Christian Benford, dealing from a position of strength in contract negotiations.

[Beck Water]

4 hours ago, mannc said:

Wait, are they saying there are 169 cornerbacks in the league who are better than Benford?  If so, that might be the dumbest ranking I have ever seen.  He's a top 10 CB...probably the best player on the Bills' defense.

 

No, they're saying there are 169 CBs in the league who are paid better than Benford.

 

Which, given that Benford is playing on his rookie contract and was drafted in the 6th round, is not exactly a shock.

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

He's solid but not "break the bank" solid.  Two concussions in a very short time period may give the Bills, as well as other teams, reason to be wary.  As far as being a hold out, it gets very costly for a player under contract to hold out.

We really don't have any knowledge that Benford contract negotiations are going off the rails.  I'm not going to be too concerned at this point.

[947]

Benford is not getting $20M+ on the open market. He's a perfect fit for our coverage scheme, but not the case for most other teams. I want him extended, but after the concussions, I'm on board with riding the season out & seeing what happens.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

3 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Maybe the suspensions of the two new noob players will free up enough cash to sign him.

 

I don't think 3M is getting it done bro. 

[That's No Moon]

7 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Funny. WGR was just talking about this like a half our ago. He does seem to hold the cards right now 

Does he know where he is yet or does he still have a drool cup?

[GunnerBill]

8 hours ago, Governor said:

There’s many teams that would have no interest at all since he’s strictly a zone guy. Let him test the market. Hes pretty overrated and had major concussions.

 

Not true. His numbers in man are pretty good. 

[Thurman#1]

10 hours ago, Beast said:

Could the Bills afford a Christian Benford holdout that goes into the season? At least in my opinion, Benford may have the Bills by the short hairs. Even with the draft coming up or even the possibility of bringing in another vet CB or trading for someone, he is the one player, outside of Allen, that may be the most important to any position group on the team.

 

I really like what the Bills have done so far this off-season but, at the same time, if Benford decides to make it all about business, the Bills could be in deep trouble without him in the lineup.

 

Now, I haven’t heard of any potential lockout but according to https://overthecap.com/player/christian-benford/10230 , Christian Benford is ranked 170th out of 231 CB’s in the NFL. That’s pretty low for the production he has given the team.

 

This contract extension needs to get done. If not, the Bills will still pay for it….but in a different way.

 

 

 

 

 A holdout?  In his FOURTH year? That's not going to happen.

 

In his fifth, if they tag him? Yeah, maybe.

 

And the Bills have him if you look at it differently. They could extend him this offseason or during the year. If they don't and he gets a serious injury, he'd lose out on a lot of money. There's no big rush. IMO it'll happen reasonably soon, without friction.

 

 

4 hours ago, 947 said:

Benford is not getting $20M+ on the open market. He's a perfect fit for our coverage scheme, but not the case for most other teams. I want him extended, but after the concussions, I'm on board with riding the season out & seeing what happens.

 

 

He easily could. 

 

As Gunner pointed out, he's good in man too. He's just good.

 

The question is the concussions.

 

 

Edited March 15 by Thurman#1

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, VW82 said:

Benford is really good in his role, but...I may be in the minority here...are we sure it's worth 20M+ AAV investment in a zone corner? 

 

Benford can play man or zone. In terms of separation given up in man last year he was tied 10th best among all corners in the NFL. The guy he tied with? Jaycee Horn. Who just reset the market at $25m AAV. 

5 hours ago, 947 said:

Benford is not getting $20M+ on the open market. He's a perfect fit for our coverage scheme, but not the case for most other teams. I want him extended, but after the concussions, I'm on board with riding the season out & seeing what happens.

 

I agree the concern on concussions is real. But he would absolutely get $20m AAV plus on the market. As above his metrics compare well against the guy who just reset the market.

Edited March 15 by GunnerBill

[Doc Brown]

12 hours ago, Pete said:

I disagree.  His concussions make me nervous to donate 10+% of salary cap.  Benford is in contract year, and will play his best proving he’s worth big money.  We can Franchise him.  And trade him for high draft pick if it gets ugly.  Beane holds all the cards IMO

It's a big decision for a young person to make.  Do you do what Rousseau did and take $20m per year with $54m guaranteed even though you could get easily $25m next year as long as your play doesn't decline and/or suffer a major injury?  Or do you bet on yourself and get a bigger contract after next season?  I'd choose the former because $54m is more than I'd ever need.  I understand why some players would prefer the second option though.

[Charles Romes]

I think the FO is just waiting to see if he is 100 percent after the back to back concussions. Smart thing to do before committing tens of millions in guarantees. 

[ProcessTruster]

13 hours ago, Brand J said:

I got the feeling the two sides aren’t all that close. I expect an infusion of youth and speed in the secondary during the draft, let’s hope the newcomers can play. 

If I had to guess, both Benford and Cook will go into the season without new contracts.   If they hold out, not sure that works in their favor.   We think they're great, but they are parts of a whole, not standalone talents, so not sure how other teams view them.   Holdouts would suck, but probably hurt them as much as the team.   

 

Beane is good, he will bring in competition and we'll see where it goes.  

[Buffalo ill]

I wonder how much money Hamlin cost him by concussing him in the playoffs.

[colin]

it seems to me mccoach always has one higher flight cb, and one much much cheaper cb.  who he drafts or who we pick up in FA will sort of tell us if they want to pay christian or avoid it.  benford is a good corner, but he was a 6th rounder for a reason, and has had two playoffs ruined with injuries and the back to back concussions are a real problem.

 

if a corner they love falls to us at pick 30, or if they trade up for a corner, then they won't pay benford that much.

[SoCal Deek]

Everything points to Beane going CB in Round One. Even if he has to move up to do so. 

[BuffaloBill]

I don’t see a holdout on the radar. Maybe he plays out his rookie deal and hits the open market. However, he has now had injuries. He will get a handsome guaranteed payment from the Bills. If I am him I take money in the bank vs the risk of no guarantee if I am seriously injured. 

[frostbitmic]

Have we heard a peep out of Benford regarding his contract ? .. I haven't.

 

I'm sure Beane and Benford have had discussions and silence on both sides may indicate a deal could be close. 20M seems to be the going rate this season for top CBs and Benford is a top CB. Give him the money our recent FA signings will lose due to suspension.

 

He's done pretty well for a guy many here wanted to be Hyde's replacement at Safety a couple of years back.

[VW82]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Benford can play man or zone. In terms of separation given up in man last year he was tied 10th best among all corners in the NFL. The guy he tied with? Jaycee Horn. Who just reset the market at $25m AAV. 

 

I agree the concern on concussions is real. But he would absolutely get $20m AAV plus on the market. As above his metrics compare well against the guy who just reset the market.

We played some version of a base cover 2 shell with corners giving up a ton of room underneath for the majority of the year. McD has always preferred that as his base defense, but we especially stuck to it last year (to much of our collective frustration).

 

How many snaps was Benford lined up on the LOS? Less than 10%? I’m sorry, but saying he’s a great man defender because sometimes we switched to man with our guys still giving up 5-8 yards cushion isn’t exactly being fully honest about what happened. 
 

Benford isn’t Denzel Ward or even pre-ACL Tre. We’re not putting him on Puka or Jefferson or Chase and saying go slow those guys down. I believe we actually did try that for a quarter vs Puka and Benford got destroyed like everyone else. 
 

Again, I actually really like Benford. He’s a home run by any calculation, but he isn’t the type of corner you break the bank for imo. 

[oldmanfan]

Assuming his concussion is not an ongoing issue, they’ll work out an extension sometime after the draft, maybe during the season.  Beane wants to keep guys that produce.

[GunnerBill]

2 hours ago, VW82 said:

We played some version of a base cover 2 shell with corners giving up a ton of room underneath for the majority of the year. McD has always preferred that as his base defense, but we especially stuck to it last year (to much of our collective frustration).

 

How many snaps was Benford lined up on the LOS? Less than 10%? I’m sorry, but saying he’s a great man defender because sometimes we switched to man with our guys still giving up 5-8 yards cushion isn’t exactly being fully honest about what happened. 
 

Benford isn’t Denzel Ward or even pre-ACL Tre. We’re not putting him on Puka or Jefferson or Chase and saying go slow those guys down. I believe we actually did try that for a quarter vs Puka and Benford got destroyed like everyone else. 
 

Again, I actually really like Benford. He’s a home run by any calculation, but he isn’t the type of corner you break the bank for imo. 

 

What you are saying is simply not accurate though. Nakua had 1 catch for 19 yards on Benford. It was mainly Taron Johnson who got cooked by him. 4/5 for 53 yards. 

 

Being honest about what happened requires you to, you know.... be honest about what happened. The Bills were, it is true, predominantly a zone defense team although the final 3rd of the season and the playoffs they were much more a hybrid team. From the Kansas City regular season game (where they played more man than zone) on they were almost 70-30, having been about 85-15 prior. For context 30% over the full season would have been the 15th highest man coverage rate in the league. Now they didn't do that all season, of course, but they shifted that way down the stretch into more of a hybrid coverage team.

 

But when in man coverage Benford gave up the joint 10th least separation. Among qualifying corners. Tied with a guy who just reset the market. That isn't because of cushion or still playing off or whatever. In fact the cushion would surely make it harder to record those stats? I actually think he is already as good as prime Tre in man coverage. Tre was what Benford is IMO. A good man coverage guy. The difference between the two for my money is actually that Benford isn't yet an elite zone coverage guy at quite the level peak Tre White was. 

Edited March 15 by GunnerBill

[bigK14094]

17 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

He’s a solid CB….in comparison to the rest of room.  
 

Bills know this 

Slow in man coverage.....can't run w the  burners.  Its there on the replays if you want to look at it.