The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 You knew it was coming. The Why Didn't We Keep Moeaki thread. But this time I think it's a damn good question. Why sign a guy coming off an injury at the end of last season unless you were planning to keep him the following season? What exactly was the point of bringing him in last year, having him do (and be unable to do) exactly what any reasonable football mind would have thought he'd do immediately after the injury, and then dumping him while you keep a Lee Smith? It's almost as if Bills management thought they were so close to being a playoff favorite with the current (Lee Smith) lineup that they couldn't afford to take a chance on a higher risk/much higher reward player. Wait a minute, it's not "almost as if" anything. IT'S EXACTLY AS IF. That's what they thought, they were wrong, Moeaki is no great player, but right now he'd be the best tight end on our team and he's making a big contribution for the Super Bowl champs. Which is perhaps why they are the Super Bowl champs and we're, well, something else ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 (edited) He was injured again this year. He would've been carried in the 53 hurt for like half the season. Not crazy, but seemingly not realized by you? Seattle gotta sign him once healthy, in November. A luxury we didn't have. Edited November 28, 2014 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 He couldn't play for 8-9 weeks. And no one could have been sure when he would have played. I doubt any team in the league would have kept him on the active roster for half the season and not knowing when he would be healthy and completely unsure he could stay healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 The guy couldn't even make it through a TC practice without an injury. I will take lee smith, who can actually play (albeit poorly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Hey don't let any actual facts get in the way of a chance to rip Bills management. You got an agenda, go for I'm aure you'll get 20 others with the same agenda to totally agree with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 He was injured again this year. He would've been carried in the 53 hurt for like half the season. Not crazy, but seemingly not realized by you? Seattle gotta sign him once healthy, in November. A luxury we didn't have. I guess I stand corrected. We would have risked losing Caleb Holley! (Question: who the hell is Caleb Holley?). Or Jeff Tuel. Or some wide receiver named Travis Harvey. Are we certain that Caleb Holley and Travis Harvey are actually 2 different players? My point: there's always fungible practice squad guys out there. They're like the utility infielder AAAA guys in baseball. You should never worry about finding them, and you should never let actual talent go to keep one of them. Or Lee Smith for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I guess I stand corrected. We would have risked losing Caleb Holley! (Question: who the hell is Caleb Holley?). Or Jeff Tuel. Or some wide receiver named Travis Harvey. Are we certain that Caleb Holley and Travis Harvey are actually 2 different players? My point: there's always fungible practice squad guys out there. They're like the utility infielder AAAA guys in baseball. You should never worry about finding them, and you should never let actual talent go to keep one of them. Or Lee Smith for that matter. Wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Wrong. How so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klos63 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I guess I stand corrected. We would have risked losing Caleb Holley! (Question: who the hell is Caleb Holley?). Or Jeff Tuel. Or some wide receiver named Travis Harvey. Are we certain that Caleb Holley and Travis Harvey are actually 2 different players? My point: there's always fungible practice squad guys out there. They're like the utility infielder AAAA guys in baseball. You should never worry about finding them, and you should never let actual talent go to keep one of them. Or Lee Smith for that matter. I would think practice squad players are there for a specific purpose and to think they are interchangeable is very naive. These are players that learn our system and are very close to being on the active roster. I don't think you want to be changing that roster too often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I guess I stand corrected. We would have risked losing Caleb Holley! (Question: who the hell is Caleb Holley?). Or Jeff Tuel. Or some wide receiver named Travis Harvey. Are we certain that Caleb Holley and Travis Harvey are actually 2 different players? My point: there's always fungible practice squad guys out there. They're like the utility infielder AAAA guys in baseball. You should never worry about finding them, and you should never let actual talent go to keep one of them. Or Lee Smith for that matter. That is right we could have kept him on active roster by letting go a practice squad player Jeff Tuel. Or Travis Harvey, another practice squad player. Or Caleb Holley an injured practice squad player. Where did you get your GM lessons in a Cracker Box? Very appropriate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 I would think practice squad players are there for a specific purpose and to think they are interchangeable is very naive. These are players that learn our system and are very close to being on the active roster. I don't think you want to be changing that roster too often. I don't deny that. But we've also kept Jonathan Meeks on the roster even though he missed 3/4 of last year and has not played at all this year. The idea that you can't keep an injured/talented player who fills a need on injured reserve for half a season is belied by many, many examples every season. Look, I started this thread half seriously, half jokingly (in another thread it was pointed out that every former Bill who has a good game immediately gets a thread like this one). But the serious point is Moeaki was drafted as one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft back in 2010, and he can catch the ball a little too. He wouldn't have made a big difference this year given his injuries, but he would be a more complete tight end right now than either Smith (all block, and not so great at that either, and no catch) or Chandler (all catch, and not so good at that either, and no block). And we're also carrying Mike Williams and Marquis Goodwin all year because they look good in the team photo or something. That is right we could have kept him on active roster by letting go a practice squad player Jeff Tuel. Or Travis Harvey, another practice squad player. Or Caleb Holley an injured practice squad player. Where did you get your GM lessons in a Cracker Box? Very appropriate! OK, I give you Jonathan Meeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Lee's college DUI gives the team street cred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Lee's college DUI gives the team street cred Hah! (I actually didn't know that) I see that Moeaki is a Mormon, so this makes some sense ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Let Moeaki play more then 3 games successfully in a 5 game stretch. He is on a team which plays to his strengths, short yards and no long ball behind a game manager at qb. Big difference here in buffalo is we are a Ru. First team. So is Seattle but that is at the distaste of Carroll and Co who want to gunsling it and don't value runners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 (edited) Let Moeaki play more then 3 games successfully in a 5 game stretch. He is on a team which plays to his strengths, short yards and no long ball behind a game manager at qb. Big difference here in buffalo is we are a Ru. First team. So is Seattle but that is at the distaste of Carroll and Co who want to gunsling it and don't value runners. But Moeaki was regarded as maybe the best blocking tight end in his draft class. I think folks are missing my point here (maybe my joking was to blame): the point is that bringing Moeaki in last year was a good idea even though no one had any expectation that he'd be able to contribute last year. And the fact that he didn't make it back in preseason shouldn't have surprised anyone either. It was a longer-range play, and a smart one. But it isn't smart when you give up on that longer-range play too soon, which is what happened here. If they'd stayed the course with him that would've meant injured reserve time, and yes, it would have meant losing someone else. But sticking with Moeaki made some sense since (1) tight end is an exceptionally weak position on this team; (2) and even knowing that, we chose not to draft a tight end other than Gragg very late in the draft last year (while drafting two WRs) or this year (while drafting one WR). Given all those new WRs, signing Mike Williams was probably the mistake that drove some other mistakes. Williams won't be back, Goodwin likely won't be back, Lee Smith (I hope) won't be back, there'd be nothing lost if all of them weren't on this year's team at all. Edited November 28, 2014 by The Frankish Reich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I don't think moeaki was a longer term guy. He was beset with a bunch of unrelated new injuries (hamstring, ankle, if I recall). They gave him a shot, he recovered, and then he kept getting injured. I am fine that they let him go. He will never stay healthy in Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 The guy couldn't even make it through a TC practice without an injury. I will take lee smith, who can actually play (albeit poorly). Lee was instrumental in blowing the vaunted Jets line off the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 I don't deny that. But we've also kept Jonathan Meeks on the roster even though he missed 3/4 of last year and has not played at all this year. The idea that you can't keep an injured/talented player who fills a need on injured reserve for half a season is belied by many, many examples every season. Look, I started this thread half seriously, half jokingly (in another thread it was pointed out that every former Bill who has a good game immediately gets a thread like this one). But the serious point is Moeaki was drafted as one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft back in 2010, and he can catch the ball a little too. He wouldn't have made a big difference this year given his injuries, but he would be a more complete tight end right now than either Smith (all block, and not so great at that either, and no catch) or Chandler (all catch, and not so good at that either, and no block). And we're also carrying Mike Williams and Marquis Goodwin all year because they look good in the team photo or something. OK, I give you Jonathan Meeks. Meeks was put on IR. He's still under contract and done for the season and we have him next year. I don't think anyone knows how hurt he was. It would not be fair to Moeaki to keep him from playing when he doesn't have a contract when he is healthy. You have to reach an injury settlement with that player. He can play for another team but not you. You can't put an injured player on the PS and I doubt even with the new rules he is eligible since he played most of one year before. Moeaki signed a two year contract with the Bills last year. It was up at the end of this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Meeks was put on IR. He's still under contract and done for the season and we have him next year. I don't think anyone knows how hurt he was. It would not be fair to Moeaki to keep him from playing when he doesn't have a contract when he is healthy. You have to reach an injury settlement with that player. He can play for another team but not you. You can't put an injured player on the PS and I doubt even with the new rules he is eligible since he played most of one year before. Moeaki signed a two year contract with the Bills last year. It was up at the end of this year. What does fair have to do with it? They didn't have to release him but why not pay him less if he isn't going to play for your team ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Hey don't let any actual facts get in the way of a chance to rip Bills management. You got an agenda, go for I'm aure you'll get 20 others with the same agenda to totally agree with you. The OP is hardly a rip. JAG giving his take and asking a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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