Bills trade Sammy Watkins to Rams for CB Gaines, 2nd rd pick

[26CornerBlitz]

You're right that nobody knows how many games he will play. But you continue to focus on only the foot injury.

 

Here's a quick list of Watkin's injuries in his time with the Bills (as per ESPN) -

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

Aug. 16, 2014: Watkins exited the Bills' second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with what the team called a rib contusion and did not return.

 

Aug. 28, 2014: After missing the Bills' third preseason game, Watkins returned for the preseason finale but pulled himself out of the game after reinjuring his ribs. Months later, Watkins revealed that he was dealing not only with a rib contusion but with broken ribs.

 

Sept. 14, 2014: Watkins scored his first NFL touchdown in a Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins, part of an eight-catch, 117-yard performance. Watkins was checked out by trainers multiple times during the game and was hunched over on the sideline at one point.

 

Oct. 8, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report after being listed for the first five weeks of the season with the rib ailment.

 

Oct. 22, 2014: Watkins was added to the Bills' injury report with a groin injury but was a full participant in practice. Four days later, he gained a career-high 157 receiving yards in the Bills' win over the New York Jets and was named the NFL's offensive rookie of the month for October.

 

Nov. 5, 2014: Watkins left the Bills' Wednesday session with a groin injury and did not practice for the rest of the week. However, he played in the Bills' Nov. 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, catching four passes on 10 targets.

 

Nov. 30, 2014: Watkins suffered a hip injury in the Bills' Week 13 win over the Cleveland Browns but returned to play the following Sunday in a loss to the Denver Broncos, catching seven passes for 127 yards.

 

Dec. 10, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report and did not reappear on it for the final three weeks of the season.

 

Early 2015 offseason: Watkins underwent surgery on his hip and sat out the vast majority of organized team activities as he rehabbed.

 

July 31, 2015: Watkins participated fully when the Bills opened training camp at St. John Fisher College.

 

 

Aug 6, 2015: Watkins didn't finish practice after getting "a little nicked up," as Rex Ryan put it, but Watkins said he was dealing with soreness from his offseason surgery.

 

Aug. 17, 2015: After easing back into practice, Watkins exited a training camp practice again with what was called glute soreness. He sat out the final three preseason games for precautionary reasons.

 

Sept. 9, 2015: Watkins was listed on the Bills' first injury report with a hamstring injury but was a full participant in practice. He was removed from the injury report by Week 2.

 

Sept. 27, 2015: Watkins left the Bills' win over the Miami Dolphins with a calf injury and missed two games, against the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.

 

Oct. 18, 2015: Watkins fell awkwardly in the end zone while making a 22-yard touchdown catch late in the first half of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Television cameras later showed him on crutches outside the locker room, and his sprained ankle kept him out of a crushing Bills loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars the next weekend in London.

 

 

 

He's had injuries to like 6 different body parts in his 3 years with the Bills. It very well could have just been bad luck. But to say that there hasn't been a troubling and worrisome history of injuries would be false.

 

Still played in 29 of 32 games in those two seasons and scored 15 TDs with over 2K yards.

[NoSaint]

You're right that nobody knows how many games he will play. But you continue to focus on only the foot injury.

 

Here's a quick list of Watkin's injuries in his time with the Bills (as per ESPN) -

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

Aug. 16, 2014: Watkins exited the Bills' second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with what the team called a rib contusion and did not return.

 

Aug. 28, 2014: After missing the Bills' third preseason game, Watkins returned for the preseason finale but pulled himself out of the game after reinjuring his ribs. Months later, Watkins revealed that he was dealing not only with a rib contusion but with broken ribs.

 

Sept. 14, 2014: Watkins scored his first NFL touchdown in a Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins, part of an eight-catch, 117-yard performance. Watkins was checked out by trainers multiple times during the game and was hunched over on the sideline at one point.

 

Oct. 8, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report after being listed for the first five weeks of the season with the rib ailment.

 

Oct. 22, 2014: Watkins was added to the Bills' injury report with a groin injury but was a full participant in practice. Four days later, he gained a career-high 157 receiving yards in the Bills' win over the New York Jets and was named the NFL's offensive rookie of the month for October.

 

Nov. 5, 2014: Watkins left the Bills' Wednesday session with a groin injury and did not practice for the rest of the week. However, he played in the Bills' Nov. 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, catching four passes on 10 targets.

 

Nov. 30, 2014: Watkins suffered a hip injury in the Bills' Week 13 win over the Cleveland Browns but returned to play the following Sunday in a loss to the Denver Broncos, catching seven passes for 127 yards.

 

Dec. 10, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report and did not reappear on it for the final three weeks of the season.

 

Early 2015 offseason: Watkins underwent surgery on his hip and sat out the vast majority of organized team activities as he rehabbed.

 

July 31, 2015: Watkins participated fully when the Bills opened training camp at St. John Fisher College.

 

 

Aug 6, 2015: Watkins didn't finish practice after getting "a little nicked up," as Rex Ryan put it, but Watkins said he was dealing with soreness from his offseason surgery.

 

Aug. 17, 2015: After easing back into practice, Watkins exited a training camp practice again with what was called glute soreness. He sat out the final three preseason games for precautionary reasons.

 

Sept. 9, 2015: Watkins was listed on the Bills' first injury report with a hamstring injury but was a full participant in practice. He was removed from the injury report by Week 2.

 

Sept. 27, 2015: Watkins left the Bills' win over the Miami Dolphins with a calf injury and missed two games, against the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.

 

Oct. 18, 2015: Watkins fell awkwardly in the end zone while making a 22-yard touchdown catch late in the first half of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Television cameras later showed him on crutches outside the locker room, and his sprained ankle kept him out of a crushing Bills loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars the next weekend in London.

 

 

 

He's had injuries to like 6 different body parts in his 3 years with the Bills. It very well could have just been bad luck. But to say that there hasn't been a troubling and worrisome history of injuries would be false.

A lot of those weren't actual injuries... and then some were "listed on the injury report but full participant."

 

I agree with the foot, rib and calf he's been nicked a lot but we don't have to call out every hang nail or sneeze at an OTA

[stinky finger]

What? Who said that? They can replace with another high draft pick.

I don't think that's their plan.

[JohnBonhamRocks]

I think we are all arguing it based on talent. He is not a guy that you have to gameplan against because he beats you 1-1 or changes the numbers game for the defense because of the attention he commands ala dez, green, Julio, obj, brown, Hopkins, Demarius, amari, and many of us think Sammy is.... Matthews is a solid guy that got better than expected production based on his situation. More like some of the receivers we've had in the past like Stevie. Is he a top 32 receiver or in the group of 33-64? I dont think that is a distinction most of us care about. He's in the crowd of a lot of 6 of 1 or a half dozen of the other behind those top tier guys. Sammy has shown to have the ability to be in the list everyone names around the league when discussing #1 WRs.

I agree he's more talented.

 

I just value availability and consistency over talent and potential.

[26CornerBlitz]

@MatthewFairburn

New Buffalo Bills CB E.J. Gaines happy to be somewhere he's wanted: http://trib.al/m9VFJfW

 

Gaines: "My Emotions Were Everywhere" (4:01)

New Bills' CB E.J. Gaines talks about being traded, his first practice and more.

 

[stinky finger]

Just another new crew who thinks they are smarter then everyone.... Until **** goes up in flames when the team actually plays the games.

 

This will blow up in their faces by mid season, maybe sooner IMO

 

Whether you like the trades or not, there's no denying the Bills are less talented today vs prior to trades.

 

I believe there were several reasons as to why they chose to complete these deals. Fit, contract, maybe character, direction - whatever else - I don't know.

 

I'll say this, right moves or not, BALLSY! They have a vision of what it takes to build what they think is a winner. I suspect that they intend to look back, as I hope we all do, and say - "Now, what was everyone so up in arms about?"

 

Here's to hoping they're right.

[leonbus23]

I'm happy for Sammy. I definitely will miss him (despite the injuries, etc.). But he has a real chance to be a super star in a huge market city. He has more opportunity than AJ Green or Calvin Johnson, for example, because he is no longer stuck in a small market city.

[WideRightRevenge]

You're right that nobody knows how many games he will play. But you continue to focus on only the foot injury.

 

Here's a quick list of Watkin's injuries in his time with the Bills (as per ESPN) -

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

Aug. 16, 2014: Watkins exited the Bills' second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with what the team called a rib contusion and did not return.

 

Aug. 28, 2014: After missing the Bills' third preseason game, Watkins returned for the preseason finale but pulled himself out of the game after reinjuring his ribs. Months later, Watkins revealed that he was dealing not only with a rib contusion but with broken ribs.

 

Sept. 14, 2014: Watkins scored his first NFL touchdown in a Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins, part of an eight-catch, 117-yard performance. Watkins was checked out by trainers multiple times during the game and was hunched over on the sideline at one point.

 

Oct. 8, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report after being listed for the first five weeks of the season with the rib ailment.

 

Oct. 22, 2014: Watkins was added to the Bills' injury report with a groin injury but was a full participant in practice. Four days later, he gained a career-high 157 receiving yards in the Bills' win over the New York Jets and was named the NFL's offensive rookie of the month for October.

 

Nov. 5, 2014: Watkins left the Bills' Wednesday session with a groin injury and did not practice for the rest of the week. However, he played in the Bills' Nov. 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, catching four passes on 10 targets.

 

Nov. 30, 2014: Watkins suffered a hip injury in the Bills' Week 13 win over the Cleveland Browns but returned to play the following Sunday in a loss to the Denver Broncos, catching seven passes for 127 yards.

 

Dec. 10, 2014: Watkins was removed from the injury report and did not reappear on it for the final three weeks of the season.

 

Early 2015 offseason: Watkins underwent surgery on his hip and sat out the vast majority of organized team activities as he rehabbed.

 

July 31, 2015: Watkins participated fully when the Bills opened training camp at St. John Fisher College.

 

 

Aug 6, 2015: Watkins didn't finish practice after getting "a little nicked up," as Rex Ryan put it, but Watkins said he was dealing with soreness from his offseason surgery.

 

Aug. 17, 2015: After easing back into practice, Watkins exited a training camp practice again with what was called glute soreness. He sat out the final three preseason games for precautionary reasons.

 

Sept. 9, 2015: Watkins was listed on the Bills' first injury report with a hamstring injury but was a full participant in practice. He was removed from the injury report by Week 2.

 

Sept. 27, 2015: Watkins left the Bills' win over the Miami Dolphins with a calf injury and missed two games, against the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans.

 

Oct. 18, 2015: Watkins fell awkwardly in the end zone while making a 22-yard touchdown catch late in the first half of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Television cameras later showed him on crutches outside the locker room, and his sprained ankle kept him out of a crushing Bills loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars the next weekend in London.

 

 

 

He's had injuries to like 6 different body parts in his 3 years with the Bills. It very well could have just been bad luck. But to say that there hasn't been a troubling and worrisome history of injuries would be false.

 

Amen .. and he was gone after this year ... 100's of posts on who's better Sammy or Matthews ... come end of the year .. we get a comp pick for a guy leaving town ... Beane beat the house odds with this move .... let's quit comparing YPC (when on the field there is no question who is better) ... but a bad analogy is .. I can go to an expensive restaurant and get a good meal only 50% of the time (i.e Sammy) ... or I can go to a place slightly cheaper but much more consistent ... I'll take the consistency over the coin flip ... he's gone and/or was soon to be gone and we got value in return.

[26CornerBlitz]

@viccarucci

.@JimKelly1212 feels Taylor's short-term pain from Watkins trade, but sees long-term gain for #Bills. At [bN] Blitz: http://buffalonews.com/2017/08/13/kelly-feels-taylors-short-term-pain-watkins-trade-sees-long-term-gain-bills/

PITTSFORD -- Quarterback to quarterback, Jim Kelly can only imagine how Tyrod Taylor must have felt when he learned the Buffalo Bills had traded away Sammy Watkins.

 

"It'd be like me losing Andre Reed," the Bills' Hall-of-Famer said Sunday while making his first visit of the summer to the Bills' training camp at St. John Fisher College. "That was my No. 1 receiver, that's his No. 1. It's not easy, but you know what? You've got to live with it. You understand why they did it, and you have to go with it.

[WideRightRevenge]

AGAIN, WHY WAS SAMMY GONE AT THE END OF THE YEAR?

 

WHERE DID THIS INCREDIBLY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION COME FROM?

 

Man. Some Bills fans are so incredibly pathetic. Doing ANYTHING to justify their support for the inept organization.

 

So you're a veteran on this board ... with all those posts ... doesn't it show you continue to support this "inept organization" ... why continue to monitor this board ... Please name me a Top 5 player in position who was a draft pick of ours (except maybe Dareus when he decides to play and Williams two DT's) who stayed in Buffalo come free agency or went elsewhere and took the money and ran to another team.

 

Don't get me wrong .. there is Freedom of speech .. I'm speaking mine ..but my INCREDIBLY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION was based on ... and not saying these guys were top 5 in position ... but were free agent losses Gilmore, Byrd, Levitre, Whitner .. .etc etc etc.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

So you're a veteran on this board ... with all those posts ... doesn't it show you continue to support this "inept organization" ... why continue to monitor this board ... Please name me a Top 5 player in position who was a draft pick of ours (except maybe Dareus when he decides to play and Williams two DT's) who stayed in Buffalo come free agency or went elsewhere and took the money and ran to another team.

 

Don't get me wrong .. there is Freedom of speech .. I'm speaking mine ..but my INCREDIBLY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION was based on ... and not saying these guys were top 5 in position ... but were free agent losses Gilmore, Byrd, Levitre, Whitner .. .etc etc etc.

 

Cordy Glenn and Jerry Hughes both re-signed with the Bills when they could have it the market and been in demand.

[WideRightRevenge]

Good call 26 I will concede on Glenn ... not sure to 5 or not ... but yes he resigned ... Hughes .. we traded for and resurrected his career as well as what we did for Incognito .. so I give those guys props as they probably gave us a hometown discount (same with Alexander this year) as we put them in an environment to thrive.

[HappyDays]

AGAIN, WHY WAS SAMMY GONE AT THE END OF THE YEAR?

 

WHERE DID THIS INCREDIBLY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION COME FROM?

 

Man. Some Bills fans are so incredibly pathetic. Doing ANYTHING to justify their support for the inept organization.

Scott you know they're not just saving money for no reason. There is some logic behind what they're doing, this is not the Ralph years like you seem to think. Will it work out, who knows, but you're ignoring the logic behind it completely. They don't believe elite receivers are necessary for championships and/or Sammy's attitude bothered them and/or they didn't feel it was realistic to pay what he will want when on the field he hasn't lived up to it. So they got a pick for him because he doesn't fit into their future plans. It makes sense, we just have to see how the draft picks go.

[26CornerBlitz]

Good call 26 I will concede on Glenn ... not sure to 5 or not ... but yes he resigned ... Hughes .. we traded for and resurrected his career as well as what we did for Incognito .. so I give those guys props as they probably gave us a hometown discount (same with Alexander this year) as we put them in an environment to thrive.

 

Beyond the guys who have recently re-upped with the Bills, this Sammy didn't want to be here narrative is made up and offered without a single shred of evidence to support it.

[oldmanfan]

 

Beyond the guys who have recently re-upped with the Bills, this Sammy didn't want to be here narrative is made up and offered without a single shred of evidence to support it.

. Most everything is being made up since none of us is privy to the inside story.

[BillsFan4]

AGAIN, WHY WAS SAMMY GONE AT THE END OF THE YEAR?

WHERE DID THIS INCREDIBLY INACCURATE ASSUMPTION COME FROM?

Man. Some Bills fans are so incredibly pathetic. Doing ANYTHING to justify their support for the inept organization.

Trying to rationally look at why a trade was made is not pathetic. But again, continually calling your fellow Bills fans pathetic because they bring up something you don't agree with, well... it's not s good look to say it nicely. You attacked me yesterday and called me pathetic after a wrote what I felt was a well thought out and rational post. You didn't bother going into detail as to why you didn't agree. You just called me pathetic. And now I've seen you do the same thing to multiple other people.

 

It's very likely that Sammy was gone after this year, whether you like it or not. Either because the organization didn't see him as a fit or didn't want to dish out a massive deal for him (remember he said he wanted to change the pay scale of the entire NFL) or because they didn't like the way he fit the team or his attitude or whatever other reasons there were.

 

it's also very likely that the Bills didn't want to use up roughly 2/3rds of their currently available 2018 cap space to franchise tag an often injured receiver, who has yet to make it through a single season healthy. So you can say that they could have tagged him. But maybe they didn't want to use $15-$17M of their $26M in cap space on Sammy.

Edited August 14, 2017 by BillsFan4

[WideRightRevenge]

 

Beyond the guys who have recently re-upped with the Bills, this Sammy didn't want to be here narrative is made up and offered without a single shred of evidence to support it.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

Is that your evidence? His outburst against knuckleheads who were harassing him on Social Media?

[stinky finger]

Franchise tag.

 

The end.

So it's pretty obvious.

 

Sammy didn't fit in the long term plan.

[akm0404]

If you were Sammy Watkins and became a free agent, can you give even one reason why you'd sign with Buffalo?

 

He had a disdain for the city and its fans, is a warm weather guy, and would OBVIOUSLY want to play with a top tier quarterback in a larger advertising market on a contending team.

 

So many people here assume that because you draft a player they just HAVE to resign there. It was never going to happen.

 

Everyone had a meltdown when Gilmore left with the Bills getting nothing to show for it.

 

And now they get market or above on a guy with a janky foot that has stayed healthy exactly never, but y'all would have rather let him walk for free. No wonder why the folks here are just little people working their little jobs and not NFL General Managers.