JohnC

I'm not saying that it was a genius move but it was the right move. It must be recalled that Peyton was a free agent and was checking out the market. Elway got the deal done. It must not be forgotten that it was also a risky move because Peyton had injury issues that made that acquisition somewhat risky. In general I think you would agree that Elway has done a good job in managing the operation in Denver. Directing a franchise that won a SB is not something to scoff at. Being a fan of a team that has been out of the playoffs for a generation I salute his accomplishments.

All teams add and discard players year to year. That is the nature of the system. It is often brought up that the Jets added talent so their new coach had an advantage that the old coach didn't have. That isn't the case here because when Rex came to the Bills he took over a team that had a good defense and the GM dedicated the offseason to bolstering the offense. Overall, Rex had a losing record with the Jets culminating in a four win season before being fired. Todd Bowles may have made a lot of gaffs (in hindsight all coaches do) but there is no doubt that he created an environment of accountability and discipline that was lacking under Rex. To put it in simplistic terms: Bowles took over a descending team (4 wins previous year) and turned them into an ascending team (10 wins) while Rex took over an ascending team (improved offense with credible qbing) and had them unquestionably underachieve.

The thing I have observed about Rex is that he lacks discipline on and off the field. There is a charm to his spontaneity when he talks because he says what he feels. But there is a downside to being so unguarded because he lacks the filter that prevents repercussions from comments that weren't thought through. Rex is a very prideful person and takes things personally. He is in a business that invites an inexhaustible supply of criticisms no matter what you do. What I have noticed about him is that when he is challenged/criticized he gets more focused and determined but then that focus seems to wane as time goes by. (Your observation that Rex seems to be inconsistent is a real keen observation and is a hallmark of his coaching career.) If you want to understand who Rex is as a person then you need to know his father, Buddy Ryan. His father was loud, a braggart and fostered the image as a tough guy. When he became a HC in Philly he took it by storm by his bombast. Predictably his bark didn't match his record. You know the saying: Like father like son.

Maybe the Broncos didn't draft their future qb last year because they weren't in position to do so. However, they did draft their qb prospect this year, Paxton Lynch. As it stands his starting qb situation can be described as being very precarious. Sometimes the issue is not having the best option so much as making do with the options available to you. I'm going to give Elway the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making judgments on personnel. He brought in Peyton and overall it worked out, resulting in a SB. Without a doubt Peyton in Denver was a diminished qb but he was a contributor to their success.

What I fear is what I expect from this blustering and blubbering HC. It's not surprising to me that the Jets took a quantum leap forward with the departure of their former loquacious HC and the addition of a more mature and focused HC. One of the most important things that a HC can do is set the tone and create the climate for the team to work in. With Rex there is always the commotion swirling around him that he revels in. His self-centered act is not only childish but it is boring to me.

I was a nonbeliever before he came here and a more confirmed nonbeliever since he has come. The problem with Rex is that his never ending bull **** without the production to back it up is tiresome.

This is a fascinating story as to how other organizations handle their qb and cap situation. What I find even more fascinating is how John Elway has handled the qb situation for his team. It started last year when he told Peyton to take a cut or leave. Then this year he was willing to let Osweiller leave once he went beyond his ceiling value. He was more than willing to let him leave despite that he didn't have a viable option at qb. Their is an irony that relates to a prior scenario to the current Fitz saga in NY/Jersey. Fitz previously decided that he wasn't going to take a pay cut demanded by Nix. (Don't recall what his reduced salary would have been---Kirby I'm confident that you know.} So he leaves and ends up playing the next few years for a lesser amount than he would have had if he would have stayed in Buffalo. In addition, if he would have stayed in western NY without a doubt he would have been a starter with us under Marrone who had little confidence in EJ. The bottom line is that Fitz on his own volition over the past few years has walked away from additional millions of $$$ because he wasn't willing to take a salary more commensurate with his talent level when he was with Buffalo. The scenario may now be repeating itself. For an economic major who was an honor student from Harvard his arithmetic and strategic planning is off a tad.

Sometimes good stats do not necessarily reflect how good a player is or how good a team is. The Jets won ten games last year and were at the door step of being a playoff team. But were they really that good of a team? They lost to Buffalo twice. Is Fitz as good as his stats indicated last year? Or was his overall performance an aberration? I get the sense that the GM wants to rebuild the roster and work towards being a serious team, and not merely be a fringe wildcard contender. You have impressively detailed their suffocating cap situation which indicates that in the next season or two high cost players will be jettisoned for cheaper and younger players. You are using the Jets' record last year and their almost qualifying for the playoffs as your basis and framework for making personnel decisions this year. Maybe that is not the perspective that the GM and the organization are viewing the situation. Also, I think you are giving too much weight to what the fans will tolerate from the organization. The last thing an organization should do is make decisions based on what the fans think. That short term type of thinking is a recipe for long term mediocrity. As a Buffalo fan I'm sure you are acquainted with an organization attempting to give the impression they are doing things to improve the situation when in reality it is a smokescreen to hoodwink the fans. My underlying point in this post is that how you view the Jets from the outside does not necessarily correspond to how the organization views itself from the inside. Just something for you to consider. I hate to see a good fellow befuddled!

Did they check the freezer? http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/woman-finds-dead-body-used-freezer-bought-neighbor/nrYXC/

Where have you heard that the Jets are actively negotiating with Fitz? Where have you heard that they have come off of their tough position? If need be they go with Geno. Is he a better alternative? It doesn't matter. As a long time Bills fan you know that it is not unusual to go with what you got even if what you got is not an appealing option. I'll say to you what I have been saying to Kirby: Don't get caught up how you would analyze the situation and act. Watch what the Jets are doing and how they are reacting and not reacting. That is more illuminating and telling than having outsiders telling them what they should be doing.

What are you talking about? OFF THE WALL has a topic dedicated to kissing your jiggly arse. People are lining up and waiting a long time to kneel and pay homage to the stern sheriff who patrols the location where the unruly gather to be unruly.

I'm not dismissing the possibility that Rob had some legitimate complaints how things went down in NO. But what is to be gained at this point engaging on his Saint experience when he now is employed by another team? Even if someone else brought up the topic the best response should have been that there is no benefit in discussing the past and that he is fully invested in the now and future. I'm not suggesting that this back and forth between him and Payton is much of an issue. But he stirred up some back and forth finger pointing when if he could have just said no comment. That it would have been a more prudent response. Both brothers are more comfortable loosely talking than they are at thinking through what they intend to say.

The Jets certainly aren't showing the desperation that you believe they should exhibit. I agree with you that if Fitz is not on the roster this year they don't currently have a credible option at qb. But that doesn't mean that they can't go out and get another pedestrian veteran who could be the reasonably priced bridge qb. Where I differ from you and most other posters position on this issue is that even acknowledging that Fitz had a good year last year I don't think much of him as a starter. Nix was willing to allow Fritz to leave the scene and it appears to me that the Jets aren't afraid of him leaving the scene. Another example of an organization establishing a value on a qb and refusing to budge from their valuation is Denver. Elway was not afraid to lose Osweiller when their contract ceiling was established creating a void at that critical position. Most posters are insisting that the Jets can't not sign Fitz even if it is more than what they are willing to sign him for. Their actions so far is indicating a different mind set to the conventional reasoning being offered.

When and if that happens how much will that contract be worth? He's not getting any nibbles now. So even if he is eventually brought in by someone at a very late date how much will he be paid?

Here's where I respectfully disagree with your general approach on this issue. I absolutely agree with you that the Jets are a borderline playoff team with Fitz in the short run. Their new GM has made it clear that is not what he is aspiring to. His strategy is to build a roster that can make a serious playoff run, not just be a fringe playoff qualifier. For the GM it would be better to risk taking a short term hit by not signing Fitz rather than signing him to a contract that will in the not too distant future would inhibit their chances from being a serious team with a more consequential qb. My position is that Fitz is a good backup qb who happens to start. It appears that is how the Jets perceive him and are structuring their contract parameters to match how they rate him. The Jets organization watched Fitz in his last game of the season in Buffalo that left them out of the playoffs. Without a doubt after watching that excruciating performance it must have influenced how they were going to approach their contract negotiations with Fitz. They know exactly what they are getting with him and that is how they are valuing him.

Anyone who watched a number of games last year observed plenty of exquisite passes made by Eichel to Moulson that weren't converted. The thought of a line made up of Stamkos-Eichel-Reinhart is exciting. The one troubling issue I have with the signing of Stamkos is its length. It will spillover to when Eichel ad Reinhart are up for new deals. You also have to factor in a gargantuan contract for Risto. If you add up the exoected rich contracts of those three players with the already golden contract of O'Reilly then you have the makings of a tremendous cap squeeze. The player I'm closely watching is Ennis. If he regains his scoring form then that is an unexpected bonus and a bolster to the roster.

Reinhart for the most part is already playing the wing for Eichel. The top two centers for our first two lines are Eichel and O'Reilly. One issue with Stamkos is whether he is willing to play at the wing? That was one of the issues resulting in his disgruntlement with Tampa.

If you look at the Jets' stance based on how they have approached the contract issue what it indicates is that they don't view Fitz too highly. In the short run he is their best option but in the not too distant future they don't want to be tied to him or be encumbered by his salary after the first year. There is no doubt that the Jets are currently in a cap bind this year. They don't want to make the necessary player cuts or salary adjustments to fit in a reasonable contract to lock in a player that they know they don't want to be married to. Many people are trying to frame this Fitz issue in terms of being fair or not fair to a player. From the Jets standpoint fairness has little to do with the Jets calculation. They are trying to build a good roster and buy some time so when they have their preferred franchise qb the team will be in position to seriously compete. The Jets know exactly what they have in Fitz and that is why they are currently so resolute. Buddy Nix knew exactly what he had with Fitz and that is why he took the stance he did that resulted in Fitz leaving. There is a reason why Fitz has played for six different teams. It certainly is not because the teams he played for coveted his services. The argument is constantly made by many that the Jets desperately need Fitz. From my perspective it is more of the reverse whereby Fitz needs the Jets because what other options are on the market? The silence is deafening. I believe a deal will get done. But in my opinion it will be structured in such a way that it will not match Fitz's original expectation.

What makes it even more fun to follow the Sabres is not the immediate record but watching the process of building a team basically from scratch into a cup contender. It's not an easy process and it is not a quick process. But if you do things right and are willing to go through the excruciating process instead of taking the short cuts that only get you to being an irrelevant average team then the end product is not only worthwhile but an exciting product. As you noted the Sabres have the right type of owner (committed), the coach and most importantly the GM. The GM has the right plan and he has the fortitude and action-spirit to get it done.

There are a number of teams that are cap stressed and will not be able to keep all their players. An example is the Rangers. Rick Nash has been a very productive scorer for him. He may be on the downside of his career but he is still a good player. The team to watch on draft day with respect to a trade deal with the Sabres is Edmonton. They have a number of highly drafted forwards. They want to reconfigure their team in order to strengthen their defense. Buffalo would love to have one of their young quality forwards who would fit in age wise with Eichel and Reinhart. Yes, the Sabres would like to add a top two pairing type defenseman but so do all teams. The talk is that if the Sabres stay at their draft position at the 8 spot they will take a defenseman. From what I have read and heard their is a sizable grouping to get one.

Maybe he was desperate to take a pee?

Zero. However, at the draft and later I do see the GM making some deals that will add scoring forwards to the top two lines; There are some good players who are on cap squeezed teams and will have to be moved. I don't believe that the Sabres will sign Stamkos but you never know.

Take it as a compliment that you are quotable!

As I said in a prior post this is a very serious and complicated medical case. Too many people are trying to unfairly insinuate that the organization, and Rex in particular, was through their alleged non-communication acting callously toward the player. Nothing could be further from the truth. The organization from the players, the coaches and front office were very aware that he had a serious medical issue that was plaguing him last year. What bothers me the most about this topic is that people are making ugly assumptions based on unsubstantiated claims. The Henderson medical case from the standpoint of the organization's responsibility in releasing information to the media/public is understandably much more guarded than if they were releasing the health status of a player who was recovering from a football injury. Even in those football cases the information that is released is very generic. When discussing the Bills there are plenty of easy targets to criticize. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. The phony expressions of moral indignity emanating from this topic have me puzzled.

Who gives a dam whether Rex or any of the other coaches got in touch with him. The organization was monitoring the situation to the extent that they should. You may be bothered by it but I'm not. I don't understand what the issue is here that is troubling you. Just because Rex isn't aware of any other coaches getting in touch with him doesn't mean that it is true, or more importantly is relevant to anything. There is contact now. So that should offer you some relief.