BillsVet

Translation: I'm the offensive coordinator and no one should ever question me because I watch film 80 hours per week and knew Bill Walsh.

I recall Marv Levy saying they'd made a contract offer to Nate Clements a few years ago. Unfortunately, you never allow top players to even come close to free agency without a contract. They low-balled Greer, and spun it to make it look like they were interested. They knew when the contract was offered that it wouldn't be accepted. Why was it not offered back in October if they liked him that much?

There is no position on the team with more depth than the CB position. Greer is a nice player and story, especially being a former UDFA and Tennessee track/football guy. He'd be a luxury and in the big picture the team has plenty of areas to address (all of them) above CB. Right now, the Bills need to stockpile picks to provide them options on draft day. I believe Greer would have brought a 3rd rounder with the lack of CB's available in UFA. And in this draft, it seems there will be plenty of good players who can contribute in 2-3 years available in the mid rounds. Teams do not let decent UFA's leave for nothing. Knowing that you've got limited assets is important, and with 3 7-9 seasons, the Bills need every advantage to overcome their HC who now realizes he must improve on gameday after 30+ seasons in the NFL.

Sign and trade doesn't happen in the NFL, because you have the franchise tag already in place. Name the last player signed to a long term and then traded right away. Greer's play may not be stellar to fans on this board who only watch this team, but NFL personnel people have taken note of a player who continues to improve while playing a position sorely needed by many NFL teams. If the Bills were serious about re-signing Greer, they would have done it during the season when they realized what they had. Had they tagged him with an exclusive rights tag, he would have been property of Buffalo and no one could sign him with surrendering 2 1st rounders. As it stands, Greer will leave with no compensation. If Greer gets Kelvin Hayden money, it's about 2M more on average for the first season over with the tag. If we're worried about 2M, there's serious issues then. This front office blew 49M on a guard who they overestimated, with Greer you know what you've got. Opportunity lost. And BTW, I thought Dick Jauron said you can never have too many good cornerbacks.

You underestimate the market. Greer is one of the last available decent CB's left. He had more picks than Hayden, and took back his 2 INT's for scores. He played solid football until getting injured. More than 12 teams have 20M+ in cap room, and while it's being done that way to combat the uncapped year in 2010, Greer will get a sizable offer regardless. Those names you mention, several of them are already off the market. Hayden, Asomugha, D. Robinson. Naturally, the remaining guys will benefit from all these moves. Those guys aren't better because they play for other teams. They're simply unknown to many on this board who know Greer.

The Bills accomplish this every off-season. They have so many holes to fill that it's anyone's guess which ones they will. Last year, everyone knew the Bills were desperately seeking a DT, first pursuing Shaun Rogers, they going with Stroud. This year, every team knows they'll be looking for a C, TE, and OLB. With multiple free agents on the interior OL, Robert Royal at TE, and having banished Crowell, no one has to guess what Buffalo will address first. If that thinking of not giving away information is accurate, then no one should cut anyone. Yet several NFL teams already have. And if there was any doubt about McCargo, it was put to rest when they attempted to trade him last season.

TAG and TRADE. Not TAG and retain.

It's no use. Many Bills fans here choose not to follow or ignore happenings and trends around the league. Starks is a fine example of a player not worth the franchise tender, but who will receive it. It's not about how much money the tag is worth. It's not about how good or not people think Greer is. It's got everything to do with making the most out of what you have as there's a limit to how many cap dollars and draft picks a team has. We can argue about it all day, but when you have a UFA who will command attention on the open market, you get something for them. DL Corey Williams from GB was franchised last season and subsequently traded to Cleveland for a second round pick. That's how a real front office handles this sort of thing. There are about 3 CB's in UFA who will have good offers in front of them, and Greer is one. It's non-moves like this which allow the Bills to continue rebuilding season after season without ever getting anywhere. Then again, maybe that's the way they like it.

Yesterday he had the audacity to say the 5-1 created almost unrealistic expectations. Yet last year he pointed out early on when the team lost to Arizona that no one expected a 4-0 start. Essentially, no one thought the team would start 4-0, yet when it happened it really hurt the team.

IIRC, Peters hired Eugene Parker about a year after signing that deal. I don't think he was advised all that well, and re-signing him was one of the best moves the Levy front office made. Parker obviously figured out that he had the skills to be a top LT in this league. Gross' contract probably sets the standard for what Peters will receive-whether from Buffalo or someone else. While I've never been an advocate of demanding to renegotiate a contract, it's clear he's not playing this season on that contract. To the average blue collar fan like most of us, it seems ridiculous. But these guys have a limited window to make their money and then it's gone. He's the best OL on the team by far and avoiding a pay day tells me the Bills aren't serious about winning. As for Chris Brown, of Bills Website fame, I know it's his job to hype the team and don't begrudge him for doing his job. But not having a little criticism of DJ for being in the NFL 30+ years and being such a poor gameday manager. Inexcusable.

And this is the guy that is supposed to be calling the plays? I agree he comes off as an insecure, dim-witted jerk. There's a reason he wasn't ever offered an OC job, despite acting as a QB coach for TB, NYG, CAR, and BUF (2x) Scary.

Today he talks about how Jordan Gross' contract from the Panthers is four times the size of Jason Peters' deal just three years ago. Unfortunately, he leaves a few details out. It's accurate that Gross' 6 yr 60M deal w/30M guaranteed is 4x the size of Peters' 5 yr 15M deal, but there's one thing he's missing: Peters was not a Pro Bowl OT until the 07 season, and he was strictly playing RT in 05 until the second half of 06. He didn't move to LT and play well begin outplaying that deal until the latter part of 06 and entire 07 season. Gross has been playing LT for a few seasons and has was an All-Pro in 2008. Most of what comes out of OBD is propaganda directed at casual fans who don't research or pay close enough attention to know. Earlier, wrote on Turk(ey) Schonert's thoughts on "wasted" timeouts. Schonert said that NE wasted one against Buffalo in the first half, and he worked for Bill Walsh, etcetera. It's kinda like saying I watch film 80 hours a week, so nobody should criticize me. Frankly, Schonert shouldn't have any arrogance after the clunkers he called after starting 5-1. Trent didn't play well, but he's a 2nd yr QB who was working under someone with 20+ years in the NFL.

As BADOL has pointed out, we're worried about spending 5M more than we'd like on Greer for a one year franchise tender. But we're not concerned when Peerless Price gets 4 yrs and 10M, Robert Royal and the same deal, Larry Tripplett and his 5 yr 18.5M deal, or Melvin Fowler for 3 yrs and 7M. Not parlaying assets into receivables is why this franchise is suffering, as people like Tim Graham have pointed out. Nine seasons in a row without the playoffs. It's time to demand some accoutability from the front office. This is one example of how the team could have been improved. But the minimal risk is holding people back.

You can't see the forest for the trees. There are teams which will make an offer to Greer that will be lampooned by many of us here, especially with 14 clubs having 20M or more in cap room. If they're willing to pay him Kelvin Hayden type money, which I firmly believe they will, then they would give up a 3rd rounder for a guy who is one of the few decent CB's hitting the open market. As many have said before, it's supply and demand. There will be a trade partner, especially with all those bad teams with new coaches looking to improve quickly. Don't understimate that coaches need job security, and over-spending on proven talent like Greer will happen. If I'm a guy cognizant of needing to improve a lot real fast and have cap room, you'd give a third for a guy like Greer. Besides, the player has no say in who he's traded to, unless there's a clause in his contract. That's not evident here, and Greer would go where Buffalo sends him. Dockery would have had a decent offer had he been tendered at anything less than a second rounder. He'd been a UDFA, which means had someone signed him to an offer sheet, the Giants would receive no compensation (EDIT: If they didn't match the offer sheet).

I liked how he talked about being a better gameday HC. I've heard of old dogs learning new tricks, but geez, he really expects us to believe he'll improve after being a HC for 130+ NFL games and being in the NFL for more than 30 years.

There's certainly no time line to handle roster cuts, but it's surprising that some of TSW's favorites remain on the team eating up potentially valuable cap space. While I won't go as far as saying Kelsay should be cut, his contract should be renegotiated for the final two years. I'm still in amazement that Robert Royal and John McCargo are still on this team. Cutting them would provide an additional 4M in cap space. There are other lesser names occupying roster space, but cutting them would not be substantial moves. But I suppose these are the players the front office likes having around. Perhaps they'll still be cut, but as free agency approaches, it's amazing that after their performance in 08 something isn't done before that time. I guess if you can keep quite possibly one of the worst coaches in the NFL that you don't want to pay players not to play either.

I'll break my rule about responding to people I ignore here. You obviously didn't know that DJ had a great deal of personnel authority with there being no de facto GM from 2006-08. On one hand the team didn't have enough talent, but on the other Jauron was the guy with a huge role in picking many of those players. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a lot of say over free agents as well. And why do teams need a superstar QB to put them "over the top?" Surely Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, Jake Delhomme, and Rex Grossman will never be confused with Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Yet all of them advanced to the SB, with two of them being on the winning size. Quit while you're only being lapped, not embarrassed.

I'm not talking about keeping him. I think I've been quite clear and in the thread about Kelvin Hayden that the idea is: TAG AND THEN TRADE HIM. There are multiple teams in need of a solid cover CB with plenty of cap room. Teams like KC, TB, MIA, DET, and SF have room to use for a CB and 25M+ to spend. After today, there are three fewer options in UFA this year now that Dunta Robinson, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Dunta Robinson are unavailable. The Giants also placed a 2nd round tender on one of their CB's today. Every year the board underestimates how much players get in UFA. We may think collectively that 9.9M is too much for Greer, and it is. But the market, not fan opinion, dictates how much is spent on these guys. No one ever thought Nate Clements would get the deal he did. No one thought Bob Sanders would get the contract he did. Or Adalius Thomas. And no one around here saw the Bills signing about the 4th best guard in UFA for 49M over 7 years. Be prepared to be surprised when Greer signs a deal somewhere around 35-40M over 5-6 years after 2/27. Tagging and trading won't be that bad of an idea after he moves on to greener pastures.

Front office savvy has been in short supply since Polian left. Donahoe's trade of Price for a first to Atlanta was the last time a Bills front office was ahead of the curve in NFL trends. The Bills had a commodity in Greer who will get significant attention in UFA. And if they were afraid to deal him after using the tag, it demonstrates why they're minor league and completely risk averse. They won't take calculated risks and it shows in the mediocre records since 2000. Not all of that is on the current regime, but many of them have been around since the early days of Donahoe.

I think you've underestimated the demand there is for proven NFL CB's. Teams flush with cap space will look for proven players and with so few available, the dollars skyrocket. I'm certain that Greer will receive a contract on par with Kelvin Hayden's 5 yr 43.5M deal. If that's the case, tagging him isn't the stretch like some think. It's more than we figure he's worth, but it's more than value. It's supply and demand. And demand just went down by three solid corners today.

Tagging Greer alone makes little sense. Take it a step further and think about how many very good CB's will hit the market next Friday. Nnamdi Asomugha, Kelvin Hayden, and Dunta Robinson will not as of today. That leaves a lot less available for teams needing CB help. As of right now, I don't see much else out on the open market beyond Philip Buchanon and Bryant McFadden. With that in mind, someone will give Greer a deal in Hayden's area, or about 40M over 5 yrs. Some might think it's a risk to tender him with a contract which will be about 9.9M. I don't believe that on the trade market Greer would garner anything less than a 3rd rounder, especially considering how little there is available after today. JMO.

It feels like 30 sometimes.

Because there's been a whole lot to be positive about these past nine seasons. What's mindless about complaining about this team? They've given no indication they're ready to compete, especially after retaining the HC could go 2-8 down the stretch and blow a 5-1 start. Or how about the losses themselves? Losing on MNF in heartbreaking fashion two years in a row, the first when the DB's played off receivers with seconds remaining on the clock. Or how about having the second easiest schedule in the league and going 7-9? They've eschewed hiring a GM, although every other team in the division has improved or already has a great coach. Yet, we're stuck with no general manager and an owner who makes the big decisions. I really don't think the average fan realizes just how bad this team has become. There's a reason some fans are negative, and it's not voluntary. It's because there's not much to be positive about.

Even though average fans don't know a given player doesn't mean that teams don't know. And that's what ultimately counts. Hayden was a contributor to Indy's defense, and Bill Polian rarely re-signs LB's and CB's. Usually he replaces those guys through the draft, but in this case he made a huge exception. NFL teams win games sometimes on the backs of less than publicized players. And today, Hayden got his due with that contract.

I earlier said Cassel benefited from playing in the NE system which featured a future HOF coach, along with receivers in Moss and Welker. He's had the ability to sit behind and learn from Tom Brady for 3 whole seasons before playing full time. OTOH, an offensive left tackle will never have the table set for them in this fashion. Many times, Peters was left on an island and even though his 08 season was lackluster, he's still a cornerstone of this franchise. Given the dearth of quality LT's in today's NFL who can neutralize RDE's, trading him is a latent admission that they don't want to pay. If you trade Peters and get picks, that does almost nothing to help win this year. And trading picks for Cassel to NE of all teams hurts this team long term, unless of course you like QB controversies.