The Buffalo Bills are heading into the 2009 season without a safety net at backup QB.  The Bills have replaced J.P. Losman with Ryan Fitzpatrick and that’s a huge downgrade.  With that in mind the Bills need injury prone QB Trent Edwards to stay upright if the offense is going to have any success.  Edwards is a solid QB as he has a good throwing arm and with T.O. and Lee Evans lining up at WR it gives the Bills a good chance to have a good downfield passing attack.  If anything happens to Edwards the Bills’ season will likely go right into the toilet.  Fitzpatrick doesn’t have much of an arm as his feet are his best asset on the football field.  The Bengals went into the tank last season when Carson Palmer got injured and Fitzpatrick had to play.  Untested Gibran Hamdan and Matt Baker will battle for the #3 QB job this summer.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  C-

The Bills have signed 30-year old running back Dominic Rhodes to a 2-year deal.  Rhodes played in 15 games for the Colts last season and he carried the ball 152 times for 538 yards (3.5 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also caught 45 passes for 302 yards (6.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs for the Colts last season.  Rhodes will compete with Fred Jackson to see who starts at tailback while Marshawn Lynch is serving his suspension.  Rhodes has now played in 96 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 777 times for 3,114 yards (4.0 ypc) with 26 TD runs.  He has also caught 146 passes for 1,021 yards (7.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs in his career.  Early on he also was a returner for the Colts and he could help out the Bills in that capacity if the need arises.  Rhodes has returned 135 kickoffs for 3,122 yards (23.1 avg) with 2 TD returns in his career.  This was a good move for the Bills.

The Bills have signed 29-year old C/G Seth McKinney.  McKinney played in all 16 games (3 starts) for the Cleveland Browns.  He has now played in 85 games (45 starts) in his NFL career which has spanned 7 seasons.  This was a good depth move for the Bills as McKinney is a very versatile offensive lineman.

The NFL has suspended 22-year old running back Marshawn Lynch for the first three games of the 2009 NFL season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  Lynch played in 15 games for the Bills last season and he carried the ball 250 times for 1,036 yards (4.1 ypc) with 8 TD runs.  He also caught 47 passes for 300 yards (6.4 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  It will be interesting to see how the Bills decide to fill the hole that Lynch will be leaving in the offense.  He has now played in 28 games in his 2-year NFL career and he has carried the ball 530 times for 2,151 yards (4.1 ypc) with 15 TD runs.  He also has caught 65 passes for 484 yards (7.4 avg) with 1 TD grab in his career.  At least the timing for this was good as the Bills might be able to select a RB in this month’s NFL Draft.

The NFL has suspended linebacker Mario Haggan for 4 games for violating the league’s banned substance policy.  Haggan played in all 16 games for the Bills last season and he made 20 tackles and had 1 sack.  Haggan has now played in 65 games in his NFL career and he has made 79 tackles, has 1 sack and he has forced 2 fumbles.  This will hurt the linebackers’ standing with the Bills.