Two Bills Drive

@ The hole: Alex Van Pelt is being paid around $1 million a year to be either the backup or the starting QB, but new OC Gilbride cannot live with just one QB. That’s why Gilbride and the Bills management walked around the combine over the weekend looking for agents who had QBs, as well as checking out all of the QBs who were throwing in the RCA Dome.

The solutions: It’s pretty simple. Sign Jeff Blake. For some reason, the Bills are wondering if Blake has a lingering ankle problem from the 2000 season. He’s had a year on the sidelines as Aaron Brooks’ backup to rest the ankle, so he should be fine. Blake and Jonathan Quinn are the two veterans the Bills are talking to, but Blake is the right fit.

‘"We’re jumping up and down with joy to sign him," said one Jets team source. "He’s one of the top two or three backers in the game."’

‘The former Pro Bowl star agreed to a six-year, $31 million deal with the New York Jets.’

‘A league source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deal was to be completed late Wednesday.’

@ Statistical suprises are better than Tuna Surprise but remember that statistics (i.e. QB rating) can be deceiving.

@ With Miller and Dilfer resigning, that leaves a few too many pegs and/or too few holes, and the QB market figures mostly to be on mute. The Bills might be interested in tabbing Jeff Blake, who could compete for the starting job. Rob Johnson reportedly is headed to Houston, where he will do the Texans absolutely no good in three games before getting hurt.

@ For months the Bills and middle LB Sam Cowart have argued in negotiations over how much risk the team should assume in a long-term contract following a season in which he partially tore an Achilles tendon. The AFC East rival Jets were willing to take more of the risk and will now put Cowart against the Bills twice a year. Cowart agreed to a six-year, $31 million contract that included a $1.8 million signing bonus and a play-time option bonus in 2003 that could be as much a $6 million.

@ With Sam Cowart now a New York Jet, the Bills will be really looking at London Fletcher who played for the St. Louis Rams. He’s 5’11", 241 pounds and was the top tackler for the Rams. In 2000 he recorded 133 tackles with 5.5 sacks and last season added 199 stops with 4.5 sacks. He also picked off 6 passes in the last two years.

Now with Rob Johnson definitely out of Buffalo (and reportedly eager to join the Houston Texans) the QB situation also needs to be addressed. Up comes the name of Jonathan Quinn. Already chants of "The Mighty Quinn" might be ringing around Orchard Park.

‘The Summer Days program run by the Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers has received a $5,000 grant from the Buffalo Bills Youth Foundation.’

Now that March is arrived it is time to seriously focus on the upcoming draft. Keep track of mock drafts around the internet with our Mock Draft Tracker!

‘The cap-strapped Jaguars can’t pay Quinn more than the veteran minimum to return, but money is not the issue for him, opportunity is. That makes the Bills attractive.’

‘Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly will be at Eastview Mall in Victor tonight from 6-8 p.m. to sign this year’s Hunter’s Hope Boyds Bear.’

‘Meanwhile, it’s just a matter of time before free-agent quarterback Rob Johnson officially is a Texan, if you listen to the native Californian. Johnson has made it clear Houston is his first choice and that he is willing to take less money to play for the Texans, who are prepared to make a one-year, $1 million commitment to the former Buffalo Bill.’

@ The first effect of hiring Wade Phillips as the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive coordinator came Tuesday when ESPN.com learned that the team reached a contract agreement in principle with free safety Keion Carpenter.

@ Outside Western New York, Buffalo is best known these days for snowstorms, chicken wings and a pair of professional sports teams. But anyone who has spent more than a week a or two here, knows that second guessing is really the region’s forté. Orchard Park has been home for the Buffalo Bills since 1973, but a segment of the second-guessing population still talks about impact a city football stadium would have had.