Why not trade for a dependable kicker?

[Warcodered]

I mean they have them for half off at Walmart.

[Royale with Cheese]

Why stop at kicker?  The Giants are clearly out of it…lets see what it will take to get Malik Nabers.

Edited September 19 by Royale with Cheese

[Doc]

Or 3D print one.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

1 hour ago, Rew said:

Bass is still a starting kicker in this league.  Despite his struggles, he is not a bottom 5 or maybe not even a bottom 10 kicker.  There are not that many definitive upgrades from him, and very few (if any) that would both be an upgrade and not have playoff hopes.  I share the trepidation that he is not what he was, but he has looked good so far this season and there is no reason to think we need to (or can) upgrade at any cost.

 

69% FG in his last 17 games. Easily bottom 5. Perhaps dead last. 

 

As far as trading him? I doubt any team has a good kicker and is already giving up on their season only 2 weeks in. When's the last time a team traded for a good kicker mid season? Has it ever happened? 

 

I could see us cutting Bass during the season and signing a FA off the street (or CFL), but it's slim pickings out there 

[Rew]

9 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

69% FG in his last 17 games. Easily bottom 5. Perhaps dead last. 

 

As far as trading him? I doubt any team has a good kicker and is already giving up on their season only 2 weeks in. When's the last time a team traded for a good kicker mid season? Has it ever happened? 

 

I could see us cutting Bass during the season and signing a FA off the street (or CFL), but it's slim pickings out there 

I'm not at practice to see what is happening.  In regular season he looks much different this year than he did last year.  He has a bad season, kickers do.  Many come back and are fine.  Many don't.  I stand by my comment that he is not proven to be close to the worst kicker in the league and there are not a ton of definitive upgrades.  Try and make a list of 20 kickers that unequivocally are better.  Try to do that while putting kicks into context of stadium and conditions.  I'm not trying to argue that he is a top 10 kicker, but most of the league is not in a clearly better position than us at kicker.  The basis of the thread is that there are available kickers out there that are an upgrade and I don't see it.  He may be in his own head, and it may not pan out this season, but there aren't a ton of better options.

 

We may bring someone else in as security if he falls off a cliff, but he is likely our starter all season barring injury.

[LABILLBACKER]

Just sign Matt Coghlin after this season...problem solved, no trade needed. Release Bass and eat his 3M dead cap.

[Beck Water]

5 hours ago, Kingston Bills Fan said:

Why not trade Bass and a pick to a team that has no chance at making the playoffs this year but has a good kicker. I have zero issues sending even as high as a 5th or 4th rounder or even higher if they take Bass and his contract. There has to be a team that has a good kicker but would rather have a pick to build up their team knowing a good kicker is waaaaay down on their priority list. 

 

Beane has mentioned proposals to push the trade deadline back from week 8 so that more teams might feel they are "out of it" and be interested in moving players.  And the NFL did move the trade deadline back to after week 9.

 

But after week 2?  Who are all these teams who feel they have "no chance at making the playoffs" after week 2?  Hope springs eternal
 

4 hours ago, Warcodered said:

I mean they have them for half off at Walmart.

 

I thought Beane could just stroll up to the Kicker tree and thump a few of them to see if they're ripe, then pick one.

Edited September 19 by Beck Water

[QB Bills]

This isn't the dumb idea most of you are making it out to be. Half the replies are that good kickers are too valuable while the other half is saying the opposite. So perhaps op is on to something?

 

I, for one, still believe in Bass. But if I didn't, I would definitely explore the idea. A reliable kicker is much more valuable to a team with super bowl aspirations than it is to a bottom feeder, who would theoretically prioritize draft picks.

Edited September 19 by QB Bills

[Nephilim17]

If Bass starts costing us games before game 10, I don't see why Beane wouldn't consider trading for a kicker.

 

I'm not saying give up a high pick, but if a team is out of it by the mid-way point of the season, maybe a 5th for a good kicker, I'd do that. We can't make a playoff run with a kicker who isn't dependable between for kicks up to the low 50s.

 

And to answer the question why a team would trade a good kicker; if they're out of the playoffs and maybe tanking for picks, I don't see why they wouldn't.

Edited September 19 by Nephilim17

[GASabresIUFan]

20 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Just sign Matt Coghlin after this season...problem solved, no trade needed. Release Bass and eat his 3M dead cap.

 

1 minute ago, Beck Water said:

 

Beane has mentioned proposals to push the trade deadline back from week 8 so that more teams might feel they are "out of it" and be interested in moving players.  And the NFL did move the trade deadline back to after week 9.

 

But after week 2?  Who are all these teams who feel they have "no chance at making the playoffs" after week 2?  Hope springs eternal

 

No one is trading us a kicker now or at anytime this season.  If they want to replace Bass it will be a FA signing and good luck finding someone decent.

 

Releasing Bass would cause a $7.38 dead cap hit this season.  We can move on after this season for only 3 mill in 2025.

 

Over the last 3 years only 2 teams of 21 to start 0-2 made the playoffs.  There are currently 9 0-2 teams.  Given that history we can expect one of these teams to make the playoffs.  My guess is one of Cin or Balt will turn it around.

 

The "best" thing that could happen is Bass gets "injured" and goes on IR for the season forcing the Bills to find a new kicker.  This assumes Bass continues to struggle.  Bass is 3/4 with a long of 43 yards and he is 8/8 on XP.

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

10 hours ago, Kingston Bills Fan said:

I have zero issues sending even as high as a 5th or 4th rounder or even higher if they take Bass and his contract

You are not the guy who makes that decision. There are cap ramifications with a trade and someone would have to take the terrible contract with then terrible kicker and give up their good kicker.  What teams do you have in mind who would do that?

[machine gun kelly]

10 hours ago, Albany,n.y. said:

No team is trading their kicker to the Bills.  Might as well ask them to trade their best WRs too.  

Exactly, Albany.  Teams only have one and no team wants to move on from their dependable kicker.  It’s just not going to happen.  We can workout guys who are not active, and we can also draft one next year, but for the most part we’re stuck with Bass.  What I don’t know is if the team strongly recommended he sees a sports psychologist regularly so he clear out the cobwebs and regain his confidence.  He has the leg, but the problem is between his ears.

[BillsfaninChicago]

Posts that start out with “Why not…” are almost as great as “Now hear me out…”

[BuffaloBillyG]

So, this is the theme for this season? It's going to be over obsessing and over stressing about the kicker until he's eventually run out of town? 

[Thurman#1]

8 hours ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

69% FG in his last 17 games. Easily bottom 5. Perhaps dead last. 

 

As far as trading him? I doubt any team has a good kicker and is already giving up on their season only 2 weeks in. When's the last time a team traded for a good kicker mid season? Has it ever happened? 

 

I could see us cutting Bass during the season and signing a FA off the street (or CFL), but it's slim pickings out there 

 

 

Success percentage is absolutely not enough to reasonably rank kickers. How many were in windy conditions versus other kickers kicking in domes? How many were longer or shorter than most? How many had problems on the snap? Way too many variations to pretend that percentage alone can be used to make a sharp ranking.

 

IMO, he's not bottom five, and clearly the Bills don't think so. Fair to say that in the last half of the year and this year he's not top half anymore, though. The question is whether or not he'll recover. No way to know, but the Bills have a better sense of that than we do.

 

I'm with you that replacement will be an important choice if they do get rid of him. My best guess is that they won't, but we'll see.

 

 

Edited September 19 by Thurman#1

[Sweats]

Let's go all in and draft a kicker with our first-round draft pick next season.......i'm telling you, the rest of the league will never see it coming 

[CoudyBills]

10 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

The Bass hate runs deep at TBD....

It's not hate, it's true.  He is a bottom 3rd kicker.  Go to a kicker stats page, sort by fg% then scroll down, way down.  

[The Jokeman]

6 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Just sign Matt Coghlin after this season...problem solved, no trade needed. Release Bass and eat his 3M dead cap.

Did you see his numbers at MSU? Yeah he might not be as good as his USFL stats indicate. 

[PonyBoy]

11 hours ago, QCity said:

You want to trade a 4th round pick for a kicker??

 

Yeah.... But A Good Kicker! 😂

[DaBillsFanSince1973]