BillsVet

LT fits the Bills template for using their top pick to replace a departed veteran. Personally, it's early, but I like Bryan Bulaga from Iowa. Still, drafting for need every year is an indication the team is not building but simply maintaining mediocrity.

Promising hope and delivering nothing. Yep, that's their strategy and when it comes to doing something substantial, they'll find a reason to avoid it.

Guessing what the PR folks will cook up after this season is better than waiting for gameday. We know they'll have some excuses ready for why they've missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season since TD was fired. A new HC is merely fixing a symptom of the team illness. Building a team, after the owner, begins with the GM who manages football ops. The HC should be an extension of the GM, with the latter having a vision for how and what he wants the team to be. A new HC will not cure the ills, especially because Modrak and Guy would probably remain without a new GM.

Sure. We once tried to have a football man run the show. And because that didn't work, let's go the route of having amateurs and failures handle it from now on. /sarcasm off

Do you need any links to understanding the Holy Trinity? I can't see anyone entering OBD to work for RW with Littman strictly controlling expenditures. Most likely a football ops guy wants Guy, Modrak, and DJ fired which will cost some decent money for this franchise.

No, TE cast his lot with DJ after last season and by playing DJ's style offense, it may end his chance to ever start after this season. Trent's a nice guy and not one to throw anyone under the bus, but it's time for him to man up and take some chances. Best case for him is he plays 2010 without a new deal and he fades into NFL oblivion. If TE continues playing QB scared, he'll go down with a guy who has had 5 OC's in 9 NFL seasons as a HC. Like most Bills fans, I wanted TE to succeed and take this team to the playoffs. TE should have known better than to trust the offensively inept DJ as much as he did.

I'd be for moving Butler back to G, but he's been injured each season as a starter. His durability to stand up for an entire season is in doubt at this point. Hangartner has proven he's just a different type of Fowler: someone who is low cost and low reward. Jamon Meredith, like Bell, is a project player. Neither OT is near good enough to be playing, let alone starting on a NFL team. Both players need another year to develop and then we'll talk. It's why both were late round picks, with Meredith unable to crack the roster of OT starved GB. But he's good enough in Buffalo. I think it's ironic the Bills OL has worsened each year since 2007 when the big dollar FA's came in. More sacks allowed and less ability to run the ball. DJ and the front office plan is a catastrophic disaster.

Aside from hiring Buddy Nix as a national scout, there haven't been any new faces or opinions in this organization in quite some time. IMO, that's how they want it to be, though their hand may be forced this off-season. One wonders why the team is rooted in preventing outside and qualified individuals from entering the scene. Should the Bills finish 7-9 or worse, management has a serious problem: Do they stick with the cheaper and tired strategy of remaining the same, or introduce someone from the outside to a flawed management structure? Or, do they simply replace the lame HC who has proven he cannot win when it counts? I can see them keeping the same front office (and not hiring a GM) while placing the blame squarely onto DJ. Either way, fans are in the same position as they were last year: waiting for the off-season.

Week 10 of the NFL season and we're already talking off-season. Kinda reminds me of 2006, 2007, 2008, and the 2009 NFL off-seasons. Selling hope will be much different this time around.

It defies logic for a team to remain mediocre for three going on four seasons. One could argue the 06 season was overachievement, but since then it's been all downhill. If this team doesn't go 10-6 (meaning a 7-1 to close) they probably will pick from 8th-12th. And that's right there were they've been from 06-09 on draft day. Truly groundhog day for Bills fans.

If last season is any indication, the Bills will be on the sidelines of FA, making more low budget signings which ultimately won't make much difference. Hangartner, Fitzpatrick, and McKinney are like 2006 FA all over again: low cost low reward types. Their best signing was Drayon Florence, who's acquitted himself quite well in starting for McKelvin. Least surprising is that DJ can't figure out how to use TO. I'm really interested to see how the small teams address free agency 2010 if there is not labor agreement in place, which I don't think there will be. Because I can see the Bills crying small market as RW collects his millions from 2009.

Troy Polamalu is playing tonight the way Dick Levy envisioned he would when they spent a top 10 pick on him. Whitner will not be re-signed when his contract comes due after 2010 and this use of picks on small players (who are hurt more often than not) is what has dragged this franchise down. And when you don't have clear hits with top ten picks, you'll be right back drafting in the top 10-15 all over again. But I forgot, he's not being used correctly and Buffalo's front 7 isn't good enough. How about not drafting a safety when you've made a total rebuild for your franchise. Keep yappin lil Donte.

Tom, there have been numerous posters who talked incessantly about building from the lines out, hence criticism of the 06 draft. Unfortunately, it took the Bills 4 drafts to figure out you can't buy an OL nor have inferior pass rushers besides Schobel. When I look at the rounds 1 and 2 picks from 04-08, I see a lot of skill players and only 1 lineman selected: McCargo who is a bust. It's little wonder the DL and OL have suffered mightily for so many years. And the golden nugget they lucked into was traded for rookies in 2009. I'm hopeful Levitre and Wood will improve, but their tackles are absolutely dreadful.

You're correct that RW is that common denominator to all of this decade of disappointment and even a casual observer should know this. Beginning with Phillips firing, Butler/Smith leaving, Donahoe, and through to Levy/Brandon, RW's decision making has become even more suspect as he's aged. To think he thought TO would erase DJ's faulty game planning is sheer lunacy. Still, when he had a chance to start over, he chose to elevate Brandon, re-sign DJ, and then keep the HC when he finished 2-8. I won't believe this team is in it to win it until they find football people to make football decisions. If Dungy is right and the Bills are looking at Vick, they're not trying to win anymore but find gimmicks to sell tickets.

Is this team concerned with being good as much as they are with selling tickets? MV is under contract for another season, but Philly could dump him and wouldn't take a huge cap hit. I doubt many teams would want him given his track record.

After four seasons and two OL overhauls, DJ does not have a cogent plan to build an offense. It's no coincidence he didn't have a plan in Chicago where he used two extremely different OC's in Gary Crowton and John Shoop.

Obviously we like the guys we've got, and the guys before that we liked as well. I thought about making changes to the OL earlier in the off-season, and when you think about it, you have to do it. We have a lot to work to do protecting our QB.

Cowher will demand absolute personnel control if hired, in addition to a contract in excess of 6M per season. I don't see the Bills giving control to one man, nor paying that sort of salary. Cowher was backed up by some fine personnel executives in Pittsburgh, namely Kevin Colbert. At this point, it's not even a guarantee the team hires a legitimate personnel man for GM, let alone a HC. The owner's advanced age means he probably isn't going to spend big and hand out a long term contract. Still, Cowher would be an immense improvement. I'm just not sure he's the personnel guy people make him out to be.

All three of those guys were in their prime about 5-10 years ago, thus the pay structure is different. They all played outstanding football for a long time, but also didn't get the cold shoulder from their teams when it was time to get paid. Give me some links about the sacks allowed thing. And I'm sure there's something to refute your claims of how sacks allowed are calculated. Clady, Long, Baker, and Ogden were all first rounders. McNeill a mid second pick. And oh by the way, don't forget Ferguson (NYJ), Light (NE), Thomas (CLE), Roos (TEN), McKinnie (MIN), Brown (NO), et al who were first day picks that can play. Sense a trend here? Think any of those guys will get traded any time soon? Come back when you have some sources to back up your support for why it was necessary to trade Peters. And I want you to explain why you support so fervently an organization which has exactly one winning season this decade. Don't give me that "go follow another team" garbage either. Listening to you, the Bills have never or rarely are wrong. Hard to believe considering they're 63-89 this decade.

I'll play C. Biscuit for a moment here. What if the Bills hadn't gotten Wood with that pick? Would they be as bad? Probably, but what if the Bills didn't have Donte Whitner? They'd probably be just as bad too. The point is, among all of this is it's not individual players, aside from perhaps the play of this QB that affects the team. It's the management structure, from owner down to HC and assistants. Rosenhaus knew when TO went to Buffalo that the franchise was crappy, but his client had nowhere else to go. Frankly, agent and player had run out of options for the money they wanted, reluctantly agreeing to terms with a bottom of the basement franchise. Nothing changes in Buffalo until there is a competent GM, good HC, and everyone named Modrak, Guy, and Overdorf are fired. That and Brandon reverts back to being lead ticket salesman.

I hope this is correct. But how deeply will RW dig into those pockets to find new staff and fire the old ones. He'll never learn that paying personnel management types is the ticket to not having to waste money on players. If a new coach comes in, there will be a LOT of roster turnover. Because no coach is going to come here and accept being told what he can and can't do with the roster. The Bills will face reality this off-season when it comes to finding a coach, because they could end up like Washington did a few years ago: not having anyone willing to get into that mess and ruin his reputation. The deadskins ended up with Jim Zorn, who is not a HC by any means.

As normal, you leave several key issues out. And before rebutting your points, let me make one thing clear: Players own this league. Ergo, they generally get their way because ownership interested in winning will overpay for success. This is especially the case since the cap came into play 16+ years ago. Not saying it's right, but this is noteworthy. Your statistical backup is inherently flawed. As I said in another thread, Peters bashers go wherever they can get unproven numbers to validate their sentiment. This is apparent here. Not all sacks are easily credited to one man, although that's not to say he didn't yield some bad ones. Sacks can also be attributed to a QB holding onto the ball, passing late in blowouts, having inferior receivers, et al. 1) Peters' agent Eugene Parker had no out besides holding out. I do not agree with this, but it came on the heels of Russ Brandon echoing Wilson/Littman's stance that they would not renegotiate. Both sides assumed a hard stance, and both are equally at fault. 2) So Peters is no responsible for the other 4 guys not being good? Yes, you're talking about the since released Dockery, un-signed Fowler, Butler, and the since released Langston Walker. You're saying his presence alone should make all of them better? 3) College LT's don't see Julius Peppers, Mario Williams, and Dwight Freeney type DE's all that frequently. Even a guy coming up in the SEC won't see the caliber of pass rushers that any NFL LT will have. Few rookie LT's excel from the gate, especially 7th round project LT's with no game experience. As for trades, they don't take three years to evaluate. Ask the KC Chiefs who traded Jared Allen for picks. You don't trade Pro Bowl caliber QB's, LT's, or DE's in their prime for anything and expect to get better. Second, trading experienced veterans for draft picks will make your team younger and less effective at least temporarily. For a team that said they needed to make the playoffs, how is that making them better for 09? Answer: It isn't, but merely another out for management to say why they failed. After 9 seasons of bad football, the playoffs had to be their goal in 2009. And at this point, 7-1 or 8-0 is what it'll take to get there. Right now, I'm not sure if you don't care more about winning than defending this sad sack organization.

Welcome to TBD. The point you made is certainly valid and most NFL people know this, as evidenced by the multitude of franchises drafting LT's early. Unfortunately, many fans hate Peters so much that they cannot admit the LT position is the most difficult to play. And the reason is just as you stated: that LT's face the opponents best pass rusher each week. Few players in NFL history have been able to neutralize DE's, and those that are get paid. Unless of course it's Buffalo.

Put the beer down and stop starting mindless threads. Name a freakin player available that no one has signed 9 weeks into the regular season.

BB may be a jerk, but they've had a solid team for the better part of this decade. And as the HC, he finds ways to put the players in position to succeed. He, along with some sharp personnel execs, find the players that fit. In any given year, there are about 10 teams competing with pretenders comprising the remainder. Buffalo will be a pretender until they start letting football people make football decisions. One reason NE succeeds is their owner doesn't meddle, which is what RW feels is his right. It may be, but his track record of nearly 40 NFL seasons isn't good enough to justify his way.