i’m still holding out for FA for a TE or later rounds.

unfortunately – not as high a priority in the first two rounds in my opinion

Dansby

But he’d be a lot, A LOT, more expensive. Crowell is coming off major knee surgery and will have to prove he is 100% healthy and play at a high level before any team considers giving him a long term contract. With that said, I’d imagine his best bet is a 1 year, heavily incentive laden contract. Maybe 2 years. No team is going to give him a 4-5 year deal. I’d be more than willing to go that 1-2 year route, assuming he’s 100%. I just don’t think it’ll happen though.

I thought I had heard when all that junk went down that he was still under contract for next year. Oh well. There could still be some vets to be had via trade.

too small and cannot shed blocks – basically Ellison.

not hold down the position?

Wow – can honestly say I’ve never seen a former UDFA who picked up 113 tackles in his second season in the league referred to as a “liability”.

DiGiorgio, to me, is a tougher, less intelligent (read: versatile) Keith Ellison that’s a great player on special teams. He can play in stretches. That’s EXACTLY what I’m looking for in a reserve linebacker.

I felt dirty typing it.

Crowder or Dansby, please.

TE and OL are very weak right now, but could change as to who gets tagged by their teams before FA. I think we would be best to look for a new starter at LB there, and use the 1st 3 rounds of the draft to get our DE,C,TE (no order to this btw) that we need.

Plus, I’m not sure how Vilma’s AFC East ties are any more relevant than Crowder’s.

well it seems to me that for the reasons you mentioned Vilma will cost less then most of the other FA available but is still more talented then guys like Leroy Hill who will go for a little less or around the same price tag as him.

Boley I think will get a bigger contract then some expect, he’s like Crowell from last year if he had hit the market, Crowder I feel like is going to be resigned, Parcells is great at retaining talent and after the playoff appearance I would surprised if they let him go. Price-wise I feel like Hill and Vilma are the same, talent wise I feel like Dansby is better but not by that much than Vilma but will be incredibly more expensive.

Just seems to me that Vilma falls into Buffalo’s range of what we are willing to spend and for what kind of talent upgrade over Ellison, which for Vilma is a major upgrade over Keith.

on his way to becoming a star in the NFL, until Mangina came in and switched to a 3-4. If Vilma is moved to the outside he could be a Lance Briggs type. I think it’s kind of weird that you’re more interested in Crowder than Vilma… it doesn’t suffice to say that me and you are different pages when it comes to LBs, we’re reading different books.

Brian vs. Brian

Galliford = Cushing
Peterson = Maualuga
Galliford = likes DiGi
Peterson = doesn’t like DiGi
Galliford = likes Phish Crowder
Peterson = likes clam chowder
Galliford = not-so-much on Vilma
Peterson =

WTF mate?

Crowell will be 28 in August, and Vilma will be 27 in April. So yeah, ’bout the same age.

Vilma is definitely an athlete. I think the biggest counter-point to my original argument is that he’s spent 2 of his 5 NFL seasons in a defense he just can’t play in – Mangini’s 3-4. He was above average in his first two years, dealt with some injuries and was in a bad D, and then bounced back a bit in NO this season.

I just think that the Bills are looking for a bigger linebacker than a 230-pound guy. Remember, they signed Mitchell last season specifically to play the weak side. I think they’ll keep him there. Depending on what they do with Poz, I think they’ll look for either a strong side or middle linebacker this off-season.

Vilma could add some much much needed speed to this defense.

It goes beyond that; it’s a very weird situation, albeit with a simple resolution. If the Saints re-sign Vilma, they’ll owe the Jets a 2nd round pick.

BUT, if you recall, the Saints also made a deal with the Giants for Jeremy Shockey. Their second-round pick was surrendered to the Giants in that deal. Vilma’s pick is currently a third-rounder which would escalate to a second if the Saints re-signed him prior to the start of free agency. If that happened, that second-rounder would go to the Jets, and their first-rounder would then go to the Giants.

So the Saints definitely won’t re-sign him prior to the start of free agency, but might try once he hits the open market. That way it’ll stay third-round compensation to the Jets, and they won’t lose their first-round pick.

At least, that’s how I’m reading the situation.

Bottom line: it’s a virtual certainty that Vilma will hit the open market, but there’s still a chance that the Saints re-sign him.

Both Poz and Mitchell have the versatility to play either outside or inside. This gives the Bills extra options as far as which FA LB they want to go get, if that is in fact the route they want to go.