July 29, 1999

Price Signs: On the eve of training camp the Bills have signed 2nd round draft pick Peerless Price. That leaves GM John Butler a few hours to keep his perfect record intact of singing all the rookies before camp begins. 1st round pick Antoine Winfield is the only player not signed. The club wants him to sign a 5 year contract he wants a 4 year deal. Look for Butler to keep his streak intact and get this done in the morning.

July 28, 1999

Levy Lands Job: Former head coach Marv Levy has landed the coveted broadcasting job he has wanted since retiring from football. He will be a studio analyst for the new Fox Sports Net pregame show that will air at 11am as a complement to the Fox Network show at Noon on Sundays. Ironically enough Levy will be going head to head with his former QB Jim Kelly who will be on opposite Levy on ESPN Countdown which airs 11am - 1pm this year.

July 27, 1999

Another Pick Signs: The signings are coming fast and furious as fourth round pick Keith Newman has come to terms with the club. That leaves just the top two picks unsigned. All the rookies except for Winfield and Price were in Buffalo yesterday for workouts.

Bills Ink three picks: Third round pick Shawn Bryson, fifth rounder Jay Foreman, and seventh round choice Jay Fisher have come to contract terms three days before they have to report to Fredonia. The club still has three picks left to ink including the top two picks.

July 26, 1999

Phillips officially a 49er: The Niners bowled over Phillips with a 2 year deal worth $2.25 Million including a $425,000 signing bonus, which is more than twice the bonus the Bills offered.

July 23, 1999

Phillips Saga Ends: Empire Sports Network is reporting the Lawrence Phillips has decided to sign a contract with the 49ers. This ends a two week ordeal that had the Bills trying desperately to sign him. This will also avoid a controversy over the morals of signing such a player with a questionable character. Now there are some wounds to heal, mainly incumbent starting RB Antowain Smith and WR Andre Reed. Smith needs to feel the club has confidence in him and Reed must be wondering where they were going to get the money to sign Phillips when he's been told there is no money for him.

Kerner Signs: In a housekeeping move the Bills signed CB Marlon Kerner. Kerner was expected to stay in Buffalo all along and they had exclusive rights to the unrestricted free agent after nobody tried to sign him by the July 15th deadline. Kerner has had two major knee operations in two years, if he's healthy he will add depth to the secondary.

July 22, 1999

SF Up Ante For Phillips: ESPN is reporting that the 49ers have upped their offer in its attempts to sign Phillips. With their latest offer it seems he will go to San Francisco. Phillips wants to go to SF because the Bills backfield is a lot more crowded than SF, but he wants the Niners to come close to the $200,000 signing bonus the Bills are offering or he will come to Buffalo.

Individual Ticket Sales: The Bills have finally announced that individual game tickets will go on sale on Sat. Aug. 7th at 8am.

Steelers Game Nearly Sold Out! Even before game tickets go on sale the Steelers game is nearly sold out due to large volume of group sales for this game. There should be a lot of Steeler fans at this game.

July 21, 1999

Phillips Saga Continues: It is a foot race to the wire between Buffalo and San Francisco. The Bills have offered a $200,000 signing bonus, which is big for an NFL Europe player. Phillips is leaning toward San Francisco but he wants them to match the Bills bonus or else he will sign with Buffalo. My guess here is, SF will match the Bills offer and sign him.

July 20, 1999

Reports Say Phillips a Bill: Many broadcast reports say that Phillips is on the verge of signing with Buffalo. Stay Tuned for updates!

July 19, 1999

Conflicting Reports Continue on Phillips: As the Phillips sweepstakes begin to wrap up AP is reporting that the 49ers are back in the race, and closing in on signing the troubled RB. CBS Sportsline is reporting that the Bills have offered a signing bonus and are leading the way. Who do you believe? Stay Tuned..

July 18, 1999

Phillips Saga Nears Conclusion: It looks like Tuesday may be the day that Lawrence Phillips signs a contract. The question remains is, with who? It looks like the derby is down to two teams, the Bills and the Packers. Stay Tuned.

Price Close: Published reports say that 2nd round pick Peerless Price is close to signing a contract with the club.

July 13, 1999

Bills Sign Free Agent: WR Todd Floyd was signed as a free agent, he played in NFL Europe this year and played his college ball at UNLV.

July 12, 1999

Back from Vacation!: Steve's Bills Site is back from vacation and rearing to go with the 1999 season! Not much happened while we were away, the Lawrence Phillips saga continues with John Butler and Wade Phillips traveling to meet with him last week. The Bills are a longshot for signing him but what must Antowain Smith be thinking! Butler also talked to Andre Reed but this situation is very ugly. One more late round pick inked a contract check out the status on all players on the front office page.