Clements to Test Free Agency

[gr8slayer]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/02/08/bc.fbn.bills.clements.ap/index.html

[gr8slayer]

Interesting for all the people who say Ralph spends the big bucks.


It's unclear whether Clements can attract a similar offer, but it's likely there will be teams prepared to outbid Buffalo. The small-market franchise might be projected to have plenty of salary-cap space to spend this offseason, but Buffalo's a team that has a history of not holding on to high-priced free agents.

[gil]

Interesting for all the people who say Ralph spends the big bucks.

I haven't seen too many people say that about Ralph, but I think this was a foregone conclusion.

Nate is a very good player, but I don't think he's at the level of a Champ Bailey and some team will offer him that type of money or more - and the Bills won't - I think rightly.

[The_Philster]

Interesting for all the people who say Ralph spends the big bucks.
Last year was the 1st time in the salary cap era that we weren't close to the cap
anyway

but Buffalo's a team that has a history of not holding on to high-priced free agents. <!-- END TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --><!-- / message -->under Butler we did hold onto free agents...and overpaid for then
under TD..his M.O. was to let free agents get away so as to fill their spots with youth...an M.O. he used it Pittsburgh as well

[Kerr]

I'm going out on a limb here, but hypothetically speaking, if clements were given the money by the bills, then he'd probably be the most overpaid cover 2 cornerback of all time.

[patmoran2006]

I dont care what anybody thinks..

Though its doubtful, I hope that we find a way to hold on to him.. He's still young and he's easily a top 10 corner in this league.

He was the best player on the team the second half of this season.. He would solidy the secondary and with a couple of choice FA signings and draft picks, this defense could be rock solid.

[Mitchy moo]

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=119575

[Luisito23]

You reward players who give it their all....all of the time, not only when they need to get paid....No thanks on average, and overhyped Clements.....




GO BILLS!!!!!!

[patmoran2006]

Overhyped Nate is still better than anybody else that will be starting in his place next season should he go to another team.

[Devin]

http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=119575

Way to state the obvious.

[SquishDaFish]

I hope we keep him also. But not for Champ Bailey money or even greater.

[HHURRICANE]

I hope we keep him also. But not for Champ Bailey money or even greater.

I want a Ferrari 599 GTB but for only for 50K. I'm thinking that neither you nor me are getting what we want.

[YardRat]

Oh look...Nate's agent is on the phone already...

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/clauderbaugh/money.jpg

[HHURRICANE]

Not to blow my own horn but I was:

100% RIGHT!!!!

As I kept telling those who thought Nate could be resigned by the Bills his agent would have been a moron not to test free agency because of it being an unprecedented market place.

[clumping platelets]

He's not worth the money he's asking for..............bye Nate

[Devin]

Not to blow my own horn but I was:

100% RIGHT!!!!

As I kept telling those who thought Nate could be resigned by the Bills his agent would have been a moron not to test free agency because of it being an unprecedented market place.

you and the entire other half of the argument.

There were a ton of people saying this.

But do feel free to blow your own horn.

[Mahdi]

I dont care what anybody thinks..

Though its doubtful, I hope that we find a way to hold on to him.. He's still young and he's easily a top 10 corner in this league.

He was the best player on the team the second half of this season.. He would solidy the secondary and with a couple of choice FA signings and draft picks, this defense could be rock solid.
Nate is easily a top 5 corner in the league when hes at his best ie the second half of the season. Who would be ahead of him? Bailey, McCallister, Samuel is arguable, other than that I dont see anyone else, and no not even D.Hall. So Clements is worth what he is going to get, the question is, is he worth that to the bills?

[jamze132]

If he is here and doesn;t break the bank, then I am all for it.

[ricogarion]

OK yes its possible but its gonna cost ya.:respect:

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Clements would be a moron not to see what he could get in free agency. And, I'm glad that the Bills have asked to be kept in the loop once he gets some offers, so that they can decide whether to try to match or refuse to match his best offer. That's the best that I could ask for at this point.

If some team decides to way over-pay for Nate, I won't be mad a him for taking the offer or the Bills for deciding not to match it. Good for him for getting that kind of money and good for them for not overpaying to keep him.

On the other hand, if he gets out there and finds that the money he is offered isn't what he expected it to be and the Bills decide that they can afford to match or better what he is offered, I would be pleased. When he's on, Nate is a top CB and having him would give the Bills more options in how they run their defense than they would have without him.

The Bills are going to have to figure out how much they can afford to offer Clements and still be able to sign or extend the players at other positions that they feel that they need to acquire or retain in order to make a sustained playoff run in the near future. I'm sure that they already have some idea of what that number is and now they and Nate need to see whether that number is anywhere near what some other team is going to offer him. I'd like to see the Bills retain Clements and I'm sure they'd probably like to if it is reasonable, but I don't want the Bills to jeopardize their future by overspending to retain Nate and I don't think that they will. By the same token, while I'd like Nate to give the Bills a bit of a "hometown discount", I also know that this is business and important for him, his family and future, so I can't expect him to leave big dollars on the table either.

I'm hoping that, with some of the other CBs that are on the market and some teams moving away from playing defenses where a shutdown CB is a requirement, that Clements will get an offer that isn't so far above what he made last season and that the Bills will be able to match it without blowing their budget for the future. I don't think that will happen, but I am hoping it will. If it doesn't, well, it doesn't and the Bills will have to find a player to replace Nate--he won't be the first good player that the Bills (or any other team for that matter) has had to replace and he won't be the last. I just hope that they don't have to for a couple of more years....

[ICE74129]

Lets try again....NO CB IN THE NFL is worth the money they are getting. There are no true shut down corners now with the rules in place that they have.

Not only that, CB's are made by the 7 guys in front of them. No pass rush, no assistance from LB's and the DB's get owned after 4 seconds. Not even the great Deion can cover that great for that long. Go back and look at Atlanta v buffalo at buffalo in 92 I think. Reed SCHOOLED Deion. Rice schooled him left and right due to no pass rush on young.

CB's aren't worth the money.

[SquishDaFish]

Not to blow my own horn but I was:

100% RIGHT!!!!

As I kept telling those who thought Nate could be resigned by the Bills his agent would have been a moron not to test free agency because of it being an unprecedented market place.

Maybe your name shold be Captain Obvious lol

[Talk0fNewYork]

Our secondary is the last thing we need to worry about on this team, if we have a line that get's after the quarterback it won't matter who's our corner!