Two Bills Drive

Now that the Saints have released Blake, the Bills have the ability to sign him as an UFA and do not have to absorb his salary cap figure. There were rumors the Bills were waiting for New Orleans to release him before they actively pursued Blake. Will Blake land in Buffalo to compete with Van Pelt for the starting job in 2002?

‘The Buffalo Bills did not tender offers to three players, including linebacker Kenyatta Wright, making them restricted free agents Friday. Joining Wright are offensive lineman Craig Heimburger and safety Keion Carpenter, according to a list of free agents released by the NFL.’

‘"Fortunately we didn’t have a lot of Johnson inventory, it won’t hurt us," Russo says. "But we’ll have to take additional mark downs in order to clear it out."’

@ At the combine, two teams very interested in Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington will be Detroit and Buffalo, who are scheduled to pick third and fourth in the first round of April’s draft. Either team could draft Harrington. Either team could be open to trading down.

@ There will be relatively few prime players available. Some of the best, in fact, may be players released for cap reasons in the past week or so. One player who could elicit interest is quarterback Rob Johnson, released Thursday by the Buffalo Bills, who had hoped when they signed him that he would be their long-term quarterback.

@ Overall, Johnson went 9-18 as a starter and failed to finish 11 of 27 games he started. Van Pelt said bad luck played a big hand in Johnson’s tenure in Buffalo. "It was just some freaky things that would sometimes knock him out," Van Pelt said. "Maybe it was bad luck."

@ Rob Johnson, once considered the Buffalo Bills’ long-term quarterback, was released by the team Thursday, proving too expensive, inconsistent and injury-prone.

“I’m kind of happy, really,” Johnson said.

‘He finished his Bills career as the franchise’s most accurate passer, hitting on 60.48 percent to nose out Jim Kelly (60.13 percent). Johnson also had the lowest interception percentage (2.56) of any Bills QB, being picked off only 17 times on 663 attempts.’

‘He collected $18.85 million of the original $25 million contract he signed with the team.’

‘Flutie was known for doing a lot of politicking in the locker room, which Johnson thought was inappropriate.’

‘Johnson lacks the savvy to sense pressure.’

‘Johnson’s inability to avoid the sack led to his persistent injury woes. With the Bills, he was sacked an average of once every seven times he dropped back into the pocket. In four seasons, Johnson never started more than five consecutive games without getting hurt and failed to finish 11 of 27 games he started.’

‘Johnson was due a $2.15 million roster bonus if still on the roster today. Instead, his release freed $6.15 million of cap space, giving the Bills room to sign a free agent or to make a trade for a veteran to compete with Alex Van Pelt for the starting quarterback job this fall.’

‘General manager Tom Donahoe and representative Paul Healy were engaged in late-night talks in Indianapolis, site of the NFL scouting combine.’

The Bills did not extend offers to their four other unrestricted free agents: starting center Bill Conaty; defensive end Shawn Price; cornerback Lance Brown and long-snapper Mo Unutoa.

‘Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly announced a rally Saturday to protest a plan to close Children’s Hospital in Buffalo.’