--The Bills have added two more quarterbacks to their roster to round out the competition heading into offseason workouts and training camp. They are Matt Baker, who has spent time with Miami, Houston, Arizona and New Orleans the past two seasons and college free agent Luke Drone of Illinois State. That gives Buffalo five quarterbacks with Trent Edwards and J.P. Losman firmly entrenched as No. 1 and 2. More players at the position gives the Bills some wiggle room if they do decide to move Losman in a trade, something they continue to deny they are seeking.
--Buffalo added some promising after-market free agents after the draft, including OLB Marcus Buggs of Vanderbilt, DT Teraz McCray of Miami, FB Mike Viti of Army, OG Robert Felton of Arkansas and WR Jason Jones of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The stock of each player was rising at draft time. Felton and Jones could've been fifth- or sixth-round picks without any argument. Jones, who averaged more than 20 yards a catch, ran a 4.39 and showed scouts very soft hands in workouts, he just needs work on his lean 184-pound frame. McCray and Felton have decent shots and earning jobs as depth players on the defensive and offensive lines, respectively.
--Shortly after Bills director of college scouting Doug Majeski called Notre Dame linebacker Joe Brockington a "solid" free agent choice, the team released him. Brockington, 6-0, 245, was on the short and slow side but did play well in college.
--The club is giving SS Stacey James a second look. The 5-10, 209-pounder out of Texas Southern was in Buffalo's training camp last year and flashed some talent. He was the 2006 SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and the Bills need some depth at safety.
--Ex-Bills RB Thurman Thomas has added membership in the Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame to his resume. The National Football Foundation announced his induction last week. The Bowl Subdivision is formerly the Division I-A classification. The 2008 class includes 13 players and two coaches who will be enshrined in 2009 in South Bend, Ind. Thomas, who played 12 of his 13 NFL seasons for the Bills, made the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year. He ran for 4,595 yards and 44 touchdowns at Oklahoma State.
--The signing of Viti has caused some heated debate. He and Army safety Caleb Campbell, a seventh-round pick by Detroit, are the first NFL players to take advantage of the Army's Alternative Service Option program, implemented in 2005. It allows professional players the chance to complete their service as recruiters for two years as long as they remain under contract. Neither the Naval or Air Force academies have such a program and critics believe it gives West Point a recruiting advantage. Viti went to the academy before the program was adopted so accusations he's trying to ditch his duty are unfounded. "I think a lot of people have the misconception that if you're not getting bullets slung by your head, that you're not serving your nation in a time of war," Viti said. "There are service support branches in the Army for that reason.
"Combat arms is what I decided to do, but that doesn't mean my service is going to be any less because you start to split hairs on it, you start to demean some of the other branches of the U.S. Army."
--The average ticket to watch the Bills play a series of games in Toronto over the next five years is $183, organizers in Canada announced. That's twice the average of the highest general seat in the NFL last year, in New England. And there's a waiting list of 180,000 that signed up for a lottery to buy a ticket at the Rogers Centre. While this may be sticker shock to some in the United States, Toronto sports fans paid around $309 to watch the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup title game last year. The NFL ticket must seem like a bargain.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I can't wait. I wish we could play tomorrow. It's like Christmas night. The anticipation leading up to the draft was tremendous, the preparation and work done by Tom (Modrak) and also the work of all the scouts, it was just tremendous. We feel very good about where we are. It's really the kickoff to 2008 season when the draft hits." -- New Bills COO Russ Brandon, and the conclusion of the NFL draft.
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