Dion Dawkins salutes essential workers in The Player’s Tribune

[YoloinOhio]

 

[scuba guy]

He is a down to earth young man and sees where the priorities are.

 

We salute you Dion

 

Just only ask for 5mill you know hometown discount

[Mr. WEO]

Sammy did it better:

 

[Kirby Jackson]

18 minutes ago, scuba guy said:

He is a down to earth young man and sees where the priorities are.

 

We salute you Dion

 

Just only ask for 5mill you know hometown discount

Ha ha ha, “we like you as long as you’ll work for us for under market value.” I love Bills fans.

 

Dawkins is becoming a leader of this team and community. He’s a guy that you hope to lock up long-term. I know there are some people that think the Bills could upgrade there but IMO that easier said than done. I’m thinking 4 years $60M is fair for both sides. 

[Saxum]

Dion is someone who understands that without those workers he will not be able to get that Macaroni and Cheese he loves so much.

Just now, Kirby Jackson said:

Ha ha ha, “we like you as long as you’ll work for us for under market value.” I love Bills fans.

 

Its more "we like you as long as your do not require to be paid so much that rest of line needs to be scrubs and players not from 1st round on 1st year contracts."

 

It is a zero sum game.

[Kirby Jackson]

3 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

Dion is someone who understands that without those workers he will not be able to get that Macaroni and Cheese he loves so much.

 

Its more "we like you as long as your do not require to be paid so much that rest of line needs to be scrubs and players not from 1st round on 1st year contracts."

 

It is a zero sum game.

It’s just reality. At some point you have to pay good players or let someone else. We should STOP asking for “hometown discounts.” That’s not the way the real world works. No one asks us to take less than our market value in our careers. We shouldn’t begrudge guys for getting what they are worth. We need to outgrow that antiquated mindset.
 

It’s a giant pet peeve of mine and one of my biggest issues with Bills fans. We like guys until they get paid. Then we complain about them. Do you think that the Chiefs care what they’re paying Chris Jones or Mahomes? Mathieu is about to get a raise one year into his contract. When your window is open you pay your core. You don’t change your feelings about a player because he’s paid more now than he was before.
 

I can just see it happening with Tre. He will inevitably become the highest paid CB ever and people here aren’t going to like it. We are going to be more annoyed by his social media. We are going to nitpick his elite level of play. He’s going to go from a fan favorite to a guy that we just don’t like. It is an annoying and insecure position. We aren’t used to having stars (in Tre’s case) or young foundational players (in Dawkins case). It’s OKAY to pay those guys market value. That’s how your window STAYS open. The goal is to win championships. When you have the core in place you don’t turn it over. You kick the can down the road like the Saints have done for 15 years.

[Like A Mofo]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

Said this a few times to others and Ill say it now:

 

I sure hope Dion Dawkins has a long and successful career with the Buffalo Bills. Dion can go down as one of the most popular players in Buffalo sports history. At least from what we can see, Dion seems to really love being in Buffalo, and gets this city and the culture and the fan base. My favorite Buffalo Bill. He GETS it.

[Not at the table Karlos]

Thanks Dion!
 

Now if the non essentials that forgot how to drive would just stay home we would all be safer. I’ve witnessed so many accidents in last couple weeks it’s not even funny

Edited July 29, 2020 by Not at the table Karlos

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It’s just reality. At some point you have to pay good players or let someone else. We should STOP asking for “hometown discounts.” That’s not the way the real world works. No one asks us to take less than our market value in our careers. We shouldn’t begrudge guys for getting what they are worth. We need to outgrow that antiquated mindset.
 

It’s a giant pet peeve of mine and one of my biggest issues with Bills fans. We like guys until they get paid. Then we complain about them. Do you think that the Chiefs care what they’re paying Chris Jones or Mahomes? Mathieu is about to get a raise one year into his contract. When your window is open you pay your core. You don’t change your feelings about a player because he’s paid more now than he was before.
 

I can just see it happening with Tre. He will inevitably become the highest paid CB ever and people here aren’t going to like it. We are going to be more annoyed by his social media. We are going to nitpick his elite level of play. He’s going to go from a fan favorite to a guy that we just don’t like. It is an annoying and insecure position. We aren’t used to having stars (in Tre’s case) or young foundational players (in Dawkins case). It’s OKAY to pay those guys market value. That’s how your window STAYS open. The goal is to win championships. When you have the core in place you don’t turn it over. You kick the can down the road like the Saints have done for 15 years.

 

Mahomes took less so they could get the Chris Jones deal done.

[TheFunPolice]

Dion is a great young player, a leader, an has such a positive, inspiring personality.... Plus he's just funny sometimes as well! Who wouldn't want to come to work everyday and be around guys like him? 

 

You 100% keep guys like that around. Having guys like that is why this team is so close knit. 

 

Plus, it's cool to see an OL being such a key figure on the team and with the fans. They don't always get a lot of love. 

 

Forget the discount. Pay the man! 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It’s just reality. At some point you have to pay good players or let someone else. We should STOP asking for “hometown discounts.” That’s not the way the real world works. No one asks us to take less than our market value in our careers. We shouldn’t begrudge guys for getting what they are worth. We need to outgrow that antiquated mindset.
 

It’s a giant pet peeve of mine and one of my biggest issues with Bills fans. We like guys until they get paid. Then we complain about them. Do you think that the Chiefs care what they’re paying Chris Jones or Mahomes? Mathieu is about to get a raise one year into his contract. When your window is open you pay your core. You don’t change your feelings about a player because he’s paid more now than he was before.
 

I can just see it happening with Tre. He will inevitably become the highest paid CB ever and people here aren’t going to like it. We are going to be more annoyed by his social media. We are going to nitpick his elite level of play. He’s going to go from a fan favorite to a guy that we just don’t like. It is an annoying and insecure position. We aren’t used to having stars (in Tre’s case) or young foundational players (in Dawkins case). It’s OKAY to pay those guys market value. That’s how your window STAYS open. The goal is to win championships. When you have the core in place you don’t turn it over. You kick the can down the road like the Saints have done for 15 years.

 

YES! Pay your best players, who you know are good, and who you know fit the culture. I would rather do that than throw big $$ around in free agency. 

 

Not that big free agent signings aren't fun, but if you're going to build through the draft you have to keep your guys around!

 

Championship organizations recognize top talent and pay them what they are worth. 

Edited July 29, 2020 by TheFunPolice

[ColoradoBills]

4 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Ha ha ha, “we like you as long as you’ll work for us for under market value.” I love Bills fans.

 

Dawkins is becoming a leader of this team and community. He’s a guy that you hope to lock up long-term. I know there are some people that think the Bills could upgrade there but IMO that easier said than done. I’m thinking 4 years $60M is fair for both sides. 

 

I'm sure OBD wants to get the deal done too.  With the cap going down probably (Spotrac has is down to $175 million next year as a prediction)

I can see a guy like Dawkins (and others around the league) having to take a little less. 

It will be good to get him locked up for 4 more years! 

[machine gun kelly]

If we want these guys, we’ll need to pony up $13-14 mil. Dawkins and Milano, and probably $17 mil. For Tre the next year.  Then we have Allen the year after that for $30+ mil.  To not space it out and take hits based on COVID, and when they have a big influx of + cash,  they’ll need to figure out a way.  We enjoyed Milano and Dawkins after this year on the cheap for 4 years. A mistake to let them go.  It’s not like J. Phillips, and Shaq who outperformed previous years.  These two have been good for awhile.

 

Continuity will help.  The plug and play model is not good when you have real proven talent.  I’m cool with J. Phillips, and Shaq as they has a magical great year when they were biding for a contract.  No way we can let Tre and hopefully Allen go, so we need to take advantage now.

 

The last thing I want is a couple of years of being kind of good and then backwards as we think, we’ll we’ll plug in another Milano or Dawson. That’s a mistake.

[WhoTom]

His first job was my first job, too! My friend Joe and I went door-to-door offering shoveling services. We only ended up with one client - an elderly lady who called us at 5AM when she wanted her driveway shoveled. (We didn't just wait for snow days - we'd go over before school if necessary.) If it wasn't a school day, she'd invite us in for hot chocolate after we finished. I think we got $15 each time, but that was in 1978.

[Don Otreply]

5 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

We can all take a lesson from Dion and repeatedly seek out and thank these people daily. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[Kirby Jackson]

3 hours ago, SCBills said:

 

Mahomes took less so they could get the Chris Jones deal done.

Maybe

 

That’s what he says but who knows if that’s what was offered or if they didn’t go back to milk more out of them. The Chiefs offering this deal and Mahomes accepting isn’t him taking less. It’s only him taking less if he went back and said, “no I want ____.” It is a bit of semantics. I don’t think that the Chiefs came to him and said “you can have ____ and we can’t keep Jones or you can have ____ and we can.” The more likely scenario is that they reached a number that both sides were comfortable with and there was enough for Jones. That’s not a hometown discount. That’s 2 sides reaching an agreement.

 

The truth is if anything thinks White’s representation is going to take $.05 less than “highest paid CB ever” I have a bridge for sale. Now if he takes $21M a year instead of $20M or whatever that’s a different argument. 

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

4 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It’s just reality. At some point you have to pay good players or let someone else. We should STOP asking for “hometown discounts.” That’s not the way the real world works. No one asks us to take less than our market value in our careers. We shouldn’t begrudge guys for getting what they are worth. We need to outgrow that antiquated mindset.
 

It’s a giant pet peeve of mine and one of my biggest issues with Bills fans. We like guys until they get paid. Then we complain about them. Do you think that the Chiefs care what they’re paying Chris Jones or Mahomes? Mathieu is about to get a raise one year into his contract. When your window is open you pay your core. You don’t change your feelings about a player because he’s paid more now than he was before.
 

I can just see it happening with Tre. He will inevitably become the highest paid CB ever and people here aren’t going to like it. We are going to be more annoyed by his social media. We are going to nitpick his elite level of play. He’s going to go from a fan favorite to a guy that we just don’t like. It is an annoying and insecure position. We aren’t used to having stars (in Tre’s case) or young foundational players (in Dawkins case). It’s OKAY to pay those guys market value. That’s how your window STAYS open. The goal is to win championships. When you have the core in place you don’t turn it over. You kick the can down the road like the Saints have done for 15 years.

I agree he is a slightly better than average LT that excels in the running game and is average pass pro with a weakness against speed rushers. Pay him accordingly. 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Call_Of_Ktulu

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I agree he is a slightly better than average LT that excels in the running game and is average pass pro with a weakness against speed rushers. Pay him accordingly. 

That’s fair. When the league execs in that ESPN poll did the top 10 OTs he was in the honorable mention category. Dawkins was basically 14 overall in their opinion. That feels about right. He’s a good, not great, offensive tackle. Based on being “the next man up” he will get a contract around the top 5 for offensive tackles but won’t reset the market. We are looking at around $15M a year IMO. https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/2020/03/06/highest-paid-offensive-linemen-nfl-ranking-o-linemen-salary-2020/4977564002/

[Westside Madness]

5 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Ha ha ha, “we like you as long as you’ll work for us for under market value.” I love Bills fans.

 

Its also the 'wonderful' model that Capitalism flourishes (sarcasm) under. #bezosmodel

 

As for the Bills and Dion, our current management have shown an amazing ability to be smart with the cap. However, they haven't really started handing out the second contracts yet. I am hoping they show the same acumen with those.

[YoloinOhio]

10 minutes ago, Westside Madness said:

 

Its also the 'wonderful' model that Capitalism flourishes (sarcasm) under. #bezosmodel

 

As for the Bills and Dion, our current management have shown an amazing ability to be smart with the cap. However, they haven't really started handing out the second contracts yet. I am hoping they show the same acumen with those.

Joe Marino on the Locked on Bills podcast  recently went over the history of what the panthers have done (trying to connect to McBeane) with paying guys at different positions. He feels it is either Milano or Dawkins and looking at Panthers history when they were there Milano was more likely. But I actually have a feeling they will pay Dawkins whether they also pay Milano or not. 
 

As a side note I love Dawkins and hope he’s signed 

Edited July 29, 2020 by YoloinOhio

[Kirby Jackson]

1 hour ago, Westside Madness said:

 

Its also the 'wonderful' model that Capitalism flourishes (sarcasm) under. #bezosmodel

 

As for the Bills and Dion, our current management have shown an amazing ability to be smart with the cap. However, they haven't really started handing out the second contracts yet. I am hoping they show the same acumen with those.

I believe that they will. The nice thing with the NFL is contracts aren’t based on precedent. You have to get creative at times as to when the numbers hit but that’s about it. If you have a guy like Tre it’s honestly kind of easy. You know that it will be the top CB contract ever but you’re comfortable that he’s a top 5 CB. It would be difficult for that to be a bad deal. 
 

Dawkins is a touch more complicated and Milano even a little more than that. Dawkins plays a premium position so a slight overpay for a “good” player is easier to stomach than a slight overpay on a scheme specific guy (which Milano may or may not be). He certainly makes the Bills better but how much of that is the player vs. the opportunity? That’s where they have to come to an agreement on the numbers. The Bills will argue opportunity and Milano’s people will argue the player. It will be interesting to see that one. 

Edited July 29, 2020 by Kirby Jackson