BillsVet Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Levitre is gone. Look at some teams that are far closer than the Bills who have desperate needs at guard. The Lions come most immediately to mind, but the same could be said about the Steelers and the Eagles (despite the fact that the Steelers took a guard last season in rd 1). A number of teams are desperate for an offensive line upgrade, and Levitre is really good. Durable too. http://www.footballo...rs.com/stats/OL I was about to post this. He's gone, but the team can't come out and say they're letting him go for fear of alienating the fan base. And when he's gone they'll be silent or say they appreciated him but were moving on. This nonsense about taking two to tango is a convenient excuse if he leaves. If the team offered him a market deal now he'd be more inclined to stay. Or, it's possible he doesn't want any part with playing under his 3rd HC in 4th season and needs a better organization. It would be one thing if the Bills had a young up and coming type to play LG who was capable of playing now. Unfortunately, they don't, and as always will hype a fringe guy or take one early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 The elephant in the room is - why weren't these 2 guys signed a long time ago? There are probably several reasons why, including the fact that it takes two sides to make a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mEAz Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Why? Non-exclusive for a guard is 8.5 million To me if the choice is between long terming Byrd, transition tag for Levitre and cutting Fitzpatrick or franchising Byrd, losing Levitre and keeping an 8 million dollar QB who has turned over the ball the 2nd most times in the last 3 years of NFL play? hmmmm That's not the choice...Fitz costs the same whether he stays or is cut, unless he agrees to renegotiate his deal. i can't understand why people automatically blame the FO if Levitre decides to leave. He's a FA, if he chooses to test the market, how is it the organization's fault? I'm certainly not going to blame them for not wanting to pay a guard 9mil a season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorom Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Guess this means Levitre is mostly like gone which is a huge mistake how do you figure. It actually is favorable cause now they can focus on Levitre before FA begins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Get Serious Wow they signed up 3 UDFA that they got of the street and a 7th round QB that they backed up a garbage truck full of cash to his front door after 4 decent games Real bunch of capologists and long term planners Okay, so you're going to disregard the fact that they did the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you insinuated, simply because you don't like the talent level on the team? Makes sense...nice work. Now, do you have a relevant point, or are you just here to whine about losing our best OG--something that hasn't happened yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I'm talking about the current front office, whereas you gave examples from 10 years ago and 5 years ago. The current front office has re-signed every free agent they've attempted to over the past 3 years, with the exception of Poz and Whitner, who it's debatable they wanted to sign in the first place. Observe: . Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have a culture of losing. The Bills have the longest playoff draught in the NFL. We are going backwards with the current administration. Is this the best Bills team this millenium? What exactly is the source of your optimism and faith in the current front office? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nostradumbass Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Okay, so you're going to disregard the fact that they did the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you insinuated, simply because you don't like the talent level on the team? Makes sense...nice work. Now, do you have a relevant point, or are you just here to whine about losing our best OG--something that hasn't happened yet? I'm saying it takes a truly talented front office to negotiate long term deals with players who are close to the top of their position. When you are signing a UDFA who stole a roster spot through hard work and a great camp to an extension I'm not that impressed, all the leverage is with the front office in those situations. The time to sign talented players is not 7 days beforer they hot complete free agency Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Very rare does a player "test the waters" and not leave the team he is on. Once a player feels he's not worth the extra effort to keep them, pride kick in and they walk. Letting him go is worst than letting Byrd go IMHO. He's been the only foundation this o-line has had since he came to buffalo. Played where ever they have asked and held his own. Guards are supposedly easy to find, but football players aren't. Have you thought that maybe he does not want to re-sign here? Maybe the Bills offered him a big deal and he said no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 It's a win-win. Byrd gets decent money. The Bills get him in a contract year with the opportunity to feel-out the new "culture." It's a great audition for the coaches, one that Byrd is prudent to put them through BEFORE he signs that long deal. He would have been foolish to sign long term now. Good points. Byrd has said winning is important to him. He gets a year to gauge the direction of the new regime.Too many people think with both Byrd and Levitre it's all about money. Good chance playing on a good team. A playoff team, is as important to some players. They get paid no matter where they play. Why not play for a winner? Look how Evans, McGee and Kelsay, to name but a select few, spent their careers. On Bills teams that never had a chance. Even Kyle Williams at the end of the last season, talked about all the work that goes into a season. And playing for the bills (so far) has had zero payoff. Money is a motivator, but so is playing for a team that actually has a chance at winning more than 6 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmo Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Can anyone name even one recent example of a player taking notably less money to play for a "real" team? This happens in the NBA but I'm pretty sure it almost never happens in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have a culture of losing. The Bills have the longest playoff draught in the NFL. We are going backwards with the current administration. Is this the best Bills team this millenium? What exactly is the source of your optimism and faith in the current front office? Well, either you refuse to read what I write, or you're just ignoring it. The Bills have clearly learned from history, as they've re-signed every valuable free agent that's been up for a contract since Buddy Nix and Doug Whaley took over the front office...a fact that I've pointed out to you twice already in this very thread. You responded by slamming the quality of the players, which really makes no sense, given that your point was that--many years ago, the team let 2 CBs walk and replaced them in the draft. They haven't done that at all in the past 3 years; it's not that hard to understand. The simple fact that they re-sign their quality players (Stevie, Freddie, Kyle, Urbik, Pears, etc.) should tell you that they clearly value doing so...the fact that they franchised Byrd, giving themselves another 3 months to sign the guy, and 11 days to concentrate on Levitre's deal, should tell you the same. I'm sorry the team hasn't been a playoff contender, but you're barking up the wrong tree with this crusade of yours. You're claiming that they're not keeping key guys and then drafting to replace them...that's not happening, and anyone paying any attention to the team over the last 3 years can clearly see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 The elephant in the room is - why weren't these 2 guys signed a long time ago? Because they obviously didn't want to sign and try free agency. Players usually get one chance to get a big contract and play where they want and it's usually right after their rookie contract expires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I'm saying it takes a truly talented front office to negotiate long term deals with players who are close to the top of their position. When you are signing a UDFA who stole a roster spot through hard work and a great camp to an extension I'm not that impressed, all the leverage is with the front office in those situations. The time to sign talented players is not 7 days beforer they hot complete free agency So wait, you won't credit them for signing Stevie to an extension because he was a 7th round pick, which--somehow--gave the team the leverage in negotiations last year? Also, I challenge you to look at any free agency period in recent years...many, many teams re-sign players at this juncture. The Giants re-signed their LT yesterday, the Saints didn't re-sign Brees until well after the FA period started last year, Joe Flacco doesn't have a contract right now...your point is not salient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95altima12 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Assuming they can reach a long term deal with Byrd, can they then remove the franchise tag and then apply it to Levitre or can it only be applied once per year? Don't know if anyone answered your question cuz I don't have time to read all the replies on here but yes they can. "The team will likely try to still work out a long term deal to make it more cap friendly and get the tag back." http://billsdaily.com/news/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I was about to post this. He's gone, but the team can't come out and say they're letting him go for fear of alienating the fan base. And when he's gone they'll be silent or say they appreciated him but were moving on. This nonsense about taking two to tango is a convenient excuse if he leaves. If the team offered him a market deal now he'd be more inclined to stay. Or, it's possible he doesn't want any part with playing under his 3rd HC in 4th season and needs a better organization. It would be one thing if the Bills had a young up and coming type to play LG who was capable of playing now. Unfortunately, they don't, and as always will hype a fringe guy or take one early. Except that it DOES take two to tango. Always has. Secondly, Levitre doesn't know what the market is for his services yet. Bills can't offer him a market price until that's established and Levitre owes to himself to see what it is. Can't just say offer him the highest contract ever for a G, either. That still doesn't establish his market value. As to him not wanting to play for such a disfunctional organization, perhaps that' true. But that ALSO indicates it takes two to tango. If he plain doesn't like it here, nothing much you can do. And if he doesn't like it here, then there is little that simply offering a little more than any other team can do, either. Why don't we see how this plays out before saying definitively that he's gone or not. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I suspect the two happiest people in the world to hear that Byrd got tagged were Levitre and his agent. Now he is free to pursue a long term deal with whomever shows interest in him, including the Bills. Though honestly I cannot come up with one reason for him to want to stay on the Bills if there are other teams with similar offers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 OKAY SERIOUSLY: Copy the URL from THE TIME STAMP so it links to the TWEET and NOT THE ENTIRE TIMELINE Like this: https://twitter.com/...541512449839106 Lighten up Francis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I suspect the two happiest people in the world to hear that Byrd got tagged were Levitre and his agent. Now he is free to pursue a long term deal with whomever shows interest in him, including the Bills. Though honestly I cannot come up with one reason for him to want to stay on the Bills if there are other teams with similar offers. To be honest, many NFL players over the years have lamented the decision to leave their current situation for a new team. It often takes uprooting families, getting used to a new area, meshing with a new locker room, changing costs of living, and many other real-life factors that fans don't consider. A great number of players would gladly take the devil they know over the one they don't...all things being close to equal (and in this case, I'd guess they will be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Except that it DOES take two to tango. Always has. Secondly, Levitre doesn't know what the market is for his services yet. Bills can't offer him a market price until that's established and Levitre owes to himself to see what it is. Can't just say offer him the highest contract ever for a G, either. That still doesn't establish his market value. As to him not wanting to play for such a disfunctional organization, perhaps that' true. But that ALSO indicates it takes two to tango. If he plain doesn't like it here, nothing much you can do. And if he doesn't like it here, then there is little that simply offering a little more than any other team can do, either. Why don't we see how this plays out before saying definitively that he's gone or not. GO BILLS!!! because then we could never overreact to anything on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 The elephant in the room is - why weren't these 2 guys signed a long time ago? It makes absolutely NO SENSE for either of them to sign early without first establishing their worth on the open market. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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