Why the late round glut of CBs may be a good thing

[Orton's Arm]

Here's my logic:

• Drafting those DBs--and especially Harris--will probably let us get rid of Florence.
  
• Florence is overpaid. Getting rid of his salary frees up room under Ralph's budget to give other players extensions. Every overly inflated salary we get rid of brings us closer to being able to keep Terrence McGee.
  
• If we keep McGee (a big if, I know), then that gets us out of using a first round pick on his replacement.
  

I realize there are a lot of ifs in the above. There's no guarantee that Harris will push Florence off the roster. But far more importantly, there's absolutely no guarantee that the Bills will use any savings they create from getting rid of Florence to help fund an extension for McGee. So we're talking about a long shot here. On the other hand, late round picks are expected to be long shots.

 

I can't over-emphasize how important it is to re-sign McGee. If he walks, this front office will use a first round pick on his replacement. That could easily represent 50% or more of our draft day value, especially if we're picking early in next year's draft. Letting McGee go first contract and out would set this franchise back by a good half a year, easily. If picking up CBs in the sixth and seventh round decreases the chance of losing McGee, even by a little, then it was a good--or at least justifiable--move.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Cause heaven forbid we let a CB walk without using a 1st round pick to replace him. The Universe might just fall apart.

[Alphadawg7]

Cause heaven forbid we let a CB walk without using a 1st round pick to replace him. The Universe might just fall apart.

 

Hmmm...we let 2 guys walk who got contracts that were way more than those players were worth...so how was that a bad thing? How has SF fared since making Clements the highest paid player on D in history at that point?

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Hmmm...we let 2 guys walk who got contracts that were way more than those players were worth...so how was that a bad thing? How has SF fared since making Clements the highest paid player on D in history at that point?

My problem is not in letting Clements walk, my problem is the insistence in using a 1st round pick to replace him. This team did not need Leodis McKelvin...we could have accomplished the same thing by re-signing Jabari Greer. Do you want McKelvin, or Greer AND a 1st round pick to use elsewhere?

 

McKelvin has to be some kind of player to justify that trade-off.

[colin]

My problem is not in letting Clements walk, my problem is the insistence in using a 1st round pick to replace him. This team did not need Leodis McKelvin...we could have accomplished the same thing by re-signing Jabari Greer. Do you want McKelvin, or Greer AND a 1st round pick to use elsewhere?

 

McKelvin has to be some kind of player to justify that trade-off.

 

he broke a few big kicks and scored some td's dude.

 

if he does that again i think he is clearly a very good pick.

[silvermike]

McGee, at least, is on his second contract. He's the CB that we DID extend, at least once. Let's do it again.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

he broke a few big kicks and scored some td's dude.

 

if he does that again i think he is clearly a very good pick.

If you read a report that the Saints called the Bills and offered them Jabari Greer and a top-15 1st round pick for McKelvin, can you honestly say you think the Bills should turn that down?

 

Thats the trade we made when we picked McKelvin.

[spartacus]

My problem is not in letting Clements walk, my problem is the insistence in using a 1st round pick to replace him. This team did not need Leodis McKelvin...we could have accomplished the same thing by re-signing Jabari Greer. Do you want McKelvin, or Greer AND a 1st round pick to use elsewhere?

 

McKelvin has to be some kind of player to justify that trade-off.

 

when you consider we could have drafted Ryan Clady and had a Pro Bowl LT ready to replace the now departed Peters-

 

the DB obviously makes more sense

 

especially when you look at what the Bills have at LT for 2009

[Orton's Arm]

Hmmm...we let 2 guys walk who got contracts that were way more than those players were worth...so how was that a bad thing?

Letting those CBs walk did two things:

• It caused the front office to burn a bunch of early picks on their replacements
  
• It freed up money under Ralph's budget for the Bills to use on free agents
  

Did it make sense for us to give up those high draft picks to free up funds for free agent additions? Let's look at the free agents this front office has added:

• Melvin Fowler
  
• Peerless Price
  
• Langson Walker
  
• Derrick Dockery
  
• Robert Royal
  
• Spencer Johnson
  
• Kawika Mitchell
  

(I've excluded free agents added this offseason, as it's too soon to evaluate their contribution to the team.)

 

Other than Mitchell and Walker, there are no current Bills starters on that list. And each of the guys on that list was offered at least a solid contract; so collectively the above list represents a massive investment in free agents. An investment which has shown very little return.

 

Is it worthwhile to constantly give up draft picks for players in the secondary, in order to free up the cash to make the above kinds of free agent acquisitions? Or would we be better off signing our own DBs to extensions--even if it means overpaying them--and using our draft picks on positions other than the secondary?

[bourbonboy]

If you read a report that the Saints called the Bills and offered them Jabari Greer and a top-15 1st round pick for McKelvin, can you honestly say you think the Bills should turn that down?

 

Thats the trade we made when we picked McKelvin.

The only thing not mentioned here is salary....how much is McKelvin making vs what Greer was offered and we would have needed to match (plus paid another top-15 draft pick)? And what if we can't keep McGee next year - then how much more is McKelvins return abilities worth? It's not so black and white...

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Did it make sense for us to give up those high draft picks to free up funds for free agent additions? Let's look at the free agents this front office has added:

• Melvin Fowler
  
• Peerless Price
  
• Langson Walker
  
• Derrick Dockery
  
• Robert Royal
  
• Spencer Johnson
  
• Kawika Mitchell
  

I don't think its fair to exclude Marcus Stroud from this list, HA. He wasn't a free agent, but he still did not come cheap.

[offde-fence]

Harris wasn't meant to push any of the CB's on our roster. He's an experimental move, just as Byrd was. They are in win now mode, so the first five picks were meant to help this year. Peters had to go. I like that they got rid of him, after hearing him talk about how he justified not playing 100% some of the time, and after he screwed his teammates. I like that we are putting together a really good O-line. Let's hope they continue to build both lines. That where it starts. I think we'll like our Defense this year. It's gonna be fast, and we're gonna have a bunch of turnovers, IMO. We've got ball-hawks in McGee, McKelvin, and hopefully Byrd as safety. Add to that a healthy Schoebel, and Maybin, and Stroud, and Mitchell...as pressure...I think we've improved our D a lot, and we were 14 place last year. I'm looking to see us at top 5 this year.

[Kelly the Dog]

McGee, at least, is on his second contract. He's the CB that we DID extend, at least once. Let's do it again.

One of the advantages of the Peters trade obviously is the 53-60 million they saved not signing him over six more years. That money needs to be spent wisely to offset the loss of talent. One of the moves could be to extend McGee, if they think he has 4-5 more good years left. I like McGee, and think he is probably worth 5 mil a year on an extension.

[Leonidas]

Guys, McGee is gone. The writing's on the wall. He's getting too old to return kicks, and we brought in fourteen CB's to compete for his job. Enjoy your last season in Buffalo, Terrance. Thanks for stopping by.

[Orton's Arm]

If you read a report that the Saints called the Bills and offered them Jabari Greer and a top-15 1st round pick for McKelvin, can you honestly say you think the Bills should turn that down?

 

Thats the trade we made when we picked McKelvin.

Now that's an excellent point!

[Saint Doug]

Now that's an excellent point!

 

But it's not accurate.

 

If we did not draft McKelvin, we would have drafted a different player in the first-round and kept Greer. So, the trade should actually be Greer + a first rounder for McKelvin.

[Bill from NYC]

But it's not accurate.

 

If we did not draft McKelvin, we would have drafted a different player in the first-round and kept Greer. So, the trade should actually be Greer + a first rounder for McKelvin.

 

A different player, but it would have still been a corner. OK.....maybe a safety.

[Fingon]

Both the late round picks scream practice squad or special teams, which is usually what you get at those spots.

[Bill from NYC]

Here's my logic:

[*]Drafting those DBs--and especially Harris--will probably let us get rid of Florence.

[*]Florence is overpaid. Getting rid of his salary frees up room under Ralph's budget to give other players extensions. Every overly inflated salary we get rid of brings us closer to being able to keep Terrence McGee.

[*]If we keep McGee (a big if, I know), then that gets us out of using a first round pick on his replacement.

 

Have you been drinking? You know better than this. Next year we will draft a corner or safety in the first round. MAYBE a small receiver and the db get pushed back into the early 2nd.

[Coach Tuesday]

The only good thing about it is that it will ensure us the opportunity to draft a corner in the top five next year.