BillsVet

Troy Smith's resume is so huge that entrusting him with the franchise is a rational and cogent thought. Guy couldn't beat out a rookie Joe Flacco, but he's now good enough for Buffalo? Well, then again, it is the Bills we're talking about.

I can see it already from the homer, schlub, off-season Super Bowl fans: 1. Who is John Wooten? He's an idiot. 2. Gailey didn't have enough time in Dallas to flame out. Jerry Jones said he should not have fired him when he did. 3. Georgia Tech doesn't get the players to be a top team. It's not Gailey's fault. 4. Nix is a Top 5 talent evaluator. his age doesn't matter. 5. Leslie Frazier hasn't been hired for a reason. He just doesn't have HC experience like Nix wanted. 6. I like the way Buffalo is rebuilding-no wasted money in free agency. For the record, John Wooten's background can be found here.

There aren't many teams beside Indianapolis who can build wholly through the draft. It's taken them many years to do build and replace talent. The Bills don't have that kind of timeframe with their owner's age. A quick review around the NFL shows that perennial winners like NYG, GB, NE, BAL, SD, PHI, and NO aren't afraid to sign free agents. Bills fans need to decide if 2-3 years is enough to wait for something that's not a guarantee, even with a "Top 5" talent evaluator at GM. I'm sorry, but anyone who's fine with another few years after 10 straight mediocre and worse seasons is what P.T. Barnum was talking about.

It's a LOT different. Changing to a 3-4 means Schobel moves to OLB plain and simple. Aaron Kampman couldn't make the switch in GB with a good DL, so AS making a move like this isn't something I'm sure he's crazy about.

Having a 2-3 year plan is wonderful if the owner isn't 91 years old. Either RW knows he's going to live a lot longer or winning in his lifetime isn't a priority.

They've missed the playoffs 10 years, but who's counting anymore? I'm sure Buddy had a reason not to pursue Williams, because he knows him. After all, there's always an excuse why the Bills don't try to sign someone. But when they do, they're the best and most underrated front office in the NFL!

A lot of homer fans on this board figured DJ would get better after the awful finish to the 2008 season. He didn't. Expecting a guy with years of NFL coaching to magically get better is mindless.

Let's see, highly successful college QB with Heisman is available, though doesn't translate to the NFL game. It's like 1985 all over again, and I can see RW ordering Buddy Gailey to make the pick, more likely in Round 2. Unfortunately, there isn't a Bill Polian around to tell Burns to shove it. With a lackluster effort in free agency, it makes even more sense. The team can sell more individual tickets when season tickets aren't scooped up like they were in 08 and 09. Besides, this is the type of move that makes Smithers the marketeer smile. And you know who he works for.

Smithers and the Marketeers need a drawing card. Who better than Tebow?

Evidently, some fans are forgetting that Anderson was dreadful in that 6-3 slugfest last October: 2-17 15 yards and a pick. Anything more than a player to be named later is too much.

One might think the owners' age would dictate they pull out all the stops to win ASAP. Instead, it looks like a 3-5 year plan to get them on the road to success. Even Nix has admitted they can't fill all their problem positions in one off-season, which means it's at least a 2-3 year program. So if the 2011 season begins, RW wouldn't see results until he's 93. And BTW, the stadium lease ends after the 2012 season. Perhaps the organizational direction doesn't parallel fan expectations.

RW's last three GM's have been huge failures, but the common denominator is he hired all three. We learned that RW wanted Marshawn Lynch in 07, and directly negotiated DJ's extension in October 2008. And I'm sure when Nix said he wouldn't be going after UFA's, it was music to RW and Smithers' ears. At the rate the Bills are building, RW would need to live to be 94 to see anything. And that's if they draft 3-4 starters each year. Nix may have a great plan, but whether he has the tools to make it happen is another matter. And the timeframe might not be satisfactory to most fans, save for the homer schlub fans who eat up everything from OBD.

It's ironic that we've acquired the Raiders' former starter at RT. Sure, this is a cheaper contract, but giving a 34 year old guy a 3 year deal is something. It'd be interesting to know how much of the deal is guaranteed. I would highly doubt he's not going to be on the team in September if his guarantee is more than 2M. Will James' signing in 08 wasn't for what Green is getting; at least not on the surface.

I don't think D'Alessandris was scouting or even observing the opposing teams RT. If anything, a team's Pro Personnel Department is handling that with their advance scouts. But go on talking for the sake of talking. Matt Millen's chiming in, so it's a free for all I suppose.

Where is Darth's disclaimer that states everything on this board has an expiration date? Somehow I missed that.

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.