DT Star Lotulelei to Bills!

[Domdab99]

He better be worth it

[noacls]

Bad contract

[Boca BIlls]

Good deal, good player. Needed addition.

[Ittakestime]

11th highest paid tackle in league. That's criminal. All because McBean knows him. 

[Turk71]

The Bills new highest paid player. https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/star-lotulelei/7795  The 109th ranked Dl. A lot of people don't put much stock in pff but if you look at who the highest ranked guys were it is an impressive list. Anyway , however and whatever they were measuring, there were 108 guys rated higher last year. He was near the very bottom and not much better the year before. I think there were better players available who will sign for half of what he is getting. He did play for the Panthers though. Not trying to be negative and I have liked most of what they are doing, but this move and overpaying for Ivory not so much. Will gladly eat crow if they prove me wrong. Flame away

[bouds]

In McBeane we trust, am I right?

 

This is a bad deal, but at leas the have some outs.  Panthers trash is gold for the Bills, can't stand it.  Amazing that the Panthers got a better player with Poe, for less money & years. 

[aristocrat]

24 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

The Bills new highest paid player. https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/star-lotulelei/7795  The 109th ranked Dl. A lot of people don't put much stock in pff but if you look at who the highest ranked guys were it is an impressive list. Anyway , however and whatever they were measuring, there were 108 guys rated higher last year. He was near the very bottom and not much better the year before. I think there were better players available who will sign for half of what he is getting. He did play for the Panthers though. Not trying to be negative and I have liked most of what they are doing, but this move and overpaying for Ivory not so much. Will gladly eat crow if they prove me wrong. Flame away

 

Pff had Aaron Rodgers as a worse qb than tyrod when ar threw five tds in game. Their ratings are very suspect 

[Turk71]

12 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

 

Pff had Aaron Rodgers as a worse qb than tyrod when ar threw five tds in game. Their ratings are very suspect 

I know they are suspect but they are not the only ones to comment on Star's declining play. Also even if their evaluation criteria is flawed, the players at the top are all very good players and Star was near the very bottom. The guy was a dominant force his rookie year, maybe he gets back his old self. Still overpaid. Saw a poll where Panther fans were 79% against giving him a new contract. Now they have Poe alongside Kawann Short, probably the best interior line in the league.

[ngbills]

40 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

 

Pff had Aaron Rodgers as a worse qb than tyrod when ar threw five tds in game. Their ratings are very suspect 

Its not just pff. His numbers have been on a steady decline no matter how you look at it. Hopefully he needs a change to run it around. But DT do seem to be a position with quick declines. 

[Wayne Arnold]

With that contract, Lotulelei better be dominant on many Sundays. Otherwise, it's a fireable offense if this team doesn't win over the next three years.

 

At first glance, that is an embarrassing contract for a guy who has been bad the last two seasons.

[Kelly the Dog]

24 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

With that contract, Lotulelei better be dominant on many Sundays. Otherwise, it's a fireable offense if this team doesn't win over the next three years.

 

At first glance, that is an embarrassing contract for a guy who has been bad the last two seasons.

He's not supposed to be dominant. He can be worth all that money and more if he does what he was signed to do and allows others to be dominant. That's what he's here for. In effect, he's like an offensive lineman allowing a QB or RB to be dominant.

[Logic]

41 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

With that contract, Lotulelei better be dominant on many Sundays. Otherwise, it's a fireable offense if this team doesn't win over the next three years.

 

At first glance, that is an embarrassing contract for a guy who has been bad the last two seasons.

A fireable offense?! For slightly overpaying a defensive tackle on a team that has $100 million in cap space in 2019? 

Well...I'm sure you not overreacting in the least. Nope.

The people agains this deal -- when a double-team occupying DT is crucial to the success of McDermott's defense and the Bills had NO ONE that could do that, and when the salary cap goes up every single year, and when the Bills have $100 million in cap space in 2019 -- is cracking me up.

You've gotta spend the money SOMEWHERE.

Good golly miss Molly, Bills fans are hard to please sometimes.

[MrEpsYtown]

Slight overpay but a huge need and basically cut the Marcell contract in half. 

[JM57]

3 hours ago, DJB said:

It initially looks really expensive but its definitely a 3 year deal to me. 

Agreed. 3 year deal, maybe a 4 year deal at most. They can get out after 2020 for a $5.2 mil dead cap hit and save $5.6 million or thereabouts, plus the full savings in 2022. If they did it after year 4, it would be a dead cap hit of $2.6 million and a savings of about $8 million. 

[Kelly the Dog]

8 minutes ago, JM57 said:

Agreed. 3 year deal, maybe a 4 year deal at most. They can get out after 2020 for a $5.2 mil dead cap hit and save $5.6 million or thereabouts, plus the full savings in 2022. If they did it after year 4, it would be a dead cap hit of $2.6 million and a savings of about $8 million. 

Yep. It's not a bad deal at all, for both parties. A lot of ways it can go.

 

The best part is that both McD and Beane know the kind of drive that Star has. That's key in free agent contracts. These two, especially, put football character up at the top. We as fans can be pretty sure he's going to give good effort.

[Turk71]

Regardless of the money, I just want him to be really good at what he does. He is currently the 11th highest paid dt this year. More than a couple sources who pay a lot more attention than I do have commented on his poor play the last couple seasons. If the highest paid player on your team is playing at a sub par level, that is a problem. He is definitely one of the Bills starting dts, so I sure hope he regains whatever he seems to have lost.

[PrimeTime101]

Jesus Christ more idiots following pff? give it a rest

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, Ittakestime said:

11th highest paid tackle in league. That's criminal. All because McBean knows him. 

 

 

Nah. That's what you pay to sign a guy to a second contract.

 

Think Cousins is the highest paid QB because Beane knows him? Or is it just because new contract tend to be valued a bit higher than old ones?  If you want the 18th or 20th best player at a given position you probably have to give him the 10th or so highest contract.

[NewEra]

On 3/14/2018 at 6:29 PM, Don't stop billievein said:

Maybe hes playing for a bucket of wings and a pizza? This is the only contract I can’t find any details on. So strange. 

Just watched his press conference and boy was he bleh.  Genuinely seemed to not give a crap about being here.  Was hoping he’d be a little more fired up.  “What’s your relationship with McDermott and Brandon Beane?”  “Uuummmmmmm,  the relationship we had was a good relationship. You know, he’s a good coach”.  Ugh.  Glad it was only 4 minutes. 2 minutes shorter than Rafael Bushs pc

[Logic]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Just watched his press conference and boy was he bleh.  Genuinely seemed to not give a crap about being here.  Was hoping he’d be a little more fired up.  “What’s your relationship with McDermott and Brandon Beane?”  “Uuummmmmmm,  the relationship we had was a good relationship. You know, he’s a good coach”.  Ugh.  Glad it was only 4 minutes. 2 minutes shorter than Rafael Bushs pc

I don't care if he ever says one worthwhile word again, so long as he keeps occupying double team and pushing the pocket. 

[Thurman#1]

7 hours ago, JM57 said:

Agreed. 3 year deal, maybe a 4 year deal at most. They can get out after 2020 for a $5.2 mil dead cap hit and save $5.6 million or thereabouts, plus the full savings in 2022. If they did it after year 4, it would be a dead cap hit of $2.6 million and a savings of about $8 million. 

 

 

It's a five year deal. Unless he sucks, he'll be here all five years. It's seriously front-loaded, the last two years are the cheapest for the Bills, and therefore the least likely for them to cut him.

 

But yeah, if he's bad, anytime after the second year will have non-catastrophic amounts of dead money. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by Thurman#1

[Dkollidas]

5 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Just watched his press conference and boy was he bleh.  Genuinely seemed to not give a crap about being here.  Was hoping he’d be a little more fired up.  “What’s your relationship with McDermott and Brandon Beane?”  “Uuummmmmmm,  the relationship we had was a good relationship. You know, he’s a good coach”.  Ugh.  Glad it was only 4 minutes. 2 minutes shorter than Rafael Bushs pc

He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy in general. He plays the game well but doesn’t mean he has to have a type A 100mph personality all the time. As long as he gets the job done I don’t care. Plus every team needs a few guys who keep the reins on emotion (Jerry Hughes, I’m looking at you). 

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

3 hours ago, Turk71 said:

The Bills new highest paid player. https://www.profootballfocus.com/nfl/players/star-lotulelei/7795  The 109th ranked Dl. A lot of people don't put much stock in pff but if you look at who the highest ranked guys were it is an impressive list. Anyway , however and whatever they were measuring, there were 108 guys rated higher last year. He was near the very bottom and not much better the year before. I think there were better players available who will sign for half of what he is getting. He did play for the Panthers though. Not trying to be negative and I have liked most of what they are doing, but this move and overpaying for Ivory not so much. Will gladly eat crow if they prove me wrong. Flame away

You just don't pay run stuffers this kind of money, I don't care what our cap space is, how does Harrison only cost 5M ? He will never live up to this contract, just my opinion. 

Edited March 16, 2018 by BuffaloBillsGospel

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

You just don't pay run stuffers this kind of money, I don't care what our cap space is, how does Harrison only cost 5M ? He will never live up to this contract, just my opinion. 

Where is LABillz when you need him?

 

People worry way too much about contracts. Every year on every team there are about one third that don't live up to their deal, a third that are about right, and a third that way outplay what they are paid. It evens out.

 

And he is not a run stuffer only. In fact, his best attribute is a pocket collapser without needing to be a pass rusher. Last year, because we got no push upfront from the DTs on a regular basis, when Hughes would do what Hughes does, QBs would very often step up a yard or two and avoid him, then have a lot of time to throw. Star will muck that idea up, which is an enormous difference.

[billspro]

I honestly don't care about the DT position. If we get a good QB in the draft this year everything else will fall into place. 

 

The one thing we know about Star is he will be a good fit in the system. We will know his value looking at our run defence and if our DEs get more sacks he must be doing a good job collapsing the pocket.

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, JM57 said:

Agreed. 3 year deal, maybe a 4 year deal at most. They can get out after 2020 for a $5.2 mil dead cap hit and save $5.6 million or thereabouts, plus the full savings in 2022. If they did it after year 4, it would be a dead cap hit of $2.6 million and a savings of about $8 million. 

That's a good way to look at it.  We'll hopefully be looking to sign our rookie quarterback to a massive contract by the time his contract runs out.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Doc Brown

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

1 hour ago, Kelly the Dog said:

Where is LABillz when you need him?

 

People worry way too much about contracts. Every year on every team there are about one third that don't live up to their deal, a third that are about right, and a third that way outplay what they are paid. It evens out.

 

And he is not a run stuffer only. In fact, his best attribute is a pocket collapser without needing to be a pass rusher. Last year, because we got no push upfront from the DTs on a regular basis, when Hughes would do what Hughes does, QBs would very often step up a yard or two and avoid him, then have a lot of time to throw. Star will muck that idea up, which is an enormous difference.

 

I'm not worried at all, where in my post did i say i was worried? I think what it is when another person doesn't have the same opinion as your own then people get defensive. I'm not worried about any contract unless it's for myself. 

 

He won't live up to that contract, he's not a pocket pusher, he takes up space is what he does and it allows the Linebackers and other players to make plays, I know what he does, I've played the game as a kid, a middle schooler, HS and in College. I know what Star Louteleilei is and you can find much cheaper space eaters out there and even in the draft, that's all I'm saying, he isn't terrible but he isn't great but if he serves that purpose of allowing others to make plays then who the hell cares right? He's a Bill now and that's all that matters, I wish him nothing but the best.

[Mountain Man]

At DT we couldn't afford to be fussy. Sometimes your need to just sort a problem. Is it a bit rich as a contract? Probably. Is it an extreme overpay? No. Right now I'd much rather accept we overpaid by a couple of million and know we addressed the issue, than sit with a few extra million and a massive hole at DT

[Kelly the Dog]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBillsGospel said:

 

I'm not worried at all, where in my post did i say i was worried? I think what it is when another person doesn't have the same opinion as your own then people get defensive. I'm not worried about any contract unless it's for myself. 

 

He won't live up to that contract, he's not a pocket pusher, he takes up space is what he does and it allows the Linebackers and other players to make plays, I know what he does, I've played the game as a kid, a middle schooler, HS and in College. I know what Star Louteleilei is and you can find much cheaper space eaters out there and even in the draft, that's all I'm saying, he isn't terrible but he isn't great but if he serves that purpose of allowing others to make plays then who the hell cares right? He's a Bill now and that's all that matters, I wish him nothing but the best.

But he is a pocket pusher. I would wager McD envisions him for that role more than a run stuffer. As I said above, Hughes, who actually had a great year and is likely our best defensive player, lost 2-5 sacks because there was no pocket collapser. You don't even have to get pressures yourself to be that guy. That is going to be half his job, maybe more than half. 

[dma0034]

On 3/13/2018 at 8:13 PM, dma0034 said:

I've read somewhere it was 5 years for 50 million but don't quote me.

Okay quote me 

I like this pickup. We paid for a good, not great, DT.

[atlbillsfan1975]

The cap moving up each year makes this contract look pretty fair. The $11 mil in year three will really be more like $9.5 in a few years.

[Bing Bong]

We need a kuechly and this defense becomes elite. Of course 75% of the league would have an elite defense with that talent. But geez i'm fiending for a stud MLB, who was the last guy on the bills that made a great impact at MLB? Fletcher i spoke. 

 

makes defenses infinitely more fun to watch. Hell Brandon spikes had me pumped on running Downs in his good year.

[Wayne Arnold]

7 hours ago, Logic said:

A fireable offense?! For slightly overpaying a defensive tackle on a team that has $100 million in cap space in 2019? 

Well...I'm sure you not overreacting in the least. Nope.

The people agains this deal -- when a double-team occupying DT is crucial to the success of McDermott's defense and the Bills had NO ONE that could do that, and when the salary cap goes up every single year, and when the Bills have $100 million in cap space in 2019 -- is cracking me up.

You've gotta spend the money SOMEWHERE.

Good golly miss Molly, Bills fans are hard to please sometimes.

 

"You've gotta spend the money SOMEWHERE" is the dumbest excuse for overpaying a player. Good Lord.

 

This team still needs two starting linebackers, a right side of the offensive line, and at least one starting wide receiver with speed. How about we save a little on a bad defensive lineman and spend that money on one or more of those positions instead?

[Magox]

9 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

"You've gotta spend the money SOMEWHERE" is the dumbest excuse for overpaying a player. Good Lord.

 

This team still needs two starting linebackers, a right side of the offensive line, and at least one starting wide receiver with speed. How about we save a little on a bad defensive lineman and spend that money on one or more of those positions instead?

Clearly they don't think he is bad or for that matter they think much more highly about him than your influenced view from PFF.

 

I trust that McD/Beane have both watched every single snap of his multiple times and have concluded that he will fit the Bill for what they want him to do or they wouldn't have made the offer.  These are detailed orientated guys and I trust that they did their due diligence.  We desperately needed this sort of player and I'm confident that we will be more stout against the run than we were last year because of it.

 

And I'm hopeful that he will help push and collapse the pocket forcing more sacks from our edge rushers.

 

 

[dollars 2 donuts]

On March 13, 2018 at 1:50 PM, dollars 2 donuts said:

 

Pure speculation!

 

5 years 50 or so million.

 

Anything less than that and I'll be doing cartwheels.

 

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/star-lotulelei-12294/

 

 

 

Huh...granted I had help from a range standpoint due to the Carolina article, but I nailed it.

 

pure speculation turned into fact.

[PaattMaann]

3 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

But he is a pocket pusher. I would wager McD envisions him for that role more than a run stuffer. As I said above, Hughes, who actually had a great year and is likely our best defensive player, lost 2-5 sacks because there was no pocket collapser. You don't even have to get pressures yourself to be that guy. That is going to be half his job, maybe more than half. 

 

I think you are underselling the amount of sacks Hughes lost because of this, honestly. 

 

You are 100% correct. 

 

Who cares about paying a guy a couple million more than "he's worth" (according to some posters here lol) because he doesn't put up stats. He immediately improves the play of everyone around him, that's his job. 

 

Trust The Process.

48 minutes ago, Wayne Arnold said:

 

"You've gotta spend the money SOMEWHERE" is the dumbest excuse for overpaying a player. Good Lord.

 

This team still needs two starting linebackers, a right side of the offensive line, and at least one starting wide receiver with speed. How about we save a little on a bad defensive lineman and spend that money on one or more of those positions instead?

 

While I wasn't the one who said "you gotta spend the money somewhere", I will address what you said after. 

 

Have you seen the FA pool for linebackers and OT's right now (or to start FA for the matter)? I think I would rather not pay ANY of them, anything, because they aren't better than what we currently have or can have in the draft. The only tackle worth taking a shot at was Hubbard, and Cleveland paid that man. Some immediate contributors will come from our draft this year and fill some of those holes. I do think we sign a C/G combo guy still, and likely a speed WR. 

 

We have plenty of money, after the Star deal, to sign whatever we so desire. There just isn't, and wasn't much out there in the FA market at some key positions of need for us. 

[HappyDays]

Anyone concerned about the contract should rewatch the Jets, Saints, and Chargers games. We overpaid a little to fill a big need - that's what free agency is.

[thebandit27]

9 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Anyone concerned about the contract should rewatch the Jets, Saints, and Chargers games. We overpaid a little to fill a big need - that's what free agency is.

 

As the market goes, we really didn't even overpay.  Snax set the market for a run-stuffing DT at $9.25M AAV two seasons ago, so $10M AAV represents only a 4% per annum inflation from that number, which is below the typical NFL inflation factor of 8%.

[SouthNYfan]

11 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Anyone concerned about the contract should rewatch the Jets, Saints, and Chargers games. We overpaid a little to fill a big need - that's what free agency is.

 

Agreed.

Him being our "highest paid player" is all context.

Let's look at it as: Beane purged all the bad contracts and has been making some good moves on team friendly deals, this isn't a terrible deal, it's just taken out of context.

1 minute ago, thebandit27 said:

 

As the market goes, we really didn't even overpay.  Snax set the market for a run-stuffing DT at $9.25M AAV two seasons ago, so $10M AAV represents only a 4% per annum inflation from that number, which is below the typical NFL inflation factor of 8%.

 

Also, there weren't really many DT available who could contribute as starters, so they paid the guy on a good deal for both sides.

[Wayne Arnold]

1 hour ago, PaattMaann said:

 

While I wasn't the one who said "you gotta spend the money somewhere", I will address what you said after. 

 

Have you seen the FA pool for linebackers and OT's right now (or to start FA for the matter)? I think I would rather not pay ANY of them, anything, because they aren't better than what we currently have or can have in the draft. The only tackle worth taking a shot at was Hubbard, and Cleveland paid that man. Some immediate contributors will come from our draft this year and fill some of those holes. I do think we sign a C/G combo guy still, and likely a speed WR. 

 

We have plenty of money, after the Star deal, to sign whatever we so desire. There just isn't, and wasn't much out there in the FA market at some key positions of need for us. 

 

So you're saying NaVorro Bowman, Avery Williamson and Korey Toomer aren't better than Tanner Valejo?

 

Tahir Whitehead and Anthony Hitchens aren't better than Deon Lacey?

 

Yikes.