Bills interested in Dannell Ellerbe?

[Joe Miner]

Mario Williams justified his salary with meaningless sacks against bad opponents. He had a grand total of 1 sack in division games and was by and large invisible in big games. It's pretty obvious that he did not make this defense better last year.

 

Wasn't this the same 'logic' that was used on Schobel?

 

Weren't we then begging for someone to have his production after he retired?

 

Now we have someone with better production and we are back to bitching.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Joe Miner

[Captain Hindsight]

Never heard of him. Pass.

Hes the Ray Lewis heir apparent. He's a good player

[JPS]

Look, you can separate the Mario stats and justify it any way you want. My comment was, on the whole, he did not make the Bills defense better.

 

Ok fine. Bring in Ellerbe. Pay him $5m/year. Lets roll the dice that he's worth that figure without Ngata in front of him and flanked by A SB winning defense. I don't think it's the right way to build from many angles.

[Magox]

 

Ellerbe would instantly be one of the best players on the D at a position that we don't have a single legitimate starter for. We won't draft a player as good as Ellerbe. This is pretty simple, I think.

 

 

 

How can you come to this conclusion without knowing at what cost?

[Turbosrrgood]

We don't draft very well. Ellerbe would be an impact player. Wood (your example), as a center is not that type of player. And with his injury history, Wood wouldn't come at a premium.

 

Ellerbe would instantly be one of the best players on the D at a position that we don't have a single legitimate starter for. We won't draft a player as good as Ellerbe. This is pretty simple, I think.

 

Name the last decent team the Bills built through the draft.

 

Ellerbe looked decent last year, but I'm not convinced he's necessarily the big time player he is being touted as. If he comes at a high cost (which may very well be the case, SB ring factor alone) we might be better off looking elsewhere.

 

Ellerbe was a UDFA, that has had only 1 full season in the NFL, on a defense that was gashed at times. If we can get him at a reasonable price sure, he's probably better than what we have...I don't see a star here though, to say we couldn't draft someone better seems pretty baseless.

 

On a side not, Kruger seems unlikely as an option for us. As good as he is, the Bills already spent 100M on Williams (not to mention wasting 28M on Anderson last year).

Edited March 4, 2013 by Turbosrrgood

[Turbosrrgood]

Mario Williams justified his salary with meaningless sacks against bad opponents. He had a grand total of 1 sack in division games and was by and large invisible in big games. It's pretty obvious that he did not make this defense better last year.

 

I think this is a bit overly critical. On a terrible defense, with terrible coaches he was one of the few players that played with any consistency. He was doubled or chipped most of the time and never got any help from blitzes, the RDE, or secondary. The guy still had 10+ sacks, and provided plenty of pressure otherwise. He was also the only DE on the team capable of providing ANY help against the run game. Is he worth 100M? Maybe not, but I thought he played pretty well after his slow start.

 

I guess with Kelsay gone people have to start directing their hate elsewhere though...

Edited March 4, 2013 by Turbosrrgood

[QCity]

You may be right. But we can't afford to keep building with someone else's talent. It's not economically feasible and several teams have proved that it just doesn't work. Remember the Redskins before Shanny?

Proved or proven?

What does signing a FA MLB have to do with the Redskins? Nobody said anything about trying to build a team solely through FA.

[NoSaint]

What does signing a FA MLB have to do with the Redskins? Nobody said anything about trying to build a team solely through FA.

 

some irony, as their starting MLB is a FA signing

 

(as are several other players)

[simpleman]

TIER 3 FA : Solid starters –

 

http://www.nfl.com/n...-best-available

 

19) Anthony Spencer, LB/DE, Dallas Cowboys: He's more of a run stopper than an edge rusher. But league-average starting ends get huge dollars.

20) Paul Kruger, OLB/DE, Baltimore Ravens: Be leery of paying a Dexter Jackson-like Super Bowl-run tax to Kruger. (Especially when he mostly sat in the Super Bowl in favor of Courtney Upshaw for run-defense reasons.)

26) Dannell Ellerbe, LB, Baltimore Ravens: The Ray Lewis-sized hole at the core of Baltimore's defense makes the versatile Ellerbe a priority to re-sign. He can rush, cover and stop the run.

 

The Bills could release Brad Smith, and assuming you fill the LB hole with a solid LB, your other expensive FA need is wide WR, spending about 10 million combimed on LB and WR, that leaves you 5 million cap room to fill other glaring holes with role players before the draft.

 

30) Brian Hartline, WR, Miami Dolphins: No, every white receiver should not be compared to Wes Welker. Hartline is more of a physical downfield threat who fits as a solid No. 2 receiver.

32) Danny Amendola, WR, St. Louis Rams: OK, here's a receiver who should be compared to Welker. This former Hard Knocks hero in Dallas is a great slot man who can't shake the injury bug.

Edited March 4, 2013 by simpleman

[Mr. WEO]

Ellerbe looked decent last year, but I'm not convinced he's necessarily the big time player he is being touted as. If he comes at a high cost (which may very well be the case, SB ring factor alone) we might be better off looking elsewhere.

 

Ellerbe was a UDFA, that has had only 1 full season in the NFL, on a defense that was gashed at times. If we can get him at a reasonable price sure, he's probably better than what we have...I don't see a star here though, to say we couldn't draft someone better seems pretty baseless.

 

On a side not, Kruger seems unlikely as an option for us. As good as he is, the Bills already spent 100M on Williams (not to mention wasting 28M on Anderson last year).

 

 

"Baseless", huh? Let's see...Nigel Bradham, Tank Carder, Kelvin Sheppard, Chris White, Arthur Moats, Danny Batten........all drafted by our current brain trust in the last 3 years alone.

 

I hope yours was sarcasm..

[26CornerBlitz]

Mario Williams justified his salary with meaningless sacks against bad opponents. He had a grand total of 1 sack in division games and was by and large invisible in big games. It's pretty obvious that he did not make this defense better last year.

 

I'll bet Mario flourishes this season now that the Bills have a real DC. We know Wanny's predictable, unimaginative scheme did little for the Bills' defensive playmakers.

 

Pettine will know how to take full advantage of Mario's strengths, just like Wade was doing before Mario got hurt in Houston.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Hes the Ray Lewis heir apparent. He's a good player

This is why i highly doubt he hits FA. The Ravens will have to make the decision between Ellerbe or Kruger, and Kruger goes.

[McBeane]

This is why i highly doubt he hits FA. The Ravens will have to make the decision between Ellerbe or Kruger, and Kruger goes.

 

That's my thinking as well. I'm not sure I'd want Kruger if his price is what I'm guessing it will be. Ellerbe would be a great pickup for us though.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Marcellosaurus

[Mark Vader]

Look, you can separate the Mario stats and justify it any way you want. My comment was, on the whole, he did not make the Bills defense better.

 

Ok fine. Bring in Ellerbe. Pay him $5m/year. Lets roll the dice that he's worth that figure without Ngata in front of him and flanked by A SB winning defense. I don't think it's the right way to build from many angles.

I see your point and I agree that free agency alone is not something the Bills should rely on becoming a better team.

 

I don't think Mario Williams is the player you should be attacking though. If you were talking about Mark Anderson, then that would be a better case.

 

The draft should be the priority in the Bills making the team better, and re-signing some of their own players too. Adding another 2-3 free agents from other teams would help also.

 

Wasn't this the same 'logic' that was used on Schobel?

 

Weren't we then begging for someone to have his production after he retired?

 

Now we have someone with better production and we are back to bitching.

Sounds like TBD to me.

[Section242]

You may be right. But we can't afford to keep building with someone else's talent. It's not economically feasible and several teams have proved that it just doesn't work. Remember the Redskins before Shanny?

 

Proved or proven?

 

The Redskins were as bad as the Bills before RG3. They lost their best defensive player and were a division champ. Trent Williams and Alfred Morris are nice homegrown talents for the Redskins who wouldn't matter without a good QB.

[NewEra]

Sign Kruger or Ellerbee. Number 1 and 2 priorities on my wish list if I were the GM. Both guys are ballers at positions of serious need. If you'd prefer to keep Wood over either of these guys, you're smoking crack. I love wood (my wood), but he's got serious injury concerns and both of these guys can flat out play, while fit our new scheme to a tee.

[JPS]

I think you'all are misunderstanding my point. Or perhaps I'm not making it well. I think Mario Williams is a good player. He's not a great player, but a good one. I'm not attacking Mario Williams. His presence. His performance made very little difference overall in our defensive performance, but he did all he could do with the limited talent surrounding him.

 

But his mega contract, and any other big contracts the Bills hand out to FAs will hurt the growth of this team in the long run. My view would certainly be different if this defense and this team were stocked differently. But they have holes all over the place. Ellerbe would not be the final piece to make this team relevant. So why bother?

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Of course they want him. Whether or nor Baltimore is willing to let him go after losing Ray Lewis is another story altogether. While an excellent player, he's going to get overpaid by whoever wants him the most. I would be happy to have him, but he's going to cost a bundle.

[Mark Vader]

I think you'all are misunderstanding my point. Or perhaps I'm not making it well. I think Mario Williams is a good player. He's not a great player, but a good one. I'm not attacking Mario Williams. His presence. His performance made very little difference overall in our defensive performance, but he did all he could do with the limited talent surrounding him.

 

But his mega contract, and any other big contracts the Bills hand out to FAs will hurt the growth of this team in the long run. My view would certainly be different if this defense and this team were stocked differently. But they have holes all over the place. Ellerbe would not be the final piece to make this team relevant. So why bother?

I don't think anyone is saying that Ellerbe would be the final piece, at least I'm not saying that.

 

Our LB corps is so poor and we need to get the position addressed desperately.

 

I think the Bills should sign a LB like Ellerbe in free agency and draft a LB in the first or second round.

[Turbosrrgood]

"Baseless", huh? Let's see...Nigel Bradham, Tank Carder, Kelvin Sheppard, Chris White, Arthur Moats, Danny Batten........all drafted by our current brain trust in the last 3 years alone.

 

I hope yours was sarcasm..

 

You said "we wont draft a player better than Ellerbe".

 

So you are saying that since the Bills haven't drafted anyone great in the last few years , the Bills will never be able to draft anyone better than the great UDFA one year wonder Ellerbe...Got it.

 

Great insight

Edited March 4, 2013 by Turbosrrgood