Trader Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Congratulations you could not have made a better choice Bills UDFA have a better chance here than anywhere else in the league. Other teams sign 15 guys and use them like camp fodder. We always have a couple make the team. Last year one went to the Pro Bowl and one started at MLB
JoeF Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Thanks! I'm looking forward to proving myself. Suck in that gut when you say that...
beausox Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 All joking aside I have to believe that the Bills history with UDFA's helps the recruitment.
ax4782 Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 I think there is one guaranteed STARTER from this year's crop of UDFAs, that being Mike Viti. I can see the guy starting at FB this year. FB stock is way down, and in the early to mid-90s this guy would have been a fifth or sixth round choice, but because of the decline of need at the position, do to the new pass happy nature of the NFL, their stock is really low. Watcho out for this kid. He's going to be a beast.
keepthefaith Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Congratulations you could not have made a better choice Bills UDFA have a better chance here than anywhere else in the league. Other teams sign 15 guys and use them like camp fodder. We always have a couple make the team. Last year one went to the Pro Bowl and one started at MLB I look forward to a day when an UDFA has no chance of making the Bills. Like the '98 Bulls who never even bothered to negotiate with their #1 NBA draft choice that year. It'll be tougher for UDFA's to make the Bills this year. Fewer holes to plug thankfully.
BuffaloBilliever Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Well... I'm 6'2", 228, I run about a 5.2 40 and have a tremendous motor and plenty of upside... Could I be an UDFA!?
ans4e64 Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Well... I'm 6'2", 228, I run about a 5.2 40 and have a tremendous motor and plenty of upside... Could I be an UDFA!? So, in other words..... you're white lol
Pyrite Gal Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 All joking aside I have to believe that the Bills history with UDFA's helps the recruitment. I think one of the major factors in UDFAs making the team was that teams in the recent past have been so bad. This was a good place to try to make the NFL simply because it was not impossible to be better than the players we had. To some degree we hope this is no longer the case and if it is fewer UDFAs will make the squad. UDFAs like a Peters are examples that a very good player can break through here, but the overwhelming thing that might attract UDFAs here is that this team has not made the playoffs in such a long time it can be more easily marketed to undrafted players as a bottom feeding team where they can get into the NFL.
ans4e64 Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 I think one of the major factors in UDFAs making the team was that teams in the recent past have been so bad. This was a good place to try to make the NFL simply because it was not impossible to be better than the players we had. To some degree we hope this is no longer the case and if it is fewer UDFAs will make the squad. UDFAs like a Peters are examples that a very good player can break through here, but the overwhelming thing that might attract UDFAs here is that this team has not made the playoffs in such a long time it can be more easily marketed to undrafted players as a bottom feeding team where they can get into the NFL. At first glance, what you're saying makes sense, but judging by the fact we've had UDFAs make the Pro Bowl, I don't think you can say they only broke through here because we had crappy players. I think for some players, yes, maybe on other teams they wouldn't have made it. But for guys like Jason Peters, Pat Williams, Jabari Greer and Fred Jackson... we must have done something right. To have UDFAs make the roster is one argument, but having them turn into starters and Pro Bowlers is completely different.
Pyrite Gal Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 At first glance, what you're saying makes sense, but judging by the fact we've had UDFAs make the Pro Bowl, I don't think you can say they only broke through here because we had crappy players. I think for some players, yes, maybe on other teams they wouldn't have made it. But for guys like Jason Peters, Pat Williams, Jabari Greer and Fred Jackson... we must have done something right. To have UDFAs make the roster is one argument, but having them turn into starters and Pro Bowlers is completely different. It would seem to be to be a mixture of talented players and the Bills in recent years being a good place for a player to go to gain an NFL spot, My sense is that any player entering the UDFA market and his agent are weighing a complicated matrix which starts with a player considering offers (if any), soliciting offers from teams he feels he has a good shot at getting a contract, and balancing his disappointment at not getting drafted with whatever level of aggressiveness he has to seek a potential job. If one considers a player who has some chance of developing into a contributor, he likely is dealing with a few offers and is assessing them with a strong sense of where he guesses he has a shot or is simply camp fodder. As the draft moves into its final round there likely develops into a shifting dance between it being a buyer and sellers market. For the most desirable players a team likely has position coaches call potential UDFAs and let them know that we feel this player has enough talent to be drafted but the position coach lost the internal battle over he team picking the player. If things break that the player is not picked we hope he would consider team X. Things are probably pretty furious just after the draft with individual players offering up (whether its true or not) that they are entertaining several offers and want to here the best offer a team can make. UDFAs start signing quickly because there now is a real danger that when the music stops they are gonna be left without a chair unless they sign. Clearly some folks sign deals with pretty good knowledge they will be cut (the back-up kicker and punters we signed for example) but these players make the calculus that getting into the Bills camp is a good way to find a job elsewhere. I'd be surprised if a player such as Peters did not sign with the Bills because he and his agent calculated how weak we were at TE so this was a good place to come. Right now, in addition to the Bills being attractive in the UDFA market because they have not made the playoffs in about a decade, the fact that our ST lost Aiken, Stamer, Wire, Haggan, etc. is known to agents and is being sold to UDFAs that a player can make this team and contribute immediately in the trenches on ST. However, a player who sees a selling point for him as that he is a good kick return guy would be a fool to come here because not only would he have to beat our Parrish and McGee for the sole return jobs but now he likely would have to leap-frog McKelvin and his contract. The quality of a team in general and at specific positions has to be one of the biggest factors in this matrix.
Trader Posted May 1, 2008 Author Posted May 1, 2008 New England 15 free agents, How many have a chance? New Orleans 19 free agents. The jets 14. Washington 15 free agents Any free agent who has an alternative would be better served to go with a team like Buffalo who looks at 9 or 10 guys and has a plan for them. The Bills have a strong track record of developing undrafted players. The first one I remember was Robert James for the original AFC Bills. All League Cornerback. It's tradition that survives today with Jason Peters Pro bowl LT converted from TE none the less. They should erect a free agent statue of liberty at one Bills Drive.
LynchMob23 Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 "Bring us your slow, your undersized, your out of position and undeveloped and we will give them a chance...."
bbfan54 Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 At first glance, what you're saying makes sense, but judging by the fact we've had UDFAs make the Pro Bowl, I don't think you can say they only broke through here because we had crappy players. I think for some players, yes, maybe on other teams they wouldn't have made it. But for guys like Jason Peters, Pat Williams, Jabari Greer and Fred Jackson... we must have done something right. To have UDFAs make the roster is one argument, but having them turn into starters and Pro Bowlers is completely different. I would also say that it is a sign of a poor roster. Peters would not have made the roster of most of the teams when he first came into the league. I don't have the numbers but I would think that the bills have kept more UDFAs than most and, therefore, they will develop more starters from UDFAs. Nevertheless, the UDFAs are very raw and on a deep roster it is rarely justifable to keep players that will likely never develop into a servicable player. All teams have to deal with injuries where players you didn't expect are going to make it onto the field making all roster spots valuable. Moreover, you need those spots for special teams.
Lurker Posted May 2, 2008 Posted May 2, 2008 I would also say that it is a sign of a poor roster. Peters would not have made the roster of most of the teams when he first came into the league. Most 'pundits' had Peters rated a third round draft choice. IIRC, teams supposedly were scared away by his low Wonderlic score and seeming lack of a position (i.e., too big to play TE, too inexperienced to be an OL).
Recommended Posts