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BLEDSOE WOULD MAKE GREAT PICK

By David Staba

There's not much question that the Buffalo Bills would love to get Drew Bledsoe.

But we won't know until Saturday's National Football League draft, possibly even after Buffalo makes its first pick (scheduled to be the fourth overall selection), what the Bills are willing to give the New England Patriots in return for one of football's most accomplished quarterbacks.

Under normal circumstances, that No. 4 pick wouldn't seem excessive ransom to free Bledsoe from his uncharacteristic No. 2 spot on the Patriots' depth chart. Buffalo desperately needs a quarterback to significantly improve on last year's 3-13 mark and New England's front office doesn't want to gamble that Bledsoe will remain a docile backup behind Tom Brady, the former sixth-round pick who directed the Patriots to their first-ever Super Bowl title.

But the Bills aren't in a bidding war over the deposed Pro Bowler. So President/General Manager Tom Donahoe doesn't want to part with the highest pick the franchise has possessed since Bruce Smith finished his eligibility at Virginia Tech.

Donahoe downplayed the possibility last week.

"We're frustrated with how the talks are going," Donahoe said during an interview with Bengals.com, a Web site devoted to the NFL's saddest franchise and the closest thing Buffalo has to a rival suitor. "We can't get anywhere and it's been frustrating for us."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick also said he would be surprised if Bledsoe was traded to anyone before the draft.

All of which means, well, nothing. There's no reason for New England to seem over-eager to deal Bledsoe, nor for Donahoe to weaken his position by slobbering over the obvious answer to Buffalo's quarterback deficiency.

And make no mistake, less than two months after finally answering the eternal Johnson-or-Flutie debate with a resounding "neither," the Bills have yet to do any better. Alex Van Pelt may have been the best pure third-string quarterback in NFL history and makes a more-than-adequate backup. But his best quality might be that he won't hurt his team, and that's not good enough.

The Bills helped themselves with their first free-agent shopping spree since escaping from salary-cap jail. But they're still not good enough to win in spite of their quarterback. That means an upgrade. Crumbling Chris Chandler signed with Chicago last week, denying Bills fans the chance to place bets on the brittle veteran's next injury and leaving Bledsoe and former Jets, Bengals and Saints passer Jeff Blake as the two veteran options.

A free agent, Blake wouldn't cost Buffalo any draft picks and would come significantly cheaper than Bledsoe in terms of salary. But he couldn't hold the job in Cincinnati (though, to be fair, he didn't have much to work with) and an injury short-circuited his stay in New Orleans. Bledsoe, though, had missed just six games in eight seasons before sustaining organ damage in Game 2 last year. Belichick stuck with Brady after Bledsoe recovered, and the former franchise thrower kept quiet as New England got hotter and hotter. Bledsoe contributed a key win in relief at Pittsburgh in the AFC title game, but was visibly disappointed when Brady got the starting call for the Super Bowl.

The chances of such humility recurring shrink by the day.

Bledsoe hasn't shown up for New England's offseason workout program or bothered to contact the Patriots. Belichick has a history of running big-name quarterbacks out of town, having done the same to Bernie Kosar during his first head-coaching stint. The relationship between Belichick and Bledsoe was shaky from the time the coach arrived and is now reportedly non-existent.

So the Bills need Bledsoe, and New England needs to get rid of him. Donahoe is considered conservative in his personnel decisions, but given the uncertainty of any rookie's eventual success in the NFL, is there a safer pick than a proven quarterback who, at 30, should spend at least five more years in his prime?


Should Donahoe pass on Bledsoe, or come up with a way to make the trade without giving up that fourth pick, myriad self-appointed draft experts agree that the Bills will pick Miami offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie.

Or Texas offensive tackle Mike Williams.

Or Oklahoma safety Roy Williams.

Or one of three monstrous defensive tackles -- Tennessee teammates Albert Haynesworth and John Henderson and Ryan Sims of North Carolina.

In other words, you could spend all day searching the startling number of draft-related Web sites while listening to talk radio, then call Mel Kiper (the draft analyst who started all this silliness) at home and still know just as much about who the Bills will take as when you started.

You could spend some time with family, friends or pets, do some spring cleaning and, if your sports addiction kicks in, catch an actual baseball, basketball or hockey game.

And wind up being sure of just about as much.


David Staba is the sports editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter and the editor of the BuffaloPOST. He welcomes email at editor@buffalopost.com.

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com April 16 2002