BillsVet

Something tells me winning games might be bad if this is the person we need a cut-out of. Should we invest in voodoo dolls right now considering how the last few months have gone?

Tim Graham has hit the nail on the head again with this article. He makes a fine point about how the Bills deal with events surrouding the team. Peters' holdout, DJ's contract extension, Lynch's latest brush were all handled poorly. "Wilson never has been more out of favor. His preference to operate without a traditional general manager has frustrated the fan base, but not nearly as much as his decision to sell home games to a Toronto promoter." Attack him for being critical, but nothing what he says is less than the truth.

Boldin isn't coming here, regardless of how upset the fans are. Right now he's a fine WR that might be the most physical in the league. But his attitude in not getting a new contract multiple years before his current one ends sounds very familiar to another player I know. Any GM worth their salt (and this franchise doesn't have one) knows by now that making the splashy move during the off-season rarely translates into more wins during the regular season. Besides, no one seemed concerned with the fans when DJ was retained. If his firing resulted in a pay-out of 10M to fire him and his coaches, what makes anyone think the team would give away picks and give a guy a new contract with 15-20M guaranteed? Boldin will be 29 next season, and while he's got plenty of mileage left, I'm not sure he's the answer to making this team better. Having a solid front 7 and an OL which holds up are priorities, not satisfying the masses. They'll be happy if this team makes the playoffs with or without Boldin. EDIT: We know Russ Brandon has not power after the DJ non-firing. He's taking orders from Ralph and Littman when the day is over.

I don't think DJ had any choice for OC. At the time, he was in the final year of his contract and coming off a second 7-9 season. It was assumed (wrongly by many of us, including myself) that DJ needed to make the playoffs in 08 to retain his job. IIRC, there weren't any others considered for the OC job when Fairchild walked out the door. The Jenkins signing is merely the retention of a hard working ST type player. He'll never be a huge contributor on offense, but fits with what they're looking for.

Can't wait for someone to say the Jenkins signing is good on ST and people shouldn't mock the Bills for doing this. Last year, some fans were worried about ST sinking because guys like Haggan, Stamer, and Aiken left via UFA. A year later, the Bills are still the top ranked ST unit in the league. Signing Jenkins is nice for continuity (there I said it) but Bobby April is the one person you can't lose. Everyone else on the kick coverage units are replaceable.

The key is how McGee fits into this defense. He's not asked to be a shut-down 7 INT per season CB. Buffalo predominantly plays the C2 and CB's are responsible for their zone as well as being good against the run. McGee was banged up a little last year, but when the pass rush can't pressure the QB, the DB's are going to be hung out to dry. As an example, people are raving about Maualuga and his ability to play the run. Unfortunately, his cover skills aren't consistent with playing MLB in a C2. Greer entered the league at about 170 lbs. He's now listed at about 180, and durability will be an issue for him because he's maxed out his frame. I like his caliber of play, but if I had to choose, I'd take McGee.

Plenty of posters fit nicely into that category, particularly lately. Offeseasonitis or something. I think it's funny these armchair GM's just expect that putting McGee out there is an automatic trade waiting to happen. What they don't realize is if someone is available for trade, there must be a reason. I could see McGee re-signed before or during the 09 season. McGee fits the C2 better than Greer. The latter seems more suited to a man to man scheme.

Bogdan is listed as a VP and assistant director of college scouting on the Bills webpage. Aside from being the owner's daughter, I'm not sure she qualifies for anything more than being a family member. There's plenty of nepotism to go around in the NFL. But normally those family members are not in personnel positions which should be earned by working up from the scouting ranks. Perhaps the only exception is Chris Polian in Indianapolis who has not been allowed to speak with other teams about executive positions. It angers me that 16 years ago, Linda Bogdan had a hand in BP's firing. Regardless of whether Trader Bill was crude, it remains one of the darkest moments in team history. BP may not be the nicest guy, but his teams win while the Bills have been stuck in neutral since the last of his picks left in the late 90s.

Something must be in the water. Because there's no way McGee's not the best CB on this team right now. He may not lead the league in INT's or return kicks anymore, but he's a solid corner. Go ahead and refer to the game at Miami where an injured McGee had issues covering Ted Ginn. That wasn't his fault, it was the .430 career winning percentage of a HC who didn't have the courage to play his top pick. McGee will never be an All-Pro, but he's dependable. Considering the money, he's a good value as a CB. I recall McGee struggling to learn the C2 back in 06 and the game against Detroit instantly comes to mind. But in those two years since, he hasn't been victimized in coverage, and is above average playing the run. BTW, I love that term "trade bait." You can't expect to fetch any more than a 4th round pick in a trade, which means McGee is worth more than what you'll get in exchange for him.

Buffalo needs a lot of things right now. Mack is the popular pick because he's received a lot of attention, especially with excellent play at the Senior Bowl. Of all the years to add a good center, this may be the best one in a while. In UFA there's Brown, Birk, and Saturday. All three will command a large contract which makes me think Buffalo will look to the draft. The front runners there are of course Mack, but also Eric Wood, Max Unger, and A.Q. Shipley. Unger seems best suited to a dedicated zone blocking scheme, but I think Mack fits best for the Bills in the long run. I believe Buffalo looks to the draft for a center because they've got so much money wrapped up in the OL. They've thrown money at their problems and it doesn't work. I would hope by now they've learned their lesson.

I'm sure deep down Brett Favre still thinks he can play. Many of these professional athletes are competitors, and have a hard time facing the realty that they're not capable of playing at a high level. Garcia, Brad Johnson, Favre, and others stick around for too long. And they look even worse the longer they try to play.

I'd definitely agree there is a serious need at center. Yes, those big NT's are frequently handled by two blockers. The 3-4 looks for a pass rush from the OLB's. A front line is there to tie up blockers as you've pointed out. Hence, the larger DL in a 3-4.

Beg to differ here. A good center can hold his own against big interior defensive lineman. Guys like Saturday, Birk, Mangold, Olin Kreutz, J. Brown, and others hold up very well no matter which alignment they face. There's no hiding a bad center. The reason Buffalo ran well late in the season can be directly attributed to defenses saturating the secondary with defenders. And it wasn't like those defenses were any good. Unless you count Cleveland, KC, Denver, San Fran, and Miami. I'll admit, Buffalo ran well against NYJ, but it was clear the Jets weren't the team which beat Tennessee earlier in the season. Besides, the quickest way to the QB is through the middle of the line. It's one of the reasons the Bills were apprehensive about running the PA and having the QB turn his back to the LOS.

Your head was permanently lodged in your fourth point of contact for about four months leading up to draft day 08.

There is nothing in recent history which suggests the Bills will make a "splash" in FA that helps this team into the playoffs next year. Point to Dockery and Walker, but both were more of a wish than a guarantee of acquiring good players. They were not solid UFA acquisitions. I'd make the case that for the money, the team did better last off-season with Mitchell and Johnson. Too many fans are overestimating discontent among the masses as a principal reason to sign big names. Above all else, it's how many dollars come in versus how many go out. With Peters and Jackson looking for extensions, the team may sign 1-2 guys that are starting quality. As long as the team hits the minimum cap hit (approx. 102M), there's nothing forcing them to spend. Besides, even if they do, we already know John Guy and his folks aren't really all that hot anyway. I'll believe they're successful if they ever get something right. For now, I won't be placing any wagers.

Minnesota needed extensions to sell out their playoff game. They are one of the smallest of the small market teams, and I wouldn't be surprised if Zygi Wilf moved if he can't get a stadium built soon. Qualcomm Stadium is the fourth oldest stadium in the league behind Lambeau, Oakland-Alameda, and Candlestick. Both Lambeau and O-A have received plenty of upgrades since being built. Jacksonville, prospective new owners of Buffalo, and Minnesota are the teams to consider. San Diego could move up the road I suppose. I don't see the Saints moving anytime soon.

I don't recall any of the Levy/Polian era guys getting into trouble with the law as much as recent Bills have. If football character were the prevailing wisdom (of which I'm sure every team subscribes to) why in the heck was McCargo drafted. This whole thing demonstrates that all teams take risks and ultimately bend their rules in the interest of acquiring talented football players.

You're a character for making this a semantics argument. And please define football character. I'm interested in how that differs from just regular, blue collar, tell the truth character.

It's BS all right. And no one, least of all me, is comforted that the team's star RB has been arrested. The fact is, we were told the Bills would be looking for high character players while Levy was the GM. And every team in the league can say that, but it doesn't remove the fact that players can come from (EDIT: rough) upbringings and exhibit this sort of behavior. But I forgot that's BS.

Wasn't Levy only drafting players with character? Whoever runs the front office when Levy was there has taken guys like Lynch and Hardy who won't ever be considered character guys. The irony is, Lynch is a Levy pick, and he had some character concerns before the draft. So I guess Marv and Dick relented somewhat in order to acquire talent, and it's biting Buffalo in the behind. No one is immune from this stuff.

Jauron loves his guys, but I think this year he'll be overruled on personnel issues. That should have happened from Day 1, but it took until this off-season for people to realize that. Sinking two first round (top 15 picks), a 3rd, 2 4th's, a 6th, and 7th over the span of three seasons should have solved the problem. That and signing a multiple UFA's and we're debating going after an injury prone safety from Jauron's only winning season. It's amazing what this team has become. On draft day, DJ should be updating the big board with Ralphie, while Modrak makes the final decision. I'm not wildly crazy about TM, but he's light years beyond Brandon, Jauron, Linda Bogdan, and Ralph.

Jacobs is the start point for that offense now. He'll team with Bradshaw next season after Derrick Ward leaves in UFA. I'll always give the NYG the benefit of the doubt. Jerry Reese is a top-tier NFL GM, and like his predecessor Ernie Accorsi, knows how to handle personnel. He started as a scout and worked his way up, which is what all decent NFL GM's do. Jacobs has had some injuries these past few years, but his bruising style is unmistakable.

If this whole story is true, wouldn't it make sense for someone to have leaked this information to the press by now? I'm not saying this is or isn't true. But when a big name athlete is arrested on a felony, that sort of thing gets to the proper channels fast. Anyone who says this is official needs to calm down and wait. Something today's society is in short supply of.

I like this mode of thinking. Buffalo has to look big picture here, and finding a center to contain the Wilfork's, Jenkins', and whomever Miami throws out there is key to any offensive success. I wouldn't argue with trading down into the low 20s to secure Mack. That should bring a second rounder to drop 10-12 slots down, so long as they can make the move. The Bills have demonstrated an affinity for trading up, but this year it oughta be the exact opposite. Pettigrew is the most complete TE, but 11 is still too high. I'm not high on the DE's, and even though that's an issue, the offense is a bigger problem. At the same time, if this team reaches for a guy because they're too afraid to trade down, it isn't a wise move. I've never felt Buffalo's front office could out maneuver opposing front offices on draft day. I hope I'm proven wrong.

Anytime someone posts about the season before FA, draft, and all the practices it usually is mocked as sky-is-falling sentiment. But after last season's 2-8 finish, can a handful of UFA's and rookies make that big a difference? Before someone mentions Atlanta or Miami (and I've done it several times) let's remember who is still coaching and running this team. The only saving grace might be Modrak, but I suspect he won't have big control over pro personnel where UFA is run. It's nice to talk about the draft, but it'll be the free agents who probably dictate where this team goes. There are weaknesses at DE, SLB, C, and TE and I don't expect all of those positions to be solidified in FA. Everyone knows what we have in DJ. IMO, this team needs to stop getting the benefit of the doubt and start proving they are serious about winning. They put one foot in the hole when DJ was inexplicably retained. I'm not sure any amount of talent can overcome that.