pmak Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 What are everyone's thoughts on the newest positional power ranking by ESPN? http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/27282/power-rankings-top-10-nfl-safeties 1. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers 2. Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens 3. Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers 4. Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals 5. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs 6. Michael Griffin, Tennessee Titans 7. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills 8. B. Meriweather, New England Patriots 9. Antrel Rolle, New York Giants 10. LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins 10. Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis Colts I think this hurts the Bills' chances of resigning Whitner. This will only inflate his ego and make him less likely to decrease his salary demands if he thinks people view him in this light. As much as I think he is overrated, he is still a serviceable safety and Searcy is an unknown quantity if he was drafted as his replacement.
Aloha22 Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) Was just in the middle of writing this topic. Donte will use this to try and bring more money LOL 4/8 analysts polled didn't put Donte in their top 10s Edited May 3, 2011 by Aloha22
Spiderweb Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 What are everyone's thoughts on the newest positional power ranking by ESPN? http://espn.go.com/b...10-nfl-safeties 1. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers 2. Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens 3. Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers 4. Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals 5. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs 6. Michael Griffin, Tennessee Titans 7. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills 8. B. Meriweather, New England Patriots 9. Antrel Rolle, New York Giants 10. LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins 10. Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis Colts I think this hurts the Bills' chances of resigning Whitner. This will only inflate his ego and make him less likely to decrease his salary demands if he thinks people view him in this light. As much as I think he is overrated, he is still a serviceable safety and Searcy is an unknown quantity if he was drafted as his replacement. Nix recently said in a radio interview that he believes Donte doesn't want to be with the Bills, so he won't be.
syhuang Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Forget about Whitner, rotoworld Bills GM Buddy Nix strongly indicated on a radio show Monday that the team has no intentions of retaining free agent SS Donte Whitner. "Donte Whitner I don’t think wants to be here, and he probably won’t," Nix said. That's about as close to confirmation an NFL team will give. The Bills' moves already indicated they intend to move on, re-signing George Wilson and drafting Da'Norris Searcy, another "box" safety. Whitner, 26 in July, was the eighth overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Ohio State. He'll appeal to teams that value safeties who play the run effectively.
tennesseeboy Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 every year we seem to miss keeping better players, be it Winfield, Clements, Peters, Jennings, McGahee, Schobel etc and on and on. Somewhere along this line we had better expect to not only draft good players,but have a strategy for keeping them. It isn't good enough that at the end we think they "don't want to" stay with the Bills. This is a real problem.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 I have to believe that these lists are lobbied by agents. Say Whitner's agent wants to build some rep for Donte now that he's going into free agency (we assume.) So he calls his buddy up at NFL.com and lobbies to put his client on his top 10 list. Maybe the guy gets something back in return, like an exclusive interview with another star player that agents reps. There's a lot going on behind the curtain people don't think about. PTR
Fingon Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Whitner has always been thought of highly around the league, I'm not sure how this is news to Bills fans.
nucci Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 What are everyone's thoughts on the newest positional power ranking by ESPN? http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/27282/power-rankings-top-10-nfl-safeties 1. Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh Steelers 2. Ed Reed, Baltimore Ravens 3. Nick Collins, Green Bay Packers 4. Adrian Wilson, Arizona Cardinals 5. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs 6. Michael Griffin, Tennessee Titans 7. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills 8. B. Meriweather, New England Patriots 9. Antrel Rolle, New York Giants 10. LaRon Landry, Washington Redskins 10. Antoine Bethea, Indianapolis Colts I think this hurts the Bills' chances of resigning Whitner. This will only inflate his ego and make him less likely to decrease his salary demands if he thinks people view him in this light. As much as I think he is overrated, he is still a serviceable safety and Searcy is an unknown quantity if he was drafted as his replacement. Do you think someone will pay the $5-$6M he thinks he's worth?
Fingon Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 I have to believe that these lists are lobbied by agents. Say Whitner's agent wants to build some rep for Donte now that he's going into free agency (we assume.) So he calls his buddy up at NFL.com and lobbies to put his client on his top 10 list. Maybe the guy gets something back in return, like an exclusive interview with another star player that agents reps. There's a lot going on behind the curtain people don't think about. PTR That makes no sense at all PTR. No NFL team is going to give a rats ass what some ESPN power rankings say. This is about as stupid as the people who say Gabbert was a media creation.
papazoid Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 i think Whitner is a good player......but he is so far below Polamalu and Reed that he is not worth Top Ten safety money. He is NOT an impact player and has HORRIBLE hands for interceptions. i say pass and save the $6.0mil/yr he is probably seeking.
pmak Posted May 3, 2011 Author Posted May 3, 2011 Do you think someone will pay the $5-$6M he thinks he's worth? I am sure someone will pay him. I do not think it will be us. Obviously these rankings mean only so much, but he is obviously viewed as a safety in the top half in the league. There are teams in much worse shape at the position and probably feel like he is on the upswing in his career, being only 26 years old.
truth on hold Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 every year we seem to miss keeping better players, be it Winfield, Clements, Peters, Jennings, McGahee, Schobel Winfield they could have kept but he's too small to ever be shut down corner Clements wanted way too much and has been a huge disapointment in San Fran; same for peters in philly Mcgahee I agree we should have kept instead of wasting a 1st on lynch to replace him Jennings we should have paid to keep. he can play and wanted to stay Schoebel wante to retire and even a Texas team couldnt talk him out. It's just not nearly as cut and dried as you make it. Any team that resigna every FA for top dollar will be a loser
nucci Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 I am sure someone will pay him. I do not think it will be us. Obviously these rankings mean only so much, but he is obviously viewed as a safety in the top half in the league. There are teams in much worse shape at the position and probably feel like he is on the upswing in his career, being only 26 years old. You're probably right. He's at the right age and someone will pay him. I hope it's not us and don't think we will.
H2o Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Let someone else overpay him and watch him underachieve on the field. We just went through this about 3 years ago I believe, only we're not gonna get a 1st in return for Whitner.
clearwater cadet Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Whitner has always been thought of highly around the league, I'm not sure how this is news to Bills fans. I've only heard good things about Whitner by other clubs. The bills should focus on keeping this guy instead of shipping him off and trying to fill another hole. We is not the problem.
Ghost of Rob Johnson Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) Do you think someone will pay the $5-$6M he thinks he's worth? I thought that's what they were offering him? Which I thought was a little light considering Antrel Rolle's contract: 3/5/2010: Signed a five-year, $37 million contract. The deal contains $15 million guaranteed, including a $5 million signing bonus and Rolle's first two years' base salaries. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/3149/player?r=1 Edited May 3, 2011 by Ghost of Rob Johnson
Peter Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Donte has been a lightning rod here because of where he was picked (he had no control over that) and because of some of the things that he has said/written/tweeted. I think that he was picked too high, but I also think that his tweets etc. show that he actually gives a damn. As far as whether he wants to play for the Bills, didn't he just tattoo the Bills logo on his arm or something like that. I think that Buddy's recent comments are more about the $$$. I think that Donte wants to be with the Bills. He is just asking for more money that the Bills are willing to pay and/or think that he is worth. I have no problem with the Bills re-signing him at the right amount. Our draft certainly gives us flexibility to do what we want. The fact is that Donte is not as bad as some make him out to be. He also is not Troy P. or Ed Reed. He probably is within the top third of strong safeties in the league. One of the things that we all have to keep in mind is that our linebackers and DBs all should benefit from our anticipated improved defensive line. A lot of the very good safeties and other DBs have the benefit of playing behind much better defensive lines than the Bills have had over the past few years. Just my two cents.
eball Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 every year we seem to miss keeping better players, be it Winfield, Clements, Peters, Jennings, McGahee, Schobel etc and on and on. Somewhere along this line we had better expect to not only draft good players,but have a strategy for keeping them. It isn't good enough that at the end we think they "don't want to" stay with the Bills. This is a real problem. I don't mean this to sound like an excuse, but the current regime of Nix/Gailey aren't responsible for any of those decisions, and Schobel retired. What I understand is that the Bills tendered a contract offer to Whitner, which he refused. Those of us who actually follow the Buffalo Bills week in and week out know Whitner is not a "difference maker" at safety. If another NFL team is willing to pay him as such, so be it. I understand the point you are trying to make, but Donte Whitner is a horrible example.
tennesseeboy Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Winfield they could have kept but he's too small to ever be shut down corner Clements wanted way too much and has been a huge disapointment in San Fran; same for peters in philly Mcgahee I agree we should have kept instead of wasting a 1st on lynch to replace him Jennings we should have paid to keep. he can play and wanted to stay Schoebel wante to retire and even a Texas team couldnt talk him out. It's just not nearly as cut and dried as you make it. Any team that resigna every FA for top dollar will be a loser I agree with you Joe, that it isn't cut and dried, but it just seems that we have problems keeping our better players. Lee Evans is an exception. I would not be surpised to see Poz leave or Byrd when the time comes. I think we have to put as much effort into keeping people (like Jabari Greer, a favorite of mine or Jim Leonhard). I'm not at all sure how...if I knew I suspect I'd be a highly paid bills exec!
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