Dan Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Its a Tim Graham twit, I mean Tweet. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackInDaDay Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 signing a 27 year old Brandon Spikes to a 'comfortable' contract would fall in place with these other signings - bringing in a guy who can fill an immediate need as a two-down run-stuffer, but who's not so over-priced that he didn't have to compete to get on the field.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Time Graham has no idea what the contract that was refused by Byrd looks like. There are only two things that matter in an NFL contracts. Signing Bonus and Guaranteed Money. Average 7.5 Mill a year means nothing, Byrd only counts for 3.5 Mil against the 2014 Cap for the Saints. Because all the money was put into the signing bonus for 2014. The 3 Year 30 mil number even if it is all unguaranteed money will be more money in Buffalo than in the first 3 years of the Saints offer. Again its still irrelevant because all that matters is the signing bonus and the guaranteed money. If anyone thinks that Byrd will be playing under this contract in 2020 you're either clueless or gullible. You dug your own grave with the last statement. The Bills offered less money per season and I guarantee the guarantee was FAR less. The only way to get to 7.5, which came from two sources to TG (I love how you just assume TG is lying) with "30m" in the first three years is to pay him 4-5-6 in the last three of his contract. That's how he plays out the deal and the Bills have him for cheap, which is why it's a crappy offer. 28m guaranteed is the important figure. That blew the Bills offer away. If the 30m concept in the first three years was true, and I will believe it is, if the guaranteed number was anywhere close to that, that would have been the number leaked. It wasn't. FWIW, Byrd gets 28 mil in the first three years, with 26.3 guaranteed, and about 26 in the next three, at 8.6 a year. That's 9 mil more than Bills offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 The Bills have brought in two former first round picks, 1 at LB, 1 at O-Line, re-sign a clutch kicker, and brought in a Buffalo Native, Super Bowl champion at DB. With more signings possible in the future. I'm really happy with the Free Agents and think they will strengthen the team and improve the Bills chances of winning. I really don't get all the pissing and moaning around here. Byrd wanted to be free. Get over it. Time will tell and you may be correct, but history is not on your side. This is a 6-10 team until proven otherwise. The moves made so far still smell like the moves a 6-10 team would make. Bring in average talent that really didn't succeed with mediocre teams. Let's let it play out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 The Bills have brought in two former first round picks, 1 at LB, 1 at O-Line, re-sign a clutch kicker, and brought in a Buffalo Native, Super Bowl champion at DB. With more signings possible in the future. I'm really happy with the Free Agents and think they will strengthen the team and improve the Bills chances of winning. I really don't get all the pissing and moaning around here. Byrd wanted to be free. Get over it. Who cares when they were drafted. We can bring in jamarcus russell too and form an all-star team of underachievers and we'll continue to be just that - underachievers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 This feels like Free Agency 2006 when Marv was GM and volume was the name of the game. That year they signed 10 UFA's: Matt Bowen, Andre Davis, Kiwaukee Thomas, Anthony Thomas, Craig Nall, Tutan Reyes, Melvin Fowler, Larry Tripplett, Robert Royal, and Peerless Price to small to moderate contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proteus Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 We lost the best safety in free agency. So what do the Bills do? At there weakest area besides QB, offensive line, we sign a below average guard. We do this amidst a great free agent market for offensive lineman and with many high quality lineman still available. Also let's hope that our opponents will be kind enough to run the ball when Rivers is on the field. This team unfortunately is still pathetic and will be well under the cap this season. Still though when we miss the playoffs for the 15th straight year, all the homers will come out and defend every move this pathetic organization makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Who cares when they were drafted. We can bring in jamarcus russell too and form an all-star team of underachievers and we'll continue to be just that - underachievers. Exactly! I don't want to see any more first round talents that didn't live up to their draft status early in their career, like Hughes, Lawson, mckelvin, MD, Spiller.. May as well toss in branch, Aaron Williams they were close enough to first rounders... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Yeah, and once they're in cap hell, they might spend a few seasons going 6-10 or worse. If they were smart, they'd be going 6-10 with cap room to spare, like we are. Ha! Yeah i know it frustrating for us Bills fans to watch the rich get richer in terms of FA players. The Bills sign FA guys that have some questions about them. Let us hope these guys we sign can step up and play to the level of a Chandler at their respective positions. Or they could go the Legursky way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Exactly! I don't want to see any more first round talents that didn't live up to their draft status early in their career, like Hughes, Lawson, mckelvin, MD, Spiller.. May as well toss in branch, Aaron Williams they were close enough to first rounders... Lovely sarcasm, but with all of your loveable underachievers, we finished 6-10 last year. The year before. And the year prior. Last in our division every single season. The end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 You dug your own grave with the last statement. The Bills offered less money per season and I guarantee the guarantee was FAR less. The only way to get to 7.5, which came from two sources to TG (I love how you just assume TG is lying) with "30m" in the first three years is to pay him 4-5-6 in the last three of his contract. That's how he plays out the deal and the Bills have him for cheap, which is why it's a crappy offer. 28m guaranteed is the important figure. That blew the Bills offer away. If the 30m concept in the first three years was true, and I will believe it is, if the guaranteed number was anywhere close to that, that would have been the number leaked. It wasn't. FWIW, Byrd gets 28 mil in the first three years, with 26.3 guaranteed, and about 26 in the next three, at 8.6 a year. That's 9 mil more than Bills offer. I forgot is 30 mil more than 28 mil? Because if it is then you proved my point that the Bills offered more and Byrd turned down a higher paying contract. Again we don't know the Bills guaranteed money. We need that number for an honest comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Grundy Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Now sign James Starks as a backup RB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't stop billievein Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Are the Bills playing money ball with these average to below average FA's?? Do each of these guys do something specific that the bills were lacking in last year??All of the players in the movie got on base, so I'm wondering if our "analytics dept" keyed in on a specific stat or strength the FA's bring. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 And they re-signed Chandler. Not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 It really depends on how good Whaley and company are at player evaluation. Without breaking the bank on one guy--and even then it usually does not work well-- free agency is not the process to get elite, team-changing players. That only comes through the draft. Plainly what Buffalo is trying to do, however, is find solid players who will be an upgrade at reasonable prices at positions of need. I think that is the only intelligent way to approach free agency as it typically is a waste of money to try and get elite talent in FA. So the approach here seems solid and intelligent, which is all you can ask. If I knew--as many here seem to-- that Williams and Rivers suck, then I guess this is a failure. But if these guys can be solid contributors in little ways for reasonable money, this will all be very good. So I like the intelligence in Whaley's approach, and if he and Marrone know what they are doing-- and I think they do-- things will get better soon. As a regular reader of this board, your reasonableness confuses me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 I didn't expect anything going into FA because I knew not many of the big names were of need to Buffalo. I think some of these moves so far are just so fans know the front office is punched in and working! I think Rivers was probably overpaid but hell we got money sitting there we have to use, might as well use it. .... With the rollover cap rules, this is no longer the case. It used to be that if you had extra cap dollars you either spent it or you ended up making more profit. Today however any unspent monies will be rolled over into the next cap year. Not spending it does not show that a team is cheap anymore.......it perhaps shows that a team is planning for the future. For what it's worth, the Bills have already spent over the 2014 actual cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulmac Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Why So Serious is on point...are we leading the league in big name front page free agent signings...NO, did we try to sign Byrd to a lucrative multi year extension YES, Did he want to stay here,,,NO,,I for one have faith in the new front office..its a given that we are in a 15 year playoff game drought..we change the coach, the coaches, the philosophies on D and offense and still I hear...same old, same old...NO its not gang!!! Can we give the new regime at least another season before we decide they were wrong on FA pickups, 2 drafts and game day strategies... I'm not a homer but plead guilty to being an optimist when it comes to the 2014 Bills and the chances of returning to the playoffs...NO we are not breaking the bank(and our available cap space) but we are filling the holes that need to be filled to make the team better as a whole... Chandler, Carpenter re signed, team starters or improvement with backups through smart FA signings...keep em coming YES let me take a swig of the Kool Aid...YES I'm buying season tickets again after a 3 year absence!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pills -N- Bills Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 (edited) Exactly! Everyone wants to put the saints on this pedestal like they are some model orginazation. They ARE NOT. The gas is almost gone in brees tank. Yes they won a Super Bowl you can't take that away from them but there is a reason why there used to be called the AInts. The paper bag over ur head started in New Orleans. Saints won't make the playoffs in 2014. Imagine if jimmy graham has a monster year and the saints can't afford to resign graham. Because they used that money on Byrd on Byrd who blew his acl warming up for the first preseason game on the turf at the dome. Lol * fingers crossed* Edited March 14, 2014 by Pills -N- Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 We lost the best safety in free agency. So what do the Bills do? At there weakest area besides QB, offensive line, we sign a below average guard. We do this amidst a great free agent market for offensive lineman and with many high quality lineman still available. Also let's hope that our opponents will be kind enough to run the ball when Rivers is on the field. This team unfortunately is still pathetic and will be well under the cap this season. Still though when we miss the playoffs for the 15th straight year, all the homers will come out and defend every move this pathetic organization makes. That's not true. All in all, it was a pretty average FA class. What many people are failing to grasp (or choosing to ignore) is that with the exception of safety, the Bills have added depth and competition for starting jobs at three positions of weakness. Another strong draft, hopefully with more competition added to these areas, will only improve the roster. If EJ goes for 20 and 10, the Bills make the playoffs. Really quite simple. Then these signings will be lauded as savvy moves instead of crap buys. If the Bills don't make the playoffs, in reality, it'll have far less to do with Chris Williams than it does with EJ Manuel. This team is close, and Whaley knows it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 That's not true. All in all, it was a pretty average FA class. What many people are failing to grasp (or choosing to ignore) is that with the exception of safety, the Bills have added depth and competition for starting jobs at three positions of weakness. Another strong draft, hopefully with more competition added to these areas, will only improve the roster. If EJ goes for 20 and 10, the Bills make the playoffs. Really quite simple. Then these signings will be lauded as savvy moves instead of crap buys. If the Bills don't make the playoffs, in reality, it'll have far less to do with Chris Williams than it does with EJ Manuel. This team is close, and Whaley knows it. Man, what a dreamer... What makes you think EJ is going to achieve any kind of success this year with a LG who graded as bad as Williams did last year for the Rams. "Dud: He may be a former first-rounder but Chris Williams (-21.8) is just a liability as a lineman. Far too much pressure, not enough good run blocking, and he’s the team’s weak link on offense." https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/2/ Williams will start at LG because that 5.5 million guaranteed says he will. Doug Legursky will go back to being the backup center who graded as one of the worst LG's in the league. Not much really changed. How close this team is to the playoffs depends on the play of a second year QB, and his performance will depend on how well that line in front of him performs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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