San Jose Bills Fan Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 As the din of debate rings over the board this free agency season, I'm reminded of how soon we forget recent events surrounding our favorite NFL football team. Last year at this time, the Bills were a player in free agency. They didn't necessarily pursue all the players we hoped they would and they certainly signed fewer and different players than most of us would have liked. Here's my recollection of the visits made to One Bills Drive one year ago along with a few selected free agent players who many of us were hoping would become Buffalo Bills. Visitors: Fred Taylor RB Kevin Jones RB Dominic Rhodes RB Laveranues Coles WR Terrell Owens WR Freddie Keiaho LB Cato June LB Pisa Tinoisamoa LB Others (these are just a few of the many names that were thrown around on this board in wishful thinking): Jason Brown C/G Michael Boley LB T.J. Houshmandzadeh WR Jonathan Vilma LB Derrick Brooks LB Leroy Hill LB Stacy Andrews T Jon Runyan T Not many free agents made big splashes last year. Haynesworth couldn't prevent the Redskins from sucking for instance. Bart Scott probably played well but he was part of an ensemble improvement with the Jets. Matt Cassel was ordinary for the Chiefs. Houshmandzadeh and T.O. were underwhelming as was Laveranues Coles. Ditto for Derrick Ward. Brian Dawkins couldn't lift the Broncos into the playoffs and their defense sagged late in the season. One excellent free agent acquisition was the New Orleans Saints signing Jabbari Greer. One of the better moves was the Baltimore Ravens letting Jason Brown go for big bucks to the Rams (yes, the Rams still sucked), and then signing Matt Birk to replace him at less money. The Ravens possibly got a better player for less money. And as usual, the best signings were the ones where the team and the player agreed to stay on together. Players like Ray Lewis, Curt Warner, Jonathan Vilma, Jahri Evans, Bo Scaife. While viewing last year's free agency, one is struck by the very low success rates for players that changed teams. Many more busts than booms. The other moral of the story is that it's a lot better to keep your own players than to try to sign someone else's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawchukBills Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 As the din of debate rings over the board this free agency season, I'm reminded of how soon we forget recent events surrounding our favorite NFL football team. Last year at this time, the Bills were a player in free agency. They didn't necessarily pursue all the players we hoped they would and they certainly signed fewer and different players than most of us would have liked. Here's my recollection of the visits made to One Bills Drive one year ago along with a few selected free agent players who many of us were hoping would become Buffalo Bills. Visitors: Fred Taylor RB Kevin Jones RB Dominic Rhodes RB Laveranues Coles WR Terrell Owens WR Freddie Keiaho LB Cato June LB Pisa Tinoisamoa LB Others (these are just a few of the many names that were thrown around on this board in wishful thinking): Jason Brown C/G Michael Boley LB T.J. Houshmandzadeh WR Jonathan Vilma LB Derrick Brooks LB Leroy Hill LB Stacy Andrews T Jon Runyan T Not many free agents made big splashes last year. Haynesworth couldn't prevent the Redskins from sucking for instance. Bart Scott probably played well but he was part of an ensemble improvement with the Jets. Matt Cassel was ordinary for the Chiefs. Houshmandzadeh and T.O. were underwhelming as was Laveranues Coles. Ditto for Derrick Ward. Brian Dawkins couldn't lift the Broncos into the playoffs and their defense sagged late in the season. One excellent free agent acquisition was the New Orleans Saints signing Jabbari Greer. One of the better moves was the Baltimore Ravens letting Jason Brown go for big bucks to the Rams (yes, the Rams still sucked), and then signing Matt Birk to replace him at less money. The Ravens possibly got a better player for less money. And as usual, the best signings were the ones where the team and the player agreed to stay on together. Players like Ray Lewis, Curt Warner, Jonathan Vilma, Jahri Evans, Bo Scaife. While viewing last year's free agency, one is struck by the very low success rates for players that changed teams. Many more busts than booms. The other moral of the story is that it's a lot better to keep your own players than to try to sign someone else's. Excellent post We are not going to rebuild this franchise through FA especially not now. We need to build a core, earn back some respect, then sign top-level FAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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