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Tim Graham: Are the Bills shaking the Siberian stigma? It depends what matters to NFL players in free agency. (Paywall)


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9 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

This again?  Where are the articles about free agents who go to New York and LA for reasons other than football and don’t live up to their contract?  Give me the guys who care about football.  NYC and LA can have the guys who want their own reality show.  

 

Exactly. See last year's Browns who "won" the offseason with signing big name players. How did that work out for them.

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50 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Honestly, players more worried about stuff to do maybe aren't McDermott process-type players anyway. I mean how much free time do players have in-season? Tuesdays? And most of the time you are doing community stuff that day.

Well, you can turn that around and say with the limited free time players have during the season, do they want to be stuck in a small city or a larger metro area with a "lot more" options?  There are plenty of people who prefer the big city and plenty who prefer the smaller towns(*ahemJoshAllenahem*).  I'm a smaller town guy.  Had the chance to meet Eric Steinbach and Joe Thomas of the Browns a number of years ago, both seemed to enjoy Cleveland and had to cut themselves off from discussing turkey and deer hunting and steelheading in the area with me.  Could have spent hours but they had obligations to the event!? 

 

Hopefully the Bills sell Toronto as part of their enticement as I doubt any of these large city types realize the proximity.  Plus, it's a different country which I think would be pretty unique to those wanting a scene to check out.  Some kind of arrangement to get players across the border easily would also really help.

 

But, I definitely think it's an ignorance and the guys willing to visit get their eyes open at least a little!  Consistent playoff contention goes a long ways too.

 

 

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1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

LOL at a guy playing in Nashville, TN talking about how Buffalo is "so far away from a real city that they lose sight of what’s out there. And when you get there, there’s really nothing.”

 

7 minutes ago, stuvian said:

if Green Bay can sign them so can we

 

That's really the key thing.  The two things that Green Bay has that we lack right now, is a proven QB and a more recent winning tradition.

 

Now a guy like Amari Cooper, he just wants to play in a dome IMO.

47 minutes ago, delirious said:

How many times do we need an article on this? Remember hearing about this last year before free agency. ?

 

In fact I seem to recall a very very similar article from.....Tim Graham.

 

Huh.

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1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

I'm amazed he didn't mention Cow Tipping as a past time 

 

You can't fix ignorance 

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1 hour ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I agree, we need a dome to give us a better chance at some of these FA’s. The weather is so bad in Buffalo that it dictates what kind of offense you run on some days. 


This weather thing is overblown, insofar as it pertains to affecting games. I’ve been to pretty much every hime game since 2007, and the truly horrific weather games are few and far between. Recency bias I know, but that’s just what I’ve seen.

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5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

LOL at a guy playing in Nashville, TN talking about how Buffalo is "so far away from a real city that they lose sight of what’s out there. And when you get there, there’s really nothing.”

 

My thoughts exactly.  

 

Kind of lie the loser in Baltimore insulting Buffalo. 

 

Baltimore is but a toilet stop between DC and Philly 

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It takes awhile to turn the stigma.  For decades (arguably for its history), the Bills have been an outpost of the NFL. Many of these players know the Bills as having zero relevancy.

 

 

 

Word spreads.  It sounds like McDermott and Beane have created a great player-friendly atmosphere.  If the Bills progress into a perennial decent to good team, and a place where players can grow, perform, and maximize their earning potential, then it wont be at a disadvantage for FA.

 

 

 

If a player's most important qualification is 'city life', then Im not sure they are likely to be that appealing to McDermott/Beane anyway.

 

 

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1 minute ago, JoPoy88 said:


This weather thing is overblown, insofar as it pertains to affecting games. I’ve been to pretty much every hime game since 2007, and the truly horrific weather games are few and far between. Recency bias I know, but that’s just what I’ve seen.

Look up how the greatest show on turf played at home in the dome and away games without a dome. I remember the numbers were pretty eye popping.

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52 minutes ago, delirious said:

How many times do we need an article on this? Remember hearing about this last year before free agency. ?


it’s superbowl week, where many, many players are congregated in the same space, i.e. a perfect and relatively easy time for a good reporter to get a broad view from a large sample of players on a subject. Don’t like it don’t read it. Or just whine about it. Choice is yours.

1 minute ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

Look up how the greatest show on turf played at home in the dome and away games without a dome. I remember the numbers were pretty eye popping.


I know - and I agree with you about the dome by the way. I just think the weather thing is more perception than reality at this point.

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1 minute ago, JoPoy88 said:


it’s superbowl week, where many, many players are congregated in the same space, i.e. a perfect and relatively easy time for a good reporter to get a broad view from a large sample of players on a subject. Don’t like it don’t read it. Or just whine about it. Choice is yours.

Or how about stop rehashing this idea year after year? 

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2 minutes ago, delirious said:

Or how about stop rehashing this idea year after year? 


the question seems pretty pertinent this year though doesn’t it? Considering this team finally, after twenty years, looks like one on the brink of actually competing for something and attracting one or two key free agents could be a big part of pushing them over the top?

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3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

And yet, Green Bay is a contender year after year, and attracts UFAs pretty well.

 

$$$$$ overcome plenty of reservations at the end of the day, especially for guys signing their first FA contract...

Green Bay also has a tradition of winning, there's an old saying that winning is the best perfume.

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2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Then I will be frosty about Cooper, Hooper and Barnett as free agents.

 

Seriously though, it's odd that the narrative has to be pushed year in and year out that "no one will play in Buffalo" when it didn't seem that way last off season. Those may be 3 very big names in FA class this year...but Beane doesn't care what their name is. He will find guys that fit what we do, who we are as a team, community and build the right way...through the draft. 

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3 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:


the question seems pretty pertinent this year though doesn’t it? Considering this team finally, after twenty years, looks like one on the brink of actually competing for something and attracting one or two key free agents could be a big part of pushing them over the top?

 Or if we lose in the first round again it will be pertinent again because "are we really a few players away?". Or if we don't make the playoffs it will be pertinent because "are we back to the same old bills?". I can create tons of excuses why it would be pertinent. 

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2 hours ago, BigdaddyinOrlando said:

I feel like though if they take the visit and hear what McBean and the other players have to say about the organization and what the area really is like then they will be more inclined and possibly excited to be here. Plus a look at the new training facility is huge bonus. JMO

This, sort of.   

 

A guy who has the mental makeup, the competitiveness, the dedication, the willingness to improve year after year, is not going to be deterred because of how he views Buffalo.   He's going to Buffalo to be part of what McBeane are doing.  

 

A guy whose decision is going to be controlled by how the city compares to others or the taxes or the money is not the kind of guy McBeane are looking for, and I'm okay with that.   They want guys who WANT to be there.  

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2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Don’t you worry, It will be, Terry & Kim can read a trail, they both know it would verge on financial malfeasance to build an open stadium for a fall/winter sport in the city Buffalo New York in this day and age, and if they want any assistance from the league it will have to have a roof, and the Pegulas know this. Combine a new roofed stadium with the top shelf facilities at OBD, and the issue is greatly diminished. That and Buffalo is a cool place. Jmo, disagree at your leisure... ?

 

Go Bills!!!

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The guys who really want the night life and all of the attractions of the big cities aren't the kind of guys we want anyway. There's plenty of good players out there who don't care about that stuff. Plus, you build through the draft anyway.

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I see a lot of folks in this thread disagreeing that players should feel that way... yet posting from places other than Buffalo ourselves. ?

 

Looks like the majority of us in here are in Atlanta. And even more so the Southeast in general. Better weather, better jobs, lower taxes, etc. So we, as "free agents in life", are guilty of it too. Heck, I moved back to Buffalo in 2014 to give the resurgence a shot, yet here I am back in Atlanta 3 years later.

 

Guess Im not a "process guy" (again, whatever that is).

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