If Nix is able to resign Byrd and Levitre???

[Dragonborn10]

In the NFL it is all about the signing bonus so guys may not want to wait until the end of their contract. In fact think it is rare that good young players hit the market.

And isn't it funny that fans rail on these guys for holding out when they are under contract and now we rail on Nix for not signing them last off-seaon to extensions...

[bigK14094]

Byrd and Levertre are both starters in the league, with certain pluses in their column and a shortcoming or two. The Bills need to resign if possible. But, not outside of their value as judged by the knowledgeable....that is Nix/Whatley and the money guys. the Bills can't control if some other team overspends realtive to those benchmarks, it can happen. Also, the players might have a geographic preference we don't know about. (they would never divulge for numerous reasons) In that scenrio, you loose the player, even if money is the same. Tie does not necessarily go to the Bills, although you hope relationships outweigh those other things. but, some will like the big city lights, others will like the more small town environment that WNY has (think Mario)

there are other free agents that also matter, Reinhardt, in particular. Now, in his case, with Urbik already tied up, if Levetre also signs, I think Reinhardt is a starter elsewhere in the league. When he has played, there is little if any dropoff in the O-line performance. And, it does take more than 5 OL guys. We face(d) losing all three of our best guards before Urbik signed.

I also think McKelvin is a positive contributor, and have hopes we might retain him. He is better than the bashing he gets on this board, not an all pro CB, but an all pro returner for sure.

In terms of the list of guys to loose to save cap space.......some of the names were right to let go...but I am not sure about Barnett, he has been there and done that, and was the Bills best linebacker. He did not make the plays this year he did last year, but, new scheme and all that. But, Kelsey, McGee, Spenser Johnson are all done imo. Also, Thigpen, Dorin Dickerson (anybody figure out why that guy was on the roster) Not hard to find slots on the roster for new fa signees and rookies. This will all play out over several months here. My big hope is that Nix will take a run at Alex Smith, my big fear is that he will succeed, and Smith is no better than Fitz.