NoSaint Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) At least to me, keeping Levitre is worth it at 7 and change, but no higher. Once you start getting over 8, i've got an issue. I won't be happy if he leaves and signs elsewhere for the numbers you mentioned. I'd sign that deal any day. I don't see where the 9 talk is coming from. That's Carl nicks money- 2 consecutive pro bowl and all pro awards going into free agency, Super Bowl ring, and I know meaningless but voted in the top 100 players reputation, best guard in the league and trending upward still type of money. Edited March 4, 2013 by NoSaint
Buffalo Barbarian Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 (edited) "J.C. Tretter, who returned to Cornell on Sunday, said he met with “17 or 18” teams at the combine, including the Bills in an informal interview. “If you don’t have anything bad in your past, these interviews aren’t that bad,” he joked. Aside from the occasional oddball question like “would you rather be a dog or a cat,” Tretter said teams mostly grilled him on the mental side of the game during the interview process. “They want you to draw up plays and kind of see where your overall knowledge is. Not just what the left tackle does, but what does the left guard, the center, the right guard do? What is the quarterback looking at?” he said. “They want to know if you totally understand the play book.” As for the physical side of it, Tretter fared well. He did 29 reps of 225 pounds inside Lucas Oil Stadium, a figure that tied for the 11th most of 45 offensive linemen who lifted." http://blogs.buffalo...tereotypes.html Strengths Athletic build. Possess light feet, and has the athletic ability to mirror pass rushers. Flexible, shows the ability to bend. Moves well laterally. Plays with good balance. Quick off the ball. Recognizes stunts and blitzes well, and has the coordination to execute multiple blocks in these situations. Weaknesses Limited experience and played against weak competition. Will likely have to move to guard, due to a lack of length. Lacks core strength. While he's light on his feet, his foot quickness needs to improve. NFL Comparison Kevin Boothe http://www.nfl.com/d...tter?id=2540292 Edited March 4, 2013 by Buffalo Barbarian
The Beautiful East Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Here's another "local kid" I would bring in for camp. No 79, RT Gokhan Ozkan. Probably move him inside.
The Senator Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 I'd sign that deal any day. I don't see where the 9 talk is coming from. That's Carl nicks money- 2 consecutive pro bowl and all pro awards going into free agency, Super Bowl ring, and I know meaningless but voted in the top 100 players reputation, best guard in the league and trending upward still type of money. I think the '$9M talk' comes from the franchise # for offensive linemen - which includes left tackles. (There probably should be a separate franchise # for guards, but there isn't.) Levitre knows he's not getting top left-tackle type money. Levitre's last contract was for $3.5M over 4 years - avg. salary of $890K. I'm thinkin' something in the $3-4M per year range gets Andy's name on a contract. Git 'er done, Buddy... GO BILLSSS!!!! 19 and 0 baby!!!!!
Pirate Angel Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 An issue they also have to consider is that they just drafted Cordy Glenn who looks like he will be a very good left tackle throughout his career, He is also at a premier position of LT a position that they are going to have to pay big money for...can they retain Cordy down the road if the LG has a big contract??
nucci Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Well, maybe I'm pushing it, but some guys seem like it doesn't matter to them if they stay here or go elsewhere (Jason Peters, Marshawn Lynch, etc.), while some (Stevie Johnson) profess their loyalty to the franchise and a desire to stay here. Levitre has said he wants to stay - that, for a number of reasons, he'd rather remain in Buffalo and hopes that he can. (His wife is from here, too.) That's all I meant. Ok, just wasn't sure. makes sense.
Fan in Chicago Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Oh yea im definetly just inferring. He could be resigned,but IIRC last year at this time Johnson and the Bills were negotiating......and Levitre says he hasn't even heard from the FO yet???? Not a good sign. He said he hadnt heard on Mar 1. I am sure his contract is a top priority right now which means a lot could have happened in 2 days. Plus there is more than a week left.
Fixxxer Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 He heard plenty when he was not franchise tagged and Byrd was. He's a very good LG but not elite and he won't get elite money from the Bills. I'm sure they (and we) want him back but not by paying more than the market indicates.
vincec Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Let me just ask what would be the strategic advantage for the Bills front office not at least opening a line of dialogue with Levitre by this point if they planned to sign him in less than a week? I can't think of one.
The Poojer Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Others have said similar things in this thread but this may have been the most succinct way yet....bingo!!! They are not going to offer him anything. What they will do is pick the maximum amount that he is worth. Then they let him hit free agency. They don't want a bidding war and they don't want to offer more than they have to. If they can beat the offer while staying below their max then he will stay. If not good luck.
nucci Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Let me just ask what would be the strategic advantage for the Bills front office not at least opening a line of dialogue with Levitre by this point if they planned to sign him in less than a week? I can't think of one. I recall reading that during the season they were talks with his agent. I'm sure they have an idea what he wants and aren't willing to go that high. If you pay Levitre that kind of money do you pay Wood the same next year? Tough call.
Matt in KC Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Let me just ask what would be the strategic advantage for the Bills front office not at least opening a line of dialogue with Levitre by this point if they planned to sign him in less than a week? I can't think of one. They were just waiting for the "Bills not really interested in Levitre" article to come out to send a message to the rest of the league that maybe he isn't as good as they might think. Now they can make a reasonable offer and maybe other teams won't offer as much.
Wayne Cubed Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Let me just ask what would be the strategic advantage for the Bills front office not at least opening a line of dialogue with Levitre by this point if they planned to sign him in less than a week? I can't think of one. As I posted earlier in the thread, it's possible they didn't know or weren't sure how much money they would be able to offer Levitre. At the end of the season, the Bills available cap space was a lot smaller then what it currently is. There would be no point in them throwing out a number, if they didn't actually have that amount. And from the looks of things, they needed to makes some cuts, figure out if they were going to franchise Byrd or not. Byrd is the smaller of the franchise numbers so it makes sense to franchise him and not Levitre. Now that all of that's out of the way, just happened Friday, I would bet the Bills will be able to offer him a deal. Whether he takes it or not is an entirely different subject matter.
Turbosrrgood Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 http://profootballta...ing-from-bills/ “I’m in limbo right now,” Levitre said. “I don’t know what their plan is. “Now that Jairus got his franchise tag, there’s a week and a half for them to work a deal out with me. But I haven’t been offered anything yet. We’re waiting around to see if something will pop up.” Don't get me wrong, I'm a Levitre fan, he does his job and had been durable when the rest of the line has not...but he has been a bit over-hyped on TBD. If the Bills can sign him for around 6M a year, they should do it, he's worth that...If he is looking for top guard money (around 9M a year) then they should pass IMO. The Bills have a ton of starting and reserve positions to fill, they can't afford to overpay for a guard. My opinion is that guards are not nearly as hard to replace as OT's and C's, and the Bills will have a new offensive system anyway. Heck just look at Urbik, we picked him up off waivers, and he has been pretty good when healthy. I'd love to keep Levitre, so long as we still have the room to sign the FA's we need at other positions to make this team competitive ( Why does using the word "competitive" when referring to the Bills in anyway make me laugh?).
K-9 Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Don't get me wrong, I'm a Levitre fan, he does his job and had been durable when the rest of the line has not...but he has been a bit over-hyped on TBD. If the Bills can sign him for around 6M a year, they should do it, he's worth that...If he is looking for top guard money (around 9M a year) then they should pass IMO. The Bills have a ton of starting and reserve positions to fill, they can't afford to overpay for a guard. My opinion is that guards are not nearly as hard to replace as OT's and C's, and the Bills will have a new offensive system anyway. Heck just look at Urbik, we picked him up off waivers, and he has been pretty good when healthy. I'd love to keep Levitre, so long as we still have the room to sign the FA's we need at other positions to make this team competitive ( Why does using the word "competitive" when referring to the Bills in anyway make me laugh?). I agree with this. The legend of Levitre grows with every new thread. And I love how we tout the ProFootballFocus article that says runs behind him led the league in YPC or whatever that is. I guarantee his agent isn't talking that up. He's a good OLineman and the kind of guy you want on your team but he doesn't bring anything elite to the table that would justify more than that $6-7m price tag. Tops. If someone wants to overpay for him, good luck Andy and thanks for your time with us. GO BILLS!!!
Big C Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 I recall reading that during the season they were talks with his agent. I'm sure they have an idea what he wants and aren't willing to go that high. If you pay Levitre that kind of money do you pay Wood the same next year? Tough call. I think Wood knows he's worth less because of his injuries, but I do agree that they need to think long term dollars. If Levitre wants out of Buffalo or if he thinks he'll get more than we offer, there's nothing that can be done. I hope he stays, but I'm being patient for the result.
Maddog69 Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 I think the '$9M talk' comes from the franchise # for offensive linemen - which includes left tackles. (There probably should be a separate franchise # for guards, but there isn't.) Levitre knows he's not getting top left-tackle type money. Levitre's last contract was for $3.5M over 4 years - avg. salary of $890K. I'm thinkin' something in the $3-4M per year range gets Andy's name on a contract. Git 'er done, Buddy... GO BILLSSS!!!! 19 and 0 baby!!!!! I think if the Bills could lock up Levitre for $4m per year, they'd give him a 10 year deal and sign it today. I expect him to be asking for 8 and will probably sign for 5-6 years at around $7-7.5m per.
Magox Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 You guys are something else. We had a sucky ass line for close to a decade, couldn't run or pass block for ****, and now when we finally can do some of both, we want to let our best blocker go.
auburnbillsbacker Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 I think the '$9M talk' comes from the franchise # for offensive linemen - which includes left tackles. (There probably should be a separate franchise # for guards, but there isn't.) Levitre knows he's not getting top left-tackle type money. Levitre's last contract was for $3.5M over 4 years - avg. salary of $890K. I'm thinkin' something in the $3-4M per year range gets Andy's name on a contract. Git 'er done, Buddy. Be prepared to be shocked by Levitre's contract. It it is not going to be anywhere near 3-4 million a year, it will be much higher.
FLFan Posted March 4, 2013 Posted March 4, 2013 Be prepared to be shocked by Levitre's contract. It it is not going to be anywhere near 3-4 million a year, it will be much higher. Agree. May not be in the $9 m per year range, but $35 to 40 M over 5 years with $20 m guaranteed may be a good guess. I know Levitre has been saying he has not been contacted, but my guess is his agent has inidcated the range he is looking for and the Bills are not interested for that price. Additionally, Levitre made public statements last year that he intended to test his worth on the open market. He would be a fool not to, but it is not the Bills style to be a stalking horse for bids by other teams.
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