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I think we should be cognizant of what has been said by the Bills braintrust when discussing what we may or may not do in free agency. Heres a few important comments made:
1) Ralph Wilson after the last Bills game- "We've gotta get some offensive line help," Wilson. Those are his words.
2) Marv in the Marv Levy show after the Ravens game- "Willis had a difficult year". "JP won the confidence of his team mates which is critical". "All of our defensive ends played very well". On areas we need to improve on defense..."defense against the run....improvement in our linebacker play". On needs for the next season, "We are very solid in that department (special teams) I can look elsewhere". "JP comes in as our starter next year...it would take an unbelievable performance for someone to beat him out". On free agency, "Nate Clements, London Fletcher, Chris Kelsay, Mike Gandy...we want to retain them but there are alot of intricacies". "We want to retain our own first...be a little cautious on spending it all on somebody from the outside". "we need to improve our ability to run and our ability to stop the run". Hes would not say hes concerned about our d-line, would only say hes evaluating it and had ideas as do others.
3) Jim Overdorf on the cap situation- "This year (2006 season) we pretty much spent up to the cap" Huhhh????? "This upcoming year we will have room to maneuver both in free agency and keeping our own free agents". "This has become a cash league more than a cap league" (paraphrasing) We will have to pay close attention to what cash we have with respect to what we spend in free agency. "Hopefully we will still be a player in it (after Nate hits the market)". Murphy asked if the trend on signing second year guys was the philosophy for this upcoming offseason. Overdorf responded that its year by year and that it just so happened that those second tier players were what they targeted last year.
Thats the facts as they were stated.
You can spin this stuff a ton of different ways but if you take the words at face value, some interesting points come forward:
1) O-line is an area we will address
2) D-line appears to be an area where we feel pretty solid. Combo of Marvs comments on the DT's and how he feels our DE's played very well.
3) We plan to NOT sign huge contract free agents. Marv talked about being cautious and not spending it all on one player. Overdorf mentioned that we have to pay close attention to our CASH (not cap) in free agency.
4) Running and stopping the run are priorities. Marv says Willis had a difficult year, my opinion is that RB is an area of concern. Marv says d-line is NOT a concern but then mentions LB. I think he feels we need improvement in LB to stop the run.
Taking that forward:
1) I think we can safely forget about Briggs. June? maybe still a possibility but if he gets top dollar, we wont pay it and we will bow out.
2) I think we can forget about DT and maybe even DE with the exception of Kelsay maybe leaving in the 1st round and a major signing in FA.
3) I think the Bills may just pull the trigger and draft a future RB if Lynch or Peterson drops. Marvs comments about Willis, Willis's comments on wanting a new contract, not paying huge FA contracts when were talking about a franchise RB, I think drafting one with the best chance for early success (early rounds) is likely.
4) I think we let Nate hit the market but we are definetly a player in resigning him.
5) I think an early draft pick on the o-line is a high possibility. We heard the braintrust give alot of respect to Pennington and Peters so it may not be a OT, since there isnt a OG likely to be a 1st rounder, I think 2nd round on we should look for an OG. Marv also mentioned Fowler by name so I think we feel solid at C as well. Again, the comments on not spending huge money indicate Steinbach is likely out of the picture. So if your hoping for a real upgrade at OG and we are only signing second tier guys I think we should be thinking the draft.
Sorry, I wish we were gonna spend big money, it doesnt appear likely. I also wish for a stud DT like Corey Simon (big money), or Okoye but thats not likely to happen either.
Taking it a bit farther:
1) I think our most likely 1st round targets are CB and RB now with an eye at LB. It seems pretty clear those are our priorities.
2) I think on the rest of day one we look at whatever isnt drafted in the 1st and add in the possibility of an OG and DE if Kelsay leaves.
Lets recheck this after the draft and see if its right. I dont care about being right only in accurately reading into what our braintrust says to more accurately predict the future.
Any thoughts are welcome.
1) Ralph Wilson after the last Bills game- "We've gotta get some offensive line help," Wilson. Those are his words.
2) Marv in the Marv Levy show after the Ravens game- "Willis had a difficult year". "JP won the confidence of his team mates which is critical". "All of our defensive ends played very well". On areas we need to improve on defense..."defense against the run....improvement in our linebacker play". On needs for the next season, "We are very solid in that department (special teams) I can look elsewhere". "JP comes in as our starter next year...it would take an unbelievable performance for someone to beat him out". On free agency, "Nate Clements, London Fletcher, Chris Kelsay, Mike Gandy...we want to retain them but there are alot of intricacies". "We want to retain our own first...be a little cautious on spending it all on somebody from the outside". "we need to improve our ability to run and our ability to stop the run". Hes would not say hes concerned about our d-line, would only say hes evaluating it and had ideas as do others.
3) Jim Overdorf on the cap situation- "This year (2006 season) we pretty much spent up to the cap" Huhhh????? "This upcoming year we will have room to maneuver both in free agency and keeping our own free agents". "This has become a cash league more than a cap league" (paraphrasing) We will have to pay close attention to what cash we have with respect to what we spend in free agency. "Hopefully we will still be a player in it (after Nate hits the market)". Murphy asked if the trend on signing second year guys was the philosophy for this upcoming offseason. Overdorf responded that its year by year and that it just so happened that those second tier players were what they targeted last year.
Thats the facts as they were stated.
You can spin this stuff a ton of different ways but if you take the words at face value, some interesting points come forward:
1) O-line is an area we will address
2) D-line appears to be an area where we feel pretty solid. Combo of Marvs comments on the DT's and how he feels our DE's played very well.
3) We plan to NOT sign huge contract free agents. Marv talked about being cautious and not spending it all on one player. Overdorf mentioned that we have to pay close attention to our CASH (not cap) in free agency.
4) Running and stopping the run are priorities. Marv says Willis had a difficult year, my opinion is that RB is an area of concern. Marv says d-line is NOT a concern but then mentions LB. I think he feels we need improvement in LB to stop the run.
Taking that forward:
1) I think we can safely forget about Briggs. June? maybe still a possibility but if he gets top dollar, we wont pay it and we will bow out.
2) I think we can forget about DT and maybe even DE with the exception of Kelsay maybe leaving in the 1st round and a major signing in FA.
3) I think the Bills may just pull the trigger and draft a future RB if Lynch or Peterson drops. Marvs comments about Willis, Willis's comments on wanting a new contract, not paying huge FA contracts when were talking about a franchise RB, I think drafting one with the best chance for early success (early rounds) is likely.
4) I think we let Nate hit the market but we are definetly a player in resigning him.
5) I think an early draft pick on the o-line is a high possibility. We heard the braintrust give alot of respect to Pennington and Peters so it may not be a OT, since there isnt a OG likely to be a 1st rounder, I think 2nd round on we should look for an OG. Marv also mentioned Fowler by name so I think we feel solid at C as well. Again, the comments on not spending huge money indicate Steinbach is likely out of the picture. So if your hoping for a real upgrade at OG and we are only signing second tier guys I think we should be thinking the draft.
Sorry, I wish we were gonna spend big money, it doesnt appear likely. I also wish for a stud DT like Corey Simon (big money), or Okoye but thats not likely to happen either.
Taking it a bit farther:
1) I think our most likely 1st round targets are CB and RB now with an eye at LB. It seems pretty clear those are our priorities.
2) I think on the rest of day one we look at whatever isnt drafted in the 1st and add in the possibility of an OG and DE if Kelsay leaves.
Lets recheck this after the draft and see if its right. I dont care about being right only in accurately reading into what our braintrust says to more accurately predict the future.
Any thoughts are welcome.
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