DC Grid

As this article makes fairly clear, but the WSJ has covered in depth, stock in athletes, the way these are set up is like buying stock in the Packers. It's your chance to get some NFL paraphernalia at an inflated cost. As for the comparison above to slavery? I don't think slaves routinely gave up nothing in exchange for thousands / million of dollars. This is more akin to a personal hedge. Using this vehicle a player can functionally backstop the possibility of disappointing career earnings. Again this is total BS, but likely sails by / avoids the SEC qualifications because there are A LOT worse investment vehicles out there in both the public and private equity markets.

95 years old, helped launch pro football as we know it today, made a fortune, and brought happiness, even in bad times to a rust belt city that wasn't his own. That's a pretty awesome legacy.

Small sample size yes, but not so small it's insignificant. The losing teams are below and you can see in the close games the QBs were mostly young. The old guys (like manning this year) got blown out twice, sort of underscoring the point of not being able to win with an old QB. It wasn't a fluke play that determined the outcome, like the Tyree catch. So even expanding it to all QBs for the past 11 SBs the trend generally holds true and may even underscore how it is a money issue. Only 3 QBs are over 30 who's teams even had a shot to win those games. One was Brady who gave money back in negotiations to help his team remain competitive was 33, one was Warner, a guy playing on a discounted contract late in his career, and one was Hassleback who wasn't exactly a big money QB. SB Losers from last 11 years: 2014 - Manning - 37 2013 - Kapernick - 25 2012 - Brady - 33 2011 - Roth - 29 2010 - Manning - 32 2009 - Warner - 37 2008 - Brady - 28 2007 - Grossman - 27 2006 - Hasselback - 31 2005 - McNabb - 28 2004 - Delhomme - 29

100% agree, Brown's motives are clear...but his observation still seemed worth noting. Dalton is also a guy I would NEVER give a big contract to. All he does is just enough to lose first round. I think we've seen his upside and it's not enough. With the team he has around him I'm not sure Weeden or some other like bum might not have eeked out similar results.

Mike Brown (Bengals Owner) recently talked about a trend that is worth highlighting...especially for fans of teams like the Bills. For all this talk of trying to find the next Brady / Brees / Manning etc, the old guard / well-established QBs just aren't winning SBs. Brown suggests that a lot of this has to do with cap numbers and a QB like Brady, Manning, Brees draws so much money it drains the team and compromises their ability to fund other positions. But whether this is the reason, or some other cause is the real culprit, it is still valuable to realize that the NFL is skewing younger than it ever has at QB, and perhaps teams need to focus on not just finding good young ones, but even letting the good old one go. I know that seems counterintuitive, but a little over a decade of data is hard to ignore. Looking at the last 11 SBs, if I were a GM I would be focused on finding a young QB to build with or insert (duh) but then dumping them shortly after 30 (obviously the more controversial idea). Is this crazy or might Mike Brown be onto something? If nothing else looking at this data has me completely uninterested in looking for a veteran starter...which is a view that OBD clearly seems to share. 2014 SB - 2004 SB (11 SBs): -Only 3 SB winners were over 30, the oldest was 31 -8 of the 11 winners were 28 or younger -7 of the 11 were 27 or younger -Average age of the winning QBs - 28 -The list: 2014 - Wilson - 25 2013 - Flacco - 28 2012 - E.Mann - 31 2011 - Rodgers- 27 2010 - Brees - 31 2009 - Roth - 27 2008 - E.Mann - 27 2007 - P.Mann - 30 2006 - Roth - 24 2005 - Brady - 27 2004 - Brady - 26

People also tend to forget the result was a bad contract for Ricky. It's an error in judgement on Evans' part to sign with them but it could make him easier to deal with in some ways....to the extent it matters at all the way the new rookie deals work. Man did the players screw up in the last CBA battle.

Pats had to do something with the Broncos going nuts. This was a good move. Damn.

Wow...guess they were biding their time. Wonder if they'll get Sproles next. Oops...didn't see the topic already started. Sorry Mods please delete.

Excellent. Please Kolb walk away. For your own good.

But of course, if / when Byrd gets a big contract Eugene will be a hero / genius who outfoxed the Bills again and will be hired by a bunch more rookies who will bolt first chance they can from the Bills.

+1 especially if he falls to the 3rd Round. Drafting a good RB as high as the 3rd might also make sense because Spiller is gone after this year. If the FO won't pay top bucks for the best DB on the team, no way are they going to shell out for 2nd best RB.

That's what Bennett said, but the fact is the Bears were offering a lot more according to reports.

I fear this contract shows just how grossly the Bills front office has misjudged the free agency market this year in their refusal to pay or franchise Byrd.

Not necessarily if they tag and trade him, especially if they settle for a 3rd etc. Also if players hate Buffalo because it's Buffalo it doesn't really matter what they do. Bills need to be like Pittsburgh draft well resign your own guys, play hardball and build a winner.

Is there a FA we could sign that other teams would badly want and would be easy to trade for a draft pick in a stocked draft this year?

Whaley is 100% onboard with the current blunder...that's the scary part. If he can't see the value of tagging and trading he doesn't belong in the NFL.

On the plus side at least the Bills didn't let Byrd walk for nothing. Oh, oops.

Yeah F him, but why are the Bills fing themselves? Franchise and trade him.

I just don't get this FO. They offered to pay him $10 million per the first three years but won't use to tag to pay him $8.4 million next year or possibly get something in trade. Like a second rounder in the deepest draft in years? What gives?

I think he's extremely athletic, but I see a guy that got pushed around a fair bit in the games I saw. He can be put on his butt by bull rushers and is a work in progress in pass pro in general. So right now it's hard to see him as an upgrade over Glenn at LT, and if you're going for a guy to be a mauler at RT, I think you'd want a guy with a little better track record in terms of toughness / durability. A guy who seems to struggle getting though a college schedule healthy is going to have a rough time in the pros.

I don't know about all his takes, but I think his OT Lewan analysis is spot on. I know some like that guy on this board but I'd hate to see the Bills take him in any part of the first round. In a draft with 10 plus great options for the Bills to grab one of, people are trying to sell themselves on an OT that screams bust.

I wholeheartedly believe that the Browns and Jags were created to make Bills Fans and Players feel better about themselves and their team...looks like the Fins have officially joined that list as well.

I get that approach....I just don't know if it works in the modern NFL. Seems like there are just as many busts at OT when picked high as WRs and other skilled positions, but unlike WRs far more stud OL are found much later than the top of the first round. When all the Bills need are a ROT and OG, taking at OT at 9 seems way overvalued. When teams (even the bills) can regularly pick up guys like Cordy Glenn in round 2, doesn't it make more sense to go for a guy like Watkins who can be the next CJ or AJ with their top pick? Who knows maybe I'm just scared by a draft history of second round picks like James Hardy and first round can't miss OL picks like Mike Williams. I do notice however that few playoff teams have OLs comprised of top 10 OTs. Tons of low first rounders and second rounders but not a lot of top 10. I think you make a HUGE mistake letting the depth / make up of the draft dictate who your top 10 pick is. Top ten pick in a draft like this has the chance to be an elite difference maker (any of the 9 spelled out by a previous poster qualify) taking a TE like Ebron who may not have the same potential just because he represents value at a position of greater scarcity is how you maximize the value you get in THIS draft only. Teams need to take the long view. Would you rather leave the draft with a guy like Calvin Johnson and some solid role players or a guy like Brandon Petigrew and another value guy like Robert Woods. The value is in the later from a one draft perspective, but successful teams would always aim for the former. When you're drafting low first round you should go for value based upon the board and what you are likely to get in other rounds, as your chance at an elite player is minimal and your odds of competing that year are clearly greater, but the goal of a top ten pick should be to get a guy that means you won't be a top ten pick again for awhile. Go big or go home.

+1. Evans has the potential to do for this Bills offense what Gronk does / did for the Pats.

Watching the combine and seeing how the big boards of various analysts are shaking out, it seems that the Bills will almost be guaranteed the opportunity to draft either Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans with their first pick. Both of these guys look like elite number ones that would give the Bills and awesome young WR corps for years. Is there anything the Bills could do better than create an awesome WR corps for EJ or whoever is the QB next with their top pick? Is there any player aside from a falling top 3 QB who has a greater potential to make a huge impact on the Bills? Or does the depth at WR in this draft and the Bills relative need at LB or OL dictate a different approach?