Ryan "Rick" Bates Watch Thread

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, 3rdand12 said:

Morse really needs an apprentice this season perhaps. Surprised he made it this far

 

TBH, I thought Bates was gonna be his apprentice but, maybe in what they've seen of Bates at C the Bills really don't see him that way

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

26 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

Maybe they are and just are making Chicago wait. Then they take the Bates money and put it towards a veteran??

 

or Beane is irritated that Chicago signed him, plans to match, and making Chicago wait puts Chicago in the disadvantage of not pursuing another guard

 

I could be wrong, but I doubt Beane allows emotions to influence his GM decisions

 

If a decision to re-negotiate a contract or release a different player is involved in the match, I can easily see it taking 5 days to pull all the pieces together

If a decision to pursue another player if the match hits a certain target is involved, I can see it taking 5 days to pursue another player (and if they don't succeed, does the decision change?)

 

Anyway, I kind of doubt Beane is sitting in an office chair with a smirk on his face twiddling his thumbs. 

[Rocky Landing]

1 hour ago, 3rdand12 said:

Morse really needs an apprentice this season perhaps. Surprised he made it this far

They likely need to get two from the draft. C/OG  and or OG/T

I feel like I've read (maybe in 202?) that Ike Boettger gets reps at center in practice. Does anyone know if this is true? 

[MrEpsYtown]

3 minutes ago, Rocky Landing said:

I feel like I've read (maybe in 202?) that Ike Boettger gets reps at center in practice. Does anyone know if this is true? 

Yes this is true. I think he played a bit there in the preseason as well

[Buddo]

3 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Yes this is true. I think he played a bit there in the preseason as well

 

He's not likely to be fit though, is he.

 

He's also a FA, if memory serves me correctly.

 

I can't see anyone signing him until he can prove his fitness, and that may well not be, before the season has got well underway.

[MrEpsYtown]

55 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

Most scenarios seem to conclude that we will be waiting until the last day to decide.

 

One unfortunate problem is that there don't seem to be many good veteran choices that would be an upgrade.  The poster I responded to was mentioning Chris Reed, who is not an upgrade.  So turning down Bates even at an uncomfortable price would leave us with a hole to fill.  

 

IMO, getting Turner would be an upgrade.  And the front office would want to know if they could get him at a price they have in mind before deciding on Bates.  That would be the time constraint.

Yeah I think Turner, Hernandez. Maybe Devernay-Tardif. Ethan Pocic is somewhat interesting, not a RAS guy but has played a lot of center and guard. Maybe Billy Price has upside. 
 

My outside the box idea if Bates goes?Sign Riley Reiff to play some RG. Older guy, vet, but a former left tackle who would be a nice presence next to Brown. He is no longer a tackle imo, but he could be an effective guard. 
 

 

3 minutes ago, Buddo said:

 

He's not likely to be fit though, is he.

 

He's also a FA, if memory serves me correctly.

 

I can't see anyone signing him until he can prove his fitness, and that may well not be, before the season has got well underway.

Yeah agreed. And it took Ike a long time to get to 100% when he popped the other achilles at Iowa. I think he misses this season completely. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by MrEpsYtown

[Ethan in Cleveland]

As long as this off-season they are correcting past mistakes, why not go get Jason Peters and let him finish his HOF career back in Buffalo with a SB win!!!!

[FLFan]

38 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

TBH, I thought Bates was gonna be his apprentice but, maybe in what they've seen of Bates at C the Bills really don't see him that way

 

 

During last off-season the Bills indicated that Bates would be the primary backup at C rather than the jack of all trades role they had him in before.  That’s why Bates was last off the bench in the guard rotation after Ford, Williams, Feliciano, and Boettger.  He did perform well in very limited action.  It is pretty clear to me, however, that Beane and the coaching staff do not see him as the long term answer at C, hence the extension of Morse, and does not see him as a starter at LG, hence the  signing of Saffold.  It would also appear they certainly do not have him penciled in RG as a starter, or they would have tendered him higher.  So the Bills value him as a good role player and hence the $2.5 m offer.  

 

I guess we will see who the better talent evaluators and team builders are, Beane and company or message board fan “experts”.   

[MrEpsYtown]

5 minutes ago, FLFan said:

During last off-season the Bills indicated that Bates would be the primary backup at C rather than the jack of all trades role they had him in before.  That’s why Bates was last off the bench in the guard rotation after Ford, Williams, Feliciano, and Boettger.  He did perform well in very limited action.  It is pretty clear to me, however, that Beane and the coaching staff do not see him as the long term answer at C, hence the extension of Morse, and does not see him as a starter at LG, hence the  signing of Saffold.  It would also appear they certainly do not have him penciled in RG as a starter, or they would have tendered him higher.  So the Bills value him as a good role player and hence the $2.5 m offer.  

 

I guess we will see who the better talent evaluators and team builders are, Beane and company or message board fan “experts”.   

I like what the Bears are doing, but they don’t really have a left tackle. They gave a 2/8 million dollar deal to Lucas Patrick of the Packers. Intersting player but he has played a bunch for the Packers at guard. 34 starts, played in 74 games in 5 years. Bates has played in 41 games and started 4 in three years. I am not sure how you justify giving Bates more. The Bears probably offered him something  like a 4 year deal worth 12 million with a 7 million dollar hit this year. 

[BADOLBILZ]

12 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

I like what the Bears are doing, but they don’t really have a left tackle. They gave a 2/8 million dollar deal to Lucas Patrick of the Packers. Intersting player but he has played a bunch for the Packers at guard. 34 starts, played in 74 games in 5 years. Bates has played in 41 games and started 4 in three years. I am not sure how you justify giving Bates more. The Bears probably offered him something  like a 4 year deal worth 12 million with a 7 million dollar hit this year. 

 

 

I do hope they retain Bates.  

 

Speaking of Bears LT.......I would like to see the Bills end up with Jason Peters as a reserve tackle cheap if he chooses not to wait until August or September to sign again.  Old but better than Ty Nsekhe was and Beane paid Tired Ty $7M aav.   Peters was on a $2M 1 year deal with Chicago and then play him a few series every game to keep the tackles fresh and avoid the kind of catastrophic situations we saw with Brown and Doyle at LT(Doyle was a perfect 1 snap/1 sack at LT).

 

And rotating OL more will be part of the future of football.   Older fans will deny it.....but with 17-18 game seasons and spread offenses......it's coming.   I can remember when people insisted Willis McGahee and Travis Henry couldn't share the same backfield and thought I was crazy when I insisted 2 back systems were coming.  Two years later it was already becoming the norm.  The Bills might as well stay ahead of it.   

[letsgoteam]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I do hope they retain Bates.  

 

Speaking of Bears LT.......I would like to see the Bills end up with Jason Peters as a reserve tackle cheap if he chooses not to wait until August or September to sign again.  Old but better than Ty Nsekhe was and Beane paid Tired Ty $7M aav.   Peters was on a $2M 1 year deal with Chicago and then play him a few series every game to keep the tackles fresh and avoid the kind of catastrophic situations we saw with Brown and Doyle at LT(Doyle was a perfect 1 snap/1 sack at LT).

 

And rotating OL more will be part of the future of football.   Older fans will deny it.....but with 17-18 game seasons and spread offenses......it's coming.   I can remember when people insisted Willis McGahee and Travis Henry couldn't share the same backfield and thought I was crazy when I insisted 2 back systems were coming.  Two years later it was already becoming the norm.  The Bills might as well stay ahead of it.   

I have been a fan of bringing back J.P as a reserve.

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I do hope they retain Bates.  

 

Speaking of Bears LT.......I would like to see the Bills end up with Jason Peters as a reserve tackle cheap if he chooses not to wait until August or September to sign again.  Old but better than Ty Nsekhe was and Beane paid Tired Ty $7M aav.   Peters was on a $2M 1 year deal with Chicago and then play him a few series every game to keep the tackles fresh and avoid the kind of catastrophic situations we saw with Brown and Doyle at LT(Doyle was a perfect 1 snap/1 sack at LT).

 

And rotating OL more will be part of the future of football.   Older fans will deny it.....but with 17-18 game seasons and spread offenses......it's coming.   I can remember when people insisted Willis McGahee and Travis Henry couldn't share the same backfield and thought I was crazy when I insisted 2 back systems were coming.  Two years later it was already becoming the norm.  The Bills might as well stay ahead of it.   

I think it is good to have young guys in the lineup with reliable old guys around. Peters, Riley Reiff, maybe a Bryan Bulaga, Kromer guy Kyle Long. Good dudes to have around as reserves and mentor young lienemen. 

[Thurman#1]

15 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

I like what the Bears are doing, but they don’t really have a left tackle. They gave a 2/8 million dollar deal to Lucas Patrick of the Packers. Intersting player but he has played a bunch for the Packers at guard. 34 starts, played in 74 games in 5 years. Bates has played in 41 games and started 4 in three years. I am not sure how you justify giving Bates more. The Bears probably offered him something  like a 4 year deal worth 12 million with a 7 million dollar hit this year. 

 

 

 

They had a lot of competition for Bates, and while the Bears had to worry about whether the Bills would match, Bates probably gives zero poos about that. For him, he just wants to make this contract as financially remunerative and smart as possible for he and his family. That's how he would choose the contract. So I myself doubt whether the Bears would have been the highest bidder with that contract.

 

IMO maybe $5 - 6.5M AAV., with the guarantees structured right.

[H2o]

Where do we stand on the countdown? When is the signing official for the Bears if we don't match the offer? 

[No_Matter_What]

2 minutes ago, H2o said:

Where do we stand on the countdown? When is the signing official for the Bears if we don't match the offer? 

Someone said earlier in this thread that deadline is Wednesday 4pm.

[JGMcD2]

McDermott said today we’re working through this…

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by JGMcD2

[Pags24]

29 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

Someone said earlier in this thread that deadline is Wednesday 4pm.

We have until Tuesday, 3PM Central Time

[BADOLBILZ]

28 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

 

They had a lot of competition for Bates, and while the Bears had to worry about whether the Bills would match, Bates probably gives zero poos about that. For him, he just wants to make this contract as financially remunerative and smart as possible for he and his family. That's how he would choose the contract. So I myself doubt whether the Bears would have been the highest bidder with that contract.

 

IMO maybe $5 - 6.5M AAV., with the guarantees structured right.

 

 

$6.5M aav would be a jaw dropping RFA bid.........likely a record for any position.    

[MrEpsYtown]

31 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

 

They had a lot of competition for Bates, and while the Bears had to worry about whether the Bills would match, Bates probably gives zero poos about that. For him, he just wants to make this contract as financially remunerative and smart as possible for he and his family. That's how he would choose the contract. So I myself doubt whether the Bears would have been the highest bidder with that contract.

 

IMO maybe $5 - 6.5M AAV., with the guarantees structured right.

 

Yeah that is definitely a very high number when you factor the market for guards and the fact that Bates has only started in a few games. There was competition, but not alot. I think The Bears just fell in love with him and he has connections in the team. But he is very young with upside and it isn't a big risk for the Bears when they have a QB on the rookie contract. But 6.5 puts him in the top 20 of guard salaries. 4.5 to 5 is fair, but it is going to be an overpay. 

[No_Matter_What]

18 minutes ago, Pags24 said:

We have until Tuesday, 3PM Central Time

Yep it seems so, I just remembered what was written here. 

 

Thats good news btw. Finally this watch will be over