PromoTheRobot Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 One possible reason why Raheem Morris and Lovie Smith still have head coaching jobs is that the Bucs and Bears would still owe them millions. The Bears would owe Smith $11M and Tampa Bay would be paying off Morris AND Gruden! Jay Mariotti, a Chicago writer who;s on Around the Horn, just lambasted the Bears for "cheaping out" when marquee coaches like Cowher and Shanahan are available. Of course it's always easy to demand someone else's spend money, but I found it curious to hear about another team, one in a major market no less, does the same thing Ralph Wilson did and get pilloried by the fans and media and be called the worst owner in the NFL for. Around the Horn PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 One possible reason why Raheem Morris and Lovie Smith still have head coaching jobs is that the Bucs and Bears would still owe them millions. The Bears would owe Smith $11M and Tampa Bay would be paying off Morris AND Gruden! Jay Mariotti, a Chicago writer who;s on Around the Horn, just lambasted the Bears for "cheaping out" when marquee coaches like Cowher and Shanahan are available. Of course it's always easy to demand someone else's spend money, but I found it curious to hear about another team, one in a major market no less, do the same thing Ralph Wilson did and get pilloried by the fans and media and be called the worst owner in the NFL for. Around the Horn PTR People forget that Ralph used his money to help Oakland and Boston in early days of AFL to stay alive. He also used his own money in 70;s to put money into the players funds. Ralph always cared about the league and sometimes his thriftiness was for the good of the league vs the good of the Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ralph's pros: good heart, great character Ralph's cons: has no business making football decisions, just now realizing he has no business making football decisions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRM33064 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Generally, I think it's unfair to characterize Ralph as "cheap." He'll pay big for the players that his front office recommends, yet he seems to dread paying for the top front office personnel - i.e. the people who are making those recommendations. The old man just doesn't like paying (what he'd likely call) overhead, nor does he particularly dig giving any authority to anyone unless he's fairly certain they won't really try to use any of it without directly involving him. Until we see anything different, I'm going to assume the 90+ year old guy isn't going to change those views - "$10 meeeelllion dollar" reports notwitstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsfaninFl Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Generally, I think it's unfair to characterize Ralph as "cheap." He'll pay big for the players that his front office recommends Let's see some examples of that generosity. I have followed the team for 50 years and could give you dozens of examples of the Bills not signing their own stars because they would not pay them what they were worth on the market, and the trends are just as frugal regarding getting top free agents. We dont... period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nero47 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Let's see some examples of that generosity. I have followed the team for 50 years and could give you dozens of examples of the Bills not signing their own stars because they would not pay them what they were worth on the market, and the trends are just as frugal regarding getting top free agents. We dont... period. Examples please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Jay Mariotti, a Chicago writer who;s on Around the Horn You watch Around the Horn That kind of makes me sad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Examples please? joe cribbs fred smerlas(did we ever need him in the SB vs the giants) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murra Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Let's see some examples of that generosity. I have followed the team for 50 years and could give you dozens of examples of the Bills not signing their own stars because they would not pay them what they were worth on the market, and the trends are just as frugal regarding getting top free agents. We dont... period. Dude... the Bills don't pay players like Clements 80 million dollars because they're not worth the investment. It has nothing to do with frugality, its common sense. You're not going to win an argument proving Ralph is cheap. Maybe he's been afraid to get a marquee coach, but even that's been speculated as his uneasiness to lose power. Rip apart Ralph all you want for being a football idiot (see firing of Polian, etc.) but don't try and make it seem like you've got a million examples where Ralph is a cheap owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Generally, I think it's unfair to characterize Ralph as "cheap." He'll pay big for the players that his front office recommends, yet he seems to dread paying for the top front office personnel - i.e. the people who are making those recommendations. The old man just doesn't like paying (what he'd likely call) overhead, nor does he particularly dig giving any authority to anyone unless he's fairly certain they won't really try to use any of it without directly involving him. Until we see anything different, I'm going to assume the 90+ year old guy isn't going to change those views - "$10 meeeelllion dollar" reports notwitstanding. I agree..'cheap' isn't the proper word .Control freak/meddler/non-understander of the game(and i mean that in a GOOOOD way;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Let's see some examples of that generosity. Ralph Wilson's generosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Examples please? Ahmad Rashad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berriesandcream Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Dude... the Bills don't pay players like Clements 80 million dollars because they're not worth the investment. It has nothing to do with frugality, its common sense. You're not going to win an argument proving Ralph is cheap. Maybe he's been afraid to get a marquee coach, but even that's been speculated as his uneasiness to lose power. Rip apart Ralph all you want for being a football idiot (see firing of Polian, etc.) but don't try and make it seem like you've got a million examples where Ralph is a cheap owner. Agreed 100%. Clements was almost benched this year and in 2008 was completed torched by soon to be former Bill TO, and he was torched by the Saints Devery Henderson as well. Letting him go was a good move. I think the fact they lost some talent last decade was more about poor management than cheapness. The Peters move was similiar to Clements, but backfired because the Bills had no one to replace him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Agreed 100%. Clements was almost benched this year and in 2008 was completed torched by soon to be former Bill TO, and he was torched by the Saints Devery Henderson as well. Letting him go was a good move. I think the fact they lost some talent last decade was more about poor management than cheapness. The Peters move was similiar to Clements, but backfired because the Bills had no one to replace him. Yeah, but... look at how the 49'ers have turned it around since they brought Clements in. They're one of the best teams in the NFC now. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Superbowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NobesBLO13 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Dude you're going to call Ralph cheap? We had Superman on our team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Philster Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 It's beyond idiotic to say Ralph is cheap...he hasn't had an issue paying players in decades for one thing and for another, this whole thing about front office people and coaches? Total lack of common sense to say that he's being cheap. A few examples John Butler was not a highly paid GM because all he did was the scouting part of things...he had a guy to do contracts for him and generally didn't go to league meetings that most GMs went to. Had he done more, odds are that Ralph would've paid him more. Why pay someone to do a job they're unwilling to do? Dick Jauron was ranked somewhere around 30th as far as coaching salaries in 2008, coaching under the contract he originally signed...about $1.5M per season. Based on his accomplishments prior to coming to Buffalo, was he really worth more than that? After the 4-0 and 5-1 start in 2008, he was rewarded with a big extension. Compared to 2008 salaries (haven't seen 2009 salaries of coaches around the league), his 2009 salary of $3.5M is ranked about 10th in the NFL...which says that when a coach does a good job, he gets rewarded for it. He willing to shell out up to $10M per year for a top coach...obviously it'll be less than that if it's not the very best coach as it should be. It'd be stupid to pay top coach money to someone who hasn't proven himself to be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berriesandcream Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ralph also paid Dockery big money, and at the time was amongst the highest paid at his position. It was a terrible signing, but that's poor management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphW Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ralph also paid Dockery big money, and at the time was amongst the highest paid at his position. It was a terrible signing, but that's poor management. Ralphs not cheap...just doesnt spend in the right spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Whether he is cheap or shop-a-holic, he has kept the team in Buffalo. He could have moved the team to a bigger market and made more money, but he hasn't. Some people wish him gone, but after he is gone, what of the team. The new owner(s) may decide Buffalo is too much of a decaying town for them and move the team. How about the Albuquerque Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattt9998 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Examples please? antwain winfield pat williams howard ballard reuben brown jason peters thats just what I can come up with at the top of my head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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