Wood vs Peters

[K-9]

Peters did (almost) EVERYTHING RIGHT, sorry. He listened to his agent, and his agent got him the contract that he wanted and more or less deserved. He never whined or complained to the media once...

 

There is no denying Peters is a rare athlete and an elite LT in the NFL. I also don't buy into the fact that he didn't have to bust his ass to achieve what he did the way he did. I also believe we are now worse at the most critical position on the OLine, although I find your hyperbole about Edwards' iminent doom without merit at this point (he took some hits with Peters IN the lineup last year as well).

 

But he did ONE thing very wrong last offseason. Two things, if you count not keeping himself in top physical condition during his holdout. What he did wrong, and we can blame it on listening to Parker if we want, was he FU*KED his teammates in the process. Teammates that were counting on him. Teammates that were learning a new offensive system. That is called lack of character. Football character. Call it pollyanna rhetoric if you want but it carries weight in the locker room.

 

We'll never know if the Bills would have kept their word on giving him a new deal IF he would have reported for work and put the team first. Their track record suggests they would have. But Peters/Parker never gave them a chance. And it was perfectly reasonable for the Bills to seek a parting of the ways once it became clear that Peters was heading in the same direction this season. Both parties are better off.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[PeteBills4ever]

Jerry, MICKEY was right, it was well-reported on these boards at the time that Peters had a lot of suitors after going undrafted. The Bills weren't the only ones interested. Far from it. When we got him, people were thrilled, because he had lots of choices.

 

And as you say, Jerry, I too wish things would have worked out differently. You're right, though, they didn't and that's the bottom line.

 

Peters goes undrafted, then he has a lot of suitors...Sorry guys but the entire NFL had a chance to pick him in the late rounds of the draft but nobody did, so that lot of suitors crap and all the excitement of getting him after the draft doesnt fly

[Jerry Jabber]

There is no denying Peters is a rare athlete and an elite LT in the NFL. I also don't buy into the fact that he didn't have to bust his ass to achieve what he did the way he did. I also believe we are now worse at the most critical position on the OLine, although I find your hyperbole about Edwards' iminent doom without merit at this point (he took some hits with Peters IN the lineup last year as well).

 

But he did ONE thing very wrong last offseason. Two things, if you count not keeping himself in top physical condition during his holdout. What he did wrong, and we can blame it on listening to Parker if we want, was he FU*KED his teammates in the process. Teammates that were counting on him. Teammates that were learning a new offensive system. That is called lack of character. Football character. Call it pollyanna rhetoric if you want but it carries weight in the locker room.

 

We'll never know if the Bills would have kept their word on giving him a new deal IF he would have reported for work and put the team first. Their track record suggests they would have. But Peters/Parker never gave them a chance. And it was perfectly reasonable for the Bills to seek a parting of the ways once it became clear that Peters was heading in the same direction this season. Both parties are better off.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

Good post! The Bills FO gave several players contract extensions before their contract was up, Peters (from his rookie contract), Schobel, Kelsay, Parrish, Reed, Stroud. If Peters would have showed up to work last season, he would have had a new deal last year (the very latest, during the season). I wish the Sabres FO would have done that with their players (Drury & Briere), maybe they would still be a playoff team.

[zazie]

Good post! The Bills FO gave several players contract extensions before their contract was up, Peters (from his rookie contract), Schobel, Kelsay, Parrish, Reed, Stroud. If Peters would have showed up to work last season, he would have had a new deal last year (the very latest, during the season). I wish the Sabres FO would have done that with their players (Drury & Briere), maybe they would still be a playoff team.

Pat Williams, Greer, Clements, to name a few who were NOT taken care of. Peters and his agent had no assurance beyond the tepid word of Russ Brandon that he would get the new deal if he cooperated and played. And in the meantime gave up his body to potential devastating injury, always a real possibility.

 

Peters did what he had to for himself, and I am sure that most posters on this board do 99% of what they do, in their own best interest.

 

I just cannot believe that nso many people put this on his shoulders when the bills FO was trying to get away with paying him as the #32 LT in the league. Lay the blame where it belongs, with the same guys that retain DJ year after year, the Bills FO.

 

I give credit to Peteres he got what he wanted by listening to his agent who did a great job for him.

 

All this team stuff is nonsense; if the team had done the right thing Peters would have participated fully from day one, I have no doubt of that.

[Koufax]

Fun thing to compare simply and be happy with Wood as a good guy and a good player, or talk about a rookie guard vs. a pro bowl LT, but what people are leaving out is money, and that is necessary to evaluate. There is a huge cost savings respect to Peters, especially in terms of the extension that would have been necessary and he was signed to in Philly.

 

Otherwise it is like comparing Spencer Johnson and Albert Hayensworth, both of whom were signed for just money and no players or draft picks.

 

So given that we get to control Wood, a hard nosed quality player, for a number of years at reasonable cost, and Peters would have either been a single unhappy year or a huge contract, I am very pleased with the move. I think we increased our football value, and getting the most value out of the budget across the roster is the key to winning football and what our hated rivals to the east do so well. I actually think if the situation were similar in New England, Bellichick would have been fine moving Peters for those picks and selecting Wood, and would have said no player is more important than the team.

 

But, the big question mark here, since we passed on Oher, and didn't sign another LT, and Bell is a future possibility but not ready, is if the Walker experiment gets a passing grade. As I have said in other posts, Walker doesn't have to get a ticket to Hawaii for this to be a good move, he just has to be pretty good. If he is not pretty good, and if Bell can't be pretty good in his place or Chambers, we are in for a very long hard season. If Walker can be pretty good, we have improved in so many other positions and we can start enjoying the great success of Wood, laughing at Peters and his payday, etc.

 

But if we can't get pretty good LT play this season, then this trade is a short term disaster because we gave up a very good player at that most important position without a decent backup plan, and that will drag us down all season long and it won't matter how Wood plays in the evaluation of this trade.

[Billsboyd]

I didnt read any of the other comments so forgive me if this was already mentioned: I went to the practice on this past tuesday and i saw rookie Eric Wood STANDING UP and DRIVING BACK pro bowler marcus stroud. This kid is obviously our best draft pick since marshawn. Peters.....not so much

[zazie]

I didnt read any of the other comments so forgive me if this was already mentioned: I went to the practice on this past tuesday and i saw rookie Eric Wood STANDING UP and DRIVING BACK pro bowler marcus stroud. This kid is obviously our best draft pick since marshawn

Fingers crossed!!!

[K-9]

Pat Williams, Greer, Clements, to name a few who were NOT taken care of. Peters and his agent had no assurance beyond the tepid word of Russ Brandon that he would get the new deal if he cooperated and played. And in the meantime gave up his body to potential devastating injury, always a real possibility.

 

Peters did what he had to for himself, and I am sure that most posters on this board do 99% of what they do, in their own best interest.

 

I just cannot believe that nso many people put this on his shoulders when the bills FO was trying to get away with paying him as the #32 LT in the league. Lay the blame where it belongs, with the same guys that retain DJ year after year, the Bills FO.

 

I give credit to Peteres he got what he wanted by listening to his agent who did a great job for him.

 

All this team stuff is nonsense; if the team had done the right thing Peters would have participated fully from day one, I have no doubt of that.

 

Pat Williams was simply let go by Greg "We don't want fat players" Williams. Stupid. DJ would have kept a player like him given his experience with similar players.

 

Clements was not worth the price on any level. It would have been foolish to sign him for what he got from the 49ers. Same thing with Greer. There are better CBs on the Bills roster at the moment so he was expendable. A team simply cannot spread so much salary over one position. Or do you maintain that WITH Clements we would have been better last year and the year before? By what historical evidence would Clements have made the difference on this team? The same evidence that has had SF picking BEFORE us in each of the two drafts since they got him?

 

The "team" stuff is nonsense? I might buy that if the precedent of the current FO hadn't already been established with other veterans. Peters, whether it was on the advice of Parker or not, acted unprofessionally by not even so much as letting the Bills know if he was sticking to an offseason training regimen. He screwed his teammates pure and simple.

 

I'm glad he's getting paid like the elite player that he is. I'm also glad the Bills got rid of someone that had proven to be a perennial offseason headache.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Thurman#1]

Peters goes undrafted, then he has a lot of suitors...Sorry guys but the entire NFL had a chance to pick him in the late rounds of the draft but nobody did, so that lot of suitors crap and all the excitement of getting him after the draft doesnt fly

 

 

 

Fly or not, that's what happened. It happens every year, too. Some guy isn't picked, but there are still lots of teams interested. Here is one list of the top 30 UDFAs this year, and many of them had many teams interested in them.

 

http://cfn.scout.com/2/860536.html

 

 

Here is an article about the Packers winning a "five-team bidding war" to sign an UDFA this year, a guy named Tyrell Sutton. Happens all the time.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/43749762.html

[zazie]

Fly or not, that's what happened. It happens every year, too. Some guy isn't picked, but there are still lots of teams interested. Here is one list of the top 30 UDFAs this year, and many of them had many teams interested in them.

 

http://cfn.scout.com/2/860536.html

Where did drew willy end up anyway?

[Thurman#1]

Pat Williams was simply let go by Greg "We don't want fat players" Williams. Stupid. DJ would have kept a player like him given his experience with similar players.

 

Clements was not worth the price on any level. It would have been foolish to sign him for what he got from the 49ers. Same thing with Greer. There are better CBs on the Bills roster at the moment so he was expendable. A team simply cannot spread so much salary over one position. Or do you maintain that WITH Clements we would have been better last year and the year before? By what historical evidence would Clements have made the difference on this team? The same evidence that has had SF picking BEFORE us in each of the two drafts since they got him?

 

The "team" stuff is nonsense? I might buy that if the precedent of the current FO hadn't already been established with other veterans. Peters, whether it was on the advice of Parker or not, acted unprofessionally by not even so much as letting the Bills know if he was sticking to an offseason training regimen. He screwed his teammates pure and simple.

 

I'm glad he's getting paid like the elite player that he is. I'm also glad the Bills got rid of someone that had proven to be a perennial offseason headache.

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

 

Of course they had a reason they didn't keep them. That's beside the point. Are you ever going to hear a team say "Well, we didn't re-sign him, we just let him go. No, no reason. Just let him go." Of course they have a reason. The point is that if you are on the team, you look at all these guys and you say "You know, some guys say that if you do your best and just show up and are good, the Bills will take care of you. That's just not true. Clements did his best and he showed up and he was good. They didn't take care of him. Pat Williams, too. Winfield, too, and there are many more."

 

And again, NOBODY thought Clements was worth $80 million for 8 years. Including the 49ers. They made the last two years of that contract worth $36 million, so they will cut him before those two years. That contract was actually 6 years for $43 million, which was very reasonable. Greer got more than that per year.

 

One guy's fat, one guy's too expensive, one guy doesn't fit the system, yadda yadda yadda. The point is that even if you work hard and show up to training camp, there's no guarantee that they re-sign you, there just isn't.

[Thurman#1]

I didnt read any of the other comments so forgive me if this was already mentioned: I went to the practice on this past tuesday and i saw rookie Eric Wood STANDING UP and DRIVING BACK pro bowler marcus stroud. This kid is obviously our best draft pick since marshawn. Peters.....not so much

 

 

 

Yeah, Stroud said that Wood was really doing a great job. That's great to hear.

[K-9]

Of course they had a reason they didn't keep them. That's beside the point. Are you ever going to hear a team say "Well, we didn't re-sign him, we just let him go. No, no reason. Just let him go." Of course they have a reason. The point is that if you are on the team, you look at all these guys and you say "You know, some guys say that if you do your best and just show up and are good, the Bills will take care of you. That's just not true. Clements did his best and he showed up and he was good. They didn't take care of him. Pat Williams, too. Winfield, too, and there are many more."

 

And again, NOBODY thought Clements was worth $80 million for 8 years. Including the 49ers. They made the last two years of that contract worth $36 million, so they will cut him before those two years. That contract was actually 6 years for $43 million, which was very reasonable. Greer got more than that per year.

 

One guy's fat, one guy's too expensive, one guy doesn't fit the system, yadda yadda yadda. The point is that even if you work hard and show up to training camp, there's no guarantee that they re-sign you, there just isn't.

 

And there is no guarantee that they WON'T either. But again, the precedent the FO set with regard to other players who acted professionally suggests they would have.

 

It's interesting to me that, except for Peters, EVERY player you mention entered free agency. With the exception of Williams, nobody would have made much of a difference. Unless you believe Clements would have made the difference for this team the last two seasons. Two seasons which saw his new team doing WORSE than the Bills.

 

As for Greer, there were already better CBs on the team. He was expendable.

 

Yes Peters is an elite tackle. Yes Peters was grossly underpaid. Yes he busted his ass to reach stardom. But the simple fact is the Bills weren't given the opportunity to treat him like other extended veterans because Peters didn't afford them the opportunity. He was unprofessional in his conduct. He was under contract and should have given the Bills the opportunity to make good on their word. Why was that good for the likes of Schobel, Evans, Stroud, McGee, Parrish, et al, and NOT Peters?

 

And he screwed his teammates in the process, too.

 

No need to keep kicking this horse.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Thurman#1]

Fun thing to compare simply and be happy with Wood as a good guy and a good player, or talk about a rookie guard vs. a pro bowl LT, but what people are leaving out is money, and that is necessary to evaluate. There is a huge cost savings respect to Peters, especially in terms of the extension that would have been necessary and he was signed to in Philly.

 

Otherwise it is like comparing Spencer Johnson and Albert Hayensworth, both of whom were signed for just money and no players or draft picks.

 

So given that we get to control Wood, a hard nosed quality player, for a number of years at reasonable cost, and Peters would have either been a single unhappy year or a huge contract, I am very pleased with the move. I think we increased our football value, and getting the most value out of the budget across the roster is the key to winning football and what our hated rivals to the east do so well. I actually think if the situation were similar in New England, Bellichick would have been fine moving Peters for those picks and selecting Wood, and would have said no player is more important than the team.

 

But, the big question mark here, since we passed on Oher, and didn't sign another LT, and Bell is a future possibility but not ready, is if the Walker experiment gets a passing grade. As I have said in other posts, Walker doesn't have to get a ticket to Hawaii for this to be a good move, he just has to be pretty good. If he is not pretty good, and if Bell can't be pretty good in his place or Chambers, we are in for a very long hard season. If Walker can be pretty good, we have improved in so many other positions and we can start enjoying the great success of Wood, laughing at Peters and his payday, etc.

 

But if we can't get pretty good LT play this season, then this trade is a short term disaster because we gave up a very good player at that most important position without a decent backup plan, and that will drag us down all season long and it won't matter how Wood plays in the evaluation of this trade.

 

 

 

Yup, I think you're dead on. If we can get pretty good LT play from anywhere, whether Walker or Bell, I will definitely change my mind about this whole deal. I just don't see that happening this year. But if I'm wrong about that, then you're dead on, it will have been a good deal.

 

But if our QB gets injured, or if we give up a lot of sacks from teams with speed rushers, or if we have to use an extra guy, a TE or an RB or both, to help out every pass play - which makes us more predictable and allows the defense to rush an extra guy, then there will still be huge questions.

[Thurman#1]

And there is no guarantee that they WON'T either. But again, the precedent the FO set with regard to other players who acted professionally suggests they would have.

 

...

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

 

 

No, it really doesn't. Again, I named lots of players who have "acted professionally" and not been re-signed.

 

You're exactly right when you say "there is no guarantee that they WON'T either." But I have never been trying to say that there is any guarantee either way, nor has anybody on my side of this argument. The only people trying to pretend that there is a guarantee or a near-guarantee is people on your side of the argument. As you do above.

 

Again, yeah, there are reasons why guys were not re-signed. Of course. But do you really think that the player who is not re-signed says "Hey, I'm the best player they have at that position, and I came to camp and acted professionally. And they didn't re-sign me. But hey, THEY HAD A REASON, so it's all OK." And when other players, like Peters see those guys getting cut, which of these do you think, seriously is representative of how they feel.

 

A) Sure, they got rid of Pat Williams, Travis Henry, Greer, Wire, Clements, Winfield, Jay Riemersma, Jonas Jennings, Ruben Brown, Ted Washington, Sam Adams, all of whom were professional and showed up. But still, somehow, because they didn't get rid of Schobel, Denney, Evans and Kelsay, I feel totally confident that if I show up and act professional, they will re-sign me.

 

or

 

B) Their history is mixed. They re-sign some guys and don't re-sign others. Just showing up and acting professionally is clearly a guarantee of nothing. I'm worried about my future.

 

Seriously, put yourself in place of a guy who's terribly worried about his future on this team. Which would you be feeling?

 

And if there's no need to keep kicking this horse, then stop kicking. We're both kicking. It's not just me.

[Thurman#1]

Oh, and we don't have anybody better than Greer on this team. We have a guy we hope will become better, McKelvin. And the only reason we have him is that we clearly were planning to dump Greer. That's why we picked McKelvin.

 

Sorry, that bit of personnel management wouldn't make me feel comfortable that if I act professionally, they'll treat me right. Just the opposite.

 

And yeah, they entered free agency. Of course they did. Because the Bills got rid of them. Did you want them to retire broken-hearted. That outcome would have been a disaster for Peters. Is he supposed to be happy that the Bills might let him play out his contract, if he acts professionally, for the next two years as the lowest-paid starting LT in the league and be happy that he could be a free agent before the 2011 season? Again, this is another reason for Peters to be wary.

 

I don't like how he handled his negotiations either. But I understand how he was not confident that just being a good pro would necessarily get him a good new contract with the Buffalo Bills.

[The Senator]

Where's 'Mickey the Drama Queen' today?

 

Shouldn't he also be here to protect Jason?

[trigger]

Wood v Peters? Peters has the upper hand so far in that he has actually PLAYED in meaningful games against opposing defenses who were trying to KILL our QB. It's incredible how many people on this board are prepared to knight Mr. Wood based on what a few people have seen for about a week in training camp. Sure, his attitude seems great and he's got a pretty decent pedigree, but until he holds his own against the type of DL's he will see week in, week out in the NFL, don't tell me that he's ANYTHING more than an unproven rookie with exelllent potential. Get excited, got your rocks off, but please don't tell me how good this guy is until he's actually done something besides have a "nasty attitude".

[DazedandConfused]

I agree, only time will tell. I wonder if Peters will use his cry-baby antics in a few years with Philly. I was a fan of Peters until his holdout. He's a great talent, but I don't like his work ethic or his attitude. The Bills molded him from an undrafted, 340 lbs tight-end, into a pro-bowl LT. The way he acted was a big slap to the face of the organization that gave this guy a chance. It's refreshing to see a guy like Wood come here with a great attitude and great work ethic.

I also agree with the Buffalobill post this responds to that anyway you cut this it is simply too early until we see virtually how the whole season plays out whether the OL switch was an intelligent thing to do. W/L will be the objective measure and even that will have to be based on a pretty fully subjective assessment of the developing OLs play in producing that result and a lot of woulda/coulda/shoulda theorizing on how that production would have been with Peters in the fold or not.

 

For me, I was not disappointed at all in how Peters acted. I was not disappointed because I pretty fully expected him to care about money more than he cared about the team. That is how he acted. Lowlife yes? Disappointing? Nope. Not unless you bought into the load that the Buffalo Bills corporation values the team and an ethic of fairness first and individual achievement second or as a by-product which MAY happen to come along with a consistent effort to produce a good team first and foremost.

 

I had this quaint notion about the team in the eighties and through that great moment where a bunch my friends (and a few strangers) who gathered together to watch the SB against the NYG all silently held hands as Norwood line up the FG that went barely wide right.

 

This feeling was reinforced when 20,000 or so folks gathered in Niagara Sq. and welcomed back our team and gave group forgiveness to a tearful Scott Norwood.

 

I held onto this feeling despite the ongoing warfare between the owner and the NFLPA over the CBA (a fight where in essence the players first won recognition as partners rather than "mere" million dollar victims of the owners and eventually with the last CBA (where arguably the NFLPA having won by agreement 60.5% of the total receipts became the majority partner).

 

I could tolerate this as it was merely a battle between the rich and the filthy rich.

 

However, Ralph has set the tone of yes starting of with a great thing that he deserves great praise for of keeping the Bills in Buffalo after he could not buy a team for a piddling investment in the towns where he wanted to own a franchise. Ralph kept the franchise here despite big offers of $ to move it elsewhere and he deserves praise for that.

 

However, Ralph has led the mangulation of this team (often for his own personal grins and foibles) that has made it pretty unreasonable to expect anything but the money grubbing team second attitude demonstrated by Peters as he negotiated with the Ralph corporation.

 

I wish Peters had acted differently. However, his actions are pretty consistent with the me first WNY second attitude he has shown since the firing of Polian and the glory days through his screwing up the handshake deal with Kelly, led the destruction caused by sometimes hilarious (I laughed so I would not cry) mismangement of the QB situation. His messing up the Butler situation and then adding insult to injury with his mishandling of the HC situation since, the hiring and non-management of the flawed TD, etc etc.

 

I agree that Peters was a money grubbing idiot but you seriously were not disappointed by this were you? If so you ignored the horrendous mismangement of this team that started at the top with Ralph that led to us being 0 for a decade in playoff appearances.

 

One can easily kick the Peters dead horse with the info we have right now. However, its hard to take that indictment seriously until we build up at least year of reality to base this upon. This dead horse activity is not helped when one ignores the reality that this fish started rotting from the head down or ignores the reality that any assessment not based in real world W/L performance by this team and then a subjective analysis of the OL role is gonna be at best an apples and oranges comparison given no justice by an attempt to compare the old LT with the new LG.

[sharper802]

Sounds like we got rid of an inconsitent painintheass who didn't want to play here, even for millions, for a younger mauler of a guard who wants to play here, for a few fewer millions.

 

I'd say that was a good FO move, but much will depend on how the switched tackles perform. If Trent stays healthy, this will be the deal of the decade. (Of course, he might have got killed with Peters in there anyway, so it really can't be a bad deal).

 

Yeah it is always wise to give up on a young two time Pro Bowl LT for a first round center moving to guard. You people are are morons. I don't see Trent surviving the first game with Walker and Butler at the tackle positions.