Shady's release ends 16-year streak of Bills' overinvestment in RB position

[HOUSE]

 

The Bills are better off putting their resources into running backs T.J. Yeldon (29), Devin Singletary (40) and Senorise Perry (32) than into continuing to overspend on backs like LeSean McCoy, Mark Gaughan says. (James P. McCoy/News file photo)

 

By Mark Gaughan
Published 6:00 a.m. September 1, 2019|Updated 1 hour ago

 

Fans and media have spent the past month talking about how little preseason means in the NFL – with good reason.

However, there was significance to the past six weeks of Buffalo Bills football when it came to LeSean McCoy. The strong training camp and preseason performances of Devin Singletary and Frank Gore cemented the irrelevance of McCoy on the Bills’ roster.

The bigger-picture takeaway on the end of the “Shady era” in Buffalo is this:

Let’s all hope and pray this ends a long and regrettable chapter in Bills roster-building history: The Giant Investment in Running Backs.

 

More

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/09/01/lesean-mccoy-buffalo-bills-devin-singletary-frank-gore-nfl-cuts-draft-brandon-beane/

Edited September 1, 2019 by HOUSE

[RoyBatty is alive]

A bit of a stretch for a story, If McCoy was 28 he would still be on this team."Long and regrettable chapter"? Yes the NFL is now largely not a  one RB league anymore.

[GunnerBill]

17 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

A bit of a stretch for a story, If McCoy was 28 he would still be on this team."Long and regrettable chapter"? Yes the NFL is now largely not a  one RB league anymore.

 

Agreed. The sentiment of the piece is right but it is a stretch to see Shady's release as part of a move to the point he is making

[oldmanfan]

Interesting take

[thebandit27]

"The RB position just isn't worth investing premium assets anymore"

 

- everyone except for the two teams that played in the Super Bowl 

 

[BITE ME]

The Running Back was much more valuable in the past before the NFL decided to make it a passing league.  Can't blame the Bills for bringing in McCoy but he probably should have been moved last year.  Hard to move a big name RB though off the first playoff season in nearly two decades. 

2 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

"The RB position just isn't worth investing premium assets anymore"

 

- everyone except for the two teams that played in the Super Bowl 

 

 

The Patriots did not invest a ton in the RB position. They invested 12 million over 3 years with only 4.69M guaranteed. That is probably what one should invest. Investing 9 million in a running back that would get 1/3rd of carries is not smart. McCoy is now being paid what he should be paid. $3M with up to $4M. Bills had to cut McCoy at the salary he was getting. 

[Cripple Creek]

28 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

A bit of a stretch for a story, If McCoy was 28 he would still be on this team."Long and regrettable chapter"? Yes the NFL is now largely not a  one RB league anymore.

Long regrettable chapter generates clicks.  Silly, IMO, article that was done to fulfill contractual obligations (Gaughan). 

[Nanker]

The classic Mike Backer is also a devalued position, as is Fullback. No NFL team has had a head-on place kicker for a couple of decades. 

 

[thebandit27]

5 minutes ago, FUTURIST said:

The Running Back was much more valuable in the past before the NFL decided to make it a passing league.  Can't blame the Bills for bringing in McCoy but he probably should have been moved last year.  Hard to move a big name RB though off the first playoff season in nearly two decades. 

 

The Patriots did not invest a ton in the RB position. They invested 12 million over 3 years with only 4.69M guaranteed. That is probably what one should invest. Investing 9 million in a running back that would get 1/3rd of carries is not smart. McCoy is now being paid what he should be paid. $3M with up to $4M. Bills had to cut McCoy at the salary he was getting. 

 

They signed multiple FA RBs in back to back off-seasons.

 

They drafted a RB in the first round 

 

They went from a pass blocking LT to a run blocking mauler.

 

While the rest of the league was going pass happy, NE loaded up to railroad teams with the run...and won a Super Bowl doing it 

[RoyBatty is alive]

Just now, thebandit27 said:

 

They signed multiple FA RBs in back to back off-seasons.

 

They drafted a RB in the first round 

 

They went from a pass blocking LT to a run blocking mauler.

 

While the rest of the league was going pass happy, NE loaded up to railroad teams with the run...and won a Super Bowl doing it 

 

Yeah just wait til the Pats put up 400 yards rushing against us,  Brady declining, build the defense and go back to winning lower scorer time consuming short pass and run oriented offense.

[Steptide]

The running back position is important still, but not for 8 million dollars a year. This isn't the 90s or early 00's anymore. You need a good running back with fair pay, like what we now have 

[Phil The Thrill]

18 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

"The RB position just isn't worth investing premium assets anymore"

 

- everyone except for the two teams that played in the Super Bowl 

 

 

It worked out so well for one of those teams that the performance of the RB with a huge contract was surpassed by a street free agent.  Now they are regretting the deal 

[Rico]

I thought Perry was gone, wtf.

[BITE ME]

5 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

They signed multiple FA RBs in back to back off-seasons.

 

They drafted a RB in the first round 

 

They went from a pass blocking LT to a run blocking mauler.

 

While the rest of the league was going pass happy, NE loaded up to railroad teams with the run...and won a Super Bowl doing it 

 

NE has Tom Brady. It is a lot easier to run when teams have to play the pass virtually every down.  And the Bills ran for 124 yards a game last year. The Patriots ran for 127. Not a big difference.  The Ravens and Seahawks both ran for 150+ per game.  Did not work out too well for them.

[Gugny]

5 minutes ago, Rico said:

I thought Perry was gone, wtf.

 

I, too, thought he was cut.

[HOUSE]

Shady would not be happy with a limited role in Buffalo. His contract was up after this season.  Clearly time to move on. Even the national media is not blaming Beane. The problem is he continued to mis lead .

[TPS]

I was thinking about this yesterday after Shady's release.  The Bills are following the Patriot way in this case, carrying a mix of RBs with different skill sets, and at reasonable salaries, as opposed to over-paying for a big name.   

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 minute ago, HOUSE said:

Shady would not be happy with a limited role in Buffalo. His contract was up after this season.  Clearly time to move on. Even the national media is not blaming Beane. The problem is he continued to mis lead .

 Yes he did mislead BUT i think they were trying to trade him so I assign zero blame for that.

[dave mcbride]

23 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

They signed multiple FA RBs in back to back off-seasons.

 

They drafted a RB in the first round 

 

They went from a pass blocking LT to a run blocking mauler.

 

While the rest of the league was going pass happy, NE loaded up to railroad teams with the run...and won a Super Bowl doing it 

They don’t devote much salary to the position though.

[RoyBatty is alive]

Great backs that are versatile still command a huge premium in the NFL but just a handful, Exekiel Elliot, Barkely, Gurley, McCaffrey...they can be game changers.  And the NFL has learned RB's half lie is very short if they have a lot of touches.  I never though McCoy would last as long as he did with the Bills.

[artmalibu]

It will be interesting to see the contract Shady got in KC.  

[HOUSE]

1 hour ago, artmalibu said:

It will be interesting to see the contract Shady got in KC.  

 

It didn't take long for LeSean McCoy to find another team and he's reuniting with a familiar face in the process.

McCoy is signing a one-year, $3 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. McCoy can earn up to $4 million with incentives, Rapoport added.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001045938/article/following-bills-cut-lesean-mccoy-signing-with-chiefs

Edited September 1, 2019 by HOUSE

[RoyBatty is alive]

4 minutes ago, artmalibu said:

It will be interesting to see the contract Shady got in KC.  

 

1 yr, $4 million

[MJS]

5 minutes ago, artmalibu said:

It will be interesting to see the contract Shady got in KC.  

1 year $4 million. $3 guarenteed.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

49 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

"The RB position just isn't worth investing premium assets anymore"

 

- everyone except for the two teams that played in the Super Bowl 

 

 

Great point. 

 

New England is always ahead of the curve it seems. 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

watch us trade for Zeke or Gordon now lol.

[QCity]

41 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

They signed multiple FA RBs in back to back off-seasons.

 

They drafted a RB in the first round 

 

They went from a pass blocking LT to a run blocking mauler.

 

While the rest of the league was going pass happy, NE loaded up to railroad teams with the run...and won a Super Bowl doing it 

 

yeah, the Pats dynasty is known for their RBs 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

54 minutes ago, FUTURIST said:

The Patriots did not invest a ton in the RB position. They invested 12 million over 3 years with only 4.69M guaranteed. That is probably what one should invest. Investing 9 million in a running back that would get 1/3rd of carries is not smart. McCoy is now being paid what he should be paid. $3M with up to $4M. Bills had to cut McCoy at the salary he was getting. 

 

Financially speaking you are correct. But draft asset wise they have. I know Michel was taken at 31 overall but for the Patriots, that is a high draft pick. The same as when the Bills use a #11 or #8 pick on a Lynch or Spiller. We never really paid a lot of money to either of those backs either as they were on rookie deals but we did use the best draft capital we had on them. Same thing the Patriots did when drafting Michel. I doubt Michel will ever see a second contract from the Patriots. Just like Lynch and Spiller did not receive one from the Bills.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Sammy Watkins' Rib

[Freddie's Dead]

We didn't overinvest in this guy, he was a ***** bargain, at any price:

 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

4 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

yeah, the Pats dynasty is known for their RBs 

 

Truthfully the Patriots dynasty is probably the most balanced dynasty of all time. Able to win in pretty much every imaginable way. With a game manager style QB in Brady's early days to league MVP QB in his later days. Over the course of that 20 year dynasty their have certainly been stretches where RB's have carried a heavy load. And with White and Michel, the recent trend has been RB's dominating over say WR's/TE's. 

[thebandit27]

9 minutes ago, QCity said:

 

yeah, the Pats dynasty is known for their RBs 

 

Is that what I said?

 

Try addressing the point at hand

[Gugny]

15 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

We didn't overinvest in this guy, he was a ***** bargain, at any price:

 

 

This is, hands down, one of my favorite Bills pics of all time.

 

[Heitz]

Bills fans since Jim Kelly:  all we need is a great QB, the rest will sort itself out!

 

Bills fans the day after McCoy is cut:  all we need is a great RB, the rest will sort itself out!

 

?

 

 

fwiw, I agree w Gahan here - no more investing high picks, dollars or trade assets in RBs, please!

 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Heitz

[SCBills]

New England illustrated his point perfectly.  It’s finally what we seem to be doing.  

 

Its ok to invest 12 mil in running backs, plural.  

 

Not so much with 12 mil for one running back, singular. 

[Freddie's Dead]

22 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

This is, hands down, one of my favorite Bills pics of all time.

 

 

I tried to find one that showed the spinning football, came up empty.

[Chicken Boo]

The Bills have cap room.

 

It's not an over-investment in RBs, but a lack of investment in other positions and poor coaching.

 

*during Shady's tenure here.

2 hours ago, HOUSE said:

 

The Bills are better off putting their resources into running backs T.J. Yeldon (29), Devin Singletary (40) and Senorise Perry (32) than into continuing to overspend on backs like LeSean McCoy, Mark Gaughan says. (James P. McCoy/News file photo)

 

By Mark Gaughan
Published 6:00 a.m. September 1, 2019|Updated 1 hour ago

 

So when should this new way start bearing fruit?  Let me know so that I don't jump the gun with my criticisms.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Chicken Boo

[Jerry Jabber]

“Beane has put an end to the streak. Singletary was the 74th pick in the draft. Instead of spending $6.175 million in base salary on McCoy, the Bills will devote $3.49 million in base pay — combined — to Singletary, Gore, T.J. Yeldon and Senorise Perry. That’s a much smarter allocation of resources.”

 

 I agree with this. How many times during the 17 year playoff drought did we see the Bills draft either a RB or DB with their first round pick only to be traded or not resigned after their rookie contract? Glad to see Beane making smart decisions and not breaking the bank on the position and focusing more on other important positions such as the Offensive line.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, HOUSE said:

The Bills are better off putting their resources into running backs T.J. Yeldon (29), Devin Singletary (40) and Senorise Perry (32) than into continuing to overspend on backs like LeSean McCoy, Mark Gaughan says. (James P. McCoy/News file photo)

 

By Mark Gaughan
Published 6:00 a.m. September 1, 2019|Updated 1 hour ago

 

Fans and media have spent the past month talking about how little preseason means in the NFL – with good reason.

However, there was significance to the past six weeks of Buffalo Bills football when it came to LeSean McCoy. The strong training camp and preseason performances of Devin Singletary and Frank Gore cemented the irrelevance of McCoy on the Bills’ roster.

The bigger-picture takeaway on the end of the “Shady era” in Buffalo is this:

Let’s all hope and pray this ends a long and regrettable chapter in Bills roster-building history: The Giant Investment in Running Backs.

 

More

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/09/01/lesean-mccoy-buffalo-bills-devin-singletary-frank-gore-nfl-cuts-draft-brandon-beane/

 

Meh as a story. 

 

The long and regrettable era that must end is the era of switching coaches and systems every 1-3 years.

 

McCoy was brought in to serve the needs of an OC who hasn't been here in 4 seasons (as of a couple weeks on), and who was deliberately crafting an offense proven to succeed with a sub-optimal passing QB who was also a dual threat (Kaepernick, then Taylor).  Did it work, Yes, it took us from #18 offense to #12 or #10 offense and within whiskers of another 9-7 record, likely better if the D had been able to maintain.  Will it still work?  The Ravens hope so.

 

It was pretty clear from how the contract was structured that they didn't anticipate McCoy being on the team in 2018 or 2019, but the new regime needed to have SOMEONE on offense after they cleared out the rest of the talent or let it walk.  So they kept McCoy on an overvalued contract.  In 2017 they ran him into the ground.  I think he'd have been better with an OL last year, but there still would have been a drop-off.

 

But to claim the roster was built to "overspend" on RB because Shady was kept into the last years of a contract with escalating salary at the time his age would predict declining production is a bit of journalistic puffery.

[H2o]

An elite RB has been hard to find. Most teams just get RB's that 1) Fit their system and 2) Do at least a couple of things well enough to be effective. It would be nice to have Barkley, Elliott, or McCaffrey, but you can be successful without those types as long as the committee you roll with compliment each other well. I think Singletary can be effective and put up numbers. At the same time he had a ton of touches in college. Let's hope he can give us sustained production for about 4-6 years. I also think our guys we have as a whole can fill their role well. We'll see how it plays out here and for Shady in KC also. 

[thunderingsquid]

1 hour ago, artmalibu said:

It will be interesting to see the contract Shady got in KC.  

It's something like $4m, $3m guaranteed

This all to me is about the Bills finally jumping into the 21st century and passing first and passing to set up the run.  

 

I hope we've arrived.