KOKBILLS Posted August 19, 2013 Posted August 19, 2013 Why is he a POS agent? He's doing his job. Byrd wants a long-term deal commensurate with what he feels is his worth in the league. Complicating this is that he has played under 2nd rounder money for the past four years and certainly given the Bills great value on his contract. I think that the money is ridiculous in real-world terms, but the Bills and the league operate in an antitrust-litigation-free vacuum. There is money there for everyone. Byrd cannot freely negotiate his worth with another team, so the only thing he can do is play hardball or forgo a long-term deal and risk getting hurt and losing it all. Honestly, if Byrd and Parker should be criticized for anything, it's that they've wasted that opportunity to get a long-term deal in 2013, and that that risk is on the table even if he only plays six games. At this point, I do not blame him for waiting until the last minute to sign this deal. It's a lot of money, but if he gets hurt badly it could be the last big payday he ever sees. If you are a smart man and you see what happens to guys like Kevin Everett, or the money issues that so many older players have had, you get what you can while you have the earning power. I hear what you're saying But IMHO that's just agent speak you've got going on there...The injury thing is...well...This is the NFL...Each player is taking a certain amount of risk every time they step on the field...period...It's all a bunch of posturing garbage and they know it...No question Parker's job is to maximize Byrd's guaranteed take-in, and no question the injury situation is part of that overall equation...But only to a realistic point...And as usual Parker is not too interested in being realistic with the Bills, because he knows someone out there someday will overpay for Byrd...So good for him...It's well within his right to not negotiate in good faith, ask for WAY too much, and advise his client to hold out when basically no one who is tagged does it anymore... Byrd is in this situation because either he or his agent forced it by asking to be the top paid, or close to the top paid Safety in the NFL...Even though it is crystal clear he is not the top playing safety in the NFL...I'm as big a Jairus Byrd fan as anybody...And I'm a total Bills homer...I'm completely aware of how good Byrd is...And he is good no question about it...But I watch the NFL every week religiously...I see other teams play a lot...Byrd is not as good as at least Thomas, Reed, Polamalu, Goldson, and Wettle...He's probably about even, or maybe a little better, than 5 others...If Byrd or his agent had been halfway realistic about this I'm 100% certain he would have got a hell of a deal with a ton of guaranteed money from the Bills this off season...And we would all be sitting around joining hands and singing "Kum Bay Yah"... Which brings me to my next point...Byrd does not want to be in Buffalo...Call it a gut feeling...Whatever...But Byrd and yes...his pos agent...are not exactly making that point clear...Which IMHO would be the fairer thing to do...Come right out and say it...Jairus is a west coast guy and wants to be closer to home...OK...I actually get that...He does not want to be in Buffalo...I get it...But instead what they are doing is saying we want to stay (and seemingly suffer) in Buffalo, if of course you make Jairus the top paid S in the league...They're completely forcing the hardball on the Bills... Byrd's an NFL player and there is a collective bargaining agreement...The bottom line is the Bills are completely within their right to tag him, and yes Byrd is completely within his rights to sit at home, look down at the guaranteed $7 million dollars waiting for him to show up, and be stubborn because his agent is smarter than all the other agents and understands leverage like no other... And yes I think Parker's a pos...I'd have zero problem telling him that to his face...My opinion of Parker was never high, but after I caught wind that this current posturing was aimed at getting the Bills to drop the right to tag Byrd next year...well...That's when I lost it concerning Parker...I absolutely hate the guy...Admittedly that's just my opinion...And at the end of the day that's all it is...One man's opinion...Though I do believe the evidence is pretty strong in this case...Two holdouts in the past two years out of 29 Franchise tags...And Byrd is one of the two...You don't think he's a pos?...I do...We'll have to agree to disagree on that...So let's just let that one go OK?...
K-9 Posted August 19, 2013 Posted August 19, 2013 (edited) I hear what you're saying But IMHO that's just agent speak you've got going on there...The injury thing is...well...This is the NFL...Each player is taking a certain amount of risk every time they step on the field...period...It's all a bunch of posturing garbage and they know it...No question Parker's job is to maximize Byrd's guaranteed take-in, and no question the injury situation is part of that overall equation...But only to a realistic point...And as usual Parker is not too interested in being realistic with the Bills, because he knows someone out there someday will overpay for Byrd...So good for him...It's well within his right to not negotiate in good faith, ask for WAY too much, and advise his client to hold out when basically no one who is tagged does it anymore... Byrd is in this situation because either he or his agent forced it by asking to be the top paid, or close to the top paid Safety in the NFL...Even though it is crystal clear he is not the top playing safety in the NFL...I'm as big a Jairus Byrd fan as anybody...And I'm a total Bills homer...I'm completely aware of how good Byrd is...And he is good no question about it...But I watch the NFL every week religiously...I see other teams play a lot...Byrd is not as good as at least Thomas, Reed, Polamalu, Goldson, and Wettle...He's probably about even, or maybe a little better, than 5 others...If Byrd or his agent had been halfway realistic about this I'm 100% certain he would have got a hell of a deal with a ton of guaranteed money from the Bills this off season...And we would all be sitting around joining hands and singing "Kum Bay Yah"... He's guaranteed to get the fourth highest paid salary for his position. That's pretty good considering where he ranks, IMO But the more this drags on, the more I get the distinct impression that Byrd would be willing to settle for being less than highest paid for some other team, just not the Bills. And for that he can stay away as long as he likes. I really don't care. Oh, I know that he would improve the position if he were there, but he's not the missing link to the defense nor is he the player that's gonna be the difference between the playoffs or not. GO BILLS!!! Edited August 19, 2013 by K-9
KOKBILLS Posted August 19, 2013 Posted August 19, 2013 [/size] He's guaranteed to get the fourth highest paid salary for his position. That's pretty good considering where he ranks, IMO But the more this drags on, the more I get the distinct impression that Byrd would be willing to settle for being less than highest paid for some other team, just not the Bills. And for that he can stay away as long as he likes. I really don't care. Oh, I know that he would improve the position if he were there, but he's not the missing link to the defense nor is he the player that's gonna be the difference between the playoffs or not. GO BILLS!!! Agreed 100%...Could not have said it better myself...
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