‘Bills’ view: The Bills’ defensive tackle group has changed dramatically this offseason. Harrison Phillips is off to Minnesota, Vernon Butler signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and Star Lotulelei is a free agent. The Bills brought back Jordan Phillips and signed Tim Settle and DaQuan Jones. Those three join fourth-year defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who’s coming off a solid season.’
Archives for April 13, 2022
Jim Kubiak: What’s next for Bills QB Josh Allen? Ken Dorsey might hold the key
‘Arguably, his next big challenge will be handling change. Each season is a new chapter, with new characters, new situations and different obstacles. The NFL salary cap limits a team’s ability to retain all their young, developing talent, as those players draw higher salaries in the market, salaries the Bills cannot afford, no matter how much they might wish.’
There’s still time to stop ‘public rip-off’ for Buffalo Bills stadium (Guest Opinion by Ken Reed)
‘Transferring dollars from taxpayers to pro sports franchise owners certainly doesn’t qualify as a project that addresses the public necessities of the community.’
Column: NFL, Buffalo Bills fleeced New York on stadium deal, critics say; is there lesson for San Diego?
‘Joe Banner was more blunt in his criticism. “This is a horrible deal. Period. Nothing to rationalize,” wrote the former Philadelphia Eagles president and former Cleveland Browns CEO. “I have negotiated these kind of deals myself and have advised on others. I can’t imagine what the people negotiating on behalf of the public were thinking.”’
Bills Signed the Best Deal in Sports Business History; Impact of Deshaun Watson Contract
‘Even accepting the fact that New York had to give away public money, I think Hochul needs better negotiators. Couldn’t the state of New York have negotiated say, half a billion rather than $850 million? The Bills will eventually be sold for a price north of $4 billion, and the state of New York’s share of that will be $0.00. NFL owners socialize cost and privatize profit. What a business.’
New York’s Billion-Dollar Stadium Boondoggle
‘More importantly, a new stadium will not revive Buffalo, one of the nation’s poorest cities. Sports stadiums are not local economic development tools. On this point, economists on the left and right are in agreement. Fans spend most of their money inside the stadium, not outside it. The revenue a sports franchise creates is poured back into the team. Jobs are generated for construction and concession work, but not much else. Given the aggressive tax subsidy, it’s unlikely a new Bills stadium can ever generate enough economic activity for the region to pay taxpayers back what the Pegulas have devoured.’
The Bills Stadium Deal Is Both Indefensible and Understandable
‘Which is to say, if the Bills left Buffalo, that would be all she wrote for NFL football there. And if you argue, not unreasonably, that there shouldn’t be a team there given the city’s recent trajectory, well, I’m gonna bet you don’t have any sort of connection to Buffalo. The Bills are such an inextricable part of the city’s and the region’s (and, Hochul would argue, the state’s) identity that losing them would be devastating — even more from a cultural standpoint than a financial one. “This is the No. 1 fear of every Buffaloan,” Ryan told us. “Losing the team is something you can’t ever fix.”’
Poloncarz: Bills’ initial stadium ask was ‘no team contribution’
‘“You never get everything you want in a negotiation,” Poloncarz wrote in a series of tweets about the stadium agreement. “We didn’t. The Pegulas didn’t (their original ask was for NYS and County to build a stadium in OP w/no team contribution). It’s a compromise. The team stays. That’s a win.”’