BillsVet

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?

They can't draft much of anything, besides a CB here and there. There isn't an area on this team that is much improved (from a personnel and financial standpoint) than when Donahoe exited. One could argue the RB's are better, but this is the easiest area of the team to improve. Aside from that it's been a treadmill. Buffalo is still banking on under the radar UFA's to improve the team, which is strangely similar to their method after 05.

Buffalo has made Edwards the starter and needs excellent play from him this year for any hope to make the playoffs. At the same time, outside of Evans there is no one in the passing game to keep defenses honest. Reed, Parrish, St. Johnson, Hardy, and Jenkins are not dependable complementary receivers. Not yet at least, although Reed could play the slot quite well, but remains only a short yardage type and out of position as a #2. The TE's consist of Fine, Schouman, and Stupar who have a combined 4 years of NFL experience. With injury time, it's much less. Lynch and Jackson are fine out of the backfield, but depending on RB's in the passing game without a decent WR corps is tantamount to planning failure. I'm not saying Coles will mean Edwards throws for 4000 yards and 30 TD's, but leaving him with those options is setting him up for failure. Drafting a WR last year with raw speed, questionable hands, and little ability to run a NFL route tree was laughable. It looks like nothing has changed. Hardy not only must overcome his injury, but learn to do the things he couldn't do last season. Doing it while rehabbing isn't going to happen anytime soon.

I think it's noteworthy to recall how many picks and FA dollars have been dumped into the secondary. In 06 DJ and Levy inherited Clements, McGee, and Greer. They signed Kiwaukee Thomas in FA and drafted Whitner, Youboty, and Simpson. Jim Leonhard was there as well, a former UDFA. In 07, they signed Jason Webster and drafted Wendling. They picked up Bryan Scott as a street free agent. In 08, they signed Will James and drafted McKelvin, Corner, and Cox. Dustin Fox was signed as a SFA. Now, they've signed Florence to a modest contract. That's no less than 17 guys who have or will play in the secondary in 4 seasons. 3 inherited, 7 drafted, 3 street free agents, and four UFA's. I'm not astounded by the amount of players Buffalo's employed in the secondary, but it's indicative of serious issues in personnel. Some will hail the Florence signing, but the track record demonstrates anything but.

Chris Mortimerson, I know you check this board. Please help us get Tom Donahoe back. Plz! Just kidding. There should be a TSW wonderlic or something. Maybe even a Saints LB coach asking questions of applicants for this message board.

Josh McDaniels is in trouble, and if they want to trade away Scheffler and unnecessarily blow up their roster, I'd offer a fourth initially. Perhaps a third, but nothing more. Scheffler fits the Bills model: young, improving, experienced player flying under the radar.

I say you never give up a first for wide receivers who injure themselves in the offseason and then don't admit it. Marshall is a talent, but this team needs more than a receiver to get to the playoffs. They should be using a first to address their shortage of talent on the DL and making the front 7 better.

Don't you attack Marv Levy's tenure as GM! Decisions like re-signing Kelsay to a big contract had side effects that the Levy front office never realized or minimized. When they gave Dockery that big deal, it had ramifications. I think Marv and Jauron are good people. But they couldn't build a football with 10 first rounders. They have loads of book smarts but pretty much nothing for street smarts. No one could complain about naming an octogenarian as GM three years ago. Now that the shine has worn off, there's no doubt it set Buffalo back. 3+ seasons of rebuilding illustrate this.

Schefter is a league reporter, and his network like all others will cater to big name moves for obvious reasons. It may come as a shock to some Bills fans, but Buffalo doesn't make a lot of groundbreaking moves. And that's okay if they can win some games for the first time in a decade. I'm sure few people really covered Atlanta much about a year ago, especially when Mike Smith was named HC. But they built the framework for a team that can win long term. Besides, even Schefter can't know every move or player on 32 rosters. At this time of year, teams making the big moves will get plenty of coverage. And they'll be mocked in about 8 months for foolishly paying players they should not have.

Sounds as though Hangartner was a late bloomer who may have suffered by playing multiple positions. I'll give him and (I can't believe I'm saying this) the front office some benefit of the doubt. I think we'll know relatively quickly if he's capable of being a super sub or legitimate starting NFL center.

I'd think Buffalo would be interested because Scheffler is a guy with plenty of good years left. Turns 26 this year, and has experience. During this free agency period, Buffalo's signed 2 guys they think have upside. It's a risk to bank on these guys, but it's cap friendly and they could very well outplay their contracts. Both seem like the antithesis of me type players, but they've got to be more than hard workers. They've got to have talent no matter how much they're paid. Scheffler seems to fit into that realm, and if available, I'd start with a fourth and give up no more than a 3rd if worse came to worse. It'd be one less thing to worry about on draft day.

Dr T, I'd say the 11th pick can have an impact, but it has to be a hit. Missing on any further 1st-3rd round picks for this team is tantamount to continued mediocrity as UFA will not be used to fill more than a few holes. There is an absolute mandate to win this year, but the odds are long against the Bills. They have to play HOU, IND, JAC, TEN, ATL, CAR, NO, and TB. And then the normal NE, MIA, and NYJ. Not to mention KC and CLE. That's a challenging schedule which I agree will not be made easier with Dick Jauron, Turkey Schonert, and Perry Fewell coaching. Buffalo had 56k+ season ticket holders last season. And I think it'll decrease 10-15%, but there's a prepared response: the economy. They won't admit, beyond RW after terrible games, that the Bills product is among the worst in the NFL.

Buffalo is clearly looking for younger players with upside. While I'm not crazy about the front office, this strategy is their method, and banking on established (and thus high paid) veterans who may be on the downside is not the answer. It's also risky, but making moves like signing Hangartner and Fitzpatrick are cap friendly acquisitions, and not intended to satisfy the fan base. So many fans on here assumed the Bills would sign big names to placate the fans because the team missed the post season and Jauron was kept. Either way, Buffalo must make the playoffs this season. That would make fans forget UFA and their initial dissatisfaction.

Ryan Kalil was their starting center this past season. The book on Hangartner has yet to be written in Buffalo, but the was their top reserve. Not sure if that's good or bad. Point is, picking up guys you hope have potential is a risky bet. Low cost and cap friendly sure, but what result will this yield. At the outset it sounds like a 2006 signing. He'll be thrown into the fire really quick with the schedule Buffalo plays this year. Remember, 13 of the 14 UFA's Buffalo signed in 06-07 are now gone. That sort of track record gets you promoted in Buffalo.

Royal to Jets? I can't think of a better place for him to end up. Probably won't get big money on the market, but he'd be the blocking TE that he should be. Well, on second thought if he ended up in Miami or New England, but they're not that dumb.

Erik Ainge. That trio of QB's is going to be their undoing if they go into the season with as little experience they have there. Perhaps Rex Ryan is trying to turn the Jests into Baltimore North. Awesome defense and hopefully enough offense to score 17 ppg. Frankly, they'll have issues getting the offense going when Thomas Jones is your starting back, with Cotchery and Keller the targets in the passing game. Ryan has sounded like Greggg a little, and while I think he's better than Williams, Mike Tannenbaum is still running that team. And his track record ain't great, particularly on draft day.

He's the a** who posted how the Bills had signed Coles and followed with a thread about a kid getting an autograph yesterday. Some posters clearly don't think and just blurt out their opinions or post lame threads which aren't even remotely funny. The would-be comedians who know nothing about this team abound during this time of year. And they return to the board like the swallows of Capistrano. He's one of them.

I think the point to all of this remains that fans want a move to hang their proverbial hat on. And it's just not going to happen this year. The FA crop was pretty weak to begin with, and improving a team drastically through UFA is hard already. Spending money to appease fans isn't the right way to go about it. OTOH, after falling to 2-8 down the stretch, retaining the lame duck HC, Lynch's legal problems, and dealing with the Peters holdout, Bills fans need something now. Buffalo has been rebuilding over the past 3 seasons and still hasn't had any success. Increasingly the team is viewed as a laughingstock around the league, especially when Jauron was kept around. They're not going to sign a high priced FA just for the fans sake. At the same time, building through the draft is slow and in an era where patience is going out of style, isn't quick enough. Then again, Bills fans have already waited 9 seasons for success, doing nothing in UFA is pushing it for most of them.

He's not starting material, and it goes back to during the season. IIRC, he was put in for Butler while the latter was hurt. He didn't fare all too well, and didn't return to the interior. His role on this team is as a swing tackle and first OT off the bench should an injury occur.

As long as Dick Jauron and his entire staff take a four month cruise beginning around September 1st we'll be fine. Otherwise, the Bills will be fighting their opponents and trying not to be undone by their coaching staff. After what Schonert was talking about this week, I don't think they'll ever be able to maximize what they've got here. Dick Jauron's clock mismanagement will reappear and we'll be saying the same things we did two months ago.

Great avatar. Ralph would be happy if you'd help design Buffalo's 50th anniversary logo.

I think the Bills didn't want a guy who would (not himself) cause a QB controversy if TE wasn't perfect. Don't mind Fitzpatrick at this point.

Fair enough. I'm not big on giving the front office the benefit of the doubt, but I will for some reason. Still wouldn't mind adding guys in the draft to the OL. Hope DJ is listening and doesn't think it's okay to grab another DB. Heaven knows we need studs on the OL and DL.

Not sure if any UFA is paid beneath their value. His versatility is a plus, but I'd rather have a guy with one position that he plays well than 2-3 which are OK. Can't comment on the contract because it may not even be signed yet. I do know the Panthers are drafted Ryan Kalil in the second a few years back. He is now the starting center there. I'd like to say I trust the Bills and their personnel people, but they need to hit on some players first. The margin of error is zero in my book. That said, I think going after Alex Mack would still be a good move if they could move down on draft day.

Wonderful post. I've learned that posting about demanding accountability is pointless because there are fans who don't see their favorite teams as anything more than a casual pursuit. And when you lodge legitimate claims as you have here, they respond by coming up with excuses about how things aren't as bad. Truth is, what event in this decade can anyone point to and say was a great moment in Bills history. There hasn't been a high water mark and frankly some people don't care. Anyone who complains is too hard on the organization. I think though the hard core fans are starting to see that this isn't going away with the current regime.