Two Bills Drive

‘Donahoe will have a bit of quick fence mending to do. McGee hadn’t even been told by the Bills about the franchise tag late Wednesday afternoon when contacted by Ch2 Sports. Price was sitting right next to his agent at the time, and both seemed a bit miffed they hadn’t even received a phone call before the news broke in the local media.’

The Buffalo Bills all but assured themselves of retaining their rights to wide receiver Peerless Price on Wednesday by making him their franchise player.

The Buffalo Bills today slapped their “franchise” label on Price, meaning the team hopes to re-sign the receiver before the start of the 2003 season.

The Bills were 5-8-1 in 1960, their first season in the AFL. Earlier that year, Syracuse University won its first and only National Championship. Al Bemiller helped the Orangemen win the title as an All-East center, nevertheless, he was still surprised when Buffalo chose him in the seventh round of the ’61 draft.

The Buffalo Bills have decided to place the franchise tag on receiver Peerless Price.

"We did place the franchise tag on Peerless Price today and we continue to try to find a way to sign Peerless and keep him here in Buffalo, said President/General Manager Tom Donahoe via phone from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. "We remain optimistic that this will be accomplished."

The Bills would like to wish a Happy Birthday to the following Buffalo Bills Kids Club members: Dylan Drzal (2/17), Jacob Hodges (2/17), Tyler Valentine (2/17), Dylan Gruschow (2/17), Breanna Kowal (2/18), Maya Armand (2/18), Ben Thompson (2/18), Sean Niles (2/19), Cheyenne Mongeon (2/19), Julie Williams (2/19), Ryan Zielinski (2/19), Jacob Petkovsky (2/19), Joshua Jones (2/20), Patrick McNamara (2/20), Philip Piendel (2/20), Brandon Prince (2/20), Seth Anderson (2/20), Maddie Csont (2/21), Casey Edsall (2/21), Phil Kattato (2/22), Matthew Wise (2/22), Emily Hall (2/23)

Few teams got more production out of their first-year players than Buffalo. Two draft picks became instant starters (OT Mike Williams and SS Coy Wire) and four others (WR Josh Reed, DT Justin Bannan, DE Ryan Denney (only 5 games – mostly at end of year) and CB Kevin Thomas) received significant playing time over the course of the season.

Sprinkle in the contribution of a couple of rookie free agents (RB Joe Burns, DE Grant Irons) and the rookie class of 2002 shows a bright future.

‘”Peerless is seeking a long-term deal from an NFL team,” agent Tim McGee said. “Based on the comments I’m hearing, I’m very skeptical — and probably more so than ever — it’ll happen in Buffalo.”‘

Former Bills TE Pete Metzelaars is participating in a NFL program designed to give former and current players an opportunity to break into coaching. It begins next week with the opening of NFL Europe training camp in Tampa.

Show your pride by putting the Bills on your computer's desktop. We have multiple styles below, including a brand new one with a complete 2003 calendar!

‘The group of former Buffalo Bills raised $40,000 last year through their annual fall golf tournament.’

‘But often the scripts, plans, preparations, systems and routines can lead to square-peg-in-the-round-hole syndrome. For instance, Buffalo’s defense the last two seasons was not even close to being the kind of defense that could run the 46-hybrid.’

February 18, 1997 – BILLS MAKE A TRADE FOR A QB

The Buffalo Bills made a trade to upgrade the depth at QB by trading their third-round pick in the 1997 draft to the Oakland Raiders for Billy Joe Hobert.

So that's why this week I'm dusting off the bookshelf and sharing with you some of my favorite Buffalo Bills-related books. Maybe they'll help fill in the news gaps during the coming months.

This list is not comprehensive, but it is close. Most of these books can be found at a library or through online booksellers. Some of them are still available at bookstores, too.

‘It has leaked out that both coordinators have had their contracts extended through the 2004 season, while Williams is still a lame duck as of this writing. This is no accident, as I see it. I think Donahoe is sincere when he says he likes the job Williams has done in his first two seasons here, especially considering the lack of tools he had for the job in year one. But does Donahoe give a flip that Williams might be burning a bit by the recent pub surrounding his own underlings? Hardly. Williams will probably get his extension soon, if he doesn’t have it already, but it will be on Tom’s time, not Gregg’s.’