reddogblitz Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Andy Levitre ring a bell? Wasn't that long ago. As for them making tough decisions because they're up against the cap...I, and many other fans, would welcome that quandary. I would welcome it as well. Cap room and Byrd uttered in the same sentence is mind boggling to me. Being 25 million under the cap we should be able to give Byrd what he wants plus some and sign a high priced FA or two and a couple of dust settled guys. Wether we will or not or instead choose to remain 25 mil under the cap remains to be seen.
Sumin Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I would welcome it as well. Cap room and Byrd uttered in the same sentence is mind boggling to me. Being 25 million under the cap we should be able to give Byrd what he wants plus some and sign a high priced FA or two and a couple of dust settled guys. Wether we will or not or instead choose to remain 25 mil under the cap remains to be seen. Exactly. The Bills are fortunate, we are in one of the best cap situations in the NFL. In my opinion, forget about Free Agency unless we get a bargain deal. I would focus on retaining our homegrown talent, like Byrd, AW, Dareus, Glenn, Spiller, and Hughes. Because of rookie contracts we are paying peanuts at positions like QB so we can invest that money elsewhere
Utah John Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Littman Littman Littman No way the Bills spend what it takes to win. They won't even give up the cash from the Toronto fiasco to preserve a home field game. We're all suckers.
Mark Vader Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The weird thing is that when he had to move back to corner for some time this year, he played really good. Donnie Henderson must be a witch warlock- with what he did with AW and McLovin Fixed.
Thurmal34 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) It's pretty clear that the Levitre decision was the correct one. What sucked was not having an adequate replacement. Edited March 2, 2014 by Thurmal34
Kirby Jackson Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Andy Levitre ring a bell? Wasn't that long ago. As for them making tough decisions because they're up against the cap...I, and many other fans, would welcome that quandary. i chalk Levitre up as a tough business decision (much like Poz). They are pretty good football players that got overpaid on the open market. The plan to replace Levitre was the problem.
machine gun kelly Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The problem with the Levitre decision is the lack of action in year 3. We could have signed him earlier for probably 4-5 million per year. We are waiting too long on Byrd. We made the right call on Wood extending him early. We need to more frequently as I'm sick of seeing so many of our players going elsewhere as we ticked them off and refused to pay fair market value. Then they go off to go to playoffs etc. see Whitner, Peters. If he walks I blame mgmt. there is nothing wrong with a player trying to maximize his income in the second contract. Rookie contracts are relatively low, so they have 1-2 possible contracts to earn their wealth. So many players never even make it to a second and definitely not a third contract. Besides, after taxes, agent fees, the net dollars is significantly less than we hear in the news.
simpleman Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I still believe the best option is tag and actively trade Byrd. Then bring in a quality late 20's FA replacement in the 3-4 Mill range. Use the money to bring in another FA WR and Guard in the 3-5 mill range. Byrd may be a good safety, but no safety is worth 10 Million a year as far as impact when you are not going to go to the Superbowl or the conference championships in the next two years. 10 million is worth it when you actually have a real chance to go all the way, but not until then. Letting Lev go was the right choice, as is letting Byrd go via a trade is this year. The problem as many have said is that the Bills did not bring in the quality FA replacement for him, which needs to be addressed if he is traded.
papazoid Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 hold on to your hat......the best option is for the Bills to go on the offensive in what is going to be a PR battle. the Bills should announce they offered 5 years, $50 million, with $30 mil Guaranteed, structured with zero dead money in year 4. let Byrd turn it down, which he will. he covets UFA. then most fans will be upset with Byrd and side with the Bills. franchise tag him, then trade him. if he accepts, you have an Elite player for 3 years after which you can cut him if need be. it's not the end of the world to overpay by $1.5 mil on an elite player assuming the bills think $8.5 is fair and $10.0 gets it done. either way, the bills have $10 mil to spend on improving the team. the bigger issue is, will they spend up to the cap limit.
thebandit27 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 hold on to your hat......the best option is for the Bills to go on the offensive in what is going to be a PR battle. the Bills should announce they offered 5 years, $50 million, with $30 mil Guaranteed, structured with zero dead money in year 4. let Byrd turn it down, which he will. he covets UFA. then most fans will be upset with Byrd and side with the Bills. franchise tag him, then trade him. if he accepts, you have an Elite player for 3 years after which you can cut him if need be. it's not the end of the world to overpay by $1.5 mil on an elite player assuming the bills think $8.5 is fair and $10.0 gets it done. either way, the bills have $10 mil to spend on improving the team. the bigger issue is, will they spend up to the cap limit. Why is spending to the cap limit the bigger issue? It's been shown time and again on this board that spending to the cap has absolutely zero correlation to winning.
BillsVet Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Retaining Byrd will very much be a business decision. Made by the two guys in the room negotiating a contract: Brandon and Overdorf.
maryland-bills-fan Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I don't know of any defense EVER whose FS was "the most important" piece. Great player to be sure, perhaps a vital cog, but not the most important piece. GO BILLS!!! A good point. If the free safety is your most important player,,,,,, then the other team is getting a lot of yards every play that he gets near the football.
Kirby Jackson Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The problem with the Levitre decision is the lack of action in year 3. We could have signed him earlier for probably 4-5 million per year. We are waiting too long on Byrd. We made the right call on Wood extending him early. We need to more frequently as I'm sick of seeing so many of our players going elsewhere as we ticked them off and refused to pay fair market value. Then they go off to go to playoffs etc. see Whitner, Peters. If he walks I blame mgmt. there is nothing wrong with a player trying to maximize his income in the second contract. Rookie contracts are relatively low, so they have 1-2 possible contracts to earn their wealth. So many players never even make it to a second and definitely not a third contract. Besides, after taxes, agent fees, the net dollars is significantly less than we hear in the news. Agree 100%. The Bills should be trying to extend Dareus and Aaron Williams this offseason.
YoloinOhio Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Exactly. The Bills are fortunate, we are in one of the best cap situations in the NFL. In my opinion, forget about Free Agency unless we get a bargain deal. I would focus on retaining our homegrown talent, like Byrd, AW, Dareus, Glenn, Spiller, and Hughes. Because of rookie contracts we are paying peanuts at positions like QB so we can invest that money elsewhere Yes... and if that ever changes, and our QB is the highest paid player on the team, we will not be so worried about keeping a FS.
3rdand12 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 The weird thing is that when he had to move back to corner for some time this year, he played really good. Donnie Henderson must be a witch - with what he did with AW and McLovin Yep thank gosh we still have the Magician Henderson ! Turned both of them into very very good players in one season . Now can he do the same withe Duke Williams ?
YoloinOhio Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Yep thank gosh we still have the Magician Henderson ! Turned both of them into very very good players in one season . Now can he do the same withe Duke Williams ? I read (it was a blogger, so grain of salt) that the Bills supposedly LOVE Duke Williams. This surprised me a little because it felt like we were hearing they were looking at drafting another safety or possible FA if they traded Byrd-man. Personally I didn't see enough of him on defense this season to know what kind of potential he has at Safety but he certainly showed flashes of being a player while on ST.
Mickey Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 hold on to your hat......the best option is for the Bills to go on the offensive in what is going to be a PR battle. the Bills should announce they offered 5 years, $50 million, with $30 mil Guaranteed, structured with zero dead money in year 4. let Byrd turn it down, which he will. he covets UFA. then most fans will be upset with Byrd and side with the Bills. franchise tag him, then trade him. if he accepts, you have an Elite player for 3 years after which you can cut him if need be. it's not the end of the world to overpay by $1.5 mil on an elite player assuming the bills think $8.5 is fair and $10.0 gets it done. either way, the bills have $10 mil to spend on improving the team. the bigger issue is, will they spend up to the cap limit. A PR battle would totally work, because Byrd is clearly motivated by what fans in Buffalo think of him. I think it has been so long since the Bills have done anything on the football field to capture our long term interest that we have become obsessed with the team's financial decisions and endless debates over accounting.
Kirby Jackson Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 I read (it was a blogger, so grain of salt) that the Bills supposedly LOVE Duke Williams. This surprised me a little because it felt like we were hearing they were looking at drafting another safety or possible FA if they traded Byrd-man. Personally I didn't see enough of him on defense this season to know what kind of potential he has at Safety but he certainly showed flashes of being a player while on ST. Last years draft was loaded at safety and I remember the Bills had a choice of a bunch of safeties that were considered starters and took Duke. I haven't seen enough of him either but I am not surprised that they like him.
3rdand12 Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 (edited) I read (it was a blogger, so grain of salt) that the Bills supposedly LOVE Duke Williams. This surprised me a little because it felt like we were hearing they were looking at drafting another safety or possible FA if they traded Byrd-man. Personally I didn't see enough of him on defense this season to know what kind of potential he has at Safety but he certainly showed flashes of being a player while on ST. I dont know either. But Leonhard probably wont be here as a starter his usefulness was in his smarts . So Duke was projected to have all the skills for the position and Meeks has some potential too.I guess the New new new defense under Jim will see what they have in Williams and base decisions accordingly . Since he was drafted i never read anything negative about him , i think he just has not had the opportunity yet. I am under the impression Bills loved him too. Lets see if Schwartz does ! Edited March 2, 2014 by 3rdand12
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