Red Posted October 11, 2009 Posted October 11, 2009 Did anyone else hear Gregg Williams last week, that when he was coach of the Bills they came within a few picks of selecting Drew Brees as their QB? Excuse me? The Bills wanted Drew Brees? I stopped this internet chatter for awhile, took the dog for a walk, and mulled this over. The next season, the Bills used a #1 pick to trade to the hated Patriots to obtain Drew Bledsoe. Two seasons later they used a #1 pick on JP Losman. Now, I don't pretend to know who the Patriots selected with that pick, but can you guys imagine what those 2 picks would have been able to address team-wise if we had gotten Brees? Then I started to think of the other 1st round picks of the past decade. Mike Williams, Drew Bledsoe, JP Losman, John McCargo...those are 4 1st rounders wasted. Lynch and Evans are fine. I like the past 3 drafts. It shows, what I believe to be the ineffectiveness of both Tom Modrak and John Guy. 1st rounders are players, in today's salary climate, that need to come in and produce. As far as WR's go- Parrish is a return ace and therefore may somewhat justify his 2nd round selection. But what is up with James Hardy? Is this guy ever going to get onto the field? Why does it seem as though the Bills are the only problem with developing talent? Now, living here in the DC area I know that the Redskins have been terrible with drafting as well (Malcolm Kelly, etc). But the Bills failures in the first round of the drafts have been pretty bad and IMO have truly been the source of what is keeping the Bills in mediocrity. I would then follow that up with spending on the wrong players. Pat Williams' loss hurt the interior of the 'D' for a few seasons. He should have been retained. The same should have been said for Antione Winfield. See, one thing that I am starting to notice is that the successful teams, the really successful teams find a way to draft and develop AND RETAIN their own talent. Clements cost too much. Spikes was the right decision based on the nature of his injury. But Fletcher should have been retained. Kelsay is waaaay overpaid based on his production. Now with Maybin, Kelsay is more a financial liability than a team asset. The second way that the Bills have been losing is that they are making the wrong decisions on the wrong players. Was Peters a bad move? I don't pretend to doubt his ability. I am not a Peters detractor. I do believe that it was wrong for him to hold the organization hostage for reworking a deal that still had wet ink and that was 3 seasons prior to expiring. He held out for 2 consecutive offseasons, despite was the Bills told him about staying patient, and he would get paid. Looking at the deals they have handed out to Jackson, Kelsay, Schobel, Williams, Evans, etc he should have perhaps listened. I believe that the Bills would have paid him. But he would not wait. So he was shipped out. his demands AT THE TIME HE MADE THEM offset the salary structure. I wish the whole situation never occurred and the Bills still had him. But not for those tactics. So, it seems a two-fold problem for the Bills. 1.) Failing to find and draft top-tier talent in the top-tier portion of the draft. 50/50 (at best) just doesn't cut it (jury is still out on Whitner). 2.) Failing to retain the correct talent and allowing the draft to round out and build depth for later on (Fletcher, Pat Williams, A. Winfield). But if the Bills had obtained Brees, that maybe would have fixed alot right now. We wouldn't be searching for a franchise leader who can make quick decisions. We may have even used atleast 2 of those 4 first round picks on offensive lineman who can start and dominate. We may not even have needed to sign Owens.
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