A record (so far) 14 franchise tags have been handed out. Nobody wants to let their good guys walk. I also just read that the Titans will franchise Haynesworth if a deal isn't worked out by the tag deadline (tonight). The free agent pickings are shrinking. Here are the players tagged to date:

Karlos Dansby, Arizona

Terrell Suggs, Baltimore

Julius Peppers, Carolina

Dunta Robinson, CB, Houston

Matt Cassell, New England

Brandon Jacobs, NY Giants

Max Starks, Pittsburgh

Darren Sproles, San Diego

Oshiomogho Atowge, St Louis

Leroy Hill, Seattle

Antonio Bryant, Tampa Bay

Bo Scaife, Tennessee

Michael Koenen, P, Atlanta

Shayne Graham, Cinncinati

And it ain't over yet.

In other noteworthy news, the Raiders signed Asomugha to an astronomical contract.  http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3919067  Holy Crap. Now anyone doubt what Greer wiill get? At least $6Mil per. The guaranteed money for Asomugha is boggling. I can't wait till the uncapped year. We'll have to tap into Yankee money to stay competitive.

As we get closer to draft day it looks more and more likely that we might be in no man's land at #11. If Everette Brown, Brian Orakpo (cooling on him - why has he not learned even a good spin move?), and BJ Raji are gone before we pick, the trade down plan becomes more viable. Especially if one of the two top QB's and/or one of the top LT's are still on the board. Right now we're good to go at both positions. Now I might be crediting more flexibility to the Bills front office than is realistic, but I hope not. 

If OBD wants Mack or Pettigrew then a trade down to no later than #21 should land either one.

However, as wpod over at the Range posted earlier, we could get very creative if the draft plays out right. Here's his scenario. Trade down with Tampa to #19 if a top QB is still available at #11 (probably Sanchez). We get Tampa's second round pick. They want one (we're assuming that Garcia leaves). Then immediately trade down again with Atlanta to #24 so they can jump Philly and take Pettigrew. They want him. We get Atlanta's third round pick. Now we have the 24th pick, two 2nd round picks and two 3rd round picks! I know, a dream scenario. But I love it. The mind boggles. We get Mack, Coffman, etc, etc. What an adrenalin rush!      

Ron's post got me thinking. It is hard to imagine going after Pepers or (more likely) Suggs given the Bills history of spending in free agency. However, what if getting Suggs were to be part of a larger overall plan? If by some miracle the football gods were to shine down upon the Buffalo Bills and we did land Suggs I could see the following chain of events occurring.

1. We trade back in the first to no farther than the #21 Philly pick. With that we get a late round 2nd or another 3rd. In the first round we then pick Brandon Pettigrew. He is projected as a mid 20's pick now. He needs work on his passing game but he is way ahead of the curve in run blocking. He seemed to handle LB's and DLinemen at the Senior Bowl with ease. He likes to run block and it shows. He is simply a force at run blocking already.

2. Round 2 we pick the best C on the board. Oh please, football gods, make Alex Mack be there after his Senior Bowl appearance. Either way we get one of the top 3 centers in this draft. Mack, Unger and Woods are all good at run blocking now. That gives us two pieces of the puzzle in place.

Now we have two picks before the 4th round. Either another 2nd and a 3rd or two 3rds. With the first of these two we choose the best playmaker available between a DT, LB, or S. With the second pick we do the same thing only we have eliminated one position. My guess would be to get a LB and DT.

3. Oops, I screwed up the numbers. No matter. It is now our 4th round pick and we land Quinn Johnson. A beheamoth FB with hands! He clearly stood out at the Senior Bowl as a blocker and ball carrier. We want him in this draft. He will be our third running back and he is a punishing blocker. As a bonus he is also a good receiver.

4. 5th and 6th round picks go to OG and S. Fill some holes and try to upgrade depth. The 7th round pick who cares. Choose whomever you want.

What this means is that by landing Suggs we can emphatically switch to a running game first - say 55-60 percent of the time. We have now plugged in to our offense a stud TE run blocker, a very good to stud run blocking C, and a punishing run blocking FB. We have filled the remaining pieces on offense to give us what surely would be now an elite running game. ANd on defense we now have the disruptive end we need, an upgrade at LB and hopefully good depth at DT. The offense gets 3 excellent players and the D gets the rest. This is all made possible by landing a stud DE in free agency. This draft becomes very doeable and the whole picture makes sense. And now with an emphasis on the run game, Trent has much less pressure on him to develop. Now I can understand the reasoning for going HARD after Suggs. It has been a long time since the football gods have shined down upon us in such a wonderful way. The Bills are a bit overdue. You are right, Ron, it makes sense to spend big on Suggs. If this were to happen, I would have to completely change my prediction for next season. I like that.

I've been saving this for a slow day and here we are. The year is 1978. My brother ran the hardware store I was eventually to co-own and he was a fanatical Giants fan. So much so that he thought he wanted season tickets. So he wrote the Giants asking to be considered for season tickets. They wrote back saying thanks for your interest in the New York Giants. We have put you on the list. The list is 50,000 people. We will let you know when you're up.

There was no further communication between then. Twenty eight years later a letter with the Giants letterhead arrived at the hardware store. My brother had moved on to own another hardware store. The letter said you are now at the top of the list and asked if he still wanted the tickets!! I could not believe it. TWENTY EIGHT YEARS! My partner was a fanatic Giants fan also. So I called my brother and gave him the news. I said do you play or pass? He decided to pass. The fire just was not there any longer. My partner was ready to send them a note to that effect. I said - not so fast there buckaroo. You can take these if you want. He thought about it and took the tickets. If I had been a Giants  fan I would now have them! They are as hard to get as Packers tickets. Giants season tickets are passed on in people's wills. Generation to generation. So now my former partner (I'm off the clock) has them and is a very popular guy in town! I have yet to get some and go to a game. He goes to two a year. Hey, you never know.

Now for the trivia. The patella tendon tear is the worst knee injury in sports. Probably the worst injury period. Thankfully it is rare. A Chicago Bear DB once suffered two patella tendon tears on one play. He never played another down. It really messes up the lubrication in the knee. Part 1A - Name the Buffalo Bill who suffered one and did not play again. BTW I saw that play. Didn't look that bad at first until they announced the injury. Part 1B - Name the ONLY person in ANY professional sport to tear a patella tendon and come back to play near his pre-injury level. He was a very good player at his position. I'm talking here a complete tear where your kneecap winds up halfway up your thigh. The quad muscles pull it up there.          

Third Q and a good game. Several future pro players in this game. So far, to my eyes James Laurinaitis is an outstanding player. First time I have seen him play and against Texas he is a shining light. He is all over the field. Very heady LB. I'm also  trying to watch Orakpo, and McCoy for Texas, and Wellsand Jenkins for Ohio St. Wells looks good tonight also. Orakpo has a solid first step. Looks strong in the upper body turning the corner.  

I hope I'm not jumping the gun too much here but I need an upper after yesterday. We have the #11 pick next April. IF we stand pat at 11, the question is, who do we go for? I still want Mack but with DJ returning we may very well go D first. It is hard to judge OBD based on our history. (I never would have chosen Whitner at#8) And, not all underclassmen have declared yet. So, leaving out Mack, here we go. Some new years food for thought.

DE

Orakpo (likely top 10)

Michael Johnson (big and scouts like him)

Selvie (projected late 1st)

E Brown (projected late 1st)

DT

SenDerrick Marks 6'1,290

B J Raji 6'1, 325

Peria Jerry 6'2, 305

OLB

Aaron Curry (hey, ya never know) 6'3, 245

Brian Cushing 6'4, 255

Clint Sintim 6'3, 255

ILB

Rey Maualuga 6'3, 260

James Laurinaitis 6'3, 243

There are an awful lot of impact players there. I am crossing my fingers that our esteemed coaches move Poz to the outside. In that case we would not draft an OLB in the first. Maualuga is slipping on some boards because he sometimes takes bad angles and overpursues. But he IS an impact player. If Orakpo is available at 11 we MUST take him (this is without Mack in the picture). If he is not there, a LB or DT might mean more of an impact. At DE, Hardy, Shaughnessey or Middleton (one of those) will be available to us in the second. They are big boys. Who tickles your fancy?

As another aside, there is another good stat site offering a different perspective. It is  sfa.stats.com/fb/notes.asp. Follow your way into players by position and go to tackles. Compare Peters to the good ones. Interesting stuff.