BillsVet

Standards differ from fan to fan. I know many just love to drink, watch football, and then sulk when their team loses. Wash, rinse, and repeat the next week. So be it. The Bills are like a stock that keeps falling over time, but you hold onto it because you have a personal interest in the company. Finally, it bottoms out and you're left with nothing.

This season should be written off. Needs at LT, RT, NT, OLB, combined with depth at DL and LB are, as Nix has said, too many holes to fill in one off-season. If a team has not had success in a decade, I still expect a better attempt in the first year to win. What's remarkable is how many fans here are willing to give them another 2-3 years after 10 years of ineptitude.

Whitner hasn't developed yet? Four years and 50 starts later?

It's insanity to enter the regular season (EDIT:without) any DL or LB experienced in the 3-4. There's time left, but hoping and wishing Kelsay, Schobel, Ellis, Sp. Johnson, and Stroud will fit the new defense is redonkulous. And on top of that, they're hoping Maybin will transition into another defense and a new position. Moves like this remind me of the OL circa last season. Multiple positional switches like this are not the way to win games. Good luck George Edwards.

I did not expect them to sign Peppers, Dansby, or any of the other name RFA's. It's not in their organizational DNA to do so and spend cap dollars on imported players. Many GM's readily admit spending big in free agency is the penalty for drafting poorly.

The Colts are far, far ahead of the Bills in the rebuilding process. For the record, the Colts have rebuilt once since Polian became GM back in 97. As a matter of fact, Indy was in the playoffs in 99, the second year of both Manning and Polian. The insanity present about comparing Buffalo to franchises like Indianapolis is limitless here. And, what's remarkable is that of the 31 teams in the NFL during the year 2000, 29 of them have made the playoffs. Only Buffalo and Detroit hasn't.

Every fan who thinks high profile free agents won't come to Buffalo because of the weather is in denial. They won't go to Buffalo for the following reasons: 1. Buffalo is in full on rebuild mode. 2. The team doesn't want high profile free agents and aren't offering these guys contracts or scheduling visits. The Bills are in spend less mode and not trying to be a playoff team in 2010. If it miraculously happens, so be it. But they're hoping to be good 3-4 years from now. This places a huge onus on the amateur scouting department to find instant starters.

Some teams will say the object is to be fiscally responsible and play the wait and see game WRT a potential lockout. That's understandable, but for a franchise 0 fer 10 in playoff appearances, the lack of a sense of urgency is alarming. Apparently the team believes fans will come back in droves because the team is here. I'm not certain that the plan is anything but trying to be profitable. A team's historical results on the field matter. To some fans more than others.

Up and coming OL? The only tackles left on the roster are the project types this team loves to hype. Sure, they've got young guards but the song remains the same: young players who are either unproven or played OK for a season. That's the OL. And on draft day, they have to hope they can draft and subsequently start another rookie at LT and/or RT. Hope is nice, but reality says rookies aren't something to depend on.

The pipe dream is that this team will even finish close to .500 in 2010.

I've read on ESPN Insider, FWIW, that he is a liability handling large NT's. Sounds like he'd be an excellent signing for a team playing no less than 11 games against teams with good DT's. Their three division foes, PIT, CLE, BAL, MIN, and GB. Wonderful.

No one in free agency is worth that kind of money. And on Day 1, plenty of decent players were overpaid and on new teams. Meanwhile, the team that's been overwhelmingly underwhelming thus far in the 2010 offseason watches their division foes improve. Building through the draft is nice, and every team says this. But the best way to improve quickly is with a well placed free agent. Draft picks, especially after the first round, rarely contribute in their first year. Needless to say, Buffalo will again be relying on a bunch of rookies.

I have a feeling we'll be hearing this on Draft Day 2011: "With the first overall pick, the Buffalo Bills select..."

How many Bill Polian's are running other teams? I'm not one to believe in building anything through free agency (the Bills OL in 07-08), but it's not the plague either. With starting and depth needs all over the field, not signing players might hurt them.

They were reportedly interested in him last year and had him in for a visit. Ended up going to BAL after he spent 2008 in NE. A special teamer type player as opposed to a real WR and not someone who'll do much on offense.

Parents aren't supervising their junior high schoolers' bedtimes. The curse of Madden continues.

Don't forget the capologist, old Jimmy Overdorf. Another guy who got to stick around and no one once mentioned him as a candidate to pack his bags. He has a lot of influence, if you read between the lines.

More puff pieces from OBD Lead Cheerleader Chris Brown. Every year, the hype begets the hope and fans anxiously await the start of free agency. Granted it's different in 2010, but with a team headed for the cellar of the AFCE, a good faith signing would go a long way. But yeah, I'll believe it when I see it.

They've allowed talent, regardless of our personal feeling toward a player, to go out the door. And yet people rationalize at the time why it was a good move. Then most of the homers and schlubs figure out that it wasn't far down the road. Trading Peters was dumb. And it's why this draft, Buffalo is most likely going to use another first rounder to replace someone. I'd argue this organization has been running in a wheel since 2006: Whitner for Milloy, Lynch for McGahee, Posluszny for Fletcher, McKelvin for Clements, and a rookie OT for Peters. That's five top picks in five years to replace departed players. All this when the team didn't have a real GM. Coincidence? I think not.

Guess what? This isn't college, and he was made the starting LT for a team people had high hopes for. Buffalo isn't in the business of developing players for the majors, this is the majors. I'm tired of hearing excuses about why players aren't good. Not to mention, LT's typically take on the opponents best pass rusher. Peters some good ones in the NFCE, although he certainly wasn't perfect. People are talking about Jared Gaither, but he gave up about as many sacks as Peters did. (4 versus 6)

Dick Levy got a pass for about two years because their predecessor drafted poorly in 04-05. So, doesn't it stand to reason that Buddy Gailey are given a mulligan because Dick Levy weren't all that good from about 06-08? That, and their first pick in 09 isn't looking good at this early juncture. Maybin's been passed off as a DJ pick, but I find it hard to believe he had that kind of authority when he was left out of the inner circle.

Gaither would demand a contract commensurate with his high RFA tender. Not the actual RFA salary, but a long term deal rather. Surrendering a first rounder, should BAL let their LT walk, would make it even more improbable.

And yet, for all the hype, he forced only 6 turnovers in four seasons, and half of those were his freshman year at USC. Sure, someone will come along and say he wasn't used properly, or that he helped out a young team. At the same time, he forced only (EDIT: 3) turnovers in his sophomore through senior campaigns. He's a boom or bust pick, and it looks like the latter. BTW, average age of a TBD'er must be down to about 14 by now.

And yet, just last year it was revealed Burns ordered Smithers to sign TO. RW looked frail at the Nix PC, but it wasn't long ago that he personally fired DJ and was probably involved in talking to Cowher this December/January. Now that Buddy has been given the unique title of GM of Football, he's probably got some say in how things are run. But don't forget this team has one foot in the proverbial hole when it comes to selling tickets. Something will be done to address this, and a PR move typically doesn't fit with a team's rebuilding plans. Enter RW, with consultation from Smithers no matter what Buddy Gailey think.

If Buddy keeps saying the things he is, the Smithers and his marketeers are going to have some issues selling tickets. This is as close as the organization will admit that they're rebuilding and 2010 isn't going to be fun. Give old Buddy an A for honesty though. This team could have four first round picks and wouldn't address their desperate needs. It seems like this team perpetually drafts for need every year, whether self-inflicted or not.