Nate Clements

[Simon]

Haven't seen anybody mention much of anything about Clements' performance on Sunday, and I think it's worth noting.

The Bills rarely if ever have spent time and effort flipping their corners at any time in the recent past. I don't know why, but if forced to guess I'd venture that JGray has minimal experience or background incorporating that into his defenses and didn't feel comfortable coaching it, or perhaps the Bills just didn't feel they had the kind of dominating CB in any of their recent training camps to make it worthwhile to add the complication to their D.

Whatever the case, their tune seems to have changed as on Sunday they were certainly flipping corners for the first time in recent memory, and doing it for the express purpose of having Nate chase Andre Johnson all over the field. Johnson may not get a lot of press due to the fact that he's young and stuck with a recent expansion club, but don't kid yourselves, that cat is one of the NFL's best receivers. And Nate just completely and utterly owned him all day.

It even appeared that some of the Bills sacks and Houston's incompletions came as a result of Carr watching AJohnson and waiting for him to come free, but it never happening because Nate spent the whole day glued to his underarmour. In fact it got so bad that later in the game the Texans were sooooo desperate to get the ball in theri primary playmaker's hands that they started runnign a bunch of hitches for him just so Carr could get the ball to him before Clements locked him down. It worked for about 18 big yards.

Outstanding effor for Clements; the only complaint I have is that the network hardly ever showed us what was certainly a world class match-up.

Cya

 

P.S. Hey Michael Clayton, eat all the Wheaties you want but you'll still be on my FFL bench this weekend.

[Lori]

Carr was looking for Johnson.... not just because Johnson is that good (and I agree he is), but because the other guys they have are apparently that bad.

 

And yeah, Nate locked him down. Hard. I think the cost of Nate's signing bonu$ just went up again..

Think I read at least one BuffNews piece this morning discussing this very subject:

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050913/1063508.asp

 

P.S.: And to think I was mocked when I protected the Bills D in our keeper league...

[Simon]

And to think I was mocked when I protected the Bills D in our keeper league...

We let some new guy into our league this year and that sumbitch Stillerfan had the gall to make the Bills the first D off the board in the 6th round! I damn near went over the table when he did it......

 

Think I read at least one BuffNews piece this morning discussing this very subject:

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050913/1063508.asp

Nice that the local media picked up on it; of course it probably required some prompting from the staff. Not to mention it took 3 days for anybody to mention it while we here on TSW picked it up approximately 2-3 plays into the Bills first defensive series.

 

Flippin corners

[e-dog]

I think Nate's worth the money he's gonna get. And we all know it will take mega $$$$$$$$ but somebody is gonna pay him. If we don't you will see the effect next year on this defense. A shutdown corner is so valuable and thats exactly what he is.

Also please save the Jimmy Smith knock the ball down play. Even the best of the best get beat sometimes but you have to admit he doesn't get beat often. Look what he did last year against top receivers { Chad Johnson } and it has continued this year. So far so good. Damn I should be his agent for all this.

[jarthur31]

Haven't seen anybody mention much of anything about Clements' performance on Sunday, and I think it's worth noting.

The Bills rarely if ever have spent time and effort flipping their corners at any time in the recent past. I don't know why, but if forced to guess I'd venture that JGray has minimal experience or background incorporating that into his defenses and didn't feel comfortable coaching it, or perhaps the Bills just didn't feel they had the kind of dominating CB in any of their recent training camps to make it worthwhile to add the complication to their D.

Whatever the case, their tune seems to have changed as on Sunday they were certainly flipping corners for the first time in recent memory, and doing it for the express purpose of having Nate chase Andre Johnson all over the field. Johnson may not get a lot of press due to the fact that he's young and stuck with a recent expansion club, but don't kid yourselves, that cat is one of the NFL's best receivers. And Nate just completely and utterly owned him all day.

It even appeared that some of the Bills sacks and Houston's incompletions came as a result of Carr watching AJohnson and waiting for him to come free, but it never happening because Nate spent the whole day glued to his underarmour. In fact it got so bad that later in the game the Texans were sooooo desperate to get the ball in theri primary playmaker's hands that they started runnign a bunch of hitches for him just so Carr could get the ball to him before Clements locked him down. It worked for about 18 big yards. 

Outstanding effor for Clements; the only complaint I have is that the network hardly ever showed us what was certainly a world class match-up.

Cya

 

P.S. Hey Michael Clayton, eat all the Wheaties you want but you'll still be on my FFL bench this weekend.

439596[/snapback]

 

That's ok. We still got him for at least one more year. After this one.

[Simon]

That's ok.  We still got him for at least one more year.  After this one.

439670[/snapback]

 

I'd rather have him for 5 or 0 than I would for 1.

[Bill from NYC]

I'd rather have him for 5 or 0 than I would for 1.

439862[/snapback]

 

Nothing is certain, but I am all but sure that Nate will NOT be a "Franchise Player" for the Bills. It would be stupid to do this, and pay him in the neighborhood of 10 million dollars, which would all count toward the cap.

If I were a pro football player, I would hire the agent of Woodson on the Raiders. He called Davis' bluff, signed the GUARANTEED contract for 10 mil., and will once again be a UFA next year!

I do not want to see this happen to the Bills. You know more of TD than do I, but I think that we both know that TD is not going to put the team in this kind of a mess.

[Simon]

Nothing is certain, but I am all but sure that Nate will NOT be a "Franchise Player" for the Bills. It would be stupid to do this, and pay him in the neighborhood of 10 million dollars, which would all count toward the cap.

If I were a pro football player, I would hire the agent of Woodson on the Raiders. He called Davis' bluff, signed the GUARANTEED contract for 10 mil., and will once again be a UFA next year!

I do not want to see this happen to the Bills. You know more of TD than do I, but I think that we both know that TD is not going to put the team in this kind of a mess.

439879[/snapback]

 

I've never understood why more guys don't do this. I'd gladly play for a series of 1year guaranteed contracts that make me one of the league's highest paid players.

As for whether TD will franchise him, I think he will if he can't extend him. If he was willing to take the risk of franchising Peerless, a guy who apparently he didn't even want on the roster at any price, I definitely think he'll franchise Nate who is the kind of tough effective player that he does like.

And I agree that it would be a brutal cap hit for just one year, but the Bills have been shrewd enough in their dealings to be able to absorb that kind of hit w/o it destroying their team. I think. They just wouldn't have their hands free to make improvements elsewhere.

Cya

[Bill from NYC]

I've never understood why more guys don't do this. I'd gladly play for a series of 1year guaranteed contracts that make me one of the league's highest paid players.

As for whether TD will franchise him, I think he will if he can't extend him. If he was willing to take the risk of franchising Peerless, a guy who apparently he didn't even want on the roster at any price, I definitely think he'll franchise Nate who is the kind of tough effective player that he does like.

And I agree that it would be a brutal cap hit for just one year, but the Bills have been shrewd enough in their dealings to be able to absorb that kind of hit w/o it destroying their team. I think. They just wouldn't have their hands free to make improvements elsewhere.

Cya

439890[/snapback]

 

You are better off taking on my viewpoint. I have never been wrong about a prediction.

[Simon]

You are better off taking on my viewpoint. I have never been wrong about a prediction. 

439892[/snapback]

 

I just can't think of a good reason why he would franchise a weenie like Price, but then not have the stones to franshice a real player like Clements. He could certainly get as much compensation for him (and I would think possibly even more).

Who knows? Maybe the market will be flooded with good FA corners and he doesn't think he can find another pigeon like Atlanta. But I gotta think Nate looks as good in the filmroom as he does on TV and that a ton of teams will be eager to have an impact player like that on their roster.

Cya

[ganesh]

And I agree that it would be a brutal cap hit for just one year, but the Bills have been shrewd enough in their dealings to be able to absorb that kind of hit w/o it destroying their team. I think. They just wouldn't have their hands free to make improvements elsewhere.

Cya

439890[/snapback]

 

I don't think the bIlls have the necessary cap to take that kind of hit..

They would have to unload either Moulds or Milloys contract to do that.

Plus it will also tie our hands in getting any new FA or signing our other to

be FAs

 

The bills are either going to sign Clements to a long term deal...giving him

the 15M signing bonus (may be for a longer duration of the contract) and

probably splitting it into two parts like a 9 and 6 (so that they have real cash

in hand to sign other FAs) or let him go....They definitely will not be carrying

his 10M salary cap into next season.

[Kelly the Dog]

I just can't think of a good reason why he would franchise a weenie like Price, but then not have the stones to franshice a real player like Clements. He could certainly get as much compensation for him (and I would think possibly even more).

Who knows? Maybe the market will be flooded with good FA corners and he doesn't think he can find another pigeon like Atlanta. But I gotta think Nate looks as good in the filmroom as he does on TV and that a ton of teams will be eager to have an impact player like that on their roster.

Cya

439896[/snapback]

The Price situation was entirely different. Price was coming off an excellent statistical year, and into the fifth year of his career. He "looked" like a player ready to explode as he had improved (again, statistically) each year. TD knew that Atlanta wanted a receiver and he knew that Price was going to command a lot of money on the open market, deserved or not. He also benefitted from his tough ass, stubborn image, because all he said publicly was that we like Peerless and we'll keep him. He could afford to say things like that. You can also take the franchise tag off a player any time you want. The team was able to absorb the tag price to its roster at the time, which was also a benefit. TD was just doing the smart thing, it wasn't a stroke a genius. he knew what he had and he knew that Atlanta, where Peerless lived, would likely make a trade rather than risk losing him to another team. And it worked beautifully.

 

Nate is a different story. He's worthy of the tag and TD doesn't have to play any games or bank on a single team needing him or calling the Bills bluff. Clements has become that good and worthy of the money. PP was not, as evidenced.

[kgun]

Carr was looking for Johnson.... not just because Johnson is that good (and I agree he is), but because the other guys they have are apparently that bad.

 

And yeah, Nate locked him down. Hard. I think the cost of Nate's signing bonu$ just went up again..

Think I read at least one BuffNews piece this morning discussing this very subject:

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050913/1063508.asp

 

P.S.: And to think I was mocked when I protected the Bills D in our keeper league...

439608[/snapback]

 

Can't wait till week 7 when he gets to SHUT DOWN Randy friggin Moss.

He did a so so job on him in Nate's second year, but this will be the REAL test!!!

 

GO #22

[BB2004]

Carr was looking for Johnson.... not just because Johnson is that good (and I agree he is), but because the other guys they have are apparently that bad.

 

And yeah, Nate locked him down. Hard. I think the cost of Nate's signing bonu$ just went up again..

Think I read at least one BuffNews piece this morning discussing this very subject:

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050913/1063508.asp

 

P.S.: And to think I was mocked when I protected the Bills D in our keeper league...

439608[/snapback]

 

I think in the end, Clements will stay on this team. When your're part of a defense that is special like this one has the postential to be, you want to stay a part of it.