Archives for February 21, 2003

‘[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.”’