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DonInBuffalo

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Posts posted by DonInBuffalo

  1. They'll take 4 QBs to camp. Woodrum probably gets released relatively soon.

     

    The question I find interesting is whether they wind up keeping 2 or 3. Peterman would have to really, really stink to not make the final 53, so that's unlikely. But OTOH if it turns out he actually looks better than the other backups, management might decide not to waste a roster spot on a 3rd QB who doesn't really have a future with the team.

  2. I honestly dont understand all of the logistics of the tag

     

    If we Franchise Tag Glenn.....dont we actually have to have the cap available RIGHT THEN to tag him?

     

    Because as it stands....we dont?

    IIRC the magic date is March 1. On that date, they have to be able to fit everybody under contract within whatever the cap figure turns out to be for the new season.

  3.  

    Don, any plea necessarily involves conviction of a "crime" -- but even reckless driving is a traffic misdemeanor that is pretty inconsequential. I'm finding it hard to believe they'd turn down that plea unless they actually think they can win at trial.

    I don't believe that's how it works most of the time. Generally speaking, when someone hires an attorney to fight traffic-related charges, they're trying to get the criminal charges reduced to violations, so there's no permanent criminal record.

  4. What I find interesting is that Dareus' attorney turned down a reckless driving plea offered up by the DA. Wonder what their angle is? Could there be some difficulty on the state side with proof of drag racing?

     

     

    § 1212. Reckless driving. Reckless driving shall mean driving or using any motor vehicle, motorcycle or any other vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular power or any appliance or accessory thereof in a manner which unreasonably interferes with the free and proper use of the public highway, or unreasonably endangers users of the public highway. Reckless driving is prohibited. Every person violating this provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
    His attorney apparently wasn't willing to concede a criminal record without going to court. However IMO this case will be straightforward to prove in court. They have plenty of unbiased witnesses to the event. Being convicted of a crime will almost certainly result in a suspension, which is why the attorney isn't willing to concede that. The cost to take this to trial is probably substantially less than one of Marcell's game checks.
  5. Generally speaking, coaches don't have a problem with players publicly stating they would like the opportunity to make more plays. That's pretty much all that AW did. Virtually every 4th down decision that a coach makes - ALL the players ALWAYS want to go for it.

     

    The specific situation that JS listed is one that I have a difficult time agreeing with. It was 4th and 6 from about midfield with about 9 minutes left in the game. Especially when you factor in who plays QB and who plays on defense for the Bills, I'd punt every single time given that scenario. The "bubble" for Marrone in that scenario is probably 3-4 yards. Anything longer is too low a % to justify going for it.

  6. General advise:

     

    Get an early start. Figure out how long it would take you to drive to the stadium if there wasn't any traffic, and leave so you would get there at 10:30. That way, you'll probably get parked around 11:00 and have plenty of time to tailgate. If you leave later, you'll spend much more time dealing with traffic, and some of the lots might be full before you even get there. If you're going to the opener, leave 30 minutes earlier. For some reason, the traffic is always worse for the opener.

     

    Keep the food/beverages simple. For example, one small cooler with some hot dogs and your beverages, and one bag with rolls/chips. You want to be able to easily carry everything with you. If you don't want to bring a grill, that shouldn't be a problem, as long as you have something to share with the people you ask for grill space.

  7. Not a prayer that they are ruled independent contractors. Clearly there appears to be direction and control exercised by the, " alleged employers", who may or may not include the Bills. We may be seeing the beginning of the end of cheerleading as we know it in professional sports. If so the sport will survive but some of the color and fun will be gone from it.

    I had a short discussion about this general issue with a friend of mine who specializes in labor law. Apparently the tactic of trying to "bully" people into accepting independent contractor status is not uncommon in the business world. He gave me several anecdotal examples; here's one: A law firm hires an attorney under the condition he sign a form stating he's working for them as an independent contractor. He works for them for a year or so at a desk in their offices, using their stationary and clerical staff. When they laid him off, he filed for unemployment and they never made any effort to dispute the claim.

     

    I don't understand the "end of cheerleaders in pro sports" angle. When you add up all the money to pay all the Jills (not just these 5) what's being demanded, it adds up to something like $15-20K a year. That's about 0.5% of the Bills profit margin.

  8. Apparently the key legal issue here is whether the Jills are considered employees or independent contractors. Companies, in general, would prefer contractors, since under that arrangement they aren't held to all the requirements of employment law, including but not limited to things like minimum wage and overtime. But the company can't just arbitrarily make that decision; the law doesn't work that way.

     

    https://labor.ny.gov/ui/dande/ic.shtm

     

    Just skimming through those two "relationship" lists it looks like the Jills have a slam dunk case.

  9. Then you might as well just waive a white flag if you are the Bills. Then expect every future negotiation turn into a tire fire because every agent will know that when things get uncomfortable the Bills will punt.

     

    Do you want to be THAT team?

     

    Parker may well have a $9M deal from some team if Byrd were "clean" but that's the rub, isn't it? Byrd isn't free. The Bills are not going to set him free. So when Parker says his client is worth X as a free agent it means jack squat!

     

    Correct me if I'm wrong but if the Bills put Byrd on IR then he is done for the year, correct? That includes trades? So the Bills can shut him down for the year by putting him on IR. That could be the next chess move by the Bills against Parker. Go ahead and wheel and deal, Eugene. We can shut your guy down. I mean he is injured, right?

     

    PTR

    Hypothetically speaking:

    - If the Bills place Byrd on IR

    AND

    - If Byrd feels he is healthy enough to play

    AND

    - Byrd finds a doctor that agrees with him,

     

    he could file a grievance via the NFLPA. If he won, he would become an UFA. That's essentially what Steve Christie did a few years back.

  10. I concur with those who are saying people are making much too big a deal out of this. Marrone accomplished several things, including a not-so-subtle reminder that nobody has their starting job locked in stone.

     

    It is a little concerning that the coaching staff might think that Thomas Welch could be the 5th best healthy lineman on the roster.

  11. A TV antenna will work as long as the TV is designed to receive digital signals. Here's one:

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=827571&Q=&is=REG&A=details

    The key piece of information there is ATSC. That means the TV can receive OTA (over the air) digital signals.

     

    I live in North Buffalo and get channels 2, 4, and 7 most of the time with a very basic antenna. Those channels have their digital transmitters somewhere near East Aurora. Fox comes in pretty much all the time for me, it's transmitter is on Grand Island.

     

    From the stadium parking lot, with a basic antenna, you should be able to easily pick up 2, 4, and 7. Fox might be more problematic.

  12. Here's an article on the Bills cap situation:

     

    http://buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130213/SPORTS/130219671/1003

     

    According to the article, the Bills don't save much money by cutting Fitz. They would have to get him to renegotiate his contract to do that. But since they aren't really saving space by cutting him, I don't see how they have much leverage to get him to re-do his deal.

     

    Looks like Kelsay, McGee, and possibly Brad Smith could be cap casualties once the Bills determine how much money they need/want to sign other players.

  13. The article I read that listed the most recent hires also mentioned that Hackett was going to double as the QB coach. So they'll have someone who has never been a position coach (much less coordinator) at the NFL level handling both jobs, which presumably includes grooming the QB of the future. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

  14. I'm very skeptical about the whole concept of applying metrics to evaluate players. While that clearly has some practical application for fantasy football purposes, it just doesn't seem to fit in the real world. Arbitrary stats such as tackles or sacks tell you only a small portion of what a player actually contributes. More complex stats (for example, how well somebody sheds blockers) would involve such a large subjective component in determining their values it really doesn't seem like the metric analysis would add much if anything.

     

    Metics in baseball makes much more sense. In that sport, the actions of the individual players are much more isolated and easier to evaluate independently of the other players.

  15. IMO this is only a step foward if you happen to be looking in a mirror.

     

    Brandon's primary role all along has been money - make the team more profitable so when Ralph dies and the team has to be sold, it's a more viable product to be sold. Giving him more power just accentuates that role. I doubt they'll have much luck getting a big name coach to come here (assuming they're even willing to spend that $$) unless there's already some sort of backroom deal in place with new ownership who will assure that big name coach of a job through the owership transistion.

     

    Nix is "keeping his chair" through the draft because presumably that's been his focus for the last few months. Probably once the NFL trade deadline passes, pretty much every NFL GM turns his focus to the draft. Personnel decisions become relatively minor at that point, because all you have to decide is things like whether or not to cut/replace people like Kirk Morrison.

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