By Ed Reilly
Bio | Email

CM Punk and Buffalo Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman engaged in a war of words yesterday on Twitter in regards to the NFL star encountering some WWE Divas during the Raw brand’s stay in Costa Rica.

Punk wrote: “Watching Shawne Merriman of the buffalo bills hit on our divas and strike out, reminds me of the Bills in the super bowl. #choke.”

Merriman replied: “I was just giving you guys some hope look like you were struggling by the pool. Sympathy from Lights.”

Punk said: “If you could get to a QB as fast as you ran after our divas maybe you’d make headlines being a pro bowler and not a creep.”

Merriman added: “How about I come and deliver a nice special lightsOut ass woopin tonight Costa Rican Style.”

Punk closes: “Clearly, I have defeated you. However, You will have plenty of time to think of a better come back while you ride the bench for another entire season. Good luck getting to the Super Bowl! With love, CM Punk.”

Merriman replies: “Do me a favor turn your little wrestling underwear around and give yourself a wedge – see you later Punk without the CM.”

*RARE* photo of teenage CM Punk with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin ->

Buffalo Bills fans have one less place to stock up on their team’s merchandise. A Bills Store representative said the team has closed its store location inside Eastview Mall in Victor.

The representative said the store’s lease has expired and the organization chose not to renew it.

The Eastview store opened up in 2005 after moving from Pittsford Plaza.

Fans can still order merchandise online. The Bills official online store
can be found here.

Victor, N.Y. – Team officials confirm the closure of the Buffalo Bills Store in Eastview Mall.

The store shut its doors on Sunday.

Team officials report the success of online sales eliminated the need for the location.

The Eastview Mall location was the only Bills store not located at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Buffalo Bills are sitting pretty in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft.

Most of the attention on the Bills’ draft plans understandably is focused on their first-round pick, No. 3 overall. The Bills, however, arguably have their most attractive position ever in the second round.

“We’re second — 34th overall — so you ought to get a good player,” said Bills General Manager Buddy Nix.

The NFL’s new three-day draft format, adopted last year, has changed the complexion of the second round. Round One is held on Thursday, April 28. Rounds Two and Three are the next day. Rounds Four to Seven are the following day. Last year was the first time ever there was a break after the first round.

Most NFL observers think that’s an advantage to teams.

“I think the picks at the top of the second round are more valuable [than before],” said Gil Brandt, the renowned former Dallas personnel chief and now an analyst for NFL.com. “You regroup, reanalyze. You make the pick under less duress. Remember this, you not only have that night to think about it, but the whole next day.”

The second round begins at 5:30 p.m. on April 29.

“Every year it’s about the same,” Brandt said. “You do all this work to put the top 32 together. Sure enough, somebody jumps up into the top 10 you didn’t expect, two of ‘em jump up in 11 to 20 and a couple more [unexpected guys] go in the last part of the round. You end up with three or four names [at the top of the second round] that usually are pretty good players.”

Teams also have more time to contemplate a trade at the top of the second round.

“After the first round, you’ve got all night and the next day before you go around again, so it’s a lot easier to do it with all that time than it used to be,” Nix said.

The 2011 draft also is very deep in a couple areas of need for the Bills — defensive end and outside linebacker, and it’s not bad at offensive tackle. Obviously, the player the Bills take at 34 — barring a trade — will be impacted by who they take at No. 3 overall. Nevertheless, here’s a look at how some of the Bills’ need positions may shake out at the top of the second round:

Defensive end: There could be eight or more defensive linemen taken in the first round. Among those who might last until the second is Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward. He’s a 6-foot-5, 288-pounder who started 45 games and is an ideal 3-4 end.

Outside linebacker: Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan, Georgia’s Justin Houston and Pittsburgh’s Jabaal Sheard. Kerrigan, 6-4 and 255, projects as a 3-4 outside linebacker. He had 33.5 sacks in his career. Houston, a 6-3, 258-pounder, had 10 sacks in 2010 as a stand-up linebacker and 7.5 in 2009 as a defensive end. Georgia shifted to a 3-4 defense last season. Sheard, 6-3 and 260, also projects as a pro outside linebacker. He may be more of a mid-second-round selection. But he emerged as a pass-rush force with nine sacks last season.

Offensive tackle: Mississippi State’s Derek Sherrod and Villanova’s Benjamin Ijalana. Sherrod played 46 games and started 34. He’s raw, but he did pretty well at the Senior Bowl. He could go in the first round. Ijalana is the top Football Championship Subdivision (the former Division I-AA) level player in the draft.

Quarterback: If the Bills don’t go with a quarterback in the first round, they still could “settle” for one in the second. Washington’s Jake Locker and Florida State’s Christian Ponder may be there.

Safety: If the Bills can’t land a veteran safety before March 4, UCLA’s Rahim Moore might slide into the second round. Moore started 37 games for the Bruins and is an exceptional athlete.

The scramble to get to the top of the second day of the draft is nothing new. Two years ago, when the second day opened with Round Three, the New York Jets traded up to pick running back Shonn Greene at No. 65. The Jets acknowledged afterward they probably would not have decided to trade up if they did not have time to sleep on it.

“If you remember in the old days, we used to have the fourth round [on the second day of the draft],” Brandt said. “And everybody scrambled to get the first, second, third pick in the fourth round.

“You’ll remember one year — and Buffalo probably wants to forget it — where [Rob] Johnson, the quarterback, was the first player picked in the fourth round,” Brandt said. “That was a coveted pick. He was traded to Buffalo for a first-round pick, which became Fred Taylor, the running back.”

The Bills were one of three teams, with Denver and Cincinnati, that finished 4-12 last season. The first-round draft order was determined by strength of schedule, with the team with the easier schedule picking sooner. Denver’s schedule was easier than Buffalo’s. But the order rotates in subsequent rounds. So Buffalo moves ahead of Denver in the second round.

mgaughan@buffnews.comnull