What OBD Defenders Can Learn from Sanders Acquisition

[Snorom]

non sense

[thewildrabbit]

First, Denver had to attract Peyton Manning. And they took a big risk by giving him the first year guaranteed. How did Denver sell the Broncos to Manning? Well, I'd imagine he wanted to know how they would support him and build a winner. Because when he showed up they didn't have all the pieces they did in 2013.

 

Being an attractive destination to elite players tells a lot of the story. Only winning and dollars do that. PR blitzes don't work on career minded pros, coaches, and front office types like they do fans who aren't investing as much.

One of the reasons Bill Cowher stated he wouldn't take certain head coaching jobs was he needed to know that ownership was 100% committed to winning, and Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is every bit of that!

 

 

It also helps to have Stanford Grad & SB winning QB John Elway as president of football operations to lure you to the team.

Edited October 24, 2014 by FeartheLosing

[A Dog Named Kelso]

Emmanuel Sanders had a career night last night. Instead of re-signing Eric Decker ($37 M over 5 years), the Broncos chose to sign Sanders to a 3-year, $15 M contract. Smart move.

 

There's lots of time spent on this Board debating the merits of re-signing expensive UFAs. But the main issue isn't whether the Bills should have re-signed Levitire or not, but rather what the Bills plan to do f they decide to let Levitre walk. Last year, the plan was to install Colin Brown in that spot, who was literally the worst player in the NFL according to PFF. This year, the plan was to sign Chris Williams, which was widely panned by league observers even before his chronic back injury was known.

 

Russ Brandon wants you to debate whether one player is worth the huge contract he'll command in the open market because it distracts attention from the Clown Show. Maybe Levitre, Peters, Byrd, Poz, etc. were overpaid, maybe they weren't. But that shouldn't be looked at in isolation.

 

If we don't re-sign our guys, it should be because we see someone on the market who can provide 85% or more of the output at 75% of less of the price. The "next man up" approach is just an excuse to save money by elevating guys on rookie deals.

 

And if we can't find THAT GUY because they don't want to come to Buffalo, then that actually makes re-signing our guys even more of a priority given advantages teams have in retaining talent -- early negotiations to reduce costs in exchange for reducing player's injury risk and the franchise and transition tags.

I agree but logistics plays a role too. If your free agent is coming off of contract at the same time you believe another player will(and you can not talk to him while he is under contract) what is a team to do? It is one of the gambles of free agency.

 

The guard position was a total flub by the front office they should have re-signed Rhinehart early before free agency if they knew they were going to let Letrive go(or there was any chance they might lose him). I believe this was another Marrone OL called.

[Malazan]

Or just sign Payton Manning, and let the rest take care of itself!

 

best rebuilding plan you can get

[Saint Doug]

I just hope we resign Hughes. Teams who have no elite QBs to pay shouldn't have to be worrying about who they keep and who they let go. And we don't have an elite QB to pay and won't be paying one for the foreseeable future.

[Buftex]

I saw this by the avatar and thought BufTex went crazy and started a freeing with himself not realizing he had said it.

 

Nah, quinearly stole my avatar! It has caused me confusion a few times too..."did I really say something that dumb?"

[Sojourner]

Like several have already eluded to:

 

Have a great/future HOF QB.

 

Simples.

[boyst]

 

 

Nah, quinearly stole my avatar! It has caused me confusion a few times too..."did I really say something that dumb?"

well, when you do say something intelligent it does surprise us all.

[jletha]

what is this post about? How great the Broncos are because they let Decker walk and signed Sanders? That doesnt really take a genius to make that move and it is definitely a move we would make if we happened to have Peyton Manning at QB. Manning makes every WR look awesome so this discussion can basically start and end at Manning. Sanders wouldnt have signed that deal if Manning wasnt the QB so its not like the Broncos are finding diamonds in the rough, they just know they can take something thats half coal and turn it into a diamond making their FA signing process becomes much easier. Why would you overpay for someone that you know you can get just as much production out of for much less money? The Bills dont have that luxury.

 

Also, the Bill shave made some good moves in evaluating talent with the recent regime, along with some real missteps.

 

Bringing in Bryce Brown in anticipating not re-signing Spiller after this year was smart and now its really helped because of injuries. We didnt really overpay too much for Brown but if that move wasnt made we would be scrambling for a backup RB right now and if we let CJ go after this year we would be in dire need to sign a FA or draft another. Also Aaron Williams re-signed and we let Byrd go which is looking like a great move by the Bills. Williams has played well for significantly less money and Byrd is now done for the year. Since we saved so much in not re-signing Byrd we also have money to spend on Hughes and Darues. Where did we get Hughes? We pretty much robbed Indy blind with that one, another great move. We also drafted a seemingly generational talent in Watkins going all in on EJ. Well it quickly became clear EJ wasnt ready so what did Whaley do? Signed Orton. Probably the best available QB on the market, keeping us competitive and out of a top 5 pick when we dont have a 1st rounder next year. We trade Stevie for a fourth round pick and his production is being made up with the likes of Woods and Hogan, cheaper and younger options. This regime has made some nice moves, if we had Manning they would look like genius moves as well.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Emmanuel Sanders had a career night last night. Instead of re-signing Eric Decker ($37 M over 5 years), the Broncos chose to sign Sanders to a 3-year, $15 M contract. Smart move.

 

There's lots of time spent on this Board debating the merits of re-signing expensive UFAs. But the main issue isn't whether the Bills should have re-signed Levitire or not, but rather what the Bills plan to do f they decide to let Levitre walk. Last year, the plan was to install Colin Brown in that spot, who was literally the worst player in the NFL according to PFF. This year, the plan was to sign Chris Williams, which was widely panned by league observers even before his chronic back injury was known.

 

Russ Brandon wants you to debate whether one player is worth the huge contract he'll command in the open market because it distracts attention from the Clown Show. Maybe Levitre, Peters, Byrd, Poz, etc. were overpaid, maybe they weren't. But that shouldn't be looked at in isolation.

 

If we don't re-sign our guys, it should be because we see someone on the market who can provide 85% or more of the output at 75% of less of the price. The "next man up" approach is just an excuse to save money by elevating guys on rookie deals.

 

And if we can't find THAT GUY because they don't want to come to Buffalo, then that actually makes re-signing our guys even more of a priority given advantages teams have in retaining talent -- early negotiations to reduce costs in exchange for reducing player's injury risk and the franchise and transition tags.

Everything you say makes too much sense, which of course calls it into question.

 

^This. Taking nothing away from Sanders and the overall good job of the Broncos' front office, but that team is what they are for NO other reason than Manning. It's nice when the OC's biggest responsibility is asking what Peyton takes in his coffee.

 

GO BILLS!!!

OK, then, but isn't it saying a similar thing if an OL scheme makes a player look better than he may be on another team, or if a defensive scheme and supporting cast makes a pass rusher look better? It's a good question to ask. I think "is Jerry Hughes replaceable in this defense" is a pretty good candidate for this kind of question. Personally, I think he's been a boss since he came to Buffalo and it says that Indy wasn't using him right, but people could argue that he looks this good because of Dareus, Kyle, and Mario.

[Buftex]

well, when you do say something intelligent it does surprise us all.

 

Hey, did the remover the "bird flipping" emoticon?

[TC in St. Louis]

I don't care for Elway. But he does prove the point that having a great quarterback is a huge factor in a team's continued success. Case in point: John Elway. What has Firemarshall Bill done since he left Elway? Another one: Brady. Where is New England without Brady? Middle of the pack. Elway got Manning. Manning is the best ever.

Any old wideout will do.

 

For us? I am glad for the new owners. I think they will sign whoever we need to keep to make this team a winner. Including Hughes. Dareus. Cordy Glenn. Not that Wilson was a cheap bastard, but we did let a lot of great football players walk over the past 10-15 years.

 

I don't see that continuing. The Pegulas plunked down 1.4 Billion, probably about 400 million above market value, for the team. They won't balk at spending a few million here and there to build a championship team. Doug Marrone must get this team to stop making so many mistakes and probably axe his OC, or Marrone will be getting the heater.

[buffaloboyinATL]

Or just sign Payton Manning, and let the rest take care of itself!

I agree. It is easy to look like a genius replacing a wide receiver when Peyton is your QB.

[K-9]

OK, then, but isn't it saying a similar thing if an OL scheme makes a player look better than he may be on another team, or if a defensive scheme and supporting cast makes a pass rusher look better? It's a good question to ask. I think "is Jerry Hughes replaceable in this defense" is a pretty good candidate for this kind of question. Personally, I think he's been a boss since he came to Buffalo and it says that Indy wasn't using him right, but people could argue that he looks this good because of Dareus, Kyle, and Mario.

 

I can't argue with this but I will say that Manning would make even Jerry Hughes look better as well. It's nice to play defense with so many big leads. Quite a lot of fun actually.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[papazoid]

 

 

Or just sign Payton Manning, and let the rest take care of itself!

 

bills could have offered peyton $30 mil and he still wouldn't have come.

[Gabe Northern]

exactly. if you can run a route, manning can put it in your pocket. it's not them finding a diamond in the rough, it's them finding a warm body that can catch a perfectly thrown pass.

 

This is EXACTLY wrong and completely misses the point.

 

The Broncos did not decide "hey, we have Manning. We can let Decker walk and just elevate some scrub." They decided Decker was not worth $37M/5 and SIGNED SOMEONE ELSE.

 

The Bills are really great at not re-signing their players. They are not very good at going out and finding replacements at more affordable salaries.

[playman]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000416520/article/john-elways-design-benefiting-peyton-manning-denver-broncos

 

says it all about this very topic

[Kelly the Dog]

This is EXACTLY wrong and completely misses the point.

 

The Broncos did not decide "hey, we have Manning. We can let Decker walk and just elevate some scrub." They decided Decker was not worth $37M/5 and SIGNED SOMEONE ELSE.

 

The Bills are really great at not re-signing their players. They are not very good at going out and finding replacements at more affordable salaries.

They re-signed Kyle Williams, Aaron Williams, and Leodis McKelvin, all of which are major contributors to their defense.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

^This. Taking nothing away from Sanders and the overall good job of the Broncos' front office, but that team is what they are for NO other reason than Manning. It's nice when the OC's biggest responsibility is asking what Peyton takes in his coffee.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

LOL that's not too far off. But to be fair to the Broncs, they have put together a decent line (or Peyton would never have signed with them) and a reasonable D (Von Miller is That Guy).

 

I think part of the problem for the Bills is that when players are looking for a 2nd contract, they really want to play for a winner if they can. So it's a "Catch 22" situation for Buffalo...their players don't want to re-up early, in case they can get a better offer elsewhere or they don't like the new coach...then that makes them more expensive to resign.

[K-9]

LOL that's not too far off. But to be fair to the Broncs, they have put together a decent line (or Peyton would never have signed with them) and a reasonable D (Von Miller is That Guy).

 

I think part of the problem for the Bills is that when players are looking for a 2nd contract, they really want to play for a winner if they can. So it's a "Catch 22" situation for Buffalo...their players don't want to re-up early, in case they can get a better offer elsewhere or they don't like the new coach...then that makes them more expensive to resign.

 

No doubt Elway and that FO have done a good job in addition to acquiring Manning, but I doubt Orsweiler guides them to the 6-1 record they enjoy now. They are 6-1 for one reason only.

 

GO BILLS!!!