Sisyphean Bills Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What? Don't they know he's just got to flip his switch?!?
eball Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 I'll be here. And if they're 10-6 going into the playoffs, kudos to Nix, Gailey, and company. Should it be anything less than a playoff appearance, the excuses should be about over by now. It's funny that certain folks feel the need to continue to insist this, when the very men they critique (Nix/Gailey) have been saying the exact same thing since camp started so it should be a surprise to no one.
Wooderson Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 This in my opinion shows respect for a veteran player, Bills rather than keep him on roster as depth , perhaps to let him go at some point in season. He has now shot to sign on place of his choosing and compete for job before final countdowns. This sort of move likely to be respected by players , agents around the league as Bills current organization at least fair with players. Always tough for a guy to be let go, but it in end is a business, a very competitive one, but that our team do it in a fair right way a good thing. Agreed. They took a risk on a player, and even let it play out for two years but it just didn't seem to work out.
FLFan Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 I always feel bad too when a team pays out 10 million for a lot of suck in return. Whose fault Nix or lights out? You be the judge. And why do you care what they paid him? Is that salary coming our of your pocket? Or are you going to argue that they could have signed somebody else with that money? Who did they not sign or could have signed if not for Merriman? Thats retorical by the way because you do not and could not know. As the Bills showed this year, whatever they were paying for Merriman, or Kelsay or anyone else was not a hindrance in signing free agents they targeted, when they wanted to. Merriman was a chance that did not work out. Big deal. Move on. It would have been great if it had worked, but it did not. Still a great move by Nix in my book, even if it did not pan out.
Canadian Bills Fan Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Agreed. They took a risk on a player, and even let it play out for two years but it just didn't seem to work out. Now if they can only do the same with Troup.... CBF
K-9 Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 I always feel bad too when a team pays out 10 million for a lot of suck in return. Whose fault Nix or lights out? You be the judge. Like it's your money. And it's nobody's fault because there is no "fault" involved here. They took a shot on a high-risk, high-reward gamble. It didn't work out. Won't be the last time, either. GO BILLS!!!
eball Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Classy tweet from Merriman (his capitalization and punctuation, not mine): "I want to say Thanks to the Organization, the Coaches, my teammates and the fans you guys have been great & I'll be looking forward to the next chapter"
Bufcomments Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 why is this a surprise? He did nothing this preseason in the pass rush even against second teamers. Moore is having a better camp and less injury prone. Would like to hear Buddy on this but like I said I'm one that not shocked about this.
Kevin Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 I'm surprised that they released him. To hear Chan talk about him being back to form. As far as the preseason "inactivity" I thought that they were just making sure that he was going to be 100% when the season starts. Also, who is this Moore guy? I've never heard of him. He tore it up in preseason? Did he line up against the first team, second, or third team offenses? I would've much rather have kept Merriman, even if he only played a handful of snaps a game. Then work Moore in during the season to see if he really does pan out then make the final decision on Merriman after the conclusion of the season. They put two years into Merriman and got absolutely nothing in return.
eball Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Buddy's comments after practice this afternoon: “Shawne was battling for the fourth defensive end spot,” said Nix. “We think we’ve got three guys there that we feel good about, plus we’ve got a couple of young guys and that’s the reason we made the move.” “We want to give these two young guys more reps in practice, more playing time in these last two games,” he said. “I think he struggled a little,” said Nix. “He can play. He did everything. He’s been healthy since OTAs. He hasn’t missed anything. He’s very attentive in meetings. He’s worked hard in practice, and he’s played really good in spots in the games. He’s a hard worker and he’s done everything he could do. We think we’ve been patient, but there comes a point where we felt like we needed to move on and look down the road so these young guys will get a shot.”
FitzShowUsYourTitz Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 A perfect example of why talk is cheap. All we "heard" was how good he looked. He'd become a veteran project. He sucks and has sucked for years. They also don't need him as a DE which is where they were going to use him and they have depth there, much better depth. There may be another reason, but ultimately, that's why, because they have several "Merrimans" on the team that don't have the injury history as a ball-and-chain. With Bradham and Carder, and whomever loses the other OLB starting job, either Moats or Merriman, they also don't need the issue-laden Merriman either. This is a perfect example of why not to believe anything coming from team or fan sources in the preaseason. All 32 teams appear to be headed for at least a .500 season right now. Exactly......This is not complicated. They signed Williams and Anderson and Kelsay has the huge contract. -1 Good luck to him. Hopefully he catches on with another team (not in our division).
Mr. WEO Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What have been the response if I had posted this yesterday?: "I bet the Bills are going the Bills are going to release Merriman tomorrow".
....lybob Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Not totally surprised - I thought they'd cut at least two from (Kelsay, Merriman, Edwards, Johnson) but in truth I'd thought I'd be Kelsay and Edwards at the beginning of camp and a little later I thought Edwards and Johnson - This is what comes from taking coach speak at face value- I should known have better because there are always players where the coach love doesn't seem to be in sync with the player performance- Currently I'd include Kelsay, Kelvin Sheppard, Aaron Williams and Brad Smith in this group with a shout out to Lindell and Lee Smith.
K-9 Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What have been the response if I had posted this yesterday?: "I bet the Bills are going the Bills are going to release Merriman tomorrow". Now you're just trolling. GO BILLS!!!
Roc Bronson Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Well he won't be out of a job long. The jets will pick him up..
eball Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What have been the response if I had posted this yesterday?: "I bet the Bills are going the Bills are going to release Merriman tomorrow". I, for one, would have thought you were under the influence of an illegal substance.
djp14150 Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Also, who is this Moore guy? I've never heard of him. He tore it up in preseason? Did he line up against the first team, second, or third team offenses? Moore played DE in a 4-3 defense with USC where 9 of the 11 starters were drafteed...including him by another team....Because of injuries/coach changes et all he didnt work out with those teams.
Kelly the Dog Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Buddy's comments after practice this afternoon: “Shawne was battling for the fourth defensive end spot,” said Nix. “We think we’ve got three guys there that we feel good about, plus we’ve got a couple of young guys and that’s the reason we made the move.” “We want to give these two young guys more reps in practice, more playing time in these last two games,” he said. “I think he struggled a little,” said Nix. “He can play. He did everything. He’s been healthy since OTAs. He hasn’t missed anything. He’s very attentive in meetings. He’s worked hard in practice, and he’s played really good in spots in the games. He’s a hard worker and he’s done everything he could do. We think we’ve been patient, but there comes a point where we felt like we needed to move on and look down the road so these young guys will get a shot.” Probably true, and pretty much what you would expect Nix to say. They probably thought what was very likely the real situation: Shawne Merriman was back to being healthy, and not limited, and still capable of playing good football in this league. AND that the reality of it was that he was not likely to regain his superstar status. We hoped for it, it was possible, we wanted it, but it wasn't the most likely scenario. The most likely scenario was that he could return to playing, and maybe being pretty good, but not be a superstar. Combine that with the (also likely) facts as they are, and not what we want as fans, or what we hope for, that they didn't pay Mario Williams 100 million to sit out a lot, that Mark Anderson is a very good pass rusher but not as the Bills say, an every down defensive end who is also good against the run, and that Chris Kelsay doesn't suck. Mario is not coming out much. Anderson will be in on most pass downs. Kelsay is going to play, most likely on run downs on the right side, splitting time with Anderson. If Merriman was back to close to resembling his former self, then the team would have to find snaps for him, but it wouldn't be easy, and there was no way they could then develop let alone keep Kyle Moore. If the team really did save 4 million by cutting him, I understand it. If they thought he would be good but never great I understand it. I havent been to practices. But that is likely the case, and now they can keep Moore.
Just in Atlanta Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What I find interesting is that nearly everyone on this board appears so surprised, yet James Welker of ESPN said "The move isn't a surprise." I love it when reporters and pundits have 20/20 hindsight about foresight they never made public. Color this fan very surprised--all indicators were up for Merriman to have a successful season and I heard nothing from the coaches to indicate otherwise.
Mr. WEO Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Now you're just trolling. GO BILLS!!! Exactly! That would been the uniform response. I, for one, would have thought you were under the influence of an illegal substance. And not one person---no one, zero people---would have said "you know, it makes sense that they would get rid of him at this point". There would have been an avalanche of "now way!" and "he's in the best shape in years!" and "why on earth would they get rid of him now?" and "even it he's only 75% of what he was it's a huge bonus!",.........etc, etc, etc. Yet the same exact guys who would (and have in the recent past) say all of those things .....are the same exact guys who are now saying "it's the right thing to do", "it makes sense--he was never going to be a 4-3 DE", "we need to let guys like Moore get some reps" (my favorite). It's hilarious--and shameless.
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