TheLynchTrain

The website was erie.gov but it was quite a long hyperlink with "upload" in it -these local websites aren't too difficult to play around with, so I misguidedly wondered if somebody could have uploaded their own file as a gag. Looking into this further, it does look like Poloncarz actually did tweet out the link last month, I must have missed it. http://www.wgr550.com/Read-the-Buffalo-Bills-Non-Relocation-Agreement/18680395 Funny thing too, the last page of the document has TBD whipping boy Jeff Littman's number. I'm sure he's always open to suggestions.

Did you see it before Razor posted it? I was under the assumption this wasn't public knowledge. You'd figure our scribes over at the News would have linked it to one of their articles by now. Never intended to offend, just wondered where you stumbled on something link this.

Have you seen the lease? And regarding the non-relocation document that's 20 pages, have you seen a signed version? Again, how did you find this in the first place?

Where and how did you find this document? If you work in the legal field, you'll surely know that an unsigned document is not an executed document. Perhaps you saw the signed version? I know this is on the Erie Country website, but I hesitate to believe its real because (A) its not signed and executed, (B) why the heck wouldn't the politicians publish this to take credit for their "success" and (c ) Poloncarz made a huge show in the Buffalo News that the agreement was the size of a bible, somehow equating the size of the agreement as to how stern it was. The one on the Erie Country website is only 20 pages

I took a stab and googled the quotes Razor listed about and came up with this document on the erie.gov website. Its unsigned and I don't know the veracity of the document, but it looks like it checks out what he's saying. Thanks for posting this Razor, but if this is actually a legitimate document, why wouldn't the polticiians publish this to take credit? http://www2.erie.gov...n Agreement.pdf (b) Subject to the provisions of Section 2(b), during the Non-Relocation Term, without the prior written consent of the County and the ECSC, which consent shall be within the sole and absolute discretion of each of the County and the ECSC, the Bills shall not: (i) apply to the NFL for,or otherwise seek, approval to allow the Team to play any Games during the Non-Relocation Term anywhere other than the stadium; (ii) relocate, transfer or otherwise move the Team (or attempt to relocate, transfer or otherwise move the Team except as permitted by clause (iv) of this paragraph) to a location other than the Stadium; (iii) sell, assign or otherwise transfer the Team to any Person who, to the Bills’ knowledge, has an intention to relocate, transfer or otherwise move the Team during the Non-Relocation Term to a location other than the Stadium; (iv) (A) entertain any offer or proposal to relocate the Team to a location other than the Stadium, (B) solicit an offer or proposal from any Person to enter into discussions regarding moving the Team to a location other than the Stadium, © enter into negotiations or agreements with third parties concerning the relocation of the Team to a location other than the Stadium, or (D) otherwise attempt to cause the playing of Games at a location other than the Stadium except in the case of clause (A), (B), © and/or (D) above, (x) during the pendency of an arbitration proceeding in which the Bills are seeking to terminate the Stadium Lease in accordance with its terms or (y) to the extent that the relocation or other action described in such clause would first take effect after the Non-Relocation Term; (v) (A) complete a transfer, assignment or surrender of the Franchise that results in the Team playing any of its Games outside of the Stadium in violation of Section 2(a), or (B) complete a transfer, assignment or surrender of the Franchise that results in the Team not playing any Games; or (vi) enter into any contract or agreement to sell, assign or otherwise transfer the Team to any Person who, to the Bills’ knowledge, intends to relocate, transfer or otherwise move the Team during the Non-Relocation Term to a location other than the Stadium. EDIT: Sorry punch, it looks like you beat me to the "punch" on finding the agreement

For what its worth, the Jets games are in late October and late November. Mike Vick (who could be worse than Geno, who knows?) could be the starter by then, if he doesn't win it outright in camp. I agree with you though - it's kind of a head-scratcher to single those two games out like that. I think it just comes down to the fact no one on the national level believes EJ will amount to anything, and until he puts together back to back to back quality games, critics will continue to say things like this. Oh well, winning solves everything.

Bills at Bears Sept 7th http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/23/reports-49ers-to-host-bears-in-first-ever-regular-season-game-at-levis-stadium/ EDIT: just saw this was already posted sorry

Wish him all the best Agree completely - I'm totally in favor of getting a kid like this undrafted than spending a pick on a TE. I don't know if any tight end we draft would make much impact this year, but in a year or two? Who knows.

Not sure if this was poster elsewhere in the forum, but here's another converted TE to consider - Erik Swoope. The report says he never played a down of college football but he does come from the Hurricane pipeline (Graham and Thomas). http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2014/04/10/broncos-work-miami-basketball-forward/26891/

Yeah, other than the culture shock for a lot of these kids, I think the "grind" can be pretty difficult as well - long bus rides rather than train/plane, no friends and family, chance of paychecks bouncing, language barrier, combined with the fact that the European game is wholly different than the things these kids have done in AAU/HS/College. I just know that if I was in that position and had the talent, I'd want to at least exhaust all my options playing a sport that's a heck of a lot easier on your body and long term health.

I see no reason to not kick the tires on this one. It's obviously a long shot but its worth a look-see. I'd hope though that if the Bills go this route our scouts make sure they would open that window to more than just a few Buffalo-area prospects. It's always nice to see local kids make it to the next level, but my gut tells me there may be a few other college bball guys that are better than MAC and MAAC players. From the perspective of these kids, I don't see the upside here for them. If they're decent enough bball prospects (maybe they're not), it sounds like they'd have a better shot playing Euro ball for a few years than collecting rookie/vet minimum to be training camp fodder and get your head kicked in on a sport they may or may not have played in high school. Plenty of small school kids can make a decent living and get some cultural experience in Europe. I went to a school in the Patriot League (worse league strength of schedule than the MAC and MAAC) and a few of those kids made it to Europe the last few years. I believe the pay isn't too bad - $100K a year and up if you can latch on to a roster, and in some countries little to no tax liability. But hey, nothing's better than being a athlete's athlete than playing football, right?

Very strange bedfellows indeed..

Just saw in that BS Bon Jovi article that the NFL only allows 200 M to be financed - somebody needs to bring the rest of the cash to the table - http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/10/bon-jovi-part-of-toronto-group-expected-to-bid-on-bills Totally agree. No reason why we couldn't make this work. I would hope the Fan Alliance folks would leverage that money to make the other parties (Bills, Erie County, NYS) pay either an equal or proportional amount.

For what its worth, I have a lawyer friend I spoke with recently to get his take on the Bills Fan Alliance concept. He's not in the sports law realm but does his best to keep up (Eagles fan, if that colors people's opinion one way or the other). I told him I thought this was a novel idea that could go a long way to helping keep the Bills in Buffalo. He unequivocally thinks the NFL is a better place with the Bills in Buffalo (and out of the playoff basement) but he cautioned that he could foresee the NFL having serious issues with an ownership group relying on this. His take is that the NFL is super secretive about their books and any release of them to the public, and that even though this funding source could open up new opportunities for billionaires around the league to finance their purchases on the backs of everyday fans, he feels that this may open them up to too many liabilities/legal snafus. I mentioned the Bills Fan Alliance is kicking the can on a few different vehicles (non-profit, lending exemptions, ect) and that maybe those concerns could be allayed, but he was really certain the NFL would just say "no, principal owner or nothing." Again, this is from one lawyer friend that doesn't know all the details and isn't in the sports law realm, but that was his take. Hope I didn't rain on anyone's parade. My take, I believe the Bills Fan Alliance could probably figure out a way to structure this so everyone's happy, but if the NFL doesn't want the Bills in Buffalo long term, there's not really much we can do about it. Hopefully we'll get our white knight to swoop in a la Pegula and the Sabres! Cheers

Seriously? That was a TB smear campaign

I like this deal if he can keep his head on straight at home!! I was worried about Stevie getting cut but he was given a roster bonus in March and if we cut him this offseason he has a HUGE $10.25 M cap hit. The next two years he has 4 M in roster bonuses and dead cap hits are $5.6 M and 2.8 M respectively. Right or wrong, I think Stevie has a to have a good year or he might be on the chopping block. Stevie Spotrac: http://www.spotrac.c...stevie-johnson/ On Mike Williams, he basically has a two year deal (deal cap of 5 M next year, kinda hard to cut but we could stomach it) with no affect on the cap if we cut him after the 2015 season going forward). That being said, he has pretty big base salaries in 2016 to 2018 with some big roster bonuses thrown in there. I could see the Bills definitely demand he restructure his contract in the next few years unless he has a 65-70 rec, 700-850 yds, 5+ TD year this year. Mike Williams Spotrac: http://www.spotrac.c.../mike-williams/ Either way I'm excited about this move! It looks like we'll get to keep Stevie, add a guy (with some baggage) that may be a better value than what we'll get in the 6th round and improve our chances of seeing what EJ can do with a full receiving corps. I really wasn't too sold on either Watkins or Evans and was pretty sure this was where the Bills were going, even if we had to reach for a guy like Evans at number 9 (my opinion). Now the Bills can do what we've all dreamed about doing for over a decade: sit back and take the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE. Woo hoo!

I'll say I think your D is going to be fine. With limited knowledge about the Browns, I'd say watch out and see what Pettine does with Paul Kruger. That was probably a bad contract at a time you guys wanted to make a splash, but I think he has a lot of the same skill set the Bills have with Jerry Hughes, who was phenomenal under Pettine last year with 10 sacks. Like every coach his barometer is going to be decided by the QB - if Pettine and your GM hit a home run with a rookie QB, you're probably set, regardless of how all the other pieces fall together. I worked with a Browns fan that tells me the talk is the Browns are kicking the tires at Carr - for your sake and his I hope that's not true!

Yup, the avatar is priceless...

Sigh, must be tough to be a woman on this board. Although I find it mildly hilarious that all the Buffalo sports reporters are introducing themselves publicly to her on twitter - did they do that to Chris Brown?

So Polomalu and Reed weren't "necessary" when their teams won the Super Bowl three times in the last nine years??? These two guys are probably not where you want to start your argument that safeties don't matter.

Like everything in the NFL (including the Bills) the last decade, I'd say it all depends on the QB, in this case Cam. He made some serious strides last year, can he keep moving forward in his development? We'll have to find out.

National Football Post had an interesting take on how the 5th year option has backfired on players and agents. http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/A-storm-is-brewing-1567.html And I just saw this interesting tidbit from Florio - sounds to be like its better to be outside the top 10 if you think talent is flat! "For players taken in the top 10, the fifth-year option equals the transition tender for the player’s position in the fourth year of his contract. (The transition tender is based on the average of the 10 highest-paid players at the position.) For players taken from No. 11 through No. 32, the option arises from the average of the 25 highest-paid players at the position, with the top three excluded." http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/13/fifth-year-options-for-2011-first-round-picks-likely-wont-be-exercised-before-may-3/

I agree with you on the trade bac scenario -I think this is a deep draft and the Bills could always use extra picks. But regarding contract length, every first round pick has a 5th year option, not just the top 10.

+2

Sounds to me like the "3 years 30 million" (guaranteed or not) was a farce...