Maiorana and Roth: Langston Walker Not Real Happy at LT

[Captain Caveman]

I keep on hearing how the bills redo contracts for SOME players

 

Isnt there a common theme of those players that they actually come into camp and be part of the team while they work this out?

 

Also they haven't already redone contracts once before. You can't just do that every other year.

[BillsVet]

I keep on hearing how the bills redo contracts for SOME players

 

Isnt there a common theme of those players that they actually come into camp and be part of the team while they work this out?

 

Schobel skipped mini-camp two years ago after Kelsay signed his 4yr 23M deal. Coincidentally, this came after a Pro Bowl season and he got his extension. Buffalo handles each player a little differently, although Schobel and Evans' extensions came after many months of negotiations.

[spartacus]

Schobel skipped mini-camp two years ago after Kelsay signed his 4yr 23M deal. Coincidentally, this came after a Pro Bowl season and he got his extension. Buffalo handles each player a little differently, although Schobel and Evans' extensions came after many months of negotiations.

 

Like Peters, Schobel had 3 years left on his deal when he got his extension.

[thewildrabbit]

The entire point that I'm trying to get across,

 

Did the Bills create the problem with Peters by bringing in free agents with less ability and pay them much more then Peters?

 

Did Peters outperform his 4 million a year contract by making the pro bowl 2x, while other LT's are being paid 6 million a year more then him?

 

Go on and tell me the Bills have a better offensive line without Peters protecting Edwards blind side.

I don't love Peters, but I'd love it if he were still a Bill and didn't have to worry about Edwards blind side. Didn't have to wonder if a 366b LT *cough* *cough*(closer to 400lbs then 350lbs) can adequately block the speed rushers he will face this season.

I only hope Langston Walker takes this move to heart and trims down to 330lbs and pancakes every rusher he faces.

well ?

[BillsVet]

Like Peters, Schobel had 3 years left on his deal when he got his extension.

 

But Schobel wasn't marginalized by the front office for demonstrating he was serious about sitting out.

[The_Philster]

truth be told, I think Langston is just keeping the spot warm until Demetrius Bell is ready to take it. All I heard on the way home from the draft party was how the Bills were talking up Bell all day

[Sisyphean Bills]

I'm just curious, should the Bills' FO re-up every player's contract when they have a good season and demand top 5 money? We have multiple players primed to be in exactly that position. Where do you draw the line? Or do you propose we allow the players to dictate their salary each year?

 

 

I love how everyone was so happy with the FO for locking up this great potential talent to a reasonable contact. Then 2 years later, when the player complains, everyone is pissed at the FO for not re-upping his contract like he wanted. I suppose in hindsight, the FO shouldn't have given him a nice raise and insist he earn it at LT first. But, then again, I imagine everyone would be pissed because they didn't lock him up to a longer term, reasonably priced contract when they had the chance.

 

The FO handled the Peters situation as well as could be expected. Just face it, some people you cannot make happy. They just don't want to be here. Or worse yet, all they care about is the money. And those are usually the ones that drop off considerably once they get it.

 

Now, did the FO handle replacing Peters properly? That's the point of this thread, and one worth discussing. For me, I'll wait to see a little of Walker's play on the field in the preseason before I get too worked up about a few comments; especially, knowing Walker's sense of humor and conversation style.

As well as can be expected, if you don't expect anything. Sure.

 

The implication that Peters never wanted to play in Buffalo is obviously false. Nobody forced him at gunpoint to sign with the Bills as a UDFA. He came to Buffalo because they were his favorite team.

 

Peters not wanting to stay in Buffalo was not the cause of him asking for a pay raise. He asked for a pay raise because he saw they spent top dollar on average (being generous) players like Dockery and Walker. Brandon then told him in no uncertain terms that there was no way he was getting a new deal.

 

It is also false that they couldn't have made him happy. They could have paid him what he was worth and not overpaid guys that play similar positions.

 

People need to get over the notion that Jason Peters "owed" his employer absolute loyalty regardless of what his employer chose to do. That's ridiculous and only someone with a total absence of self-respect would subscribe to that. If there are two burger joints across the street from each other and the manager of burger joint A hires the two hot cashiers from burger joint B, pays them 3 or 4 times what he pays his best employee (we'll call him Dan), and then tells Dan there is absolutely, positively no way Dan is getting a raise because he's trying to woo another hot chick from the coffee shop to work for him then there is a pretty good chance Dan will be angry. Then say the manager is heard yelling, "Get the fug out, Dan. Get back to work and clean out the men's bathroom. Some kid just blew chunks in there." To say Dan should be loyal to the manager because the manager "took a chance" on him and that Dan should just set aside his last ounce of self-respect is a real stretch. Who does that? A slave? Really, Dan would be a complete and utter tool if he didn't go across the street and talk to the manager of burger joint B about a job and a possible raise. That's not to say that the situation between Peters and Brandon was exactly like the analogy above, but it reeked of great bitterness and to insist that it was all Dan's fault because he wouldn't mop out the men's room -- the only thing we could see from the outside -- is a one-sided viewpoint.

[GR8PRKN]

All the more reason to hope D. Bell is improving on a daily basis...and that Wood is as good as advertised so he can take a lot of pressure off Walker on the left side.

 

 

EXACTLY what I was thinking..... Bell Should be ready by game 8..

[BillsVet]

EXACTLY what I was thinking..... Bell Should be ready by game 8..

 

Based on what? All those snaps he's getting in training camp? This is another situation where the fans and team are hoping that an untested player can contribute. Bell is being hyped as a guy with plenty of potential, but that just means he ain't done anything yet. When I look at the pass rushers coming from the right this year (Freeney, M. Williams, J. Porter 2x, Ad. Thomas 2x, Abraham, Peppers, et al) it should scare even the most casual uninformed fan.

 

This is year four of a rebuild that is hopefully (there's that word again) close to getting this team to a playoff berth. And we're talking about the most important position on the OL relying on a guy who hasn't taken a NFL snap and another expected to change jobs after 7 seasons in the league. Wow.

[ThereIsNoDog]

The Bills are definitely high on Bell. But now I'm starting to think they'll handle him like they did Peters and have him play at RT first. Frankly I'd be much more comfortable with him at RT, Butler at RG, Hangartner at C, Wood at LG, and Walker at LT.

[Kiwi Bills fan]

Ah... I wouldn't listen at all to these two wankers.

(Roth and Maiorana.)

[Flbillsfan#1]

Howie Long Chris Long

Nelson Piquet Nelson Piquet Jr.

Mohammed Ali and daughter

Griese and Brian Griese

 

Those are within one second of thinking I am sure that there are hundreds of examples.

 

Genes do count, a lot. It is not just hair color that is inherited.

Archie Manning; Peyton & Eli

 

Tom Ruud; Barrett Ruud

 

Ken Griffey; Ken Griffey Jr

 

Gil Byrd; Jairus Byrd

[Captain Caveman]

Did the Bills create the problem with Peters by bringing in free agents with less ability and pay them much more then Peters?

 

So you have a problem with them bringing in free agents? At the time, there really was almost no negative reaction, because dockery was supposed to be a real force on the interior of the line. They did what they could to et better on the linterior, although granted it didn't work out.

 

Did Peters outperform his 4 million a year contract by making the pro bowl 2x, while other LT's are being paid 6 million a year more then him?

 

Yes, he did out out perform his contract. But when it was given him, he hadn't proven , and the Bills were giving him more than he had earned / deserved at that point with the expectation that he would grow into it.

 

Go on and tell me the Bills have a better offensive line without Peters protecting Edwards blind side.

 

No, they don't. But they couldn't rely on him like they could in previous years, so they got what they could for him.

[Thurman#1]

Huge amount of D. Bell glossing came from one Bills drive before the Peters trade- after the Peters Trade nada - at this point I think it was blowing smoke, a time honored negotiating tactic but earlier I was imagining Bell as the guy who is going to make us all forget about Peters.

 

 

 

Interesting thought.

[Thurman#1]

If this is true, -and I've routinely questioned both reporters- then LW doesn't have 'much' upstairs. If I'm not mistaken, LT is the second highest paid position in the NFL. Succeed, and he'll make more $$ then he could even imagine in his wildest dreams.

 

With this attitude, if accurate, he'd probably be broke 5 years after he retires anyway.

 

Suck it up, Lumpy!

 

P.S. who's out there for a tryout..

 

 

 

Hunh? Walker is extremely bright. He graduated from Berkeley and the one thing people always say about the guy is the breadth of his knowledge and how he would make a terrific dinner companion. Walker is smart, real smart.

 

The question is whether Walker is a good fit at LT. He already knows that he IS a good fit at RT, and makes very nice money doing that.

[Thurman#1]

No evidence other than the two times in five years he asked for a reworked contract.

 

And Williams, Greer, Clements, Winfield, etc... these guys were all happy to go to free agency and get new contracts.

 

 

 

Yeah, and what is the reason he asked twice for a new contract? It wouldn't be because he got a promotion twice, would it? Oh, yeah, it would.

 

When you get promoted, you expect more responsibiliites. With that, you also expect better money.

 

He got promoted from TE to RT. He played superbly there. He got better money.

 

Then he got promoted again from RT to LT. He played superbly there. He very reasonably expected more money. This is the way the world works. When you get promoted, you expect more money.

[TheChimp]

Sal and Leo must be great guys to party with. They have to be the most negative sports writers in the country and just generally miserable people overall. If you listen to the Podcast, they can't even pronounce T.O.'s first name correctly.

 

They can talk all they want about the Bills being losers, but Sal and Leo define the term.

 

Will the Bills' O-Line perform poorly this year? Sure, it's a possibility. But given their performance last year, the Bills had to shake things up. If Langston Walker allows 11 sacks this year, it'll be one less than "All-Pro" Jason Peters did, and he didn't even play the whole year. I am not a blind Bills' follower, but let's give the new O-Line a chance before burying them.

Now THAT deserved a bump. Good sh--.

[Thurman#1]

Fixed.

 

Williams and Winfield were under the Donahoe regime. Clements was asking for a ridiculous amount of $$$$ - more than he was worth.

 

So, apparently, was Peters, who - despite having his contract reworked once - demanded more based on one season's performance, gave a half-assed effort last season - leading the league among blindside tackles in sacks allowed, failed to finish the last two seasons due to injury, and now sits on the Eagles PUP list.

 

 

Yeah, and the Bills policy of paying players has changed so much from regime to regime, hasn't it? Yeah, under Donahoe they were big spenders and now, nothing. Or, wait, was it the other way around? Their money policies come basically from Ralph, and also from Russ, who worked on salaries under Donahoe. So, your point doesn't make any actual sense. The Bills have been consistent about this for years if not decades.

 

Again you use a stat that is not an official stat. People who use "sacks allowed" do it for one of two reasons. One is that they don't know much about football. The other is that they desperately hate Jason Peters and will say absolutely anything to attack him, reasonable or not. Which is your reason? Not that we don't already know.

 

(sarcasm on) And yeah, he's on the PUP list. Chances are he might very well be there another two or three days. This is a huge deal. After all, he has a "quad spasm." We all know how devastating those can be. Those poor Eagles. They had to put seven guys on the PUP list on the same day. The whole team must be devastated. (sarcasm off)

 

During training camp, that means nothing. Basically, the Eagles wanted a chance to see how seven guys they couldn't fit on the roster would do against NFL competition for a few days.

 

I've seen you write good posts. This one only shows your hatred of Peters has graduated to the vein-popping, tomato-faced, drooling stage.

[Captain Caveman]

Yeah, and what is the reason he asked twice for a new contract? It wouldn't be because he got a promotion twice, would it? Oh, yeah, it would.

 

When you get promoted, you expect more responsibiliites. With that, you also expect better money.

 

He got promoted from TE to RT. He played superbly there. He got better money.

 

Then he got promoted again from RT to LT. He played superbly there. He very reasonably expected more money. This is the way the world works. When you get promoted, you expect more money.

 

Sure, you can ask for a raise when you get a promotion. But when your last raise was more than you had earned at that point, and when you stop showing up for work, you're not going to get it. The first raise came before he had actually established himself as an OT, but the Bills thought he would pretty good, and gave him some pretty good $ up front. He was desperate for it and took it. And as for your attack on Wilson's spending, weren't you the one who was complaining about paying Dockery? It may not have worked out in that case, but you can't have it both ways.

[The Big Cat]

Yeah, and the Bills policy of paying players has changed so much from regime to regime, hasn't it? Yeah, under Donahoe they were big spenders and now, nothing. Or, wait, was it the other way around? Their money policies come basically from Ralph, and also from Russ, who worked on salaries under Donahoe. So, your point doesn't make any actual sense. The Bills have been consistent about this for years if not decades.

 

Again you use a stat that is not an official stat. People who use "sacks allowed" do it for one of two reasons. One is that they don't know much about football. The other is that they desperately hate Jason Peters and will say absolutely anything to attack him, reasonable or not. Which is your reason? Not that we don't already know.

 

(sarcasm on) And yeah, he's on the PUP list. Chances are he might very well be there another two or three days. This is a huge deal. After all, he has a "quad spasm." We all know how devastating those can be. Those poor Eagles. They had to put seven guys on the PUP list on the same day. The whole team must be devastated. (sarcasm off)

 

During training camp, that means nothing. Basically, the Eagles wanted a chance to see how seven guys they couldn't fit on the roster would do against NFL competition for a few days.

 

I've seen you write good posts. This one only shows your hatred of Peters has graduated to the vein-popping, tomato-faced, drooling stage.

 

I thought the OLine needed time to jel/gel. (sarcasm on) If Philly can shuffle new OLineman willy nilly during training camp, then I guess that conventional wisdom doesn't apply to them. And why would it? It's not like they sought after and paid top dollar for "one of the best players at the game's most important position" (sarcasm off)