dave mcbride Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 So, the Bills are way under the cap and have no passing game. We have a chance to bring in an NFL caliber WR and blow that chance because they won't pony up enough money. And some fans applaud this because they don't want the Bills to "waste money". Seems sort of difficult to improve the talent on the team by adding nothing but bargain bin, second-rate players. But, hey, we saved a couple of bucks. When the Bills offense looks like a steaming pile on the field next year, remember how happy we should be because we saved some cap money. Thank you!
dave mcbride Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 The problem is that if we signed coles for 7 million, you'd be the first in line to complain that we overpaid for him and it was a stupid decision by a desperate front office. Coles isn't worth 7 million per season, especially not for 4 years. Yes i would have liked him on the Bills, but not at that price tag and for that length of time. Just because you have the cap space doesn't mean you should overpay players. I would only complain about a signing if it had such an impact on the cap that it precluded the Bills from making other moves. That's clearly not the Bills' problem.
dave mcbride Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Not overpaying was absolutely, 100% the right call. How can anyone see it otherwise? Those of you on this board who are saying that Ralph should've ponied up just to land a big name are completely off-kilter. As Mike Lombardi says, the quickest way to free agency hell is to overpay for marginal players. The Bills did that under the Marv Regime (Peerless, anyone?) and it killed them. Brandon obviously hasn't fallen into that trap. He stuck to his guns with Coles, and in the long run the franchise will benefit from that kind of approach. For a small market team with a ton of holes to fill, the Bills are doing exactly what they should be doing in free agency: talk to and negotiate with EVERYONE who will come in, but understand the market and don't overpay for easily replaceable players. Cap hell is a myth for marginal spending teams like the Bills. It's simply not in the cards. Maybe for the Skins, but certainly not for the Bills. For chrissake, their most important player (Edwards) makes only a half mil!
d_wag Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 You continue to miss the point. I hear what you're saying, but you're not being rational about this. It's not about the production - it's about the price. The Bengals overbid, which is obvious because there was so little competition for Coles' services. If the market thought Coles' asking price was reasonable for someone of his production and age, there would've been more teams interested. Instead, a desparate team that just lost one of its key players and needed to re-assure its fanbase wildly overpaid. The Bills did the right thing when it comes to winning games, even if it isn't the right thing when it comes to selling tickets and jerseys. And I for one welcome that change. how do you know the bengals overbid without knowing the guarantees and structure of the deal? if the signing bonus was reasonable and the salary backloaded doesn't that shape your opinion of the contract? a 28M/4 year deal can turn in to a 14M/2 year deal pretty quick.......people are jumping to conclusions without knowing all the details
Coach Tuesday Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 how do you know the bengals overbid without knowing the guarantees and structure of the deal? if the signing bonus was reasonable and the salary backloaded doesn't that shape your opinion of the contract? a 28M/4 year deal can turn in to a 14M/2 year deal pretty quick.......people are jumping to conclusions without knowing all the details Fair enough, we'll wait to see the numbers, but it's certainly a reasonable inference.
Erik Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Is Lavarneous Coles that much better than a Toomer or a harrison or possibly a Torry Holt? Me thinks no...I'm going to wait until all of those guys are signed/off the block before I kick and scream.
BillsGuyInMalta Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Geez, I was hoping that I would soften the blow by telling everyone for DAYS before that Coles wasnt going to sign here, and yet there still was an explosion of stupid. Ah well, the joy of being a Bills fan. Anywho, here's what I know. The Bills offered a 3 year deal worth around 14 million. They eventually bumped that up a bit to around 3 for 16 million during the first night, however they made it clear to Coles' agent Parker that there was a timetable on the deal. Coles and his agent wanted to wait things out. The Bills had plans on bringing in other FAs and couldn't wait much longer. Eventually when Coles went to Cincy, the Bills pulled their deal around noontime yesterday. My source tells me that the Bengals only had a loose idea what the Bills were offering Coles, and most of what they offered came from what Parker told them. So the Bengals were essentially competing with themselves by the time the deal was hammered out last night. That being said, the Bills will be bringing in a FA WR later in the week, but my source has no idea who. It was told to Coles' agent that the Bills were "going in another direction" for WR. My source's best guess is that its Drew Bennett or Joey Galloway. No truth to the Holt to Buffalo rumor/wishful thinking. Waters to Buffalo apparently has legs though. Just might take awhile to figure out the contract stips. Just passing along what I know, you can now go back to freaking out.
jax bill backer Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 HEY EVERYBODY I AM RICH AND DRIVE A BRAND NEW CADDALIAC WITH 22INCH RIMS''' IM BUYING THE BILLS DONT WORRY
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Geez, I was hoping that I would soften the blow by telling everyone for DAYS before that Coles wasnt going to sign here, and yet there still was an explosion of stupid. Ah well, the joy of being a Bills fan. Anywho, here's what I know. The Bills offered a 3 year deal worth around 14 million. They eventually bumped that up a bit to around 3 for 16 million during the first night, however they made it clear to Coles' agent Parker that there was a timetable on the deal. Coles and his agent wanted to wait things out. The Bills had plans on bringing in other FAs and couldn't wait much longer. Eventually when Coles went to Cincy, the Bills pulled their deal around noontime yesterday. My source tells me that the Bengals only had a loose idea what the Bills were offering Coles, and most of what they offered came from what Parker told them. So the Bengals were essentially competing with themselves by the time the deal was hammered out last night. That being said, the Bills will be bringing in a FA WR later in the week, but my source has no idea who. It was told to Coles' agent that the Bills were "going in another direction" for WR. My source's best guess is that its Drew Bennett or Joey Galloway. No truth to the Holt to Buffalo rumor/wishful thinking. Waters to Buffalo apparently has legs though. Just might take awhile to figure out the contract stips. Just passing along what I know, you can now go back to freaking out. So why did you say on either Friday or Saturday (can't remember) that you'd "heard 'things' that Coles [would] sign with Miami by the end of the night?" Why did you, two seperate times (in that same Friday/Saturday period, either way well before noon on Tuesday when Buffalo alledgedly pulled their offer) guarantee that Coles would not be a Bill? According to the account you gave above, all you knew at that time was (a) what the rest of us knew, and additionally (b) that Buffalo had made the only offer to Coles. With that information, why wouldn't you look at the Bills as a favorite to land him, or at least digress that they had, at minimum, a slim chance? It just seems like you made some big assumptions with the info you had, but were eventually bailed out.
Magox Posted March 4, 2009 Posted March 4, 2009 Geez, I was hoping that I would soften the blow by telling everyone for DAYS before that Coles wasnt going to sign here, and yet there still was an explosion of stupid. Ah well, the joy of being a Bills fan. Anywho, here's what I know. The Bills offered a 3 year deal worth around 14 million. They eventually bumped that up a bit to around 3 for 16 million during the first night, however they made it clear to Coles' agent Parker that there was a timetable on the deal. Coles and his agent wanted to wait things out. The Bills had plans on bringing in other FAs and couldn't wait much longer. Eventually when Coles went to Cincy, the Bills pulled their deal around noontime yesterday. My source tells me that the Bengals only had a loose idea what the Bills were offering Coles, and most of what they offered came from what Parker told them. So the Bengals were essentially competing with themselves by the time the deal was hammered out last night. That being said, the Bills will be bringing in a FA WR later in the week, but my source has no idea who. It was told to Coles' agent that the Bills were "going in another direction" for WR. My source's best guess is that its Drew Bennett or Joey Galloway. No truth to the Holt to Buffalo rumor/wishful thinking. Waters to Buffalo apparently has legs though. Just might take awhile to figure out the contract stips. Just passing along what I know, you can now go back to freaking out. good call Malta Im happy to hear about the Waters possible trade scenario. That move would really excite me and no I don't mean in that way either.
stuckincincy Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 So why did you say on either Friday or Saturday (can't remember) that you'd "heard 'things' that Coles [would] sign with Miami by the end of the night?" Why did you, two seperate times (in that same Friday/Saturday period, either way well before noon on Tuesday when Buffalo alledgedly pulled their offer) guarantee that Coles would not be a Bill? According to the account you gave above, all you knew at that time was (a) what the rest of us knew, and additionally (b) that Buffalo had made the only offer to Coles. With that information, why wouldn't you look at the Bills as a favorite to land him, or at least digress that they had, at minimum, a slim chance? It just seems like you made some big assumptions with the info you had, but were eventually bailed out. Wow - you're a real classy guy...
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 Wow - you're a real classy guy... I just get a little tired of people speaking in absolutes on here so much. Way too often you see words like "guarantee," "it won't happen," "forget it," and so on. I don't know why people can't use terms like "probably," or "I don't think that..." or "there doesn't seem to be much of a chance that..." Its not all Malta, so I guess I shouldn't have attacked him specifically like that.
Erik Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 Geez, I was hoping that I would soften the blow by telling everyone for DAYS before that Coles wasnt going to sign here, and yet there still was an explosion of stupid. Ah well, the joy of being a Bills fan. Anywho, here's what I know. The Bills offered a 3 year deal worth around 14 million. They eventually bumped that up a bit to around 3 for 16 million during the first night, however they made it clear to Coles' agent Parker that there was a timetable on the deal. Coles and his agent wanted to wait things out. The Bills had plans on bringing in other FAs and couldn't wait much longer. Eventually when Coles went to Cincy, the Bills pulled their deal around noontime yesterday. My source tells me that the Bengals only had a loose idea what the Bills were offering Coles, and most of what they offered came from what Parker told them. So the Bengals were essentially competing with themselves by the time the deal was hammered out last night. That being said, the Bills will be bringing in a FA WR later in the week, but my source has no idea who. It was told to Coles' agent that the Bills were "going in another direction" for WR. My source's best guess is that its Drew Bennett or Joey Galloway. No truth to the Holt to Buffalo rumor/wishful thinking. Waters to Buffalo apparently has legs though. Just might take awhile to figure out the contract stips. Just passing along what I know, you can now go back to freaking out. What does Galloway have left in the tank? Not being sarcastic, it's a legitimate question.
billsfreak Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 This is ridiculous. For this one fckin guy, can't we just overpay and get him signed? They gave Buffalo every chance to make this thing happen. There is no other free agent that comes close to Coles! He was the only guy we could get who'd draw attention from defenses, allowing Evans to get loose. And we completely botched it. Jesus, you try to be optimistic, but this team just refuses to throw you a friggin bone once in awhile. There are a bunch of people on this board who look through rose colored glasses that will disagree with me, but you hit the nail right on the head. Everyone is saying it is too much money for Coles, are they paying it-yes they are and they already have with tickets, merchandise, tv packages, etc. What good is it going to do any of us or the Bills if they save their money? The only one who will benefit is Ralph, and he has enough now.
VOR Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 First of all, thank god that's over with! Second of all, better the Bungles than the Bills. I wasn't keen on paying this guy more than $5M a year, but $7M is ridiculous. The guy is on the downside. I'd rather the Bills went with Braylon Edwards or Anquan Boldin in a trade. Get someone young, ultra-talented, and make the $5-7M a year worthwhile. I'd even rather trade a late-rounder for Holt, who is a better WR still.
nucci Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 Just proves NFL free agency, all about the $$, not about wining. I think this was proven long ago.
PushthePile Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 First of all, thank god that's over with! Second of all, better the Bungles than the Bills. I wasn't keen on paying this guy more than $5M a year, but $7M is ridiculous. The guy is on the downside. I'd rather the Bills went with Braylon Edwards in a trade. Get someone young, ultra-talented, and make the $5-7M a year worthwhile. Good post! The team is not on the verge of a deep playoff run. Continue building through the draft and focus on free agents or trades with players on the upswing. The Bengals made a mistake trying to fix another mistake. Coles was just in it for one more payday and good for him, he got it. If I was the GM for teams like the Colts, Falcons, Vikings, Eagles, Titans, Ravens, Panthers, or any other contender I would be all for Coles. Coles doesn't get 900 plus yards here next year and we get no more wins with him, IMO. Braylon Edwards is a great example of someone who will be good for awhile and could develop alongside a team for years.
Sisyphean Bills Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 Hmm. Parker is his agent. Isn't that Jason Peters agent? Hardball, baby.
BillsVet Posted March 5, 2009 Posted March 5, 2009 Hmm. Parker is his agent. Isn't that Jason Peters agent? Hardball, baby. Russ Brandon is to Ralph Wilson like Robin is to Batman. Russ makes some nice quotes, gets angry every once in awhile, but has no substance. He didn't have much say when the decision was made to fire Jauron. He's so far headed a front office without any real personnel experience. The real measure of Brandon and how Ralph thinks of him occurred when Brandon was all but left out of the DJ renegotiation. With that stamp of approval, what's next, negotiating wages for the snow shovelers in December?
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