Peter

Not really, but whatever.

In other words, by the reasoning you and some others have employed, the Bills should not even have approached Incognito's representative to take a pay cut because both parties had signed the initial deal and should live by the contract to which they had agreed. That is what that means.

That goes both ways.

As an aside, according to Spotrac, we have $17.7 million in cap space (after RI's release). If that is the case, there did not seem to be a pressing need to make him agree to a pay cut in the first instance. Given the cap space, there certainly was the cap space to come up with a compromise . . . unless the Bills are planning on spending that money. We shall see. I just hope that Shady has room to be Shady and that our starting QB (whoever that may be) has time to throw the ball. Maybe the guys on the team can fill the void, but it is tough to lose four guys who have started on the line over the past few years in one off season. The interesting thing about what happened with the Dolphins is that most of the players on that team sided with Incognito.

After what happened, Richie wanted to get his release. Not only did he get his release, he reportedly gets to keep $1.15 million whether he plays another down in the NFL or not. This was money that he would have had to return. It must be nice to get $1.15 million whether you continue to work or not. Because of the way that this was handled, the Bills reportedly do not get to recoup that money and, to add insult to injury, that money is now additional dead money against our cap. Dead Money - Spotrac In the end, we have lost another starting linemen (a pro bowler at that) and, for our trouble, we have another $1.15 in dead money against the cap. To me, there had to be a way to manage this better (both the Bills and Incognito). It would have been nice to keep a pro bowl lineman rather than create an addition hole. It would have been nice to give Shady and whoever starts at QB (especially if it is an untested rookie QB) the best possible protection.

Chemistry

Cheering against the Bills?!? My argument is that I think the Bills would be better if we kept our best offensive lineman. To me, that sounds like I am taking a good faith position promoting the best interests of the Bills and, in particular, the QB and Shady who will have to play behind this line. As for who outsmarted whom: Incognito got his release and got to keep his bonus. In other words, he got what he wanted. If you want to call this a win for McBeane, that is your certainly your prerogative.

As I said, he regretted taking less money after being one of the few Bills pro bowlers and the toll that the body takes. I guess you have not ever regretted anything. This front office did NOT give Incognito a second chance. The prior GM and coach did. In the end, Richie may have outsmarted McBeane . . . depending on what kind of contract he gets with a new team. He got his release and he got to keep his bonus.

I did not mean to "infer" anything actually.

I love it when you are passive aggressive and say "link please." I know that is your thing. When I read that, I think of Chad Johnson's line. You should have been able to figure this out without a link by the way. Richie did not actually retire. In fact, McBeane cut him because he was not going to retire. In any event, I would hate for you to continue to be confused . . . . "By releasing him, the bonus money the Bills had previously paid to the offensive lineman can no longer be recouped." https://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/buffalo-bills-cut-all-ties-release-richie-incognito-from-reserve_retired-list

Apparently, by cutting him, they let him off the hook on having to repay the bonus given that he did not end up retiring. At least, I recall reading that somewhere along the line today.

Apparently, it was not the end of the story. Nor was it the beginning. The Bills asked or demanded he take a pay cut even though he was one of a couple pro bowlers, he did it, and regretted it. In the end, the Bills bit off their nose to spite their face. We are missing our most talented offensive linemen on a team that now has (at best) a questionable offensive line. Not good news for Shady. Not good news for whoever starts at QB. Not good news for the team. But hey, at least McBeane can say that they forced Richie to take a pay cut and then forced him off the team by cutting him. They showed him. By cutting him now, Richie gets to keep his bonus and can sign with another team. Oh well. It is not like we are missing four guys who have started on the offensive line in the past few years . . . oh wait, it is exactly like that.

One might argue that a man of character would not ask another man to take less than the team already agreed to pay him. That bit can go both ways. Yes, I know, Richie signed the new deal but obviously had buyer's remorse after doing so. After the All Pro season he had last year (and the physical toll the game takes on players), it is understandable that he could have buyer's remorse. Indeed, it was the "gift" that kept on giving. Ugh. It was especially painful because the Bills actually discovered and nurtured the diamond in the rough of the former tight end. It was even more painful to see the career that he had with a team from Philadelphia (of all places)(for those of us who have hated the Flyers since the Stanley Cup so many years ago).

I may be in the minority here, but I really wish we had kept Jason Peters.

I actually like Groy . . . but I really would have liked Richie and Groy together. I hate the fact that we (intentionally or unintentionally or a combination of the two) have more and more holes to fill

Let's ask him how he feels about this again when he is running for his life behind the current line.

Not his call . . . but it is his body and his health and it was his wish.

Do you have any doubt that Shady desperately wanted Richie to remain a Buffalo Bill (whether he meant it about the money or not)?

I wonder what kind of mood our best player (the one who desperately wanted him to stay on the team and was willing to give up 300k of his own money) will be in after all of this. There had to be a way to manage this better. The guy was an all pro on merit last year. I know many here love the "addition by subtraction" line, but, after a while, all of these subtractions end up being subtractions. Our offensive line is probably our weakest unit . . . and some want to start a rookie QB who needs time (literally and figuratively) to develop. As I mentioned before I feel sorry for all of our QBs and RBs.

Interestingly, the guy who signed Seantrel (the new GM of the Texans whose name escapes me) was with in the Bills front office last year (if I recall correctly). If my memory is correct, he has ample knowledge of Seantrel, his health, his ability, and where he is in his career.

Yes, he overcame the illness and was on the team last year. To me, it was worth extending him especially given the investment we had in him as well as the sorry state of our line. When healthy, he can start at multiple positions on the line . . . and, at a minimum, provides good depth. Just my two cents.

To me, yes. He was on the team last year. We will see how he plays for the Texans. To say he "needed weed" is a tad of an oversimplification.

Seantrel. The Bills did not re-sign him and he signed with Houston. He started a bunch of games for the Bills and has shown that (when healthy) he is capable and certainly a capable back up. At a minimum, we need the depth.

He was trying to create leverage after he had buyer's remorse on the restructured deal. Guess what? He was successful. He was able to maneuver his way out of the deal. We will see if he gets a better contract. In my view, we cannot afford to lose offensive linemen . . . especially one that went to the pro bowl last year and has the trust of our best offensive weapon.

In the past several months, we have lost four offensive linemen who have started for the Bills over the past few years. We have gone from having a very good line to one that is questionable at best. As presently constituted, it does not instill a lot of confidence (particularly for our RBs and QBs).