I think there's at least a 50 percent chance, probably a little higher, that Trent Edwards

is the Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback when the 2010 season starts.

New Bills head coach Chan Gailey has made the quarterback position work with Mike Tomczak,

Kordell Stewart, Jay Fiedler and, to a lesser extent, Tyler Thigpen. I think there's a fair

chance he's going to look at Edwards and say, "Let's see what we can do for a season with this

guy."

Expect the Bills to investigate many options. Gailey made that clear during a news briefing

Thursday.

"That decision will play out once you get a complete evaluation of the guys in the draft,

and a complete evaluation of the guys you've got, and a complete evaluation of the guys that

are out there available in free agency, or on the trading block," Gailey said.

"There's four categories there that you can make a move in or not make a move in, and play

the pat hand, so to speak. I think it's too early for me to say. I know everybody would like

for us to have a decision today and tell exactly where we're going, exactly what we're going

to do — I can't give you that today," he said.

I'd be surprised if the Bills make a pitch for Michael Vick. Gailey's history suggests he's

not particularly keen on superstars, or quasi-superstars, guys whose reputation is bigger than

their performance. That's Vick's category. Vick is a running quarterback in a passing league.

He's 38-28-1 in his career as a starter, which is good. But his career completion percentage

is 53.7. He's not "The Answer." Any Eagles trade of Vick is likely to come before March 9,

because that's when they owe him a $1.5 million roster bonus.

I don't love a deal for Donovan McNabb, either. ESPN speculated the Bills are among the

teams that have told the Philadelphia Eagles that if they start shopping McNabb, Buffalo

should be on their call list. Both McNabb and his backup, Kevin Kolb, are entering the final

year of their contracts. But Philadelphia doesn't need to do anything. Kolb will be a

restricted free agent after this coming season, so they can retain his rights. McNabb will be

34 in November. If there's no football in 2011, he will be 36 in his next season, 2012. There

are plenty of QBs who have been productive after age 35 (Kurt Warner, Phil Simms, Brett Favre,

etc.). There are plenty of others who have declined at that point. But the Bills already went

down the road of getting a quarterback on the downside — Drew Bledsoe.

One option the Bills no doubt will consider is the draft. Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen

started 34 games in college. If he were still available at No. 9, Buffalo should give him

serious consideration. A compelling case could be made that the Bills should strengthen

themselves in the trenches first in order to achieve respectability. If that's their strategy,

it would likely point them in Edwards' direction for another year.

Reunion time?

Let the speculation begin about a reunion of linebacker Joey Porter with Bills defensive

coordinator George Edwards, who coached Porter in Miami the past three years. Porter, soon to

be 33, was mistakenly released by Miami on Friday. He still is on the Miami roster because the

Dolphins did not have enough cap space to cut him. Nevertheless, he's expected to be cut in

March. Porter is one year removed from a 17.5 sack season and would look good in the Bills'

3-4 defense. Arizona also is a potential suitor for Porter. Porter had nine sacks in 14 games

for Miami in 2009.

Reed getting closer

Andre Reed's stock for the Hall of Fame went up with his advancement from the final 15 to

the final 10 in last weekend's Hall selection meeting. The bottom line is it's looking good

for Reed long-term. There are seven receivers from the 1960s in the Hall. There are four from

the '70s and four from the '80s. There are only two in from the '90s — Jerry Rice and

Michael Irvin. Offenses relied more heavily on the pass in the '90s than in previous decades.

So it's a given there's room for at least two more receivers from the '90s in the Hall and

maybe three.

Official admission

Several years ago the NFL made it a point of emphasis to officials to be more strict about

illegal contact calls on defensive backs against receivers. It came after the Patriots got

very physical with Colts receivers in some key games.

NFL officiating chief Mike Pereira, who retired from his post after the Super Bowl,

admitted last week on a Boston radio station the league went a bit overboard with it and that

those kind of calls have subsided.

"It was difficult for us," Pereira said. "You always tried to officiate the game

advantage-disadvantage. And so it didn't seem logical to me at the time. I probably wouldn't

be saying this if I didn't have just four quarters left to go in my career. But it didn't seem

logical to me that you would take advantage-disadvantage out of the equation, that just a

touch became a foul whether it had an effect or not."

Pereira thought that it should only be a penalty if it affected the play.

Onside kicks

Happy birthday to Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who turns 50 today.

Here was a surprisingly blunt comment from Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio on his

quarterback, David Garrard, on the Jim Rome radio show last week: "I think I would say a

quarterback like David Garrard can be that [a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback] with a great

supporting cast. You know, I don't know. When you look at teams that have won multiple

championships, I think they've had elite quarterbacks. ... . The elite quarterback? He's not

that. I do think David's a good football player."

Riverside product Mike Williams, the former Syracuse receiver, got invited to the

Scouting Combine workouts next week in Indianapolis. UB back James Starks got an invite, but

UB receiver Naaman Roosevelt did not. There are 44 wide receivers and 26 running backs

invited.

Here were the most pass-oriented teams in the NFL last season, and the percentage of

offensive plays in which they threw the ball: Arizona (62.9), Indianapolis (62.7), Seattle

(62.2), Chicago (61.6), and Philadelphia (60.6).

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has a new five-year contract. The tax return for the

year ending last March 31 showed Goodell made $9.7 million, of which $2.9 million was salary

and $6.55 million bonus and incentive compensation. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig had

compensation of $17.47 million for the year ending Oct. 31, 2007, according to the sport's

last available tax return.