We should trade Sammy

[Steve Billieve]

if i were another team I'd want to trade for him . . . until i heard the bills wanted to get rid of him.

[CanadianFan]

I went back and checked our drafts since 2010. Whaley was under Nix if I'm not mistaken from 2010-2013. In those 4 drafts the Bills chose 35 players, only 2 (Darius & Cordy) are still on the roster. Under Whaley's watch in the 2014-2016 drafts the Bills chose 22 players, 17 are still technically on the roster. Here are the remaining 17 from those drafts:

 

2014

 

1st rd/#4 Sammy

2nd rd/#44 Kouandjio

3rd rd/#73 Preston Brown

7th rd/#237 Seantrel Henderson

 

We retained our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th rd picks out of that draft.

 

2015

 

2nd rd/#50 Ronald Darby

3rd rd/#81 John Miller

7th rd/#234 Dez Lewis

 

We retained our 2nd, 3rd and 7th rd picks out of that draft.

 

2016

 

1st rd/#19 Shaq Lawson

2nd rd/#41 Reggie Ragland

3rd rd/#80 Adolphus Washington

*4th rd/#139 Cardale Jones

5th rd/#156 Jonathan Williams

*6th rd/#192 Kolby Listenbee

6th rd/#218 Kevon Seymour

 

Technically we still currently have all these players on the roster. *Compensatory picks.

 

There you have it, as much if not more, this is one of our biggest failures if not the biggest problem is our "astute" drafting.

The Bills have 19 out of 57 players in 7 drafts, 33%! That is inflated because the real disturbing part is how many of 7 players in last year's draft are we going to retain??!

 

Your math is wrong, and you missed Nick O'Leary. Geez did you pass grade school?

I did better analysis. I looked at the players we drafted, how many we kept, how many are still in the NFL. That will tell us how good Whaley's eye for talents are compared to others in NFL. Here are the results:

 

 

Whaley has done a better job of drafting than World Champion New England Patriots!

[Tipster19]

 

This new math perplexes me. 4 + 3 + 7 = 17? In "old math" it was 14.

My apologies, I miscounted. Between 2010-2013 they kept 2 out of 35 players. 2014 we have 4 out of 7 picks still on the roster. 2015 they kept 3 out 5 and 2016 we have 7 out of 7 players still on the roster. Out of 7 drafts they had 54 piayers they chose and only 16 are still on the roster, that includes all 7 from the 2016 draft. Hopefully I counted right this time but if I did then the percentage is even lower, that would make less than 30% retained.

[mead107]

God will keep Sammy

[4merper4mer]

I guess now the final grade is in on that best-ever 2014 WR draft class:

 

Overal pick #4, Sammy - 5th year will be declined: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/28/bills-now-not-expected-to-pick-up-sammy-watkins-option/

 

Overall pick #7, Evans - option picked up: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/04/17/buccaneers-pick-up-mike-evans-fifth-year-option/

 

Overall pick #12, Beckham - option picked up: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000802050/article/giants-to-exercise-5thyear-option-on-odell-beckham

 

Overall pick #20, Cooks - option picked up: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000804579/article/patriots-pick-up-brandin-cooks-fifthyear-option- and that happened after the Pats gave up their 1st round pick for him

 

Overall pick # 28, Benjamin - option picked up: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000795044/article/panthers-to-pick-up-kelvin-benjamins-fifthyear-option

 

 

Really, two huge misses on drafting EJ and then trading up for Watkins will define Whaley's tenure for a long time ...

Except that Sammy is better than all of those guys. Whichever team gets him.....Bills, trade or FA.....that will be made clear.

 

Even if you can't see that.....name one NFL team that would have picked any one of those guys ahead of Watkins.

Yes.. sell low. Who gonna want this guy, or give more than a forth round pick. He played what.. 5 games this past year. I'm sure teams will be lining up around the block for a shot to trad for Sammy.

31 teams would give more than a 4th for Sammy....before or after they still had the option. 31 teams would give more with the option than without. Edited May 1, 2017 by 4merper4mer

[nucci]

I feel we trade him, I'd trade try and trade shady too and full full tank mode. Wouldn't want to trade either but if they did, might as well gut it and lose as many as possible. The browns and niners are going to be pretty bad and want a ransom for the #1 pick

:wallbash: :wallbash:

[T-Bomb]

^{No team will give a 1st rounder due to him being injury-prone.}

Edited May 1, 2017 by T-Bomb

[4merper4mer]

^{No team will give a 1st rounder due to him being injury-prone.}

He had an injury that has a well known timeline. He pushed it and came back too soon. This time he followed the timeline. He is immeasurably better than Cooks who netted a first, albeit a low one. Your statement is clearly ridiculous.

 

The Bills best option is to keep him and pick up the option but it if the option is declined it will show that we need the new GM in here desperately. McDermott cannot let his dislike for a player cloud his judgement.

[NewEraBills]

I'll tell you a team and their fans who would love to have him - Baltimore. They won't give up a first though. Newsome loves 1st rd picks.

[KellyToughII]

If we are truly not picking up his option, we might as well salvage something from him while we can. We likely aren't contending for anything this year anyways so I feel this might be the right move. What could we get? Would you do it?

 

Edit: yes, I know, a snap reaction to the firing but might as well see what the board thinks!

I disagree. Let him play out this season. IF he plays the entire season, puts up great numbers then franchise and talk contract. But I dont put the exclusive franchise Tag on him. I let him talk to teams and see if they want to surrender a 1st rounder + for him.

[What a Tuel]

Typical Bills fan mentality. All of our players suck until we lose or get rid of them. No one would ever pay anything for them. They suck.

 

Brandin Cooks goes for a #32 overall pick though and the Patriots are brilliant.

 

Watkins is a solid WR. We will regret it if we sit through these rough years, and then get rid of him during his good years. (And yes, he will have spectacular years).

 

It's almost like Bills fans want to ditch players out of spite.

Edited May 1, 2017 by What a Tuel

[4merper4mer]

Typical Bills fan mentality. All of our players suck until we lose or get rid of them. No one would ever pay anything for them. They suck.

 

Brandin Cooks goes for a #32 overall pick though and the Patriots are brilliant.

 

Watkins is a solid WR. We will regret it if we sit through these rough years, and then get rid of him during his good years. (And yes, he will have spectacular years).

 

It's almost like Bills fans want to ditch players out of spite.

 

 

You are correct with this post. Unfortunately it seems our otherwise rational coach/GM has some irrational aversion/animus toward Sammy.

[dbflaBill]

Were not picking up his option because he's a bad football player, it's health related, so a 7th rounder is a good deal for Sammy at this point? I'd rather keep him and hope for the best. Were not tanking were just not commiting to a guy who might be broken and I see nothing wrong with that.

a 7th rounder? for one of the most talented WR in the NFL. Thank god your not running the Bills. Mean while the bills would get a 3rd round Comp pick at least if he leaves and you wanna trade him for a 7th rounder. Smart

[quinnearlysghost88]

i know they're rare, but if you can make a 1-for-1 trade happen with an NFC team, I'd take a dynamic S, TE, or LB.

Typical Bills fan mentality. All of our players suck until we lose or get rid of them. No one would ever pay anything for them. They suck.

 

Brandin Cooks goes for a #32 overall pick though and the Patriots are brilliant.

 

Watkins is a solid WR. We will regret it if we sit through these rough years, and then get rid of him during his good years. (And yes, he will have spectacular years).

 

It's almost like Bills fans want to ditch players out of spite.

i think it's less that fans want to ditch him out of spite, and more that he's never healthy (8 games last year), and he's at a position where it's only maximized by consistent QB play. Maybe if Zay pans out early, it will take pressure off Sammy, but if we have to roll without a solid WR2 for another season, it's kind of a waste. Look at our other WRs on the depth chart. Is anyone striking fear in an opponent? No. They're going to roll a safety over Sammy all day.

[CountDorkula]

don't worry...the Bills probably will.

and then draft a WR in rd 1 next year.

[Magox]

Normally I scoff at these sort of suggestions, but everything we've seen from Sammy leads me to believe that he sees himself as a superstar, and who knows he probably could be if he remained healthy and had a really good QB throwing his way. I don't see him signing again with the Bills once he becomes a FA, the only way this happens is if the Bills offer him super star #1 WR money, and I just don't see how the Bills would do that considering his propensity to miss games due to injury.

 

Let's see how he does this year, if he does well we franchise him and try to sign him to a long term deal. If not, I suppose we keep him around another year and then let him walk.

[8-8 Forever?]

If we are truly not picking up his option, we might as well salvage something from him while we can. We likely aren't contending for anything this year anyways so I feel this might be the right move. What could we get? Would you do it?

 

Edit: yes, I know, a snap reaction to the firing but might as well see what the board thinks!

no one will trade for him. they will just wait, see if he's healthy for a full season, wait until he's a FA and get him for nothing . if he's healthy, Bills won't pay him #1 money based on one season (but others will come close and his agent will get something done just to get him out of crazytown) , if he's not healthy they will let him walk. either way he's gone. other teams will just wait and see. no one taking risk on him for next 12 months, including Sammy and his agent. its all wait-and-see at this point. Hard to imagine him not gone within 12 months. Listenbee better be good.

Edited May 1, 2017 by jmcraig44

[Dragonborn10]

Bills board - 2017 - Trade him he is injury prone.

Bills Board - 2018 - Not a true Bill. Why doesn't he want to stay? I never liked his attitude. I only want players that want to be here.

 

Watkins is by far the best player on the roster. He is young and will be dominant for years. Shady has maybe two years, KW is game to game at this point.

You can argue it is not smart tying up huge dollars at WR if they still have not figured out QB. But having Watkins will make signing a FA QB (Garopalo/Cousins) in 2018 easier or will make life easier for the rookie first rounder.

[TheElectricCompany]

Except that Sammy is better than all of those guys.

I love it. As we progress through the offseason, Sammy gets better and better without even seeing the field.

1st team All Potential.

 

Anyway, Sammy has poor trade value at the moment. Dumb to even consider it.

Edited May 1, 2017 by TheElectricCompany

[QuoteTheRaven83]

Bills are being smart about this but fans here think of this as them just giving up on him. Sammy needs to prove he can stay healthy for a whole season before giving him a ton of money and a long term contract. It's smart business.

 

This doesn't meant we're just gonna let him walk