I wonder what rep the Bills have for the players and their agents

[Hplarrm]

There was an article available through yahoo in another thread (the moderators might want to combine this thread into that one although I am asking a different question so I did not do this myself, but I have learned to trust the mods judgment generally in keepin TSW orderly and efficient so whatever you decide) which struck me as far superior reporting than the norm. It provided quotes from various league insiders (always a dangerous thing to trust since some of them were unnamed) which pointed to how both teams and agents responded to a marketplace standard being developed for drafted player contracts.

 

I found this quote > "If you have a seventh-round pick and you don't think the team is going to budge because that's their history, there's a point at which it's not wise to sit around and wait," Watson said. "The players and the agents don't have all the leverage in this situation." < which I found significant.

 

I wonder what type of rep the Bills have among the marketplace of players.

 

In general, I think it has been fairly good with second teir and mid-level talents but not the elite players as we have been able to sign folks like Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher (and even Troy Vincent) who seem to understand the marketplce and worked out deals with the Bills.

 

However, the rep seemed to go down just after that as the Bills seemed to reward some players (Kelsay, Dockery and Schobel for example) at a level which did not match their level of performance. Meanwhile the team took a hard line with some players that did not equate to their past cave-ins to the players like those listed above.

 

My sense is that the rep has improved as we moved from the Littman led model to the Hix led model and we have seen increased high level FA signings with this change.

 

Any thoughts (or even better at least somewhat objective fact based notions) on how the market of players and agents react to coming here?

 

I would also say in general that the small market arguments are not the issue. The actual market most players worry about is their own individual marketplace of inidividual appearance compensation for card shows and stuff and quite frankly the size of the individual municipal marketplace does not matter except at the highest level. Wherever they are every player will be overpaid, never have to pay for a meal or drink, and have all the women they can eat whereever they are.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Players and agents want to be a part of an orginization that has quality, intelligent leadership. They want to see a sense of direction. Buffalo has that now, they also have a succesion in place for when Nix does retire- Whaley. When Buffalo did not have a GM, and was the only team like that, agents were weary to direct their players there. As they should have been.

Now that Buffalo is showing the desire to be a legit team, agents and players are coming in. The Bills had a plan this offseason. Make our pass rush better. The Bills watched the Giants beat NE 3 times now with this formula. Twice in the SB when Bellichek had 2 weeks to try and prepare, but still could not stop it. This intelligence resonates throughout the league. The Bills have to win their division first, which means beating NE. The Bills furthered this approach by signing argueably the best corner in the draft to help cover and shut down passing threats.

There was not one move made this offseason that left you scratching your head.

Put all of this together with the fact you have players openly 'recruiting' guys to come play for the team, and finally we as fans should be legitimately optimistic.

[BRAWNDO]

Winning goes a long way to improving your rep amongst players and agents.

[Malazan]

Winning, good organization, etc are all secondary to $$$

[atlbillsfan1975]

Winning, good organization, etc are all secondary to $$$

I agree with that to a certain extent. But i think more and more players are realizing that what is really the difference between a few million(god i can't believe i am saying that).

I mean wouldn't you rather make $8 million a year and play for a quality orginization that is showing they want to be a winner.

Over making $10 million a year for a team that is just using your signing as a way to sell tickets?

[Malazan]

I agree with that to a certain extent. But i think more and more players are realizing that what is really the difference between a few million(god i can't believe i am saying that).

I mean wouldn't you rather make $8 million a year and play for a quality orginization that is showing they want to be a winner.

Over making $10 million a year for a team that is just using your signing as a way to sell tickets?

 

Reality doesn't agree with you. A couple million changes a lot of what players think about an organization.

[Cynical]

..., and have all the women they can eat whereever they are.

 

[NoSaint]

Reality doesn't agree with you. A couple million changes a lot of what players think about an organization.

 

Mixed bag - winning also means marketing money and generally happiness. Theres a balance I'd assume.

[Malazan]

Mixed bag - winning also means marketing money and generally happiness. Theres a balance I'd assume.

 

Apparently, no one told Wes Welker...or the countless other players that have taken the money.

 

I feel like the numbers would support my view that player will almost always take the contract that offers them better financial compensation.

 

As fans, I understand we feel a strong pull to believe otherwise.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Apparently, no one told Wes Welker...or the countless other players that have taken the money.

 

I feel like the numbers would support my view that player will almost always take the contract that offers them better financial compensation.

 

As fans, I understand we feel a strong pull to believe otherwise.

I agree with you on this one.

 

There's no bigger lie in sports than the athlete who says "it's not about the money."

 

I'd guess that "hometown discounts" occur about 2-3% of the time.

 

There's been lots of blurbs in national magazines (ie- ESPN The Magazine's "Player X") where anonymous athletes are quoted and they all say the same thing:

 

Many players don't like playing football for a living but there's absolutely nothing they could do instead to make that kind of money.

 

While that doesn't go for every player obviously, I have zero problem believing the truth of these statements. It's a brutal, unforgiving game, but it pays well.

 

Get in, make your money, get out.

 

 

[NoSaint]

Apparently, no one told Wes Welker...or the countless other players that have taken the money.

 

I feel like the numbers would support my view that player will almost always take the contract that offers them better financial compensation.

 

As fans, I understand we feel a strong pull to believe otherwise.

 

Obviously you maximize the money but I'm talking a moderate gap in total cash vs a situation you prefer (and possibly making up that money other ways). I'm not going to argue anyone leaves huge sums on the table. Or that they don't try to maximize dollars wherever they go. But say you are looking at 7.5 per vs 8 per over a couple years- I think if a guy has a preference in situation- that wins.

[CodeMonkey]

Obviously you maximize the money but I'm talking a moderate gap in total cash vs a situation you prefer (and possibly making up that money other ways). I'm not going to argue anyone leaves huge sums on the table. Or that they don't try to maximize dollars wherever they go. But say you are looking at 7.5 per vs 8 per over a couple years- I think if a guy has a preference in situation- that wins.

Maybe a player nearing the end of his career who has a nice fat bank account but doesn't have a ring takes the .5 mil less to get the ring. But otherwise it's a business so show me the money.

[eball]

...and have all the women they can eat whereever they are.

 

 

Well, he's right.