In defense of Whitner/Levy

[Mikie2times]

Various reports have surfaced about Whitner’s hold out. Some say it's a money issue, some say it's a length issue. Despite not knowing what the real hold up is many posters have already used this as a mark against Levy or Whitner. My question is don't you think it's a bit premature to come to either one of these conclusions?

 

Let's say this ends up being about years and not $. Would these extra few weeks be worth it 5 years from now when Whitners contract expires? We've lost a lot of young talent over the years, and Levy has said he will make retaining the young talent a priority. This is not a strategy TD used, and he certainly never had the foresight to get that extra year for the cheapest rate possible. Maybe Levy is willing to sacrifice some short term results to put this team in position to win down the road.

 

In Whitners defense, the 2nd contract is the money contract for a player, and with most picks signing 5 year deals you better believe Whitners agent would be completely against a 6th year.

 

Here's a scenario that has Levy fighting for the interests of this team, which means he's fighting for us. Then you have Whitner asking for the same deal other picks received. I would rather believe something like this is what's holding up his signing then 600k.

[generaLee83]

Various reports have surfaced about Whitner’s hold out. Some say it's a money issue, some say it's a length issue. Despite not knowing what the real hold up is many posters have already used this as a mark against Levy or Whitner. My question is don't you think it's a bit premature to come to either one of these conclusions?

 

Let's say this ends up being about years and not $. Would these extra few weeks be worth it 5 years from now when Whitners contract expires?  We've lost a lot of young talent over the years, and Levy has said he will make retaining the young talent a priority.  This is not a strategy TD used, and he certainly never had the foresight to get that extra year for the cheapest rate possible. Maybe Levy is willing to sacrifice some short term results to put this team in position to win down the road.

 

In Whitners defense, the 2nd contract is the money contract for a player, and with most picks signing 5 year deals you better believe Whitners agent would be completely against a 6th year.

 

Here's a scenario that has Levy fighting for the interests of this team, which means he's fighting for us. Then you have Whitner asking for the same deal other picks received. I would rather believe something like this is what's holding up his signing then 600k.

735101[/snapback]

 

 

Well thought out post, I think we're all a bit confused by the holdout and just truly wish something would break and he'd be in camp immediately.

[Corp000085]

Well thought out post, I think we're all a bit confused by the holdout and just truly wish something would break and he'd be in camp immediately.

735118[/snapback]

 

 

the fact that there's absolutely no comments whatsoever really makes me appreciate the bills front office... It also makes me wonder if there's some legal issues with whitner's agent, in regards to that whole agent being banned thing.

[krazykat]

Various reports have surfaced about Whitner’s hold out. Some say it's a money issue, some say it's a length issue. Despite not knowing what the real hold up is many posters have already used this as a mark against Levy or Whitner. My question is don't you think it's a bit premature to come to either one of these conclusions?

 

Let's say this ends up being about years and not $. Would these extra few weeks be worth it 5 years from now when Whitners contract expires?  We've lost a lot of young talent over the years, and Levy has said he will make retaining the young talent a priority.  This is not a strategy TD used, and he certainly never had the foresight to get that extra year for the cheapest rate possible. Maybe Levy is willing to sacrifice some short term results to put this team in position to win down the road.

 

In Whitners defense, the 2nd contract is the money contract for a player, and with most picks signing 5 year deals you better believe Whitners agent would be completely against a 6th year.

 

Here's a scenario that has Levy fighting for the interests of this team, which means he's fighting for us. Then you have Whitner asking for the same deal other picks received. I would rather believe something like this is what's holding up his signing then 600k.

735101[/snapback]

This whole thing smacks of not having been thought through from the beginning. We're tallking about $1 million here for an extra year. As you say, most players after the first few don't get 6-year contracts. Didn't Levy know this? Can't someone point it out to him? What person in their right mind would want to sign a six year deal with the Bills? Do you honestly see Levy here in four or five years when he's 86 or 87? What do you think that Whitner thinks about that?

 

Levy's mostly at fault here. Your first round picks aren't expected to be "for the future." They're supposed to make an impact in the NFL TO-[FREAKIN]-DAY! Maybe in Levy's era of coaching you could afford to sit around and watch your 1st round players develop, but not today.

 

Levy hasn't done one thing that suggests that he either knows WTH he's doing or that he'll eventually be a good GM.

[krazykat]

ps at 81 years old that's not a good thing.

[Mikie2times]

This whole thing smacks of not having been thought through from the beginning.  We're tallking about $1 million here for an extra year.  As you say, most players after the first few don't get 6-year contracts.  Didn't Levy know this?  Can't someone point it out to him?  What person in their right mind would want to sign a six year deal with the Bills?  Do you honestly see Levy here in four or five years when he's 86 or 87?  What do you think that Whitner thinks about that? 

 

Levy's mostly at fault here.  Your first round picks aren't expected to be "for the future."  They're supposed to make an impact in the NFL TO-[FREAKIN]-DAY!  Maybe in Levy's era of coaching you could afford to sit around and watch your 1st round players develop, but not today. 

 

Levy hasn't done one thing that suggests that he either knows WTH he's doing or that he'll eventually be a good GM.

735179[/snapback]

This is the kind of conclusion jumping I'm referring to. You say the whole thing has not being thought threw, when all you have to work with is your own opinions, which with all respect are based on very little information.

 

If the 6th year is what's holding this up, and Whitner refuses to budge, it should only further justify how uninterested our young talent is in remaining Bills. We can't keep these guys around, and the only way to stop this from happening is demanding extra years when you actually have some negotiating leverage. Not five years from now when the new labor agreement has allowed tycoons to outspend us 9 times out of 10. The only recourse Whitner has is to enter the draft next year. Let him try it, it will cost him several million dollars.

 

I'm just as pissed as the next guy that our shiny toy isn't in camp, but stay patient, and wait for all the facts to come out before you crucify either party.

[Dawgg]

OK.

 

Whether it's years or $, it really doesn't matter a whole lot. The fact of the matter is that both sides remain far apart and aren't able to agree (unlike 29 other first round picks).

 

From the reports thave "have" been made public, it's not about the length of the contract, it's about cold, hard cash. Whitner wants something closer to the $14M given to Huff at #7. Numerous reports have the Bills offering something closer to the $12M given to Sims at #9. The Bills (understandably so) are balking at giving that much money to a rookie safety.

 

They should have perhaps thought about that when they spent the #8 overall pick on him.

 

 

This is the kind of conclusion jumping I'm referring to. You say the whole thing has not being thought threw, when all you have to work with is your own opinions, which with all respect are based on very little information. 

 

If the 6th year is what's holding this up, and Whitner refuses to budge, it should only further justify how uninterested our young talent is in remaining Bills. We can't keep these guys around, and the only way to stop this from happening is demanding extra years when you actually have some negotiating leverage. Not five years from now when the new labor agreement has allowed tycoons to outspend us 9 times out of 10. The only recourse Whitner has is to enter the draft next year. Let him try it, it will cost him several million dollars.

 

I'm just as pissed as the next guy that our shiny toy isn't in camp, but stay patient, and wait for all the facts to come out before you crucify either party.

735723[/snapback]

[Mikie2times]

From the reports thave "have" been made public, it's not about the length of the contract, it's about cold, hard cash.  Whitner wants something closer to the $14M given to Huff at #7.  Numerous reports have the Bills offering something closer to the $12M given to Sims at #9.  The Bills (understandably so) are balking at giving that much money to a rookie safety.They should have perhaps thought about that when they spent the #8 overall pick on him.

735725[/snapback]

George Seifert never coached the Bills, either did Mike Sherman. Reports say a lot of things, I would rather wait for the truth to come out then trust some "inside info"

[Dawgg]

Not a valid comparison. The Seifert and Sherman rumors were from unsubstantiated sources and posted on this board.

 

This has actually been reported...

 

(Leo Roth)

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...359/1007/SPORTS

 

(Vic Carucci)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9584086

 

 

George Seifert never coached the Bills, either did Mike Sherman. Reports say a lot of things,  I would rather wait for the truth to come out then trust some "inside info"

735729[/snapback]

[Mikie2times]

Not a valid comparison.  The Seifert and Sherman rumors were from unsubstantiated sources and posted on this board.

 

This has actually been reported...

 

(Leo Roth)

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/p...359/1007/SPORTS

 

(Vic Carucci)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9584086

735734[/snapback]

I love my fellow Bills fans, but if you believe everything the media has to say my examples won't make sense.

[Kelly the Dog]

I love my fellow Bills fans, but if you believe everything the media has to say my examples won't make sense.

735860[/snapback]

While trusting the media is rarely a prudent or smart thing to do, one really needs to look at each particular story and decide for oneself if it seems to have any validity to it. For me, it's almost impossible to imagine that a Bills beat writer would just pick a number like 12.9 million out of a hat. If he's getting information from an agent, who are notorious slimeballs, they will attribute it. That leads me to believe the 12.9 million figure is likely very accurate. It's like listening to Jose Canseco. A lot of stuff he says is garbage. Maybe most. But it's impossible for me to believe that even a slimeball like him would just make something up about an innocent player, like, say, Rafael Palmeiro doing steroids. Virtually no one would do that to a guy, even a scumbag, even just to sell a book, if there was nothing behind it.

[Mikie2times]

While trusting the media is rarely a prudent or smart thing to do, one really needs to look at each particular story and decide for oneself if it seems to have any validity to it. For me, it's almost impossible to imagine that a Bills beat writer would just pick a number like 12.9 million out of a hat. If he's getting information from an agent, who are notorious slimeballs, they will attribute it. That leads me to believe the 12.9 million figure is likely very accurate. It's like listening to Jose Canseco. A lot of stuff he says is garbage. Maybe most. But it's impossible for me to believe that even a slimeball like him would just make something up about an innocent player, like, say, Rafael Palmeiro doing steroids. Virtually no one would do that to a guy, even a scumbag, even just to sell a book, if there was nothing behind it.

735865[/snapback]

Kelly, you've shown to be a very level headed poster. My point simply is that we don't know what’s going on. With that in mind I would hope to god this isn't over a couple hundred thousand dollars. If it is, only the big guy can help the new regime.

[Dawgg]

I agree that you can't trust everything the media says. With that being said, I do know that Leo Roth and Vic Carucci are two respectable writers who generally don't write things from left field. With multiple sources agreeing (including the Associated Press), I think it's reasonable to deduce that the issue is over $$$.

 

 

 

Kelly, you've shown to be a very level headed poster. My point simply is that we don't know what’s going on. With that in mind I would hope to god this isn't over a couple hundred thousand dollars. If it is, only the big guy can help the new regime.

735879[/snapback]