Trader

I agree that some of the Starting Ol played Ok but were they really tested? The Bills ran plays designed to shelter them. Lots of short quick stuff and screens. That will work in the first pre season game but once teams know they really cannot go long it's going to be another story. Also there is a serious lack of experienced depth. The Bills need help here before the season starts.

Thrifty and Sears on sale.

I agree 100% the Bills are in a rebuilding mode. What they are rebuilding is the value of the Buffalo Bills franchise when it is auctioned off to the highest bidder. The Bills are creating positive cash flow which can be used to justify the 1 billion dollar bid that the franchise is looking for when it goes up for sale. You had something else in mind?

I vote the bottom 20% of the league. That translates to godawful

Who knows how he was in private but everything we observed as fans indicate that Evans is a class guy and if he did want to go to a contender he never bad mouthed the Bills or the city of Buffalo or the fans. I think this is a great deal for the Ravens and their fans. Baltimore will be my favorite NFC team this year because of Evans. I hope they go all the way!. I think that the Evans signing by the Ravens is very similar to the Lofton signing by the Bills during their super bowl years.

I am not a fan of buddy Nix. I like Buddy but he has not yet proven to me that he is a very good NFL General Manager. Lee was not going to get the Bills to the playoffs. Lee needed to go to a contender the Bills are not a contender and they will not be a contender for the balance of Lee Evans career. Also the Bills were not going to do better than a 4th for Evans. The better question to ask is: What will they now do with the extra cap room?

Actually as summer goes on I am starting to care less and less. Golf, the beach, spending time with my family and following the Sabres moves has filled spare time. . I may do some more fishing than I have in the past. I like firearms target shooting and may even add an archery league. I am adjusting very well to life without football and to tell you the truth I will be golfing on weekends early in the fall, fishing and hunting later. The game simply is not what it used to be to me anymore. I really like college and high school football and attention to those sports will fill the void for me. The NFL is going to have to win my dollars back. Right now the NFL is locked out as far as I am concerned.

I also consider myself a libertarian. There is nothing in a collective bargaining agreement that would interfere with that philosophy. Any player or potential player can simply choose to opt out and so something else. Just like libertarians can choose to surrender some of their liberty when thy choose to marry for example. It's not a philosophical conflict.

I wonder if the new agreement will have an effect on Wilson's position that he will own the team until his demise? The Bills did not spend to the cap for the past several years. The new agreement is rumored to require teams to maintain a high level of cash to the cap. If Wilson does not like this deal he may elect to bail out early. Also keep in mind that team revenues are expected to climb considerably during the next few years. The Bills estimated franchise value decreased by over 100 million as recently reported. Do you think he will bail out if he does not like the deal?

The ugly truth is that Buffalo, Niagara Falls and it's suburbs are not city enough to support even one professional franchise let alone two. From a demographic standpoint the news is even worse. WNY has an aging population that is not being replaced with enough young people. The exodus of large corporations continues. Only a strong alliance north of the border can save the Bills and the Sabres. In fact without such support both franchises would be in serious trouble.

This CBA will determine the fate of the Bills in the post Wilson Era. If it's friendly to small market teams than the Bills have a chance to stay here. If the deal is very punitive to small market teams than they are lame ducks. The extent to which revenue is shared is critical. The problem is that corporations are the customers now and WNY lacks large corporate customers. There is no way to change that in a hurry the distribution of revenue and the amount of cash each team has to spend on compensation as mandated by the league will be the central issues. Either way the handwriting will be on the wall. The average fan is a second class customer in this situation.

OJ was a true superstar a once in a generation player. Your heart was in your mouth as soon as he was by the line of scrimmage. He would shift gears and be gone. Someone else said a homerun hitter. Take nothing away from Thurman also a great player. Thurman was more complete as a player he would block and catch better than OJ. OJ was part Jim Brown and part Gale Sayers.

I agree completely someone compared Buffalo to Pittsburgh. Buffalo is not even in the same league in terms of corporate HQ's that Pittsburgh is. Other than M&T bank, Rich Products and Moog Buffalo is dismal in terms of large corporate presence - those people buy the box seats.

The NFL labor dispute makes 2011 a great year to NOT draft a QB. The abreviated pre season will make the year a disaster for the rookie QB class. The bills brain turst should be commended for not drafting one rather than be criticized for it. When the season does start the emphasis should and will be on filling this roster with long term starters and role players rather than obtaining stop gap interm players who will not be around in 2-3 years. The only QB who has a chance of being productive this year is Newton who will adlib a lot of the time.

How about Henry Hynoski FB from Pitt? He looks like a Buffalo kind of player and with Wandstadt here we know a lot about him.

Brooks Reed Az DE (OLB)

Good point Beerball I was just clarifying my question on the post which appeared to drift off the topic for a while. I was trying to bring back the thread back to my original question which reflects my thought that this is a very different year with the labor situaion.

Is this year different because of the absence of a collective bargaining agreement? Remember there is no trading of players, no signing of free agents and no trading of players for draft picks. My point is that this year teams will be forced to draft for need more than ever before because there is not other way to strengthen a weak position.

They will not draft Watt at 3 they would take Miller. If they do trade down Miller will not likely be there then they will draft Watt. I did not spell it out I know so I apologize for the confusion. the closer to the draft the higher Watt will climb.

It appears that there will not be a significant free agent period prior to the 2011 Draft taking place. I believe that teams will draft for need in 2011 rather than Best Player available more than they have in the past. The exception being QB. My prediction is that the Bills would draft Cam Newton if they had a chance. Don't worry Cam haters because they won't get the chance he will be gone because he is the best football player to come along in years. Newton will be in the pro bowl someday. You guys who think Newton is a bust are wrong. The Bills will draft Von Miller or JJ Watt with their first pick. They will feign interest in Gabbert in hope of a trade if they can do a deal the Bills will pick Watt or Jordan if they cannot do a trade the pick will be Von Miller. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

I would be shocked if Newton does not go in the top three. He would have to pull a Rothlesberger to fall out of the top five. Newton is the most talented football player to come out of the draft in many years.

Gabbert's is growing on me too. I heard that he did not throw an interception or an incompletion at the combine!. Of couse he did not throw any completions either LOL!

The interviews do not indicate that we will take one of the four. Remember there is no reason to interview either Ponder or McElroy because they were the South QB's at the Senior bowl.

Don't waste your time worrying about Cam Newton he will likely go number one overall. Not my call a guy by the name of Gil Brandt said he would be "shocked", if Newton did not go number one in the draft. This was reported by Pro Football Talk.com But what does Gil Brandt know?

OJ Simpson - He was a sure thing just like a couple of girls I dated. Willis Magahee- He was a sure thing. Richie Lucas - His Name sounded like a future hall of famer and I was very young and dumb! And his name sounded like a sure thing... What changed? I got married, she was a sure thing! I am not young any longer!