HalftimeAdjustment
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Posts posted by HalftimeAdjustment
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Run is wearing our D out.
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Jasper finally got on the field.
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If he would bother to look and see that a T was not selected until #23, he wouyld notice that other teams were not sold on this year's T crop, eirther.
Unless you count the one who was picked at #4, that is. But he wasn't available to the Bills.
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I am glad Bell did not return to Buffalo because I hate the new spelling of his name.
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Ridiculously excessive IMO, and is certain to be appealed. A one year suspension should be given to Williams, maybe a game or two to Payton, unless they can prove he was complicit in the whole thing. I am sure this practice was very widespread until now, it's being blown out of proportion.
They have proven he was complicit, since there was an email notifying him about the bounties years after the NFL first asked the team to investigate and stop such a system.
Payton's suspension is as much about these two things as anything else:
- When asked about the system, he lied to the NFL about it.
- When notified that the NFL would be investigating, he instructed his assistance to "get their ducks in a row"... interpreted as instructing them to hide it.
As such, the NFL deemed Payton to be the most responsible party other than Williams, and as head coach responsible for cooperating with the NFL commissioner's office.
Had this been just a bounty system with no complications, or had it gone on for 3 years THEN been discovered, penalties would be MUCH less severe. The fact that the team was investigated, successfully concealed the rule violations, then continued them for 2 more years, causes a great magnification of the penalty. At any corporation, this kind of behavior (failing to cooperate with a security investigation) would result in immediate termination of anyone in the organization who conducted themselves in this manner. The magnitude of the original offense (the bounties) is not what determined this penalty.
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Good choice of punishments. Waiting to see what's done to players (probably not that much, except for Vilma). As for people asking why Belichek was not suspended - the question is, did he lie about it to the league? I think Payton got suspended big time not just because of the injuries, but because he lied to the league, and because he associated with a known felon who paid into the bounties.
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Didn't Brady warn him about Buffalo's crappy hotel situation
I'm sure Brady did, so Anderson made sure to sign with Buffalo. If he buys or rents a home, he will never have to stay in the hotels!
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You can tell Mark Anderson isn't quite as coveted as Mario Willians. The Bills had Mario visit with Jim Kelly. They took Mark Anderson to visit Chad Kelly.
Actually, PFT is reporting that he left Buffalo to fly to Nevada, where he will visit with ex-Bill Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson.
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Any chance that the Calvin Johnson deal threw a wrench into negotiations, causing the delay?
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WGR550 is reporting from an unknown source that both Meachem and Williams are expected to be signed within the next 24 hours. This news would not surprise me given the inspired front office move to corner the Mario Williams market by jetting him directly to Buffalo. This is the sort of professional football front office maneuver that, in the past, would occur right after G. Gordon Liddy defected to the USSR.
My interpretation of today's events are that Nix, Gailey, Wannstache, and whomever else has FINALLY got through to Wilson that he can't take the $#%&@*% money with him and he owes it to himself to make a run for the Lombardi Trophy. More importantly, they have convinced him that they are the people who can bring it to him if they can get financial latitude.
My interpretation is that Nix etc, with the aid of the upcoming CBA provisions that mandate teams spend near the cap, have convinced Littman (and therefore Ralph) that they should be allowed to spend up to the cap, and that they should be allowed to pick the players that will make up that spend. And, because they cheaped out for the last couple of years... they have the money... even under cash to cap. The fact that the cap stayed basically the same from last year could only have helped their case.
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The question of relative penalties for the Saints vs. other organizations has come up in this thread, as well as "statute of limitations". A couple of points:
- If the NFL has previously considered a 'statute of limitations' for penalties then it should apply here. One would think that going after any teams beyond 10 years is out of the question. 5 years is a long time in pro football. No easy answer here. Saints were in continued violation.
- Teams that lied about it and/or failed to cooperate with the investigation (read: New Orleans) must be punished far more harshly than any teams which cooperate. Cooperation from other teams TBD. I would argue that if either the Redskins, Bills, or Titans cooperate with the investigation then that team should face no more than fines. No competitive penalties.
- New Orleans included outside (non-player, non-coach) money in its bounty pool. This is an extreme red flag and must be considered very problematic. Any team where outside money is found, must face severe sanctions regardless of points 1 or 2. Here's why: Outside money inevitably leads to organized crime. You might think "If a gambler offers money to players to make good plays, they are wasting money; the player should be doing that anyhow". Not so: the gambler pays the players for a while to do good things, then blackmails them into doing bad things based on their having taken dirty money in the past. The fact that the outside money in New Orleans may not have been tied to gambling, is irrelevant. Any outside money being allowed into a team's compensation system, is in my opinion as severe a violation as can be made from a management perspective; and on this basis alone Sean Payton (who received an email from a non-team source detailing the bounties) should be suspended and fined heavily. Ask yourself: in this case, what would an MLB commissioner do??? All of the "it's only football, which is violent" discussion is nice, but what about taking OUTSIDE MONEY to reward players??? So... if that did not happen at other teams, they should be penalized much, much less.
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I agree with fines, picks and gw suspended. SP I think is a fine, and no player suspensions in my book, unless we learn more. The felon story is new to me so it might grow still.
I don't see grounds for player suspensions unless something else comes out. The players are the employees of the team. They participated or even endorsed this, but if it was just players then it probably would be the same in almost every other team. Even Vilma offering $10K on Favre is borderline, not sure it is something they can nail him on under the CBA... a fine perhaps.
Sean Payton's problem is that the NFL apparently has an email from this Ornstein guy to Sean Payton detailing the bounty scheme. The NFL previously tried to get the Saints to distance themselves from Ornstein after he was convicted of fraud, but he was still around in 2011. You know the league is going to be very unhappy with any guy who is convicted of selling non-game worn jerseys as authentic game-worn jerseys, but still is involved with offering cash for players to perform acts in a game (whether interceptions or big hits). Same guy who represented Reggie Bush. Classy situation New Orleans has going on here.
Here's a few links to consider on this aspect of the story.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2012/3/2/2840512/mike-ornstein-new-orleans-saints-bounty-program
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14087531/why-didnt-saints-cut-ties-with-sketchy-ornstein
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So, thinking about this and looking at the details. Some of the bounty money was provided not by players, nor by GW, but also by a convicted felon who was a friend/associate of the head coach but was convicted of fraud (in part for selling falsified NFL merchandise). Hypothetically, if following the money trail led back to gamblers, what would the penalties be? Can anyone support OUTSIDE money coming into an organization to pay players to do anything on the field (let alone injure an opponent)? League has to put this down hard or else the scandal will keep growing. Players putting up their own money is one thing ... Coaches paying players is worse (violates the salary cap, etc)... but having non-team employees contributing to bounties is a completely different level and is no different from gambling.
Saints have to lose draft picks and be fined, Payton must be suspended for his association with the felon, and GW who is a repeat offender must be suspended 1yr+.
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So... I think this is really bad. But, it may be "common practice". That's not good. If it is "common practice" then the NFL needs to take actions to prevent it from being "common practice".
Here's how I would handle it if I was Goodell:
1) First rule, anyone who lied to league investigators gets a much larger penalty than those who did not cover it up. So, players who participated but never lied to the league office get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. They can use the "everybody does it" and/or "peer pressure" excuse. Players who lied to league office: 1 game suspension. Can't ever condone failure to cooperate with an investigation.
2) Coaches who participated get punished, regardless, by fine. If coach also lied about it - suspension. Personally I think G. Williams should be suspended for 1 year or more, if he ran the program and lied about it as well. If he just ran the program, I might let him off with a big fine. $100K?
3) Head coach and GM: Fines.
4) Team: Give the owner a chance to impose internal discipline. If no discipline... hit them with a loss of 4th round pick.
Most likely they will let it slide though.
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Or.... You could put bonuses in one year. And keep salaries lower in the future.
You don't pay guys the same amount every year.
Aren't bonuses required to be spread out for cap accounting purposes?
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Keep in mind that we the Bills work with a cash to cap system so unless you save a bunch of money with the players you want to cut, you wont have alot of money to work with.
You won't? Is there any evidence of this? A cash to cap system should mean that the amount of cash already committed to contracts this year is less than or equal to our salary number, unless there are a lot of roster bonuses this year.
If our current cap number is $105 million and the cap is $120 million, what is our current "Cash" number?
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Comments on Bell were most enlightening. My understanding was that they are not going to back up the truck for him. His injury history is a problem and will factor into negotiations. I think they will try harder for Stevie than for Bell. I suspect that Bell may leave because once free agency starts the Bills are in no better position with a player like Bell than any other team. Signing or no signing they will add a Tackle.
His injury history will also be scrutinized by other teams when they consider how much to offer.
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Perhaps this is the real meaning of the infamous Chad Kelly tweet.
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That is a bunch of BS. If he throws a pick or fumbles, and then tries to make a play to stop the other team from running with the ball then he should be treated as just another player.
Wow this league is getting way too protective of their QB's.
Can you grab him tightly and pull him out of bounds for his own protection?
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Thanks, I understand that they are grandfathered in. My point is they are, in essence, props for props sake, are they not. Writing "happy new years" on a shirt does no harm to anyone... yet jumping on some fans very well could. What happens when one fan takes it to far when a player jumps in the stands. The problem is inconsistency IMO.
It's not a good rule. What would be a better rule? Do we want referees to have to judge the content of T-shirts. Happy New Year is OK. "F You Rex Ryan" is not. "Why So Serious?" is. "I like feet, too" is not. Where do you draw the line?
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Mike Pereira already tweeted today that the goalpost dunk and Lambeau Leap are "grandfathered." Which is completely stupid, of course, but is also the rule. As players, theirs is not to reason why. Theirs is to follow the GD rules.
They should probably change the rule on dunking, but for now it is allowed. The leap however cannot be considered a prop, in my opinion, and is really not just a Green Bay tradition. It should remain allowed.
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But he wasn't penalized last year. And what exactly is a prop. A football. A goalpost. Jumping into fans.
Sometimes, players are not penalized for holding either. That does not mean it should never be called. Also, wasn't he fined (not penalized), where a fine usually indicates the league thought it should have been a penalty?
Sometimes, players are penalized for "driving" Tom Brady into the ground when all they did is shove him. That is a bad call, but does not mean actually driving a quarterback into the ground is OK.
The rules actually explicitly allow certain celebrations including jumping into fans (which I think is fine). Apparently, dunking the ball is allowed as well (I think it should not be).
If you use a goalpost and ball to simulate filming the Pats, that can be fined. Even though it is funny.
Patriots @ Bills 9/30/2012 Game Thread
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
So... at the end of the season we get an all-new front office right?