Bills Free Agents after This Year

[MattM]

I finally found a site that lists pending free agents after the coming season and here's our list:

 

Pos Player Name FA Status Previous Team Current Team

QB Gibran Hamdan UFA Buffalo Bills

QB J.P. Losman UFA Buffalo Bills

RB Fred Jackson RFA Buffalo Bills

WR Justin Jenkins RFA Buffalo Bills

WR Roscoe Parrish UFA Buffalo Bills [WRONG--EXTENDED LAST YEAR]

TE Kevin Everett UFA Buffalo Bills

OG Kirk Chambers UFA Buffalo Bills

OT Patrick Estes UFA Buffalo Bills

C Melvin Fowler UFA Buffalo Bills

C Christian Gaddis ERFA Buffalo Bills

OL Duke Preston UFA Buffalo Bills

DL Copeland Bryan RFA Buffalo Bills

DL Ryan Neill ERFA Buffalo Bills

LB Angelo Crowell UFA Buffalo Bills

LB John DiGiorgio RFA Buffalo Bills

LB Keith Ellison RFA Buffalo Bills

LB Kevin Harrison RFA Buffalo Bills

CB Jabari Greer UFA Buffalo Bills

CB Kiwaukee Thomas UFA Buffalo Bills

FS George Wilson UFA Buffalo Bills

http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/fr...Team&y=2009

 

Out of this list, I've highlighted the UFA's that we may want to try to keep.

 

If we get Evans (and possibly Peters) done this offseason as I expect, this really just leaves Crowell, Greer and Wilson as starters/key subs who we'll potentially be losing. I also see us keeping Ellison and DiGiorgio and Jackson out of the RFAs.

 

Personally, I suspect that Greer will be gone after this season, as he'll be too expensive to keep, especially if he ends up being a decent nickel back/starter who wants a shot to be a clear starter somewhere. I also suspect his contract status explains at least part of why McKelvin was our top pick. Wilson is nice depth, but if he gets beaten out by Ko, then it's not too great a loss. With respect to Crowell, if he has a monster season we can still franchise him--if not, then he may be affordable to resign longer term if we want to.

 

All in all, I think we're in very good shape. To me, the most likely scenario is lock up Evans and Peters (or should I say, make Peters happy) this summer and then next year let Greer and Wilson walk (along with Fowler), and re-sign Crowell or tag him. If the past is any indicator of the Bills approach in FA, they'll also sign one or possibly two starters next year from the FA's available. TE (Desmond Clark, anyone?) and/or C would be nice in that regard, as well as locking up 2-3 of our other younger players like they've done this year and last, which would leave our draft something like the following:

 

1. DE (to replace Schobel, who's getting up there in age);

 

2 and 3 C and TE if we don't go the FA route--if we do go that route, then we'd be in the enviable spot of BPA after round 1.

 

Interesting to note that not many teams are in dire straits any more with respect to FA--the lesson seems to be to lock your players up before they get there.....

[Chandler#81]

I'd only add that, IMO, Fowler isn't as bad as many think. Yes, he's no Kent Hull but he will have had 2 years calling line signals with this OL and there's something to say for consistency there. I wouldn't rule out the FO looking to keep him here- if the asking price is reasonable.

[lets_go_bills]

How the season pans out will certainly dictate how we go about addressing our roster. Naturally if Crowell has a big year he'll hit FA looking for a big deal. Buffalo won't franchise him, IMO. I like Crowell though, and he's a well rounded player who's only 26. His best football is probably still be ahead of him.

 

If McKelvin shows promise, or even starts opposite McGee (which I think he will), Greer will be allowed to walk.

 

We must re-sign Evans. And I'm sure we will lock up Peters, maybe not until next year though.

 

But there are a lot of unknowns here:

 

Who will be the starting FS? Simpson or Wilson?

Will Schobel and Kelsay have good years with Stroud and McCargo/Johnson/Williams in the middle eating space and occupying blockers?

How does rookie DE Ellis figure into the mix?

Will Fowler be re-signed or will they let him walk and look for a bigger replacement?

 

All these factors and more figure into our future plans, but we can't be sure until the season is over and we have a clearer picture of where we stand as a football team.

 

But I like where your head is, there's not much to talk about regarding football these days. The offseason is so long and we're experiencing a lull here until camp opens July 27. Then the fun begins. We'll see whose gonna start, who looks good, etc. Then pre-season and BAM! Seattle's in town before you know it.

 

C'mon, Sept 7th!

[HurlyBurly51]

Nice post. I think you're right in that Greer suddenly may be the FA that's too expensive to keep. Good thing our FO drafts CB's early in the draft

 

Also, good thing Fred Jackson is a RFA, as I see him continuing to build his value. I will relent and agree that the next draft marks the perfect opportunity to address some quality OL depth, with Chambers and Fowler becoming a FA. With JP all but gone, we should bring in a veteran QB who can lead us through a series of games if need be. All in all, I think this displays good intermediate term planning by our FO. I'd like to see Crowell retained, but not with the franchise tag. So we could be looking for DE, C, TE, OT, and possibly LB, depending on FA. WTH, throw a WR in the mix too

[lets_go_bills]

I'd only add that, IMO, Fowler isn't as bad as many think. Yes, he's no Kent Hull but he will have had 2 years calling line signals with this OL and there's something to say for consistency there. I wouldn't rule out the FO looking to keep him here- if the asking price is reasonable.

 

Good point. You're right. This will be two years together with the same line. Consitency and the gellin' together should yield strong returns. This O-Line ought to be a team strength by season's end, if not sooner. It will be hard to justify breaking them up.

 

Fowler is good, he's just a little small and he does have trouble taking on big DTs. But he is smart and makes the right line calls.

[HurlyBurly51]

Good point. You're right. This will be two years together with the same line. Consitency and the gellin' together should yield strong returns. This O-Line ought to be a team strength by season's end, if not sooner. It will be hard to justify breaking them up.

 

Fowler is good, he's just a little small and he does have trouble taking on big DTs. But he is smart and makes the right line calls.

 

There's something to be said for continuity re: OL play, but upgrading 1/5 of the line could be dealt with. Fowler needs to be upgraded.

[ax4782]

I'd like to see Fowler retained, even if he isn't going to be our starter. He would be a very good quality backup who could rotate in if necessary. I agree that the three guys you highlighted are keys, though I wouldn't bet that Jabari Greer will walk away. I have a feeling the Bills are going to sign him to an extension. I also see Buffalo re-signing DiGiorgio and Ellison to maintain some quality depth at LB, which is hugely important knowing what happened last season. Both guys can play and give solid every down effort and depth at LB if they are needed. Buffalo's concentration in the upcoming draft should be on getting solid help on the O-Line for depth and looking forward. The LT and LG positions are going to be locked up long term with Dockery having 6 more years on his deal and Peters likely getting an extension. Walker at RT has 4 years left. They just signed Butler to an extension at RG for a mid-term contract. Now they need to find guys they can cultivate and grow behind them so that when the time comes and those guys leave or retire, we'll be just as good as where they left. That's the key now. The rest of pieces are in place. Another first round DT will likely be a good choice too, as we need someone to replace Stroud when his contract is up. There are likely to be a few of them floating around in this years draft.

 

As for the CB position, lets keep in mind that it was the OLD FO of Tom Donasuck that signed all those first round corners then let them leave. Frankly, I'm not sure what everyone's complaining about. Would you REALLY have wanted to sign Clements to the 10 mil a year that he wanted if that meant that we then had to let Peters or Evans go in free agency. He really wasn't worth that kind of money. 6 mil a year maybe, but not ten, and there was no way he was going to give the Bills a discount. McGee and Greer won't be able to command quite that much money, and if they sign Whitner and Simpson to extensions this year and lock them up long term, that will save us a lot of time and headache in the future. Let's see how the FO handles the CBs they were responsible for drafting before we start getting our unders in a wad.

 

Lastly, to those who say that Jauron has a bad habit of drafting first round CBs or DBs and that's a bad thing, I would point to our almost DEAD LAST pass defense rating in 2005, 2006, and 2007 and suggest that an overhaul was necessary. Two of the three picks in the secondary from that draft have looked very good. We'll see what McKelvin has to offer this year when he gets his shot. But, we needed serious help at DB after the last couple of seasons, and they have done a solid job. Look at the D we run. Having good strong depth at corner and both safety positions is key to good Cover-2 defense. I don't think we will be drafting a corner or safety in the first round for a while, particularly if we can sign Greer to an extension and get McKelvin a six year deal.

[Pyrite Gal]

There's something to be said for continuity re: OL play, but upgrading 1/5 of the line could be dealt with. Fowler needs to be upgraded.

IMHO. Fowler could easily be upgraded in terms of talent level, but upgrading him will not necessarily be easy in terms of the reality of who is available, how much will they cost and the difficult unknowable of how will a talented new C FA fit in on an OL which will likely improve somewhat (though not as much as we want as fans) with Fowler in there.

 

Fowler has some clear upsides IMHO

 

A. Seems to have gotten over early career injury issues as he has started 16 two years in a row (he is coming off of off-season shoulder surgery but is said by the Bills docs to be 100% so we will see).

B. A good football head honed with years as a natural c who played this position in college and was a highly draftable though not guaranteed product (he failed in his first attempts due to injury rather than talent)

C. An athletic player with the mobility to be a pulling C.

 

However, he has some areas where he needs work

 

A. A little light on a huge line and not a dominating center as this OL has been disappointing in short yardage (despite the demonstrated deficit strength at the POA can be gained with more bulk and better technique by this relatively young player).

B. Has not demonstrated the command of the OL Kent Hull showed (Hull was a master and while this is a reasonable expectation to hope for it is silly to demand it- it can be supplied by Dockery or a group effort so while desirable it is not necessarily essential.

 

Overall, folks who want to cut Fowler now seem pretty laughable.

 

A. Its silly to talk about getting rid of him without a real world alternative.

B. The injury issues seem improve but remain a question as we want him to improve not merely hold his own but as a relatively young athlete getting one's panties up in a wad and advocating his cut (particularly without also advocating a specific replacement strategy seems to show a lack of football understanding.

 

Fowler CAN be replaced, but the suggestion he NEEDS to be replaced is not supported with any objective judgment.

[keepthefaith]

I finally found a site that lists pending free agents after the coming season and here's our list:

 

Pos Player Name FA Status Previous Team Current Team

QB Gibran Hamdan UFA Buffalo Bills

QB J.P. Losman UFA Buffalo Bills

RB Fred Jackson RFA Buffalo Bills

WR Justin Jenkins RFA Buffalo Bills

WR Roscoe Parrish UFA Buffalo Bills [WRONG--EXTENDED LAST YEAR]

TE Kevin Everett UFA Buffalo Bills

OG Kirk Chambers UFA Buffalo Bills

OT Patrick Estes UFA Buffalo Bills

C Melvin Fowler UFA Buffalo Bills

C Christian Gaddis ERFA Buffalo Bills

OL Duke Preston UFA Buffalo Bills

DL Copeland Bryan RFA Buffalo Bills

DL Ryan Neill ERFA Buffalo Bills

LB Angelo Crowell UFA Buffalo Bills

LB John DiGiorgio RFA Buffalo Bills

LB Keith Ellison RFA Buffalo Bills

LB Kevin Harrison RFA Buffalo Bills

CB Jabari Greer UFA Buffalo Bills

CB Kiwaukee Thomas UFA Buffalo Bills

FS George Wilson UFA Buffalo Bills

http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/fr...Team&y=2009

 

Out of this list, I've highlighted the UFA's that we may want to try to keep.

 

If we get Evans (and possibly Peters) done this offseason as I expect, this really just leaves Crowell, Greer and Wilson as starters/key subs who we'll potentially be losing. I also see us keeping Ellison and DiGiorgio and Jackson out of the RFAs.

 

Personally, I suspect that Greer will be gone after this season, as he'll be too expensive to keep, especially if he ends up being a decent nickel back/starter who wants a shot to be a clear starter somewhere. I also suspect his contract status explains at least part of why McKelvin was our top pick. Wilson is nice depth, but if he gets beaten out by Ko, then it's not too great a loss. With respect to Crowell, if he has a monster season we can still franchise him--if not, then he may be affordable to resign longer term if we want to.

 

All in all, I think we're in very good shape. To me, the most likely scenario is lock up Evans and Peters (or should I say, make Peters happy) this summer and then next year let Greer and Wilson walk (along with Fowler), and re-sign Crowell or tag him. If the past is any indicator of the Bills approach in FA, they'll also sign one or possibly two starters next year from the FA's available. TE (Desmond Clark, anyone?) and/or C would be nice in that regard, as well as locking up 2-3 of our other younger players like they've done this year and last, which would leave our draft something like the following:

 

1. DE (to replace Schobel, who's getting up there in age);

 

2 and 3 C and TE if we don't go the FA route--if we do go that route, then we'd be in the enviable spot of BPA after round 1.

 

Interesting to note that not many teams are in dire straits any more with respect to FA--the lesson seems to be to lock your players up before they get there.....

 

 

Bills in decent shape. I don't see much on the list that they can't do without.

[BuffaloBilliever]

There's something to be said for continuity re: OL play, but upgrading 1/5 of the line could be dealt with. Fowler needs to be upgraded.

 

A.Q. Shipley baby.

[bills_red]

Got some things wrong

Fred Jackson-2008: $370,000, 2009: Exclusive Rights Free Agent

George Wilson-2008: $520,000, 2009: Restricted Free Agent

Kiwaukee Thomas-Not on team

[d_wag]

crowell is right up there with lee in terms of priorities - there is no legit reason to let a rising young player like that walk

 

greer would be good to lock in, but if the '08 draftees develop as expected his loss could be absorbed......going to come down to price and how well he plays in '08

 

fowler is a useful guy to have around, either in a starting or backup role, and i'd love to see him extended beyond '08

 

it would be great to finally address TE early in the '09 draft, but that is only going to happen if the team is brought back relatively intact - the bills can't afford to be creating big holes in their lineup at this point (i.e. letting crowell walk when he's a perfectly good fit for the defense and a proven leader)

[MattM]

Got some things wrong

Fred Jackson-2008: $370,000, 2009: Exclusive Rights Free Agent

George Wilson-2008: $520,000, 2009: Restricted Free Agent

Kiwaukee Thomas-Not on team

 

Hope you're right about Wilson-that would be one less relatively important depth guy to worry about.....

[BADOLBILZ]

As for the CB position, lets keep in mind that it was the OLD FO of Tom Donasuck that signed all those first round corners then let them leave. Frankly, I'm not sure what everyone's complaining about. Would you REALLY have wanted to sign Clements to the 10 mil a year that he wanted if that meant that we then had to let Peters or Evans go in free agency. He really wasn't worth that kind of money. 6 mil a year maybe, but not ten, and there was no way he was going to give the Bills a discount. McGee and Greer won't be able to command quite that much money, and if they sign Whitner and Simpson to extensions this year and lock them up long term, that will save us a lot of time and headache in the future. Let's see how the FO handles the CBs they were responsible for drafting before we start getting our unders in a wad.

 

Lastly, to those who say that Jauron has a bad habit of drafting first round CBs or DBs and that's a bad thing, I would point to our almost DEAD LAST pass defense rating in 2005, 2006, and 2007 and suggest that an overhaul was necessary. Two of the three picks in the secondary from that draft have looked very good. We'll see what McKelvin has to offer this year when he gets his shot. But, we needed serious help at DB after the last couple of seasons, and they have done a solid job. Look at the D we run. Having good strong depth at corner and both safety positions is key to good Cover-2 defense. I don't think we will be drafting a corner or safety in the first round for a while, particularly if we can sign Greer to an extension and get McKelvin a six year deal.

 

Actually, the Bills ranked 7th in pass defense in 2006. Not near DEAD LAST. Greer and McGee aren't bad corners, but Clements epitomized what it means to be a "plus" player for a team. Matched up against the opponents best receiver in 2006, he forced opposing QB's to go to subsequent options which bought time for Schobel and Kelsay and gave the other corners more favorable matchups. When they did throw his way, he made plays.

 

Haters are still in denial about Clements worth, but the defense went from effective to awful without him and they ended up right back at the troth drafting a corner to replace him a year later. Effectively, the team stepped over a dollar to save a dime, overpaying Kelsay and unnecessarily extending Schobel and now having to dole out a huge contract to a corner that hasn't pisssed a drop yet. I wish McKelvin the best of luck, but he has a tough act to follow in Clements, who created turnovers, played the pass and run equally well and was ridiculously durable.

[Tsaikotic]

Pos Player Name FA Status Previous Team Current Team

QB Gibran Hamdan UFA Buffalo Bills........If Baker is better hes gone this year

QB J.P. Losman UFA Buffalo Bills........will be gone next year

RB Fred Jackson RFA Buffalo Bills........gone if Omen can run

WR Justin Jenkins RFA Buffalo Bills........good kid but probably gone

WR Roscoe Parrish UFA Buffalo Bills [WRONG--EXTENDED LAST YEAR]

TE Kevin Everett UFA Buffalo Bills

OG Kirk Chambers UFA Buffalo Bills........depends on how nexts years draft goes

OT Patrick Estes UFA Buffalo Bills........WHO??...gone this year

C Melvin Fowler UFA Buffalo Bills........will be re-signed...if not starter then depth

C Christian Gaddis ERFA Buffalo Bills........depends on next draft

OL Duke Preston UFA Buffalo Bills........will be cut this year

DL Copeland Bryan RFA Buffalo Bills........gone this year

DL Ryan Neill ERFA Buffalo Bills........will be re-signed unless Felton can LS

LB Angelo Crowell UFA Buffalo Bills........will be re-signed for atleast 1 season

LB John DiGiorgio RFA Buffalo Bills........depends on Banks and Bowens developement

LB Keith Ellison RFA Buffalo Bills........same as above

LB Kevin Harrison RFA Buffalo Bills........WHO?...gone this year

CB Jabari Greer UFA Buffalo Bills........should be re-signed

CB Kiwaukee Thomas UFA Buffalo Bills........Allready gone

FS George Wilson UFA Buffalo Bills........will be re-signed depending on FA and draft next year

[Pyrite Gal]

Actually, the Bills ranked 7th in pass defense in 2006. Not near DEAD LAST. Greer and McGee aren't bad corners, but Clements epitomized what it means to be a "plus" player for a team. Matched up against the opponents best receiver in 2006, he forced opposing QB's to go to subsequent options which bought time for Schobel and Kelsay and gave the other corners more favorable matchups. When they did throw his way, he made plays.

 

Haters are still in denial about Clements worth, but the defense went from effective to awful without him and they ended up right back at the troth drafting a corner to replace him a year later. Effectively, the team stepped over a dollar to save a dime, overpaying Kelsay and unnecessarily extending Schobel and now having to dole out a huge contract to a corner that hasn't pisssed a drop yet. I wish McKelvin the best of luck, but he has a tough act to follow in Clements, who created turnovers, played the pass and run equally well and was ridiculously durable.

I think there is a wide middle ground between Clements haters and those who argue that the Bills made an awful mistake by deciding not to pay him what the market dictated was his worth.

 

In fact, as demonstrated by the Niners rewarding him with the biggest contract ever given a defensive player when arguably he was not even in the top 5 CBs in the NFL that Clements would have been a financial fool to sign any contract the Bills offered him at any point when he approached FA.

 

The key reason why it is almost certainly a spurious argument that the Bills made a mistake in not signing him as he approached FA (IMHO the drop dead date for it being irrational for Clements to sign anything but something approximating the gigandous deal he got was sometime in 2005 when it became quite likely that Clements would be one of few top 10 in the NFL CBs available in the FA for the 06 or 07 season if he could force the Bills not to tag him.

 

As it was, the Bills exercised their right to tag him for the 06 season and then intelligently agreed to not tag Nate for 07 even though they had the right to do this because if they had tagged him it was pretty questionable whether NC would have been worth the franchise cost in 07 since we ran a system which would not have taken full advantage of the "playmaker" and in addition to that, Nate would be financially smart to hold out and do everything he could to hit the open market for the 07 season as even the enormous franchise salary simply paled next to what NC actually commanded from the FA market.

 

I am certainly and clearly not a Nate hater as I totally agree that NC was the best CB available in the FA market for the 07 season. The problem was that Jauron/Fewell had decided a version of the Cover 2 was the best D for us to use as our base and in the Cover 2, the CB like all starters plays an essential role, but the role played by the CB in this D is not one that utilizes NC's strengths as a playmaker. Both the Bills and NC recognized that it would have been a waste for us to pay him what the market would deliver to him as an FA and even what the market guaranteed him if he was franchised for the 07 season. In 06 the Bills and NC correctly agreed to guarantee that we would not tag him (as was our right) for 07 in exchange he gave us what we were already owed in his coming to camp and being a happy camper in 06 and in exchange we gave up nothing since it made zero financial sense for us to pay him what the market would give him for 07.

 

The only way it would have made sense for the Bills to sign NC would be if we decided not to run some version of the Cover 2 (a D scheme which led to Indy who won the SB in the 06 season being quite willing to let the moderate talent CBs that were on their SB team walk rather than pay them their market rate and a D scheme that another playmaker type Dre Bly publicly complained about and announced early that he simply was not going to play in the Jauron designed Lions Cover 2 an was going to get out of Dodge as fast as he could) would be if the Bills had decided not to play Cover 2 and instead build the D around the skills of NC.

 

NC is in fact a good player. However, I have not seen any objective arguments (even yours BADO) that Clements is so good it makes sense to build your D scheme around him.

 

The failure of SF to improve so much with NC (they were better but not great) and actually what we were confronting at the time (NC really had a pretty awful 05 having made a horrible play laying a PR on the carpet which was part of costing us a win in the final game which might have gotten us into the playoffs- it was the NC miscue, Lindell missing a chipshot, the D failing to stop a Pitts team playing subs as they rested for the playoffs and of course Bledsoe not being a good enough player to overcome these failings which led to the loss) which made it easily the right thing to do to not pay NC what the market would give him for an extension or even as a franchise player in 07. Nate also would have been an economic fool to sign such a deal so I really doubt even if the Bills had been silly enough to want to extend him that NC would have signed for any amount the 05 cap constrained Bills could have offered him.

 

Arguing Nate is good is certainly correct (anyone who hates him or does not recognize that he is at least a good player does not understand football). Actually one can reasonably argue after he recovered from a bad 05 that he is a very good player. However, it simply is not credible to argue that he was is worth building your D around him or that he was worth the biggest contract a defender ever received.

 

NC got very lucky that other teams had locked up the better CBs like Champ Bailey or even Winfield with huge contracts, AND, better FAs like Assante Samuel were taken off the market by tags, AND finally that the Bills did him a great favor by not forcing him into the market after a lackluster 05 but instead tagged him for 06 but agreed to let him walk in 07 when though not the best CB in the NFL he was easily the best CB on the market in an BFL where many teams had not decided to go with a Cover 2 in part as a means for not having to pay huge dollars for a CB.

[H2o]

The only problem with Crowell is his overall speed and his coverage skills. He's an instinctive player, but doesn't really have great speed for the ROLB position. He reads and reacts to plays well though, well enough that he could be the starter here for a while. I think the upgrade with Stroud will benefit him the most, Crowell that is. It will free him up to make more plays for our defense. I expect a big year as far as his stats go.

 

I think Greer is definitely gone after this season. He'll go somewhere else and get paid semi-big money, about 5 million a year. I don't see us paying him like that. I don't think McKelvin was drafted to be his replacement because Greer was set to leave though. McKelvin was drafted because he has the potential to be a Pro-Bowl CB, and quickly.

 

I think that we need to keep Fred Jackson. The guy is a solid RB. He showed that last year when Marshawn went down with an injury against Miami. The man stepped into the starting line-up and stepped up his game. I think this is a "no-brainer", if he wants to stay with the team. If he leaves it's because he thinks he should be a starter and not a back-up.

 

Wilson? I don't know. He filled in alright last year in Ko's absence, but he wasn't spectacular or anything. I think that this season will be the deciding factor for this guy. If he beats out Simpson, then he'll be our guy. If he doesn't, I think he's expendable.

 

I think we'll re-sign DiGiorgio and Ellison no matter how Bowens developes or not. As long as our current staff is in place that is. I think they trust these 2 guys in the defense we run. DiGiorgio played his tale off last year. He may not be a superstar, but you can't tell me the guy won't contribute as a back-up and ST guy. Ellison too.

 

Everyone else......................................Don't let the door hit you on your way out

[scribo]

Must re-sign (in order of importance)

Greer - lock him up now and save a bundle, to be sure

Fast Freddy Jackson - he has a lot to play for this season

Crowell - A high priority, and I am sure he will be around in 2010

 

Should re-sign (in order of importance)

Fowler - If he isn't extended in the next month, he is likely gone next year

George Wilson - could rise to the above list or fall off this list depending on this season

Keith Ellison - Solid depth and will be paid to keep that depth

[Bill from NYC]

Fowler is good, he's just a little small and he does have trouble taking on big DTs. But he is smart and makes the right line calls.

 

You wanna read this again and perhaps edit it?

[d_wag]

Must re-sign (in order of importance)

Greer - lock him up now and save a bundle, to be sure

Fast Freddy Jackson - he has a lot to play for this season

Crowell - A high priority, and I am sure he will be around in 2010

 

Should re-sign (in order of importance)

Fowler - If he isn't extended in the next month, he is likely gone next year

George Wilson - could rise to the above list or fall off this list depending on this season

Keith Ellison - Solid depth and will be paid to keep that depth

 

why are you so sure? i've heard plenty of chatter about the bills talking with evans (from the bills camp and the evans camp) but not a word on crowell........i agree with you that he's a high priority but the fact they don't appear to be trying to resign him at this point is concerning