Schefter fires back at Bills

[T-Long]

LINK (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/01/schefter-fires-back-at-bills/)

[ublinkwescore]

that's just a difference of opinion on whether or not when buffalo had these discussions is still valid now. I side with the Bills though because I think it's safe to say that while they might have earlier this summer, I sincerely doubt they're still engaging in Leinart conversations with AZ.

[RockStar36]

Schefter is an idiot anyways. He said Cowher isn't coming to Buffalo.

[DraftBoy]

Schefter is an idiot anyways. He said Cowher isn't coming to Buffalo.
Yea he's always wrong and clearly hates the Bills!

[OpIv37]

It seems to me that Schecter is being disingenuous in how he reported the Bills' interest in Leinart. "At some point this summer" could mean anything from Memorial Day til now. Maybe the Bills inquired months ago, it didn't work for the reasons stated in the article, so they dropped it.

Now that it looks like AZ wants to dump Leinart, Schecter comes out with the Bills as one of the interested teams.

The Bills immediately deny the rumor, because even if there had been interest at one point in time, there isn't any interest now. Schecter then tries to save face by citing his two sources, but never mentions the time frame.

I hate it how NBC just jumps to the conclusion that the Bills were wrong and Schecter is right.

[ddaryl]

Ok if they had talks over the summer then why bring it up now like he did and suggest the talks were recent...

[Forward_Lateral]

7 million next season for Leinhart? :lolpoint: Arizona

[justasportsfan]

"I didn't report Leinart would be traded to Buffalo. I simply reported that Arizona and Buffalo discussed it this summer, which they had. There's nothing erroneous about that."


what does he mean by summer ? A few weeks ago? Before camp?

I wouldn't be surprised if the bills did that back then. Back then has nothing to do with the most recent story. Shefters reports implies that the bills recently talked about the trade with the Cards a few days ago when the story broke out. If the bills didn't recently, That would still make the recent report erroneous.

[OpIv37]

7 million next season for Leinhart? :lolpoint: Arizona

and I read somewhere that it's a $12 million cap hit (assuming they get the CBA done and the cap remains).

[TMu11]

(http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/)BillsFan27 (http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/) says: <SMALL> (http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/)September 1, 2010 10:26 AM (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/09/01/schefter-fires-back-at-bills/#comment-1420196) </SMALL>Leave it to Schefter to get all rilled up over this in an attempt to cover his ass (on the heels of the Washington Post debacle) - Schefter took some report from two months ago and applied it to today. He's just trying to stir up tweets. He must be lonesome.
My advice to Schefter: do your homework, dbag, and stop going off your gut.
I have two very credible sources that have told me that Adam Schefter is a hack. And that, I'm sure, is not a hoax.
(http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/)

Lol!

[Beebe's Kid]

It's called a "Jump to Conclusions" mat.

[Mr. Miyagi]

It seems to me that Schecter is being disingenuous in how he reported the Bills' interest in Leinart. "At some point this summer" could mean anything from Memorial Day til now. Maybe the Bills inquired months ago, it didn't work for the reasons stated in the article, so they dropped it.

Now that it looks like AZ wants to dump Leinart, Schecter comes out with the Bills as one of the interested teams.

The Bills immediately deny the rumor, because even if there had been interest at one point in time, there isn't any interest now. Schecter then tries to save face by citing his two sources, but never mentions the time frame.
My feeling exactly. Schefter usually is on the ball but the timing of this particular reporting is poor and perhaps intentionally misleading.

Shame on him for making news out of nothing.

[Stewie]

this whole thing is blown up PR over mis-interpreted words. Schefeter never directly said WHEN. Other people implied recently, and thus we have lots of wasted time.

[OpIv37]

this whole thing is blown up PR over mis-interpreted words. Schefeter never directly said WHEN. Other people implied recently, and thus we have lots of wasted time.

But by not saying when, Schecter was trying to make the story bigger than it was. That's the whole problem. The media, both sports and general news, do this all the time, but they rarely get caught red-handed like Schecter did here.

[madness]

Schefter is again trying to put his own spin on this...

"I didn't report Leinart would be traded to Buffalo. I simply reported that Arizona and Buffalo discussed it this summer, which they had. There's nothing erroneous about that."

Too bad he didn't reveal the time frame of the discussions until after Buffalo called his report erroneous.

[justasportsfan]

this whole thing is blown up PR over mis-interpreted words. Schefeter never directly said WHEN. Other people implied recently, and thus we have lots of wasted time.
he could have declared it back then when the bills were interested. Talking about now is misleading people to think that the bills are interested now.

[RockStar36]

How come we're so quick to slam Schefter and just believe what the Bills are saying to us? What have the Bills done in recent times that would make us believe they are up front and honest with the fans?

[DraftBoy]

Im not really sure what the confusion is here, Leinart was just officially made available reacently so if you are putting together teams that may be interested in him you would of course list a team that talked Arizona about him within the past few months. He never said the Bills were talking to Arizona now or a trade was imminent, the devil is in the details.

Did he misrepresent it and leave the reader to assume they were interested now? Of course, that's part of what he gets paid to do. But did he fully cover himself and was his report accurate? Yes it was.

[Oaf]

(http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/)

Lol!
Lol!

[OpIv37]

How come we're so quick to slam Schefter and just believe what the Bills are saying to us? What have the Bills done in recent times that would make us believe they are up front and honest with the fans?


Because of this:


"The Buffalo Bills had ongoing discussions with the Cardinals regarding a trade for Matt Leinart, according to two separate credible and knowledgeable people," Schefter told PFT via e-mail. "I was told this weekend that a trade to Buffalo was unlikely because the Bills were uncomfortable about bringing aboard Leinart's contract, which carries a $2.485 million base salary this season and balloons to $7.36 million next season.

"I didn't report Leinart would be traded to Buffalo. I simply reported that Arizona and Buffalo discussed it this summer, which they had. There's nothing erroneous about that."

I don't believe that Buffalo never had any interest. I do believe they had interest at one point, but they do not at the moment. Schefter then reported the story in a way that was TECHNICALLY correct due to careful wording, but didn't really accurately describe the situation.

Aside from that, think about it logically. Leinart has said that he wants a chance to start. Edwards has played well the last two preseason games- not great, but certainly not bad enough to warrant bringing in a new starter from outside the organization with only 10 days before the real games start. Before camp, there was reason to doubt Trent, and there was plenty of time to teach Leinart the system. So interest would have been plausible. But now? It simply doesn't make sense.

[psubills62]

Schefter has been all but infallible since joining ESPN. Here's a question: if the Bills had had trade discussions at any point this summer with the Cardinals, why would they say they haven't? They could have worded it differently, saying they have no interest in Leinart. But they directly said Schefter's claim was erroneous.

And sorry, but it doesn't help Schefter's case that just recently he "reported" that Byron Westbrook was released from the Redskins, which was wrong. I also can't help but remember Schefter's pinpoint draft reporting when the Eagles traded up in the first round. According to him, they were definitely going after Earl Thomas...

[wmoz11]

It's fairly telling that the live SportsCenter began with "Bills, Raiders, Giants interested.." and then within the hour changed it to just "Raiders and Giants."

[BlackMetalNinja]

A reporter glossing over facts to make a generality a truth... gee, that's a first.

[sdbillsfan2]

Schefter rules of journalism :

1) Keep throwing up S**t until something sticks
2) Better to be wrong then not noticed.
3) Attach the label " credible source " to every story to deflect blame.
4) when all else fails... see how many Bills fans you can piss off


Seeing is believing....

[better days]

How come we're so quick to slam Schefter and just believe what the Bills are saying to us? What have the Bills done in recent times that would make us believe they are up front and honest with the fans?

Just before the draft, Nix said the Bills need a quick waterbug type RB, then they drafted Spiller. How's that?

[better days]

Because of this:



I don't believe that Buffalo never had any interest. I do believe they had interest at one point, but they do not at the moment. Schefter then reported the story in a way that was TECHNICALLY correct due to careful wording, but didn't really accurately describe the situation.

Aside from that, think about it logically. Leinart has said that he wants a chance to start. Edwards has played well the last two preseason games- not great, but certainly not bad enough to warrant bringing in a new starter from outside the organization with only 10 days before the real games start. Before camp, there was reason to doubt Trent, and there was plenty of time to teach Leinart the system. So interest would have been plausible. But now? It simply doesn't make sense.

I do believe Buffalo never had any interest. I think Arizona asked Buffalo if they would like to trade for Leinhart & Nix said NO THANKS.

[trapezeus]

i hope the bills win the superbowl this year. it would be a nice piece when trent is standing on the spaceship at midfield with the confetti coming down and the reporter says, "what a year it has been for you trent. at the beginning of the year, They said Leinart was coming to town to replace you and now you are a superbowl winner. Tell us how it feels"

[Dr. Lecter]

Im not really sure what the confusion is here, Leinart was just officially made available reacently so if you are putting together teams that may be interested in him you would of course list a team that talked Arizona about him within the past few months. He never said the Bills were talking to Arizona now or a trade was imminent, the devil is in the details.

Did he misrepresent it and leave the reader to assume they were interested now? Of course, that's part of what he gets paid to do. But did he fully cover himself and was his report accurate? Yes it was.


He should run for office.

And "discussions" is a very big word.


Arizona: "Hi, are you interested in trading for party-boy?"


Nix: "Hold on - Hey Chan, Doug! Do either of you have interest in the pretty boy from USC?"

Chan - "This is a tough game for tough people. What the heck do you think?"

Whaley - "Hell no."

Nix " No thanks unless you take our 6th round pick and give us your 4th round pick too"

In that conversation -

1. The Bills and Arizona discussed trading Leinart
2. The Bills internally discussed getting Leinart
3. The Bills expressed interest in Leinart.

[patmoran2006]

7 million next season for Leinhart? :lolpoint: Arizona Try over $12 million.. He's owed a $5.5 million roster bonus on the first day of the 2011 league, which is in early March, then his $7million-plus base.

[trapezeus]

He should run for office.

And "discussions" is a very big word.


Arizona: "Hi, are you interested in trading for party-boy?"


Nix: "Hold on - Hey Chan, Doug! Do either of you have interest in the pretty boy from USC?"

Chan - "This is a tough game for tough people. What the heck do you think?"

Whaley - "Hell no."

Nix " No thanks unless you take our 6th round pick and give us your 4th round pick too"

In that conversation -

1. The Bills and Arizona discussed trading Leinart
2. The Bills internally discussed getting Leinart
3. The Bills expressed interest in Leinart.

you forgot to add:

Arizona- look, we'll giveyou draft picks, takethe kid.

Nix - not so interested even with coming out ahead with a player and multiple picks, but the boys seem excited to get more OL help. So let's pretend we are interested. my owner needs to know the numbers.

Arizona - $2mm this year, and next year it's (cough cough) $7MM.

Nix - are you paying the $2mm or the $7MM

Arizona - we were kind of hoping you would take that.

Nix - (hangs up phone)

Arizona - hello? hello? Damn it, call the raiders back. Jamarcus for Leinart. Damn it.

[madness]

Just before the draft, Nix said the Bills need a quick waterbug type RB, then they drafted Spiller. How's that?

There is definitely a lot more examples as well. Nix and Gailey have been nothing but straight shooters in just about every aspect.

[Nighthawk]

Schefter f'd up and got called out on it...CASE CLOSED!

[Michael82]

It's fairly telling that the live SportsCenter began with "Bills, Raiders, Giants interested.." and then within the hour changed it to just "Raiders and Giants."
EXACTLY! I watched Sports Center this morning and he said that the three teams have had ongoing talks. Once the Bills denied it, the story quickly changed to just the Raiders and Giants.

[Commissioner]

Schefter has been all but infallible since joining ESPN. Here's a question: if the Bills had had trade discussions at any point this summer with the Cardinals, why would they say they haven't? They could have worded it differently, saying they have no interest in Leinart. But they directly said Schefter's claim was erroneous.

And sorry, but it doesn't help Schefter's case that just recently he "reported" that Byron Westbrook was released from the Redskins, which was wrong. I also can't help but remember Schefter's pinpoint draft reporting when the Eagles traded up in the first round. According to him, they were definitely going after Earl Thomas...

I believe Shefter's sources could have been misled him.. not intentionally. Like maybe Leinarts agent was trying to gauge interest and threw names out to his sources that reported what they heard to him.

I'm sure the Bills inquired about QB's during the offseason... but I can't see them inquiring about Leinart since he was the presumed starter for the Cardinals in the offseason... and also the fact that Leinart stinks and has never showed much. Can't believe they would think he offers more than the current roster of QB's.

[Mike13]

Schefter is actually one of the best NFL news reporters out there.
And lying was what an NFL FO does best.

Also I picture Ralph hearing this on his old timey Telephone and saying: "Erroneous! Erroneous on all accounts" and then he'd poo himself.

[Commissioner]

Schefter is actually one of the best NFL news reporters out there.
And lying was what an NFL FO does best.

Also I picture Ralph hearing this on his old timey Telephone and saying: "Erroneous! Erroneous on all accounts" and then he'd poo himself.

I don't think Schefter is a liar... i think he may have been misinformed.

[HHURRICANE]

Even the guy who wrote the article is still saying that our QB situation isn't resolved. Do your homework. They are both idiots.

Maybe Schefter should have read the camp reports or the fact that our official site says that the QB situation looks resolved.

Why would we want Leinart? Seriously.

[psubills62]

Raiders are claiming Schefter's report to be untrue as well.

And Schefter was one of the most reliable reporters when he was with the NFL Network. Now, at ESPN, he's been relatively mediocre.

[Nighthawk]

Raiders are claiming Schefter's report to be untrue as well.

And Schefter was one of the most reliable reporters when he was with the NFL Network. Now, at ESPN, he's been relatively mediocre.

This is VERY true...

Lately the guy has seemed to be digging a little too hard to find something that makes him seem important. Every since he left NFL Network, he has become a bit of a hack....reporting crap and hoping it sticks.

[Nighthawk]

Schefter just said on SportCenter that Modkin is the link between the Bills and Leinart. Schefter is really trying hard to make himself look better...

[justasportsfan]

Raiders are claiming Schefter's report to be untrue as well.




Al Davis & Ralph Wilson vs. Shefter .


I wonder if both owners even know who Leinart is. :huh:

[Nighthawk]

Al Davis & Ralph Wilson vs. Shefter .


I wonder if both owners even know who Leinart is. :huh:

Probably not...

[trapezeus]

Al Davis & Ralph Wilson vs. Shefter .


I wonder if both owners even know who Leinart is. :huh:

i wonder if either owner knows who Schefter is.

[Coach Sal]

It's easy to see what happened here.

The Bills had discussions with Arizona about the "availablity" of Leinart in the offseason -- just like they talked to Philly about McNabb, and most like other teams about their QBs, too.

Schefter knew this.

As the offseason went on, it became more clear the Bills were content with going into camp with the QBs they had (maybe they were interested in Leinart but didn't like his salary....it really doesn't matter......they just moved on). So, they had no more discussions.

When it became known the Cards were shopping Leinart, Schefter tweeted that the Bills had discussed him, knowing full well they did IN THE OFFSEASON. He wasn't wrong. But he definitely made it seem like the Bills had discussions about him THIS WEEK - and that simply wasn't true.

So, he gave himself an "out" by saying what he did and not being specific.......as noted by his backtrack afterward and admitting these discussions were in the offseason. He even said on SportsCenter the Bills were not interested "at this time."

Schefter knew what he was doing. And he shouldn't have done it. I think he purposely misled people in order to gain another angle to a story.

I like him and think he's very good at his job. But I lost some respect for him after this.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Schefter knew what he was doing. And he shouldn't have done it. I think he purposely misled people in order to gain another angle to a story.What... a reporter loosely play with facts to try and gain more interest... unheard of!

[Coach Sal]

What... a reporter loosely play with facts to try and gain more interest... unheard of!

Of course it happens all the time, but there would have been nothing wrong with him stating, "the Bills had shown interest in Leinart earlier this offseason. It's not known if they are still interested," or something along those lines.

The Bills/Leinart angle would have still received buzz.....and he wouldn't have to defend himself or backtrack.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Of course it happens all the time, but there would have been nothing wrong with him stating, "the Bills had shown interest in Leinart earlier this offseason. It's not known if they are still interested," or something along those lines.

The Bills/Leinart angle would have still received buzz.....and he wouldn't have to defend himself or backtrack.I agree completely... I just laugh at the people here who seem shocked or offended by Schefter doing this, as if it doesn't happen every day of the week.

[Saratoga Slim]

It seems to me that Schecter is being disingenuous in how he reported the Bills' interest in Leinart. "At some point this summer" could mean anything from Memorial Day til now. Maybe the Bills inquired months ago, it didn't work for the reasons stated in the article, so they dropped it.

Now that it looks like AZ wants to dump Leinart, Schecter comes out with the Bills as one of the interested teams.

The Bills immediately deny the rumor, because even if there had been interest at one point in time, there isn't any interest now. Schecter then tries to save face by citing his two sources, but never mentions the time frame.

I hate it how NBC just jumps to the conclusion that the Bills were wrong and Schecter is right.

Perfect post, especially the highlighted portion.

[Coach Sal]

It seems to me that Schecter is being disingenuous in how he reported the Bills' interest in Leinart. "At some point this summer" could mean anything from Memorial Day til now. Maybe the Bills inquired months ago, it didn't work for the reasons stated in the article, so they dropped it.

Now that it looks like AZ wants to dump Leinart, Schecter comes out with the Bills as one of the interested teams.

The Bills immediately deny the rumor, because even if there had been interest at one point in time, there isn't any interest now. Schecter then tries to save face by citing his two sources, but never mentions the time frame.

I hate it how NBC just jumps to the conclusion that the Bills were wrong and Schecter is right.

I didn't see this from earlier in the thread.

It's just what I was trying to say above, as well.

Right on.

[Billz_fan]

Bah , nobody once they found out his salary situation would make a move on Leinart. Not when he is clearly on the outs with the coach and locker room. Any team that is seriously interested is going to wait till they have to release him (cus nobody is going to pay that salary for the product he is) pick him up and negotiate a much lesser deal that is reasonable for his less than stellar performances.

[psubills62]

Schefter may technically be right, but it was a sleazy way of going about it, especially after reading this:


According to the NY Daily News, the Cardinals initiated trade talks about Matt Leinart with the Giants, not the other way around.

Beat writer Ralph Vacchiano describes the conversation as, "The phone rang, the Giants answered, they talked, they hung up." The Giants reportedly have zero interest in Leinart, especially if he's going to cost them a draft pick.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=3138

[Jan Reimers]

Florio is slimier than Schefter on this issue.

[madness]

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[TigerJ]

I can see where Schefter's report could be true, not to say it is at all. Shefter said the conversations took place "this summer." That could mean as far back as July when Edwards had not thrown a single preseason game pass. I could easily see the Bills not being very confident in Edwards after last season's debacle. Spring and the OTAs etc. might not have been enough to convince the Bills Edwards could rebound. Why wouldn't they want to hedge their bets? I suspect after Edwards has played pretty well through three preseason games that the Bills' interest, if there had ever been any, in Leinart would have waned. For myself, I'm not interested in Leinart at all, and have never been.