is this schobel's last year?

[trapezeus]

just curious on what people expect out of Schobel.

I would be really disappointed if the bills are still looking to him at as a 3-5 year player. Last year he had a major injury and was on tape whining (in a joking manner) about being too old for this stuff. I get the sense that some of that was a real sentiment he was sharing.

I don't see schobel being particularly helpful this season and that we are just having him play this season out until we can get his replacement the following year.

Thoughts? do you want schobel around for a few more years or do you expect this to be his last year?

[jimbohastle51]

i dont think he is going to be here for 3-5 more years with his age (he should be 32 at the start of the season i think) but if he puts up more than 8 sacks this season they will keep him another year. he is probably going to be a year to year guy after this season. if he produces he stays but if his production drops hes gone. the one thing he has in his favor is he hasnt had alot of "down" years or injuries so he does deserve a flier this past season from the team and us fans. it isnt like he is constantly injured. we always have our best pass rusher out there, but i would think that if he has a normal (or above average) schobel year next season kelsay will be gone and maybin and schobel would be our ends. but again this season i think he will be a year to year guy.

[Night Train]

One year at a time. He's a complete unknown entering this year, despite the medical report. I'll just cheer for the guy wearing our uniform and hope he can help us win games.

If he doesn't produce, he won't be back next year with such a big contract. We all know that. Same with Kelsay.

[yordad]

No. It could have been if we were smart enough to draft Brown in the second, or Johnson in the 3rd. But no. We will watch him get completely old, and completely unproductive for a few more years still.

[HHURRICANE]

Schobel embarrassed himself with the "mic'd up stuff' and it's always bad when a team mate tells you to shut up for being such a downer.

The guy has never been the same since he went on a self imposed weight loss that Chris Brown pointed out and than a year later tried to defend.

You lose 17 pounds after a pro bowl season and see wht that get's you...5 sacks in two years.

[Dying_-2-_Live]

Schobel isnt able to beat tackles physically anymore, since he lost the weight. But, he should be productive if most of that was excess and not muscle

[madness]

I expect him to be healthy otherwise I expect him to be gone.

[MPN]

As is the usual, I don't really know how to respond to this until we see how Maybin performs. If Maybin and Ellis both manage to get into games and show life as pass rushers I would be ok with them letting Schobel go/signing him to 1 year deals. I wouldnt mind them keeping him around(within reason) until we get some sort of proven commodity.

[justasportsfan]

Barring injuries I actually think Schobel will be solid.

[TheMan08]

All depends how he plays.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Let's look at the numbers...

'07- Signed a 7 year contract worth $50.5M
'09- $3.5M salary + $3.5 bonuses + $1.57M amortized = $8.57M cap hit
'10- $6M salary
'11- $6.5M salary
'12- $6.5M salary
'13- $8.5M salary

From those salaries, I would conclude that this will be his last season as a Bill... Unless he has a pro-bowl season of course.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Actually.... His salary for the 1st 4 seasons of his new contract were part of the guaranteed money. That takes him through the 2010 season. With that being an uncapped year, I would think the Bills would keep him for 2010 if he's at all serviceable.

http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_contract.aspx?sport=NFL&id=2297

8/24/2007: Signed a seven-year, $50.5 million contract. The deal contains $21 million guaranteed, including Schobel's first four base salaries. 2009: $3.5 million, 2010: $6.025 million, 2011-2012: $6.5 million, 2013: $8.5 million, 2014: Free Agen

[jimbohastle51]

Let's look at the numbers...

'07- Signed a 7 year contract worth $50.5M
'09- $3.5M salary + $3.5 bonuses + $1.57M amortized = $8.57M cap hit
'10- $6M salary
'11- $6.5M salary
'12- $6.5M salary
'13- $8.5M salary

From those salaries, I would conclude that this will be his last season as a Bill... Unless he has a pro-bowl season of course.

actually as long as he is getting no less than 8 sacks a season its worth keeping him until '13 at these numbers. 6.5 million (not all guaranteed) is a steal or a DE that puts up solid numbers every year (as i said i have to give him a flier last season as he has never been a injury guy).

[jimbohastle51]

No. It could have been if we were smart enough to draft Brown in the second, or Johnson in the 3rd. But no. We will watch him get completely old, and completely unproductive for a few more years still.

yordad-e-o i agree that we could have gotten another DE with potential at a great value in round 2 or 3 instead of reaching for levitre. honestly we probably could have taken a DE in round 3 CHARLES JOHNSON and still managed to get levitre in the end of round 3 maybe even round 4. well he is one of the best guards that came out in this draft, there wasnt a real premium on Guards in this draft, some of the higher rated guards didnt even go till the 5th and-7th. it would have been nice to come out of the draft with maybin and johnson or maybin and brown. in my opinion even though i like levitre that we needed more DE help than Guard help. butler is solid and chambers could play RT. and if we DO sign levi jones then the levitre help turns out to be for depth anyways because they are not going to pay butler 3 million a year to sit on the bench and langston walker isnt going to get cut because our coaching staff loves him. he is a stanford grad (the ole high character deal)

[Lexwhat]

actually as long as he is getting no less than 8 sacks a season its worth keeping him until '13 at these numbers. 6.5 million (not all guaranteed) is a steal or a DE that puts up solid numbers every year (as i said i have to give him a flier last season as he has never been a injury guy).

Or the Bills could do what smart teams do: Think in advance.

They should draft another good DE prospect next year in anticipation of Schobel / Kelsey / Denney leaving. You then have Ellis, Maybin, and another prospect; assuming they all turn into good players, this should set us up fine for the next 7-8 years.

[jimbohastle51]

Or the Bills could do what smart teams do: Think in advance.

They should draft another good DE prospect next year in anticipation of Schobel / Kelsey / Denney leaving. You then have Ellis, Maybin, and another prospect; assuming they all turn into good players, this should set us up fine for the next 7-8 years.

they have also created a unique situation with a possible 3-4 front from time to time as well because schobel and maybin could be russ LB's and stroud, johnson, and williams would be a nice front 3. but as i agreed with yordad, it would have been nice to get 2 DE's in this draft. we could have gotten a nice value one in the 3rd round like a charles johnson. but next year again it will be a must as well as drafting a corner extremely high. even if we extend mcgee which i think we will as he has stated he wants to stay and is the type of guy that will give a hometown discount, our starters will be mckelvin, mcgee and then we will have reggie corner (still an unknown) and drayton florence on the last year of the 2 year deal we gave him this season. i really think next year will be one of the more interesting ones because if the coaching staff changes half the roster will turn over probably and if it doesnt there is ALOT of key decisions to be made on this team.

[Ingtar33]

just curious on what people expect out of Schobel.

I would be really disappointed if the bills are still looking to him at as a 3-5 year player. Last year he had a major injury and was on tape whining (in a joking manner) about being too old for this stuff. I get the sense that some of that was a real sentiment he was sharing.

I don't see schobel being particularly helpful this season and that we are just having him play this season out until we can get his replacement the following year.

Thoughts? do you want schobel around for a few more years or do you expect this to be his last year?


that injury i think was the first time Schobel missed for injury in his career... I guess all it takes is one injury for you to be labeled old and washed out... or injury prone...

His last two seasons haven't been good... i'd like to see how he does this year before throwing him to the wolves.

[elltrain22]

depends if he stays healthy this year. If he gets hurt again, I could see the Bills cutting ties w/ him.

[Yasgur's Farm]

I don't think this injury (1st time or not) should be taken lightly... This could be career threatening... Especially for an aging vet.

[Syderick]

This is his year for a comeback

[DynaPaul]

This is his year for a comeback

If it's gonna be ANY year it's gotta be THIS year.