BillsVet

I want this team to be healthy so there aren't as many excuses if they fall short of a playoff spot. Although with Alonso going down they're off to a bad (unlucky) start. Training camp battles are nice for debate during camp and journalists looking for a story, but I just don't see the importance when the regular season begins.

Who cares? The guy isn't going to dress unless someone gets injured.

Byrd hasn't missed any regular season games for New Orleans yet. What's odd here is (like always) fans get ticked when a good player leaves their team for a big contract. Happened with Peters, happened with Levitre, et al. Buffalo still didn't have a replacement on the roster and if one thinks Aaron Williams as that guy, well, how does one feel about Search, Duke Williams, or Meeks starting? That's 5 NFL seasons of experience there and less than half a season worth of games started. Who cares what Byrd does now? This Bills saved some cash and are going with younger, cheaper and less proven options. We all "payed" attention to this long ago. It's only pre-season. That was during NFL free agency.

Wow, that escalated quickly.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

I can't help but think a guy's speed (typically validated by 40 time) is more mesmerizing to fans than it should be. The Bills have made it a point to draft speed going back to Nix's first draft (2010) and now have some blazers. That's nice in theory but if it's not translating onto the field you've got a lot of symbolism (home-run hitters) over substance (game-plan, QB, results). If the Bills lined up their five fastest offensive guys, I'd be confident they'd beat teams in a sprint competition. But an offense is about more than raw speed. Case in point, Spiller's scored 17 TD's from scrimmage...and the Bills are 8-9 in those games over 4 seasons. Lots of speed, not as much on results.

I think the same could be said of the 2006-2008 years when the team had K. Williams, Whitner, Lynch, Peters, Posluszny, and others. Who said, potential means you ain't done nothing yet?

Spiller won't be extended and he's not in Jamaal Charles' category. If reports are correct, Bryce Brown was a guy the current front office liked a year ago and this probably will be Jackson's final year. Re-signing RB's to big money long term contracts is fool's gold. I doubt CJ fits into the mold of what Marrone wants to do, and it's anyone's guess who the HC and GM will be come January.

I find it ironic that Buddy Nix could have selected Seattle's, San Francisco's, Cincinnati's, and Philadelphia's QB's between 2011 and 2012. But what risk is it to Doug Whaley? He may well be out of job in January if new ownership takes over and then it's on their hand-picked guy at GM to go into 2015 with little at QB should EJ fail.

Making decisions out of desperation is not a good plan when you're building a NFL team. When Buddy Nix, because he couldn't look bad for re-signing Fitz, subsequently avoided taking a QB like the plague in 2011-12, it set up 2013 and absolutely having to take Manuel. I don't understand why this team, who preaches competition at every position, doesn't like it at the QB position. Manuel has had no competition and the team's gone to lengths to make it so. Same could be said when Fitz was the starter for 2011-12. Same can be said when, upon taking over in 2010, Gailey admitted to Trent being the unquestioned starter. I think senior Bills management is deathly afraid of any QB controversy, and I wouldn't doubt it's the effect of the Flutie-Johnson situation.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Thurman made that comment after the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship the previous season. To argue that this is the same situation is pure sophistry.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11200179/nfl-teams-divided-6-billion-revenue-according-green-bay-packers-financials I'm guessing the majority of this is derived from the tv contracts, although the result is a salary cap is increasing rapdiidly. It's part of the reason why I'm not sure investing in a NFL team is a clear winner. There's more to review if you're going to bid 1.1B+ for a team.

Cleveland, not so much. But the other 4? What do they have in common that Buffalo doesn't have? The Bills don't have the attendance because the team hasn't won. Whether that impacts the sale of the team, I don't know.

Perhaps it's been mentioned before in this thread, but the question is who the family selects to sell the team to. Do they take top dollar regardless of who submits the bid or do they take less from someone local? Pure speculation, but I think there's going to be a bid that blows people out of the water. Perhaps 1.4B+ and it might not be JBJ and crew. They said early on this process would be concluded fairly quickly and hopefully it is so the media and fans can focus on the on-field stuff.

No one's getting through to this guy, not last season and certainly not now. I think Marrone tried to get his attention with the suspensions late last season, but it hasn't worked. Nor has the talking to he's had from veterans like Kyle Williams who has to know Dareus has talent but isn't motivated to use it, get in shape, and play well. Dareus is not really a Marrone guy and while Whaley was there for the 2011 draft, I'm not sure the current GM is tied to him. If a few guys play well in camp I can see them getting rid of the 3rd overall pick just 3 years ago for a conditional pick. Marrone and Whaley have too much to lose by having this distraction in 2014.

Hater!

http://espn.go.com/n...kers-financials GB had a relatively small profit even with this kind of guaranteed money. Teams themselves need to generate more revenue from their stadium and game-day and with the proliferation of HD I'm not sure that's trending in the right direction for owners. Aside from teams being a status symbol, I wonder whether a NFL franchise will continue being as lucrative. Then again, there are a lot of smart guys like Gundlach positioning themselves to purchase the Bills. They must know something.

Because I'd like to see honest and open debate about this football team. And as the years have passed that's become an endangered species, replaced with those who rarely, if ever, question the team. Worse, a clear intolerance has developed of those who have a contrarian opinion and back it up with data. I'm not sold on EJ. I'm not sold on this coaching staff. And for the media to express doubt is not altogether outrageous. It's been said here for years: Winning answers questions and the Bills haven't done that. And every year we see people who get excited only to be left disappointed. I'll temper my expectations based on the questions I have of this team and their decisions.

The old appeal to ignorance argument. Classic TBD tactic. BTW, how many NFL teams drafted a QB in the first round since 2009 and then subsequently sat him his rookie season? It's not like they were paying Kolb starter money...he was on a 2 year deal for something like 6.1M total. That's backup money. This narrative of Kolb to be the starter was echoed early last season only after Manuel struggled and Lewis (later Tuel) had to play. Kolb was brought in to start? Well, let's say he was and Manuel, their first round pick was going to backup. What team in a 2013 NFL world really signs Kevin Kolb to start? This was a guy who'd been a starter for 2 teams from 2010-2012 and didn't finish one of those seasons and managed to start all of 19 games during that time. So, either the Bills signed Kolb to backup EJ or they were delusional to sign him as a starter and expect him to play a significant amount of time. It's decisions like this that have produced 22 wins in 4 seasons.

Woulda, could, shoulda. You could make the case a PI penalty gives them the Carolina game. Or the 5 Flacco INT's home versus BAL to get a 3 point win. Most NFL games are close and good teams win those games. The other thing is, during the off-season they made a conscious decision to go with a rookie QB and back him up with a journeyman on his 4th team in 4 seasons, then saved a roster spot for a rookie UDFA. Depth planning at QB was horrendous last year, and when injuries happened they were short handed. Call it hindsight is 20/20, whatever, but the Bills didn't have a decent backup option at QB and I'd argue their starter wasn't prepared to start either. And why, after the 2013 UFA period which had several CB's available, did the Bills go into the season with Justin Rogers and UDFA Nickell Robey as their primary depth at the position? And that's starting McKelvin who didn't show a lot from 2008-2012. Making bad personnel moves has an obviously direct correlation to these close games. When you make bad decisions in personnel it eventually shows up on the field. Kinda like going with Colin Brown at LG. See a pattern?

Expectations aren't as high outside of the fan base. The media sees a 6-10 team that lost their best DB and now a starting LB this off-season from a unit that struggled in 2013. On offense, there are some additions, but once again they're banking on youth (EJ, Watkins, Woods, Kouandjio). Not to mention they've got a new defensive scheme, the new DC, and new offensive coaches there to "assist" Hackett. Are the Bills better than the 6-10 team they were last year? And, are the other AFC East teams better, the same, or not? Tempering expectations seems to be appropriate.

Rookies don't struggle as much playing QB in the NFL like they did even 5 years ago. I didn't expect him to come in and throw for 4,000 yards with 25 TD's, but there are inconsistencies in his game that aren't easily improved. At this point (and cue someone to call my credibility into question because I'm not a NFL QB coach) I see someone who's more of a thrower than a passer. By that I mean he's just trying to get the ball there and lacks timing to his passes. EJ completed about 58% of his passes, but his YPA (6.4) was exceptionally low as well. I know they didn't ask him to make as many throws as the top guys, but it's concerning to have a low completion percentage and YPA combined. Perhaps that'll improve, but I see someone who struggles with touch on all his throws and if his mechanics don't improve the consistency won't be there in year 2.

Are we really going to cite a game against the Jaguars for proof EJ played well? He made some throws last season, but apparently people have forgotten the Pittsburgh and Tampa games where he was plain dreadful. Consistency is what I don't see from EJ.

Agree completely. New stadiums are the best way for the NFL to increase revenue, which is not coincidentally an objective of the latest CBA. IIRC, players wanted a greater percentage of revenue during the last cycle of contract negotiations. The league, as a result, promised and needs to get total revenue to I believe 19B by 2020, which obviously provides players with greater revenue. Unfortunately, this cycle of stadium building cannot continue in every market. Of the 31 NFL stadiums, 20 will have been built since 1995 when Minnesota's opens in 2016. Another 4 (GB, CHI, KC, and NO) have undergone extensive renovation. Only Oakland, San Diego, Buffalo, Miami, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Saint Louis have stadiums built before 1996, so clearly the league has taken a path that almost requires franchises get new homes. There's no doubt that the group-think about a new stadium goes back to expanding revenue.

Question is, can he get to the RB? Thought it was noteworthy that in the BN when they talked about Hughes, the writer made mention of the fact that during mini-camp pass rushers and WR's have an easier time with there being less contact.