Free Agency News and Updates - around the league

[CookieG]

32 minutes ago, BillsFan2313 said:

 

Yup. We moved him to LT, and paid Langston Walker more money for RT. How can anyone say an undrafted free agent wanted out of Buffalo? He chose to sign here. He just wanted to get paid a fair amount. What a shame. 

I think it was some of both.

 

After finding himself as the lowest paid OL on the team again, Peters went in to Russ' office to ask for a raise (without an agent). Russ told Peters that he wasn't a priority, Lee Evans was the priority.  Those were Russ' words.

 

They went months without hearing from Peters. Around training camp time, Russ remarked that he hadn't talked to Peters since that conversation.

 

I've always read that Peters was a bit of a nonconformist and had a different way of looking at things. There's no doubt in my mind that the way Russ phrased things, it ticked him off royally. Its probably why, when Russ DID offer Peters the highest contract for an OL in Bills' history, Peters let Russ know he could have sex with himself.

 

He DID go in seeking more money, but the way Russ talked to him made him not ant to be in Buffalo any longer.

[GG]

6 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

I guess my point here was it wasn’t ‘terrible’ because the transaction turned several years of a pro bowl center

 

for a guy that did NOT want to be here

 

and yes Jason peters has been a great player

 

In the end, the trade turned out worse for the Bills because they missed nearly a decade of a HoF caliber lineman.    He wanted to be here, but also wanted to be paid for his position.  Both sides then dug in.  If he had waited until the next off-season, he would have gotten paid.

[John from Riverside]

Just now, GG said:

 

In the end, the trade turned out worse for the Bills because they missed nearly a decade of a HoF caliber lineman.    He wanted to be here, but also wanted to be paid for his position.  Both sides then dug in.  If he had waited until the next off-season, he would have gotten paid.

There really is no argument for the years of disfunction 

 

on the end?  I am glad we had Eric wood on this team

[Kirby Jackson]

31 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

I guess my point here was it wasn’t ‘terrible’ because the transaction turned several years of a pro bowl center

 

for a guy that did NOT want to be here

 

and yes Jason peters has been a great player

Not wanting to be somewhere and wanting fair market value are 2 different things. Jason Peters wasn’t wrong; the Bills were. Now it wasn’t a total disaster because Wood turned out to be a quality player. The Bills certainly lost the trade though. They should have just paid Peters.

[BuffaloRebound]

As much as we all like Eric Wood and he was a good center, there’s no comparison to losing the services of a legit All Pro LT for 10 years.  But we probably still would’ve sucked at the end of the Ralph years and in the middle of the Pats dynasty anyway.  

[Kirby Jackson]

5 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

As much as we all like Eric Wood and he was a good center, there’s no comparison to losing the services of a legit All Pro LT for 10 years.  But we probably still would’ve sucked at the end of the Ralph years and in the middle of the Pats dynasty anyway.  

I think that this is a good point. It was the wrong decision but may not have mattered.

[plenzmd1]

28 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Not wanting to be somewhere and wanting fair market value are 2 different things. Jason Peters wasn’t wrong; the Bills were. Now it wasn’t a total disaster because Wood turned out to be a quality player. The Bills certainly lost the trade though. They should have just paid Peters.

Devils advocate...you set a a dangerous precedent redoing a guy who has 3 years left no?

[Kirby Jackson]

1 minute ago, plenzmd1 said:

Devils advocate...you set a a dangerous precedent redoing a guy who has 3 years left no?

Not IMO, situations change. He was an extreme example, as an undrafted guy that was early in a HOF career. He’s the exception to the rule. 

[GG]

11 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Not IMO, situations change. He was an extreme example, as an undrafted guy that was early in a HOF career. He’s the exception to the rule. 

In retrospect it is, but Ralph didn't want to set a precedent.  

[Kirby Jackson]

26 minutes ago, GG said:

In retrospect it is, but Ralph didn't want to set a precedent.  

That’s fair (even though at the time many thought he should have set it). 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

2 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

As much as we all like Eric Wood and he was a good center, there’s no comparison to losing the services of a legit All Pro LT for 10 years.  But we probably still would’ve sucked at the end of the Ralph years and in the middle of the Pats dynasty anyway.  

+1

[njbuff]

Any FA about our freaking team that we can chew the fat on?

[Locomark]

3 hours ago, GG said:

In retrospect it is, but Ralph didn't want to set a precedent.  

This was the same Ralph that had no problem paying Chris Kelsey. The issue wasn’t when to pay them, it was who he wanted to pay. Ralph just got lucky that he had a great GM in the late 80s that made those decisions easy at that chunk of time. When not during that period he did make some awful contract decisions. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

5 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

Don't forget the 4th round pick that became Shawn Nelson!

 

 

...ease up Big Dawg...we had a 4th round pick the got us Ko "I'm A Millionaire" Simpson.......

[Royale with Cheese]

6 minutes ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

 

...ease up Big Dawg...we had a 4th round pick the got us Ko "I'm A Millionaire" Simpson.......

I should have named my son Ko.

[DCOrange]

1st rounder tender is roughly $5 million, but point is, he'll be back in New Orleans because nobody is giving up a 1st round pick and that's apparently how New Orleans wants it.

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by DCOrange

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Not sure this is the best place for this:  @Matt Parrino speculates on 5 "under the radar" free agents the Bills could pursue.

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2020/03/buffalo-bills-free-agency-2020-5-under-the-radar-targets.html

 

Daryl Williams, OK, competent but not great RT in 2017, IR 2018 after probably being too aggressive trying to come back too soon, played 12 games last year at 3 different positions.  Rumored the Bills tried to bring him in last off season, so OK (paired with Nsekhe, would they have one-16-season knee between 'em?).  I wouldn't be excited, but good signing.

 

Jordan Howard, competent add at RB if his shoulder is all healed up and he's good to go.   Carl Nassib, doesn't excite me as an alternative to Lawson, would be a solid "add competition" move.  Mackenzie Alexander, no opinion.

 

He lost me completely at Devin Funchess.  Seriously?  If your answer is Devin Funchess, just what was your question, "what FA WR could Bills sign with career catch percentage less than 1% better than Kelvin Benjamin?"  It surely wasn't "What FA WR would give us new capabilities and provide a clear step up on the guys we already got".  Seriously, I'd feel better hearing we're gonna go with Duke Williams and Isaiah McKenzie as the backup plan.

 

Demarcus Robinson would be better.  Better is what's required to avoid counting on a WR, especially if we go with another position in the first.  If the Bills are trying to go it without shelling out the big bucks for a proven talent who may not want to be here such as Hooper or Cooper, Beane had jolly well better loosen his pursestrings a bit more.

 

 

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, DCOrange said:

1st rounder tender is roughly $5 million, but point is, he'll be back in New Orleans because nobody is giving up a 1st round pick and that's apparently how New Orleans wants it.

 

They were never going to let him go. It sounds like hyperbole but Taysom Hill is, arguably, the most popular player on their team. He’s like Mike Jasper on steroids. 

[DCOrange]

21 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Not sure this is the best place for this:  @Matt Parrino speculates on 5 "under the radar" free agents the Bills could pursue.

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2020/03/buffalo-bills-free-agency-2020-5-under-the-radar-targets.html

 

Daryl Williams, OK, competent but not great RT in 2017, IR 2018 after probably being too aggressive trying to come back too soon, played 12 games last year at 3 different positions.  Rumored the Bills tried to bring him in last off season, so OK (paired with Nsekhe, would they have one-16-season knee between 'em?).  I wouldn't be excited, but good signing.

 

Jordan Howard, competent add at RB if his shoulder is all healed up and he's good to go.   Carl Nassib, doesn't excite me as an alternative to Lawson, would be a solid "add competition" move.  Mackenzie Alexander, no opinion.

 

He lost me completely at Devin Funchess.  Seriously?  If your answer is Devin Funchess, just what was your question, "what FA WR could Bills sign with career catch percentage less than 1% better than Kelvin Benjamin?"  It surely wasn't "What FA WR would give us new capabilities and provide a clear step up on the guys we already got".  Seriously, I'd feel better hearing we're gonna go with Duke Williams and Isaiah McKenzie as the backup plan.

 

Demarcus Robinson would be better.  Better is what's required to avoid counting on a WR, especially if we go with another position in the first.  If the Bills are trying to go it without shelling out the big bucks for a proven talent who may not want to be here such as Hooper or Cooper, Beane had jolly well better loosen his pursestrings a bit more.

 

 

Funchess obviously wouldn't be an exciting addition, but they probably aren't looking for that in free agency as a WR anyways. Funchess has at least shown he can be moderately productive over the course of a full season. And for all the handwringing about his catch rate, his true catch rate in 2018 (since he was basically out the entire year in 2019) was higher than Robinson's this past season.

 

Beane liked Funchess in Carolina, he'll likely be signing a very cheap and or 1 year deal (both of which are ideal), and he gives us a big and somewhat proven red zone target that we don't currently have on the team. Maybe more importantly, he gives us someone that we know is a capable starter when healthy so that we don't have to reach for a more pro-ready WR in the draft if we don't want to.

 

Funchess isn't my #1 target for FA WRs but bringing him in would make a lot of sense and probably moreso than Robinson IMO.

Edited March 6, 2020 by DCOrange

[Mike in Horseheads]

3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

They were never going to let him go. It sounds like hyperbole but Taysom Hill is, arguably, the most popular player on their team. He’s like Mike Jasper on steroids. 

Your our NOLA corespondent, is he really seen as the Saints future QB?