JohnC

I'm not against trading down for a qb such as Mahomes or Watkins. But the risk is that a surprise team such as the Steelers who have a veteran qb who is at the end of their career might job the line to get their qb of the future. My preferred approach is if you have a conviction on a qb then act on it without risking losing the player. Over-drafting for a positional player doesn't make sense but over-drafting a round for a qb is a reasonable approach to take. Too many people act as if a first round pick is used on a qb is too much of a risk to take. I disagree. It is one pick. Your draft won't being sabotaged because of it. Last year the Bills used their first two picks on players, one of which didn't play until the second half of the season and then intermittently, and the other was out for the whole year. My point being very often you don't get immediate returns on high picks. If the Bills were drafting at the very top of the draft, top 4, I could understand the hesitation at selecting a qb in the first round. That's not the case this year when we are drafting at the 10 spot. For me now is the time to do it.

The value for erratic playing defenseman who are more adept passing to the opposition than to his own teammates isn't too high. Not a chance that a team would be foolish enough to give up a first for this guy.

Debating whether a qb is elite or not is often pointless. Most fair assessments of him would not categorize him as an elite or exceptional qb. So what! He is a qb who when playing with the right supporting cast can make your team a serious contending team, up to the SB level. The Bills under Country Buddy could have drafted him with a third or fourth round pick. With a little development time he could have been our long term franchise qb who got us out of the embarrassingly generational playoff desert. I'm not a critic of Cousins. Quite the opposite. He is the type of qb who not only would have elevated our downtrodden team but he would have played at such a competent level that watching the team would have been a more entertaining experience.

You didn't carefully read what I said about Pysyk. Pysyk is not a top four caliber defenseman. But on the current Sabres team he would be on our second pairing. And without a doubt he would be out playing Kulikov because the standard is so low. Pysyk is a third pairing type of defenseman. There is nothing wrong with that. Not all players on a roster are all-stars. On a team where defensive play has been so poor he would have been a useful player for us as opposed to being a major liability like Kulikov. If Kulikov can't be dealt for peanuts then the team will not only let him walk but will be happy to let him walk. There will be plenty of people in the organization willing to hold the exit door for him. His loss falls in the unique category of arithmetic: addition by subtraction.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to San Fran to join Shanahan. But that's not the core of what is driving him. He and his agent have made a decision that there is not going to be a home town discount and that he wants to get the most money whether it is with Washington or Cleveland or San Fran or Buffalo or Houston or wherever. It doesn't matter to him. If the Skins franchise him, as it appears they will do, he will then go the year to year route to get the most out of his value. Every year he waits every year the market rate goes up. Last year the Skins could have signed him to an Osweiller type contract. The Skins didn't seize the opportunity and wanted him to prove that he was worth the grand contract. Now that he has leverage he is showing the reluctant organization that he is worth more on the market. His negotiating position is set, and he is not deviating from it.

Cousins is betting on himself again. He's willing to take the risk because if the Skins franchise him he will for the second year make high end money if he has to go that route. Cousins is taking a wider perspective from the market standpoint. He's valuing his worth by not what the Skins are willing to give him but what other teams would give him if he was on the open market. This is a straight forward market deal. Last year the Skins told him that he was going to have to demonstrate his worth through his play. That's exactly what he has done. He not only has demonstrated his worth to the Skins but also to the rest of the league where there is shortage of good qbs. In my mind Cousins is not an elite qb so much as a good qb. However, when there is a league-wide shortage of good qbs his value is increased. Again, Economics 101, supply and demand. In a cut throat business devoid of sentiment he is looking out for himself. What it boils down to is that he going about his business in a business like fashion. More power to him.

For the Sabres Pysyk would be a second pairing defenseman. On a better team he is a third pairing caliber of player. I'm not attempting to puff up his talent level to make a critical point regarding the trade for Kulikov. Was Bylsma dissatisfied with Pysyk? Maybe so. But Paul Hamilton on WGR stated that it was Murray who had little regard for Pysyk and his style of play. And the GM was not afraid to discuss his assessment on him to people covering his team. (side note WGR 's Paul Hamilton had a higher regard for Pysyk.) Is the distaste for Pysyk related to style of play, as you suggested? Probably so. But it's still my judgment that Pysyk is a more effective defensman than Kulikov because he plays a steadier and more intelligent game than the Russian's. Word is out within the organization (credible or not) that the Sabres would love lose him to the expansion draft and if that doesn't happen there isn't much interest in retaining him. Pysyk is what he is and Kulikov is what he is. On defense I'll take steady play over erratic play especially on a team with little margin for error.

He's treating the football business as a business. The Skins had the opportunity to get him at a reasonable price. They declined last year. So now he is using the leverage that he has to get the best deal that he can. What's wrong with that?

Of course they would be better. That's obvious. But you can't dismiss the cost and context. Whenever there is a discussion on the value of a player you shouldn't avoid the issue of cost. TT may be our best current qb but if the price was too high from a contract standpoint that would certainly affect your conclusion on whether to keep him or not. Right? The Redskins could have signed Cousins with a Osweiller type of contract last year. They didn't.So now Cousins has made it clear that he is not giving the organization a "hometown" discount. He has the leverage and he is going to use it. What he can get on the open market is what he is going to get with the Skins or elsewhere. Economics 101

If you would add in a good slot receiver and factor in Clay who is a diminished player with TT our offense would take a quantum leap forward. The Bills have a good running game. But with a good passing game not only would the offense be more balanced but our defense would be more effective because they would be on the field less.

The issue is what are the 49ers willing to give up for him? Is he worth the second pick in the draft? Maybe? But the Skins would probably want more. San Fran is in a major rebuild mode. That roster on both sides of the ball has to be dramatically upgraded before the team is able to be a serious team. Cousins is a very good qb. But he is not the type of qb who is going to uplift a team on his own. He is a high-end manager type qb who is at his best utilizing the talent around him. Make no mistake what I am saying here. I would love to have him on the Bills. He would have a greater impact on the Bills compared to the 49ers because we have a more complete roster.

I don't doubt that Kulikov has been bothered by an injury all season long. However, what is obvious is about Kulikov, healthy or not, is that he has poor instincts reacting to plays. That was the criticism of him in Florida, and it is apparent that he hasn't improved in that crucial aspect of the game. You point out it was unfair to compare Pysyk to Kulikov because he was playing against third or fourth line players. What you didn't point out was that Pysyk was a rookie and that he was still going back and forth to Rochester. He was a young, developing player who was a puck carrying and passing defenseman. He was not a particularly physical player but that was not his style of play. He was a good positional player who efficiently either carried or passed the puck out of his zone. Kulikov is in his own end is just as likely to pass the puck to the opposition as he would to his own teammates. Kulikov and Pysyk are two different types of players. Kulikov is horrible at what he does and Pysyk is better at what he does. The GM created a bigger deficit on the blue line when he brought in the Russian and sent out the better player. Murray got fleeced on the deal.

Whaley surely has ambivalent thoughts about TT and his long term prospects. But he, more so than the new HC, has to feel some internal heat, whether explicit or not, to have the team under his stewardship be a more competitive team. Let's face it for the past two years he has made public pronouncements stating his belief that he has assembled a playoff caliber roster. Those optimistic predictions were not fulfilled. His acquisition and upgraded contract for McCoy was a decision that was not rooted in the future; it was an acquisition made with the intention of getting immediate results. The same line of thinking went into trading up to get Watkins at a rather expensive cost. As with anyone in his position there are long term strategies and short term strategies. If the the front office handles this situation right with keeping TT for the purposes of being competitive now and getting a long term franchise qb sooner rather than later then he has deftly handled the short term and the long term needs. I have been a staunch Whaley supporter. Based on his record my esteem for him has (to put it diplomatically) been eroded. My reservoir of goodwill for him is not empty but it is getting lower.

The issue isn't should he stay. Most agree that he should stay except for the absolutists. The issue is should the organization use a high draft pick on a qb prospect. My position is yes.

With respect to your first point you are correct that the GM over-rated these players. Neither are top two pairing caliber defensemen not because of their physical talents but because they are not adept at making quick reads and responding properly to the play as it is developing. Kulikov's instincts as the play is unfolding is awful. Bogo is one of those players if he is competing in a skills competition and is being judged for his physical attributes he would be a stud player. On the ice he, like Kulikov, is not very smart about reading the play and reacting. A disqualifying attribute to have for a defenseman. With respect to your point two statement it's apparent that he wants two way players. Who wouldn't? Kulikov as a Pantherwas considered to be an inconsistent player who regularly made killer mistakes at crucial points in the game. He is like a a qb who can't make reads. You either have that ability or not. If you don't you can't be trusted on the ice. So what's the point of sending him over the boards? The bottom line is that Pysyk was a good player for us. He wasn't Murray's type of player. So he sent a positive player out the door and he opened the door for a negative player. That doesn't add up.

I used to watch him when I was young. He had this fatherly and judicial persona and didn't try force it for stage purposes. In the current court shows the judges are driving the act and the personality is the show. I'm a Judge Judy. However I realize the show revolves more around her New York City brash personality than it does around the law. The opposite of Judge Wapner who was the originator of those types of shows.

I have not watched Pysyk as a Panther. However, I have extensively watched Pysyk play as a Sabre. He was a good puck moving defenseman and an efficient and smart player. He quickly and cleanly got the puck out of his zone. His style of play was the opposite of Kulikov who when you watch him your nerves get jangled because you are expecting him to turn the puck. Pysyk is a quiet and efficient player. Kulikov is noticeable for his glaring mistakes that come at a rapid rate. Murray preferred the more physical and banging player over the smoother and efficient style of play. He lost in the deal. Many deals turn out to be win/win deals for the trading partners. Not in this case. With respect to the Kane issue what it comes down to is what are the GM's long term plans for him. That's what is going to govern how he acts in this case, most likely after the season and prior to the draft. I just hope Murray doesn't out-think the situation and end up outsmarting himself again.

Whether they do or not there is no value coming back in return. When a GM makes a lot of deals not all deals are going to work out. That's the real world. But when you make a mistake in an area of weakness you create a bigger hole that can't be overcome. The Kulikov for Pysyk deal certainly hurts. You give up a steady defenseman in Pysyk for an erratic defenseman who consistently gives up the puck and poorly reacts to the action. The Sabres got Bogo back in the Myers deal. Kane is a terrific get. But Bogo is a major disappointment. All teams have weaknesses. But when your weakness on defense is so glaring it's liabilities reverberate throughout the rest of the roster. I've started to be more open minded on trading Kane for defensive help. If the GM can get a top two pairing defenseman who is young I will be open to such a deal. If Kane is not in their long term plans then this asset at its highest value should be parlayed to get some help on the blue line. When you compare Toronto to Buffalo in their respective rebuilds you see the more northern team be smarter and focused on that challenging endeavor.

I went to bed thinking that Buffalo with the score 2-0 had this game easily in hand. Woke to find out that it lost. Being a Buffalo pro sports fan is a sorry plight. Systemic and generational failure. It's sad, tiresome and boring. It's ridiculous. What makes the situation so intolerable is that you see teams in their respective sports that were once bad eventually become good. In Buffalo the teams sometimes make some hopeful gestures indicating they are on the rise only to face the reality that mediocrity is their highest level of attainment. In systems that promote parity you continue to suuuck. It's so stupid.

Beerball is actually 36 although he looks like he is 94. Hard living does that to you.

The Rex hire set this franchise back by years. Not only were time and personnel wasted to satisfy his schematic needs but his sloppy coaching was going to sabotage what he wanted to do. His players were never going to be able to handle what he wanted his defense to do because he wasn't adept enough to modify it to suit his players. Rex was too self-absorbed to realize that over-thinking a problem is just as bad as under-thinking a problem. The new coach has his own system and is going to teach it. But I'm confident that he will be flexible enough to modify it to better suit the talent on hand. Rex probably feels that he wasn't given enough time to right the ship. The reality is that his tenure was never going to be successful with him at the helm.The owner/s made a damaging mistake in hiring Rex. To his/her credit they acted rather quickly in correcting a mistake and firing Rex sooner rather than later. Can you imagine if the owner would have waited for his contract to expire before jettisoning him? My comment isn't so much about reprising the Rex issue as it is in pointing out how mistakes made when making important decisions have a compounding effect that sets back a franchise struggling to get to the starting line.

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Whether he gets paid or not that doesn't mean that he is immune from being disciplined. If he can't abide by the rules or doesn't act professionally you either sit him or take him off the active roster for a game or so. The Bills have lost with him both on and off the field. So he is far from being an indispensable player. Discipline isn't about coaches yelling and cursing. It is about taking action. You can be a quiet disciplinarian who takes action or you can be a fraudulent and ignored disciplinarian who makes a scene but doesn't do anything.

Without further elaboration (this issue has been debated to exhaustion) I'm with you. Where my view slightly varies with yours is that I don't believe that Watson is the only qb who would be available when our turn comes up that would be the caliber of qb that will allow us to compete with the better teams in the league. I'm not going to argue that a rookie qb should start right away unless he demonstrates otherwise. As it stands the Bills are in a fortuitous situation in that we have a bridge qb in TT who will allow more time for the prospect to be better prepared to take over. If for some reason TT or Cardale turn out to be better than expected then I won't complain a bounty of the riches. The thought of the archaic Bills drafting a DB in the first round makes me nauseous.

I think with this new regime they are going to immediately establish a culture of discipline and accountability. If the prior regime allowed players to behave unprofessionally and not hold them accountable it is as much on the staff as it is with the players. If Dareus behaves as if he doesn't care I'm more confident that this staff compared to the previous staff will take the appropriate disciplinary. When you have players who are not abiding by the rules or acting professionally it is not only an issue that pertains to the unruly player it is as much about sending a message to the rest of the players that certain behavior is not going to be tolerated.