Kirby Jackson

I think that realistically, at this point, the Bills would be looking at something like Shaq, Shady & a 2nd. Im not sure that’s enough but that would be my offer. Shaq and Shady will help the Texans this year and they can make a decision in the offseason on them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered Shaq a contract sooner. The Bills would be finishing off their defense which SHOULD remain near the top of the league. The only way that this happens though is if Clowney’s agent and the Bills have the framework of a deal in place for the offseason. Seeing as Gaine should know EXACTLY what Clowney wants I’d be comfortable with it.

Exactly what I was thinking. The Colts have a nice team and could probably get a good couple years out of Eli behind that OL. The Giants can rip the band-aid off and turn the page.

Shocking

I like college football more than the NFL at this point in my life (outside of the Bills). I’d much rather watch 2 college teams that I don’t care about (ie UF & Miami) than 2 NFL teams that I don’t care about. It’s just so much more interesting. We are in “Week Zero” and Florida can basically play themselves out of the playoffs by the end of the night. They will probably have to go undefeated the rest of the way (LSU, UGA, potentially Alabama, etc..) to get to the playoff.

There’s real football on tonight!! That preseason garbage has to take a back seat.

Congrats on the award Scott and thank you for your service!!!

I’m really surprised that people thought Mario was a bad signing. He had 38 sacks in his first 3 seasons in Buffalo!! He’s like the “anti-Bledsoe.” Some people think Bledsoe was good for the Bills. After the 1st 8 games in Buffalo he was atrocious. Mario was the exact opposite. He was a dominant player until Rex messed it up.

He’s a terrible guy but....

Fitz makes some sense. That team is going to be horrible. He’s deep into the back nine of his career. I could see them trading him for a late round pick to give him a chance to compete for a title.

Shouldn’t they just be traded for each other?

Oh

Agree to disagree, the numbers supporting it have been presented. Feel free to look them up or dispute it but he is 356 of 356 qualifying QBs in QB rating and INT percentage. He’s playing in an era where passing records are being destroyed. There is no bias. In fact, I’d say anyone that believes he “will be a backup in the NFL for many years” are the ones with the bias. Nothing that he has done supports that.

It’s more years of service and performance to me. So if, like Zeke & Gordon, they have way outplayed their contract I’m good with the holdout. The problem that both face (which is why they will inevitably report) is that they won’t enter FA the following year. It’s different than Bell was. I 100% agree with all of this. This system makes WAY more sense. The 1st overall pick shouldn’t instantly become the highest paid player in the league.

It’s a contract that you don’t have a say in. That’s the difference. It’s a slotted contract where your money isn’t guaranteed. They can decide at any point that you get $0 (other than the guaranteed portion). Again, in my example of you earn $3M and play like an $8M player you get $3M. If you are an $8M player playing like a $3M player you’ll get $0. That is a player’s only defense/leverage. The Oliver example is irrelevant. A player isn’t eligible for an extension until after his 3rd season.

I’m not going down this road again. No hyperbole coming from this end. That’s my belief. Here are some areas where he ranks 356 of 356 qualifying QBs:

Yeah, he sucks. No mental gymnastics to convince anyone that he is better than who he is. He is the worst that’s ever played. Some, random preseason performance isn’t going to change the facts.

Ha ha ha Great story, my friend’s dad goes to lunch with the same guys once a quarter (4 guys in total). They play credit card roulette every time. 3 of the 4 have an agreement to rig the game. Each of the 3 pays once every 3 years so that it doesn’t look shady. The same guy pays for the other 9 meals in that span. It went on for over 20 years!! They finally told him when he moved away a couple of years ago. They estimated that he paid for something like 60 meals and the other guys like 5-6 each.

It’s Knox for me. He’s intriguing and we haven’t seen him.

From my experience the waiter pulls my card when the bill comes. ?

You can’t ever go to dinner with them again!! That’s the worst. We are going to Josephine Estelle for a birthday tomorrow and there’s going to be 8-10. This group contains a couple of those people and I’m dreading it!! Last time we went to a nice dinner as a group the one girl asked the waiter how much it would be for a 2nd salad dressing on the side so that she could decide which one was better. When he told her what it was like $1 (or something that he inevitably made up) she said never mind. It was so embarrassing. We also had 4 bottles of wine which all ended up on my tab somehow. As a rule, if you go to dinner with a group and you are splitting the bill, split it evenly!! Sometimes you’ll end up paying a little less than you consumed and sometimes a little more. It all comes out in the wash though. NO ONE wants to go out with the guy/girl calculating what each person owes. The staff hates it as well.

The money has EVERYTHING to do with it!! Your last point was, “they will make more in a single year than most will make in their life time.” That’s totally irrelevant. If a guy makes $3M and his performance is more in line with a guy making $8M than why begrudge him for wanting $8M? When a guy is making $8M and plays like a guy making $3M the owner can just decide “I’m going to give him $0.” Not sure what the bolded has to do with someone holding out.....

I really never understand why fans side with billionaires over millionaires? Why does how much they make change their right to maximize their value? What is the number when you are no longer allowed to ask for a raise? What’s the number when someone has “enough?” The median salary for an NFL player is $860k. Keep in mind you need to pay Uncle Sam & your agent. So if you say 40% of that is gone and the average career is 3 years, It comes to about $1.5M after taxes. That’s not life changing (especially for someone that’s about 26 or 27). Now obviously, guys in position to hold out are going to earn more. They are less easily replaced. Why should they not capitalize while their earning window is open? Why is it okay for someone in every other profession to get market value? We live in a capitalistic society. Also, you never see players hold out in any other sport. There’s really no such thing because their money is guaranteed (just like yours). I’m not suggesting that works in the NFL but holding out is all that they have vs. a unilateral contract. An owner can decide at ANY point and for ANY reason that the “contract” you agreed to is no longer valid. Now again, if people don’t think a 1st is worth it that’s perfectly reasonable. I just will never understand anyone begrudging someone for maximizing their worth. We all do it.

Your career also can last 40+ years. Their career is about 20% of that. Apples and oranges

I guess that stuff doesn’t bother me at all. This isn’t competition to them; it is their career. I know in my career my entire focus is on my earnings. If there is an issue I take it to management. I’m going through it right now. We are in an earn out period right now and the window is 3 years. In a lot of ways it’s not terribly different than a RB. There is a period (the next 2 years and 2 months) where we can earn exponentially more than at any other time. You bet, that in this period, I’m making sure that I maximize every single dime. Zeke has 1 big contract left. He needs to protect himself and get what he can while he can.

Totally fair and would take Saquon as well. He has less mileage too.