Can someone please tell me...

[OpIv37]

how we are going to re-sign Clements and McGahee, yet retain the cap room to keep Evans and Losman when their time comes and keep our defense together? It doesn't seem numerically possible.

[OpIv37]

I know this isn't a concern for the upcoming season, but sometimes it seems like we're building and putting all the pieces in place, but doing it on a very weak foundation.

[Philagape]

Every team has this problem, ask the Colts

[OpIv37]

Every team has this problem, ask the Colts

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?

[Drive 4 Five]

I don't see the Bill's letting players like Clements or McGahee test the free-agent market. That will result in losing a good deal of depth and possibly some starters. Players like Evans, and McGee are still unproven although we got a glimpse of their talent and potential last year. The jury is still out on Losman obviously. It is far to early to tell, but in terms of the foundation you spoke of, this team is at its peak right now, what we never counted on was Bledsoe sucking as bad as he did and that means if Losman & Co. cannot get us where we need to go in 1-2 years, we're looking at rebuilding anyway. That's just my opinion.

[Drive 4 Five]

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?

Because those teams draft extremely well and excel at finding young players (draft and free-agency) to fit their systems. Then when they start demanding unreasonable amounts of money, they're gone and there is always young talent that they have been developing all along, waiting in the wings. I think the Bills draft pretty well too but the team was held back by the whole Bledsoe Williams-Gilbride debacle.

Maybe we're turning the corner.

[casdhf]

we won't have the huge salary of Moulds to worry about

[Philisophical Troll]

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?
NE and Pitt have great front offices and you don't, plain and simple. They know how to effectively manage a salary cap, draft quality prospects, evaluate NFL talent, resign and sign key free agents, and treat star players and thier agents with courtesy and respect. This is especially ironic considering Donahoe is Pittsburgh's former GM, but ultimately he lost the power struggle with Bill Cowher and was booted to the curb. They turned things around since obviosly after last years 15-1 campaign. How Tom Donahoe has masqueraded as a NFL GM for this long is beyond a philisophical trolls comprehension. Bill Polian was the last good GM this franchise had, the late John Butler was average and after his departure the downward spiral began and will continue as long as this loser Donahoe is operating out of one bills drive.:blowup:

[Crisis]

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?
NE has had 4 years of success after 30 years of being horrible.

Pitt had a top-10 pick 2 years ago.

[Philagape]

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?

To be successful, you need good....
1. Coaching
2. Mid-level talent
3. Drafting
All of that is more important than having a few big names. That's why Indy can't beat NE

[Philagape]

How Tom Donahoe has masqueraded as a NFL GM for this long is beyond a philisophical trolls comprehension. Bill Polian was the last good GM this franchise had, the late John Butler was average and after his departure the downward spiral began and will continue as long as this loser Donahoe is operating out of one bills drive.:blowup:

Yeah trading for Bledsoe was a bonehead move, I'll give you that. :snicker:

[jpdex12]

how we are going to re-sign Clements and McGahee, yet retain the cap room to keep Evans and Losman when their time comes and keep our defense together? It doesn't seem numerically possible.
Don't worry so much man. Let's take it one year at a time.
They have to plan ahead, no doubt, but let's not worry too much just yet.

[OpIv37]

NE and Pitt have great front offices and you don't, plain and simple. They know how to effectively manage a salary cap, draft quality prospects, evaluate NFL talent, resign and sign key free agents, and treat star players and thier agents with courtesy and respect. This is especially ironic considering Donahoe is Pittsburgh's former GM, but ultimately he lost the power struggle with Bill Cowher and was booted to the curb. They turned things around since obviosly after last years 15-1 campaign. How Tom Donahoe has masqueraded as a NFL GM for this long is beyond a philisophical trolls comprehension. Bill Polian was the last good GM this franchise had, the late John Butler was average and after his departure the downward spiral began and will continue as long as this loser Donahoe is operating out of one bills drive.:blowup:

you seem pretty pissed off about the Bills front office for someone who isn't even a Bills fan. Let me guess- you were a Bills fan at one time but jumped ship and started rooting for the Cowboys after they beat the Bills because you're nothing but a bandwagon jumper with no loyalty.

[Bill Brasky]

Because those teams draft extremely well and excel at finding young players (draft and free-agency) to fit their systems.
Kinda like Butler, Levy, and Polian used to do?


NE and Pitt have great front offices and you don't, plain and simple. They know how to effectively manage a salary cap, draft quality prospects, evaluate NFL talent, resign and sign key free agents, and treat star players and thier agents with courtesy and respect. This is especially ironic considering Donahoe is Pittsburgh's former GM, but ultimately he lost the power struggle with Bill Cowher and was booted to the curb. They turned things around since obviosly after last years 15-1 campaign. How Tom Donahoe has masqueraded as a NFL GM for this long is beyond a philisophical trolls comprehension. Bill Polian was the last good GM this franchise had, the late John Butler was average and after his departure the downward spiral began and will continue as long as this loser Donahoe is operating out of one bills drive.:blowup:
yeah, cuz it takes a lot of skill to just spend money like JJ and Steinbrenner do.

the only talent they have is opening wallets. that's not really a skill, IMO.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

yeah? Then how do teams like NE and Pitt remain competitive year after year? Indy's on their way to problems but it hasn't caught up with them yet. Some teams always seem like they're one step ahead of the game and it just doesn't make sense. What are they doing differently than we are?
I would not put the Steelers in anywhere near the same class as NE.

I will grant you that NE has done a phenomenal job of getting a lot of its core its veteran players to buy into a philosophy of taking less money than they could get elsewhere while bringing in talented young talent and veteran FAs willing to take less money to potentially play for a ring to replace the players that they have lost. Still, this is a potentially risky strategy that requires being willing to take the chance of letting those vets unwilling to take less money leave and, especially on the offensive line, replacing them with unproven rookies and/or free agents who have been jettisoned by other teams. L.Milloy, D.Woody, J.Andruzzi, A.Smith, T.Washington and, soon, T.Law are all players who have played a prominent role in the NE championship run that they have let leave (T.Brown would have left, but found no market for his services). While the Pats have been good in finding replacements for these players, they have also been lucky: you can't tell me that they knew for certain that guys like T.Ashworth, D.Koppen, B.Gorin, etc. were "can't miss" prospects when they brought them in! Their coaching staff has also done a superb job of adjusting their game plans to maximize the skills of their players while minimizing or covering for their deficiencies: one needs only to look at the job that they did with their defensive backfield at the end of last season for proof of that, but, as if that weren't enough, one of the reasons that D.Graham's statistical production dropped off dramatically after the beginning of last season was that the Pats adjusted their offense to keep him in to help their rookie OT in pass-blocking. It's not just that they get good players (as I've said, they also have lost some pretty good players, too), but they also have had a great coaching staff that has made the players that they have look and play even better than many of them would on other teams.

Over the last decade the Steeler's philosophy has been quite similar to that being employed by the Pats, but their success with it has been somewhat uneven. The tough Steelers defense of a decade ago was ravaged by free agency, but most of the losses were quickly made up for by their strong drafts on the defensive side of the ball. Great coaching helped to get excellent production at the QB position from N.O'Donnell, T.Maddox and K.Stewart--I can only attribute their production to great coaching because none of these three QBs ever produced like he did for the Steelers before or since--and the offensive line (please don't tell me that anyone, even on the Pitt coaching staff, knew for sure that Ross and Vincent, who just signed big FA contracts, were going to be as good as they have turned out to be). Even so, the Steelers have been an up-and-down team over the last decade--finishing in the bottom 10 only a couple of years ago as has been pointed out in a previous post--in a far weaker division than the AFC East.

While it pains me to say it, the Pats have been both lucky and extremely good at implementing this philosophy since Belichick and Pioli arrived in NE. The Steelers have done a good job, but not quite to the same standard over the last decade. Because of their success, I see a number of teams moving to implement the same philosophy, including the Bills. But, to do so requires a GM who will not pay attention to the screams of the fans when the team lets a Pro Bowl center walk and replaces him with an unproven second year player taken in the 5th round of the draft or when it replaces an average starting OT with a FA that it has picked up from another team. It also requires an excellent coaching staff that will put the players in a position to succeed and maximize each player's strengths while minimizing and covering for his deficiencies and get the players on the team to buy into the organization's philosophies. Those are things that are easier said than done.