Bills Have Busy Off-season, Still Have Questions

Last season the Buffalo Bills won seven games. Depending on who you ask, that's anywhere between four and seven more games than was expected. A month into free agency, the Bills have cleaned house, choosing not to re-sign cornerback Nate Clements and linebacker London Fletcher-Baker, trading running back Willis McGahee, linebacker Takeo Spikes and backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb.

The question, now, is if Buffalo is a better team than they were when the season ended. The Democrat and Chronicle's Sal Maiorana writes that general manager Marv Levy made the correct personnel decisions given that (a) Clements ended up signing a $8 million, $80 million contract with the 49ers -- something that wasn't happening in Buffalo, (b) McGahee told the Baltimore Sun he couldn't wait to get out of town, and (c) Spikes, after suffering an Achilles injury in 2005, isn't the player he once was and worth trading.

Second-year cornerback Ashton Youboty will get the first crack at replacing Clements. Angelo Crowell could be moved to middle linebacker, taking over for Fletcher-Baker. Buffalo will go to a running back by committee with McGahee now in Baltimore. The names Anthony Thomas, Shaud Williams and Fred Jackson don't exactly instill fear in opposing defenses, but their collective jobs should be easier with the signings of offensive linemen Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker and Jason Whittle.

Still, as Maiorana notes, outside of the upgraded o-line, "nothing else the Bills have done bodes well for the upcoming season as they will be weaker in the secondary, at linebacker, and at running back." There is still the draft -- it's not very often three starters are found in two days, though -- but if the Bills land Adrian Peterson with the 11th-overall pick, it would be a good start.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-31-2007 @ 11:47PM

Gene said...

Well you goofed again.. 1.Bills get the 12th pick in the draft not the 11th. 2.) You fail to recognize the Bills have also strengthed their D-Line by signing Kelsay and aquiring Darwin Walker from the Eagles.3.) That the Bills have 4 picks in the first 100 picks of the upcoming draft. 4.) That the secondary will be fine with those 2 young studs (Whitner and Simpson). Not to mention the best special teams in football. I like this team in 2007 they are a real sleeper that teams better start recognizing. Marv Levy will get us back on top and this time we are going to win the Super Bowl. No matter who the lucky running back is that dude is going to get some yards behind that monster O-Line. Plenty of good Lb's in the draft and don't underestimate Angelo Crowell and Keith Ellison they are going to do fine.

3-31-2007 @ 11:54PM

One other thing....All those players were goners anyways at least Marvelous Marv got some compensation in the deal something that would not have happened if we would have kept the injured LB Spikes, the tackling machine (7 yards up the field) Fletcher and the washed up Qb Holcomb or the dumbest player in NFL history who shot his mouth off and couldn't even get 1,000 yards last season. Doesn't study his playbook always out goofing instead of trying to get better. I say addition by subtraction I love the 2 3rd round picks and 7th round pick for the bum.

4-01-2007 @ 1:48PM

Zac said...

I think that the bills are in the right direction by adding alot of youth onto there team and now they are one of the youngest teams in the nfl.

bow the bills are looking at acquiring micheal turner the rb from the chargers-bills already talking to his agent about long term deal might change the draft choices becuas ethey might still not have there pick at #12.

If there are no trades before the draft and the bills are still at the #12 spot, look at them to take Patrick Willis Linebacker from ole miss

the o-line looks much better than in the past and i think the bills will suprise people with coming out as a dangerous team out of the regular season with JP Losman leading the way.

4-01-2007 @ 11:31PM

Good points Zac. I believe Losman will come of age this season. He really came on strong in the second half of the season and he and Lee Evans have something special there. This team is definetly headed in the right direction.

4-09-2007 @ 11:58PM

Matt said...

I think the Bills will be more than ok for next season, especially after another strong draft. It seems that the national sports media will never give Buffalo a bread, especially in the recent espn clip, "On the Clock: Buffalo Bills."

It is obvious that these "experts" have absolutely no idea what is going on in Buffalo. They treat McGahee like he's a superstar with no reagard for his lack luster performance last season and off season Buffalo bashing. There was no mention of Spikes's injury or Flether's old age or Clements's over-the-top price tag.

They also failed to mention the much improved O-line and the Walker trade that made the D-line much better. Backups last season will also fill in the gaps this season and should be more than capable. Ellison and Youboty will be vying for starting jobs next season, but with no mention in the ESPN clip. The sooner the season comes around the sooner the "experts" can shut up and stop their Buffalo hating.