Two Bills Drive

‘”They are a well-coached team and I am sure that whatever they think our weaknesses are, they won’t hesitate to go after them,” Belichick said. “That is certainly what we would expect. Wherever they think they are, I am sure they will try to hit us. Talking defensively in general though, as we said at the end of the season, if you are trying to get younger on defense, then you are obviously going to be less experienced there. There is no way to meld those two together. To be younger is to be younger. To be more experience is to be older. You kind of have to make a choice there.”‘ (registration required)

‘”The way the Patriots tried to back me into a corner. It didn’t show a lot on their part,” Milloy said in an interview with Houston’s KRIV-TV. “New England tried to squeeze me with a last-minute deal, so we took a risk and went on the market.”‘ (registration required)

‘”We’re going to mix it up,” Bledsoe said. “We’d like to be balanced. I’m not going to hand off on every play, but in general, we’d love to be more consistent with our power running.” Yeah, right.’

‘Centers, who admits he has been looking forward to playing Buffalo since signing with New England, is concentrating on keeping his emotions in check. His role diminished last season as Bledsoe’s Bills begin throwing the ball more down the field. “I have to play within the scheme and not allow my emotions to become a factor, a negative factor,” he said. “If anything, if I can utilize it in a positive way to help that would be good, but I have to just go out and be a professional.”‘

‘The Redskins’ best offer was a little more than $20 million over five years, sources said, but the early part of the contract wasn’t as lucrative. Washington was set to pay a $3.5 million signing bonus and about $5 million total over the first two seasons.’

‘Terms weren’t disclosed, but the Redskins’ offer apparently was worth about half that of the Bills.’

‘”We were in the mix. It was our understanding that Lawyer’s agent would give us a chance to counter, but we never got a callback from him.”‘

‘It didn’t matter that Milloy is just what the Vikings’ defense needs. All that mattered was money and Vikings owner Red McCombs’ reluctance to part with any more of it.’

‘According to his peers, Levy was the first coach to draft players solely for punt and kick coverage teams.’

‘The four-year contract is worth $15 million, nearly two-thirds of that in the first two seasons of the deal. Milloy will receive a $5 million signing bonus and base salaries of $2 million for 2003 and $2.75 million for 2004. The Washington Redskins, who finished as the runner-up team in the Milloy sweepstakes, offered about $6 million in the first two years of their proposal.’

‘Though the Bills disclosed no contract figures, their deal with Milloy is believed to be for four years at $15 million, including a $4.75 million signing bonus and a $2 million base salary this season. The contract averages $3.75 million per season.’

”’Buffalo was the team that set the market, set the tone,” he said. ”Drew Bledsoe called me. Sam Gash called me. They got everybody on the phone that they needed to early in the process.”’

‘If Milloy was looking for a way to get back at the Patriots for the way they treated him, he couldn’t have picked a better place to go, an AFC East rival with intentions of making a run at the division title.’

‘Antwan Harris, Chris Akins, Aric Morris and Je’Rod Cherry all could take Milloy’s spot, although coach Bill Belichick didn’t say who would start.’

‘“I will tell you this that everybody that plays against Lawyer is aware of where he is and aware of his ability to make big plays,” Bledsoe said. “As far as his speed, his aggressiveness, his physical style, I haven’t seen a falloff at all.”’