Peters will report Saturday

[ExWNYer]

The point is that he has to play one more year under his current deal just as well as he played last year...in other words, if he is to be paid like one of the 2-3 best linemen in the league, he must play like one of the best linemen in the league.

 

From his perspective, an awful lot is hinging on his level of play this year. If it were you, would you want every chance you can get to know the new playbook like the back of your hand, be in the best shape you'v ever been in your life, have the maximum amount of chemistry with your teammates you could possibly have, and take reps in the preseason to shake off the offseason rust...or would you want to avoid as much as speaking to your offensive coordinator until a day before the opener, having not lined up and taken a snap for about 10 months?

 

Can Peters overcome these things? Yeah, he's a great athlete, and he's capable of it. But he's made things harder for himself than they needed to be, and he's gained little to nothing from it. Lets see if he comes out and earns the big bucks he's been after.

Agreed. Nicely put, EZC. I'm sure Peters will eventually get his money and I, for one, will be glad that he's locked up going into his prime. That said, I DO NOT and I mean DO NOT want to see him get his scratch before Lee Evans. Lee has approached his situation with class and has played the good soldier. Do the right thing, Buffalo, and show Evans his well deserved money. GO BILLS!!!!!

[Dibs]

......Hmmm....."They've agreed to discuss a new contract..." sounds to me like until recently, (monday apparently), there was no agreement to even "discuss a new contract.." Now where have I heard that before?.....

I think I'll quote somebody who has done a lot of research on this topic......you.

Is this ambiguous?

 

"The Bills are demanding that Peters play under his current deal for this season before they will consider opening talks."

Bills Refuse to Negotiate

 

Is this ambiguous?

 

"They also have made it known to Peters' agent, Eugene Parker, they're not willing to renegotiate 2008, insisting any additional money will be paid next year forward." Bills Refuse to Negotiate with Peters for 2008

 

Is this ambiguous?

 

"The Bills are demanding that Peters play under his current deal for this season before they will consider opening talks."

Bills: No new deal for Peters this year

How is it that you agreed with this 2 days ago but now figure it's not the case?

 

As I saw it this was always the situation. Peters wanted more money starting this year......the Bills didn't, but are happy to negotiate for next years money. Peters lost.

[Sisyphean Bills]

I've said before that I don't agree with Parker's strategy in this. A holdout is a tactic of last resort to send team management the message that the player is not happy with the compensation he is getting. At a certain point, you have to realize that the message is received and that accumulating fines and missing practices is only hurting the player and keeping the player from getting all of his peanuts. Send the message load and clear, sure, but then the player should show up and prove to management that he is a professional and will do the job. Frankly, if management just doesn't clue in then the player's best chance in the age of free agency is to put in the work and use his current team as a farm team and auditioning platform, hit free agency, and get his big contract. The re-worked contract that Peters signed was a mistake for him and a huge bargain for the Bills.

 

Obviously, the Bills don't want to renegotiate every contract every year, just as they don't want to set a precedent that they'll simply discard any veteran that wants out. Furthermore, they don't want to paint themselves as tough guys that won't take care of their guys either. That's why "we win, you're a loser!" and "stick it to him!" don't make much sense. Peters isn't going to get his big new contract immediately, but if he does show up and does play and play well, it will be in the FO's best interest to set aside any enmity and work on rebuilding a positive relationship. Hopefully for us fans, both sides will do so.

[Bmwolf21]

So peters owes about 400-500K to the Bills in fines. Anyone know how much Peters owes Mickey for the knob gobbling he's been giving him?

 

Turns out that Peters had his cell phone turned off the whole time. The entire holdout was just a mix up.

I heard the Crypt Keeper report that it was a similar situation with Peters' cell-hone deal. Apparently he didn't like the current contract he signed last year, and thought that a customer of his stature deserved unlimited talk and text, so Parker was withholding payment while trying to negotiate a better deal, but Verizon shut his phone off until his honored the original contract he signed.

 

I'm vindictive.... winning wont make all things forgotten for me.... I'm a prick like that

 

At least you're honest.

[jimmy griffin]

yea, but t hey cant overpay for evans. he is a nice player but is NOT elite by any standard. they way overpaid moulds years ago. evans should make top 10-15 wr money -- not more. he is undersized, average route runner, an average down field blocker and playing on an sad offense -- for the rest of his career. he sure has soem speed, but who doesn't? good player, but he aint getting top 10 money. peters get that money or a few LBs in the draft in 2009...

 

 

Agreed. Nicely put, EZC. I'm sure Peters will eventually get his money and I, for one, will be glad that he's locked up going into his prime. That said, I DO NOT and I mean DO NOT want to see him get his scratch before Lee Evans. Lee has approached his situation with class and has played the good soldier. Do the right thing, Buffalo, and show Evans his well deserved money. GO BILLS!!!!!

[Fan in Chicago]

Agreed. Nicely put, EZC. I'm sure Peters will eventually get his money and I, for one, will be glad that he's locked up going into his prime. That said, I DO NOT and I mean DO NOT want to see him get his scratch before Lee Evans. Lee has approached his situation with class and has played the good soldier. Do the right thing, Buffalo, and show Evans his well deserved money. GO BILLS!!!!!

I agree. If the Bills are true to their word, Evans should get a deal first. As I have stated in another thread if he agrees to a Burress level deal of 5 yr/$35 million, it will be great.

 

What shape Peters is in, how quickly he gets into game shape, picks up the offense and performs will go a lot to tell us how good a football player he really is beyond his natural talents. Talent means nothing without effort and dedication. For the good of the team and this season, I am sure we are all very curious to find out answers to that. We just need to atleast scrape by Seattle for now and forget about Peters for the next 2 days.

[John from Riverside]

They won by not caving in and giving him a new deal till he came to camp....they further won because now other players and agents wont be thinking they can do the same thing in the future.

 

They need to further punch that home by making sure Evans gets his deal first.

[drg2021]

Peters has played all his cards and is reporting to the Bills.He has 3 years remaining on his current deal,and can can be franchised for another season after that.Id say the Bills hold all the cards in this situation and Mr Peters should be greatfull there even willing to renogoiate.Good job Russ standing your ground and letting these guys know they arent going to be running the asylum. ie: Angelo Crowell

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Never said Peters "won", instead of lying, show me where I said what you claim I did. I posted my quotes, going back weeks. I said this wouldn't cost him anything, and it hasn't. I said this would cost the team his services for the first few games. It has. Will it cost them in the win column? No one knows that yet. If it doesn't than neither side lost much of anything.

Okay, but you weren't only defending Peters. You've been simultaneously defending Peters, and attacking Bills management for not caving into his demands and giving him a new contract. You were wrong.

 

I distinctly remember one instance where another poster expressed interest in maintaining a good relationship with Peters throughout the holdout process, and you responded to that post by saying something along the lines of "its too late for that." I'm too lazy to find the post among all your drivel, but if you insist, I will. You were wrong about that too.

 

You said over and over again it was in the Bills best interest to cave in and give Peters whatever contract he's been asking for. Yet, by holding firm, Buffalo has gotten what they wanted: Peters playing football in 2008 under his current contract. You said this tactic wasn't in our best interest. So, if you truly believe "neither side lost much of anything," then you have a king-sized portion of crow sitting in front of you. Because you've been insinuating for about a month and a half that the Bills had quite a bit to lose by standing firm. Just be gracious, take your bow, and admit some of your attacks were misguided.

[Pilsner]

Hope he don't come bouncin' in.

 

As much as we would like him to play in a week, it won't happen. At least it shouldn't happen. Even if he's in shape, he won't be in "game shape." And it takes a while to get into game shape. One week of practice won't cut it. Also he will need to learn the new offense. If the coaches put him in only after one week of practice, then that will be a mistake. They should do it right, and I believe they will. Give him a good two weeks to get in shape and get the plays down. Then he'll get the groove back and be the playmaker we need. Rushing things too fast could lead to mistakes on the field and possibly an injury that would have been avoidable. I'm glad Peters is back! He still acted like an ass and I hope he realizes this. Maybe some of his teammates will give him the idea that he could have handled this situation much better than he did. He better get his head screwed on straight for now on and get to work!

[Pilsner]

I'm not going to lie, I loved the guy from the beginning when he was an UFA coming in as a tight end. I remember watching this huge guy hauling A** down the field and destroying the wedge on a kickoff and thinking, "holy crap that's some athlete". This whole ordeal has made me really consider my man crush on Peters. Jason, if you're reading this, just go out and annihilate Wilforks knee when you visit NE and we will be good as new

 

 

It's mean to say, but ya Wilfork has it coming.

[The Senator]

I'm not going to lie, I loved the guy from the beginning when he was an UFA coming in as a tight end. I remember watching this huge guy hauling A** down the field and destroying the wedge on a kickoff and thinking, "holy crap that's some athlete". This whole ordeal has made me really consider my man crush on Peters. Jason, if you're reading this, just go out and annihilate Wilforks knee when you visit NE and we will be good as new

 

I'll be there on Nov. 9th and, much as I hate schitt like that, better that someone should take out Wildork before he takes out one of ours.

 

(Plus, I got a dinner bet at The Chophouse that the Bills will finish with a better record that the Cheatriots*)

 

You listening Peters? There's your chance for redemption....

[Pilsner]

I'll be there on Nov. 9th and, much as I hate schitt like that, better that someone should take out Wildork before he takes out one of ours.

 

(Plus, I got a dinner bet at The Chophouse that the Bills will finish with a better record that the Cheatriots*)

 

You listening Peters? There's your chance for redemption....

 

 

Peters would have quite a learning experience (for the better) if he decided to read this board. It certainly couldn't hurt! Silly Jason Peters. He's 26. He's young. He still has much to learn apparently. He's lucky some Bills fans will still give him a chance. Very lucky.

[The Senator]

Peters would have quite a learning experience (for the better) if he decided to read this board. It certainly couldn't hurt! Silly Jason Peters. He's 26. He's young. He still has much to learn apparently. He's lucky some Bills fans will still give him a chance. Very lucky.

Ya know, I get your sarcasm - I really do. Wasn't aware guy could read, but God forbid Peters ever even looks at this board.

 

Guy's so freakin' stupid, he just might take it seriously.

[Nostradumbass]

Peters has played all his cards and is reporting to the Bills.He has 3 years remaining on his current deal,and can can be franchised for another season after that.Id say the Bills hold all the cards in this situation and Mr Peters should be greatfull there even willing to renogoiate.Good job Russ standing your ground and letting these guys know they arent going to be running the asylum. ie: Angelo Crowell

 

Yeah its a great strategy.

 

Take a team with tons of cap space and get into a nickel and dime scrap with your teams best player.

 

Do the Bills sign any contracts anymore other than A) overpayments for B list free agents and B) long terms to overacheiving backups. I'm serious what drafted and developed star have the Bills signed long term recently.

 

There so f$$$ing proud of themselves for locking Peters up to a long term cheap contract.

 

The NFL is a money now league. A players career is a short blink of light and the players are slowly realizing that one play can end ther career and cost them tons of scratch.

 

Can you blame players for not wanting to risk serious injury in their last contract year of for playing on an undervalued contract for three years?

 

Identify your best players and give them their dough.

 

The freaking contracts are play money. Player gets hurt or under performs dump him.

 

The Bills still act like it 1998 and they need to wary of dead cap space and bad contracts. Take a look around the league, nobody is fighting cap space like they use to anymore and very few veterans are being axed do to tough cap decisions.

 

Meanwhile the Bills try and squeeze every last dollar of value out of players and alleinate their talent.

 

Onward Ralph.

[Dan]

The Bills must have agreed to something, most likely waiving his fines, and negotiating early, according to the Schefter report. He said they started talking Monday, and then today reached "a compromise". To me, that means that Peters agreed to report, and the Bills agreed to do something they weren't planning to, to get him in there. Again, I'd be shocked if he has to pay the fines, although it's possible.

 

Brandon did the right thing, and he did well. He held his ground, and he didn't lose more than a game out of him. I still think eventually, if Peters plays well this year, the holdout actually helps him get more money. There was no way Peters was going to sit out the season. I doubted he missed any games, but apparently, it was game checks.

Kelly, the problem with this stance you've been supporting for some time now is that there's no way to ever prove or disprove it. We'll never know what price point the FO was thinking it would take to re-sign Peters before the hold out; so we'll never know if the hold out actually benefitted him.

 

If he plays well and gets $10mill/yr; then you could say see the hold out helped. If he gets $8mill/year; you still say see he got more than he would have. There's just no way to tell - unless the Bills don't give him a raise at all and/or cut him. Then I think we could say the holdout actually hurt him.

 

I'd agree the Bills probably agreed to waive the fines to get him to report. But, I'd think overall he's burned any good will he had with the team and now he only gets the big payday if he plays lights out. As opposed to just being consistently good (ala Schobel) and still getting the big pay day. So, in that regard, you could argue that he's hurt himself more than helped. Ultimately, I guess we won't know for several months or even a year.

[kota]

Whatever as a fan i just want him on the field playing. I have no idea what kind of trouble it is going to cause the line once he comes back and langston moves back to RT. The chemistry is going to be off. I hope the players and coaches put everything in the past and work their ass off to move forward towards the playoff with Peters anchoring the line. I am willing to bet Trent Edwards did a big sigh of relief knowing his Line gets stronger as soon as Peters is on the field.

 

There are people in the Bills locker room who will be pissed at Peters, glad he took his stance, and people who will be indifferent to the whole thing. In the end it all will balance out and the club will move on.

 

I am willing to bet most people on this board will be happy if the Bills sign Evans and then work on Peters throughout the season. I think this is the best solution. Everyone should be happy with it and the only person to loose face would be Peters.

[d_wag]

In the end, I think you are right, Brandon didn't "cave" but at the same time, Peters hasn't "lost" diddly. He will get his game checks, the fines, none of which he has yet paid, will likley be waived. So what did Peters lose by giving the hold out a shot? If Brandon had moved, he would have gained millions, as it is, he lost zip.

 

A gamble where you have everything to gain and nothing to lose is a gamble worth taking. On top of that, I rather think he has laid the ground work nicely for a new deal next year. The team will have the same cards and could stiff him again. However, count the posts hereabouts where people said he should play "one more year" on this deal and the team should definitly reward him with the big bucks next year. If he is a pro bowler, again, even the cantankerous but lovable Senator will clamor for the team to give him a new deal.

 

Brandon didn't lose but neither did Peters. What this all cost is Peters' services for game one, maybe game two and that was his leverage all along.

 

which is the reason why the bills will make him pay every dime of the fines this year - so that if they don't reach a deal between now and next training camp, he'll know he's going to have to pay every dime of fines again if he chooses to pointlessly miss training camp for the second year running

[d_wag]

The Bills must have agreed to something, most likely waiving his fines, and negotiating early, according to the Schefter report. He said they started talking Monday, and then today reached "a compromise". To me, that means that Peters agreed to report, and the Bills agreed to do something they weren't planning to, to get him in there. Again, I'd be shocked if he has to pay the fines, although it's possible.

 

Brandon did the right thing, and he did well. He held his ground, and he didn't lose more than a game out of him. I still think eventually, if Peters plays well this year, the holdout actually helps him get more money. There was no way Peters was going to sit out the season. I doubted he missed any games, but apparently, it was game checks.

 

who do you think these reporters get their info from?

 

all that schefter is reporting is what parker is telling him, which reeks of spin put out there to save his own ass after giving some horrible advice to his client.......and that is why schefter hasn't cited any sources in his report........i wouldn't be shocked to see jason hire his 4th agent in the very near future, cause eugene dropped the ball badly on this one!

[MRW]

We don't at all know that yet. They could have the basic framework for a deal already in place. They could rework his deal for this year, add a million or two on, and promise to renegotiate as the season went on for future years. Schefter reported they were negotiating throughout the week and "compromised" today. That, to me, seems like the Bills told Parker they would do something for him if Peters reported. Again, I would highly doubt if he has to pay any fines. It MAY be that the Bills just held strong and he came crawling back but I doubt it very much.

The Democrats called the FISA bill a "compromise" too. That choice of words alone doesn't really tell us anything.