Demitrius Bell wants a new contract...

[VJ91]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

[Jerry Jabber]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

 

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steely Dan]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

 

[MaineMoxie]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

Dude that's hysterical. (I can't wait for the next Brian Bosworth to hit the NFL.)

[gggbills]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

 

LOL...that is great!!!

[Max997]

the rumors are already starting that Omon is going to holdout next year

[Fan in Chicago]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

 

Heartening to see that Bell can send a text ...

[Tsaikotic]

Heartening to see that Bell can send a text ...

 

didnt he invent the phone??..he better be able to text.

[scoring is not hardy]

can't wait until mickey responds to this

[Pyrite Gal]

can't wait until mickey responds to this

He may point out that to make this fantasy thread fit reality that:

 

1. Bell would have made the Pro Bowl

2. Bell would have started out at the beginning of camp not as an OL player but as a player who was respected at another position who made the jump to OL.

3. Rather than starting from Bell's late draft pick contract his base salary would be that of a UDFA

4. Bell would have packed three years of steadily improving play into his pre-season.

5. Rather than being drafted Bell would have been a UDFA.

 

Outside of these trivial facts the situation makes this lampoon legit because they both are the same.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

If by "respected at another position," you mean "undrafted."

 

Also, #3 and #4 never happened at the same time. Peters never had 3 years of improving play, and a UDFA contract. Pointing both out at the same time is misleading to say the least.

[Steely Dan]

didnt he invent the phone??..he better be able to text.

 

He morses.

[Pyrite Gal]

If by "respected at another position," you mean "undrafted."

 

Also, #3 and #4 never happened at the same time. Peters never had 3 years of improving play, and a UDFA contract. Pointing both out at the same time is misleading to say the least.

Like I said, its hard to make the fantasy premise that the Bell situation is somehow an analogy for the Peter's situation fit when that pesky thing called reality is introduced into the equation. There is simply no way that Bell could accomplish all that Peters has accomplished in his brief career which is the foundation to his Peters correct claim that IF there was a free market for him he would be worth a ton more money.

 

The simple facts seem to be that there is no free market for Peters services because he agreed (and was richly paid to agree) to a deal which suspended a free market for his services for three more years.

 

Is it wrong for Peters to go back on his word?

 

Yep.

 

However, does this also make it right for Ralph not to give him a new extension?

 

Yep. Ralph has the right but it is the right now to emphasize being a good sportsman and put the best team he is capable of putting on the field.

 

Ralph has decided to instead emphasize being a "good" businessman and instead not set the "precedent" of negotiating to extend this contract while Peters is not in camp (a fairly dumb precedent as the only precedent it would set is that if you were recently extended from your small for the NFL UDFA base because of your extraordinary play as a rookie and a one year guy (I am sorry but it is the rate UDFA who not only forces his way into the starting line-up, but does this at a different position than he played in college).

 

Further, it is unheard of for this new new position to be the incredibly difficult to fill LT spot and then to play LT well enough that you get voted in as the Pro Bowl LT starter. I am sorry, if the Bills get another player who actually makes the same precedent they should show him the money as well.

 

Peters is doing this the wrong way, but Ralph at best comes off as a better businessman than sportsman. Even as a businessman he looks more like a little kid to me who is standing in the corner turning blue with Peters while they both hold their breath.

[Steely Dan]

Like I said, its hard to make the fantasy premise that the Bell situation is somehow an analogy for the Peter's situation fit when that pesky thing called reality is introduced into the equation. There is simply no way that Bell could accomplish all that Peters has accomplished in his brief career which is the foundation to his Peters correct claim that IF there was a free market for him he would be worth a ton more money.

 

The simple facts seem to be that there is no free market for Peters services because he agreed (and was richly paid to agree) to a deal which suspended a free market for his services for three more years.

 

Is it wrong for Peters to go back on his word?

 

Yep.

 

However, does this also make it right for Ralph not to give him a new extension?

 

Yep. Ralph has the right but it is the right now to emphasize being a good sportsman and put the best team he is capable of putting on the field.

 

Ralph has decided to instead emphasize being a "good" businessman and instead not set the "precedent" of negotiating to extend this contract while Peters is not in camp (a fairly dumb precedent as the only precedent it would set is that if you were recently extended from your small for the NFL UDFA base because of your extraordinary play as a rookie and a one year guy (I am sorry but it is the rate UDFA who not only forces his way into the starting line-up, but does this at a different position than he played in college).

 

Further, it is unheard of for this new new position to be the incredibly difficult to fill LT spot and then to play LT well enough that you get voted in as the Pro Bowl LT starter. I am sorry, if the Bills get another player who actually makes the same precedent they should show him the money as well.

 

Peters is doing this the wrong way, but Ralph at best comes off as a better businessman than sportsman. Even as a businessman he looks more like a little kid to me who is standing in the corner turning blue with Peters while they both hold their breath.

 

IIRC, Peters was given a bigger contract a few years ago when he started looking good. It was a great contract for someone who had never gone to the pro-bowl yet. The Bills took care of him better than should be expected back then and I believe they are willing to re-negotiate but not if he's going to be a dick about it.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Yep. Ralph has the right but it is the right now to emphasize being a good sportsman and put the best team he is capable of putting on the field.

See, these are the kind of lines I have a problem with. The fact that something makes your team better doesn't automatically make it the right move.

 

I present the case of one Clements, Nate. Are the Buffalo Bills a better football team with Nate Clements than they are without him? Of course they are. Even if someone somehow thought both McGee and Greer were better than Clements, he'd still make quite the nickel back. Obviously, given the choice of having Clements on your roster and not having Clements on your roster, you're taking the former.

 

Does that at all mean the Bills should have paid $80 million (I know the last year of that deal is only there to make the agent look good, but even so, its an enormous contract) to keep him aboard? No, it doesn't. He isn't the best defensive player in the league, and even though this team is better with him than it is without him, its still detrimental to this team to give him the money he was asking for.

 

Its the same thing with Peters. Is this team better with Peters than they are without him? Yes. Same with Clements.

 

Has Peters earned a contract that will make him one of the highest paid players in the National Football League? No, he hasn't. You don't get paid like that after one standout season. He's not worth that money (yet), just like Clements.

 

If Peters would get in here and work his tail off and duplicate the high level of play he was at last season, I'd be completely on board with you and bash team management if they still wouldn't give him the mega-bucks after a 2nd Pro Bowl. But he still has something to prove in this league before the Bills will give him one of the biggest contracts in the NFL.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Even as a businessman he looks more like a little kid to me who is standing in the corner turning blue with Peters while they both hold their breath.

To me, he looks more like a man sitting behind his desk, remaining cool and collected, while Peters stomps around his office yelling and knocking stuff off the desk. And every once in awhile, Ralph calmly says, "Jason, you can have all the candy you want. But first, you still have some work to do."

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

See, these are the kind of lines I have a problem with. The fact that something makes your team better doesn't automatically make it the right move.

 

I present the case of one Clements, Nate. Are the Buffalo Bills a better football team with Nate Clements than they are without him? Of course they are. Even if someone somehow thought both McGee and Greer were better than Clements, he'd still make quite the nickel back. Obviously, given the choice of having Clements on your roster and not having Clements on your roster, you're taking the former.

 

Does that at all mean the Bills should have paid $80 million (I know the last year of that deal is only there to make the agent look good, but even so, its an enormous contract) to keep him aboard? No, it doesn't. He isn't the best defensive player in the league, and even though this team is better with him than it is without him, its still detrimental to this team to give him the money he was asking for.

 

Its the same thing with Peters. Is this team better with Peters than they are without him? Yes. Same with Clements.

 

Has Peters earned a contract that will make him one of the highest paid players in the National Football League? No, he hasn't. You don't get paid like that after one standout season. He's not worth that money (yet), just like Clements.

 

If Peters would get in here and work his tail off and duplicate the high level of play he was at last season, I'd be completely on board with you and bash team management if they still wouldn't give him the mega-bucks after a 2nd Pro Bowl. But he still has something to prove in this league before the Bills will give him one of the biggest contracts in the NFL.

[Pyrite Gal]

To me, he looks more like a man sitting behind his desk, remaining cool and collected, while Peters stomps around his office yelling and knocking stuff off the desk. And every once in awhile, Ralph calmly says, "Jason, you can have all the candy you want. But first, you still have some work to do."

This what I see as a more exact description of the problem we have here. Where I think the methodology (or whatever phrase you want to use to describe the relationship) has shifted from the old way where the Bills (Ralph) was sitting behind a desk buoyed by the massive amount of capital he had collected in his construction business and applied to this venue because he was brave enough to risk his initial what is now small stake to buy the Bills.

 

Today, it is a different situation than the one the Bills operated in because with the agreement to the CBA which Ralph and the NFL made in the early 90s, the players rather than mere employees whom the big capital holder looks to see how they are acting, the NFLPA is now Ralph's partner in making more money than any of them ever imagined was possible back in the old days when Ralph plunked down his initial investment.

 

In fact, with the new CBA where the NFLPA is guaranteed 60.5% of the TOTAL revenue the players are in fact the majority partner.

 

If Ralph and the Bills wish to prosper and win the sport, they simply need to recognize the new reality and do their part in building the relationship with their partners the players individually and ultimately as a whole to equitably (and even cheerfully to the maximum extent they can).

 

By the letter of the contract all parties agreed to, the Bills are totally within their rights to enforce and expect Peters meet his agreement.

 

However, there is a difference here (not a total difference so that these things should be considered opposed to each other) between doing what the Bills have the "right" to do and doing the right thing.

 

In this case, reality has simply changed in large part due to the virtually unprecedented skills Peters has shown playing the sport. The Bills would in fact set a precedent by renegotiating Peters deal, but the precedent will be that if a player is not judged worthy by the entire league of being drafted but then after he signs at a UDFA base he is good enough to not only shift positions and become a starter, but shift to one of the most difficult to fill positions on a team (LT is not as difficult to fill as QB but it is far more difficult to fill competently than many high contribution positions such as RB).

 

Even more unprecedented, Peters filled the LT position so well that he was judged by a merged vote of his peers, NFL coaches and fans to be the best LT in the AFC.

 

Yes, there will be a precedent set in signing him but you would need be a UDFA player who proves good enough to make the Pro Bowl to honestly meet the precedent.

 

Yet, rather than accurately (IMHO) meeting the role they agreed to play when the Bills as part of the NFL agreed to be part of a CBA which has delivered more wealth to the Bills and Ralph than they ever imagined when Ralph made the original gutsy investment, Ralph and the Bills have instead played the old role that you describe of a guy sitting behind a desk while Peters rants and raves.

 

It may be fun and confirming of the way it used to be to operate in this mode. It may be good business practice for Ralph as an individual or the team as an entity.

 

However, it is outmoded and counter to the new reality of the NFL not to recognize that in the new partnership what one has a "right" to do under the CBA may in fact not be the right thing to do in order to put the best team possible on the field not only today but tomorrow as well.

 

If I am a UDFA who thinks that NFL teams were shortsighted not to draft me and now I am being appealed to by the Bills, the Pats, and the Jets to sign on as a UDFA, I am passing on the Bills and looking hard at the other two teams because when I show what I can do as I think I will, it looks like the Bills are gonna fight me for every dime or even if they have shown a willingness to reward good play with good extensions I am gonna have to fight to make sure that my extension is only for two seasons rather than three or three rather than four because the Bills have shown themselves to be unwilling to share the risk of success and possible failure with their UDFA players who make the Pro Bowl.

 

Yes I agree with you that the Bills come off as someone sitting behind a desk while an employee rants and raves. However, I think that the Bills showing their commitment to the sport (and actually being better businessmen in the long run) would profit from rather than being the man behind the desk are out there in the foxhole with their comrade in arms players.

 

Every army needs generals and needs foot soldiers. There is a world where the Bills can play the role of a good general like a Patton who certainly preened with the best of them but there was no question that he was really pushing himself as well to demand things of his soldiers.

 

The Bills and Ralph come off as more Marie Antoinette saying let them eat cake or Nero fiddling while the Bills fail to make the playoffs because they decide to hang onto outmoded principles of proving they are the boss rather than adopting a new approach which is actually fundamental to the new means of operating seen in the CBA that their is a partnership between the players and the team.

 

I think Peters and the Bills juvenile behavior in this dispute actually speaks volumes about why the Bills have failed to make the playoffs so far this decade under Ralph's mismanagement of his relationship with Butler, his firing and futile attempt at cost recovery from Phillips and the panicked and ultimately flawed relationship with TD.

 

I for one had hoped we had returned to the glory days of the 90s where the Bills resurgence coincided with Ralph opening his wallet to Bruce, Jimbo and the Bills. Unfortunately, it appears that Ralph and the Bills without Marv as GM have returned to the past where rather than administering a family (and its disputes as certainly Marv had with Marchibroda) well enough to a pattern which sees both the players and the team acting like juveniles holding their breath until the other side caves.

[The Senator]

Dude that's hysterical. (I can't wait for the next Brian Bosworth to hit the NFL.)

It may have already happened, in the name of Jason Peters.

[Trader]

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

 

Worse

 

Eugene Parker has signed the entine Bills O Line as his new clients. He is demanding that Ralph sign the team over to him. Furthermore he threatens to move the Bills to LA. Or Las Vegas. OR Toronto OR Abu Dabi. Wherever he can cut the best deal for a new Stadium that has no regular seats just luxury boxes.