Inside The Bills

Drew Brees on Marrone

With Doug Marrone being named the new head coach of the Bills there’s been reaction across the NFL. Drew Brees, who worked with him when he was offensive coordinator of the Saints offered the following.

“I am thrilled for Doug and his family,” said Brees. “I really enjoyed my time working with him when he was here with the Saints. Doug is a coach who deeply cares about his players. It was fun to watch him resurrect the program at his alma mater, Syracuse, and I know that the feeling in our organization was that he would have success doing that very quickly. This is a great opportunity for Doug and I can tell you that there are a lot of people here at the Saints that are proud to see him having earned this opportunity with the Bills.”

Joe D. takes on Brees

Joe DeLamielleure is calling out Drew Brees for what the Pro Football Hall of Fame guard believes is a “window dressing” resolution to put two retired player representatives on the NFLPA Player Board of Representatives.

The reason DeLamielleure feels the motion rings hollow is because those two seats do not have votes. They’d literally be figureheads with no voting power. So the Bills Wall of Famer wrote an open letter to Brees on the heels of his resolution at the NFLPA meetings in Hawaii last week where he again champions the cause of increased disability benefits for retired NFL players.

The entire letter can be found here.

QBs make SB XLIV historic TV

The Super Bowl is typically one of the most viewed television programs each year. To know that this year’s version is most watched ever is historic enough in itself, but to be the most watched TV program ever is because of one factor.

The two QBs involved in the game were among the best in the game. Sure there was the sentimental favorite in New Orleans, but Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are two of the five best QBs in football and that was the draw.

Why do you think the NFL keeps instituting more and more rules to protect the QBs? If they’re on the field performing more people will watch, and that’s what happened Sunday.

Bills wanted Brees

According to SI.com’s Peter King in a conversation he had with current Saints defensive coordinator and former Bills head coach Gregg Williams, the Bills wanted Drew Brees way back in the 2001 draft.

In his MMQB column he outlines a conversation he had with Williams. Naturally they were talking about Brees and Williams brought up Buffalo’s draft plans in 2001. As Williams tells it the Bills wanted Nate Clements in round 1 and obviously got him even though they traded down to pick 21 (from 14).

In round 2 holding the 46th pick the Bills wanted to move up so they could take Drew Brees as their quarterback, but there were no takers and San Diego grabbed Brees at the top of the 2nd round with the 32nd pick.

“I almost pulled a hamstring in the draft room, jumping up and down because I was so mad,” Williams told King.

As King astutely points out, can you imagine how that would have changed Buffalo’s fortunes at the position? The following year they likely would not have traded for Drew Bledsoe. And as Williams told King.

“I’ll tell you this: I wouldn’t be sitting here in New Orleans right now.”