uncompromising demand is that one way or another this franchise needs to come away with a good qb prospect in this draft.

I have never stated that because Taylor can run it is a disqualifier. Of course it would be foolish to make that claim. And of course having a qb who can run and throw well would be ideal. No one can dispute that Taylor is a good runner. But what is evident for the past number of years is that he is not a good passer, and will never be. He has started for three full years with little progression to his game. He is what he is, and will always be. You and are in accord that Taylor is not a franchise qb, and will never be. On the other hand you may consider him an NFL starter but I don't. In my view Taylor could be a good backup and a change of pace qb. But I don't consider him to be a starting caliber qb, at least for a team that has some aspirations. In my opinion the best thing that could happen to Taylor is to go to another team and get a fresh start. Also, it is my opinion that the best thing for this franchise is to move on from him and get a fresh start at that position. Taylor is a high character guy who deserves to be in a better situation. It is not with Buffalo.

My comment about the running qb was referring to Taylor. On this topic in my multiple posts I was referring to Taylor and whether he should be retained.

What is the point of your post? I'm confused because if you are in some way making a comparison between Young's game and Taylor's game then your reasoning is far fetched. Young was a gifted athletic qb. There is no doubt about that He also possessed laser accuracy, made anticipatory throws and could read defenses. He is one of the best qbs in the history of the game. Mentioning Taylor in the same sentence with Young is very odd.

I say this with respect: Your post is utter nonsense. Taylor is inaccurate, can't throw with anticipation and can't read defenses. He has started for the Bills for three years with no evidence of progressing as a qb. He is what he is. Enough is enough.

Sieman is at best a backup qb. I would still prefer him as a temporary starter over Taylor. I want the running qb out! If you can't run a pro offense you shouldn't be taking starter snaps. The era of a Pop Warner passing offense needs to immediately end.

You and I differ. I want him gone. Money spent on a qb who can't run a pro offense is wasted money. I don't see Bradford getting a $20 M contract. As far as the Taylor dead money I rather eat it and move on. If you can't run a pro offense you shouldn't be a starter. I agree with you that Siemian is a serviceable backup. I would rather have him be the starter (short term) over Taylor. I can't tolerate watching such a primitive passing offense in a passing league. It's hideous to watch.

I want Taylor gone! I don't care how little or much he is paid. I don't want a qb who is an erratic passer and can't make reads taking the snaps. I'm sick and tired of watching a team play a pop warner offense because of the limitations of the qb. The Jacksonville game was a capstone game as to who he is as a qb. I have had enough watching that garbage. As far as Cousins you have never heard me advocate for him at the cost that he is demanding. There are top tier prospects in this draft and there are second tier more developmental prospects in this draft. Jackson falls in the second category. I would be more than happy taking him or Rudolph with one of our first round picks. Again, there are bridge qb options on the market that can be had. There is no need to stick with a qb who is incapable of running a pro offense. That is my bottom line!

Have you finally come to the conclusion that it is time to move on from the Taylor era? I thought you would pull a Davey Crockett act and fight to the last knife thrust at the Alamo defending your running qb.

With respect to Washington the Cousin debate is now a moot debate. He is essentially gone. Cousins maneuvered himself into a situation where the Redskins wouldn't/shouldn't have signed him at. That's the scenario that Cousins wanted, not the scenario that Washington wanted to be in. The next issue is where is he going to go? If he is simply looking for the money Cleveland is where he will go. My guess is he will go to Denver.

Cousins was not going to sign with Washington. They couldn't even get him and his agent to put down some figures so they could see if a deal could be reached. They were not going to commit to the Skins until they hit the market and pursued their options. I would even go so far as to say that Cousins would sign for less on the market rather than sign with Washington.

Thanks for the specifics on the franchise tag cost. Cousins wants out and he has the leverage. Washington is taking the best option they have. By getting Smith they are buying time to get another qb. What the Skins have done makes sense to me.

Cousins was not going to sign with them. So in order to retain him they would have had to franchise him on a one year exorbitant franchise tag price. Then the next year they would be in the same situation.

When you are boxed in you acknowledge the situation and make the best of the weak situation you are in. Cousins was not going to sign with them. And the team didn't believe he was worth the extravagant contract this year. To make the situation worse if they did franchise him and he played on another one year deal the team would be in the same situation the following year. What the signing of Smith does is buy time to get another qb.

The commitment from the football office is not a commitment to the player, and never has been. The player is a replaceable piece subordinate to the program. In the recruiting process there is a lot of serenading of the touted potential recruits. However, it is not unusual for a big time program such as Ohio State and Bama where that once touted recruit is behind the next four top tier players recruited for the same position. As in the pro game coaches , including coordinators on both sides of the ball, are constantly being changed. A qb suited for one system may become obsolete when the new OC changes the system more suitable for another qb. That player who is now an odd fit is not going to play through no fault of his own. If you were an English Literature major at one school but wanted to transfer to another school for personal reasons the student wouldn't be penalized. It is a personal choice. The concept of loyalty is a very fluid concept. Employers are not always loyal to workers and workers usually aren't permanently loyal to the company they started off with. Times change. The reality of the market today that also applies to the sports arena is dramatically different from the old days. Let's look at the player movement of players in the NFL. It is a fast forward cycle of constant change. Players decide to move on and teams decide to jettison players with no sentiment factored into the equation. The landscape is simply different. Movement is a fact of life in the school system as it is in the market place. The issue isn't so much whether it is better or not as it is simply an inescapable part of the reality of the changed landscape.

There is another twist to your view. If a player is anchored to the bench in a high powered program with a load of more talent coming in with the next recruiting class then that player would have an incentive to transfer to a mid-major program and get immediate playing time. Will the top talent at the mid-major have an incentive to bolt to a higher program? Not necessarily, because those programs are so loaded that the big fish in the small pond can turn out to be big fish lost in the surplus of the bigger pond. Why is it fair for a coach to recruit a player and then bolt without the player having an option to leave? In that circumstance of a coaching departure that player could be lost in the shuffle of the new staff that wants to run a system on offense/defense in which he isn't suited for.

I'll without hesitation take Bradford over Smith. The main reason is that I am not willing to give up draft assets (up to fourth round pick) for him. He is a player who probably won't start for KC next year. He certainly wouldn't want to be a backup for a young qb because that would spell the end of him as a starter in KC. I have no doubt considering the circumstances he is in he is going to "encourage" the Chiefs to deal him off. Bradford certainly would be a higher risk player because of his injury history. But because of that he should be easier to attain without giving up much, if anything. Smith last year started the season as a very productive qb. But in the last half of the season he became the same reluctant downfield passer who ended up reflexively throwing underneath. As with Taylor you are who you are. For me that is not good enough.

The option is to either move up or take a more developmental qb prospect with one of your first round picks. If the Bills use some of their draft assets to move up to get a higher end prospect then the way to balance out the pick losses in the short term is to be more involved in the second-tier free agent market. For the short term acquiring players in the free agent market is more likely to pay more immediate dividends than playing rookies. Without a doubt you don't want to regularly take this more expedient route but if this approach is taken to get a good prospect then it would be well worth it.

As I stated in my original post comparing the two players is an absurdity. I will go so far as saying that I would not say someone is unreasonable if their belief was that Brees was better than Brady, although I would disagree with that position. Both are in the same strata. Both Brady and Brees are stunningly accurate. But that isn't what separates them from the rest of the world of qbs in a historical sense. Their vision and fast speed ability to go through their progressions is unworldly. It's like being able to instantly make multiple calculations in your head without using a calculator. That's a tribute to their work ethic and preparation. We know Mayfield is an exceptionally accurate passer. But the bigger issue for him in the pros (as is with all prospects) will be his ability to process the play. You never know until they hit the field. Although I'm comfortable he will be able to do it adequately you never know for sure until they demonstrate it on the field.

Comparing Mayfield to Brees from a production standpoint is an absurdity. The prospect is about to start his career while the veteran qb is closer to the end of his career. But what isn't unreasonable is comparing Mayfield's physical profile to Brees's profile. The follow up question relating to the Mayfield/Brees comparison is whether the prospect has the same traits that Brees has that has allowed him to be successful. From what I have seen I would say yes. Mayfield moves well enough, has good pocket presence, has exceptional accuracy, quick release, throws with touch and Is able to make reads. Mayfield, like Brees doesn't have protypical size. But Mayfield in the college ranks, like Brees in the pro ranks, has demonstrated that a height limitation doesn't necessarily have to unduly affect how the position is played. Production is production. The question shouldn't be how you do it but rather if you can do it. In my view Mayfield is a top tier qb prospect. And from a Buffalo standpoint that is the issue.

I rarely criticize a player who decides to come out early because it is an individual's decision. From what I saw two years ago in his Heisman year to what I have seen this year he made a quantum leap from being a dynamic athletic qb to being a more well rounded qb with the associated pocket presence and a more refined passing talent. What is noticeable this year is that even when he is moving around the pocket or rolling out his eyes are focused downfield. (That was very evident in the clip.) In the ideal developmental situation he could have used another year of Petrino's coaching. The coach is a first class slime ball and scoundrel but he knows how to coach an offense and qb. Without a doubt there are more polished prospects in this draft class but there is no qb, or player for that matter, who is as dynamic as he is. I would love to have him.

In this year's draft the Bills have a variety of options to take with respect to the qb position. I would be more than happy with us staying put and taking DT Harrison Phillips from Stanford and Lamar Jackson with our two first round picks. There is simply no excuse for us not to come away with a good qb prospect in this draft.