BillsVet

I'm a Bills fan and a military veteran, hence the name. Not to mention a veteran of a lot of bad football over the past 14 years. Throwing money after bad offensive lineman during the '07 spending spree wasn't a solution. Sure, it meets the "investment" criteria, but failed in the "improvement" category. And because this is a nuanced subject it won't go over well when criticism is leveled. The fact remains that over multiple GM's, HC's, OL coaches, etc. going back 15-20 years the Buffalo Bills aren't effectively addressing their OL issues. This is a team that failed to draft an offensive tackle between the first and third round from 2003-2011. The best blockers this team had in the past 10 years, Peters and Levitre, were not retained. Only three 1st or 2nd round picks have been used on the OL in the past 11 drafts. One departed without an adequate replacement last year (Levitre), one was re-signed (Wood), and the other is out-playing his contract and will, barring injury or bad play this year, be in-line for a huge payday (Glenn). And for the record, I'm not advocating for five high picks, five huge UFA signings, or any combination. I believe solid blockers can be found in mid rounds or on moderate contracts in UFA. It's an "if" at this time, but if Williams struggles as he did in Saint Louis, it tells me they're following history. again in their OL evaluations.

There haven't been many examples of the Bills investing in their OL in the past 15-20 years. Donahoe didn't do it, Marv tried and failed in UFA '07, Modrak/Jauron drafted 2 top players high to fill immediate OL needs in '09, and outside of that there hasn't been much put in there. Nix drafted Glenn, but again, when there was an extreme OT need. Last year 3 of the 5 linemen were acquired either late in free agency (Legursky), signed from a practice squad (Urbik), or off the street (Pears). Low cost signings for the OL have been a hallmark of the Bills organization for years. And within the span of 4 years they let Peters and Levitre go without having adequate replacements on the roster before doing so. And for the record, I'm not saying they needed to sign a high priced guy, but getting Chris Williams doesn't mean the OL is settled. On most teams he's a depth guy.

Buffalo hasn't won anything allowing their top guys to hit UFA or traded them away for draft picks either.

I'd expect a guy like Rivers to be depth and a spot starter in case of injury. Over the years Buffalo hasn't had a lot of veteran depth and it shows when injuries inevitably occur. One thing totally inconsequential at this point is when the player was taken on draft day. Neither Williams or Rivers lived up to their draft status and it's in the distant past. If they had, they'd be commanding more than the lower tier contracts Buffalo gave them.

The rich get richer. It's nice the Bills are finally adding veteran depth instead of relying on UDFA's, late round picks, street FA's, and waiver wire pickups, but is it enough to get them from mediocre to passable? Not when your opponents can make moves like this. Ironically, NFLN is showing Belichick's a football life right now.

When you look across the Bills roster, who are the elite, i.e. All-Pro type players that make plays for this team? Mario is one, but there isn't another guy on that team who can be considered in that category. There are some good players, but nothing that a team has to account for. I know Bills fans love their guys, but I'm looking for an objective opinion. The truth is, there aren't any. No WR's, no RB's, no TE's, no other pass-rushers, no OT's, and definitely no QB's. There are plenty of nice role players. And that's why it's a 6-7 win team year after year. The faces have changed, but the results haven't.

Brinkley goes back to Minnesota. McClain, and Carroll came but haven't signed. Jairus Byrd to N.O. with Aaron Williams and Dan Carpenter re-signed. Chris Williams in.

Outstanding.

May I ignore reason in this thread too? As in how the Bills are getting better by letting a 3x All-Pro go and somehow the team is improving with signings like Chris Williams? I'll try to look on the bright side: The Bills will most likely be among the league leaders in available cap room. There's gotta be an award for that.

The reason is John Elway is really lucky. What kind of talent evaluator is he? All he had to do what dial up Manning 2 years ago and get him to sign. And now they're the top NFL team and players will sign there in free agency.

Doubting the Patriots and Belichick has been as appropriate as trusting the Bills over the years.

What happens when Glenn wants to be paid 9-10M per? Is there another Peters situation that unfolds? I think every rational fan understands a front office has to see beyond this season, but I've seen no indication Buffalo, aside from 1 UFA in the last 5 years, will spend that kind of money. What is the long term plan when drafted players become outstanding and want a significant contract extension? Do the Bills cut and run like they did with Peters, Levitre, and Byrd?

This is the guy Buffalo prioritized in UFA? It was a weak year for UFA guards, but I very much doubt anyone was after Williams this much to try signing him within the first 24 hours of UFA.

Not being the worst is acceptable consolation? If that's the bar, it's set pretty low.

You want a 3-4 OLB who completely fell off the table after a contract extension for Buffalo's 4-3 scheme?

How do guys who've played for 2 teams in 6 seasons have upside? It figures that if they had it, surely that talent would've been demonstrated by now.

For all we know they spent what they felt when Aaron Williams amazingly signed a deal right after Byrd was permitted to test UFA. The inbound UFA's appear to be Legursky-esque type signings where the player could be had far down the road. The new narrative seems to be that we can excuse Byrd leaving because it's the QB that matters most and we're waiting to see if Buffalo has one. It's a nice conflation. Then again, Peyton Manning isn't winning titles himself even in an offensive dominated league, which by the way, is predicated on passing the ball. It's why New Orleans has prioritized getting guys who can combat the aerial nature of the game.

When will the oncoming storm be blamed for Buffalo's inability to attract UFA's to visit? I'm guessing it'll be within the next 4-6 hours as the weather worsens and little news comes out regarding UFA visits.

Elite like Byrd, Lynch, and Peters? Those three players have departed in the last 5 years and brought the Bills only Eric Wood as a starting player. And I'm not even talking Levitre and Posluszny. See the trend? If a team is average at drafting, which the Bills haven't been, then how do you get better when you're losing a solid or better contributor every year and signing lower to mid tier UFA's? You're only maintaining what you've got, which is a 9 or more loss team for going on a decade.

Since 2006, they've averaged 10 wins a year, been to the playoffs 5 times and won a SB. Hard to see how that's a joke.

Buffalo just needs to be luckier, that's all. The Patriots have been lucky pretty much every year winning the AFCE because they lucked into a 6th round HOF QB and a HOF HC.

You do realize they had 20M+ in cap space this season, right? And that's after keeping Aaron Williams.

Mario got 50M guaranteed. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/3636/mario-williams

They're both really lucky franchises.

Buffalo spent big in UFA in 2007 and again in 2012. Seems like every 5 years they do something like a big splash in UFA when things are going downhill. It doesn't seem to be part of a bigger plan and isn't usually supported with outstanding drafts, but it keeps people interested. Besides, they don't seem concerned with Mario's 18.8M cap hit for 2014, which occupies 1/7th of their current cap hit. There's more time left in UFA, but with 12M in dead cap, you wonder what the plan is: spend less and wait until the inevitable or try and compete. Right now it looks like the former.