BillsVet

And in 2009, the Bills schedule won't be a bunch of pushovers they found a way to lose to as in 08. They'll face off against their division rivals, along with the AFC and NFC South. If that's not sobering, I don't know what is. Being at the Cleveland and SF games, Buffalo was handed the game many times and could not find a way to score. I have a feeling the team will see a lot of people walk away, especially with the combination of keeping DJ and doing practically nothing in free agency. Can't wait to hype the draft that they're depending on.

Great post. I feel the same way. I check for free agent news and look forward to the draft (probably too much) but I have no belief whatsoever that this team will improve in 2009 and make the playoffs. Maybe this is management's exit strategy for leaving the Buffalo area when RW eventually passes. I don't know, but it's clear the attempt to win now isn't there. If it were, RW would have fired DJ (he's fired coaches before for lesser reasons) and hired a real GM. As it stands, neither came to fruition and free agency hasn't inspired much.

Leave it to the Bills to hype draft day as a time to find players (other than RB's) who will make an immediate impact. Rookies usually struggle, especially those taken after the first round. The Bills have one first round pick, and if they're lucky will get some production there. Truth is, DJ won't play rookies if he can find a way. Case in point was McKelvin not playing for McGee at Miami. But guys like Lynch and Posluszny will play when there's absolutely no one else on the depth chart. Those rookies should be expected to be contributors in 2-3 years, not immediately. It was unbelievable that Buffalo thought Hardy would come in as a second rounder and make plays. He wasn't ready, and it showed later in the season.

I've been a fan since the late eighties/early nineties as well. And IMO, what we're seeing is the final goodbye to this franchise. I didn't expect to see Haynesworth or Houshmandzadeh signed, but I didn't think they'd sign the three they have. The Bills are coasting along until Mr. Wilson passes and the team is sold. The priority since TD was canned is to keep the books in good shape for the inevitable sale. Everything fits nicely: keeping DJ, selling games to Toronto, not spending in UFA, and relying on hype that never is fulfilled. I've only had seasons for two years, and in the words of a good friend who I went to games with, "I'm just tired of losing." After what I've seen in UFA, I don't think the turnaround is coming this season. Some will wait until the absolute last minute to see that there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel. Others are reading the writing on the wall.

Frankly speaking, the Bills aren't much better as a team today than they were on the final weekend of the regular season. Someone will chime in with the, "we don't play games until September" speech, but there are two principal ways to acquire players. One is free agency and the other is the draft and both take place in the March-April timeframe. For all the talk there is of players who are released, that's not a viable way to build a winner. Ralph Wilson did say the Bills were under-talented, and yet his handpicked front office has responded in underwhelming fashion since UFA opened on 2/27. The coach who arguably lost games this season with poor clock management and personnel decisions is still on board. Millions of cap room will be on the books only to be wiped away unused. You almost have to wonder if they know this is the exit the strategy. Three straight 7-9 seasons and nine years without a playoff appearance wear down a fan base, and rightly so. For the time being, they're putting a team on the field they hope can compete. If they don't, no big deal, as long as people show up to watch. If they don't attend, they can blame the economy even though fans find ways to go to sporting events.

We won't know which team's will be good or bad for awhile. But I don't think most fans are confident that DJ and his staff can out-maneuver most opposing coaching staffs, no matter which team. DJ's been beaten by everyone from the likes of Belichick, to rookie coaches like Sparano, to in-season replacements such as Singletary and bad coaches like Crennel. Going 7-9 against the league's second easiest schedule was a major failing after three years of rebuilding. Now with potentially a strong list of opponents, it will be a major challenge to hit .500. And it looks like they'll head into the season with few difference makers from FA and rookies. It's the same thing they've tried before. And unlike ATL and MIA, Buffalo doesn't have the coaching staff to make up for it.

I don't think anyone expects a rookie to grab 50 passes for 800 yards. But that showing last year was horrible for any rookie WR. 9 catches for 87 yards and 2 TD's. I understand the Bills wanted to bring him along slowly, but that's not a good sign when a 7th rounder surpasses him on the depth chart. The injury obviously will make him hurry to catch up. It's surprising that he was their answer to addressing the WR position opposite Evans. Entrusting a rookie to produce from the outset is mindless. And that's something the Bills have done for many years now.

The offseason has been spent undoing much of what Levy/Jauron did in 06-07. Dockery, Royal, and Fowler are out the door. If Lynch is gone, it fits a convenient message that seems to be out there. And it is simply that they feel is necessary to cut out the weeds and grow newer, less controversial players. They may think Jackson is good enough to be a starter, and he's an intriguing option. Jackson's wear and tear isn't nearly as significant as most 28 year old backs. He played Arena ball, in NFL Europe, and other leagues. It's not as though he's got 300+ carries on those legs for the past 6 seasons. All of the backs brought to Buffalo are experienced in sharing carries. That's very noteworthy.

I'm amazed that fans believe it's a benefit to save money when there's upward of 20M left in cap space. Will this be highlighted IF the team struggles in 2009? I highly doubt it. Most fans forget that the first LB off the bench in 08 was Keith Ellison, as he was in 07 and 06. It's looking increasingly likely that he'll fill that role again. So there's savings there, but it doesn't translate onto the field of play. Depth on the OL, depth at TE, etc, is the casualty of not using the cap space. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

June is a weakside LB who is not adept at shedding blocks. WLB's operate in space and should have good speed in pursuit. He may have some tread left on the proverbial tires, but Mitchell is best suited to WLB, as he played in NY and Buffalo. Adding June would probably force Buffalo to move Mitchell, and that's sort of an unknown. Either way, it's still a potential signing and one that many fans thought would happen 2 seasons ago.

All important points and IMO a logical conclusion. Ultimately, I believe most of the financial dealings stem from Littman. He's steering this ship more than most want to realize and has for many years. Maximizing profits and keeping their operating costs down seems to be the priority. The only barrier RW has from spending less on players is the mandate to spend 86.4% of the 127M salary cap per the CBA. As long as that's spent, there is no mandate to do anything else. Not spending on coaches, a GM, selling the stadium naming rights, nothing. There is a reason to all of this, and any business potentially up for sale wants the least amount of debt to value ratio. The Bills have that, and benefit from the NFL's TV contract. It makes them even more attractive for an outside buyer to take them elsewhere. Not much is holding them back.

Royal will be with Cleveland when they play Buffalo this season. He'll probably catch a TD and go for 100 yards.

Bills CB's since 06: Clements-left in UFA 07 McGee-contract up after 09 Greer-left in UFA 09 Webster-UFA 07 McKelvin-1st round 08 K. Thomas-UFA 06, released before 08 Youboty-3rd round 06 Corner-4th round 07 W. James-UFA 08, released Florence-UFA 09 Fox-Street FA 07 Bills safeties since 06 Leonhard-UDFA 05 Vincent-UFA 04; released early 06 Whitner-1st round 06 Simpson-4th round 06 Bowen-UFA 06 Scott-Street FA 07 Wilson-UDFA 05 Wendling-6th round 07 Cox-7th round 08; released That's 20 guys who have or will line up at safety or cornerback for this franchise in 4 seasons. I can't imagine what it'd be like if that much attention went to the DL or OL. The mismanagement of the secondary demonstrates a serious issue with personnel. I'm not surprised, given that the front office has remained relatively the same for many years.

I asked the question in another thread about what has Buffalo done in the past three years to make this team better. Free Agency has been almost a wash, the drafts haven't been what many initially thought they'd be. We have no GM. Ralph is 90, etc, etc, etc. How can anyone go to bat for an organization run by primarily the same people for the past 7-8 years which finds new depths year after year? I certainly can't, and this free agency period has followed the same course of 2006: find cheap talent you hope outplays their contract. If they don't, it was a small investment anyway. Meanwhile, hope to be competitive, but if not don't be horrible.

Russ Brandon is to Ralph Wilson like Robin is to Batman. Russ makes some nice quotes, gets angry every once in awhile, but has no substance. He didn't have much say when the decision was made to fire Jauron. He's so far headed a front office without any real personnel experience. The real measure of Brandon and how Ralph thinks of him occurred when Brandon was all but left out of the DJ renegotiation. With that stamp of approval, what's next, negotiating wages for the snow shovelers in December?

The offense averaged about 18 ppg last year. The price for Coles may have been high, but the frustration from losing because the offense had issues scoring will be much worse. Who exactly is going to explode and diversify the passing game? Either way, Edwards is being set up for failure. A QB coach who highlights his association with Bill Walsh in every conversation, a HC with a 57-76 career record, issues on the OL, and one receiver to go along with several #3 and #4 type receivers.

Butler wasn't fired. He decided working for Ralph, Littman, and Bogdan was too much and left for SD. Again, please highlight five decisions the front office made which has contributed to Buffalo's success. I'll give you one: Signing Jason Peters during the summer of 06 to a 5 yr deal in the hopes he could play tackle. I want to know why people like you trust the Bills front office. I believe their judgment is poor, as evidenced by the lack of success since 2001. Modrak, Guy, Brandon, Overdorf, Littman, Bogdan, Ralph and others have been running the show for awhile and cannot deliver. Yet when the times comes to make a change, they decide to keep things status quo.

Give me your top 5 Bills moves since Donahoe was fired then. Then tell us how those moves are/have put the Bills on the track toward making the playoffs.

It's laughable that fans come to this board to vent about the status of the team, and are called out for complaining. Apparently the following isn't bad enough: 1. A 90 year old owner with no plans to provide for succession after he's gone. 2. Hiring an 80 year who worked as a GM for 2 years with poor results. 3. First hiring a reject from Chicago as HC and then retaining him after his last 10 games resulted in a 2-8 record. 4. Selling games to Toronto for an average of 9M+ per game which we're told won't go for better players. 5. Now not having a legitimate NFL GM to handle personnel. 6. Missing the playoffs 9 straight seasons, the last of which occurred in a year when Tom Brady was done for the season. 7. Finishing winless in the division for the first time in more than 30 years in 08. 8. Seeing 13 of 14 free agents from 06-07 be cut by the beginning of the 09. 9. Free Agency 09 which so far has resulted in backups on other teams asked to start or be the top backup for ours. 10. Most likely going to go with much the same group of players that could not win 10 games with the second easiest schedule in the NFL. 11. Knowing full well that the schedule will be much tougher in 09. When people want to be optimistic, those are the items I think of. Perhaps more exist. Optimism for Bills fans is removing yourself from reality and going into the land of make believe. As in making believe the Bills are contenders for the post-season.

Don't assume I'd complain about any signing. Signing Coles would have been a force multiplier, in that Edwards' progression would benefit from a seasoned and capable WR. He'd be the first legit #2 WR since Evans was drafted in 04-and at that point Evans was a rookie. The market didn't offer much in the way of guys who've produced and aren't 34. Coles is slightly younger and I think has some decent years ahead of him. Now there's essentially nothing but ash and trash out there. The key is, would you pay 7M per year for a proven WR or gamble that Hardy or Johnson can step up? It's going to take some time to play out, but if the Bills passing game suffers because the aforementioned youngsters aren't developing, 7M wouldn't look bad. Besides, who else are they going to acquire to make either side of the ball that much better?

Also, let the record show that Buffalo was out-bid by Mike Brown's Cincinnati Bengals. The same Mike Brown who won't hire a GM. The same Mike Brown who is known for his frugality. And he outspent Buffalo.

Coles was paid more than I think he was worth. But I recall a lot of fans who assumed the Bills would make some moves with their cap room to get fans back after keeping DJ. They just didn't think it'd be a backup QB, lifelong backup C, and nickel CB. The "big move" everyone assumed would happen because DJ was retained isn't going to. I don't see another player out there to significantly improve this team. Instead they'll keep looking for reclamation projects they hope can play. I thought we learned after 2006 that spending on lesser players won't work. Guess they're relying on draft day to hype the team. Par for the course, now all we need is Chris Brown with his cheerleader pieces.

Lots of players show flashes. McCargo did. So did Simpson and Youboty, but it doesn't mean they'll do anything. One thing with Hardy is he doesn't seem to have a feel for the pro game. At times he was completely lost (running incorrect routes) and his route running seems even less than what's expected from a rookie. There's a lot of time left, but you don't draft a guy in the second and hope he takes the pressure off the WR and even QB. The fact is, he's an unknown entity, and basing your offense around a guy like that is a huge gamble.

They've got their 2 30+ year old receivers for Palmer to throw to. Edwards has Evans and little else aside from slot receiver-on-most-teams-but-#2 here Josh Reed. High price, but it allows Cincy to concentrate on OL and DL in the draft. Buffalo meanwhile still requires help all over.

Who? There wasn't a whole lot available in UFA. Looking back the Bills are plagued by the same issues year after year. They legitimately believed Hardy would solve their problems as a #2WR. It's important to think about that for a moment. They trusted their passing game in some part to a rookie WR who wasn't asked to run a NFL like route tree with character issues. That's not a calculated risk, that's a huge gamble. Not surprisingly, he didn't fare well in his rookie season. Now, we're back at square one looking for a #2. It's the same at OG, LB, etc. This team in its current form isn't all that much different from the team who went 7-9 against the 2nd easiest schedule in the league next season. How will they fare against the AFC South, AFC North, and AFC East?