October 11, 2000

A lot of folks who go around with weathered faces and stopwatches consider John Butler the NFL's most astute judge of talent. I know this: He is the biggest.

Put in a call to Butler and if he is driving somewhere, which he often is, he will stop in a fast-food place adjoining the highway to place a return call. A nice sense for public relations. But I sometimes have thought this big bear of a man was as accessible as he was because he was hungry.

Come to think of it, he confirmed this point the last time he called me.

Some people around here would be well-served to be aware of Butler, whose contract as executive vice president/general manager of the Buffalo Bills lapses after the current season. My understanding is that he would prefer to stick around Buffalo, but there are reasons he might be receptive to a change of address.

One involves money. His rewards are known to be among the least for persons acting as he does. Butler understandably would like this to change, but Bills president Ralph Wilson Jr., while a person of the highest standing in the NFL community, is not known for flinging around great sums of money.

Wilson will be 82 next Tuesday. What of the Bills when the only steward the club has had no longer is there? No one can be certain. It has to be remembered that Buffalo is in a small market as the NFL measures such things. Some suspect the Bills one day might be doing business in Toronto, not that far up the road.

Butler has to be mindful of these points. Wherever he winds up should consider itself blessed. The man simply has an eye for talent. His first draft selection for Buffalo after he arrived there in 1988 was Thurman Thomas, whom he obtained in the second round. In the third round of the 1989 lottery, he named Don Beebe, a wide receiver out of Chadron State in Nebraska who would be a member of six Super Bowl teams.

Since 1991 (excluding the 2000 draft), seven of the nine athletes who were Butler's top selections are starting for the Bills. The two who are not, cornerbacks Jeff Burris and Thomas Smith, departed western New York in free agency and are starting for other clubs (Burris for the Indianapolis Colts, Smith for the Chicago Bears).

This, though Butler has not drafted higher than 14th in any of the last five drafts.

He also has proceeded successfully in free agency. Linebacker Bryce Paup, one of his acquisitions, was the NFL's 1995 Defensive MVP.

Any team that gets Butler also is likely to get the Bills' director of pro personnel, A.J. Smith, which would be no bad thing. Smith is the guy who recognized while Doug Flutie was playing in the Canadian League that Flutie could be useful in the NFL.

Butler and Smith both once served the Chargers. So did the other member of arguably the league's best personnel troika, vice president/player personnel Dwight Adams. I don't know about you, but I find that ironic.

On a path to solvency

Lande, a former Rams scout, publishes a scouting compendium under the title of "GM jr." He currently is serving XFL, the World Wrestling Federation's venture into football, as a scouting consultant.

XFL's footballs, incidentally, are going to be red and black. They've been a hot item in places where they have been offered for sale.

It's a snap

 Trades are good. They cause people to take sides. They stimulate conversation. Sometimes, they even can help teams. Somebody ought to remind the NFL. The league's trading deadline slipped past yesterday without any activity. A pity.

 I'm an AFC guy, but I can't like the conference's chances in the Super Bowl. St. Louis and Minnesota are light-years ahead of anything the AFC can offer.

 The next team with a salary-cap headache: Carolina, said to be $25 million over the 2001 cap.

 The Baltimore Ravens are seven games into what coach Brian Billick terms "the journey." Including their last two preseason games, the Ravens are playing seven of nine games on the road and getting away with it. They're 5-1 after appending a 15-10 conquest of Jacksonville to two straight shutouts. Next for Billick's side: a game against the Redskins in Washington.

 Game of the year: Minnesota at St. Louis on Dec. 10.

 The Coach of the Year is Dennis Green. Nobody else is close. Well, maybe Mike Martz.

 Only one word should be used in reference to Keyshawn Johnson: bust. I liked what Sean Jones said about the Tampa Bay receiver on the Fox Network: "Keyshawn has to know that guys are going to put the wood to him. When you get your touches, you have to make things happen. That's what big-play guys do."

 Situation: Minnesota, leading by four points with about a minute to play, has a choice: It can kick a field goal or give Tampa Bay the football on Tampa's 2-yard line. Green goes for the field goal. He erred, in my thinking. The Bucs might have caught the Vikings had Keyshawn on Monday evening held a pass within the Minnesota 10. But Green still is the Coach of the Year for the job he has done with Daunte Culpepper.

 No NFL team has covered the wagering line in all its games. At 5-1, Philadelphia has been most successful against the numbers. Miami is 4-1. The Chargers are 1-5.