Mickey

it also depends on Brandon and thus far he has made it clear, no new deal this year for Peters and his absence from camp isn't the critical factor bescause that wouldn't explain why the team didn't go to him last February as they did with Schobel in 2/07. As has been reported many times, the team insists that he play under his existing contract this year. next year the situation will be essentially the same except that there will be 2 years left on his contract rather than 3 so, if the team won't give him a new deal this year because they don't have to, why will they give him one next year when again, they won't have to of course that is only if you accept that Peter has zero leverage as many hereabouts do sooo, since ralph signs the checks, this isn't asll up to the player, it never is

I would really like to believe that but given how they decimated us twice last year, I am not sure that we have risen or they have fallen that much. I am hoping the Poz factor becomes an equalizer. We really don't know what kind of defense we had given all the injuries last year. There are plenty of reasons to think that they could really be a force this year with everyone healthy and the additions of Stroud and Mitchel.

I am going to start selling my pee on e-bay.

No but shoulder pads with a built in bra are very hard to fit.

I have no crystal ball to see where all this ends up 3 years from now but I am resonably certain that if it came to a choice between trading him or having him waste away at home, the team will trade him. At some point, those picks would be far too valuable to waste over spite. I also think that however this works out, if he keeps playing as well as he did last year, the team will have to make him close to the highest paid LT in the league or lose him. I also think this holdout is spilling some bad blood that might not make a difference but will certainly not be helpful. Thankfully, Parker and Peters have kept their mouths shut. I wish Brandon would have done the same instead of all that "track record of silence" stuff and talk about how Jason wasn't "honoring his committment." Even if those remarks were justified as I am sure you think they were, no purpose was being served by making them publicly. They could have sent that message to Peters privately and answered "no comment" to the press.

Frankly, at this point I would like to lock Parker and Brandon in a room with that pixie guy and not let them out until this is worked out. I think they would reach a deal in seconds.

Your obsession with this man's groin has got to stop. Don't worry, we all love you and we will get you through this, together.

You sir, must have a very, very big hand.

Curses. Some one please find a link online to where I can watch the magic.

Reads like a first quarter injury report from any of our games last year. 17 1/2 different women? I am trying to picture what a half woman looks like. Hold me. I'm scared.

That is too bad, that guy is a player. The Giants are on TV in Syracuse every week so they kind of grow on you, like a fungus only not as itchy. Hope he has a good recovery.

I checked the guide on TW in Syracuse before I left the house this morning and I couldn't find the game listed anywhere. Anyone know if it is being televised in Syracuse? If not, I know someone found a link last week online, I was able to watch the game in my hotel room in New Hampshire while I was away on "business" (Actually, I had a clandestine meeting with Eugene Parker to get inside info on the holdout, there, my secret's out, whew, i feel sooooo much better).

A few "facts" here are not correct. Peters was checked out by team doctors after the surgery, that came from Brandon himself when he described the last time he saw Jason this year being after his surgery when he was in town to be checked out by the docs. So much for the "no one knows if his groin healed" fact. You may not think he is a premier tackle but the rest of the league does, including Jason Taylor, former defensive MVP who faced Peters twice each year. As for Schobel turning up for camp, that was because the team approached his agents in February of 2007 and worked 6 months on a new deal which, with the exception of what Schobel himself called a few minor details, was done prior to camp. There was no need for him to hold out. However, even though the team showed their good faith by conceding that he was due a new contract and negotiating in February, he still held out of the first 4 off season practices to send a message to the team that he was dead serious. The difference here isn't in what the two players have done, it is in what the team has done. They went after Scobel early and have flatly refused to give Peters a new deal this year. Many have stated, with no proof at all, that the team is justified in seeing if he is the real deal for one more year. Yet, at the same time they are quick to point out that Peters has no leverage now. Well, if that is true, he will have no leverage next year either or the year after that. If the team is justified and has the leverage to make this deal stick for another year, why not for another 2 years? Would that be unfair? Would you be critical of the team then? If not, why not? Why would this year's strategy be sound and the same strategy be unsound next year? What is the difference? Afterall, we have him by the balls, he has no choice, no option, no leverage, right? If by pedigree, you mean prove he is worth the money he seeks, he has all the pedigree that is needed. Schobel wasn't worth the contract he had nor the extension he was given. He is not and never will be a "premiere" defensive end as witness by the lack of double teams he draws. Peters made the pro bowl earlier than Schobel did and at 26 years old, he will be getting better while Schobel is clearly in the back half of his career. Cash cow or not, if you want a pro bowl LT, you eventually have to pay a pro bowl salary. If you can't pay a good player at a key position something close to what he is worth, you have no business running a football team.

Yet another prediction that Peters would "crawl back" to camp that was wrong. I think the best way to handle this is to simply make a new prediction each day that he will be back the next, sooner or later you will be right, I hope.

By "coming to his senses" do you mean playing under his existing contract as the team insists?

No handsprings or drama is necessary. Simply do what they did with Schobel, call Parker and say they are willing to give him a new deal this year. From there, they start faxing offer sheets and you see what happens. Instead, they have insisted that he "honor the commitment" he made to the team two years ago, ie, keep playing under this contract.

Brandon's press conference. Peters hasn't had one. Neither has his agent.

Yes he does. When this contract is up, he will leave. He is a young player and will be around for a lot longer than 3 years. Why in the world, after this, wouldn't he leave? Maybe your content with losing the best LT we have had since Will Wolford, I'm not. And he could just stay home, now. At some point the team will have to decide to pay him or trade him. They aren't going to let an asset like that go to waste, not when they could get a couple high picks for him. That will be a great message to send to the rest of the player on the team and around the league wouldn't it: "Come to Buffalo where pro bowlers get paid like bench warmers". Why there will be a stampede of FA's to....er.....away from Buffalo.

...and you are trying to convince us that Peters is a fat, lazy bastard and we are better off without him. Lets take a look at your even tempered discussion of Peters, simply objecting to his agents tactics: "Be selfish, disrespect your teammates, and the Bills have nothing to say to you, even if you are a (one-time barely) Pro Bowler" Peters selfish and disrespectful? Check. "It really looks like Parker was banking on the Bills to behave like some people on this board: wetting their panties at the thought of playing without Peters" We don't need Peters? Check. "If Peters won't listen, then I'd tell him he should look into trade school to learn a new skill because he'll never play another down in the NFL if I have anything to to about it." To hell with Peters? Check. "Giving into a crybaby like Peters only invites every other player on the team to hold out." Peters a crybaby? Check. "Another pouting holdout." Check. "I hope Peters bought Madden '09 because it will be the only football he plays this year. Jase, how's that new agent workin' out for ya?" Check. But to be fair, you have been restrained compared to others: "I guess Peters is too stupid to realize this and start looking out for his own interests, not Parker's." "I believe he goes on the Incredibly Stupid/Unable To Perform list." "Maybe Peckerhead is coming to grips with his self-inflicted conundrum" "Peters will report by week's end - with egg on his face, and nothing but his dick in his hand to show for his 4-week display of petulance and futile greed" "Parker is a punk, and Peters is an idiot." "...are you suggesting that stupidity, bad behavior, and not honoring one's word are things that should have no consequences " "Peters will look even more stupid, if that's possible..." "The Bills have shown they can survive - maybe even do quite well, thank you - without Peters" "Now, instead of sittin' on your fat ass while all your teammates are working their butts off, how 'bout hopping in your big-ass, tricked out SUV ..." "Ya gotta think he's feeling pretty stupid right now, and is wondering how he gets out of the jam he's caused himself without looking like a total idiot. Too late for that, Jason..." "I still think Peters will report Friday [Aug. 8th], and that the Bills are already in 'spin control' mode to find a face-saving way out for Jason..." I won't bother with all the other sage predictions that he will be in camp by ________, all of which have been wrong. So with all that bile against Peters, I can see why it seems like overkill for me to post something positive about Peters to interrupt the 24-7 "Peters is a greedy idiot" post parade.

Is there nothing wrong with the team pursuing a course that will eventually cost us this player? I think he has certainly proved his worth already. One pro bowl year and some proof that he woudl have made it the year before despite playing 1/2 the year on the right side if he hadn't have been such an unknown. (See Peter Kings 2007 ballot and what Ryan had to say to McNally when he saw Peters' tape after he already turned in his ballot). If it was a choice between losing him and paying him now, what woud you choose? Screw him over now and sooner or later, he will bolt as soon as he can. At the very least, he would be gone after this contract and though 3 years might seem like a long time, he has a lot more than 3 years of football left in him. Maybe you have missed the "Peters is a selfish peckerhead, screw we don't need him, he isn't all that good, etc." posts that are all over the board. I haven't. This post is a response to that stuff and if it bothers you, a good solution might be to not read it.

All those articles are from before his hold out and I posted them here in one place due to all the posts I have read lately claiming the he really isn't all that good. "Fat, lazy, selfish peckerhead" are just some of the foolish claims being repeated ad nauseum. I think he is just as good run blocking as he is pass blocking. You just don't see it given the incredible predictability of our offense last year. Lynch had some pretty solid numbers despite that inept offense, someone was blocking and it wasn't Melving Fowler. In fact, I am somewhat amazed we ran as well as we did last year given the pitiable game planning and play selection coming out of Fairchild. I have no problem with the team pinching pennies or making points on contracts....with lesser players. I just think it is a very bad idea to risk screwing up the good fortune of having finally found a franchise LT. We had lots of player come and go during the SB runs but the top guys always got enough money to stay put. Get tough with Kelsay if you want, or Ryan Denney or Roscoe or Kyle Williams. Not Peters. Not Evans. Not Lynch and not Edwards.

Nothing personal but I am getting sick and tired of digging up these links every other day. Search my prior posts if you don't believe me. Essentially, Brandon was talking about the last time he actually saw Peters and he said it was after his surgery when he was in town getting checked out by the team doctors. The team itself has not been shy about slamming Peters in public so I am sure that if they had a concern about his health, we would have heard about it. The only place that is being metioned as justification for flatly refusing to give him a new deal this year is around here. Okay, one more time, just this once and only because its you: Links dealing with Peters It would be possible that he turned down an offer but then Brandon has publicly stated that they expect him to play under his current contract this year. Brandon hasn't been reluctant to mouth off in public about Peters and it would help his argument if in fact they made him a solid offer and he turned them down so there would be no need to keep that secret. He would have tossed that in along with all that track record of silence stuff. The whole offense doesn't turn around Peters, I would agree. However, he is the best player on this line, he is among the best at his position in the entire league and as good as he is, he is going to get even better. I guarantee there is not a team in the league that wouldn't be elated to have the chance to make him the highest paid LT in the league. At present, there are stiffs all around the league making twice what he makes. We got an all pro year out of Peters at a bargain basement price. Now the team wants to get yet another all pro year out of him for a relative pittance. Yet no one sees that as being greedy. No, all you hear around here is that Peters is a greedy "peckerhead". Pennywise and pound foolish.

What makes you think there is a stigma associated with a hold out? I am not sure why he would care if Russ Brandon pats him on the back. As long he pancakes DE's, I am pretty certain he will still be allowed to play in all the reindeer games. Have you heard a single solitary quote from any player on the team that they have a problem with him? Every guy in that locker room has at some point had to try and negotiate a good deal for themselves. They have all been in his shoes. Whitner held out. Lynch held out. McCargo held out. Lack of loyalty??????????? You are not serious are you? If the team thought it was in its best interests to lie to a player and then drop him like a bad habit from the roster, they would do so in a heartbeat. Just ask Craig Nall about that, or JP even. This isn't a scout troop and it isn't high school. We aren't electing a prom queen at the homecoming game. No one is trying to win one for the gipper. Mitchell won a ring with the Giants last year and then signed with the team that paid him the most money which was us. Teams have no loyalty to players and when push comes to shove, they have no loyalty to the team. There isn't a guy in that locker room who wouldn't jump to another team if given the chance to do so as long as it was for more money then the Bills are paying them. I'd bet the house that the players don't blame Jason Peters for his absence, they blame Russ Brandon, if they blame anyone at all. They are big boys who understand that this is a business first.

He has proved that. Read the articles linked in the new thread I started on how good Jason Peters is. Even in this article, they called him "a great player", not "a great pass blocker". Pass blocking against top flight DE's is clearly why LT's are so critical so naturally it is what was discussed most in the article. As for his future, that was mentioned only to show that he can get even better, not that he isn't the best now. About the only thing Ryan said that wasn't totally gushing was that he isn't quite ready yet for the hall of fame. Clearly, he is waaaaaaay better than his current contract right now.

I think it was a guy from Army, Captain Tenile I think was his name and rank.