"The song "See you in September" didn't apply to Lee Evans in years past because, for whatever reason, the notoriously slow-starting Bills wide receiver was missing in action during the first month of the season.

But his pattern of false starts has been broken this fall.

Buffalo's 2004 first-round draft pick may only have 14 receptions, but he's made them count, gaining first downs on 13 of them - an NFL-best 93 percent success rate - while also enhancing his reputation as a deep threat with a robust average of 23.7 yards per grab.

And Thursday, he made another significant haul when he signed a four-year contract extension worth $37 million.

The 10th-leading receiver in Bills history couldn't be happier that he's staying put. After enduring the bad times in Buffalo, he's hoping to experience the good times for a long time with a young but talented team that is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the first George Bush was in office.

"I really wanted to stay here," he told The Associated Press. "We have a great group of guys and a great organization to be a part of."

Locking up Evans is good news for the Bills because as second-year quarterback Trent Edwards and rookie wideout James Hardy mature, the former University of Wisconsin star figures to become an even bigger contributor to Buffalo's success.

Although slightly smaller at 5-feet-10, 197 pounds, Evans is emerging as a modern-day Andre Reed for a famished franchise that's conjuring memories of those great Bills teams of the early-1990s - an era when playoff appearances became commonplace at the stadium now known as The Ralph.

Evans caught the 30th touchdown pass of his career in last week's come-from-behind victory against the hapless St. Louis Rams. He also moved into seventh place on the Bills charts for career yardage (4,059), and if he maintains this pace through the next 12 games, he'll climb to fourth in career receptions, trailing only Reed, Eric Moulds, Thurman Thomas and Pete Metzelaars.

"I've been very impressed with Lee Evans ever since I set foot in Buffalo," Edwards said. "It's just great as a quarterback to have a guy like that, a weapon like that to throw to. I feel like he's a weapon, and that's a great way to describe Lee. And he's smart, he can read coverages, he can see blitzes, he doesn't run the wrong route, he catches everything and that's all you want out of a receiver."

But it's the things Evans does that don't show up on the stat sheet that impress Edwards even more.

"There are blocks he's making for Marshawn (Lynch) and Fred (Jackson) that are popping touchdowns for us," he said. "There are things in the passing game - such as Lee running off defenders to open up Rob (Royal) or Josh (Reed) underneath. You're not going to see that stuff in the newspaper the next day."

Nor are you going to read about Evans pulling a Terrell Owens and getting into a shouting match with his quarterback on t