Dealing (with) McGahee

[Don't Panic]

There's been a lot of Lynch and Leonard talk around the board, so it seems we havre to truly weigh our options for everybody's favorite Willis. Considering the contract extension looks extremely doubtful, it seems as though there are two options when it comes to our feature back:

1. Keep him and ride out the season, no contract extension, and hope he plays hard for his next deal. Assuming he plays motivated football, which I understand is assuming, we have no worries at the RB position. After the season, we either decide that he's worth it (and sign him to a deal that probably starts with a $15 million SB - ha!) or he isn't (in which case we transition or franchise him, depending on how well he does).

2. Deal him now. The question here is, what is he worth? Can we get a 2nd for him, or is a 3rd the best we can expect? I think a 1st is out of the question and a 4th isn't worth it, so it becomes a question of which pick between #33 and #96 will it be? Also, which team would be interested? To me the Giants seem like a no brainer. They have the need, the market for a player of his "type" and the financial resources to meet his demands. They hold the #52 pick, which would probably be fair value for him.

So which camp are you in? Gamble on him as a Bill in 2007 and then deal with what could be a difficult situation, or take a mid-2nd and go another route? I think I'm ready to go another route personally.

[HHURRICANE]

I think the Bills are in a win/win situation. McGahee can't afford to sit out. He can thank himself for that by running for his lowest total in 4 years. He has zero leverage. If he has a bad year, bye-bye. If he has a good year we will give him a franchise tag. That gives us his best 2 years and than we can let him walk. Trading him makes almost no sense because there is no threat of losing him for the next 2 seasons.

[ShadowHawk7]

I'd take the 52 pick personally and draft a running back day one to split duty w/ A Train similar to Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson in Chicago.

[RockStar36]

Keep him.

[OpIv37]

as much as I hate creating needs where there aren't any, I wouldn't be opposed to trading him. A high 2nd or a low 3rd is about the best we can do. Of course, we'd have to target a 2nd or 3rd round RB with the new draft pick and re-sign A-Train for that to work.

I think we've seen about all we're going to see with Willis. The guy simply doesn't work hard enough to maximize his talent and takes plays off. He belongs somewhere like Oakland or Dallas.

[jamze132]

I doubt McGahee will be traded. I think we let him play out his deal and then see what happens after next year. I don't see any point in getting rid of him just to draft someone outside of RD2 or RD3 just to replace him. He might run his ass off this year for us since he wants to get paid next offseason. I don't think it would hurt though to draft a RB, I would just rather not have the necessaty to do so. Patrick Willis needs to be our first pick, not a RB.

[Don't Panic]

Here's an article that deals with the topic...

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/02/bills-levy-mcgahee220207.html

[M]

Here's an article that deals with the topic...

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/02/bills-levy-mcgahee220207.html

Interesting comment about Frank Gore...

[DraftBoy]

Keep him or Dump him I dont care, lets just take a young RB, Eldra Buckley is growing on me. He's a real sleeper to watch out for.

[Don't Panic]

Interesting comment about Frank Gore...

I know... gives McGahee one less excuse, doesn't it? Unfortunately, option 1 is looking like the path we're going to have to take, but if that #52 came available and I was in Marv's shoes, I'd have a hard time not taking it.

[Marvelous]

I wish there was "value" for a underachieving, mediocre RB.. :sad:

Or
are we just overly crittical because we watched every single play from him?

IMO we jump at a 3rd rounder.. The kids heart is just not in it...

[kernowboy]

Hey Draftboy, did you notice Buckley before me or the other way around?

Anyway, back to the topic.

I wouldn't trade from less than a R2. The ball is in our court. Even if he has a great season in 2007, and we don't tag him, we are still looking to draft a RB in one of the best RB classes of the last decade in 2008. My only concern that if we do tag him, we are still not going to get too much as the teams with needs will be looking at the draft.

If we trade him prior to the 2007 draft, then we are looking at the following:

1) drafting a Day1 RB. Sorry but outside of Peterson all of those mentioned look boom or bust guys ...
Tony Hunt has the stats but not the intangibles, others are poor compared to 2008. Eldra Buckley would be a big upgrade over Shaud Williams and might become something special
2) sign a FA to a one year deal. A guy who might be of interest is TJ Duckett who'd an absolute load down the middle, but is still reasonably quick. Could he become our Jerome Bettis?

[YardRat]

Trade him, hopefully for a day 1 pick (third round is probably realistic).

I don't want to put up with his and Rosenhaus' crap all year.

[DraftBoy]

Hey Draftboy, did you notice Buckley before me or the other way around?

Anyway, back to the topic.

I wouldn't trade from less than a R2. The ball is in our court. Even if he has a great season in 2007, and we don't tag him, we are still looking to draft a RB in one of the best RB classes of the last decade in 2008. My only concern that if we do tag him, we are still not going to get too much as the teams with needs will be looking at the draft.

If we trade him prior to the 2007 draft, then we are looking at the following:

1) drafting a Day1 RB. Sorry but outside of Peterson all of those mentioned look boom or bust guys ...
Tony Hunt has the stats but not the intangibles, others are poor compared to 2008. Eldra Buckley would be a big upgrade over Shaud Williams and might become something special
2) sign a FA to a one year deal. A guy who might be of interest is TJ Duckett who'd an absolute load down the middle, but is still reasonably quick. Could he become our Jerome Bettis?

I dont remember, I think you mentioned him first, but I started looking at him about two weeks back, I think he may clock the top 40 time today, Im perdicting a 4.33.

[Don't Panic]

Funny how the scenario has changed since I first posted this (btw... like the Giants call?). Now that is clearly option 2, I still say we can get a late 2nd/early 3rd for him. Upside trumps baggage.