Bills shouldn't play contractual games with Peters

[The Answer]

I usually agree with Connor Byrne, but not this time. Peters is coming off an injury and needs to prove he is the real deal by having a career year in 2008 before I would even consider giving him more money:

http://www.realfootball365.com/index.php/articles/bills/11306

Bills shouldn’t play contractual games with Peters

Friday, May 23, 2008 | Posted by Connor Byrne

It's sometimes hard to believe how far a professional athlete can progress in such a short period of time. That's the case with the Buffalo Bills' Jason Peters, who has improbably gone from undrafted free agent in 2004 to Pro Bowl-caliber left tackle in just four NFL seasons.

When the Bills signed Peters out of the University of Arkansas over four years ago, they were uncertain what position he'd play. The 6-foot-4, 340-pounder used his great size to accompany freakish athleticism (4.9 in the 40-yard dash) as a tight end for the Razorbacks. In his first year with the Bills, Peters' most memorable play was a blocked punt against the Cincinnati Bengals in a late-season victory. After Peters blocked the punt, he fell on the ball in the end zone, earning six points for Buffalo............

~The Answer

[OpIv37]

Peters plays LT and is the 3rd highest paid lineman on the team. On one hand, he should honor the contract that he signed. On the other hand, he's severely underpaid and doesn't have the option of just changing jobs like most of us do.

[hydro]

I agree with the injury thing. I think he needs another year to prove he is worth top LT money.

[RockStar36]

I think he deserves a raise but he should play out this season before getting any more money. If he plays well again this year then show him the money.

[Devin]

You guys are friggin nuts.

[TacklingDummy]

3 years left on his deal. If the Bills want to be nice they could look into contract after this season.

[TacklingDummy]

Peters plays LT and is the 3rd highest paid lineman on the team. On one hand, he should honor the contract that he signed. On the other hand, he's severely underpaid and doesn't have the option of just changing jobs like most of us do.

Most of us don't make 3 million dollars per year. And if any of us did I doubt we would be *****ing about it.

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that if you add everyone who posts here regularly paychecks toegther that they don't add up to $3 million per year.

[justasportsfan]

I agree with the injury thing. I think he needs another year to prove he is worth top LT money.


he's not even making average LT money. Bills should meet him halfway and pay him top 15 average LT money with incentives that will pay him top LT money if he makes probowl again.

[The Answer]

You guys are friggin nuts.

The front office is not going to cough up more money for a guy that has 3 years left on an existing contract. And if they are stupid enough to set that type of precident than what do you think is going to happen with Stroud, Evans, Whitner, and all our other key players.

Bottom line - Peters has no leverage whatsoever, if he wants to sit out than let him try. He is coming off a serious injury and needs to show gratitude and respect to the team that took a chance on him when he wasn't even drafted.

~The Answer

[hydro]

he's not even making average LT money. Bills should meet him halfway and pay him top 15 average LT money with incentives that will pay him top LT money if he makes probowl again.

That would be the ideal situation I think.

[Mitchy moo]

Most of us don't make 3 million dollars per year. And if any of us did I doubt we would be *****ing about it.

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that if you add everyone who posts here regularly paychecks toegther that they don't add up to $3 million per year.

How long is that limb????

[TacklingDummy]

How long is that limb????

10 inches

[patmoran2006]

You guys are friggin nuts.
Thank you..

Let him have another Pro bowl year and see his price tag go through the ****in roof. L

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Considering the kind of money that M.Roos and D.Diehl (who? you might ask) just got and the fact that Peters is the third highest paid O-lineman on the team, IMHO he has a right to be looking to get paid more--he has worked extremely hard and done everything the team has asked of him to get to the level of player that he has gotten to.

That being said, I wish that he would live up to his contract and was not looking for a new deal at this point, when the Bills are trying to come up with a deal to retain L.Evans and probably A.Crowell. But, this being the real world, asking for that is simply wishful thinking.

Considering that the Bills already have re-structured M.Stroud's deal and gave A.Schobel a contract extension, I don't think that doing something for Peters at this stage would create any more of a precedent than what they did with those deal did (and, yes, they did set the precedent that Peters is just trying to get the team to follow again in his case).

So, this being the real world of the NFL, what I would like to see--and what I think might very well be possible--would be for the Bills to re-structure Peters current deal, with an agreement to negotiate a fair contract extension with him after this season. That's what the agent that Peters just hired to help him in negotiating with the Bills did with R.Seymour and the Pats a couple of years ago.

If they could do something along those lines, hopefully, that would still leave the Bills enough money under their "cash-to-the-cap" structure to still re-sign Evans and Crowell now, while pushing their contract dealings with Peters into their budget for next offseason--making it easier for the team to be able to afford all three players.

I'm sure the Bills MDs have a pretty good idea what Peters' injury was and what his prognosis for being able to return to play at the level that he played before the injury is. And, the Bills can put some language into a re-structured deal to protect themselves should the injury be a chronic problem.

There are a lot of ways that this issue can ultimately end up being resolved amicably at this point and I take it as a positive sign that neither side is saying anything about what is going on at this point. That leads me to believe that the two sides have been talking and do not want to preclude any options by talking publicly and possibly locking themselves in to a particular position at this stage of their discussions.

The Bills have traditionally conducted their negotiations with players very quietly and have been most successful in their dealings with players when those negotiations have remained quiet. While that may be nerve-wracking for the fans (just remember the Stroud deal or their talks with Schobel), I'd rather that these negotiations continue to be kept quiet and be amicably resolved--not just in Peters' case, but in the case of Evans and Crowell as well--than see the two sides try to negotiate with one another through the press and have things end up poorly.

Given the fact that C.Brown had commented on the Diehl contract in his blog, I think that the Bills know that they have to do something with Peters' contract--even if they would rather not--and will try to see if they can get something done with him. I think the fact that D.Jauron was very careful not to say anything that might be interpreted negatively about Peters' absence from the first week of the OTAs when he was asked about it directly further underscores this.

And, now, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

[YardRat]

Take the money we saved by not signing a WR and TE in FA and give it to Peters. At least he's earned it.

[Typ0]

the key component to winning in the long run is to have players play above their contract numbers. When every guy gets to whine about not being paid enough that sucks...but it's also a sad fact of the way things are going. If we want our players to be happy we need to renegotiate.

[TacklingDummy]

Take the money we saved by not signing a WR and TE in FA and give it to Peters. At least he's earned it.

Take the extra money away they gave Schobel last year and give it to Peters. Schobel didn't earn it.

[eyedog]

Take the extra money away they gave Schobel last year and give it to Peters. Schobel didn't earn it.

No he didn't but that is past history now.
They have more than enough money under the cap to take care of him.

[Pinkerton Security]

pay the man. He's arguably our best player, at one of the most important positions in football. in the words of cuba gooding, SHOW HIM THE MONEY!!

[DrGraves]

get in camp *******. you were on the worst offense in the nfl last year, you have earned nothing yet

[yordad]

LTBF or anyone else, what was M.Stroud's deal? I was under the impression we didn't restructure his contract. I was surprised by the news, but that is what I heard.

[Pinkerton Security]

get in camp *******. you were on the worst offense in the nfl last year, you have earned nothing yet

hes a pro-bowl caliber player that should be making pro-bowler money. your reasoning is poor. we had one of he BEST pass-blocking OL's in the biz last year, ranking 11th in the NFL with a rookie QB and another that is sack-prone.

im not saying he shouldnt be in camp, but he deserves to be paid, more than anyone else on our team, because he HAS proven, to most, that he is elite.

[ddaryl]

we have NO CHOICE.. either we pay him or we trade him / let him walk...

he may show up and play through this years contract, but that'll pretty much be the end of Peters as the Bills LT.. because 20 other teams would be more then willing to up his pay and sign him

[yordad]

we have NO CHOICE.. either we pay him or we trade him / let him walk...

he may show up and play through this years contract, but that'll pretty much be the end of Peters as the Bills LT.. because 20 other teams would be more then willing to up his pay and sign himddaryl, he is signed for threee more years. Followed by 2 years of franchising. That is 5 more years to work out a long term contract or find a replacement. A little to early to hit the "NO CHOICE" panick botton, IMO.

[yordad]

I just read this on BB.com. I thought it was pretty funny. I am reposting it here for entertainment value.....


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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- / user info --></TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_932434><!-- message, attachments, sig --><!-- icon and title -->http://boards.buffalobills.com/images/icons/icon1.gif Peters vs. my wife...the comparison
<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Let me start by saying that if Peters is not at OTA's because his cat passed away I apologize.

If it is due to what the media is projecting , than here is my two cents.

Mr. Peters let me tell you a story.

Nine years ago I met a beautiful and caring woman. She goes that extra mile each and every day. She gives our family 110% every waking moment. Just as you do for the Bills (and the fans) when you are on the field.One year after my wife and I met we got married. I knew what she was about, she knew what I was about.I asked her to marry me. She said yes.

One year later we had our first child. An amazing little girl. We got home and after a couple of days... what happened?

I heard my wife fart for the first time ever.

I'll be honest I didn't know what to think. Then I realized I can't say I don't want to be with this woman cuz' a short time earlier I had decided to make her my wife and now she passed gas.

I made a commitment to her as you did to our team. Don't get me wrong you are an amazing player that will only help our team for years to come. But like the commitment I made to my wife; you made one to this team (when you signed your last contract). Players get extensions not by holdout, but by respect, patience and ability.You have the ability, no doubt about that.

I make about $55000 a year, I know you agreed to more than that. And yes I know taxes can be a *****. But you agreed to that, as I did to the marriage of my wife. (please insert perspective here)

I don't backout or get sour about the arrangement we have. Please don't do that to the Bills or us fans.

My wife tooted, you signed a contract.

I love her and I love the Bills.

Please honor your contract and be patient... the extension will come.

Go Bills!!!

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[LifetimeBillsFan]

LTBF or anyone else, what was M.Stroud's deal? I was under the impression we didn't restructure his contract. I was surprised by the news, but that is what I heard.

When the Bills made the trade for Stroud, it was reported that the Bills re-structured Stroud's contract.

The Bills did not give Stroud an extension or a bigger contract like some of the other DTs who were moved got. According to the reports that I read (which included C.Brown on BB.com), they re-structured the contract so that Stroud would get more of the money in the deal sooner. The implication in C.Brown's report was that it was because they were doing this that the announcement of the deal for Stroud was delayed (if you recall, a lot of folks here were going nuts because a number of top DTs were being moved and there was no word of the Bills making any effort to acquire one of them until the day after most of the other deals had been announced).

Now, I don't know the specifics of what the Bills did with Stroud's contract, only what was reported at the time. Perhaps Clumping Platelets can give you a better report on that from the info that he has in his cap report on the BZ front page.


PS: You'll have to go back into the archived news and C.Brown's blog on BB.com to get the specific references if you can find them. You can also check the Buffalo News and Rochester Democrat and Chronicle archives as well (I don't have access to them) or perhaps find the links to the stories in the BZ archives.