Dawgg

It's all in where you put your resources. The Bills threw away at least $45M on Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker in salary and bonus payments. Had they simply diverted that to Peters and built the line through the draft, we could have had Peters for far cheaper and we wouldn't be searching for a long-term answer at LT. Remember: Peters got market value this last offseason, but he was looking for market value when he held out last season and the Bills could have gotten him at a cheaper rate. Instead, they alienated him by making him the 3rd highest paid player on his line and then were "surprised" that he refused to play ball with them in negotiations the following summer. Please Ralph, bring in a competent GM.

Judging by the playing time splits, it looks like Wilson and Byrd (and Scott for that matter) are the safeties of the future. Since the team is so short on linebackers, it seems as though Whitner is useful on running downs. But if we had healthy linebackers, my guess is Whitner's playing time gets cut significantly.

Most definitely, Rico. It's so obvious now that even the "slow" among us like C. Biscuit can figure it out.

Given that other posters have caught onto your stupidity (one even correctly labeled you the "Matt Millen of TBD"), I"ll let them do the talking.

Our #8 overall pick is a marginal player who is not even 3rd best SAFETY on his team. That spells bust to me.

Once he learns the Eagles system and has full year under his belt, he will be dominant. Clowns like you were laughing when the Eagles drafted Winston Justice, who struggled in his rookie year. Fast forward a few years later he's signed a 5 year extension and is their right tackle of the future. Meanwhile, the Bills passed on Justice to take John McCargo (who you also thought was a good pick).

Terrance McGee is a gamer. Whereas Greer was primarily the #2 corner (and played well), McGee covered the opposing team's #1 receiver and held his own. It's a classic case of Bills fans souring on a perfectly good veteran player (London Fletcher anyone?). Let's not run one of the few good players this team has out of town.

Full Text: Confirming a rumor that was being bounced around the Internet for about a week, Buffalo Bills receivers coach Tyke Tolbert is leaving the team to take on a similar role at LSU, according to the Buffalo News. But there's a deeper impact to his departure and its timing, albeit a bit speculative. This horizontal move by Tolbert could mean that there are internal whispers going around the Bills' personnel that a major house-cleaning is on the way, and they should be exploring some other options. We know the team is poised to hire a new head coach, and that new coach will probably want to bring in his own assistants. It's possible that Tolbert -- an LSU alum -- saw this as a sign that he wouldn't have a job in Buffalo next season, and he wanted to make sure he was employed. After all, given the Bills' relative struggles, some of his colleagues might not find their next job so easily.

If the Bills went out and signed another top receiver spending $50M on him, you better believe Evans would have been pissed. If the Bills went out and signed another top corner for $35M when McGee was still being paid under his market value, you better believe McGee would have been pissed. Those are not valid comparisons to the Peters situation. The Bills hung Peters out to dry and it's hard to blame him for becoming disenchanted with this joke of an organization.

Your logic is simply wrong. The money that should have gone to Peters is sitting in Langston Walker and Derrick Dockery's bank account. 2 underachieving overrated players the Bills handed $45M of cash to who are no longer with the team. Had they simply diverted some of that to Peters and "drafted" O-Line talent, this line could be one of the better lines in the NFL. Instead, they hung Peters out to dry, paid top dollar for inferior players, and are now left with the prospect of starting over.

Thanks for taking the time to explain simple concepts to some of our board members. I salute you for your efforts, but most won't get it (especially if it reflects poorly on the Bills)

That was me, actually. And she didn't say she didn't like Buffalo, she simply said she knew that Buffalo had no interest in signing him and that they were definitely out. He's from Ohio and would have much rather stayed close to home if he could. Peters wanted out of Buffalo only after the Bills handed over $70+ million to Dockery and Walker. Is that the way you treat your best player on the 0-line? Only in Buffalo would something as asinine as this take place.

If you need to be explicitly told that Jason Peters is in a different class of player than Brad Butler, there isn't much more I can do for ya

Yeah I guess you're right. Brad Butler is better than Jason Peters. I suppose Poz is better than Flecher too? McCargo is better than Pat Williams? Typical homer mentality is to revel in former Bills' struggles and somehow make it justify the front office's ineptitude. Peters may be having a subpar year, but the Eagles personnel department (one of the best in the business) felt he was worth surrendering a first round pick for. Who's right: Russ Brandon (the marketing genius) or the Eagles, perennial playoff contenders. The same goons on this board were laughing their tail off when Winston Justice had a horrible rookie year for the Eagles. A few years and a 5-year extension later, he has developed into a solid right tackle. With him and Peters, the Eagles have a solid foundation on the line. The Bills, at least have Donte Whitner who hosts weekly pizza parties.

... what he said

Butler is hardly an elite player. Peters had established himself as one of the up and coming tackles in the league. Nice try though.

It was hardly above-market. Not to mention, he was paid like a young right tackle with promise. When he became an elite left tackle, he deserved to have his contract renegotiated. That's just the reality of the NFL. Players are not going to settle for less than their market value. Instead of spending $ on goons like Dockery and Whitner, the Bills would have been better served paying Peters.

Why should a player be loyal when a team can cut him on a moment's notice?

The Bills could have paid Peters his worth a long time ago. Instead, led by their inept GM Marv Levy, they did the following: 1. Kept Peters' contract the same even though he moved from right to left tackle 2. Signed Derrick Dockery to the richest contract in Bills history (note: he sucked and was cut a few years later) 3. Signed Langston Walker to a massive contract. Essentially Peters was the 3rd highest player on his own line. A few years later, Peters gets pissed and orchestrates his ticket out of town. Dockery and Walker are cut. The Bills are in the basement of the AFC East. Thanks, Marv.

No, but I do wanna B word about the retarded fans who love spew negativity about good players the franchise lets go (Clements, Williams, Fletcher, Peters, etc...) while making continual excuses for the players on the team who are either overpaid or aren't getting it done (Schobel, Kelsay, Whitner, etc...). Thanks

... coming from the same guy who felt the Bills were right to let go of Pat Williams.

It's hard to get fans to admit the truth of the matter: Whitner sucks.

Marv had final say on all personnel decisions. Those powers were bestowed upon him the moment he was hired. That he wasn't as up to speed doesn't change the fact that he had final say. Ultimately, when it comes to picking at #8, you are given a choice of the top rated players on the board and Marv made that call. It doesn't take a scouting genius to know that picking a small safety who rarely makes big plays at #8 overall is not a good move for a team desperately in need of talent at both lines. Marv's 2006 draft set the tone for the franchise for years to come. The Whitner pick, at the expense of the DT talent available, hurt the franchise. The trade up for McCargo, who was the 3rd best DT on his collegiate team, blew up in their face. They thought they could be cute by passing on those DT prospects. Those selections were under Marv's watch as the final decision maker and they should be attributed to him. Nice try, pal. I never advocated "tying up the cap" with McGahee. In fact, I was among the first to say he needed to go. But keep trying As for Clements, did I think Marv was stupid for voluntarily removing the team's leverage of the franchise tag? Absolutely, it was a boneheaded move by an overmatched GM. Most respectable personnel departments in a rebuilding situation would never make such a move when they control the #1 free agent on the market. If you don't like the fact that it comes from me, look up BADOL's posts... he agrees with that logic. Anyway, keep making excuses for Marv's tenure as GM... but there's a reason why the team showed no improvement in 3 years and it cut far deeper than a poor head coach.

Whitner wasn't the best player available at #8 overall. He wasn't even the 10th best player available at #8 overall. Most NFL teams, including the very best ones, agreed, which is why the Bills were a laughingstock of the draft when they made that selection.

You're right, he hit the classic second year wall. Did he deserve being pulled like that? I tend to think not... When guys like Stafford and Sanchez can go out there and throw 5 INT games I see no reason why VY didn't earn his right to play through those plateaus in his early career. I'd venture to bed he would have developed a lot faster on the field had that been the case.