MDH Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 You can draft a quarterback, 10 years younger then Fitz, and with the new rookie salary structure pay him less. We're going to draft an 18 year old QB? The last thing I want to do is draft a 22-23 year old rookie QB who we have to grow with and watch him struggle for years before he's productive. We have a QB who isn't perfect and isn't elite but he is most certainly good enough to win with on a good team. He's in the prime of his career at 28 and his growing pain days are behind him. Give him some decent weapons (who can actually stay on the field) and a D who can stop the opposing team on occasion and this team would be fine.
RyanC883 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) More upside on Dalton then Fitz, agree with that? Fitz is playing his best football after years in the league. And he has been a starter for multiple games at different times in his career. Not saying Fitz is a bad qb, but lets see him put that much touted Harvard Ed to use and learn from his mistakes from yesterday. At this point 7-9mil a year would seem very fair. Personally i would wait till en dof the season, may cost you a couple more mil, but lets see him put up these numbers for a solid continous season. I agree, wait till the end of the year. If he performs like he did in the first half, 7 mill seems fair. It he plays worse, 3-5 mill per year is better. Extend him for sure, but doing so now does not give a solid picture of his true value. Or, if we do it now, make it heavy with incentives for making the Playoffs, etc. Edited October 18, 2011 by RyanC883
billsfreak Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 We're going to draft an 18 year old QB? The last thing I want to do is draft a 22-23 year old rookie QB who we have to grow with and watch him struggle for years before he's productive. We have a QB who isn't perfect and isn't elite but he is most certainly good enough to win with on a good team. He's in the prime of his career at 28 and his growing pain days are behind him. Give him some decent weapons (who can actually stay on the field) and a D who can stop the opposing team on occasion and this team would be fine. 10 years was as figure of speech, I didn't have time to verify birth certificates, but my point was clearly made. The only problem with your post (see highlighted areas)-how old will he be by the time the Bills are able to do that building only through the draft as Buddy Nix said they were going to?
MDH Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 10 years was as figure of speech, I didn't have time to verify birth certificates, but my point was clearly made. The only problem with your post (see highlighted areas)-how old will he be by the time the Bills are able to do that building only through the draft as Buddy Nix said they were going to? Yeah, it sounded like your point was that Fitz was too old - when in fact he's a guy who's just entering his prime years. Those are guys you hold onto, not try to go the younger route. Even if it takes a year or two to fill those needs we have a guy who will still be in his prime at age 30. That gives the Bills a 5-7 year window to get the job done. I just can't deal with a young QB struggling after watching this team "rebuild" for 10+ years now. The modern NFL has teams that turnaround in 2 years, there is no reason the Bills can't do it. The O is almost there, just fix that D...
Cynical Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 10 years was as figure of speech, I didn't have time to verify birth certificates, but my point was clearly made. The only problem with your post (see highlighted areas)-how old will he be by the time the Bills are able to do that building only through the draft as Buddy Nix said they were going to? Other than being "cheaper", how does starting a rookie QB overcome the same issues? Wouldn't it make more sense to have those pieces in place and then turn over the team to young QB?
1B4IDie Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) I agree, wait till the end of the year. If he performs like he did in the first half, 7 mill seems fair. It he plays worse, 3-5 mill per year is better. Extend him for sure, but doing so now does not give a solid picture of his true value. Or, if we do it now, make it heavy with incentives for making the Playoffs, etc. Really? Because the rest of the NFL, is going to say, "oh we won't give a back to back 3000+ yard 20+ TD QB a $10 million contract because the Bills want to see how he performs the rest of the year." Clueless Edited October 18, 2011 by Why So Serious?
hondo in seattle Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Finding competent QBs is hard. Even first rounders fail about half the time - after a team invests maybe 3 or 4 years trying to groom him. The success rate of later round draft picks is even lower. You can find serviceable QBs like Orton in free agency but it's rare to get a top-tier QB like Brees that route. Fitz is productive in this offense. Instead of dicking around for the next few years, we need to sign him. While he doesn't have a strong arm and doesn't throw a good deep ball, he does put up good numbers in this offense. He should be paid for his production, not his arm strength. His intangibles - leadership, quick decisions, understanding of the offense, etc - all count. After years of futility, I'd rather ride with Fitz then waste more years looking for the next Kelly.
Mango Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) fred jackson is the only one in the past few weeks to warrant the money they are looking for. fitz is not a 10 mil per year back, and stevie is not a top 10 wr right now. give him top 10 incentives, but guarantee 6.5 a year. with that, they should all be retained Edited October 18, 2011 by Mango
NickelCity Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 We need to sign the big three to extensions this season. You can bet your hat that the locker room is paying close attention to how this unfolds.
mattsox Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I like Fitz but $10M?? PTR Pay the man. In the last 16 games he's put up number comparable to Jim Kelly. It's not our money anyways.
Ozymandius Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Split the difference. $8.5 to $9 million is reasonable for an above average starting QB. I will say this, though. Fitz needs the Bills more than we need him. I don't think this little career renaissance of his occurs without Chan Gailey. And stop underthrowing the sideline route.
1B4IDie Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) Split the difference. $8.5 to $9 million is reasonable for an above average starting QB. I will say this, though. Fitz needs the Bills more than we need him. I don't think this little career renaissance of his occurs without Chan Gailey. And stop underthrowing the sideline route. I disagree, The NFL is a copycat league, and Chan's "genius" offense isn't revolutionary. Spread it out and dip and dunk, it's a trend where the Bills happen to be an early adopter. Fitzy will be able to run a spread offense well in any city. A team looking to adopt that style of offense would gladly pay Fitzy ~10Mil on the open market; especially if one of his favorite young receivers is a FA too and tags along for the ride. Edited October 18, 2011 by Why So Serious?
Ozymandius Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) I disagree, The NFL is a copycat league, and Chan's "genius" offense isn't revolutionary. Spread it out and dip and dunk, it's a trend where the Bills happen to be an early adopter. If it were that easy, we'd all be NFL playcallers. I think there are fewer than 10 coaches in the league who could coax as much production from the Bills offense and from Fitz as Gailey does. Leaving Gailey would be a huge risk for Fitz, imo. Edited October 18, 2011 by Ozymandius
plenzmd1 Posted October 18, 2011 Author Posted October 18, 2011 If it were that easy, we'd all be NFL playcallers. I think there are fewer than 10 coaches in the league who could coax as much production from the Bills offense and from Fitz as Gailey does. Leaving Gailey would be a huge risk for Fitz, imo. True, if he left for a one year deal..however he would prolly be getting a contract with a large upfront number..so maybe not as big a risk as the Bills lining up next season with ole Tyler taking snaps.
1B4IDie Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 If it were that easy, we'd all be NFL playcallers. I think there are fewer than 10 coaches in the league who could coax as much production from the Bills offense and from Fitz as Gailey does. Leaving Gailey would be a huge risk for Fitz, imo. Agreed that it would be a risk, however am I certain one of 31 other teams in the NFL will take that risk. Look at the reported price for Palmer and he hasn't put up number to back up that price in many years. Fitzy leaving the Bills is a larger risk for the Bills, imo.
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