Red Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Sad. He was one of the few bright spots drafted on the offensive line in the past 15 years. HE had the right demeanor too. I liked the idea of him at RT and Wood at RG. That was a mean right side. Ah well.
CardinalScotts Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I wish him well. He made the transition to Tackle very well. I personally believe that the Bills offensive line issues started when he went down. TOTALLY AGREE !! he wasnt great but he was solid, we could do and did worse but there is room to do better also hopefully this year. We are not in position to have one of the few actual NFL linemen we have on the squad, head out. This is a kick in the gut.
Philo Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I was shocked when I heard this news. It really puts us back another step. He was, in my opinion, our safest bet on the o-line besides maybe Levitre and Wood if they continue to improve. In light of this, I think it is almost necessary now to draft a tackle with our pick at #9 unless we pick up a great proven veteran in FA.
BuffaloRebound Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Who walks away from $2m+ a year at age 26 to go into politics? I doubt he's running for any kind of elected office and one can only assume a 26 year old with no professional experience will be a pee-on for some congressman. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the 8th cut from yesterday and decided to go out on his own terms and the Bills gave him the courtesy.
Pirate Angel Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Who walks away from $2m+ a year at age 26 to go into politics? I doubt he's running for any kind of elected office and one can only assume a 26 year old with no professional experience will be a pee-on for some congressman. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the 8th cut from yesterday and decided to go out on his own terms and the Bills gave him the courtesy. I player with an ACL injury walks away, rarely does a player comeback 100% from an ACL. You most likely right in the fact that he would have been cut.
Pirate Angel Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 This is not a huge loss, average injury prone RT can be found through FA and the draft, however for all you Dick Jaurons out there they cannot be found 3 days before the start of the season.
Wing Man Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 This sharply increases the likelihood of trading down for more picks unless Bradford, Clausen, or McClain is available at 9.
dajari9 Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 It was nice to pencil him in at RT, but he has never been someone we could count on. Bills still have Meredith or Bell to play RT, they do need a starting LT with #9 pick and can either use a FA or later draft pick for RT. This is not a big deal...offseason is going well with new coaches - nothing but excitement going forward with the draft...we finally have some new football people making decisions.
BuffaloBud Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Good luck on your future endevours Brad. If our paths cross I will treat you on a cold one for wearing the Bills colors with pride.
BillsRUs Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 This is not good news. This really increases my hopes that Schobel is not retiring. The Bills cannot afford any more holes to fill on the roster, especially in starting roles. There are now officially holes at LT RT WR 1B (TO) WR slot (Reed FA) NT with giant question marks at RG (will Wood come back?) LDE RDE QB 2 of 4 LB positions It's really hitting home how much of a disaster the Levy / Jauron / Inner Circle years were. They left us with decent STs, a good secondary, and a few parts on the OL. Damn...I almost believed Nix when he said we weren't too far from a turn around. Are you kidding me!!?? He's a big believer in building from the draft apparently. I really don't see us drafting in rooks to come in and immediately make an impact at alll those positions! Maybe we should stick with the D talent we have for another season and rebuild the offense first. Switch to the 3-4 the following season and rebuild the D. Thoughts?
Big Turk Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 That sucks. He was our best option at right tackle. Yeah, I thought Butler player pretty well and had a good future ahead of him in the NFL...perhaps the injury was more severe than first seemed or perhaps he just wasn't able to do things he used to be able to do that would prevent him from returning to form...
Packerland Bills Fan Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 This sharply increases the likelihood of trading down for more picks unless Bradford, Clausen, or McClain is available at 9. I think it means more likely trading up from round 2 to be sure to get one at least one OT in the first, possibly even after one was already taken. I'm also starting to think that McClain gets passed on even if he's available.
GG Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 How did Overdorf enter into this and why was Butler's extension a mistake (other than Overdorf, allegedly, not being clairvoyant and seeing that Butler would retire 2 years later)? Butler got a 5-year extension in 2008 that paid him about $2M/year, with probably a small signing bonus, of which the Bills can go after the unamortized portion, since he decided to retire. The move of Walker to LT and Butler to RT had only to do with the Jason Peters situation. And depending on the status of Butler's progress, this might have been a hole they needed to fill anyway. Just conjecture on my part that all inexplicable moves that have anything to do with veterans being cut or signed had an Overdorf imprint on it, and to some extent the blame was shifted to Guys, since he was on the front line. I'm not slamming JO for not being clairvoyant about Butler's injury, and I give the team more slack in misfiring on rookies & draftees. But they should definitely know what they have in house and how the should act towards those guys. The line situation was totally mishandled in the Peters aftermath. The front office & coaching staff should have known that putting Walker at LT would not work. They also should have known that Bell wasn't ready for LT. By failing to bring in a veteran LT in the offseason set them up for failure - and I blame JO for that one because the purse strings weren't open for an old vet. They also created a bigger logjam when they drafted Wood and penciled him as starting RG. This move should have sent Butler to the bench. But since Bills don't like to pay $2mil to backups, they created a master plan where all the high salary guys would be in the starting line up, no matter how out of place they were. When the Walker experiment failed, he was the lamb because he made the most money, even though he was a much better RT than Butler. So, no JO couldn't have guessed that Butler would get seriously injured. But given Butler's injury history and inferior play, he was definitely the wrong choice to keep over Walker. I can also argue that if Walker stayed at RT, he may not have been injured and Bills right side would have held up a lot better over the year.
stevewin Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Not to pile on Brad - but makes you wonder how focused he was on playing football as his primary purpose in life. A fair question for other members of the roster as well IMO... If anything - I think the one thing Buddy is looking for is guys who are football players first
CarolinaBill Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 This sharply increases the likelihood of trading down for more picks unless Bradford, Clausen, or McClain is available at 9. Ain't no way were takin a LB at #9, you can kiss that dream goodbye hoss, we are def. goin LT in rd 1, However, don't be surprised if we end up with ciron black, RT LSU in the later rds, like rd 5
Doc Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Just conjecture on my part that all inexplicable moves that have anything to do with veterans being cut or signed had an Overdorf imprint on it, and to some extent the blame was shifted to Guys, since he was on the front line. I'm not slamming JO for not being clairvoyant about Butler's injury, and I give the team more slack in misfiring on rookies & draftees. But they should definitely know what they have in house and how the should act towards those guys. The line situation was totally mishandled in the Peters aftermath. The front office & coaching staff should have known that putting Walker at LT would not work. They also should have known that Bell wasn't ready for LT. By failing to bring in a veteran LT in the offseason set them up for failure - and I blame JO for that one because the purse strings weren't open for an old vet. They also created a bigger logjam when they drafted Wood and penciled him as starting RG. This move should have sent Butler to the bench. But since Bills don't like to pay $2mil to backups, they created a master plan where all the high salary guys would be in the starting line up, no matter how out of place they were. When the Walker experiment failed, he was the lamb because he made the most money, even though he was a much better RT than Butler. So, no JO couldn't have guessed that Butler would get seriously injured. But given Butler's injury history and inferior play, he was definitely the wrong choice to keep over Walker. I can also argue that if Walker stayed at RT, he may not have been injured and Bills right side would have held up a lot better over the year. I agree they mishandled the O-line after Peters was traded. But Butler only missed 3 games the previous 2 years, and was recovering from an injury suffered in college during his rookie year. So it's not like he has a history of being injury-prone. And he got injured by getting rolled-up on, which will happen to just about anyone. And he was playing well before getting injured. The mistake was cutting Walker, especially right before the season started. Even if he was a "lockerroom lawyer."
bills88 Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 If they just gave Peters some of his money two years ago, we'd have a left tackle, for most likely cheaper than we are going to draft, still have walker at right tackle and the interior mostly set. He's retired after making 4.5 mil over the last two years. He's content (and I'm not blaming him, given his injury history and outside pursuits) But really, the Bills should have resigned Peters for 8 mil a year when they had a chance, and the whole line would be still, with Butlers retirement, be in a lot better shape.
Geno Smith's Arm Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Who walks away from $2m+ a year at age 26 to go into politics? I doubt he's running for any kind of elected office and one can only assume a 26 year old with no professional experience will be a pee-on for some congressman. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't the 8th cut from yesterday and decided to go out on his own terms and the Bills gave him the courtesy. I think you are onto something there.
GG Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 The mistake was cutting Walker, especially right before the season started. Even if he was a "lockerroom lawyer." That was the big one. Ideally, Walker should have stayed at RT, Butler should have been the backup swingman, and McKinney cut. Because the moves were all related to the salaries, it all falls back to Overdorf.
evilbuffalobob Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Politics. I didn't know Brad was a scumbag and a liar. Hmmm, does this smell of lockout?
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