Bills sign C Spencer Long to 3 year deal

[GunnerBill]

15 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

Thought Wyatt played a little better then below average

 

He played below average. I don't think he was bad for a rookie - but his pass protection needs a lot of work.

[Alphadawg7]

He’s better than people think, his rough year last year had a lot to do with his injury.  Don’t know he’s the guy they see as the “starter” or not, but he’s already the best C on our roster, so even if he’s a backup it’s still an upgrade.  

[Turk71]

3 hours ago, colin said:

he's an average to below average starting interior NFL lineman who is being given a below average starting NFL interior lineman contract.  If he suits the system he's an OK starter, solid back up, if he doesn't then he's a bad signing.

 

I get people not thinking he's a good or great player, but i really don't understand the comments on his contract.  What do you people think NFL Olinemen make?

So being below average makes you the highest paid lineman on the Bills by double and #2 and #3 suck. What's your excuse for that?

5 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Because, of course, this is the only move they're going to make on the offensive line.

 

Jeez man, get a hold of yourself.

Let's hope they pay more castoffs ridiculous money? Is that the plan? I was kinda hoping they were gonna bring in some talent.

[colin]

29 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

So being below average makes you the highest paid lineman on the Bills by double and #2 and #3 suck. What's your excuse for that?

 

 

well, it's not hard to figure out but i can help!

 

you see, the bills have rookie contract and horrible players on OL, so they are going to be cheap.  this new guy is a free agent, which means he is not obligated to sign with any one particular team, which means he will have the choice of playing for whomever, putting upwards pressure on his price.

 

[CaptnCoke11]

6 minutes ago, colin said:

 

well, it's not hard to figure out but i can help!

 

you see, the bills have rookie contract and horrible players on OL, so they are going to be cheap.  this new guy is a free agent, which means he is not obligated to sign with any one particular team, which means he will have the choice of playing for whomever, putting upwards pressure on his price.

 

Well he had one bad season so he obviously sucks right?  People just ignore the few years in Washington where he played really good and got him that big co tract from the Jets.  

[Turk71]

9 minutes ago, colin said:

 

well, it's not hard to figure out but i can help!

 

you see, the bills have rookie contract and horrible players on OL, so they are going to be cheap.  this new guy is a free agent, which means he is not obligated to sign with any one particular team, which means he will have the choice of playing for whomever, putting upwards pressure on his price.

 

Right, so this cast off from the Jets who was a disaster last year and is now the Bills highest paid o lineman by double was in high demand and the Bills, because their o line is so God awful, had to overpay. Got it.

 So glad smart guys like you are there to help us dummies. Wondering if you can help with this engineering project I'm working on. There is a lot of physics involved.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Turk71

[formerlyofCtown]

Hopefully he can play here like he did for the Skins

[Alphadawg7]

23 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

Right, so this cast off from the Jets who was a disaster last year and is now the Bills highest paid o lineman by double was in high demand and the Bills, because their o line is so God awful, had to overpay. Got it.

 So glad smart guys like you are there to help us dummies. Wondering if you can help with this engineering project I'm working on. There is a lot of physics involved.

 

You obviously missed the fact he was hurt last year on his snapping hand and it affected him so much they tried him at guard.  

 

Not really fair fair to judge him while he played hurt. He’s better than you’re giving him credit for just because he’s a “cast off” as you put it.  He was a solid player or better in Washington before signing to the Jets.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Alphadawg7

[YoloinOhio]

44 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

Right, so this cast off from the Jets who was a disaster last year and is now the Bills highest paid o lineman by double was in high demand and the Bills, because their o line is so God awful, had to overpay. Got it.

 So glad smart guys like you are there to help us dummies. Wondering if you can help with this engineering project I'm working on. There is a lot of physics involved.

Who on the Bills OL do you expect to have a bigger contract than him? They currently have all rookie deals or backup level contracts. His contract is not impressive, at all, for a starting OL.

Edited February 13, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[One Buffalo]

He is number 84 on the list of average salary for 2019.  Anyone who is saying we paid too much is not being honest.  

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/offensive-line/

 

Bills have the lowest cap dollars on offensive line by far.  https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/offensive-line/

[Bleedingreennc]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

He’s better than people think, his rough year last year had a lot to do with his injury.  Don’t know he’s the guy they see as the “starter” or not, but he’s already the best C on our roster, so even if he’s a backup it’s still an upgrade.  

That’s not a good thing

[John from Riverside]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingreennc said:

That’s not a good thing

Just not having to play in that puke green color should raise his play simply by being in a better mood.

[Alphadawg7]

5 minutes ago, Bleedingreennc said:

That’s not a good thing

 

Thats a new one...upgrading is not a good thing?  Hmmm...not sure I agree with that logic.

[Nihilarian]

The Jets also thought they were getting a decent starter from the Redskins, hence the reason they signed him. Then there was a real reason they cut him. So, obviously, they didn't want him at OG or center despite the injury.  So, now the Buffalo Bills have a cast off scrub O linemen the Jets didn't want.

 

Is he an upgrade at RG over Mills who they are certain to let leave, probably. Injury or no. I was simply hoping for better than below average though ...even as a backup. 

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, Nihilarian said:

The Jets also thought they were getting a decent starter from the Redskins, hence the reason they signed him. Then there was a real reason they cut him. So, obviously, they didn't want him at OG or center despite the injury.  So, now the Buffalo Bills have a cast off scrub O linemen the Jets didn't want.

 

Is he an upgrade at RG over Mills who they are certain to let leave, probably. Injury or no. I was simply hoping for better than below average though ...even as a backup. 

You cant just say that he played horribly for the Jets when he in fact played well for the skins and just dismiss him.

 

I am not saying that the bills should hang their hat on this and call it a day.....only that there has been productive play from him in the past.

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I think looking back to two years ago doesn't help because that line needed upgrading as was. The right years to look at are the Rex years. That line had two studs on the left side in Cordy (top 8-10 LT) and Richie (top 10 LG). They then had a solid serviceable anchor at C and two average to below average players on the right. They need to get that sort of balance. At the moment we have one serviceable starter. They either need Dawkins to step up from serviceable to stud or they need to find two immediate impact players of that level. I still think Quinton Spain should be signed.

I don't disagree.  The 2017 oline is not the long-term objective.   But it is something like the short-term objective.  Wood-Incognito-Glenn IS the kind of core they should be building toward.  But I don't expect the Bills to acquire anyone with 6 or 7 or 10 years, like Glenn or Incognito.   

 

MAYBE the Bills will sign one more 2019 starting olineman in free agency, but if they do, I doubt they'll also draft one.   That is, I think Spencer and one more guy are likely to be the starters added to the team. 

 

McBeane want to build through the draft, and although you can occasionally get a good rookie starter in the draft, it's tough to find one after the first round.   Offensive linemen come out of college ill-prepared for the pros, and it takes time for them to develop.   So McBeane's approach will be, I think, to be patient, to recognize that the starting offensive line in 2019 will NOT be the starting line in 2021, but that the most or all of the 2012 line will be on the team in 2019.   At least, that's what I think they're doing.   

 

I'd be surprised if they sign more than one more free agent lineman, and if they do, I think it's someone coming off a rookie contract or similar age, like Spain.   I doubt they sign a more seasoned veteran.  

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, Shaw66 said:

I don't disagree.  The 2017 oline is not the long-term objective.   But it is something like the short-term objective.  Wood-Incognito-Glenn IS the kind of core they should be building toward.  But I don't expect the Bills to acquire anyone with 6 or 7 or 10 years, like Glenn or Incognito.   

 

MAYBE the Bills will sign one more 2019 starting olineman in free agency, but if they do, I doubt they'll also draft one.   That is, I think Spencer and one more guy are likely to be the starters added to the team. 

 

McBeane want to build through the draft, and although you can occasionally get a good rookie starter in the draft, it's tough to find one after the first round.   Offensive linemen come out of college ill-prepared for the pros, and it takes time for them to develop.   So McBeane's approach will be, I think, to be patient, to recognize that the starting offensive line in 2019 will NOT be the starting line in 2021, but that the most or all of the 2012 line will be on the team in 2019.   At least, that's what I think they're doing.   

 

I'd be surprised if they sign more than one more free agent lineman, and if they do, I think it's someone coming off a rookie contract or similar age, like Spain.   I doubt they sign a more seasoned veteran.  

I disagree here...I think they are going to be aggressive in both free agency AND the draft when it comes to OL.

 

You can see the trend of the league especially when you look at the colts....improve the OL and watch your team get better as a whole.

[Alphadawg7]

3 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

The Jets also thought they were getting a decent starter from the Redskins, hence the reason they signed him. Then there was a real reason they cut him. So, obviously, they didn't want him at OG or center despite the injury.  So, now the Buffalo Bills have a cast off scrub O linemen the Jets didn't want.

 

Is he an upgrade at RG over Mills who they are certain to let leave, probably. Injury or no. I was simply hoping for better than below average though ...even as a backup. 

 

How do you know he is below average?  He was pretty solid player in Washington, just because he didn't work out for the Jets who had a bad OL in general and he was hurt on literally his snapping hand doesn't mean he is some scrub.  Does it mean he will be some savior here, no, but its also not fair to just assume he sucks because a team poorly run like the Jets released him.

 

People like to label people scrubs if another team goes in another direction, but I seem to see quite a few very very good players on the Bills roster that were not not kept or let go by other teams.  Guys like Hyde, Poyer, Zo, etc were all mostly unheralded signings.  Hyde probably was the one that had a little optimism, but no one was running around thinking he was going to be as good as he is here.  

 

But the truth is, teams sign a player under one regime, then a new one comes in and feels differently about the player.  Gase sucked in Miami, so now we are supposed to believe he is a genius and knows this guy sucks so he cut him?  Let Gase prove he can be a good HC before we just start assuming every move he makes is right and other teams are dumb for signing the players he moves on from.  

 

PS:  We cut, trade, or not resign guys all the time in Buffalo that go on to be good players, even great players on other teams.  So its pretty silly for us to start saying a guy sucks because a HC who sucked in his last stop let a guy go he didn't sign at his new team.  

[Logic]

10 minutes ago, Bleedingreennc said:

That’s not a good thing

I love the fact that the Long signing actually motivated a couple of Jets fans to come over and post their opinions.

As I see it, the Jets' below average GM overspent on an injury prone player who is average to good when healthy, watched him get injured, saw that he wouldn't necessarily be a good fit with the scheme Gase wants to run, and had to cut their losses. The Bills have now signed him to a much more reasonable contract with the hopes that he can return to health and, thus, effective play. Time will tell. 

And now, a live look at new Jets coach Adam Gase:

10 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

The Jets also thought they were getting a decent starter from the Redskins, hence the reason they signed him. Then there was a real reason they cut him. So, obviously, they didn't want him at OG or center despite the injury.  So, now the Buffalo Bills have a cast off scrub O linemen the Jets didn't want.

 

Is he an upgrade at RG over Mills who they are certain to let leave, probably. Injury or no. I was simply hoping for better than below average though ...even as a backup. 

He wasn't below average on Washington. His only below average season was in NY. Let's hope a return to good health and a better scheme fit help him return to his previously high level of play. As has been mentioned, he represents an upgrade over what the Bills had, at the very least.

[oldmanfan]

People said the same thing kind of stuff about Poyer, just as an example.  And he turned out OK.  I think they will do what they have done in FA the past couple years, look for middle tier guys that they think have upside, and not go for the big dollar guys.   

 

From reading up on the guy, he appears to be more of a road grader type as opposed to a more mobile guy that can pull, etc.  I wonder if that tells us anything about what they're going to be looking for at other O line spots, and whether it tells us something about what Daboll wants to run, etc.  Teller is the same the guy if he keeps his LG spot.  I'm not as up on O line techniques as many here; would guys like this favor more of a zone vs/ man on man blocking scheme, and what might that say about the offensive scheme?  I would think they would then wants RBs that are the one cut, hit the hole and go types, or to put it another way the anti-Shady?