Kelly the Dog Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Well, they have until almost mid March to clear everything up in the front office and work out a deal with levitre before other teams can even express interest in signing with him. it sounds like he wants a top dollar dear and isn't going to take a discount to stay The hometown discount concept is a very hard one to pin down, and no one knows what it really means, because every player's idea of that (and every fan's, pundit's, reporter's, etc) is different. And IMO, the player himself doesn't even know his own definition of it until the actual offers are made and he has to make his decision. If Levitre is offered $2 million more per season to play for another team, versus $1m versus 750K versus 500K, etc, or more money guaranteed versus more years and money long term, those are ALL completely different questions as to whether or not he is willing to stay for less. There are ten or more variables that go into players making decisions on whether or not they will re-sign or sign elsewhere, not the least of which is their wives and kids (if applicable). The most money is rarely the only criterion unless it's a monster offer that blows other team's offers away. And even if the player eventually takes the most money it doesn't mean that was the only reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symbiant Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) All the players say they want to be back. When they say this they're as good as gone. The only way he's back with the Bills is if he's franchised. Can't blame the guy. Get the money to support your family and sign with a team that has a chance to win. +1 As fans, we have suffered so much... you can't blame him for wanting to go too. I would too frankly. Edited December 31, 2012 by symbiant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryPinC Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Hit fungos? I think big league teams do that too. Pretty sure Nix did according to reports. You can't hold a gun to someone's head and force them to sign though. Especially when they're gonna have a poke at the open market. I'm wrong and you're right, they did have some preliminary talks in June. I guess to me Levitre did sound dissatisfied with the process but maybe he really does just want to leave. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5310/andy-levitre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Care to explain why you feel this is "typical"? You gave a nice list of players they re-signed, mostly lower priced free agent (Pears, Urbik, Chandler ...). So I credit Nix and Whaley for finding some decent players to fill holes. One of the few accomplishments of the Buddy Nix era so far are these moves. It is much harder to keep players when you negotiate with top talent like Byrd and Levitre. That is just the business and all teams have to deal with it. Going back to when John Butler left and we lost Pat Williams, et. al., Buffalo does not have a great track record for keeping its top talent. That is what is typical. Levy talked about this as a issue, not re-signing your best players and having to re-draft the same positions. Wonder what he thinks of his two number 1 picks (Lynch and Whitner) in the Pro Bowl this year. ? Unfortunately, we have not had too much top talent to be concerned with losing in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryPinC Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 All the players say they want to be back. When they say this they're as good as gone. The only way he's back with the Bills is if he's franchised. Can't blame the guy. Get the money to support your family and sign with a team that has a chance to win. Stevie Johnson said he wanted to be back last year and he himself thought it wouldn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Whitner was offered a deal, or atleast they discussed it, but Whitner thought he was worth more and basically burned a bridge with Nix and shot them down, only to get less then he thought he was worth. Poz I think they also talked to, but he felt he was better suited to play in the 4-3 and did not want to play in a 3-4 so he said he was going to find a 4-3 team to play for. Well, they have until almost mid March to clear everything up in the front office and work out a deal with levitre before other teams can even express interest in signing with him. it sounds like he wants a top dollar dear and isn't going to take a discount to stay I'm sorry but a player asking for a high salary in free agency is burning a bridge with the gm? Isn't that a bigger indictment of the gm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacchus44 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I do not want to see them blow this o-line up...this would not be a good idea for a new or rookie QB. Franchise him if you have to, otherwise belly up to the bar and pay the man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Well the continuity thing is out the window now since the coaching staff has been dismissed. But keeping the o line together should be a priority. When everyone is healthy they are pretty darned good. And Byrd keeps getting better each year. Best player in our secondary. Keep em both please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsDaily Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Levitre's girlfriend (a former Bills cheerleader I believe) tweeted back to Sully saying that his tweet is absolutely wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seq004 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Bye Andy. I'd rather we franchise Byrd and re-sign Rinehart to take over. I like Byrd a lot but Levitre should be the Bills first priority. Levitre priority #1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantankerous Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 The franchise tag used on Levitre would cost over 15 million. For Byrd it would be less than 7 mil... I hope they both stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I like Byrd a lot but Levitre should be the Bills first priority. Teams do and say this sometimes, but it seems to be unimportant in this particular case. They play on different sides of the ball. The Bills are not in any financial straits so they don't really have to pinch pennies or choose one or the other. Both of those guys should be gone after full bore, and you don't need to prioritize them at all. The franchise tag used on Levitre would cost over 15 million. For Byrd it would be less than 7 mil... I hope they both stay. I heard today it was about 9m for Levitre and OL. Not positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I do not want to see them blow this o-line up...this would not be a good idea for a new or rookie QB. Franchise him if you have to, otherwise belly up to the bar and pay the man! Our current OL can't protect a QB longer than three seconds. I want to keep the man, as well, but lets not act like our OL is good for a rookie QB to stand behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoName Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 This is not an either or deal. Look at the potential backups for Byrd and Levitre. The Bills DO NOT have a serviceable backup for either. Answer SIGN BOTH!! They have the cap space to do it. If one has to get franchised first then franchise Levitre. His durability and level of play are very valuable to this franchise. And if you go back to my post, since his rookie year (when many people were saying how bad he was) I always thought he was every bit as good as Wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsMagic1 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Really? Levitre is top priority as far as I'm concerned Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Levitre's girlfriend (a former Bills cheerleader I believe) tweeted back to Sully saying that his tweet is absolutely wrong... I am glad she put him in his place. He always finds the cloud in the silver lining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacchus44 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Our current OL can't protect a QB longer than three seconds. I want to keep the man, as well, but lets not act like our OL is good for a rookie QB to stand behind. But you have to admit that they're better than Dockery, Preston, Peters, Butler and Walker back in 2008! I feel that we have been slowly building a better o-line than we've had in a loooong time. We definitely do not want to take a step backwards by not signing the most consistant lineman we have. If they let him go, we could easily end up with another Mike Gandy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloPride Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 +1 As fans, we have suffered so much... you can't blame him for wanting to go too. I would too frankly. Agreed. At this point I'm worried about Belichek. He would love to strengthen his team at the expense of weakening a divisional opponent.I'm sure he's keeping an eye on the situation with these two players. Thats why I'm hoping we can land Jon Gruden. He's the type of coach that could convince these guys to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Levitre's girlfriend (a former Bills cheerleader I believe) tweeted back to Sully saying that his tweet is absolutely wrong... So, he doesn't want the best deal? Will he sign for vet minimum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 You gave a nice list of players they re-signed, mostly lower priced free agent (Pears, Urbik, Chandler ...). So I credit Nix and Whaley for finding some decent players to fill holes. One of the few accomplishments of the Buddy Nix era so far are these moves. It is much harder to keep players when you negotiate with top talent like Byrd and Levitre. That is just the business and all teams have to deal with it. Going back to when John Butler left and we lost Pat Williams, et. al., Buffalo does not have a great track record for keeping its top talent. That is what is typical. Levy talked about this as a issue, not re-signing your best players and having to re-draft the same positions. Wonder what he thinks of his two number 1 picks (Lynch and Whitner) in the Pro Bowl this year. ? Unfortunately, we have not had too much top talent to be concerned with losing in recent years. I hear you, I really do. I'd call guys like Kyle Williams and Stevie Johnson top talent. I mean, those guys would start for 95% of teams the NFL. Perhaps the franchise as a whole does not have the reputation you speak of, but this regime (Nix/Whaley), does IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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