BillsVet

EJ's won a bunch of games? He's a career 6-8 in the NFL. The point isn't that it takes 3 years. I think that's elementary to feel comfortable with the speed, defenses, schemes. It's to show improvement from year 1 to year 2 to year 3. Right now, I'm not sure what EJ did better in those first 4 games than during his rookie season. The accuracy didn't improve, despite working with Woods, Chandler and the backs in a 2nd season. It's convenient to blame it all on Marrone and company (who were bad) because they departed. But at some point it's on EJ to demonstrate he can be a good NFL QB and justify being a mid-first round pick. I didn't see much improvement during 2014 prior to being benched.

Jarius Wynn is a UFA as well. Maybe they didn't need Hughes in their new scheme. Who knows anymore. But deciding not to tag is a curious decision.

Two solid options no one's talking about: 1. Jeff George. Enough said. 2. Joe Montana. Dude's doing pizza commercials and he wears those Sketchers sneakers to stay in shape. A win-win in my book. Both options probably wouldn't cost much...George has been good and Montana's was elite. I think these are the kinds of QB's the Bills need to be thinking about. Just sayin'

I'm not going to argue about their level of interest or the franchise record the past 15 years. That'd be too negative.

It's become almost impossible to have any constructive debate here anymore because the caliber of posters has significantly declined and there are some who incessantly post in every thread . I don't know how the Bills will do this off-season or how they'll fare in the regular season, but I have more confidence in OBD today than at any time in about 10 years.

Buffalo going so hard after Josh McCown tells me they don't consider EJ a starter. Why would they pay McCown upwards of 5m per to just compete for the starting job?

If you want to be the laughing stock of the NFL, sure, that's a great idea. I wonder if Baghdad Bob is still around. That guy was even better.

Wait, Rex and Roman don't think Manuel can cut it? Why not? He's only had 14 games!

Seattle features a balanced offense that runs well and a consistently good QB who can make throws. Just running the ball and playing defense is not a plan to win in this era, unless you can do what Seattle does.

Which teams are advancing deep into the playoffs with a strong defense and an offense that runs the ball well?

I'd think spending on Hughes precludes the Bills from signing Revis and it probably means Searcy's gone as well. It's good they want to keep their own and have their starting RDE under contract. The concern, if you give Hughes big money, is how that contract hinders them from spending on offensive players. Because the Bills don't have the draft resources in 2015 to fill the needs on offense and they'll need to spending in UFA.

On the good side, they've got a real NFL HC, Russ Brandon has been put in his place away from personnel, and they've got a very good defense. Those are encouraging things. But not having a QB is a tremendous obstacle to overcome, not to mention needing serious upgrades across the OL, and improvements at TE and RB. There's a lot of work to do.

Why did Whaley trade for Bryce Brown last year on draft weekend? Investing more (and perhaps higher) resources doesn't fit within established NFL trends. Essentially, that teams don't devote much to RB's.

And exactly 0 NFL teams are building championship caliber teams this way.

Based on what? His production under a different HC and staff 2+ years ago? I'd agree they need a talent infusion at TE, but drafting RB's high is a serious misuse of resources, particularly when you don't have a 1st. Drafting RB's and going cheap on the OL is something this organization has done repeatedly since about 2001. It never works. Backs are replaceable and found more likely in the middle rounds or via UDFA.

The coach told EJ to check down? That's priceless. EJ checked down because he was tentative and wouldn't throw the ball down-field, not because the conveniently departed Marrone and Hackett told him to repeatedly throw short passes. It's why EJ admitted after his benching that he would, if given the opportunity, "cut it loose." http://bills.buffalonews.com/2014/10/02/bills-notebook-manuel-remains-optimistic-through-benching/ During the off-season, some people forget just how bad Manuel was during the regular season. He doesn't read defenses well, can't get through his reads, and when he does, the pass more often than not is errant. The tape doesn't lie in that regard.

It's time to invest in the TE position with that 2nd or 3rd round pick. A rookie may not provide great production, but down the road you want to have someone there and spending top dollars in UFA on Julius Thomas or Jordan Cameron may hurt the team more than help. It's a little concerning that Roman didn't get more out of Vernon Davis. Part of that may be QB related, but I can't think of a better weapon for a young QB than someone like Davis who's faster than just about every LB out there.

And this is what happens during the dead part of the off-season when people try to create news because there isn't enough to write articles on.

Defense no longer wins championships. The top defense in the NFL still gave up 28 to the Patriots, so valuing defense equal to offense is not appropriate. And right now the offense is not very good, despite having Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods.

2010 and 2011 top 10 were pretty solid. 2012 and 2013 not so much. 2009 was not good. 2008 was OK. 2007 was excellent. The point remains that sometimes top tier talent isn't so top tier and better players are ultimately taken much later. There are so many fans who want guarantees on decisions and prior to draft picks being selected, there is no such thing. Spending resources to move closer to a guarantee in order to satisfy fear is not what personnel executives get paid to do. They look to acquire the most value for the least cost, and given that 2014 represented a strong WR class, Buffalo didn't do that.

I know full-well how bad they were on the OL this year. My point remains that you can find decent guards in UFA and they don't typically cost a great deal. But you don't find outstanding TE's in UFA and if you do, they'll cost a pretty penny. The draft is not there only to fill needs, which invariably it becomes to a lot of posters here, because that's essentially how the Bills have used their top picks going back to around 2006. Savvy teams do better than draft for need.

I'd be looking to use that 2nd round pick for a more dynamic position, say perhaps TE. 5 of the last 12 guards receiving votes to the NFL All-Pro Team in 2013 and 2014 were taken in either round 3 or 4. I'd rather they find UFA guards who are more plug and play and fit their system (not Iupati) so they can use their high picks on skill positions.

Has there been a QB cut with a decent starting record who could be considered a "cap casualty"? Another thing re: Eli or Kaepernick. Both the Giants and 49ers have very good GM's that aren't going to rid themselves of their current starter. Buddy Nix might, but not Jerry Reese or Trent Baalke. Not happening,

Has there ever been a pending UFA that said anything different about his current club and the prospect of receiving the franchise tag?

Naming someone the starter at essentially the outset of the off-season and then dumping him after 2 games showed precisely why the Bills, back in 2010, were a ship adrift at sea without any sails. It showed no long range planning, and worse, Nix and Gailey decided they could win with Ryan Fitzpatrick for 2 + season after 2010. Decisions back then led to decisions recently, i.e. being forced to take a QB in 2013 who wasn't ready to play. Trent was dumped after 2 games in 2010 and Manuel lasted all of 14 games before St. Doug pulled him. Thankfully, there are football people in charge now and that kind of amateur clown show won't be going on with new ownership in charge.