Latest Peters update

[Mickey]

I would accept no less than 2-1st rounders for a guy who is an all-pro caliber LT in his prime. However given this idiotic move, I doubt anyone would give up even a 1st, plus the $10-11M a year and huge signing bonus I'll bet he wants, and having to worry that a couple years down the line he start whining/holding-out for another huge payday. I say keep him on the roster, extract every cent you gave him, and let him learn the hard way the stupidity of his actions.

And that will help the team win games how?

[julian]

Whats wrong ? Your mom catch you with your naked ragedy ann in the closet again ??

 

I dont get how the Raiders are doing all that great ? Or how modeling AL DAVIS would get the Bills anywhere ?

what???? wow these boards have gone all to hell lol

[Mickey]

You said you hope they let him sit even if it's for 3-4 years and when someone asks you why wouldn't they just trade him for draft picks you answer "only if you don't want a franchise LT on your team."

 

So you'd rather have a franchise LT on your team that doesn't play or practice than draft picks?

Don't even try to inject any sanity here, there is an angry mob mentality running amok. They would rather create a 4 year saga and waste anything that might actually help the team win for the sake of spite. Pay him his worth? Gawd no. Recoup the loss with a bunch of draft picks and allow him to get what he wants from a team who values his services more than the Bills do? Hell no.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

We apparently don't. After all, haven't you been reading the board, Peters is no good anyway, we don't need him, he is a locker room cancer, he is an idiot, he is damaged goods, he skippered the Exxon Valdez that fateful night.....

 

If you can't get him on the field, seems stupid to "let him rot" as the angry mob would have it.

He will come to us eventually Mick. He really has no other choice buddy. There's no need to panic and deal him away...just wait for him to get his head together and realize that football is what he wants to do with his life, and that he has no alternative to playing ball for the Buffalo Bills.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Don't even try to inject any sanity here, there is an angry mob mentality running amok. They would rather create a 4 year saga and waste anything that might actually help the team win for the sake of spite. Pay him his worth? Gawd no. Recoup the loss with a bunch of draft picks and allow him to get what he wants from a team who values his services more than the Bills do? Hell no.

He is not one of the best players in the National Football League, so he's not worth one of the biggest contracts in the National Football League. All he has to do is come in here and work, and play as well as he played last season, and he'd get paid. And if management still wouldn't pay him after two standout seasons, I'd be right next to you with the lanterns and pitchforks.

[Mickey]

Did you read the entire post? As long as we don't trade Peters, he will eventually come crawling back to us. Its only a matter of time.

 

Is that point even arguable?

Funny, that is what I heard 5 months ago, 4 months ago, 2 months ago, 2 weeks ago, last week and yesterday. We could wall paper the stadium with failed predictions that Peters will crawl back on Friday, on Tuesday at the end of the week, etc etc All this gnashing of teeth, mob hysteria and 3 year plans. Why not just freaking pay him his worth and be done with it?

 

Cue the slippery slope argument. But if we paid him, the sun will disappear, mini skirts will be banned and the elders of zion will rule the earth.

[Steely Dan]

I'm almost at the point of saying they should trade him. The guy wouldn't be where he is without the Bills patiently grooming him with the best OL coach in the league. He owes the Bills for making him what he is. If TE gets hurt because someone runs around the LT he's going to be really hated by the fans! If the Bills can get two first round picks for him let him go. The guys they have now look serviceable. I still think he's holding out because his injury is a lot worse than anyone knows.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Funny, that is what I heard 5 months ago, 4 months ago, 2 months ago, 2 weeks ago, last week and yesterday. We could wall paper the stadium with failed predictions that Peters will crawl back on Friday, on Tuesday at the end of the week, etc etc All this gnashing of teeth, mob hysteria and 3 year plans. Why not just freaking pay him his worth and be done with it?

 

Cue the slippery slope argument. But if we paid him, the sun will disappear, mini skirts will be banned and the elders of zion will rule the earth.

Because he's asking for a good deal more than he's worth. He's asking to be paid as one of the best overall football players in the entire NFL, and he isn't one of those guys after one standout season.

 

And I'm not saying he'll be back tomorrow, I'm not saying he'll be back before the season, I'm not saying he'll be back before the end of the season, and I'm not saying he'll report to OTAs next year. But at some point, he'll have to decide between playing football for the Buffalo Bills and ending his career. What do YOU think he'll choose?

[Mickey]

He is not one of the best players in the National Football League, so he's not worth one of the biggest contracts in the National Football League. All he has to do is come in here and work, and play as well as he played last season, and he'd get paid. And if management still wouldn't pay him after two standout seasons, I'd be right next to you with the lanterns and pitchforks.

The team will hold the same cards they hold this year, why would they or should they act any different than they are now? What would be Peters' play when they stiff him again in 2009? Why would it turn out any different than this year leverage wise? Besides, no one knows how much he would be asking for since the team flatly refuses to negotiate a deal, any deal, this year.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

The team will hold the same cards they hold this year, why would they or should they act any different than they are now? What would be Peters' play when they stiff him again in 2009? Why would it turn out any different than this year leverage wise? Besides, no one knows how much he would be asking for since the team flatly refuses to negotiate a deal, any deal, this year.

Because if he comes in here and works this year, and matches what he did last year, he'll have proven himself. He'll have earned the deal he's asking for. Two seasons is far more significant than one.

[Mickey]

Because he's asking for a good deal more than he's worth. He's asking to be paid as one of the best overall football players in the entire NFL, and he isn't one of those guys after one standout season.

 

And I'm not saying he'll be back tomorrow, I'm not saying he'll be back before the season, I'm not saying he'll be back before the end of the season, and I'm not saying he'll report to OTAs next year. But at some point, he'll have to decide between playing football for the Buffalo Bills and ending his career. What do YOU think he'll choose?

How do we know what he is asking for or if they have even gotten that far? I know of no public statement or even anonymously sourced story which states what he is asking for. For all we know he just wants to be the highest paid lineman on the team.

 

At some point the team will have to face paying him, trading him or get neither, isn't 2010 the first year without a CBA? Seems to me that if we really wanted Peters this bad, we ought to just pay him. Put in some contingencies if you really think he needs to prove himself for another year. But the team won't even talk about it. No new deal this year, period, end of story. So it really doesn't matter if his demands were reasonable or not, they won't even listen.

[Mickey]

Because if he comes in here and works this year, and matches what he did last year, he'll have proven himself. He'll have earned the deal he's asking for. Two seasons is far more significant than one.

To which I would reply, I agree, he was very, very good in 2006, should have made the pro bowl. He was even better last year and in fact did make the pro bowl. I think he is very much a proven talent. But that is beside the point. No matter how well he plays in 2008, if he plays, there will still be 2 years left on his existing contract. Thus, the team could stiff him again if they wanted to couldn't they? What leverage would he have then that he doesn't have now? Lets say the team tells him no way again next year, what can he do then? Don't tell me what the team should do, tell me what they would have to do and why.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

How do we know what he is asking for or if they have even gotten that far? I know of no public statement or even anonymously sourced story which states what he is asking for. For all we know he just wants to be the highest paid lineman on the team.

 

At some point the team will have to face paying him, trading him or get neither, isn't 2010 the first year without a CBA? Seems to me that if we really wanted Peters this bad, we ought to just pay him. Put in some contingencies if you really think he needs to prove himself for another year. But the team won't even talk about it. No new deal this year, period, end of story. So it really doesn't matter if his demands were reasonable or not, they won't even listen.

You really don't think the two sides have spoken to each other AT ALL? Pardon my bluntness here, but that seems naive to me. There were plenty of articles in the early stages of this freakshow stating the two sides have only had "brief discussions." And the newer articles word it that the two sides haven't spoken "in a month." Both of those phrases point to some kind of talks taking place between Brandon and Parker.

 

Here's my best guess at how it went down.

 

Parker: We want a new deal. Time to pay up, boys, you've got a Pro Bowl left tackle on your hands.

Brandon: We took a risk re-signing him to more money than he was worth two years ago, and we want to take advantage of it. We also want to see him play another year before we give him the kinda deal you want. We'll pay him next year.

Parker: Okay. I'm holding him out.

 

Those are indeed brief talks, and there hasn't been any need for them to talk in the last month because nothing has changed. Parker wants his share of a big signing bonus now, and the Bills don't want to give it to him until next year for a couple different reasons. This is a game of chicken, and the fact is that Peters will eventually (whether that means tomorrow or two years from now) play football for the Buffalo Bills, because his only other option is retirement.

[Steely Dan]

The team will hold the same cards they hold this year, why would they or should they act any different than they are now? What would be Peters' play when they stiff him again in 2009? Why would it turn out any different than this year leverage wise? Besides, no one knows how much he would be asking for since the team flatly refuses to negotiate a deal, any deal, this year.

 

I'm not sure they wouldn't have been against renegotiating this year but he's handled it very poorly. He never showed up in Buffalo for the doctors to check his rehabbing. He hasn't talked to anybody except Dockery through text messages. If he shows up out of shape his teammates are going to be pissed. They probably won't say anything to him but he is holding back the teams chances of winning this year. Everybody else on the team worked really hard in the offseason because they believed that the team has a great chance of doing well this year.

[Mickey]

I'm almost at the point of saying they should trade him. The guy wouldn't be where he is without the Bills patiently grooming him with the best OL coach in the league. He owes the Bills for making him what he is. If TE gets hurt because someone runs around the LT he's going to be really hated by the fans! If the Bills can get two first round picks for him let him go. The guys they have now look serviceable. I still think he's holding out because his injury is a lot worse than anyone knows.

Best OL coach in the league? Oh...that explains our putrid offense over the last 4 years. The Bills didn't "make him", he would have had no trouble signing a UDFA with plenty of teams. No body waived a wand and granted him 3 wishes, he worked hard and has freakish talent.

 

He is already hated by the fans.

 

"...looks serviceable..." well that is encouraging. That is what you want to hear about a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the Coolidge administration and fielded the worst offense in the history of the franchise just last year: "looks serviceable"

 

If I told you 3 years ago that the Buffalo Bills could have a young all pro LT manning that critical spot for the next 6 years but they would have to pay him about as much as they are paying their left guard what would you have said?

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

To which I would reply, I agree, he was very, very good in 2006, should have made the pro bowl. He was even better last year and in fact did make the pro bowl. I think he is very much a proven talent. But that is beside the point. No matter how well he plays in 2008, if he plays, there will still be 2 years left on his existing contract. Thus, the team could stiff him again if they wanted to couldn't they? What leverage would he have then that he doesn't have now? Lets say the team tells him no way again next year, what can he do then? Don't tell me what the team should do, tell me what they would have to do and why.

Okay, so what you're saying is if Peters comes in and works hard, and has another great year, and the Bills still won't pay him...what should he do at that point?

 

My answer for you is that I have no idea.

 

I've been going back and forth with you for over a month, and my main point through all of this is how powerless the player really is in this situation. The team knows football is the way this guy is going to make his livelihood, and the player's only options are to eventually (again, whether that means tomorrow or two years from now) cave in and play, or to retire. Thats why I like how management has played this...they have all the leverage, and they're using that perfectly.

 

All I can tell you is that if that is how things go down, this Bills fan will admit he's been wrong the whole time and switch sides of this debate. But somehow, I don't think thats how this will happen, and I doubt you do either.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Best OL coach in the league? Oh...that explains our putrid offense over the last 4 years. The Bills didn't "make him", he would have had no trouble signing a UDFA with plenty of teams. No body waived a wand and granted him 3 wishes, he worked hard and has freakish talent.

 

He is already hated by the fans.

 

"...looks serviceable..." well that is encouraging. That is what you want to hear about a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the Coolidge administration and fielded the worst offense in the history of the franchise just last year: "looks serviceable"

 

If I told you 3 years ago that the Buffalo Bills could have a young all pro LT manning that critical spot for the next 6 years but they would have to pay him about as much as they are paying their left guard what would you have said?

I think you mean nearly twice as much as their left guard.

[Dan]

Best OL coach in the league? Oh...that explains our putrid offense over the last 4 years. The Bills didn't "make him", he would have had no trouble signing a UDFA with plenty of teams. No body waived a wand and granted him 3 wishes, he worked hard and has freakish talent.

 

He is already hated by the fans.

Since when is the OLine coach responsible for the the offense's production? McNally's job was to coach Peters and the other OLiners. Given Peters development, I think we can conclude he did a respectable job, in the least.

 

Yet, none of those other 31 teams rushed in to sign him when he was undrafted. Interesting that such a high in demand freak of talent wasn't more highly sought after - or drafted for that matter.

 

Yes, he worked hard. But, the Bills also worked hard to develop him. They also paid him quite handsomely for his potential. Yet at the first sign of greatness, he holds out. Now that's gratitude.

 

Hated by some fans - only after being a no show for 8 months. Prior to this hold out, he was perhaps one of the most loved players. Amazing how that works.

[Steely Dan]

Best OL coach in the league? Oh...that explains our putrid offense over the last 4 years. The Bills didn't "make him", he would have had no trouble signing a UDFA with plenty of teams. No body waived a wand and granted him 3 wishes, he worked hard and has freakish talent.

 

He is already hated by the fans.

 

"...looks serviceable..." well that is encouraging. That is what you want to hear about a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the Coolidge administration and fielded the worst offense in the history of the franchise just last year: "looks serviceable"

 

If I told you 3 years ago that the Buffalo Bills could have a young all pro LT manning that critical spot for the next 6 years but they would have to pay him about as much as they are paying their left guard what would you have said?

 

If you aren't aware that McNally was one of the best if not the best OL coaches in the league you need to do more homework. He wasn't responsible for the OC's job. All he did is coach the players and develop the blocking schemes which led to Lynch having best rookie season of any Bill and all that while going through a QB carousel. While McNally retired the year before last I believe his blocking schemes were still being used.

[d_wag]

There has been a distinct lack of leadership in the front office, most notably a strong leader with a personnel background that knows what they're doing.

 

Donahoe's reign was full of mistakes and the record shows it translated to the field over five seasons. However, when it was time to find another GM with a working knowledge of how a front office works, Wilson went first with Levy and now with Brandon. IMO, the inconsistency in personnel is directly related to the lack of a veritable NFL GM or VP of Personnel.

 

I'm confident Brandon wants to show his mettle and not let Peters or Evans get the better of him. He's versed in marketing and business, but it's not so easy to take that exact mentality and transfer it into how to deal with star football players in the professional ranks.

 

Brandon was thrown into the fire very quickly earlier this year. We won't know how well the free agents will be for a little while and the draft for perhaps another 2-3 seasons. But a Bills team minus Peters and Evans next season will be a U-Turn in the quest to create a respectable football team.

 

if you want to drag someone over the coles regarding evans (which in my opinion is a bit premature anyway), then make it Overdorf - he's the one in charge of contracts