Infallible organizations don't exist

[ALF]

SF is very good

[The Big Cat]

Yeah, pretty much. As to the original post, I don't care for it. Yeah, no one's perfect. So what? I'm supposed to feel better about the sad-sack Bills because the eternally-good Packers are overpaying for their TE this year? Is that the equalizer that's going to put our teams on the same level? Besides, if Finley ever fixes his dropsies, he'll actually be worth that paycheck. And if he doesn't, they'll just cut him next year. Big whoop.

 

 

 

I think you might have found a different reaction to your OP if it had been titled differently. As it stood, many of us (me included) interpreted it as meaning something along the lines of, "see, the Bills aren't so bad, even the Packers screw up sometimes!" My apologies for misreading your intent, but I do think the subject line was misleading in that regard.

 

True. A thread title like "nobody's perfect" is a segue for a following excuse. "Nobody is perfect, dad. I didn't mean to wrap your car around the tree last night after abstaining at the party."

 

At any rate, the Packers possibly overpaying Finley does nothing to make me feel the Bills have improved their roster.

 

Alright.

[Nitro]

Good attempt to inspire a discussion. What separates a good organization (Green Bay) from a bad (Buffalo)? 25 years ago Bill Polian and John Butler, among others, turned Buffalo from a joke to a SB contender. GB suffered thru some lean years prior Favre's arrival. Solid organizations build from the top down in management, above average QB and good head coaching. Yes, they did over pay for Finley. Possible that they view it as he is a known asset, no need to waste a draft pick.

[Cash]

Good attempt to inspire a discussion. What separates a good organization (Green Bay) from a bad (Buffalo)? 25 years ago Bill Polian and John Butler, among others, turned Buffalo from a joke to a SB contender. GB suffered thru some lean years prior Favre's arrival. Solid organizations build from the top down in management, above average QB and good head coaching. Yes, they did over pay for Finley. Possible that they view it as he is a known asset, no need to waste a draft pick.

 

I'm not very familiar with GB's cap situation or the particulars of Finley's contract, but my guess is that they can afford to (over)pay Finley for this year, and will probably target a TE pretty early in the draft or target a potential FA TE likely to hit the market next year, and plan on cutting Finley after this year unless he plays like a world-beater. (And Finley does have the physical tools to play like a world-beater, except for his hands of stone.) I wouldn't be surprised to see them sign Fred Davis to a multi-year deal, with the logic that he'll recover from his injury this year, they'll get to see a few games of him, and he can come back in 2014 and be a solid starter for them.

 

Of course, it's also possible that the $8mil for Finley hamstrings their attempts to fix their D, and said defensive problems also keep them from drafting a possible replacement, and this looks like a major blunder. But since the Packers have been so consistently good in recent history, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt that they have a (good) plan OR that they'll be able to come up with a plan to overcome a problem like this. Ultimately, I think the bottom line for the Packers was that Finley is a useful player, and they'd rather overpay for 1 year then lose him for nothing and have an immediate hole to fill. It's not necessarily the correct attitude. Maybe they'd have been better off cutting Finley at the start of the league year and going after Brandon Myers or Dustin Keller? Neither of those guys signed for big money and both are arguably better than Finley. I doubt the combined cap hit of Myers/Keller's contract + Finley's dead money would equal the $8mil they'll wind up paying to Finley this year.

[DanInUticaTampa]

What about an all-fallible organization? Seems like that's what we have here. The NFL has structured things in such a way that to pull off the string of failure that the Bills have is quite an impressive feat. They are amazing at sucking.

 

I was going to say the same thing. There are no organizations that get it right all the time, and every organization gets egg on their face, most pretty often. but the bills seem to get more things wrong than most organizations.

 

with that said, the packers keeping finley for that kind of money is a waste. They could get someone better without much trouble.

[White Linen]

originally reported at 27.5 mil for 4 years. The News then changed the number (Gaughlin). Who knows. He's overpaid

Next time I'll check before hurting peoples feelings. Sorry.

 

 

Don't check to stop from hurting feelings, check so you'll know what you're talking about, which you clearly don't.

 

"

According to a league document obtained by Gaughan, Anderson's contract is actually worth $19.5 million over four years - a rather substantial discrepancy. Gaughan also notes that the only portion of Anderson's salary that is guaranteed is $7.9 million, which includes a $6 million signing bonus and his first-year salary of $1.9 million. He'll earn an additional $100,000 from a workout bonus. If the Bills wish to cut ties with him at any point after his initial season, they can do so and not owe him anything.

Anderson's base salary will be $2.5 million, $4 million and $5 million in respective subsequent years. The $4.875 million per year average will likely be much more palatable to Bills fans than the $6.875 million deal that was reported last week"

[Sisyphean Bills]

I'm not very familiar with GB's cap situation or the particulars of Finley's contract, but my guess is that they can afford to (over)pay Finley for this year, and will probably target a TE pretty early in the draft or target a potential FA TE likely to hit the market next year, and plan on cutting Finley after this year unless he plays like a world-beater. (And Finley does have the physical tools to play like a world-beater, except for his hands of stone.) I wouldn't be surprised to see them sign Fred Davis to a multi-year deal, with the logic that he'll recover from his injury this year, they'll get to see a few games of him, and he can come back in 2014 and be a solid starter for them.

 

Of course, it's also possible that the $8mil for Finley hamstrings their attempts to fix their D, and said defensive problems also keep them from drafting a possible replacement, and this looks like a major blunder. But since the Packers have been so consistently good in recent history, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt that they have a (good) plan OR that they'll be able to come up with a plan to overcome a problem like this. Ultimately, I think the bottom line for the Packers was that Finley is a useful player, and they'd rather overpay for 1 year then lose him for nothing and have an immediate hole to fill. It's not necessarily the correct attitude. Maybe they'd have been better off cutting Finley at the start of the league year and going after Brandon Myers or Dustin Keller? Neither of those guys signed for big money and both are arguably better than Finley. I doubt the combined cap hit of Myers/Keller's contract + Finley's dead money would equal the $8mil they'll wind up paying to Finley this year.

 

I don't know their cap situation details nor the details of his contract in particular either. I'd only add to Nitro's point that some teams do make the decision to reward the talent they develop by overpaying (and who's to say what is overpaying vs. not?). They feel better keeping the guy they know (Chris Kelsay) for what he brings to the team than trying to save a buck or two and figure out how to fill a hole. Having to overpay a bit is what free agency and revenue sharing is meant to do, namely make the players a lot of money.

 

As for the difference between the Packers and the Bills, the Packers have had some stability on the football management side, they have an identity as a team committed to West Coast principles, they've had a good mix of veterans and young players they've developed, they've enjoyed good coaching since Holmgren (for the most part), and have had superlative QB play and have developed a number of QBs in-house. The Bills have not.