Ryan "Rick" Bates Watch Thread

[MrEpsYtown]

6 minutes ago, mannc said:

If he wants to come back to Buffalo, can't he just sign a contract with the Bills, without signing with another team first?  

Yep for sure. He doesn’t have to sign and offer sheet, he can just go back to the Bills and tell them what it is going to take. He had a chance to see his market, now he controls his destiny. 

[transplantbillsfan]

It just seems weird if we let Bates walk.  He's been a true developmental guy for Buffalo and it seems like he's finally developed into a solid starting OL.  I wonder if the other teams want him to play Center, which he's expressed a desire to play long term.  The money at Center is better, too.

 

As much as people seem to be ragging on posters complaining about the prospect of losing him, I think losing Bates would be a pretty significant loss for this team.

 

Plus... Cody Ford...

 

YIKES!!!

[MrEpsYtown]

Bears just signed Dakota Dozier. He sucks though so I don’t think it matters, but I just wanted to add that to the conversation. But again they are the ones with the most cap space out of all the teams looking at Bates. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

23 minutes ago, mannc said:

If he wants to come back to Buffalo, can't he just sign a contract with the Bills, without signing with another team first?  

 

That's an interesting question.  I don't know the answer, actually. 

 

I think part of the idea is to be able to prove to the tendering team that he really did get a legitimate contract for the stated terms, and for that he needs to present it to the Bills. 

 

But I don't know if there are rules where in between being tendered as an RFA and needing to sign the tender, the team could offer him an acceptable contract without an offer sheet and the player could sign

[MiltonWaddams]

Tough situation for Rick. Not guaranteed to start on a SB contender, despite being the singular piece that evolved the o-line from broken to effective in the last 1/3 of the season. I wish I could see what the Bills brass don't see in him to put him in this position. I prefer the Bills to fill CB and WR needs in the top 2 rounds. I really hope that they don't force their own hand by missing on Bates. 

[MrEpsYtown]

7 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That's an interesting question.  I don't know the answer, actually. 

 

I think part of the idea is to be able to prove to the tendering team that he really did get a legitimate contract for the stated terms, and for that he needs to present it to the Bills. 

 

But I don't know if there are rules where in between being tendered as an RFA and needing to sign the tender, the team could offer him an acceptable contract without an offer sheet and the player could sign

I believe it is like the franchise tag. Like after signing the tender you can still negotiate with your original team. However, if Bates signs an offer sheet, I don’t think he can negotiate with the Bills anymore. It’s either match the deal, let him leave, or try to negotiate a trade with the other team in exchange for not matching. 

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

 

What options? Any offers? There could be, but haven’t seen any reported. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

59 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

What options? Any offers? There could be, but haven’t seen any reported. 

 

Good question @RyanTalbotBills: What options is Ryan Bates got to weigh?

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

1 hour ago, MrEpsYtown said:

I believe it is like the franchise tag. Like after signing the tender you can still negotiate with your original team. However, if Bates signs an offer sheet, I don’t think he can negotiate with the Bills anymore. It’s either match the deal, let him leave, or try to negotiate a trade with the other team in exchange for not matching. 

My question would be can he reveal to the Bills the offers he got without actually signing an offer sheet, so that the Bills can build a roughly similar offer but with a cap structure that works for us.

[MrEpsYtown]

9 minutes ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

My question would be can he reveal to the Bills the offers he got without actually signing an offer sheet, so that the Bills can build a roughly similar offer but with a cap structure that works for us.

I am not 100%. But I believe that he can, up until he signs an offer sheet. 

[SCBills]

2 hours ago, MiltonWaddams said:

Tough situation for Rick. Not guaranteed to start on a SB contender, despite being the singular piece that evolved the o-line from broken to effective in the last 1/3 of the season. I wish I could see what the Bills brass don't see in him to put him in this position. I prefer the Bills to fill CB and WR needs in the top 2 rounds. I really hope that they don't force their own hand by missing on Bates. 

He helped, but our line also finally got healthy.   Dawkins was a beast again after fighting covid effects all year.  

[NewEra]

34 minutes ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

My question would be can he reveal to the Bills the offers he got without actually signing an offer sheet, so that the Bills can build a roughly similar offer but with a cap structure that works for us.

I can’t say yes definitively, but I don’t see whY he can’t discuss his offers or at least give the bills guidelines to what he wants. 

[Royale with Cheese]

Watch Belicheck spite McDermott by making him the highest paid Guard in NFL History.  That mother****** would.

[K D]

Are we even sure he's "good"? He started what like 4 games? If we didn't know Cody Ford was a 2nd round bust of a pick we could probably find 4 games where he played pretty decent too

[YoloinOhio]

59 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Watch Belicheck spite McDermott by making him the highest paid Guard in NFL History.  That mother****** would.

If Rick bates is the crown jewel of belichick’s FA class, I’m certain that McDermott will do an Irish jig 

[mrags]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I can’t say yes definitively, but I don’t see whY he can’t discuss his offers or at least give the bills guidelines to what he wants. 

Think they have to. Isn’t that the point of the RFA status. We have to be given the opportunity to match no matter what? 

[Warcodered]

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Watch Belicheck spite McDermott by making him the highest paid Guard in NFL History.  That mother****** would.

I would love that unless somehow he ends up being an All-pro guard immediatly after arriving there.

[NewEra]

27 minutes ago, mrags said:

Think they have to. Isn’t that the point of the RFA status. We have to be given the opportunity to match no matter what? 

Yeah…. But there isn’t a signed offer yet.  I think he may have been wondering if Bates is allowed to come back and tell the Bills all the details about the offer or if we may not be privy to the details until the offer sheet is signed. Should be the same answer but I don’t know that 💯 to be fact.  I’m just assuming

[mrags]

6 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Yeah…. But there isn’t a signed offer yet.  I think he may have been wondering if Bates is allowed to come back and tell the Bills all the details about the offer or if we may not be privy to the details until the offer sheet is signed. Should be the same answer but I don’t know that 💯 to be fact.  I’m just assuming

Dont think we would know until the offer sheet is submitted. But pretty sure we will get to see exactly what the offer is. And of course be able to match it. 
 

probably should have used the better RFA tag on him. But I’m guessing Beane was assuming for the 3-4m they would have to spend on that, they could get an easy upgrade to replace him. Which makes me believe they don’t value him as much as most of us fans do. 

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I can’t say yes definitively, but I don’t see whY he can’t discuss his offers or at least give the bills guidelines to what he wants. 

That's true, there shouldn't be any rule against it because he can just present it as "this is what I'd need" like any other negotiation.