How Does This Work

[Bill from NYC]

1) Is Ralph now fully off the hook for Trent's contract? I would assume so.

 

2) Do these contracts work by the week? In other words, at what point was Ralph off the hook for Trent's rather small salary?

 

3) If Ralph would have waited, does anybody think we could have got ANY sort of draft choice in a trade?

 

My gut tells me that Ralph wanted to save a 1 game paycheck, and that this was worth more to him than waiting for a draft pick, but I hope I am wrong.

[DrDawkinstein]

no one was going to trade us anything for him. not even a 7th round pick. regardless of his talent level, just knowing that we were done with him.

 

i dont know about 1 and 2, but i believe we are off the hook for the rest of his contract.

Edited September 28, 2010 by DrDankenstein

[Bill from NYC]

no one was going to trade us anything for him. not even a 7th round pick. regardless of his talent level, just knowing that we were done with him.

 

Not even if a quarterback sustained an injury? Maybe you are right, but I am not feeling it.

[Captain Caveman]

1) Is Ralph now fully off the hook for Trent's contract? I would assume so.

 

2) Do these contracts work by the week? In other words, at what point was Ralph off the hook for Trent's rather small salary?

 

3) If Ralph would have waited, does anybody think we could have got ANY sort of draft choice in a trade?

 

My gut tells me that Ralph wanted to save a 1 game paycheck, and that this was worth more to him than waiting for a draft pick, but I hope I am wrong.

 

1. Yes

2. It depends on how many years the player has in the NFL. I think the cutoff is 4 years. Trent, having less than 4 years, was not guaranteed any portion of his contract. (After 4 years, if a player is on the roster on opening day they are paid through the full year regardless.)

 

Your gut - I wouldn't put it past Ralph, but I seriously doubt any team offered anything in draft compensation. After all the talk of teams who would put in a claim, it seems like most didn't.

[Ramius]

No way Edwards brings back anything in a trade. Perhaps if he wasn't in the final year of his deal, but since he's a FA at seasons end, anyone who wanted him could have easily signed him.

[akm0404]

Ralph is a cheap, terribad owner, but this was just cutting dead weight. Nothing sinister here.

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

I guess it is a symptom of the psychological battering all Bills fans have gotten over the past decade that even a sensible poster whom I respect deeply would spin Trent's being cut as an attack on cheap Ralph, but really? Cutting Trent makes a great deal of sense once the team decided he was no longer the right man for the job. Why keep him as a #2 when you think he plays like #2? Better just to let him go, especially since a trade is not likely at all. As for the financial side, the savings are miniscule by football standards. Trent was not making big bucks, and anyone they sign to replace him will cost something, reducing the savings even further. It may be a shame that a QB many had high hopes for did not pan out, but that is all it is. Time to move one. There are much bigger problems facing this franchise.

[Bill from NYC]

I guess it is a symptom of the psychological battering all Bills fans have gotten over the past decade that even a sensible poster whom I respect deeply would spin Trent's being cut as an attack on cheap Ralph, but really? Cutting Trent makes a great deal of sense once the team decided he was no longer the right man for the job. Why keep him as a #2 when you think he plays like #2? Better just to let him go, especially since a trade is not likely at all. As for the financial side, the savings are miniscule by football standards. Trent was not making big bucks, and anyone they sign to replace him will cost something, reducing the savings even further. It may be a shame that a QB many had high hopes for did not pan out, but that is all it is. Time to move one. There are much bigger problems facing this franchise.

 

OK, you guys convinced me, and Ramius makes a good point that he is in his last year of his contract. I am gonna put this notion to bed, but your point about being a battered Bills Fan is well stated and well taken.

[Amstel]

I think its a win-win scenario. He couldn't have been happy even if he said all the right things, no one really wanted to see him come off the bench if something happens to Fitz. It appeases certain fans and shows Buddy/Chan aren't stubborn and will admit mistakes. As dumb as this sounds I think it was a class move on part of the organization- I'm sure they talked to him about it. You had to know someone was going to make a waiver claim for him which not only will guarantee the remainder of his contract (if he sticks)but gives him a shot and doing something somewhere else where he has a new start. People are looking at QBs that have been out of football. Like Trent or not he's started games in each of the last three years and is in "football shape" someone was going to take a flier on him.....

Edited September 28, 2010 by Amstel

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

OK, you guys convinced me, and Ramius makes a good point that he is in his last year of his contract. I am gonna put this notion to bed, but your point about being a battered Bills Fan is well stated and well taken.

 

 

We are all damaged, Bill. That is what binds us together as a community. All we have is each other. Better days are ahead.

[Fixxxer]

1. Yes

2. It depends on how many years the player has in the NFL. I think the cutoff is 4 years. Trent, having less than 4 years, was not guaranteed any portion of his contract. (After 4 years, if a player is on the roster on opening day they are paid through the full year regardless.)

 

Your gut - I wouldn't put it past Ralph, but I seriously doubt any team offered anything in draft compensation. After all the talk of teams who would put in a claim, it seems like most didn't.

 

I think the day the 2010 season started Edwards became a 4 year veteran, was he not?

[Captain Caveman]

I think the day the 2010 season started Edwards became a 4 year veteran, was he not?

 

Gotta be a full 4 years (so it would have been next year.)

[Beebe's Kid]

This is the most mature thread I have ever read. I mean that in all seriousness.

 

I think it boiled down to respect for Trent. Many fans has a disdain for the man, that his coaches and peers do not. I think that they realized this relationship was not going to work. Chan probably feels genuinely remorseful. I have not read one negative thing about Trent this year, in regards to his personality. I also think that his aloofness was more of a symptom of his internalization of his emotions, not the arrogance it was perceived as. I think Trent's biggest problem is Trent. Anybody that is honest about their emotions has been there in one form or another, we are just fortunate that it didn't unfold in front of a tormented fan base, and a venomous local, small market, media.

 

Chan, from what I gather, tends to get fairly close to his players, but is not a buddy. He understands what is lost in a relationship by becoming their pal, but I bet he still gets close. He has made comments that Trent was too hard on himself, and that they were working on that. It is, obviously, an issue that they felt couldn't be resolved. It was best to give TE the change of scenery.

 

Could you imagine if he came into a game as the #2? The fans would suffer at least 3 casualties, due to heads simply exploding. His play under center, in games that matter, was simply mind-numbing. This relationship had run it's course. To keep him here was to hold him hostage. We were done watching him, and to put him out on the field in Buffalo would have been the worst case for all involved.

 

Cut ties, and walk away friends. I don't think you'll hear Trent talk poorly about this organization, like Johnson did when he left. I think everybody was very mature about the whole thing...minus most message board "junior GM's," who rarely handle any Bills news with class.

 

Brohm, like him or not, is on this roster because he does have talent. Him being with Gailey is the optimal situation for him. I hope we see him, and believe we will, so Chan can evaluate his gameday decision making, and decide if he is going to be on this team, and what role he will play.

 

I know many want to draft a QB, and I have to agree, it currently sounds like a must do, but to throw a rookie out there next year will be counter productive to all involved. Rodgers is what he is because he was able to be groomed. The Packers, in fact, drafted Brohm because they were nervous about what they had.

 

Brohm has had to learn some real lessons, mentally, in what he has been through...top five pick, slip to 2nd round, miserable preseason filled with self-doubt, cut to PS, then come to Buffalo and be 3rd string. If you watched him in the preseason and deny he has talent, I question your eye sight. I am not saying he is ready, but he is a QB. He is simply sitting and learning like Rodgers did, only we as fans don't have the luxury of Brett Favre in front of him.

 

Interesting time to be a Bills fan...I find myself saying that every year, but it sure beats harping on the negative over and over...and over.

[GR8PRKN]

Today's paper

 

"For the record, the Bills don't have to pay Edwards his full salary because he has less than four years' experience. The Bills paid him for three games, for $291,176. He would have made $1.65 million for a full season."

 

MG article from Buf news

 

I wonder what if the Jags have to pay the balance?

Edited September 29, 2010 by GR8PRKN

[GG]

I think the day the 2010 season started Edwards became a 4 year veteran, was he not?

 

Six games on the active/inactive list counts as an accrued season. So, no, Overdorf gets to keep the change towards Kelsay's new signing bonus.

[Sanners]

Some of you guys honestly think the Bills were worried about his contract??? Unbelievable

[Fixxxer]

Thanks for the clarification Captain Caveman and GG.

[Fan in Chicago]

We are all damaged, Bill. That is what binds us together as a community. All we have is each other. Better days are ahead.

battered wife syndrome ?

[T master]

Man don't you all read any thing at all ?? Ralph has already paid Trent something like $200000 the jags are now responsible for the rest of his contract. Plus they get the Bills play book 2 weeks before they play us . That incentive !!!

Edited September 29, 2010 by T master

[Nanker]

I guess it is a symptom of the psychological battering all Bills fans have gotten over the past decade that even a sensible poster whom I respect deeply would spin Trent's being cut as an attack on cheap Ralph, but really? Cutting Trent makes a great deal of sense once the team decided he was no longer the right man for the job. Why keep him as a #2 when you think he plays like #2? Better just to let him go, especially since a trade is not likely at all. As for the financial side, the savings are miniscule by football standards. Trent was not making big bucks, and anyone they sign to replace him will cost something, reducing the savings even further. It may be a shame that a QB many had high hopes for did not pan out, but that is all it is. Time to move one. There are much bigger problems facing this franchise.

 

 

OK, you guys convinced me, and Ramius makes a good point that he is in his last year of his contract. I am gonna put this notion to bed, but your point about being a battered Bills Fan is well stated and well taken.

 

 

We are all damaged, Bill. That is what binds us together as a community. All we have is each other. Better days are ahead.

Well put RJ, and I mean all of what you said.

More than a parsimonious owner, what I believe we're seeing here is the decisive nature of the new regime. The HC gave up on Trent. The GM cut him. The owner went along with it. I don't think the decision making process was reversed. Say what you will, but I really don't. It's time to move on.

Go Bills!