OnTheRocks Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 First - Donahoe: He says there "was not enough interest (in the trade market). Does this mean there was some interest? If there was, why not trade him even if it meant only getting a 6th or 7th rounder? My guess is, he was gracious enough to Beldsoe to cut him, and not get anything in return for him to give him the chance to land a starting job in the Free Marker to someone that wants him as a starter....rather than trade him to a team that would also want him as a backup. Secondly - Bledsoe: He didn't want to return to Buffalo as a backup. So, lets say he does end up in Dallas. And gets unseated by Drew Henson in week 4. Can we expect him to immediately retire??? -- Bledsoe Shocked; Won't Sign to be a Backup -- Thu Feb 17, 2005 The Boston Herald reports the Bills reportedly acquiesced to QB Drew Bledsoe's request to be cut rather than traded (something the Pats refused to do three years ago), but in the end they didn't have much of a choice. ``At this particular time there was not enough interest (on the trade market),'' said GM Tom Donahoe. Bledsoe said he could possibly land in Dallas, where he would be reunited with former HC Bill Parcells. Somehow, Bledsoe didn't see it coming. He said he was surprised when Donahoe and HC Mike Mularkey informed him that they would be going with QB J.P. Losman as the starter in 2005. ``When I had the conversation with Mike and first found out the direction they were going to go with J.P., I was beside myself,'' Bledsoe said. ``I was furious and angry. . . . But that is their point of view and that is what they're going to do. I am going to go forward and look forward to the next challenge.'' Bledsoe said he would not accept a backup role next season with any team. ``I don't see myself as being a backup in this league,'' he said. ``If it comes to that, you will probably see me tip my hat and head back to the Northwest.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Secondly - Bledsoe: He didn't want to return to Buffalo as a backup. So, lets say he does end up in Dallas. And gets unseated by Drew Henson in week 4. Can we expect him to immediately retire??? 243130[/snapback] i don't think that is the case at all......... buffalo was not ready to even offer him a CHANCE at the starting job........they were ready to annoit JP the starter without a competition........they were not willing to have an open the job up to the best player and wanted to set the QB now, not in august........ in your scenerio, obviously that would be a different story in dallas.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Eisen on NFL Network said that the Cowboys were talking about trading for Bledsoe but when they realized the Bills were going to cut him, they figured they'd just wait and sign him. Take it for what it's worth. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffalo Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Drew Bledsoe claims he didn't see it coming.... IMO, what Bledsoe didn't see was a revamped offense that would put more emphasis on a more agile QB (not necessarily mobile like Vick). If, as MM says, the offense will be adjusted, the adjustments will be with the QB coming in. With a QB like Losman, then even as a backup, Drew would be out of his element. It may be that the new offense will employ more rollouts and require more athleticism from the Qb position, and rely less on a standard, drop back passer. Losman affords us the possibility to be a drop back passer and also allows the offense to incorporate a more flexible, moving pocket. Due to the inconsistency of the O line, Losman may have a better chance of escaping when the pressure comes. We have seen time and time again that once the pressure is on, Bledsoe has tucked the ball and gone down. Losman has had a history of bad lines and being on the run through college. It is now up to Losman to take the step up to the pro game and become a leader at this level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 It may be that the new offense will employ more rollouts For the record, Bledsoe actually does the rollout very well. For example, he threw "two" TD passes on rollout plays against the Titans last year ("two" is in quotes, because bone-head Shaw thought to raise the ball to show the ref instead of actually making the catch... And technically it was a 2-point conversion, not a TD, he dropped). I agree with your points on mobility et al, but the common misconception is that DB doesn't do rollouts, and he actually does it well (both here and in NE). CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 MM set the table for this is last years training camp. I heard him in an interview say point blank "Today's QB's need to be mobile otherwise you lose half your playbook"... At the time I was pissed that the interviewer didn't follow up with the obvious "then what about statue Drew being your QB?" Basically MM loved Drew as a person and a knowledgable "coach" on the field...but he did not want him as the QB. Certainly not going into 2005. Donahoe payed lip service for the past two years by telling us how good Drew still is but it's obvious that even he gave up on the old boy since it took him no time to cut his ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_wag Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 MM set the table for this is last years training camp. 243232[/snapback] go back further -- TD set the table for this when he drafted losman........once that was done, we all knew drew would be shown the door.......TD forced the change, not MM........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Drew Bledsoe claims he didn't see it coming.... IMO, what Bledsoe didn't see was a revamped offense that would put more emphasis on a more agile QB (not necessarily mobile like Vick). If, as MM says, the offense will be adjusted, the adjustments will be with the QB coming in. With a QB like Losman, then even as a backup, Drew would be out of his element. It may be that the new offense will employ more rollouts and require more athleticism from the Qb position, and rely less on a standard, drop back passer. Losman affords us the possibility to be a drop back passer and also allows the offense to incorporate a more flexible, moving pocket. Due to the inconsistency of the O line, Losman may have a better chance of escaping when the pressure comes. We have seen time and time again that once the pressure is on, Bledsoe has tucked the ball and gone down. Losman has had a history of bad lines and being on the run through college. It is now up to Losman to take the step up to the pro game and become a leader at this level. 243200[/snapback] Yeah so this is why we shouldn't be looking to sign QBs like Warner. They will have the same problem as Drew would have in this new offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffalo Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Yeah so this is why we shouldn't be looking to sign QBs like Warner. They will have the same problem as Drew would have in this new offense. 243239[/snapback] Garcia may be a good fit for this style of play, but he may still think he is a starter, and unwilling to backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 go back further -- TD set the table for this when he drafted losman........once that was done, we all knew drew would be shown the door.......TD forced the change, not MM........ 243235[/snapback] Yep... it was always just a question of when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 First - Donahoe:He says there "was not enough interest (in the trade market). Does this mean there was some interest? If there was, why not trade him even if it meant only getting a 6th or 7th rounder? My guess is, he was gracious enough to Beldsoe to cut him, and not get anything in return for him to give him the chance to land a starting job in the Free Marker to someone that wants him as a starter....rather than trade him to a team that would also want him as a backup. Secondly - Bledsoe: He didn't want to return to Buffalo as a backup. So, lets say he does end up in Dallas. And gets unseated by Drew Henson in week 4. Can we expect him to immediately retire??? 243130[/snapback] if henson replaces him, how ironic would that be? henson was tom brady's teammate at michigan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 My sense is that what the Bills told Bledsoe and Bledsoe had trouble adjusting to is that if the Bills situation was one where Bledsoe was clearly the #1 and Losman the #2, the basic offensive design would be skewed toward Bledsoe's talents and as the team would be taught one base offense, Losman would need to learn it and how to run the offense designed for Bledsoe in Bledsoe got nicked and Losman had to come in. Instead, the Bills did offer Bledsoe a "fair" shot at competing for the starter's job, however, the offense he would be competing to run would be one designed for Losman and skewed toward Losma's talents and capabilities. Not being an offensive guru, I'm not sure exactly what that would mean, but in general I suspect that the O designed for Losman is going to employ a lot more: 1. moving pockets 2. naked bootlegs 3. designed QB runs like the QB draw 4. other plays which simply don't tend toward the Bledsoe talent of hang in there until the last minute and count on the QB to make the huge throw and if necessary take the huge hit but get the pass off. One of the fallacies of folks who call Bledsoe the statue is to pretend that just because Bledsoe is not at his best when running or moving to act like he is incapable of running or throwing on the move. He can do these things (as seen this past season when he hit Evans for a nice TD while rolling out, as he did on several QB draws he ran and when he faked the sneak and pitched it back to WM who went in for the TD. My guess is that Bledsoe can run an offense designed for Losman (just as he ran an offense designed for Brady in the must win game against Pitts for the 2001 AFC championship), however he even if he runs it successfully (to a win) he is not going to run it perfectly or put up glistening stats (aswas the case in the Pitts game). Bledsoe in essence made a choice that he was not going to run an offense designed for someone else. My sense is that what Bledsoe did not see coming was how clearly MM and the braintrust were going to say and operate that even if Bledsoe beat out Losman on the field, he was going to have to do it running an offense designed for Losman rather than do it running an offense designed for Bledsoe. My impression is that Clements/MM actually have such an ornate and specific O plan that it surprised Bledsoe how different a Losman based O is from a Bledsoe based O. I also agree that there is a difference between trade interest in a player a perception of a player's skills. Teams like Dallas still perceive that Bledsoe has skills which can helpt them win, but they do not perceive there was any need to trade for him if they could just pluck him off the waiver wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 the Bills did offer Bledsoe a "fair" shot at competing for the starter's job, however, the offense he would be competing to run would be one designed for Losman and skewed toward Losma's talents and capabilities.243353[/snapback] It was made crystal clear at the press conference yesterday that JP was the starter & the only way Drew would come back would be as back-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 if henson replaces him, how ironic would that be? henson was tom brady's teammate at michigan. 243290[/snapback] Part of me feels like Parcells wants nothing to do with Henson. During one game last year he opted to start Henson...as if it was mandated from upstairs. Once it was clear Henson sucked, he quickly put Vincenzo back in the game. It was if he were saying "Okay, Jerry, we did it your way and it sucked, so I'm going back to our best chance to win." I would be very surprised to see Bledsoe go to Dallas, and in fact felt like they have enough reason and money to go after Brees. I just can't imagine they would go after another older vet QB and continue to sit on Henson. This, of course, is predicated on the fact that my assumption has some meat on the bone and Parcells doesn't want Henson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheRocks Posted February 17, 2005 Author Share Posted February 17, 2005 i have heard the 49ers want to move down from that #1 spot in the draft. perhaps a trade with Dallas for their 2 #1's and a little more incentive will get them the #1 overall pick, and a pretty good QB prospect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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