What do you think will happen with Jerry Hughes?

[Proteus]

I mostly like Whaley and forgave him for the Watkins trade but I am seriously doubting whether he gets it or not.

[NoSaint]

He didn't sit out. He came in at the end of camp and got injured.

he sat out camp though. which is what i said. regardless of the arguments on the injury

[Proteus]

Are you running the draft?

If the Bills ask me nicely I will.

[BuffaloMatt]

Well, considering he doesn't want to give a hometown discount to the team that put him in a position to flourish (No Discount), I'm going to guess he asks for more than we want to give. There are a few cheaper options in FA that could do well with the supporting cast we have here, and we could even look into a bigger bodied pass rusher if we want to show more 3-4 looks.

Agreed. Buffalo made him minutes before he was going to be on his coach watching the NFL as a bust pick for Indy. There is a reason he wasn't selected to the Pro Bowl. Buffalo's real talent was selected. He would be wise to make a deal with Buffalo and say thank you along the way.

[dave mcbride]

 

What was relevant on the upper end of deals is no longer relevant really. As the pot of money becomes larger to spend, more gets spent on upper end players. People moaning about Hughes getting perhaps upwards of $12M I think are missing this point. If the Bills liked him, they could have tagged him or paid him. They didn't. Now they will need to fill another hole (presumably).

Agreed. The reason they get so much more is because the players at a level below them are far more plentiful and more or less interchangeable. There are a lot of Manny Lawsons out there.

 

In other words, Chidi Ahanotu won't cost you much, but more frequently than not you really do get what you pay for.

Edited March 2, 2015 by dave mcbride

[nucci]

Agreed. Buffalo made him minutes before he was going to be on his coach watching the NFL as a bust pick for Indy. There is a reason he wasn't selected to the Pro Bowl. Buffalo's real talent was selected. He would be wise to make a deal with Buffalo and say thank you along the way.

Why? I bet someone offers him more than the Bills have.

[YoloinOhio]

I'm surprised people actually thought he would be tagged.

[DrDawkinstein]

the byrd situation is pretty uncommon, generally. look around the league - he was the only tagged player to sit out of camp that year, wasnt he? and there were several under tags.

 

 

Hughes already said that he'd happily play under the tag, which makes sense because the tag for his position is over $14 million.

 

 

Well ****, guess Im wrong.

 

Kim is Cheap!!

[Proteus]

Well the one thing the Bills did better than anyone else in the league (rushing the passer) is likely over.

[What a Tuel]

We aren't hitting our cap without a great QB unless Whaley makes some absolutely horrendous signings. We are over $30 million under with most of the roster and big time positions in place.

yes

 

Still have (Edit: also a veteran QB), Easley, Searcy (or another safety), Spiller (or another RB), a pro guard, and any splashes we want to make in Free Agency to go. Also Dareus, Gilmore and Glenn all come up next year don't they?

 

I'm all for keeping Hughes, I never like to get rid of players without replacing them, but it has to be for a reasonable or even a premium price. We don't throw 13 million out just because we have it.

 

Well the one thing the Bills did better than anyone else in the league (rushing the passer) is likely over.

Nevermind. I see what you are doing.

Edited March 2, 2015 by What a Tuel

[YoloinOhio]

Well the one thing the Bills did better than anyone else in the league (rushing the passer) is likely over.

do you follow the Bills? Or is this trolling...

[Proteus]

do you follow the Bills? Or is this trolling...

The Bills weren't a great pass rushing team last season?

[YoloinOhio]

The Bills weren't a great pass rushing team last season?

did something happen to all the guys not named Hughes who went to the Pro Bowl including the 2 first team all-pros?

 

I like Hughes as much as anyone but it's either not following the team or trolling to state that the pass rush will go away if Hughes is replaced by say Pernell McPhee.

Edited March 2, 2015 by YoloinOhio

[Proteus]

 

Still have Easley, Searcy (or another safety), Spiller (or another RB), a pro guard, and any splashes we want to make in Free Agency to go. Also Dareus, Gilmore and Glenn all come up next year don't they?

 

I'm all for keeping Hughes, I never like to get rid of players without replacing them, but it has to be for a reasonable or even a premium price. We don't throw 13 million out just because we have it.

Whaley was on WGR about 10 days ago and pretty much said Spiller and Searcy are gone. He said Rambo and Duke Williams would be competing for starting safety. On the other guys, I can promise you that you will never, ever have to worry about finding the cap room to sign any players on your roster without having a 15-20 million dollar QB on the roster. We are not finding one of those guys unless we draft them and that contract is not coming up until 5 years after he is drafted. So we likely have 5-7 years minimum before we have to worry about our cap situation. Whaley better make some big moves in free agency because Hughes was flat out great last season and if he isn't resigned it is a huge loss. Also getting nothing for him via tag and trade or at least making play for you one more season under the tag, which he already said he would do, heading into year 16 of the streak, would be an absolute failure.

 

I am as optimistic as the next guy about Pegula. We are lucky to have him as an owner and I think we will have success under him. That said I don't understand why everyone wants to give Whaley a free pass. While he has made some good moves, his asset management is still highly questionable. Traded an extra first and a 4th to move from 9 to 4 and draft Watkins in maybe the deepest draft ever for receivers. Went on the cheap signed Chris Williams to be the starting guard which was highly questionable from the get go and so far has proven to be a poor decision. Hughes looks like will walk for nothing and most media insiders have us taking a running back in round 2 in a deep running back draft and with it being the most easily replaceable position in football.

did something happen to all the guys not named Hughes who went to the Pro Bowl including the 2 first team all-pros?

Yes it is convenient to go with the argument that Hughes was only good because of the people around him but if you actually watch the film you know that is not true. We will still be great at the pass rush but we won't be clearly the best in the league unless we sign someone comparable to Hughes. When you do something better than anyone else, you should try to keep that going.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Proteus

[YoloinOhio]

Yes it is convenient to go with the argument that Hughes was only good because of the people around him but if you actually watch the film you know that is not true. We will still be great at the pass rush but we won't be clearly the best in the league unless we sign someone comparable to Hughes. When you do something better than anyone else, you should try to keep that going.

lol. I have never said that about Hughes, in fact I have said the opposite. It seems the "convenient"thing is for you to make sweeping generalizations about what posters think. Edited March 2, 2015 by YoloinOhio

[Proteus]

lol. I have never said that about Hughes, in fact I have said the opposite. It seems the "convenient"thing is for you to make sweeping generalizations about what posters think.

What's so funny? Why do people automatically say lol when they disagree with a point? Is it an attempt to immediately discredit the other poster without having to raise a serious counter argument?

 

To your point, I guess I assumed that when you mentioned how great the players were around him, it was a dig at Hughes, my bad. To call it a "sweeping generalization" though, I think that's a bit much.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Proteus

[dave mcbride]

did something happen to all the guys not named Hughes who went to the Pro Bowl including the 2 first team all-pros?

 

I like Hughes as much as anyone but it's either not following the team or trolling to state that the pass rush will go away if Hughes is replaced by say Pernell McPhee.

I love Kyle Williams, but Hughes was better than KW last season regardless of what the pro bowl voters think. I don't even think it's arguable.

Whaley was on WGR about 10 days ago and pretty much said Spiller and Searcy are gone. He said Rambo and Duke Williams would be competing for starting safety. On the other guys, I can promise you that you will never, ever have to worry about finding the cap room to sign any players on your roster without having a 15-20 million dollar QB on the roster. We are not finding one of those guys unless we draft them and that contract is not coming up until 5 years after he is drafted. So we likely have 5-7 years minimum before we have to worry about our cap situation. Whaley better make some big moves in free agency because Hughes was flat out great last season and if he isn't resigned it is a huge loss. Also getting nothing for him via tag and trade or at least making play for you one more season under the tag, which he already said he would do, heading into year 16 of the streak, would be an absolute failure.

 

I am as optimistic as the next guy about Pegula. We are lucky to have him as an owner and I think we will have success under him. That said I don't understand why everyone wants to give Whaley a free pass. While he has made some good moves, his asset management is still highly questionable. Traded an extra first and a 4th to move from 9 to 4 and draft Watkins in maybe the deepest draft ever for receivers. Went on the cheap signed Chris Williams to be the starting guard which was highly questionable from the get go and so far has proven to be a poor decision. Hughes looks like will walk for nothing and most media insiders have us taking a running back in round 2 in a deep running back draft and with it being the most easily replaceable position in football.

Yes it is convenient to go with the argument that Hughes was only good because of the people around him but if you actually watch the film you know that is not true. We will still be great at the pass rush but we won't be clearly the best in the league unless we sign someone comparable to Hughes. When you do something better than anyone else, you should try to keep that going.

Good post.

[Solomon Grundy]

Isn't Orakpo a FA as well?

[dave mcbride]

Isn't Orakpo a FA as well?

He is, but it's being reported that he and the Skins are getting close to a deal. Whether that happens or not is anyone's guess. I think Hughes is currently the better player, for what it's worth.

[Proteus]

Isn't Orakpo a FA as well?

Hughes is younger and a better player at this point.