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Brad Smith and releasing him to get cap room to sign a FA receiver


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Apparently I'm the only one on this board who's glad that Brad Smith is still on the roster.

 

But regardless, if he hasn't been released yet it's not going to happen.

I am too, but it's not worth arguing over :ph34r:

im on the brad smith bandwagon, if you could call it that. im not going to complain much if released but i think he can still be an asset. call me crazy.

 

May I ask why?

 

He's not a QB, he not a very good WR, he's not really good in the wildcat because he's no threat to throw the football, and he's not even really a good kickoff return guy. Granted, he has a knack for converting on 3rd and short, but 3.75 million for that? Please enlighten me.

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May I ask why?

 

He's not a QB, he not a very good WR, he's not really good in the wildcat because he's no threat to throw the football, and he's not even really a good kickoff return guy. Granted, he has a knack for converting on 3rd and short, but 3.75 million for that? Please enlighten me.

 

i dont think hes as terrible a receiver as most. i also think he does things with the ball in his hands that most WR4 or WR5 cant around the league (whether thats WC, KR, or WR)....

 

im not a huge cheerleader for him but i think he can be more of an asset than we have seen the last two years. i also dont think a 3-4m contract is near as devastating a hit as some seem to argue.

 

we are a team lacking weapons, why drop someone that has shown at times an ability to make big plays, unless we have someone else to replace that potential. the versatility also is a perk, at the very least.

Edited by NoSaint
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May I ask why?

 

He's not a QB, he not a very good WR, he's not really good in the wildcat because he's no threat to throw the football, and he's not even really a good kickoff return guy. Granted, he has a knack for converting on 3rd and short, but 3.75 million for that? Please enlighten me.

 

I think he's a very talented player who was mis-utilized by the Bills.

 

I think that if given the ability to play just one position that he could become an excellent wide receiver (remember that great jump ball TD reception against the Jets?) or an excellent running back. He might even be an effective read option QB. People like to dwell on the ugly interception he threw in his only pass attempt as a Bill but he was a 4-year starter as Missouri's QB and had a very decorated college career.

 

Also his size and measurables place him alongside Adrian Peterson except he's a tad slower.

 

From Wiki:

 

Accomplishments and honors

  • First player in division 1-A history to pass for 8,000 yards and run for 4,000 yards in career.
  • First player in division 1-A history to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in a season twice in a career.
  • Second player in division 1-A history to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000 yards in a season.
  • Fourth player in division 1-A history to score 200 points and pass for 200 points in a career.
  • Sixth player in division 1-A history to pass for 200 yards and rush for 200 yards in a single game (vs. Nebraska on October 22, 2005).
  • Most rushing yards in division 1-A history by a freshman quarterback.
  • Holds school record for:
    • Career rushing yards.
    • Career total yards.
    • Most points in a game (30) and most touchdowns (5) (vs. Texas Tech on October 25, 2003).

    [*]Holds 68 different MU, Big 12 and NCAA game, season and career records (as of 12/2005).

    [*]2006 Independence Bowl MVP.

    [*]2006 Hula Bowl MVP.

    [*]2002 1st-Team Freshman All-American by FWAA, The Sporting News, College Football News, and Rivals.com.

    [*]2002 Honorable Mention All-American by CNNSI.com, College Football News.

    [*]2002 and 2003 honorable mention All-Big 12 by AP.

    [*]2002 and 2004 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 by Coaches.

    [*]2003 4th-Team All-American by College Sports Report.

    [*]2003 3rd-Team All-Big 12 by Coaches.

    [*]2005 Draddy Trophy Finalist.

    [*]2005 Honorable Mention All-Big 12.

    [*]2005 Davey O'Brien Award Semi-Finalist.

    [*]2010 Pudding Pie Award.

  • 4.46 40 Yard Dash.
  • 39½ Inch Vertical.
  • 7.01 Three-Cone Drill.
  • 4.33 Short Shuttle.
  • 10-foot-8 Broad Jump.

He's already collected his $2 million signing bonus. Marrone is supposed to be a very good offensive mind so if Marrone sees fit to retain Smith, I'll be excited to see what plans he has for him.

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May I ask why?

 

He's not a QB, he not a very good WR, he's not really good in the wildcat because he's no threat to throw the football, and he's not even really a good kickoff return guy. Granted, he has a knack for converting on 3rd and short, but 3.75 million for that? Please enlighten me.

Personally I think he is a better playmaker than weve given a chance to show. He had a nice kick return TD against miami IIRC.

 

For what were paying (which isn't much) he has potential to be a good player. Considering we have no one else at that position, i vote we keep him

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+ 1 million

 

Last time I heard about Nelson he still isnt running at all. His injury may be worse than we thought

 

Yes, in spite of the outcry for Nelson, he's still a free agent/medical question mark. Because Nelson is incapable of playing football now, his inclusion in this conversation is not really relevant, IMO.

 

I'm willing to bet that we will draft 1 or 2 wrs and then release him...

 

Well this is a good point.

 

I know he's due a $500,000 roster bonus but I don't know when that bonus is due.

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May I ask why?

 

He's not a QB, he not a very good WR, he's not really good in the wildcat because he's no threat to throw the football, and he's not even really a good kickoff return guy. Granted, he has a knack for converting on 3rd and short, but 3.75 million for that? Please enlighten me.

He may not be a "QB" in our opinion BUT, 1 BILLS DR is carrying him as such on the Depth Chart. (I know WHAT DEPTH?)

 

So if we let Brad go, who's left to potentially throw to our new WR?

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I'm not going to quote SJBFs list of awards but agree it was a mistake to put him in the qb room near full time and then have that truly be the smallest fraction of what's asked of him.... My only guess is the chance to be qb was big in recruiting him here and they felt they may have owed him the shot in some capacity

 

If given the priority of getting the ball in space I think he can be a strong utility player. If he's spending 90% of his time learning to read the D as a qb.... Well...you just get flashes

Edited by NoSaint
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I'm not going to quote SJBFs list of awards but agree it was a mistake to put him in the qb room near full time and then have that truly be the smallest fraction of what's asked of him.... My only guess is the chance to be qb was big in recruiting him here and they felt they may have owed him the shot in some capacity

 

If given the priority of getting the ball in space I think he can be a strong utility player. If he's spending 90% of his time learning to read the D as a qb.... Well...you just get flashes

 

All of the above but most of all this!

 

Horribly used IMO.

 

1. I am a fan of the WIldcat but Chan used it all wrong. Wrong timing, and more importantly, did not use it enough. Yes, I know that sounds crazy. But if you're going to use it at all, you need to use it often enough and with enough variety, that plays out of the Wildcat formation set up other Wildcat plays. Like the QB read option this past year. Most of the time it's going to look similar and not break a big one. But when that pattern is broken is when you see the big gains. Sure it may happen on any given play, but when you only run it 1-3 times a game, you're not maximizing its potential. Which leads to my next point;

 

2. Scrap the Wildcat completely, and work out BS at WR exclusively. He may not be destined to be a #1 or #2 receiver, but he will be more polished at that position, rather than taking snaps as an emergency QB. I'd like to see him used similar to Percy Harvin has been. Get him the ball in space - swing passes, reverses, WR screens, and slants/hitches against corners playing off the line. Try to emulate a kick/punt return while on offense. Again, not saying he'll suddenly become a superstar, but I think he has some unique value in this regard. And I won't automatically write him off as a traditional WR. With the proper preparation, I don't see why he couldn't become a "normal" WR.

 

Remember, every time we've seen him as a WR for Buffalo, he'd been pressed into that role due to injuries. If I'm not mistaken, he hasn't had an assignment as a true WR since his rookie year, which wasn't that bad. 32 catches for 325 yds in 9 games started with 2 TDs. That's as the 3rd option behind Laveraneus Coles and Jericho Cotchery with Kellen Clemens throwing him the ball.

 

So again- not a *huge* fan, but he's definitely talented and I think he deserves a shot with a new coach. And I also think if used correctly, he can win some of you guys over.

Edited by uncle flap
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He may not be a "QB" in our opinion BUT, 1 BILLS DR is carrying him as such on the Depth Chart. (I know WHAT DEPTH?)

 

So if we let Brad go, who's left to potentially throw to our new WR?

 

Strange, look up the depth chart, I only see him listed as wide receiver, there are only two on QB,Jackson and Corp

 

As much as I would love to see Brad Smith released, we simply can't afford to lose any more WR's until we start replacing them.

 

What I'm saying is, if we can find a better WR FA value at 4 Million, we could sign them and only spend 1 Million in valuable cap space by releasing him. I would rather have a valuable receiver with a proven record than burn it on someone who has not been a great contributor as WR for the Bills . We would be releasing him to sign the better WR. I can't believe anyone would consider him being worth a 4 million contract as a WR. He was signed as a QB for the wildcat, not a valuable WR.

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Strange, look up the depth chart, I only see him listed as wide receiver, there are only two on QB,Jackson and Corp

 

What I'm saying is, if we can find a better WR FA value at 4 Million, we could sign them and only spend 1 Million in valuable cap space by releasing him. I would rather have a valuable receiver with a proven record than burn it on someone who has not been a great contributor as WR for the Bills . We would be releasing him to sign the better WR. I can't believe anyone would consider him being worth a 4 million contract as a WR. He was signed as a QB for the wildcat, not a valuable WR.

 

What FA WR is available that is better than Smith?

 

As Doc asks, rather than speak about a hypothetical receiver we could replace Smith with, why don't we start naming names?

 

We know who's available out there.

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According to the cap chart the Bills have only $15,548,229. Of that about 6 million will be needed to sign our drafted rookies. Out of that we need to replace Lev and fill some of the other holes we have. We only have 6 draft picks, and realistically only 3 of those picks will probably be starters. We have a lot of holes to fill with that $10 million dollars. I don't consider that very much cap space. We are going to need more cap room or just end up with dumpster diving scraps again. Smith is about the only one on the team left with any cap space who does not contribute any where near the value of his cap space without a huge dead cap hit (Like Anderson). In a perfect world i would keep him, but in the tough spot we are in I see little choice but to let him go if we can find an upgrade at WR in FA.

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