PDaDdy

I've never seen Poz play the outside that I recall but he would make a nice addition to a team that didn't need a MLB that can't cover a TE, stay healthy, be stout at the point of attack or play sideline to sideline. I would actually like to see Poz play OLB to see if his play improves playing only half the field.

I agree we will likely focus on resigning our own players and stay out of the initial FA frenzy and wait for lesser knowns to hang around and get them at a bargain. It's just a shame because I think Poz will resign for more than he is worth. He's one of those guys the front office likes to talk up and has more fan support than his on field play would seem to suggest. I threw out a random number but I am going with $7 million a year. As for free agents, we shop like poor people at Christmas. You can get some great deals and bargains after Dec 25th but all the good stuff is already gone.

I don't know which drew brees you were watching but take a look at his steadily improving stats in San Deigo before he became a Saint. Other free agents include Shockey, one of our old defenders at CB and likely other guys along the lines. I couldn't agree more with you today. Planets must be aligned or something.

Eh. It's not like he was any better than London Fletcher. We had to move up in the 2nd round to get him. Funny how people hate Whitner because our front office was dumb enough to draft him #8 overall but Poz who took a 2nd and a 3rd if I am not mistaken to acquire and who also has been nothing special is a fan favorite. Typical Bills. Don't pay the guy that is already doing the job well. Instead of using draft picks to improve existing areas of weakness we like to create new areas of weakness by not paying fair market value for anyone that is wanted outside of Buffalo. If he goes elsewhere in a way I would actually be surprised. This is the typical over pay for average performance Buffalo scenario. Get er done Ralph!! $7 million a year should guarantee his mediocre performance for years to come!!!!

If true quantity over quality again!

Oh ya, and a veteran QB.

Our Free Agents Drayton Florence - We need this guy badly. Rookies aside we are one injury away from having a real problem in our secondary. Poz - He is a solid lunch pail player but is no no super star Donte Whitner - Only difference between Poz and Donte is that Whitner had the misfortune of our old incompetent front office selecting him #8 overall and that for some reason people love Poz who is a solid player and hate Donte who is a solid player. Outside Free Agents Tyson Clabo - We need a right tackle badly. People have talked about him playing RT but I'm not so sure this is a good idea now since he is listed as a guard. If Woods takes over the center position, the position he played in college and was drafted as, we need a solid guard to replace him. LT & RT - Personally I am tired of waiting for someone to step up at these positions. We have been trying to get by on the cheap by hoping that large quantities of undrafted free agents, late round picks and practice squad cast offs from other franchises will equal 2 good starters. So far...not SO good. I would love to get rid of all of the fodder we have and get two guys we know can do the job consistently and very well. We need to run the damn ball on the strength of our line not the cut back ability and improvisational skills of our RBs.

Right! It's just one facet of our biggest problem and why we haven't been to the playoffs in years. Instead of going the quality route and paying top dollar for great difference making talent we would rather go the quantity route and over pay for mediocre talent. We let our pro bowlers go get their pay day with other teams and spin our wheels using draft picks, undrafted free agents development projects or lunch pail journeymen later in their career to try to replace them.

Our O-line is fine!!! Large quantities of undrafted free agents and cast offs equals 2 quality starters at tackle right??????

Nope. Merriman just sucks whether we signed him or not. Three plus years of crap performance and injuries since the knee and getting off the juice would seem to be consistent with that statement.

I like it. Replay has gotten quicker and quicker. If every play is reviewed it won't be a surprise and they will already be in the process in the booth the second it happens. Anything that helps to ensure that the right call is made is fine in my mind. Why sports like basketball and football don't have an extra ref on field boggles my mind. Stop the cheating. Stop the flopping. Play the game with honor.

Getting beyond the theoretical issues I have with spending the money on him he is already on the team. He signed. We can't change the past. I hope you are right and it was nagging injuries and things that he can work beyond that have impacted his ability to stay healthy, get on the field and actually perform unlike the last 3 years. This is what gives me pessimism. We will all have to wait and see.

I figure it's all you got. You may as well go with it. Keep it classy! What year is it again? lol.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5771092 So he joined mid season 2010. Big Whoop. I honestly forgot because he never played a down for us. You got me on that one. Please feel free to celebrate your small victory. I have to give you something seeing as how you have been wrong about everything else that oh...actually matters. Grow up.

FIXED!!

Interesting question indeed. As I have actually said before which people like to ignore is that I can perhaps see why Buddy took the risk but my gut tells me he will never play or won't actually be effective. Given this belief I say the answer is indeed zero as you have suggested I would be ok with. Unfortunately the reality of it is the veteran minimum with plenty of performance and games played based incentives is probably as low as you could go and might be found to be offensive by Merriman. Even that is quite possibly/probably a waste of money as well. I haven't checked out his knee and found that it is miraculously improved since the last 3 years. I don't know if he has gotten his strength, endurance and explosiveness back after getting off the juice. I don't know that he will be the one player that hasn't performed in 3 years to come back to form or even be productive for that matter after all those things. Despite this Buddy did what he did. Hopefully the man knows what he is doing. I am just a loud mouth in real life and on and this internet forum. I respond well to logic but most just wine about my confidence in my opinion when they try to make flawed arguments. We all have our opinions. He's already on the team so I wish him the best for all of our sake. I'm just not optimistic about the outcome and I probably wouldn't have done it if I was GM. Time will tell. My heart hopes I'm wrong but my brain says it's a waste of money. So healthy that he practiced for us for 10 minutes and went on IR for the season after months of rest? I call shenanigans. By the way I haven't looked up the timelines nor have I claimed to. I just know that if the Chargers signed him in March of 2010 and by football time in 2010 he was a Bill...something sounds fishy to me.

How did that work out for them? Oh wait....they released him. Guess they already took their "good risk" and deemed it unworthy.

You asked why they got rid of Brees. I told you. You didn't ask why Rivers was drafted in the first place nor is it relevant. Contentious relationships between players and GMs are pervasive throughout the NFL and every ball club. It's always a factor. I don't ignore it but your problem is that you are elevating this component of the issue to a ridiculous level of importance. Merriman had a bad knee injury, can't stay healthy and is now off the juice. Those things are vastly more important than some supposed bad blood. Your assertion otherwise is quite honestly ludicrous. This is a business. If the money required in the teams eyes is equal to or exceeds the expected performance the team will keep that player. If they are worth it, the player will be brought back.

Let's not forget he can't cover a TE to save his life. Opposing TEs torched the Bills for several weeks straight last year. It was embarrassing. Look at some of the high lights of opposing TEs scores and you will see Poz beaten in coverage. He doesn't fit the scheme we were trying to run.

AJ Smith made the mistake of drafting a QB #1 overall and you know that means that they have to start at some point. Brees was a casualty of that. Stop being a child. That is a horribly comparison and you know it. The other posters assertion was that Merriman was released by the chargers not because of his poor on field performance and inability to stay health but more the fact that the GM didn't like him. Unlike Merriman Brees and Turner were performing on the field and they became mainly casualties of the salary cap and a first round QB who must be given the start at some point. Shame on you. No one has stepped up and provided any means, percentage or otherwise, of assigning risk. Exactly part of my point. Nobody here can say it is a good risk because they don't have enough information. All we know is that the team that drafted him let him go for nothing. Obviously they thought he was worthless or they would have taken the "good risk" of resigning him for nearly nothing according to some fans. I have been stating "impact" players. Pro bowlers would be awesome but I have consistently been saying difference makers and impact players. Don't restate my point to serve your needs for a rebuttal. I vastly underestimate nothing. We can get them to change zip code. It happens all the time. WE just haven't traditionally offered enough money to the right guys. We over pay for mediocre and won't fairly compensate great talent partially due to the practice of throwing a way a million here and a million there on over paid bums. Wrong and this again has been our problem. Every dollar counts. It's reckless spending on crappy players that is the issue. We would rather go with quantity over quality.

Here ya go. http://www.nfl.com/player/shawnemerriman/2506350/careerstats If contentious relationships with GMs and cast offs mean more than performance we should immediately go find Ryan Leaf!!!!

Ah honestly I didn't even see that the original poster said in one year. I didn't reference one year in my post just the amount. I did assume though that if he played 2 games he got the whole $8.25. Good catch.

Fixed...well...that and the fact that he is off the juice and is "perceived decline in abilities" is actually statistically quantifiable.

Yes because he is a good coach and knew how to run the ball with some guy named LT I think.

Correct. I'll give you this, unlike those who just love to hurl personal insults and have conversations with themselves about what an ahole somebody is all the while not being able to shoot down his arguments you appear to have actually read and understood what I wrote. The signings of those players and Merriman's contract ARE NOT mutually exclusive. All I have been stating is that that money could have been spent elsewhere and could impact potential new FA acquisitions. Some people can't understand concepts unless you make them concrete so I provided the names of a few good FAs that the Bills might go after this year. One thing though I haven't said anyone was an idiot for taking the risk. I have said that it is exasperating trying to explain to people the concept that you can't call it a good risk if you can't even make the lamest attempt at quantifying or qualifying that risk. Honestly I can understand why Buddy may have taken the risk but my gut tells me Merriman will not have much of an impact at all. My wild guess is that there is a 0% chance that he performs like he did 3+ years ago. I think there is a 50% chance at best that he can obtain 1/3 the numbers that he used to put up in his prime some years ago. I don't understand why these people that think it is so worth the risk didn't have the stones to do what I simply did right there. Be a man. Make a stand. Support your opinion. My opinion yes it that money could have been spent elsewhere. Specifically it could have been spent on people not trying to regain form 3 years after knee injuries and getting off the juice. That's all. People like to read into things, make incorrect assumptions or suppositions about what you say and then argue against them. Nothing worse than people that don't have any answers but tell everybody else they are wrong all day not really understanding what the other guy is saying. Teams throw away players for nothing all the time that are "worth the risk"! Didn't you know that? Gotta hand it to you. In 2 simple questions you summed up a good portion of what I have been trying to get across in 7 pages of responses. Brilliant.