Since this is the bye-week, it's a good time to look back over the past year to consider what might have happened if different decisions had been made.  Here's my alternative scenario for people to ponder:

a) The Bills had extended Jason Peters' contract to his liking last January and made him a happy LT.

b) Hangartner was acquired as a FA and a decision was made to keep Walker and Brad Butler at their previous positions.

c) In the draft, the Bills traded down in the first round in exchange for an extra second round pick, then used the new first rounder to select Eric Wood.

d)  With their two second round picks and their third rounder, the Bills selected Jarius Byrd, Andy Levitre, and the best DE available.  If they preferred to use their new pick in the second round for a DE and Levitre wasn't still on the board in the third round, they could have taken T.J. Lang, who has done so well at Green Bay (he's now their starting LT, but was also playing OG effectively).

     The o-line would then have been:  Peters-Wood-Hangartner-Butler-Walker.  If Butler had been injured in the second game (as did happen), Levitre or Lang could have become the starting RG.  Demetrius Bell would have been the swing tackle.

     If this scenario had played out, does anyone doubt that the Bills would now be at least 6-2 and possibly 7-1, with a very realistic chance of making the playoffs?  And if that had happened, wouldn't we all be celebrating Trent Edwards as our franchise QB and possibly even praising the FO for its wisdom in extending Dick Jauron?

     What's maddening is that it all could have happened.  It was within the power of the team to have made it happen.  And it shows that the disaster that the 2009 season has become all started with the decision not to pay Jason Peters his market value.

     If nothing else, it's an interesting "what if" to discuss.