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Trent Murphy and Star Lutulelei listed among worst free agent deals of 2018 - Per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com


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Posted
8 minutes ago, Doc said:

Just like Hyde and Poyer were, right?

 

Was just going to write this....it's amazing how often "journalists" and "experts" jump on the hype train to knock a signing unless it's a "name"....Louis Riddick has been on Twitter since the start of FA saying the opposite....that building a team and getting good FAs is about that second and third wave and that it doesn't matter if fans have never heard of the guy, the GMs and personnel know how to evaluate talent for their team. Agreed with him on this, just because of recent success (giving Whaley credit for signings like that, one of the things he did well). 

Posted
12 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

I think we picked up two good players.  Let them play and see.  

 

A lot lot depends on Star’s contract in years 4 and 5.  Otherwise we have filled two big needs.  

Years 4 and 5 are rarely paid out anyways. If he comes in and produces for the first two years the contract has been worth it.

Posted

They absolutely had to do something to shore up the run defense this year.  You just can not win if you can't stop the run.  I don't know if they overpaid or not, I'm not an expert on NFL contracts.  I'm satisfied that McBeane knows Star and they see him making a big difference in our defense.  In my mind McBeane has accumulated some benefit of the doubt so far.  

 

Like everything else that happens before they lace them up and play for keeps, we'll all just have to wait and see how things play out.  I'm hopeful.

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Posted

Poor journalism especially to quote PFF which is universally acknowledged of having some major flaws like the time Aaron Rodgers had a near perfect game and was rated negatively. If the issue is the money well its FA what do you expect and the Bills had some space to be able to spend more.

Posted

I'm with Gunner on this one. Wholly disagree about Murphy being a bad signing. If you take the injury & suspension into account, I'll accept that there's some risk attached to it but dude can play. Pass rushers get money on the open market, it's the way the business works.

 

Star does feel like an overpay; either a panic to sort out the run defense or more on the 'jobs for the boys' spectrum.

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Posted

At this time of year in the national media all signings by big market teams are brilliant and all signings by small market teams are either terrible or risky.  Green Bay is the exception and is treated like a big market.  There is usually one sleeper team, which rotates, also seen as brilliant and sometime Dallas and Washington get panned.  Test the theory sometime.  There are very few exceptions.

 

I didn't even click the article but I'm guessing my theory holds.

Posted

Like others, I disagree about Murphy, and think we overpaid for Star, but if McD and Beane think this guy is worth it after having been with him for a few years and having already coached him, I will trust their judgment. 

Posted
1 hour ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

Today's journalism is a collection of tweets strung together .  

 

Journalism today in sports, politics etc. Are just blogger activists who are paid. Always reactionary  

Posted
1 hour ago, Doc said:

Just like Hyde and Poyer were, right?

 

Exactly right.

 

I think Beane's done an excellent job addressing our needs this off-season while operating on an a relatively tight budget.

 

Each of the guys we've signed have some warts.  That's why they weren't hugely expensive. 

 

The only one I worry about at all is Star - because he was the exception in terms of contract.  He was expensive.  Then again of all the signings he's the one who Beane and McD know best.  If they think he's worth that contract, I'm open-minded.  

Posted
1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

I think you've misstated this. It's not about the worst signings, it's about the worst contracts.

 

Nothing wrong with the article. It's a reasonable opinion. Disagreeing is reasonable too, but his points make sense..

 

 

His points, opinions really, are just without much of any foundation.  Did he speak with anyone about the play of either?  No one player or coach had any input.  Why might there be contradictory thought? What besides PFF rankings substantiate your options?  Why is PFF the right source?  Were other sources of information considered?

 

These are all types questions that at one time solid journalists would have spent time on.  

 

Spewing a simple set of opinions with little substantiation appears to be the new norm for “journalism.”  Sad, isn’t it?  

 

Though at the end of the day football is simply entertainiment so having entertainment in the associated “news” pieces should not be that shocking.

Posted (edited)

The article wasn't an in-depth, investigative analysis.  It was just a couple paragraphs of Rosenthal musing about bad contracts.

 

I don't blame him.  People want top-of-mind opinions so the media provides them.

 

But I trust Beane and McD more than Rosenthal.  

 

But I also know Beane's not going to get all these signings right.  Every contract is a roll of the dice.  Beane's staff does all the due diligence  they can to shorten the odds but you never truly know how well someone will work out for you.  

Edited by hondo in seattle
Posted

Take my opinion for what it's worth (0.02) - but I happen to agree that these contracts seemed a bit rich to me too given that they both have had some injury issues which may not be all healed.  We seem to be the infirmary with our signings this offseason.

 

Star's contract in particular seems high - I don't think Murphy's is horrible.  That said, you also have to pay what the market bears.  Now that we have Cousins getting a fully guaranteed contract - contracts are going to be more player friendly.  That is the market now.  We may look back in a couple years and see that we got a steal.

 

I don't dislike any of the actual signings - presuming they play 16 games.  We've seemingly been plagued by FA/trade injuries - Gaines, Benjamin, Matthews, Vontae, ...  Maybe the new strength/conditioning staff will have a magic wand.

 

 

 

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

On a side note I love when a reporter says “the Bills signings were bad” and everyone attacks his credibility. Another guy says “the Bills signings are good” and we talk about how informed the guy is. Ha ha, it never fails!!

 

It is a bit of a natural reaction, as fans of a certain team, to have that point of view. We want to hear good things about our team, and don't want to hear negative stuff, especially this time of year, when there's no proof one way or another being played out on the field. Actially, that's what makes it easy for these "journalists" to put this kind of stuff out, right now specifically. They know how to play into the mental aspect of fans, and how that translates into a certain reaction and clicks. We all generally see this type of "journalism" for what it is, but based on the current media and social media landscape, and perspective of the average reader, it's really genius.

 

Again, I didn't read the article, mainly because of that, and the fact that the author's general perspective was clearly stated in the thread title. Right now, no one knows if those were "bad" signings, or bad contracts. In 3 years, we could view the "overpaid" Star contract as being more of a good bargain, especially as the cap increases. And as others have stated, I'll trust Beane and McDermott and their opinions of Star and others more than a guy that needs to make money for his media outlet. Perhaps they put more value in Star then just his abilities against the run. He knows the system, so there's not as much of a learning curve for him. That should also help his teammates in getting up to speed faster. And based on their time in Carolina, they certainly seem to put more emphasis on building the defense from the inside out, and allocating more resources there.

 

If you look at Kyle's contract, you could argue that they "overpaid" a bit. He wasn't the same level of player last year, but what he brings to the locker room has value. That alone may have earned him an extra $1-2 million. Culture and character is obviously something that has value to this staff, so if they believe Star fits that description, it's worth it, at least to them (which is all that matters) to spend a little more for that player specifically, over spending on a guy with slightly better numbers, but with more questionable character. 

Edited by Drunken Pygmy Goat
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