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Bills sign Lee Smith to 3-year deal -contract details released


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2 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

Yeah, yeah, he can block..  Thing is though, we don’t know how Knox & Sweeney will turn out. We have an idea about Kroft. We’re all pretty excited to be done with the oft-injured, uninspiring, costly Clay. We DO know about Smith. We -and every team he’s played for- kicked him to the curb.

Yes, after his 4 years with us- he stuck with the Raiders for 4 years.  He's played for 2 teams.  Teams really can't wait to get rid of him...

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44 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

1 yr maybe but 3 is foolish. He'll be 32 in November.  Averages 8 catches for 75 yards? Odd signing. 

He's a blocking TE.

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Considering what we've had at tight end and what is left on the market, I'll gladly take him on our roster. He fits what we want to do this coming season. Sure, he's not going to catch a ton, but we want to run and take our shots downfield as they present themselves. Allen is still only in his 2nd season and might not be totally ready to start slinging the rock at will. IF Lee is mauling for us on the running plays, then the play action will work really well, even knowing he's not a target. With him in the lineup and us controlling the ball, the defense will get caught guessing run a lot when play action is called. We have Kroft and Knox as our receiving TE's already. Two TE sets might be called a lot this year. Kroft or Knox taking a safety or LB with him on a route leaves Smith to do his dirty work and creating open running areas and he will hold up well in play action. I also trust Beane got a team friendly deal done.

 

 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/Smiths-Dirty-Work-Will-be-Missed-by-Raiders-396159961.html

'Lee Smith once was judged by Pro Football Focus, the analytics website, as the NFL’s best pass-blocking tight end, and he’s certainly contributed to the fact the Raiders have allowed quarterback Derek Carr to be sacked just twice this season. He’s also been a key player in the team’s No. 5 ranked rushing attack, too, that has generated 126.8 yards per game.'

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7 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

No mention of how much that guaranteed money is, however.   If it's just a million or two, I'm thinking Smith could still be cut without too much trouble if lightning strikes and the young TEs have bang up training camps...

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Just now, blacklabel said:

Smith will be that one veteran guy they're trying to make sure they have in every room. I think they keep four and it'll be Kroft, Knox, Croom, and Smith, with Sweeney to the PS.

That’s really the biggest thing to me imo. They have a lot of TEs but they are mostly young and inexperienced players at the position. TE is a very difficult position to learn in the NFL and rookies rarely make an early impact. Kroft wasthe only vet, but even he is relatively inexperienced since he’s been mostly a backup and missed a lot of games due to injury. They really needed someone who knows what he’s doing in the blocking game. 

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1 minute ago, Dopey said:

Considering what we've had at tight end and what is left on the market, I'll gladly take him on our roster. He fits what we want to do this coming season. Sure, he's not going to catch a ton, but we want to run and take our shots downfield as they present themselves. Allen is still only in his 2nd season and might not be totally ready to start slinging the rock at will. IF Lee is mauling for us on the running plays, then the play action will work really well, even knowing he's not a target. With him in the lineup and us controlling the ball, the defense will get caught guessing run a lot when play action is called. We have Kroft and Knox as our receiving TE's already. Two TE sets might be called a lot this year. Kroft of Knox taking a safety or LB with him on a route leaves Smith to do his dirty work and creating open running areas and he will hold up well in play action. I also trust Beane got a team friendly deal done.

 

 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/Smiths-Dirty-Work-Will-be-Missed-by-Raiders-396159961.html

'Lee Smith once was judged by Pro Football Focus, the analytics website, as the NFL’s best pass-blocking tight end, and he’s certainly contributed to the fact the Raiders have allowed quarterback Derek Carr to be sacked just twice this season. He’s also been a key player in the team’s No. 5 ranked rushing attack, too, that has generated 126.8 yards per game.'

If he is that good, why wasn’t he scooped up in FA before now...enquiring minds want to know?

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Just now, YoloinOhio said:

That’s really the biggest thing to me imo. They have a lot of TEs but they are mostly young and inexperienced players at the position. TE is a very difficult position to learn in the NFL and rookies rarely make an early impact. Kroft wasthe only vet, but even he is relatively inexperienced since he’s been mostly a backup and missed a lot of games due to injury. They really needed someone who knows what he’s doing in the blocking game. 

 

Accurate. Kroft had been their longest-tenured TE with four seasons under his belt but the rest of the gang is inexperienced. Croom started college as a wide receiver, Jake Fisher played tackle until this year, Knox played QB in high school which actually gives him an advantageous understanding of the position, and then he and Sweeney are rookies. I gotta say, I like this group, I really do. Nothing flashy (yet, I have high hopes for Knox) but I think they've done well in addressing this area. 

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28 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

This what worries me about this regime.  They seem to have outdated ways of thinking.  It’s liek signing Star.  Good at one thing, completely worthless if teams pass.  Smith is a glorified o linemen.  Why not just keep Fisher who can fill two roles?  

 

Cos Fisher sucks?

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1 minute ago, LabattBlue said:

If he is that good, why wasn’t he scooped up in FA before now...enquiring minds want to know?

He wasn’t a FA. He was just cut by the Raiders about a week or so ago. 

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2 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

If he is that good, why wasn’t he scooped up in FA before now...enquiring minds want to know?

Not all GM's are as smart as Beane?!?! Hell, I don't know! Seriously though, maybe a lot of GM"S are thinking they need field stretchers at TE. Smith is not that.

 

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Just now, YoloinOhio said:

That’s really the biggest thing to me imo. They have a lot of TEs but they are mostly young and inexperienced players at the position. TE is a very difficult position to learn in the NFL and rookies rarely make an early impact. Kroft wasthe only vet, but even he is relatively inexperienced since he’s been mostly a backup and missed a lot of games due to injury. They really needed someone who knows what he’s doing in the blocking game. 

 

Agreed.   It's a lock they keep four TEs now, which probably takes away the seventh slot for a WR.    They'll probably try to stash Sweeney on the PS for a year and see how he progresses for 2020...

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Just now, LabattBlue said:

If he is that good, why wasn’t he scooped up in FA before now...enquiring minds want to know?

 

Because he's really "just another guy" that can do some things well but there's nothing he's exceedingly great at. Players like that will often  be replaced by a younger, cheaper option. Plus, Oakland is rebuilding so a lot of guys signed prior to the current front office are gonna be shown the door. Bills needed a guy with some veteran experience to help out the young group they have. He's probably a good locker room guy, too. 

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46 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

all depends on the guarantee. a $500K signing bonus, with vet min guarantee, means a 1 year deal..and if he is good they have him locked up for the 2 more. If not, they cut him

Agreed, they have been smart about how they structure things, and I bet they didn’t get stupid here. 

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4 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

They have Tom Brady.  They also had the best TE of their generation.  You don’t see the difference when you line up Gronk, who can do everything, vs Lee Smith?

They had a shell of Tom Brady and gronk. They needed to run what you call an outdated offense to win. They Planned on running that outdated offense before the season started and look where it got them. If it won a Super Bowl last year is it really outdated?

 

Lee smith is going to be a sub package guy. He’s not going to be the starter or used anything like gronk. Trying to compare him to gronk is a weak argument. He’s here to help the run game. Our blocking was atrocious last year and needed upgrades. A good run game helps young QBs. 

 

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9 minutes ago, Patrick_Duffy said:

All cool I guess. Was kinda hoping they would land Rudolph somehow, but he will help the running game.

I just don’t understand how this helps the running game.  You have a guy who is not a threat in the passing game so you just load up on the run when he’s on the field.  It’s like with Star.  You just spread the field and he can’t play/ is a non factor.  It’s not like Oakland had a good rushing attack.

 

i mean it’s a back up TE so it’s whatever.  But much like paying veteran 30 year old rbs, it’s not what smart teams would do.

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24 minutes ago, Blokestradamus said:

 

8 holding penalties in his NFL career. If Lee is a penalty machine, that makes me a sex machine.

 

:lol:

 

Maybe it's just my selective memory, but I seem to recall his holding penalties wiping out way too many a great run in his days here.

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Very underrated signing.  Thinking Fisher might be in trouble but we got a great complement to Kroft , Knox , Croom etc . Putting the finishing touches on that offense!

A Lee Smith type TE is very important to Dabol and we get a premiere blocking TE in the game. 

Great work!! His impact won't show on the stat sheet but he'll be valued in this scheme. Love the signing

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57 minutes ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

Jake Fisher has to be feeling pretty bad about his chances of making the team.

 

Pegs has a couple of other daughters. Fisher best get to wooing...

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Just now, C.Biscuit97 said:

I just don’t understand how this helps the running game.  You have a guy who is not a threat in the passing game so you just load up on the run when he’s on the field.  It’s like with Star.  You just spread the field and he can’t play/ is a non factor.  It’s not like Oakland had a good rushing attack.

 

i mean it’s a back up TE so it’s whatever.  But much like paying veteran 30 year old rbs, it’s not what smart teams would do.

 

I've never been a fan of signing the Jason-Dunn-blocking-only-TE; I'd much rather play an extra tackle if I'm going to play a guy that I know is only a blocker.

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25 minutes ago, Azucho98 said:

I don't see Croom going because he "can" be a weapon in the passing game....but you never know.

 

I would see Knoxx as the upgrade over Croom for the athletic/move TE. 

 

You then have Lee/Fisher as the blockers, and Kroft/Sweeney as the balanced.

 

If you are going to keep a 4th its probably the more balanced Sweeney but have to see how it plays out. 

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1 minute ago, thebandit27 said:

Maybe it's just my selective memory, but I seem to recall his holding penalties wiping out way too many a great run in his days here.

 

I think Lee suffered with the fact that his holds were more noticeable than most because of that fact. Every single hold seemed to be on a 20+ yard gain.

 

I posted his penalty numbers back in the BBMB days and he's never been that heavily penalised on a per-snap basis. Perhaps his threshold is altered due to the lower likelihood of him providing big plays in the passing game to counteract them.

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24 minutes ago, Lurker said:

 

No mention of how much that guaranteed money is, however.   If it's just a million or two, I'm thinking Smith could still be cut without too much trouble if lightning strikes and the young TEs have bang up training camps...

Says "front loaded" "guaranteed into year 2". on a 3 year and $9M that makes it sounds as if at least $3-$6M+ is guaranteed...

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i've said it before this team wants to lead the league in rushing to help allen develop as a qb.  it's gonna be seattle style where we play big time defense, big time run game and allen throws for like 3400 yards.  just wearing down opposing defenses. 

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1 hour ago, TheFunPolice said:

Mr. Croom isn't going anywhere

 

Show some respect to the future team owner! It's the HHH plan to run the company one day!

 

Then again, maybe the Owners want to remove a certain TE from the team and are "encouraging" the FO to find an alternative.  

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21 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

He very well might.  But you couldn’t find another guy who is more of a threat?  Or just put in an extra o linemen?

 

I get it - fans hate blocking TEs and full backs they want skill guys.... but there is still some merit in them.

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