NoSaint

I’ve yet to see Ritchie say he’s giving back the signing bonus he just got if he gets cut... not particularly loyal to take a 7 figure check and then start all this up

You might even say go ahead and fire me instead of signing on at the lower pay for an exclusive rights contract with a very strict non compete clause.

What do you do if he shows up to camp, is a distraction, and doesn’t have real trade value? Also, I asked in another thread: can he restructure again this offseason or does he have to be cut to sign a new contract?

Im honestly not sure your argument. Because Thomas was older he’s better? you point at thomas having a better supporting cast - im assuming to say it as limiting his volume stats... but with less help LT still had a better YPC. bigger, stronger, faster, did more per touch despite more focus on him and turned the ball over considerably less despite more touches. And scored A LOT more often. Two seasons with more yards from scrimmage than Thurman’s best. Elected first team all pro more times. This isn’t to beat up TT- it’s just you haven’t made much of a case other than him being ahead of his time. Which counts for something but im not sure it counts for all that

In a very general sense, sure. But you’ve oversimplified it. how they handle the qb position will define them. They have already made some very bold moves. Depending on the dynamics of the last draft- this regime in some part traded out of selecting a qb. Then traded their starter for a day two pick. Then were the last to move in free agency.... in large part they pulled all the safety nets out from under them. If they hit it - with great risk comes great reward. If they miss, there’s not a lot protecting them from hitting the concrete.

Again - we don’t care that he went to bama we are saying you care

Did you start a new thread for your friend? I keep checking back only to be disappointed @BuffaloRush

Ill steer you to my recent LT post and ask you to make your case

I don’t, but I also don’t default to any bills mishap being the pats fault with absolutely no proof or even vague reason to suggest it

I didn’t know I could convict guys from my couch or bar stool.

Another question: i dont know this as fact but i vaguely recall that you can’t renegotiate a contract signed in that same season. So there might not be a way for the bills to renegotiate short of cutting him and re-signing? (think it was an RFA situation where I heard that- noting a team couldn’t give ridiculous terms to a guy to help get him off his original team with a handshake agreement to restructure immediately after... imagine giving a huge year 1 salary to a guy on a cap strapped team, they can’t match then you can’t restructure that to signing bonus to be more friendly to both team and player once he’s in house)

I’d even be fine if when they asked for the pay cut he said no and perhaps an off color comment. I get hurt feelings cause some bad blood and he’s a high strung guy. But the games he’s currently playing just aren’t defensible after cashing a million dollar check and signing the contract

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad word but I think a lot of folks subconsciously discount him for being reliable when it’s a big plus. not only did he play GREAT but he did it long term and without too many dips. A few here acted like he was just reliably getting 3.8 ypc walking to the sideline untouched behind a great line and able to do it a gazillion times because of everything but his own ability. Dude ran hard, made big plays, has the rings and records and across his peak had HUGE numbers (averaged 1600 yards and 17 tds a season over 5 years— without including receiving stats) its hard to put him outside the top top ten but Thurman in it

Fine- let’s ignore Martin issues and stick to him getting booted from two colleges, the rams meltdowns, the multiple arrests that video of him in the bar throwing around slurs, the incident with the golf course attendant, the slurs towards trainers, the drug issues he’s copped to, that weird incident beating up his car, maybe another racial slur incident in Jax.... but if you discount all that, we really don’t know much to question his character

No ones coming after him because he’s a bama guy. we are all questioning whether you can credibly discuss any issue that’s even remotely bama related.

What if he’s demanding a raise?

Cant fire an agent on twitter. Much like you can’t retire. I’m curious what, if any, paperwork he’s filed through all this.

Yup - I left both he and smith off my spitball list. Might have been blocking out a certain team.

Its 110% fair- nutrition, training, schemes advancing.... its hard to say what a great from another era could do today. The flip side is they also would likely benefit from all that too.

Would you go to such lengths in this if it were an LSU player? We arent sentencing him to jail, we are discussing what we think happened on a message board. Do you believe Foster is a high character individual? If so, is all the controversy around him just bad luck, or?

I’ll agree with two points McBride made — our line was also one of the better ones ones out there in a 5 year run smith had over 8000 rushing yards and 85 rushing tds. Plus some catches not in those numbers. I think by calling him the steady one a lot of fans forget that he was steadily really killing it on the field and not just grinding out numbers just by longevity and volume

Make a list!

He was cut mid season by the rams, left the dolphins in controversy and this may be his bills departure. He was booted from Nebraska and never accepted at Oregon. if we cut him, how do you suppose he departs his next team? Or are you confident that this is out of character for him?

Unfortunately, being completely erratic and unpredictable brings his value down

For a month