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.
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