Lesean McCoy cut!

[Beast]

I wonder if he comes back in an enemy uniform, he will get on his hands and knees and kiss the Bills logo at midfield?

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Sometimes these vets get cut right before week 1 and then get brought back in on a team friendly deal for week 2? I wonder if there is any possible way that happens. I doubt it but my heart is holding out that last little piece of hope.

[QCity]

6 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Sometimes these vets get cut right before week 1 and then get brought back in on a team friendly deal for week 2? I wonder if there is any possible way that happens. I doubt it but my heart is holding out that last little piece of hope.

 

That is not going to happen.

[John from Riverside]

37 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

If you go back to 2017 with Eric Wood and Richie Incognito on the line LeSean McCoy was the leading rusher AND the leading receiver with nearly 1600 combined yards with 287 carries, 59 receptions. Even with Wood and Incognito that line still had Mills, Ducasse, Miller and really didn't rank all that high.  

 

Fast forward to 2018 with McCoy getting 161 attempts, 34 receptions and usually always throwing to catch up from being behind in points and even then the team didn't target McCoy very often. McCoy still had a 73.9 catch percentage with was best among all Bills receivers with more then 10 receptions. This behind one of the worst O lines in the league. 

 

The only thing I can think of is that the Bills want to give Singletary every chance to show he can do in the NFL want he did in college. After what he did in the preseason I just don't see him being as elusive or as fast as McCoy. I seem to be in the minority on this. I only hope this offensive coaching staff knows what they are doing or this season could flush rather quickly. 

 

 

While he is def not as fast as McCoy I would disagree about him not being as elusive.

 

This is the thing....McCoy's contract is NINE MILLION DOLLARS.......and we could not get a taker on trading him.....why?  Because he is old and not worth 9 million dollars.  He was worth more to us then others.   I think this will  be proven right when he hooks onto the next team and we see the contract he gets.   Second....Devin is the future while Shady is starting to wrap things up....he has maybe another 2 years?

 

This was always going to happen sometime.....and even if Devin ends up not beign the player Shady has been that is ok because we live in the now....not in the past.

[NoSaint]

13 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

Sometimes these vets get cut right before week 1 and then get brought back in on a team friendly deal for week 2? I wonder if there is any possible way that happens. I doubt it but my heart is holding out that last little piece of hope.

 

What about LeSean McCoy leads you to believe in the next 10 days he will humble himself to sign a cheap deal and become a role player in buffalo?

[Rico]

I feel like I should be sad and mad that Shady's gone, but I really don't care. I have enjoyed watching him play, but I've always felt he was overrated, even with the Eagles. I've never thought he's a HOF-er,  and getting cut by the friggin' Bills just might be the kiss of death for that talk.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Apologies if I missed it, Matt Fairburn article from the Athletic on the cut (paid, 1 week free trial)

https://theathletic.com/1175498/2019/08/31/well-move-on-reading-between-the-lines-of-brandon-beanes-comments-on-cutting-lesean-mccoy/

 

Key points:

-Beane said " Again, it was very difficult. But I believed in LeSean the whole time, and again, it was down to the last minute that we decided to go in this direction."

-Fairburn points out that nothing this regime has done is "last minute" and that "If the Bills felt strongly enough that McCoy could still play, they wouldn’t have made such an effort to improve their backfield." by signing Gore and drafting Singletary in the 3rd

-Fairburn points out "Cutting a 31-year old running back coming off his worst season to save more than $6 million in cap space and pave the way for a third-round pick to start isn’t a tough decision" and that there's a distinction between a tough cut and a tough decision: "McCoy’s name recognition and past production made this a tough cut."

 

Fairburn goes on to discuss whether or not the Bills had interest from trade partners, the likely reaction of the locker room (he doesn't think it's a big concern).  He speculates that wanting to reduce Shady's carries for Singletary and concern about how Shady might respond to that could have been a factor in the final decision.

[The Firebaugh Kid]

I loved Shady but I understand the move.

I have fond memories of him winning the snow game and playing that playoff game w/ a high ankle sprain. Dude was all heart here. I wish him all the best.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

17 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

While he is def not as fast as McCoy I would disagree about him not being as elusive.

 

This is the thing....McCoy's contract is NINE MILLION DOLLARS.......and we could not get a taker on trading him.....why?  Because he is old and not worth 9 million dollars.  He was worth more to us then others.   I think this will  be proven right when he hooks onto the next team and we see the contract he gets.   Second....Devin is the future while Shady is starting to wrap things up....he has maybe another 2 years?

 

This was always going to happen sometime.....and even if Devin ends up not beign the player Shady has been that is ok because we live in the now....not in the past.

 

Just a point that McCoy's contract for other teams is not $9 million - that includes his amortized cap and workout bonus.  His salary was $6.2M, which is what other teams would be looking at. 

 

But the cap assessment is interesting. 

In 2018, McCoy was the highest cap value among running backs, and the 6th highest in cash spent.  Clearly, the Bills didn't get value for dollar from him last year.  If I'd realized that, I'd have been Man, this guy has to show up with a chip on his shoulder and a bone in his teeth this spring if he wants to play out his contract because while in past years he def. played up to his contract, last year he fell flat.

 

Because it's not just about talent and playing ability, it's also about whether a player is considered to be worth the contract he has.

[John from Riverside]

8 minutes ago, Rico said:

I feel like I should be sad and mad that Shady's gone, but I really don't care. I have enjoyed watching him play, but I've always felt he was overrated, even with the Eagles. I've never thought he's a HOF-er,  and getting cut by the friggin' Bills just might be the kiss of death for that talk.

Naaaa Shady will make the HOF

 

Its fine....we are fine.....it was time

[QCity]

6 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Key points:

-Beane said " Again, it was very difficult. But I believed in LeSean the whole time, and again, it was down to the last minute that we decided to go in this direction."

-Fairburn points out that nothing this regime has done is "last minute" and that "If the Bills felt strongly enough that McCoy could still play, they wouldn’t have made such an effort to improve their backfield." by signing Gore and drafting Singletary in the 3rd

-Fairburn points out "Cutting a 31-year old running back coming off his worst season to save more than $6 million in cap space and pave the way for a third-round pick to start isn’t a tough decision" and that there's a distinction between a tough cut and a tough decision: "McCoy’s name recognition and past production made this a tough cut."

 

 

Spot on. I'll even make the tinfoil hat claim that they were trying to move him 2 years ago during that housecleaning, and that they couldn't get any teams to bite on that contract.

[LSHMEAB]

58 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

. After what he did in the preseason I just don't see him being as elusive or as fast as McCoy.

 

 

I'm not sure that you're in the minority in questioning what Singletary is gonna bring to the table. I just don't think McCoy has all that much to offer the Bills. It seems like people are hung up on the fact that he HAS been a lead back as has Gore, who's 35 years old. That's not such a concern for me personally. Lacking a feature back isn't really a big deal.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Better a year to early than a year too late.

[NoSaint]

6 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Better a year to early than a year too late.

 

Might already be a year late, joe. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Just now, NoSaint said:

 

Might already be a year late, joe. 

 

Yeah, in fairness I wanted him gone when Watkins got shipped

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

43 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

What about LeSean McCoy leads you to believe in the next 10 days he will humble himself to sign a cheap deal and become a role player in buffalo?

Nothing. I don’t believe it is going to happen. Was just wishful thinking outloud 

[NewEra]

11 hours ago, JoPar_v2 said:

 

What’s confusing? Yeldon’s younger and cheaper.

And terrible

11 hours ago, JoPar_v2 said:

 

Most definitely. That’s why he’s cheap. And also not the starter.

 

We don’t

We don’t cut the checks.  We likely aren’t going to use that salary cap.  We still had plenty of room.  We just got worse imo.  I would’ve kept Murphy over yeldon.  At least he plays special teams. 

[Nextmanup]

1 hour ago, Rico said:

I feel like I should be sad and mad that Shady's gone, but I really don't care. I have enjoyed watching him play, but I've always felt he was overrated, even with the Eagles. I've never thought he's a HOF-er,  and getting cut by the friggin' Bills just might be the kiss of death for that talk.

bolded text made me laugh out loud.

 

I don't miss him either.

[MasterStrategist]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Apologies if I missed it, Matt Fairburn article from the Athletic on the cut (paid, 1 week free trial)

https://theathletic.com/1175498/2019/08/31/well-move-on-reading-between-the-lines-of-brandon-beanes-comments-on-cutting-lesean-mccoy/

 

Key points:

-Beane said " Again, it was very difficult. But I believed in LeSean the whole time, and again, it was down to the last minute that we decided to go in this direction."

-Fairburn points out that nothing this regime has done is "last minute" and that "If the Bills felt strongly enough that McCoy could still play, they wouldn’t have made such an effort to improve their backfield." by signing Gore and drafting Singletary in the 3rd

-Fairburn points out "Cutting a 31-year old running back coming off his worst season to save more than $6 million in cap space and pave the way for a third-round pick to start isn’t a tough decision" and that there's a distinction between a tough cut and a tough decision: "McCoy’s name recognition and past production made this a tough cut."

 

Fairburn goes on to discuss whether or not the Bills had interest from trade partners, the likely reaction of the locker room (he doesn't think it's a big concern).  He speculates that wanting to reduce Shady's carries for Singletary and concern about how Shady might respond to that could have been a factor in the final decision.

Exactly....I think Fairburn nailed it.  My 2 cents:

 

1. shady still is above average, most elusive player we had...BUT

2. he didn't hit the tough 2, 3 or 4 yard runs anymore.  it was either dance and get 10 or dance/go down for a loss.  more often taking the negative runs

3. yes. last year's online sucked.  but it was chris ivory. who was put in instead of shady at times and had better success...ie: 2 or 3 yard runs are sometimes a success on 1st down

4. shady has never played second fiddle and was likely to be a huge distraction if he wasn't the #1 or had to share carries.

5. gore provides a better version of "ivory", and mentor-wise is the best their is.

6.  singletary might not be the second coming of Shady. but at this point in their respective careers, it's not far apart. 

7. finally, financial wise. and I put this last because I think that's where it fell on the decision process. shady is no cheap commodity.  which also hindered his trade market. I'm sure.  

[HappyDays]