RochesterRob Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Imagine that in three pending free agents were playing hard to get in terms of a franchise that may choose to pursue them. This is all about money to about 95 percent of the free agents out there and these free agents are letting teams such as the Bills know that they are not coming cheap. Not a personal thing.
JoPoy88 Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 8 hours ago, delirious said: Or if we lose in the first round again it will be pertinent again because "are we really a few players away?". Or if we don't make the playoffs it will be pertinent because "are we back to the same old bills?". I can create tons of excuses why it would be pertinent. lost me at the “or”. We’re talking about attracting free agents here. Being a competitive team now is a plus, whereas the last 20 years were just another minus to pile on to the other minuses the article touched on. Not sure how or why you’re not getting this. But keep cozy in your bubble. Again, don’t read it and don’t comment on it if a dose of reality is just too much for you.
chongli Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 10 hours ago, Lurker said: In other words, not good "process' guys--so the Bills probably wouldn't target them either. The Bills are in a better position to sign UFA's than at any time in the past twenty years (competitive team, big pot of money to spend). And they could always give them the key to the city, if need be... Except they targeted Antonio Brown. Glad he went elsewhere. 10 hours ago, Dat said: I think the new state of the art training facility and locker rooms was a step in the right direction. Last year Beasley was impressed enough to comment about how much better they were than the Cowboys. This with the family, friends and team culture in the whole organization will help change minds along with winning and making the playoffs as long as they can get them to come visit. The next step needs to be a new retractable-roof stadium in downtown. 10 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said: This again? Where are the articles about free agents who go to New York and LA for reasons other than football and don’t live up to their contract? Give me the guys who care about football. NYC and LA can have the guys who want their own reality show. The funny thing is, as everyone knows, the Jets and Giants don't even play in NYC, or even NY, lol. 9 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said: LOL at a guy playing in Nashville, TN talking about how Buffalo is "so far away from a real city that they lose sight of what’s out there. And when you get there, there’s really nothing.” I was about to say this same thing. Nashville ain't that much better than Buffalo, except for the weather and lower taxes.
chongli Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said: I remember when the Sabres were the best team in hockey and NHL players voted Buffalo the 2nd worst city to be traded to behind Edmonton. When were the Sabres ever the best team in hockey? Edited January 30, 2020 by chongli
Buffalo_Stampede Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 3 minutes ago, chongli said: When were the Sabres ever the best team in hockey? It was a long long time ago... 1
chongli Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said: It was a long long time ago... I had a lot of fun watching them in the mid-80's. Barrasso was great. Edited January 30, 2020 by chongli
Jeff Lebowski Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Also mentions that Buffalo has to offer more money than almost any other team due to the income taxes in New York. Teams like the California teams can get away with it because players want to live in LA, but Buffalo gets hit by the income tax as well as being a relatively undesirable place to live. I think the high taxes in NY are a huge drawback. Think about it for a minute. If NYS is going to take 10% of your income vs acrappy city like Jacksonville Florida where there is no state tax, I know where I'm going.
YoloinOhio Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 22 minutes ago, chongli said: When were the Sabres ever the best team in hockey? I think they won the Presidents Cup in 2007
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Jurrell Casey actually seems like the sort of guy that would actually really enjoy being in buffalo and on the Bills. Seems like a family man, very active in the community, etc.
GreggTX Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 I was born and raised in Buffalo and have lived in San Diego, LA and Dallas since. I'd have no qualms about moving back to Buffalo and would prefer it to Dallas. The problem is that my wife is from the Philippines and doesn't want to live anywhere cold.
eball Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 If the Pegulas are listening, this is where the stadium conversation really comes into play. Fans love the "idea" of snow games and cold weather, but in reality the players would rather play in pristine, controlled conditions. Bills fans would make a dome ridiculously loud, too.
Buffalo_Stampede Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 7 hours ago, YoloinOhio said: I think they won the Presidents Cup in 2007 Yeah. There was a sports illustrated article that year polling the players where they would least like to be traded. Edmonton and Buffalo were top 2. In hindsight the players were pretty smart. Lol.
C.Biscuit97 Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 1) overspending in FA is stupid anyways. You build through the draft and supplement your roster with free agents 2) how many times have we not gotten a FA because they didn’t want to come to Buffalo? I think it is a lot more rarer than it is made out to be. By this logic, Miami and SD should have been FA destinations and they haven’t been. 3) as others have said, if they don’t want to come to Buffalo because there aren’t enough clubs or whatever, it’s a player you don’t want anyways. I think fans and media completely overthink this stuff. We have struggle for years because we haven’t had a franchise qb. If you get a legit franchise guy who wins, players will come. It’s not rocket science.
DrDawkinstein Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 14 hours ago, SirAndrew said: That’s comparing apples and oranges imo. The average person pursuing a career, better weather, or lower taxes isn’t the same as a pro football player. Your reference to better jobs and lower taxes are money related issues. People often leave an area to make more money, but if Buffalo is the place where a player can earn the most, they’re coming here imo. Remember that football players aren’t necessarily laying down roots where they play either. These guys are free to live anywhere they choose during the off-season. Much different scenario than WNY expats. WRT better jobs, not necessarily unrelated. I'm talking about better companies in that as well. The Bills as an organization have a reputation around the league as being a poorly managed, second-rate franchise. And deservedly so after the way Ralph and Russ ran the team for 50 combined years. Hopefully that is starting to turn around, but it will take some time and some winning to change that perspective among players and personnel. Similarly, when I moved back to Buffalo in 2014, I was lucky enough to land a couple of great opportunities. And while those were good companies "for Buffalo", they were still a few notches below all of my opportunities in Atlanta, and ended up being a step backwards in my career. The same way players view Arthur Blank and his franchise versus the Bills. WRT taxes, I dont even personally believe that plays into player decisions since they pay separate state income tax for wherever each individual game is played. Plus, a lot of these guys aren't even that financially savvy to even think about taxes and whatnot (unfortunately for them). But was drawing the correlation since so many posters mention it, as does the article. 1
Shaw66 Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 17 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said: Here is the deal. Players who have an issue with "Buffalo" and make it about "things to do in Buffalo" proximity to other major cities etc, are not the type of players Beane and McD are looking for in the first place. The only guys that they will have interest in are players whose drive is football and winning. Not guys who prioritize recreation and partying. I have no worries about our organizations ability to attract the types of players they are looking for. We are an ascending team with a rabid fan base and great staff top to bottom with the best training facilities in the league. We will attract the right players. This is sort of what I said in an earlier post. People who are looking for fun city to live in have their eye on the wrong ball, and McBeane aren't interested in those guys. One other thing. When free agents talk to Kelly and some of the others, what they hear is that this is a city where you can be a hero for life. You become part of the fabric of the city. Now, Brees did that in NO, but that was a special circumstance. In Buffalo, like in Green Bay, you're never forgotten. 1
Rc2catch Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 I think it’s a topic mostly overblown by us fans. Maybe some of the young “flashy” kinda guys want to party in Florida or Cali or wherever.. But we’re talking grown men in their late 20’s early 30’s most of those guys are done partying and going out all the time and have started their families. And there’s plenty of blue collar working guys who would enjoy the hunting and outdoor stuff in the surrounding areas. The biggest knock is just New York State itself, the taxes and stigma of it being such a terrible state.
DrDawkinstein Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 1 hour ago, C.Biscuit97 said: 1) overspending in FA is stupid anyways. You build through the draft and supplement your roster with free agents 2) how many times have we not gotten a FA because they didn’t want to come to Buffalo? I think it is a lot more rarer than it is made out to be. By this logic, Miami and SD should have been FA destinations and they haven’t been. 3) as others have said, if they don’t want to come to Buffalo because there aren’t enough clubs or whatever, it’s a player you don’t want anyways. I think fans and media completely overthink this stuff. We have struggle for years because we haven’t had a franchise qb. If you get a legit franchise guy who wins, players will come. It’s not rocket science. WRT #1... Almost ALL signings in FA are "overspending" in one way or another. That's just the name of the game. I agree you build through the draft, but that applies mostly to the first few years of a rebuild. Once you have foundational pieces in place (young QB), and have cleared old contracts, you go and get some top talent in FA (and that will usually come at a premium). Additionally, there is a Minimum Cash Spend requirement in the CBA, and the Bills are currently well below it. So if we must spend the money anyways, I'd like to see at least one big name brought in with the role players, instead of just 20 role players. https://overthecap.com/minimum-cash-spending-in-2020/ 1
BarleyNY Posted January 30, 2020 Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/29/2020 at 12:41 PM, Greg S said: The funny thing is when players get to Buffalo many of them love it. Look at Kelly as an example. He blew off the Bills to go to the USFL but now the guy is Mr. Buffalo and made it his home. Thurman is another one who moved back here fulltime. Kyle Williams loves the area. There have been so many players who loved playing in front of Bills Mafia where they get a real home field advantage. Is the weather really that much of a factor during football season? August, Sept its hot. October still not bad, November (minus that freak snow storm a few years ago) still not that bad. December and January is when you have to deal with the possibility of snow. If you are playing in January nobody will care as it's the playoffs. When the season is over these players can leave the area. They certainly can afford multiple homes if they want. As far as the other elements like wind and rain that can happen anywhere. Buffalo: Tough to get people to move to it and tough to get people to leave. A lot gets made of income tax, but many players also look at cost of living. You can live like a king in Buffalo for what you can barely scrape by on in places like SF.
thunderingsquid Posted February 2, 2020 Posted February 2, 2020 And then there's this fwiw https://heavy.com/sports/2020/01/cowboys-amari-cooper-bills-free-agency-rumor/
LSHMEAB Posted February 2, 2020 Posted February 2, 2020 On 1/29/2020 at 11:37 AM, JoPoy88 said: This weather thing is overblown, insofar as it pertains to affecting games. I’ve been to pretty much every hime game since 2007, and the truly horrific weather games are few and far between. Recency bias I know, but that’s just what I’ve seen. It's not just about game day. These guys have lives outside of those 3 hours a week. Buffalo will never be a particularly attractive FA destination, but a FRANCHISE QB and dollars go a long way. If Allen were to develop into a franchise QB, it would go a LONG ways in creating buzz and making FANS want to watch them play in prime time. That, in turn, will lead to much more interest from FA's and overcome many of the inherent issues. But in reality, what they really have to do is draft well; more so than other teams because of the destination issue. Beane's job, as well as any Bills GM, is a bit more difficult than that of the Falcons GM, for example. Drafting well is paramount.
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