Two Bills Drive

‘[Q:] Reasons for franchising Peerless: [A:] "We still feel we can sign him. We wanted to have more discussion. We’re hopeful that the discussion starts to be two way instead of one way. The only way we could do that, the only way we could guarantee that we could do that was to put the tag on him. Our intentions are still to try and sign him to get a long-term deal done, and we’ve been very upfront with the agent right from the beginning. We’d like to keep Peerless, but it has to fit within the framework of what we’re trying to do."’

Franchise (FFA): Unrestricted free agents who have been designated as the "Franchise" player. Current team has the right to match any offer. If they refuse they are given compensation by the new team the player has signed to play for.

‘Donahoe, who plans to meet with McGee today, said there’s no urgency to hammer out a new contract before Feb. 28.’

‘The franchise tag was his way of saying “I like you.” Now it’s up to Price to put his hurt feelings aside and work toward a long-term deal that benefits both sides.’

‘The Bills have left the door open for trading Price, who would have been coveted by several teams as an unrestricted free agent starting Feb. 28. Under what’s called a “sign-and-trade” clause, teams can sign a franchise player to a contract, deal him to another club, and not incur a salary cap hit if all of the paperwork is done on the same day.’

‘Essentially, the Bills weren’t about to allow Price to escape and have zero to show in return. If they cannot get him to agree to a long-term contract, rest assured, the Bills will dangle Price in trade talks. They feel that Price is right for some team, themselves or another franchise, and will work hard to find an option that makes sense.’

”’We would like to try to keep the player, and the only way we can ensure that we continue to talk to the player is that he has the tag.”’

”’We probably put as much time and effort into the seventh-round players as we have in the first- and second-round players. That’s just our philosophy on the draft,” Donahoe said Thursday at the NFL scouting combine. A lot of times, people think after the first-round selection, the draft is over. But we’ve always felt it’s just beginning,” he said. ”There’s always good bargains in the later rounds."’

‘Peerless Price will be offered – at the very least – a one-year, $5.01 million contract to play next year, but he doesn’t have to sign the contract if he doesn’t want to. If he doesn’t sign by Week 10 of the regular season, he would be ineligible to play the rest of the year.’

Buffalobills.com and partner M&T Bank were proud to introduce the M&T In the Huddle Contest during the 2002 season.

Grand Prize Winner Marc Adler, from Western New York, shares his Hawaiian experience.

Consistent is the one word that describes Reed's rookie season. Although he didn't get the opportunities that Eric Moulds and Peerless Price had, Reed made the most of his chances. The second round pick by the Bills in 2002 (36th overall) caught a reception in 15 of 16 games (first 13 games) and became the seventh Bills rookie with 500+ receiving yards (514) and first since Andre Reed had 637 in 1985.

‘"We’re scratching our heads because no one has informed us of anything," McGee said by phone. "As far as we’re concerned, he’s not even franchised because we’re hearing it from the media. The Bills haven’t given us the professional courtesy to call."’

‘Price’s $5.01 million salary — he made $433,000 last year — counts immediately on Buffalo’s salary cap. The Bills are still an estimated $4 million under the cap for next season.’

‘It’s not out of the question that the Bills retained Price in order to get value in a trade. The problem might be getting a first-round choice. This is considered a good draft for tall receivers with speed.’

‘The Bills can remove the franchise tag later.’