Recruiting Problem

[Dr. Trooth]

Talent won't come, because Ralph won't overpay for it, which I can respect. So there it is.

 

Ain't in agreement on this one. If Ralph won't overpay for talent, why does he overpay for no talent?

 

Bottom line, Buffalo and WNY are not the problem. Ralph is.

[BuffaloWest]

Case in point...

 

Eli Manning (and his father) outright refused to play in San Diego. San Diego is probably the nicest place to live on planet earth. He wouldn't come play in San Diego because at the time, the franchise was perceived as a total joke with a long time losing record.

 

Elway refsued to play in Baltimore after he was drafted. Has any player drafted ever out right refused to play in Buffalo?

 

When we were good we had no problem getting good players to come here: Lofton, Spielman, Ted Washington, Bryce Paup, Sam Adams and there are many more up until around 2000. Winning trumps everything and we havent won in over a decade.That is why no one wants to come. Forget about nightlife and weather. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Green Bay are not glamorous metropolis' either. Players/Coaches have limited options and You go where you can get paid, and win. Period.

 

Manning showed us it is not about living in a nice place...It is about where you can establish a winning record and a legacy in the game.

 

It isnt Buffalo. Guys like Gleason, Esmonde, and Sullivan couldnt get work in a real market like Chicago, NYC or DC. They would love to beat it on out of town for a real assignment in a big market. It wont happen for them-EVER! Their arent enough jobs like that to go around, and those guys simply are not good enough to EVER get a big time job...So they are stuck in what they perceive as a miserable career and they want you to see thing things from their "miserable" perspective. It doenst help when the team sucks. The only thing you can do is B word about them to get a response....Guess what-It is workin!

[RalphOP83]

I was talking to Ruben Brown about this a few days back. He said its all about winning. When he was drafted other players were jealous of him being drafted by the bills.

[dollars 2 donuts]

Buffalo has always been a hard sell but when the Bills were winning and had stability at the top guys like Kelley, Bennet and Lofton did come here and they will again. Great coaches and GM's believe that there will be an ownership change here during the next few years. A new group would likely bring in a new coaching staff. There is a preceived Lack of stability. Would you change jobs and move accross the country if you thought your company was going to have

a new management team in the next year or so?

 

Agreed, I remember Erik Dickerson wanting to be here badly when things were turning around in the late 80s.

[cusebob]

Has any player drafted ever out right refused to play in Buffalo?

 

 

Tom Cousineau. Jim Kelly.

[tombstone56]

WHY IS IT that when some hack writer does a article regarding the BILLS people on here relate to it like its gospel?.

The writer is a hack,the paper he works for is not much more than fishwrap , and when did he become a knowledgeable source of anything ? you have to take into context what has he done,written or accomplished regarding the nfl?/ answer is simple ..NOTHING!!

[purple haze]

Wow, someone in the local press actually wrote an article and said what many many fans, especially those that no longer live in WNY, believe.. that people just don't want to go there, all things (money, other opportunities) being equal. Wow, never thought I'd see someone with the guts to write it. The Bills are doomed in WNY. The best players, coaches and managers want no part of it when similar opportunities exist in one of the other 31 franchises. Winning cures everything, but it is a chicken and egg problem. Bills will not win again because they cannot get the talent to come, if the talent does not come, they cannot win. Talent won't come, because Ralph won't overpay for it, which I can respect. So there it is.

 

The Bills are not doomed. They can win. Win and they can get anybody they want to. But the truth of it is no team should build itself through FA. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Indianapolis, NE, they draft a majority of their team. It's more important for the Bills to develop and pay their own homegrown talent. Don't worry about recruiting FA's. Worry about the draft and retaining the right homegrown talent. That's where a teams' wins truly come from.

[BADOLBILZ]

Wow, someone in the local press actually wrote an article and said what many many fans, especially those that no longer live in WNY, believe.. that people just don't want to go there, all things (money, other opportunities) being equal. Wow, never thought I'd see someone with the guts to write it. The Bills are doomed in WNY. The best players, coaches and managers want no part of it when similar opportunities exist in one of the other 31 franchises. Winning cures everything, but it is a chicken and egg problem. Bills will not win again because they cannot get the talent to come, if the talent does not come, they cannot win. Talent won't come, because Ralph won't overpay for it, which I can respect. So there it is.

 

This really comes down to having a top QB.

 

When you have one, you will suddenly seem to have a lot less holes on the roster and less need for free agents.

 

But if you have a top QB, you will attract interest from free agents.

 

Nobody wants to lose and with the salary cap being so high practically everyone can be a player in free agency so you better be offering legitimate hope.

[Lurker]

It's funny, I was thinking the same thing. As I read it, I was wondering when Bucky became so jaded and negative, and then I thought to myself that maybe he's positioning himself to take over for Jerry if he decides to retire or move on.

Bucky seems to need an older mentor (Kelley, Sully) to emulate, so no surpise he's channeling Sullivan.

 

I wonder if he could see the irony in his line, "So long as Ralph Wilson owns the team, the Bills will have a reputation for refusing to pay for top players." if he applied it to Warren Buffett...

[ganesh]

Wow, someone in the local press actually wrote an article and said what many many fans, especially those that no longer live in WNY, believe.. that people just don't want to go there, all things (money, other opportunities) being equal. Wow, never thought I'd see someone with the guts to write it. The Bills are doomed in WNY. The best players, coaches and managers want no part of it when similar opportunities exist in one of the other 31 franchises. Winning cures everything, but it is a chicken and egg problem. Bills will not win again because they cannot get the talent to come, if the talent does not come, they cannot win. Talent won't come, because Ralph won't overpay for it, which I can respect. So there it is.

 

The way to win for the Bills:

Draft Well....Build a team of Super stars with your home grown talent. The FA will then come....It happened.....Bryce Paup, Ted Washington, Chris Spielmen./.....Super Stars in their own right played FA contracts here when the team was winning...

[bbb]

Wow, someone in the local press actually wrote an article and said what many many fans, especially those that no longer live in WNY, believe.. that people just don't want to go there, all things (money, other opportunities) being equal. Wow, never thought I'd see someone with the guts to write it. The Bills are doomed in WNY. The best players, coaches and managers want no part of it when similar opportunities exist in one of the other 31 franchises. Winning cures everything, but it is a chicken and egg problem. Bills will not win again because they cannot get the talent to come, if the talent does not come, they cannot win. Talent won't come, because Ralph won't overpay for it, which I can respect. So there it is.

 

Except that's not really what he said. He said look at Green Bay - it's not exactly sunny and 80 every day over there. How did we get Top Notch guys like Paup, Ted, Spielman, etc. back in the 90s. Here's the article:

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article703145.ece

 

2nd post - I had this window open and had a phone call and then finished my reply and did see that almost the exact thoughts were posted above mine!

 

3rd Post - Since the exact guys I named are named above me, I'll add Spikes, Fletcher, Milloy, Vincent, etc.

[8-8 Forever?]

The reasons players don't come to Buffalo are many, but they seem to be a perfect storm when factored together. In case you haven't noticed, players don't come to Buffalo - they end up here. Think TO came to Buffalo because he wanted to? How about Merriman? No - each of those big name players came because they didn't have other choices - nobody else made TO an offer and Merriman was claimed off waivers. They guys who come here willingly are the lower tier or middle of the road guys that manage to get bigger contract here than they could elsewhere, and that's only when the front office feels the need to spend some money - Walker, Dockery, Brad Smith.

 

 

The reasons people don't come to Buffalo (in order of how they rank in importance):

 

1 - Lack of competitiveness - Buffalo is not a good team - haven't been one in ages. Your chance of a championship here are just about nill right now. There is very little forward momentum in getting better, and we play in a division where all of our opponents are committed to winning and spending - they have better teams and better budgets. Think we'll beat NE for a division title anytime soon? Heck, even when Brady was out for a season we still finished last and went 0-2 against them. Even when NE falls from dominance it probably won't be Buffalo knocking them from the top and taking their place.

 

2 - Pay - Buffalo does not sign bigtime players to bigtime contracts - name me one top free agent with plenty of options who came to Buffalo because they got the best payday - you can't because it hasn't happened

 

3 - Bad football decisions - OK, so you aren't as effective in luring free agents as you want - there's still the draft, right? When you blow pick after pick (guys who HAVE to come here) on busts (Maybin, Leodis, Hardy, Troup, etc.) you don't build any forward momentum towards building a competitive program - see f#1 above. Throw in some poor coaching decisions and you end up with coaches more committed to a scheme than the personnel they have to run it - guys don't play up to their potential. Ever wonder why some guys have a career rebirth once they move on to another organization?

 

4 - City/weather - I love Buffalo - wish I still lived there. People are absolutely the best. Cost of living is affordable. Has a small town community feel without being a small town. There are things to do. Great place to raise a family - glad I was raised there. BUT - Buffalo is not a top rate city. It's not NYC, Washington, Dallas, San Diego or even Minneapolis. If you're a young man in his 20s living the life of a well paid athlete, are you really excited to be in Buffalo? Not much for bright lights and nightlife. If you want to live your life like a rap music video Buffalo ain't the place. Oh, and if you played ball at Miami, Clemson, LSU, USC, etc. I hope you like a stiff breeze off the lake and some lake effect snow when its 15 degrees - that's a special bonus (did I mention the stadium in NOT a dome?). I know the same things can be said for Green Bay - but they are competitive (see reason #1 above).

 

 

Buffalo desperately needs to become more competitive, but to do that they can only control so much. The 2 things they can control to help get them out of this rut are pay and better football decisions, 2 things in which the Bills have failed continually over the past decade.Until that changes we'll continue to get a repeat of the same old same old year in and year out - we'll win a few games but in the grand scheme of the NFL we are completely irrelevant.

Yep. They are like a minor league baseball team. AAA, mind you, but minor league to be sure. Second tier management and a old geez for an owner. Nice guys all, just like everyone in WNY, but you know what happens to nice guys.