JohnC

Superb prior post. When watching EJ I have two monstrous fears about his play that I can't wish away. His accuracy level is very erratic and his "feel" for the game is lacking. He is simply too mechanical with little natural movement. I'm not giving up on him at this early juncture but for someone who has defended him as a prospect I do get queasy after I watch him play. As you suggested the Bills should be adding developmental type qbs whenever they can. In last year's draft Tom Savage and Zack Mettenberger would have been reasonable picks for that developmental role. When one breaks down EJ's attributes as a draft prospect I can understand why he was very enticing. But when one watches him play you can tell that he has been heavily tutored and is still at the point that he is struggling to follow the instructions that he has earnestly tried to learn. I'm far from being a Manuel basher. If I was offered the opportunity to trade for a qb such as Dalton I would leap at the offer. As it stands Whaley seems very invested in him with no backup plan. If Manuel doesn't take a step forward this year, not necessarily a quantum leap, then we are looking at another 7-9 record.

On the surface it might appear to be at the rock-bottom but from the standpoint of rebuilding the franchise most people are on board with the approach he is taking. Most hockey analysts believe that the prospects stockpiled in the organization are the best or near the best in all of hockey. In a few years this team won't be a fringe playoff but it will be a serious contending team. Pegula and his wife have gained a tremendous amount of credibility because of their large financial committment along canalside (near the current arena) that is coming to fruition. He very much is investing in the community and having a major impact in stimulating additional investment. There is no doubt that the overwhelming fans in the area want him to win the bid for the football team. Since you are located in the heart of Texas what is the public's response to Jerry Jone's pictures with some young maidens? Is he being blackmailed? It just seems odd to me that he would allow himself to pose for these somewhat salacious pictures. What makes these pictures creepy is not the posing but the age discrepancy with the "youngsters."

Ryan Mallett is a free agent next year. If he believes he can get a chance to play for another team he will be gone on his own accord next season. Houston was interested in trading for him this past offseason but was not willing to give up what the Pats' were asking for. Will Mallett eventually be better than EJ? I don't know. What I do know is that Mallett and Russell Wilson were available at reasonble spots in their respective draft years. Buddy decided to pass on the prospects. No one can say for sure (other than NYC Bill) that Mallett would have developed with us. But at least he would have gotten playing time and we would have known by now whether he is a legitimate starter in this league. Buddy's passing on Russell Wilson in the third round for TJ Graham has severely affected this franchise. There is a good probability that Graham won't even make this year's roster.

Ralph Wilson did. He was for a very long time Ralph's most trusted financial and business advisor in all of the owner's business operatiions, including those outside of football. From a business standpoint he did a sterling job for the boss. He will not have any association with the franchise under the new ownership.

I take note of the two previous posts and apologize to BB. It was outside the bounds and the way I usually participate. He is entitled to his opinion without casting personal insults. Again, I sincerely appologize to the Barbarian.

Please stop it! Your HOF comments regarding Washington are even more zany than your lofty view of John Skelton. Being a homer is one thing but not being grounded to reality is cause to have someone from the mental health profession forcibly dress you in a straitjacket. Again, just stop it!

What do you mean when you say "entrenched senior management"? The last thing that this bumbling organization needs is more change. Whaley and his staff are remolding the organization from the front office to the coaching staff and stabilizing what was a very chaotic and quixotic organization into a stable football operation. When the new owner takes over Littman will be gone and maybe even Oberdorf. Brandon was in over his head when he attempted to get involved in the football operation. He very quickly realized it. From the business and marketing side of the operation Brandon is superb. A new owner has the perorgative of hiring his own people. That is understood. For me allowing the current regime to stay in place would be a wise approach to take. In my opinion patience and continuity is what this historically troubled franchise needs more than ever.

Shaun Hill signed with St. Louis during the offseason. He would have been a solid veteran backup who would also be an excellent mentor for EJ. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/303369/shaun-hill

Beerball is busy at the beach entertaining one of his many golden nuggets. He is too modest to brag but he knows how to productively use his abundance of charm. You may have not noticed it but he's got swag! http://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/models/hannah-ferguson/body-paint-photos/1

As I stated in the prior posts I believe that Goodell was too lenient in his punishment. However, as you smartly noted there were numerous preceding domestic abuse type of incidents where the punishments were even more lenient and inconsistently administered. It is very challenging to write rules and accompanying punishments for bad behavior when it is difficult to describe the level of theinfraction and the circumstances of the situation. Each case is to a certain extent unique. What Goodell usually does in disciplinary hearings is factor in the player's prior history. The commissioner looked at the totality of the situation, Rice's past history, the police report and his genuine remorsefullness. He also factored in his wife's behavior and her post incident response. Both parties appear to be sincere with their responses. This is a first time "criminal" offense for Ray Rice. He was suspended for two games and lost approximately $500,000 in salary. His public responses of remorsefullness appear to me to be genuine and not scripted by PR aides ala Dareus. What has plagued the NFL are the recidivists who have no regard how their unruly behavior affects the teams' and league's reputation. In my view Ray Rice does not fall in that ignominious category.

If Goodell would have given a 4 game suspension this controversey would have been quickly disposed of. The irony is that his lenient punishment (my opinion) hurt Rice by outraging the public and the sports radio crowd thus keeping the issue intensely alive. I believe that Goodell was trying to be fair in his judgment/misjudgment of the incident. After watching the tape and after talking to Ray Rice and his future wife he determined that Rice was genuinely remorseful and learned from this incident. I have no doubt that the commissoner proprly did his due diligence but his punishment judgment was off the mark.

Of course there is footage of what happened in the elevator just as there was footage inside of the elevator during the Jay Z and Beyonze's sister exchange. The difference is that a staff person didn't sell the inside elevator footage for money. The employee was fired. In the Ray Rice situatiion the tape was given to the NFL and police authorities who investigated the case. When you use sports radio personalities as your source you are skating on thin ice. Fact checking isn't as important to them as spewing out interesting storylines. Deadspin: "20 hours ago - 15, when he allegedly knocked then-fiancée Janay Palmer unconscious in an Atlantic City casino elevator. ... No footage of the fight itself was made public; from various reports, ... We know that NFL got its hands on the full elevator tape. .... It would explain why the video of the two fighting inside the elevator ..." Deadspin is for sure isn't the most reliable source but on this issue their claims are very plausible. What happened inside the elevator was a factor as to why the league office took a more lenient punishment position than most people felt was appropriate.

I understand your sentiment as a fan. But the sale of a franchise is a high stakes business transaction. Morgan Stanley's job is not only to receive bids but also to pursue people who are capable of making higher bids. That's what they are obligated to do. The Wilson estate is not doing anything that is unfair or unreasonable. From my viewpoint this very complex sale is going very smoothly. Again, I understand why you feel what you feel. I also want this ownership issue to end, and end well. But you can't compare the past environment when Ralph bought the franchise more than a half century ago for $25,000 to the current business environment. In the end I'm confident that Ralph Wilson will have done what is best for his estate and also what is fair to the region that enriched him so very much.

The problem with a shared ownership approach, even if one party is actually managing the operation, if there is some conflict the power balance can dramatically shift. What happens if the Toronto boys want to go in one direction and the singer with the puffed out hair wants to go in a different directiion. It's simply an ownership structure that goes against the grain in the way the league does business.

Let's put the money issue aside. It has been long established that the owners require from prospective owners a majority invester in a franchise in order to get owner approval for a sale. What is being recently reported is that for the most part the ownership structure of the Toronto group is three-headed with equal or near comparable investments by the parties. That certainly goes against the recent history of franchise sales. Although the franchise was valued in the $875 M range most analysts believed that the price tag for the franchise was going to be in the plus $ 1 B range. It was also known that in the near future that the issue of a new stadium or upgrade would be required. The numbers never added up. In most auctions the norm is to make a bid and then as the process moves forward respond with another competing bid. It seemed to me that JBD was tapped out at the beginning of the process. I have come around to the notion that JBJ was much more of a mover in this project than I originally thought. But I have felt because of his lack of resources that the Toronto contingent would have the ultimate say as to how the operation would be established. If the Toronto boys wanted to move across the border he would have to go along, even if he wanted to base the franchise in western NY. The bidding process is not over yet. So as it stands I am cautiously optimistic that Pegula is going to be the last bidder standing. What is impressive about Pegula is that he is a doer and not a talker. He is very discreet and holds his cards close to the vest. He is the antithesis to Jerry Jones in stle. In other words he is the type a person Ralph Wilson would be proud to pass the torch to.

You very well summarize the JBJ story. Although he had high aspirations as an owner and primary director of an NFL franchise he never had the wherewithal to match his grand plan. Even if his personal wealth was understated by many the numbers stil never added up if he was going to be one of the three-headed-equal owners. As a performer and business person he has done very well for himself. But as a prospective owner he was from a financial sense simply out of his league. What I don't understand is he had to know what the approximate cost of a franchise would go for. It was very often conjectured that it would take at least $1 B to be a serious bidder. On top of that the owners who would vote on the sale required that there be a primary owner who would be the main invester. What has been recently reported is that the ownership split was an equal three way split among Rogers, Tanenbaum and JBJ. How does that structure satisfy what the current owners strongly prefer? As I have stated in other posts JBJ was severly stretched financial in his bid. There was then little ability for him and his partners to handle the expected added major cost of building a facility for his team. Arithmetic is about the numbers. For him it never added up.

How many times last year were plays called that had him run into the middle of the line. It simply didn't make much sense. There is no doubt that he was hampered with a sprained ankle for a good portion of the season but still he was treated as if he was an interior runner instead of the elusive and explosive back that he is. As others have said call plays that put him in space and let him make plays. What very much affected Spiller's performance besides his persistent ankle injury was the mediocre play of the OL. If the OL can be upgraded and create some creases for him he will bust his share of plays. In my opinion Spiller is one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league. So far his elite talents have been wasted because of the inexplicable play calling. Our offense has a bunch of speedsters in Watkins, Goodwin, Williams and Spiller. Hackett, who I felt did a mediocre job as a play caller last year, needs to adjust his play calling to promote the skill sets of the players on the field. He needs to step it up.

I hope you don't think that I am stalking you on this issue. Spiller has been our most dynamic player on offense since he has arrived. No one has broken more big plays than he has. Last year he played most of the season with a bad ankle. He also ran behind a very mediocre OL. It's apparent to me that the both of us have different perspectives when we watch the games. When Spiller gets room to run he is not only one of the best offensive players on the team but also in the league. In the NFL there are very few legitimate playmakers. In my opinion he is one of them. Those are the types of players in which you should do everything you can to place them in position to make game changing plays for you. With a little better OL play and with an improving qb play I'm confident that you will reluctantly come around to my thinking. P.S. Gilmore is going to demonstrate to skeptical you that he is an elite caliber DB. Trust me on this Bill. I will not lead you astray.

Let's just conclude that we are in a "general" agreement and be relieved that this process is almost over. I'm confident that Pegula will be standing at the podium when it is over.

The Rogers Trust has non family members trustees who are obligated to prudently manage the trust. He simply can't tap into it for his own personal business schemes because he is a family member.

Kirby/Kelly, If JBJ cashes out for $400 M in reality he has to cash out for much more due to his tax obligations (capital gains) because of his sell off. So in reality he has to cash out for much more than $400 M. Even if he was liquid that doesn't mean that he has the ability to liquidate the majority of his net worth so quickly (on demand). The franchise sale is already in progress. Payment is expected at the time of the sale. If he hasn't already cashed out then he won't be in position to right away add his money into the pile. The point I have made on this topic is that it is my contention that Tanenbaum and Rogers are the main money sources. If JBJ is going to contribute a third share then I don't believe that he has the wherewithal to stay in the bidding competition. In addition, there is a looming stadium cost consideration that all bidders have to factor in when making their bid. If that is the case then I'm very confident that JBJ will not be able to keep up with the action. That's how I see it.

The numbers don't add up. Are you suggesting that all his wealth is liquid? I doubt it. There is no way that he has the up front resources $$$$ to be an approximate 1/3 owner of a team estimated to cost $1.2 B or more. I don't doubt your claim that Tannenbaum and Rogers were going to allow JBJ to run the organization. But from an ownership standpoint he would be very much subserviant to them. If the canadian group bought the team and moved it to Canada who was going to pay for a canadian stadium? That certainly would have to be factored in the added future cost for the more than $1 B franchise. For the most part the public authorities don't spend public money for sports' facilities. The new owners would also be mostly responsible for the new facility. Is JBJ going to be involved in that part of the business? If so there is an added expense for him. Where I disagree with your position is in your assessment of JBJ as an owner. His net worth doesn't come close to allowing him to be near a 1/3 partner in the business. Net worth doesn't translate to cash on hand. That's what it takes to buy a NFL franchise. Terry Pegula recently cashed in an asset to have $1.2 B in hand. That is much different from JBJ's financial status. I have never owned a Bon Jovi album and I have never been to his concert. I don't even like his hair!

From everything I have read the estimates for JBJ's worth is in the range of $325-400 M. What percentage of that do you think is liquid? Maybe 30-35%? And that is probably a generous estimate. The NFL owners want teams on the market to be bought by a dominant investing owner. Rogers and Tannenbaum are the primary investors. JBJ might be the face of the franchise but he would not be the most influential person in the franchise. Rogers and Tannebaum can choose JBJ to be their CEO. That is plausible. But if they decide that they want to go in another direction then JBJ has little say in his involvement with the franchise. As I stated in the prior posts that as a minority owner JBJ has little say unless the real monied owners want him to have the say. Whatever authority JBJ has it will be from the authority as a CEO given to him by the main owners. Ralph Wilson elevated Brandon to be the CEO of the Bills. If Wilson wanted something done then Brandon executed the orders. If it is as you say it is then all of his assets have to be liquid. I doubt that is the case. In a $1.2 purchase he would have to sell all of his assets. That is improbable. In a comparison Terry Pegula cashed out a portion of his assets for $1.2 B in hard cash.

JBJ isn't close to having enough resources to be a lead owner. And he never will! He had a life time ambition of being an NFL owner. So he, as a miniscule investor, joined a group that was a serious bidder for a franchise that was on the market. Many people are in a frenzy (not saying you are)over his alignment with a group that seemed to have a legitimate chance of acquiring an NFL franchise. There are many people who feel that he is being a traitor for pursuing his dreams. My response is: a traitor to what? He, like everyone else, has a right to be part of a group bidding on an asset on the market. If the Toronto group won the bid JBJ would have no say as to whether the team stayed or left the region. He would have little influence as to how the organization would be structured and run. The bottom line is that he is a very visible front man for the big boys who have the real money. In my opinion (not shared by many others) the hostility directed toward him is misplaced. He has a right to pursue his interests in this free-market competition.

He will perform in Toronto and make more money!