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These are high times at St. John Fisher College, home of the Bills' training camp. The defense, bolstered by the additions of DT Marcus Stroud, OLB Kawika Mitchell and CB Leodis McKelvin, is swarming around the practice field, looking nothing like the undersized, slow-footed unit that was perpetually undermanned a season ago.
The offense, under the direction of new coordinator Turk Schonert, is using a more up-tempo, passing-friendly system — one that couldn’t look more different than the plodding, deliberate style that was showcased under former offensive boss Steve Fairchild.
But no positive developments under the sticky, Upstate New York sun can rid the team of the monstrous shadow that looms over every passing play, team meeting or meal. It’s a 6-6, 340-pound, All-Pro shadow, the type that as simply won’t go away by the team’s insistence that it’s focusing on task at hand.
Despite Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon dubbing the situation a “road map of silence,” it’s no secret that star OLT Jason Peters is MIA at camp in search of a new contract. And by accounts of anyone who bothered to watch the Bills play a season ago, he’s deserving of it. Given the retirement of Ravens perennial Pro Bowler Jonathan Ogden and the rapidly aging, injury-plagued latter years of fellow Pro Bowl fixtures Orlando Pace of St. Louis and Walter Jones of Seattle, Peters stands as the best offensive tackle in the league. He’s a nimble, fleet-footed former collegiate tight end who’s as equally adept at neutralizing the AFC’s cache of speedy sack specialists as he is plowing the road for emerging RB Marshawn Lynch in the running game.
Yet Buffalo is holding its ground in the front office just as well as Peters does on the gridiron. And for this, Brandon and Co. have sent a clear message to Bills fans that it has the savvy, resolve and good sense to restore the luster to a once-proud franchise that has been on a lengthy postseason hiatus (since 1999). For as good Peters is, the Bills are smart for strong-arming him.
Dealing with contractual holdouts is tricky business. It’s easy to say that clubs should always take a hard-line stance and not cave in to demands, because ultimately, the men signing the checks hold the upper-hand over those cashing them. But in reality, dealing with holdouts require a balancing act of managing egos, keeping the salary cap in check, analyzing talent and worth to team, as well as the overall financial standing of the organization.
The Bills’ front office took all these into consideration when opting not to cave into Peters’ demands, and still needed a healthy amount of intestinal fortitude to do so. Brandon, along with vice president of pro personnel John Guy and vice president of college scouting Tom Modrak, are new in their power posts. Upon the retirement of GM Marv Levy, a Buffalo icon for his former coaching accomplishments, owner Ralph Wilson promoted the aforementioned trio to form a de facto iron triangle when it came to personnel decisions, rather than appoint a single general manager. But Brandon, whose background is more in tune with calculators and pencils than stopwatches and shoulder pads, wasn’t intimidated, and for this, the Bills are better off.
Peters has three years left on a deal due to pay him a little more than $3 million per year. Such a deal makes him the third highest paid lineman on the team, after the club went trigger-happy by doling out $74 million to solid but unspectacular OG Derrick Dockery ($49 million) and OT Langston Walker ($25 million) a year ago. The fact that there’s that much time remaining to renegotiate before Peters hits the open market certainly affords the team valuable time to see what direction the club is heading.
But the issue is deeper than the time he has left on the deal. The Bills also know Peters as a person. He’s a polite, soft-spoken, team-first guy who they know won’t go all Terrell Owens on them. The fact that the public hasn’t heard so much as a whisper of complaint out of Peters isn’t surprising to those who know him best. In fact, there’s a line of thinking from sources close to the team that Peters never wanted to hold out in the first place, and that everything’s being orchestrated by his agent, Eugene Parker. It only stands to reason that eventually, Peters is bound to override his overzealous agent’s advice, and report.
...
Even if there’s little doubt that a holdout player eventually will show up, elite skill-position players such as quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers take precedence in contractual stalemates over linemen. As important as the left tackle position is, having a stud in place there doesn’t fundamentally alter the entire offensive system. On the other hand, if T.O. — or the Rams’ Steven Jackson this season — was out of camp for a lengthy period of time, the team would have to adjust its offense to account for the absence. What have the Bills done in response to Peters’ holdout? Simply switched Walker from the right side to the left side, and inserted Kirk Chambers at right tackle.
The Bills have spoken, and spoken wisely. Now the onus is on Peters to cut his losses — up to $15,000 per day — and do the only reasonable thing left to do: Show up.
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...sohn080608.htm
The offense, under the direction of new coordinator Turk Schonert, is using a more up-tempo, passing-friendly system — one that couldn’t look more different than the plodding, deliberate style that was showcased under former offensive boss Steve Fairchild.
But no positive developments under the sticky, Upstate New York sun can rid the team of the monstrous shadow that looms over every passing play, team meeting or meal. It’s a 6-6, 340-pound, All-Pro shadow, the type that as simply won’t go away by the team’s insistence that it’s focusing on task at hand.
Despite Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon dubbing the situation a “road map of silence,” it’s no secret that star OLT Jason Peters is MIA at camp in search of a new contract. And by accounts of anyone who bothered to watch the Bills play a season ago, he’s deserving of it. Given the retirement of Ravens perennial Pro Bowler Jonathan Ogden and the rapidly aging, injury-plagued latter years of fellow Pro Bowl fixtures Orlando Pace of St. Louis and Walter Jones of Seattle, Peters stands as the best offensive tackle in the league. He’s a nimble, fleet-footed former collegiate tight end who’s as equally adept at neutralizing the AFC’s cache of speedy sack specialists as he is plowing the road for emerging RB Marshawn Lynch in the running game.
Yet Buffalo is holding its ground in the front office just as well as Peters does on the gridiron. And for this, Brandon and Co. have sent a clear message to Bills fans that it has the savvy, resolve and good sense to restore the luster to a once-proud franchise that has been on a lengthy postseason hiatus (since 1999). For as good Peters is, the Bills are smart for strong-arming him.
Dealing with contractual holdouts is tricky business. It’s easy to say that clubs should always take a hard-line stance and not cave in to demands, because ultimately, the men signing the checks hold the upper-hand over those cashing them. But in reality, dealing with holdouts require a balancing act of managing egos, keeping the salary cap in check, analyzing talent and worth to team, as well as the overall financial standing of the organization.
The Bills’ front office took all these into consideration when opting not to cave into Peters’ demands, and still needed a healthy amount of intestinal fortitude to do so. Brandon, along with vice president of pro personnel John Guy and vice president of college scouting Tom Modrak, are new in their power posts. Upon the retirement of GM Marv Levy, a Buffalo icon for his former coaching accomplishments, owner Ralph Wilson promoted the aforementioned trio to form a de facto iron triangle when it came to personnel decisions, rather than appoint a single general manager. But Brandon, whose background is more in tune with calculators and pencils than stopwatches and shoulder pads, wasn’t intimidated, and for this, the Bills are better off.
Peters has three years left on a deal due to pay him a little more than $3 million per year. Such a deal makes him the third highest paid lineman on the team, after the club went trigger-happy by doling out $74 million to solid but unspectacular OG Derrick Dockery ($49 million) and OT Langston Walker ($25 million) a year ago. The fact that there’s that much time remaining to renegotiate before Peters hits the open market certainly affords the team valuable time to see what direction the club is heading.
But the issue is deeper than the time he has left on the deal. The Bills also know Peters as a person. He’s a polite, soft-spoken, team-first guy who they know won’t go all Terrell Owens on them. The fact that the public hasn’t heard so much as a whisper of complaint out of Peters isn’t surprising to those who know him best. In fact, there’s a line of thinking from sources close to the team that Peters never wanted to hold out in the first place, and that everything’s being orchestrated by his agent, Eugene Parker. It only stands to reason that eventually, Peters is bound to override his overzealous agent’s advice, and report.
...
Even if there’s little doubt that a holdout player eventually will show up, elite skill-position players such as quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers take precedence in contractual stalemates over linemen. As important as the left tackle position is, having a stud in place there doesn’t fundamentally alter the entire offensive system. On the other hand, if T.O. — or the Rams’ Steven Jackson this season — was out of camp for a lengthy period of time, the team would have to adjust its offense to account for the absence. What have the Bills done in response to Peters’ holdout? Simply switched Walker from the right side to the left side, and inserted Kirk Chambers at right tackle.
The Bills have spoken, and spoken wisely. Now the onus is on Peters to cut his losses — up to $15,000 per day — and do the only reasonable thing left to do: Show up.
http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...sohn080608.htm
" ~ yordad
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