Coach Tuesday Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Bills have made a lot of bad personnel decisions over the years. None of their actions were due to what the fickle fans/bloggers think. The idea that the fans drove out any player is not only absurd, it is comical. You noted that Fletcher, Winfield and Peters were vilified by the fans. I don't know how you come to that conclusion. Winfield and Fletcher were very respected players. The truth of the matter is that all three of these players were let go for contract reasons by an organization very conscious of its finances. Show me where I said the fans forced players out. Fletcher was routinely criticized for making lots of tackles too far downfield. Sound familiar? Winfield was complimented for his tackling but the "fan consensus" was that he was NOT a shutdown cover corner. As for Peters, really? You don't remember him being villified? Where have you been? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I think part of the team being willing to part ways was a worry about his neck injury - if i remember correct he failed physicals before being released/reaching an injury settlement or whatever it was at that point in the offseason. My confusion isn't with the team releasing him, it's with the attitude of the fans with players like him. Like I said, losing or retaining Coy Wire wasn't that big of deal in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Show me where I said the fans forced players out. Fletcher was routinely criticized for making lots of tackles too far downfield. Sound familiar? Winfield was complimented for his tackling but the "fan consensus" was that he was NOT a shutdown cover corner. As for Peters, really? You don't remember him being villified? Where have you been? You did not pay attention to what I wrote. My central point is that all three of these players were let go for financial reason. Whether the fans were critical or not was irrelevant to the team's personnel decisions. Winfield was in his contract year. The Bills were not going to pay him at the higher salary he sought and got from another team. Fletcher's contract was up. The organization was not going to pay him the market rate or at the rate he could get elsewhere. While playing for the Skins Fletcher has been to the all-pro game. Whether Peters was vilified or not by the fanbase was not a factor in his trade. The Bills were not going to re-open his contract and pay him the salary he sought. As I originally stated, it is outright ludicrous to think that the organization makes a decision on a player based on what the fans/bloggers think. The Bills' front office has not been noted for its stellar level of competency. But they certainly are not stupid enough to consider the conflicting views of the fanbase when making decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 You did not pay attention to what I wrote. My central point is that all three of these players were let go for financial reason. Whether the fans were critical or not was irrelevant to the team's personnel decisions. Winfield was in his contract year. The Bills were not going to pay him at the higher salary he sought and got from another team. Fletcher's contract was up. The organization was not going to pay him the market rate or at the rate he could get elsewhere. While playing for the Skins Fletcher has been to the all-pro game. Whether Peters was vilified or not by the fanbase was not a factor in his trade. The Bills were not going to re-open his contract and pay him the salary he sought. As I originally stated, it is outright ludicrous to think that the organization makes a decision on a player based on what the fans/bloggers think. The Bills' front office has not been noted for its stellar level of competency. But they certainly are not stupid enough to consider the conflicting views of the fanbase when making decisions. I don't see what your point has to do with my post, in that case. I haven't said that the organization was listening to the fans, so who cares? And your point about the Bills' financial decisions reinforces the point that the Bills hate paying good players beyond their second contracts. Coy Wire symbolizes 2 issues: 1) Bills fans love to villify Bills players, usually for bad reasons 2) The Bills as an organization have undervalued, and refused to pay for, quality depth, and it shows on Sundays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Show me where I said the fans forced players out. Fletcher was routinely criticized for making lots of tackles too far downfield. Sound familiar? Winfield was complimented for his tackling but the "fan consensus" was that he was NOT a shutdown cover corner. As for Peters, really? You don't remember him being villified? Where have you been? Winfield was a good player for us. The consensus was that he was a good player. He was not vilified by the fanbase. Are there different views? Of course. There are different views on every player. London Fletcher was a very good player for us. The criticism you cite that he made tackles five yards behind the line of scrimmage doesn't make sense because our DL was getting its ass knocked back. With respect to Peters, he was our best lineman by far. And most fans recognized it. He did get criticized over the contract issue. So what. He was still our best player on the line. No matter what your opinion on a player is there are also contrary views on the same players. That is the nature of fandom and that is the nature of sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Blizzard Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 leonidas Good luck to Coy; he was a classy guy and played his heart out for the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 your point about the Bills' financial decisions reinforces the point that the Bills hate paying good players beyond their second contracts. 2) The Bills as an organization have undervalued, and refused to pay for, quality depth, and it shows on Sundays We agree on the above points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Angel Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Coy wire had a good attitude, was a good special teamer, was learning safety in B-lo as he was a LB in college. Was forced into the starting lineup to soon due to a bad roster, was pretty bad at safety in B-lo, he is still nothing special, maybe should have been kept for depth and to compete in camp but not a huge loss.... certainly not a must resign such as Pat Williams and Antoine Winfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Angel Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 (edited) Before his departure, Wire was routinely villified and mocked at TSW by our brilliant in-house personnel evaluators. The comments made about Wire, Leonhard, London Fletcher, Antoine Winfield, Peters, etc., mirror closely the comments made these days about Whitner, Poz, and Kelsay. Everyone on the Bills sucks, according to our genius fans. Yet they often go elsewhere and thrive. I agree with the decision made on Peters, he played half a season as a solid NFL left tackle, let himself get out of shape and asked for a huge contract. Our staff just wanted to see one full season of him playing LT at a high level before giving him the big $$. Peters didnt want to earn his money for a franchise that took a chance on him as an undrafted FA tight End and groomed from Tight End to RT and eventually LT and he pissed and moaned for $$ the second he got there. We trade him to Philly for a first round draft pick the eventually became Eric Wood who IMO is going to be one of the best centers in football who busts his ass and already is becoming a great leader on this online. Edited February 11, 2011 by pmr78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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