The Set-up: The Bills had just gone 6-10 and fired Gregg Williams. The 2003 season seemed to represent the beginning of the end of Drew Bledsoe’s career. #11 was god awful, as he passed for just 11 touchdowns in 16 games. After the season concluded, the consensus was that the Bills HAD to draft a QB. Normally, when you have a QB like Bledsoe, for the most part, if you are looking for the heir apparent, it’s because your QB is getting older. Bledsoe was still just 31-years, so, in football years, he still had years left it would seem. Anyways, in what some had thought was an act of desperation, Tom Donahoe traded the Bills 1st round pick in 2004 and their 2nd round pick in 2003 for the Cowboys 1st round pick in 2003. The Bills used the Cowboys pick to draft JP Losman. At the time, I didn’t really know much about Losman. All offseason long, I kept hearing that the Bills wanted Big Ben, but he went two picks earlier to Pittsburgh. Some experts felt that the Bills reached for Losman, because Donahoe was so desperate to find the heir apparent to Bledsoe. They were right.
What happened: The Bills finished the 2004 season with a 9-7 record, which turned out to be the apex year for the Bills in the 2000’s. However, as we all know, the year ended on a downer against the Steelers B-team. After the Bills loss, a lot of fans/media members, placed the blame on Bledsoe for the outcome of the game. Drew didn’t play all that well, passing for just 189 yards and two turnovers, with one of them leading to a defensive touchdown. However, to place all of the blame on Bledose was a bit short-sighted. The Bills defense came up short, as guys like Brian St. Pierre and a-then-unknown running back, Willie Parker, dashed the Bills defense for 29 points. The worst part came in the 4th quarter, when the Steelers had a 9-minute, 46-yard drive. I’ve never heard of a 9-minute drive that only gained 46 yards. Ridiculous. Anyways, in the offseason the Bills cut Bledsoe and promoted Losman to starter. No QB competition, no nothing. Part of me wishes they would have just had both guys battle it out in training camp.
Well, we all know what happened. Losman had a very mediocre career with the Bills and was added to a growing list of QBs that couldn’t fill Jim Kelly’s shoes. Losman was the starting QB for the next three seasons and was benched 3 different times.
What if the Bills never selected JP Losman? Look, I can’t fault the Bills for looking for the heir apparent to Bledsoe. It just seemed that the NFL had passed by Bledsoe. Defenses were blitzing more than ever before and the era of the drop back QB, who would just sit there and wait 5 seconds for a WR to get open, were disintegrating. It wasn’t about Bledsoe’s mobility, hell, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will never be confused with Mike Vick, but those guys could do a 3-step drop and fire a pass off for 10-15 yard gain. That wasn’t Bledsoe’s forte. However, what I do fault is that the Bills seemed to panic when they drafted Losman. They didn’t have to go nuts and give up two picks for a guy that some viewed as being too cocky and not having the ability to read defenses. Losman had the tools, but you know from day 1, he couldn’t make reads.
You see, when you have a 1st round QB on your roster, it is the franchise’s due diligence to wait 3-4 years to see if he’s your guy. So, lets just say the Bills didn’t pick Losman, well, can you say Aaron Rodgers? The following season, the Bills would have had the 23rd pick in the draft, but they ended up trading that away in the Losman deal. Where did Rodgers end up going? 24th to Green Bay. Now, do I know whether or not the Bills would have selected him? Of course not, but, if the Bills wanted the best available player at that spot, it would have been Rodgers and it would have filled a need.
What about free agency? If the Bills kept Bledsoe for another year, which to me, would have been a foregone conclusion, because they had no one behind him that was worth the starting job, maybe the Bills go after Drew Brees in 2006 if Bledsoe stinks it up again? Hell, Brees picked the Saints, who were in worse shape than the Bills. The Saints were on the verge of possibly moving and were still going through the aftermath of Katrina. They also happened to suck at football. Maybe Dick Jauron and Marv Levy go after him. Don’t forget, there were rumors in 2001, that the Bills really liked Brees and that they were trying to draft him. At least, that’s what Gregg Williams said. So, if the front office liked him or for that matter, Ralph Wilson and John Guy did, maybe they go after him when he was a free agent.
What about the 2nd round pick that the Bills gave up? Well, the Cowboys selected Julius Jones, who I am sure the Bills wouldn’t have been interested in. However, guess who went next? Bob Sanders. Sanders, would have fit like a glove in Jerry Gray’s defense. The 46′ Defense has always been about having your strong safety play close to the line of scrimmage and support the run. The Bills already had Milloy, but he was getting up there in age and the other safety was some guy named Izel Reese. Yeah, unless Reese was John Connor’s dad (Lock up the Terminator movies) then he was not worth the roster spot. Maybe the Bills draft Sanders. Hell, we know the organization loves defensive backs. Plus, the Bills just lost Winfield to the Vikings, so, maybe they wanted to replace his toughness in the secondary.
Of course, the Bills could have also drafted Matt Leinart or Brady Quinn or give up a 2nd round pick for Dante Culpepper.
Back to Bledsoe for a moment, I don’t care what anyone says, but Bledsoe was a better QB than Losman ever was. Sure, he took the fall for the 2004 finale and 2003 season, but a lot of what went wrong for the offense was due to personnel changes and Kevin Gilbride not understanding how to adjust his scheme to personnel changes. Bledsoe’s 2004 season wasn’t great, but he did bounce back from his awful 2003 campaign. I don’t know, but I think Bledsoe getting cut had to with Tom Donahoe’s ego in wanting to prove that Losman was a great pick. Again, if the Bills don’t select Losman, I think Bledsoe survives another year. I also think cutting your starting QB after being just one win away from the playoffs and replacing him with a 2nd year guy was a little strange.
Bottom line: Losman handcuffed the franchise in a lot of areas during his time here. The Bills were in position to draft/sign a better QB, but because of Donahoe panicking, we will never know what could have happened.
John Boutet’s POV: I was against Losman from the start. One, he played at Tulane, historically not the place from which to acquire a star QB. Second, he was drastically overrated, as Tulane played nobodies and third, he was a scatterbrain. Hardly the recipe for a Super Bowl QB. I couldn’t stand listening to the guy, talked like he knew it all and in actuality knew nothing. If Losman doesn’t get selected in 2004, Aaron Rodgers is here in 2005 and the merry go round at QB ends.
John Boutet is a Buffalo sports historian on the Greater Buffalo HOF Board and a web editor for Buffalosportsmuseum.com. Make sure you check John’s site out, as it’s like going down memory lane for Buffalo Sports.
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