Captain Hindsight Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Glad to hear I have good company. The funny thing is that the players that had the most support as free agent targets last year were guys who would upgrade a position of need and would be attainable for a reasonable price. The two most vetted players were Tyson Clabo and Kevin Boss. I wanted the Bills to pursue both of them. Tyson Clabo is now a 30-year old, undrafted player coming off a bad year, who re-signed at 5 years and $25 million. Yes, Clabo was an injury fill-in in the Pro Bowl in 2010 after finally establishing himself with his 5th team in 8 years. We ended up with Erik Pears, a 29-year old, former undrafted player coming off a solid year who we extended for 3 years and $9.3 million. Essentially the Bills got the same player for much less money. Kevin Boss is now a 28-year old, former 5th rounder who's coming off a mediocre year (28 catches, 3 TDs) who signed with the Raiders for 4 years and $16 million. We have a free agent TE in Scott Chandler who's a 26-year old, former 4th rounder coming off a strong year. If you believe the listed height/weight, Chandler besides being 2 years younger is an inch taller than Boss and about 10 pounds heavier. My point is that there seems to be an inherent belief that guys on other teams are better than guys on the Bills. People here wanted Kevin Boss last year but now Scott Chandler is just a mediocre tight end. I don't get it. Its simple, the other toy is much cooler than your own
JStranger76 Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Kevin Boss and Chandler are both servicable. In all fairness to Boss, he missed quite a bit more time than Chandler due to injuries as well.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 He's not excellent at all. If he wasn't 6'7 he really wouldn't have too much going for him matter of fact. Average only blocker, doesn't get very good separation, and just doesn't have the "naturally smooth" route running of a top TE. I like him as a nice #2 because of his height though. I'll disagree with your evaluation. I see a different player than you. BTW, I'll be the first to admit that Jason Witten is a great player… better than Chandler but I rarely see Witten getting great separation. Same with Heath Miller. There's a lot of good tight ends who don't separate well… they take advantage of their huge catching radius and their big bodies to "post up" the defenders. Sticking with my Kevin Boss comparison, I'll bet that Chandler is trying to get Kevin Boss-type money (4 years, $16 million) and that the Bills are saying to Chandler's agent: 1) Scott Chandler was nothing before he came here so he should keep that in mind 2) We're not a big TE-oriented team so we don't value Scott as highly as other teams might 3) Kevin Boss' contract with Oakland was a typical Al Davis overly-inflated contract and a knee jerk reaction to them losing Zach Miller. He's not worth what he got and neither is Scott. So I believe that the Bills have an offer in the 3 million per range and that Chandler has to decide whether to sign it or see free agency. I could see us losing him in free agency because there seems to be move towards greater TE emphasis and it appears (without really knowing) that the Bills are lowballing him a bit, IMO.
Dan Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 1330889684[/url]' post='2394866']... My point is that there seems to be an inherent belief that guys on other teams are better than guys on the Bills. ... I don't get it. TBD truthism #1. All Bills players are average at best and should not be overpaid. All non-Bills players are probowlers that should be signed at all costs. TBD truthism #2. All moves made by the Bills' FO are bad, cheap, and just generally wrong. All moves made by any other team's FO are good, smart, and just generally what we need to be doing. TBD truthism #3. All pessimists about the Bills see the world as it really is and are right. All optimists about the Bills are living in a dream world and content with mediocrity. duh
RealityCheck Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 I don't think anybody dislikes Chandler, it's just that not everybody believes him to be excellent. In a sense he is a one year wonder and that will remain the perception until he becomes a 2 year wonder. Unfortunately it is contract time and he has only a partial season on his resume. I doubt that anyone wants him gone, but how much he is truly worth is just so difficult to say.
Dragonborn10 Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 You mean our best TE in years? I know he's not HOF material, but it's been a long time since we've had a dynamic TE, and he has chemistry with Fitz. I know it's not Ralph's style, but we HAVE to stop the revolving door of talent, even if we're not talking about top talent. Yes we're rebuilding through the draft, but we can never draft to fill all the holes if don't keep our top FAs. Wow has the bar been set so low in Buffalo that Chandler would be described as dynamic???
Doc Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 I don't think anybody dislikes Chandler, it's just that not everybody believes him to be excellent. In a sense he is a one year wonder and that will remain the perception until he becomes a 2 year wonder. Unfortunately it is contract time and he has only a partial season on his resume. I doubt that anyone wants him gone, but how much he is truly worth is just so difficult to say. I don't know if you can even call him a "one year wonder." Outside of the 6 TD's, it's not like he had a great season catches- or yards-wise. I think people are overvaluing him because he's the best we've seen in awhile. But I'd rather spend money and take a chance on a guy like John Carlson.
JStranger76 Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Agreed RealityCheck. Also agree with the Boss comparison San Jose. They are similar players, and I'm fine with a contract in that neighborhood. I just don't believe any part of Chandler's game is anywhere near "excellent". At all. 4 years 12-16 M is totally cool. I'd prefer the total was closer to 12 though lol
Rob's House Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Agreed RealityCheck. Also agree with the Boss comparison San Jose. They are similar players, and I'm fine with a contract in that neighborhood. I just don't believe any part of Chandler's game is anywhere near "excellent". At all. 4 years 12-16 M is totally cool. I'd prefer the total was closer to 12 though lol I think a deal along the lines of what Pears got would be about right.
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 hope they sign him we need to keep a good TE around here.
JStranger76 Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 I'd like to keep Chandler AND find a pure recieving threat TE to pair with him if I had my way.
Bill from NYC Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Apparently I'm in a micro-minority here. I think Chandler is an excellent player. Seems like media and fans alike are pretty underwhelmed by him. An "excellent palyer" might be a stretch, but he is needed on this football team big time imo.
Direhard Fan Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 His history is questionable. One year wonder is alittle strong. Injurys held him back. Big bucks? I don't think so. Good money yes. He is above average when fit. Will some team pay big bucks? I don't think so. Time will tell. I liked him alot. Hope he stays.
3rdand12 Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 Chan might well be able to coach up any tight end with the physical complements as Chandler. There are plenty of replacements in the lower legs of this draft that will be much cheaper. Chandler did qualify as our best tight end in some time and congrats to him for his play! But he was most effective when Chan and company saw the mismatch potential and made good use of that insight. The kid can play football sure. But 4 mil? for a guy that is just pretty good? Not for me to decide thank goodness but i prefer to keep L smith and run our two ( soon to be)pro bowl running backs then draft one of these kids some folks here are high on in the later rounds.
#34fan Posted March 4, 2012 Posted March 4, 2012 (edited) You mean our best TE in years? I know he's not HOF material, but it's been a long time since we've had a dynamic TE, and he has chemistry with Fitz. I know it's not Ralph's style, but we HAVE to stop the revolving door of talent, even if we're not talking about top talent. Yes we're rebuilding through the draft, but we can never draft to fill all the holes if don't keep our top FAs. Big AGREE over here! Chandler really showed me some things last season. All that guy ever did on the field was produce. (When given the opportunity) If Chandler leaves, it will just be one more thing about this team that P!$$es me off. This is exactly the type of player we should be fighting to KEEP! -Not only that, we should be using Chan's offensive "genius" (whatever) to create more ways of getting him the ball! KEEP SCOTT CHANDLER! -Draft Nick Provo (Syracuse) in the 5th!!! Edited March 4, 2012 by #34fan
BADOLBILZ Posted March 5, 2012 Posted March 5, 2012 Even with Chandler they still don't have a dynamic TE I don't have a report to cite, but I think they may feel that they made him productive and not the other way around. I don't think they think he is dynamic either. Yes, he gets open, he is a big target and has good hands but he hasn't shown anything after the catch to this point. I wouldn't be surprised if they thought they could do something similar with Lee Smith, who happens to be a nasty blocker as well.
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