KOKBILLS

Agreed... I think Cleveland is one of the very few teams that...if everything was equal...Byrd would choose Buffalo over... Just my opinion...But I'm thinking if Cleveland really wants Byrd they are going to have to go ridiculously high on the offer... When Mario signed here the Bills looked like 78 Steelers as an organization compared to how Cleveland looks now...It matters not what kind of spin Cleveland puts on things, it's going to be a leap and a half for any high-end UFA to put their trust in that organization as it is now...Next year maybe...But right now that thing looks like a train wreck caused by a plane crash when the plane was thrown out of the air by a tornado...

Right...Not all the $30 was guaranteed...But a total of $30 payout if he plays the first three years... No matter how the payout goes...If that $60 million plus figure is accurate that's one hell of an offer...

Not trying to be a smart-ass...But who is overstating their readiness? Marrone stated they were the next men up, but I have not seen much sentiment around here indicating their play would be great or anything like that...Merely that they were next...And they don't have to be Byrd to be effective anyway...The Bills were 2-3 with Jim Leonard as the starter at FS, and the three games they lost were definitely not due to poor FS play...Just saying...

Going back to the 2012 off season, of all the players tagged I'm pretty certain that only Byrd and Dwayne Bowe had any extended holdout...Of course Bowe eventually re-signed...So...

You just KNOW it's going to happen now...You just have to know somehow Watkins will end up in Buffalo... And...Here...We...Go...

Like I said in the Byrd thread this is not going to go over well...At all...It's a public relations nightmare for a team that has missed the Playoffs 14 straight years...That much can't be debated... But in truth, that's just today...And it's only March 4th... What is also the truth? No one really knows how it's all going to play out...Yes the past decade and a half can certainly be seen as a decent clue...No one can be more cynical about this Franchise than I can at times...It absolute feels like we're just cursed and it's never...I mean never, ever, going to get better...And if anyone wants to simply say this Franchise is screwed, and that's just the way it is, I can appreciate that argument...I really can...But there really is no reason, at least no logical reason, why the past HAS to determine the future...Nothing is determined yet...And the Bills can come out of this better...As hard as that may be to believe... Byrd is a FS...Yes he's a darn good one, and yes the Bills would likely be better with him...But it looks like that's not going to happen...So how can they be better without him? Easy...EJ Manual has a breakout year...Done...OK...I realize it's not a given by any stretch, but it really would be that easy...Free Safeties can be replaced...The Bills were 2-3 without Byrd last year and one of those losses came on the last play of the game vs. NE...Another loss was the Justin Rogers game...The third loss was the Cleveland game where EJ got hurt...In that Browns game the Bills gave up a punt return, and an INT return, for TD's...None of those three losses could be blamed solely (or at all) on shoddy FS play...And the Bills had an ancient Jim Leonard out there...There is absolutely no reason to believe this team cannot win without Byrd...None whatsoever... So anyway...Let's not get overly carried away with this...It looks far worse than it may be...We'll see how bad it really is this coming season...My guess is it's really not going to matter much...The Bills always finds ways to lose that go far beyond one position...They like to spread the ineptitude around...

Too true...

Don't mean to ninja you on this...We talked a little bit about it in the Byrd thread...But anyway... Marrone has already been pretty clear that Searcy will remain in his role as the 3rd Safety...He pretty much confirmed they would not look towards Searcy to fill the hole if Byrd departs. When asked he said he was really excited about Duke Williams and Meeks...I'm also guessing the Bills will see if they can land a mid level UFA FS, or possibly Draft a FS in the middle rounds...

Why? How do his remarks have anything to do with you as a Bills fan or Bills fans in general? It's one guy on a message board...You're feeding the troll...Don't be a drama queen...

My prediction is the Bills sign a UFA FS and claim at that time it was really the plan all along..."We wanted Jairus to stay, but when we realized the price tag would be too high we knew we could use that money on...blah, blah..." I'm not against moving on from Byrd but I think tagging him was the next logical step regardless... This is not going to go over well...And I think that is going to end up being an understatement...

There's really no reason to wait until Camp or anything like that...The first week or two of Free Agency will be all they need to know if teams truly are unwilling to give up a decent pick to acquire the right to sign Byrd...Anything beyond that is pretty much useless IMHO because the cash out there will dry up quick...

Exactly...As long as Byrd does not sign the tender (which we all know he wont because that would force him to show up) the tag can be pulled at any time... I'm really eager to hear the Bills explanation should they choose not to tag Byrd...

Cliff Avril as well... I fully expect Byrd to take a little less in order to go where he wants to go...And I certainly can't blame him for it...

A little off topic...But just an FYI in case you did not know already...Parker's agency will represent WR Sammy Watkins, FSU WR Kelvin Benjamin, UT OT Antonio Richardson, as well as SC WR Bruce Ellington, and OSU RB Carlos Hyde... Just saying...

Maybe Byrd would want to stay if the Bills absolutely blew him away with an offer...Maybe... But if Byrd was asked to give a list of the top 10 teams he would like to play for I doubt very much the Bills would be on that list...And I'm not blaming him for that either...It's understandable... Byrd and his Agent are negotiating because it can do nothing but help frame his market value...It's all good information for them, it does not hurt them, and maybe the Bills give him an offer he can't refuse... I'm not sure it's a matter of whether or not Byrd wants to be in Buffalo anyway...Maybe it's better to say that he would rather play elsewhere if all thing were equal...

Regardless of whether or not he is liked universally...I think it's pretty easy to figure that one of the QB needy teams in the Top 8 is going to fall in love with Manziel...I'm not sure who it will be, and a lot will depend on who goes where at the top...But the fact is Houston, J-Ville, Cleveland, Oakland, and Minnesota could all take QB's...That's 5 teams and 3 QB's...Some team is going to jump at the chance to take him...

I'm certain this is the case...And good for the Bills that they looked to get this done quickly... But the reality is most teams are not going to to offer squat, especially if they really want Byrd, unless the tag is a reality...The only thing a team receives in return for promising a decent Draft pick right now is the ability to negotiate with Byrd exclusively when Free Agency opens...Nothing more...They don't get him automatically, and he can always say no...The tag pushes this thing forward...If there is real interest in Byrd the tag will leave no doubt...If there truly is no trade to be made the Bills can remove the tag in a month or so... It really does make sense to play this out with the tag...It does not hurt the Bills at all, and could result in decent compensation for Byrd...if not, they remove the tag and they're no worse-off for it...

Great question!

Oh I know all that...I'm just saying it seems they want to move on from the situation...And no matter what we all think is the best thing to do...If they want to move on they are going to move on...Not saying it's the right thing to do...In fact I think its' dumb not to at least tag him and play this thing out a little further...

Well...I can easily be argued that is exactly why you go ahead and use the tag...The thing is there is likely at least one, if not two or three teams that want Byrd...So play it all the way out...And if you truly can't get anything for him after a Month of Free Agency remove the tag and let him go...But is it not at least worthwhile to see if someone gets desperate? What do the Bills have to lose? They have the cap space...They can still be a minor player in Free Agency...The only reason I can think of for the Bills to not tag Byrd and play this thing all the way out is if they already have his replacement in mind and want to get the guy the day Free Agency opens...

I don't have a problem with the Bills playing this thing all the way out...Worse comes to worst they can pull the tag...I agree with what Kirby wrote back in this thread a bit...The teams unwilling to give up a pick right now are hoping Byrd is not tagged and they wont have to give up anything...I'm going to assume Parker is doing his best to muddy the waters there as well in hopes that Byrd can hit the open market which is the best case scenario for his client...IMHO the Bills should tag Byrd regardless...It seems pretty obvious it's the right thing to do at this point... I'm just getting the vibe they don't have the stomach for this anymore...Not to mention this is the Bills after all...And you know darn well they will sign a UFA Safety and try to spin it like that was the plan all along...Y'all have to know that is coming...

Marrone has already addressed this...The Bills coaches feel it's best to leave Searcy in his current role where they feel he is very effective...He will not be one of the starting Safeties (baring injury of course)...Duke Williams and Meeks are the next men up...And expect the Bills to sign a UFA, or Draft another Safety if Byrd is gone...

Seriously? I've heard Whaley comment on this thing more than once...He's always non-committal...Though he did indicate it was a good possibility Byrd would be tagged...He may have even hinted that it was likely...But never said they would for sure...He did his usual GM dance and said they would consider any option they have... Here's the direct quote..."We have to leave every option on the table open...When you're trying to keep a good player you're going to try every means necessary to keep him..." I hear ya...Crystal clear to me...Maybe no one else... Well...Probably no one else... Maybe so...I was just using it as an example that it could be anything...

You can believe anything you want to KtD...I respect you're opinion... But it's my opinion, and I should note that's it's been my opinion for almost a year now, that Byrd does not want to be in Buffalo...Call it a gut feeling...whatever...I don't think the guy wants to be here, and I think if you read between the lines it's crystal clear...Heck it may just be that he does not want to be on this side of the country anymore...He's a west coast kid...I'm not blaming him for not wanting to be here...But whatever the reason is I don't think he wants to play in Buffalo any longer...JMO... Well...I don't know...You're tying up over 8 million in cap space to make a point...If you're just doing it to extend the window in order to get a trade done then fine...I would be on-board for that...But if you're willing to go all the way and let him sit out most of the season I think it's just dumb at this point... It's a bad marriage...Sometimes it's best to just walk...

I'm guessing Byrd's camp is ready to up the anti if he's tagged and retained this season... They'll sit out as long as they can this time...That's my prediction...