cody

Walker got traded to the Bears and then got a new contract. He got what he wanted. I'm sure Peters would be happy if we sent him to a team that is willing to pay him. On the otherhand, we really dodged the bullet with Walker. If Peters is injured and the Bills trade him, it might work out.

Orlando Pace was a franchised tagged free agent and played that way for two seasons. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...TC-DT9705204233 http://football.about.com/b/2003/08/26/ram...nds-holdout.htm Then the Rams signed him to a long term deal. You seem to be the 1st one who has found a team that won a holdout This does give me hope that Peters may play for the Bills under his current contract and then sign a long term deal.

Parker may have to pull this stunt to get deals, but clients go to him because they get $$$$. I would not sign up with him because I think he puts his own interests before the clients.

I think you are exactly right about what happened/is happening. As a Bills fan, I do not like how this is going to end. Jason Peters presented the Bills with a difficult problem. I do not think the Bills' solution to that problem is going to help this team win. I'm thinking about Sept. 7, I'm thinking about January, I'm thinking about '09 & '10. I do not care if the Bills 'cave in' as long as they win football games.

The 3 years issue has been brought up many times. The Bills re-negotiated Schobel's deal after his 1st pro-bowl, even when he had three years left. Schobel's people handled it much better than Peters'. This is not new BS. Parker has been pulling this crap for over 10 years.

I read it in a article about a holdout in 1996. I posted the link on a different thread, but I do not know how to find the thread and cannot find the link. I found it by googling 'eugene parker holdout'. When I try that now, I get pages of Jackson/Peters articles. As for precisely who, a sports reporter. He may have been the kind of reporter that they hire at WGR, explaining why nothing ever happened.

I don't think the Bills are representing the entire league. The Rams negotiated with Parker during the holdout. Other teams do it. If the NFL wanted to end/limit holdouts, they would put it in the CBA. Parker is a punk. I have said before that I think someone should look into his representation of players. He has been accused of putting his interests above those of his clients and it was once floated that he uses the contracts of some of his players for leverage on other negotiations. (ex. I'll let player A sign for $x if you agree to give player B $y.) The problem is, he usually wins, his clients benefit and no one complains.

When you decide who has the power, I want you to think of the answers to these questions. 1. How many companies would be willing to pay Jason Peters more than he is currently earning with the Bills? 2. How many NFL tackles can play as well as Jason Peters? 2a. Of those tackles, how many would be willing to come to Buffalo for less than the amount of money Peters wants? 2b. Of those tackles, how many would be willing to come to Buffalo to play under Peters' current contract? You are absolutly right, the team owns his contract. That is all they own. Peters does not have to show up. Without Peters, what's that contract worth? No one can say the Bills hold all of the cards. The stradegy that the Bills are taking has never been sucessful. No team has ever won a holdout. How many times have players returned to teams after a holdout and not received a contract soon after? How many times have NFL teams forced a player to sit for more than one season before trading him?

At that point, the agent usually demands a trade. I have yet to find any NFL holdout that has ended with anything other than a new contract or a trade w/new contract

Refresh my memory, did Jim Kelly come to the Bills because he was unable to make any money in 1983, 1984 & 1985 or did he come to the Bills becase the USFL folded. Did Jim Kelly crawl here or did we have a parade? Whose career has Ralph put on ice? You are right, Parker does not care about Jason Peters, he only cares about his pocket. The question is, what should the Bills do about it. Is letting Peters sit for the rest of his career the best thing for the Bills?

If they are willing to pay him, why not just do what the Rams did. Negotiate, get to a range where both sides feel like the deal will happen. Then, when he reports, cross the 'i's and dot the 't's.

I think you are right. The hangup most likely occured when the Bills looked at thier budget. They do not have enough 2008 cash-to-the-cap space to sign Evans, Crow & Peters. So what did they decide to do? Do they offer him a contract that keeps his '08 pay in the same range but gives him a big roster bonus on March 1, 2009? Do they offer him easy to reach insentives that would not count against the cap until '09? Or do they let him sit out for a year in the hopes of re-negotiating his deal in '09?

We could easily identify dozens of players who handled the situation better than Peters. I do not like holdouts, but I think they have been effective. If the Bills refuse to negotiate, Peters will not play. Then what do we do?

I think I agree with your point. The way Aaron Schobel handled his dispute was smater, makes Schobel look like a stand up guy and was better for the team. I would love it if Peters did the same thing. Peters did not do the same thing. Now the Bills have to deal with it.

Unfortunatly, I negotiate contracts all of the time. Rule #1, do not screw up the deal. In my view, the Bills and Peters have equal bargianing power. The Bills need Peters, Peters needs the Bills. You are right, the Bills give up leverage by being the 1st to bend. However, the Bills do have something to loose. If Peters doesn't show up and play, they do not get the benefit of his services (which in '06 they estimated would be worth about 3 mil per year). If the Bills loose the 1st two games this season, we can forget about the playoffs. Playoff games mean revenue for the team. And job security for the people calling the shots. If one side takes to hard of a stance, the other side starts to dig in. If I tell someone "I will give you nothing", I know I will be in for a fight. I think the Bills are overplaying thier hand. Eugine Parker has a reputation for letting contract negotiations get personal and holding his client out. When negotiating, do not discount the personalities of the individuals involved.

NFL teams can sign a contract and breach it with virtually no downside. Before we decide that the Bills should take a hardline stance when negotiating holdouts, can anyone cite an example of when that tactic worked for the benefit of the team? Every holdout I've looked into has either ended in the player getting paid or the player being traded then paid. How can we say the Bills hold all the cards when the stradegy the Bills are using has never been successful.

I think he missed 4 voluntary workouts. He reported because there were talks between his agent and the team that made him feel confident a deal would be made. Although his contract was not finialized until Aug 24, 2007.

People have different professions. There are Cops, construction workers, ranch hands, sailors, and indian casino workers. Every profession has different rules and customs when it comes to contracts and compensation. Peters is a football player. There are rules that restrict his ability to play wherever he wants. Because NFL contracts are not guaranteed and players are not free to join other teams while under contract, the NFL allows holdouts. It's just the way the contract game is played. I don't like it because I think it hurts teams. The Bills, by themselves, are not going to change or stop the holdout game. If the Bills were serious about preventing holdouts, they should propose changes to the CBA.

I completely agree with that statement. Unfortunately, there are many NFL GMs who didn't. Because GMs were willing to throw out contracts after one good year, the NFL has holdouts. No one in the Bills front office has any experience being the head guy of a modern NFL franchise. I am not comfortable with them being trendsetters in contract negotiation philosophy. It looks like there stance on Peters will cost the Bills a win on September 7. the only person in the Bills' orginization, this year, that has earned the right to be inovative is Bobby April.

I think the Bills should have opened talks as soon as they knew Peters was unhappy. I will even give the Bills the benefit of the doubt and say they did not know until Peters skipped mini-camp. (Parker probably wanted to wait until after the draft to ensure the Bills had no real backup LT) Aaron Schobel's contract was renegotiated after his 1st probowl when he had 3 years left on his contract. Once Peters missed the 1st day of minicamp, the Bills should have been on the phone. In May and June, the Bills should have had talks that would have laid the groundwork for a contract. When people negotiate at that level, there is a fine line. This is the 1st NFL holdout for whoever is calling the shots at OBD. I think the Bills handled the Schobel situation much better. Peters is an NFL player, he is not a grown man. Never in his life has he been teated like a grown man, it is unreasonable for fans to ask him to act like a grown man. If a "normal" person were in Peters' situation, he would be stupid if he didn't quit his job and go to work for someone willing to pay fair market value for his services. Peters does not have that option. I am still waiting for an example of an NFL team winning a holdout dispute.

I think the best way for a football team to deal with a holdout is to prevent it. The way they prevented Schobel from holding out. Can anyone come up with an example of a team that ever 'won' in a holdout dispute? - by winning I mean the player caves, comes in and plays a season with that team under his current contract, and is still on the team the next year.

Newly signed lineman practicing Today Posted By: Chris Brown | Time: 11:35 AM ET | Link DICKINSON PRACTICING: The newly signed Dustin Dickinson is out with his new teammates and he's wearing jersey number 76. Of course Shaun Nua also wears 76 so just keep that in mind for Sunday's game. --- Dustin's got to feel realy good about making this team, they wouldn't even give him his own number.

90+% of the teams do not refuse to negotiate with holdouts. Jackson reported to Rams camp because he agreed to a deal in principle. If the Rams were not negotiating, how did they offer a deal Jackson would accept in principle. Most holdouts end in a contract or a trade. For holdouts to end in a contract, teams have to negotiate. I do not agree with Eugine Parker's holdouts. But they generally end in a new contract for his clients. Boldin is an example of why a player may holdout. According to Boldin, he's been attempting to re-negotiate his deal for over a year. He's been the good employee we all want Peters to be and has nothing to show for it.

He does represent many top players. He also has represented a large number of veteran holdouts over the past few years. It is refreshing that he does not use the media, but from what I've read, the agent isn't negotiating, at all, with the Bills or Rams. Parker's history of holdouts is disturbing, but the two this year are worse because there is nothing., no talks, no rumors of talks, nothing. See the following links for examples of Eugine Parker's behavior in the past http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stor...7/j1c8onnf.html http://www.projo.com/patriots/content/proj...r.1829b98a.html http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3019 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/...cards_holdouts/ http://www.giants.com/news/nfl_news/story....3&print=yes http://wap.chicagosports.mlogic3g.com/news...5930&rc=top

I think our base offense should be three wide. I think it's better to have parrish on the field than Barnes or an H-back. Marshawn proved last year that he can be productive without a lead blocker. I don't think we have the right tight ends to run the K-gun. Royal & co do not even look like thay play the same position as McKeller & co. But some version of a 3 wide base offense would get the best skill position players on the field more.