Blame the Bills FO, not the holdouts!

[HHURRICANE]

Here we go again. The Bills will go 4 out of 5 years with having one of the last picks to sign.

And you wonder why Peters is gone?

Maybe this is why there is always so much talk about this team moving. Heck, Jacksonville, which has every reason to be frugal based on their economics, has their pick signed.

Seriously Ralph if you can't play with the big guy boys than sell the team. It's embarrassing.

Get Spiller into camp.

[trapezeus]

disagree on this one. rookie contracts are all slotting. if you are asking for more or what is outside the norm of the negotiation, it's a problem with the player.

This is a smooth road to travel for rookies and agents. why they choose to push the issue is beyond me.

Additionally bringing up peters isn't an apples to apples comparison.

He was a guy asking to leap frog ahead of players. he hasn't lived up to expectation in philly. Yes he's better than what we have right now, but that's not saying much.

[psubills62]

I don't particularly remember McKelvin and Lynch being part of the last group to sign, unless you are referring to all first rounders in general. Oh, and Eric Wood.

Where are you getting that we should just blame the Bills FO? They did a great job of getting their other picks to sign this year, even without some slotting numbers. If anything, it seems obvious that Spiller is the outlier in this case, so I'd be inclined to blame his agent.

[madness]

Here we go again.

You got that part right.

[Ickybaluky]

The Bills should have tried to get Spiller signed before Oakland signed McClain. I'd bet that is a problem. The Raiders aren't tough negotiators, and they have McClain a 20% increase over the slot from a year ago.

Spiller was picked right after him. The 10th and 11th picks did not get that kind of increase, so I'd bet Spiller is looking at the McClain contract and saying he wants that kind of increase. The Bills are probably arguing that it isn't a guide and he should be looking at the other deals around him.

[k-oneputt]

This bs with money and signing players has been going on in the Bills organization for at least 40 yrs. Start with OJ and work yourself through to Spiller. There are to many to even start listing.
Common Denominator: RALPH.

[HHURRICANE]

Bills again among last without No.1 signed:

PITTSFORD -- The Buffalo Bills will be one of the last teams in the NFL to come to terms with their top draft choice for the third straight year and the fourth time in five years.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/article92094.ece

[trapezeus]

articles also say the money isn't the issue. it's the structure of the contract that's the issue. that's good news.

it's not fun for sure, but i don't think this is like having a QB holding out.

[OpIv37]

Whenever there's a holdout, it's at least partially because of the scumbag agent.

[methos4ever]

Whenever there's a holdout, it's at least partially because of the scumbag agent.
Especially when said agent is possibly looking at his last fat rookie non-slotted contract Op.

[Buckets]

Here we go again. The Bills will go 4 out of 5 years with having one of the last picks to sign.

And you wonder why Peters is gone?

Maybe this is why there is always so much talk about this team moving. Heck, Jacksonville, which has every reason to be frugal based on their economics, has their pick signed.

Seriously Ralph if you can't play with the big guy boys than sell the team. It's embarrassing.

Get Spiller into camp.

It's kind of hard to agree with this when Spiller himself said he was not in any hurry to sign way before training camp started.

[BillsWin]

I blame the greedy agents actually.

[methos4ever]

I blame the greedy agents actually.
I think too often the problem is the player doesn't realize that the agent works for them and not the other way around. Over the years, too many people have said, "I'll let my agent take care of it" rather than telling the agent in so many terms (like a few do) - "I want to be in on time"

[mayotm]

The system, players, agents and front offices are all to blame. Picking a side in this mess is simply insane. However, I wouldn't expect anything less from HH.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

The incentives.

The Spiller camp view themselves as Chris Johnson.Adrian Peterson potentially being undervalued in their rookie contract. So they want a lot more incentive being built in - look Spiller is a guy who's going to be used in a lot of ways RB WR PR, KR. But the Bills view all of these incentives added in to be well over his slotted money.

[Bufftp]

The rookies are way overpaid, especially the guaranteed money.
I don't blame F.O.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe Spiller may not even WANT to play in Buffalo? Remember, if he holds out long enough, he can go back into the draft and get picked again. Bo Jackson did it. John Elway did it-- forced Baltimore to trade him to Denver. Money may not be an issue (the pending rookie pay scale would make it counterintuitive to do this from a financial standpoint), but a team with a poor reputation in a fading city is most certainly a potential problem.

[psubills62]

Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe Spiller may not even WANT to play in Buffalo? Remember, if he holds out long enough, he can go back into the draft and get picked again. Bo Jackson did it. John Elway did it-- forced Baltimore to trade him to Denver. Money may not be an issue (the pending rookie pay scale would make it counterintuitive to do this from a financial standpoint), but a team with a poor reputation in a fading city is most certainly a potential problem.

Bo Jackson did it because he could play baseball. Last I knew, Spiller didn't have any other sports to fall back on.

If Spiller truly doesn't want to play in Buffalo (I don't think that's the case), then he'll eventually realize exactly what Crabtree realized. If he does re-enter the draft, who the heck is going to pick him knowing how he handled things contract-wise here in Buffalo? No way he would get picked as early if he re-entered the draft. Guys who sit out an entire year and try to over-slot themselves aren't exactly in high demand around the league. He'll sign, it's just a matter of when.

[Ickybaluky]

Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe Spiller may not even WANT to play in Buffalo? Remember, if he holds out long enough, he can go back into the draft and get picked again. Bo Jackson did it. John Elway did it-- forced Baltimore to trade him to Denver. Money may not be an issue (the pending rookie pay scale would make it counterintuitive to do this from a financial standpoint), but a team with a poor reputation in a fading city is most certainly a potential problem.

So, he is going to sit out a year after getting picked 9th, when next year might result in a lockout and the resulting CBA probably will cap rookie salaries. If he does that, he could cost himself tens of millions in dollars.

Yeah, that'll happen.

[SquishDaFish]

Get the **** over Peters already. God damn bro this is more than a man crush now. Are you stalking him also??? Wow if it was a female It wouldnt be so weird.

[HHURRICANE]

Get the **** over Peters already. God damn bro this is more than a man crush now. Are you stalking him also??? Wow if it was a female It wouldnt be so weird.

It's a fact, people hate that I bring it up because it directly reflects on how stupid this organization is.

We could have locked up our best player for 35 million but we spend a whole year fighting with him so he could walk for 50 million.

The Bills are cheap. Everyone is signed except Spiller. The Buiffalo News got it right. They weren't blaming Spiller.

[SquishDaFish]

Get over it bro. Your love for him is annoying. ITS DONE and OLD now. Its not even the same front office blind one. Damn! Get off his jock

[psubills62]

It's a fact, people hate that I bring it up because it directly reflects on how stupid this organization is.

We could have locked up our best player for 35 million but we spend a whole year fighting with him so he could walk for 50 million.

The Bills are cheap. Everyone is signed except Spiller. The Buiffalo News got it right. They weren't blaming Spiller.

Out of curiosity, where are you getting that we "could have locked him up for 7 million per year"?

[tampabay25690]

another great thread...............wow

[JCBills]

So wait, let me get this straight. I'm supposed to blame the new FO, who managed to sign our picks faster than the team has been able to in a decade, over one player holding out? IMO, they got it done like they haven't in a long time. I blame the team owners and player's agents. Rookie contracts have gone through the roof over the last 4-5 years.

[Saratoga Slim]

I think too often the problem is the player doesn't realize that the agent works for them and not the other way around. Over the years, too many people have said, "I'll let my agent take care of it" rather than telling the agent in so many terms (like a few do) - "I want to be in on time"

Yes, I agree. It's easy to forget that these are twenty two year old kids that have never had two nickels to rub together before. They put a lot of trust in their agents, many of whom are attorneys or otherwise seasoned veterans of the process.