Gaither to Bills?

[Mr Bills]

nfldraftupdate Dion Caputi
Since the #Raiders have backed off former #Ravens OT Jared Gaither, the #Bills are becoming a real possibility. Ill be monitoring that.

[CAbills]

Ill take Bell over Gaither who didnt play last year and failed a physical with the raiders.

[Extremebillsfan247]

I'd bring him in to take a look at him but that's about it. If he can't pass a physical, that's not a good thing. There would be no sense in paying a guy that wont be able to contribute immediately. I agree that Bell is starting to fill his roll at LT pretty well. But you always should look to improve everywhere you can. I'm not sure Gaither is the answer at this point in his career. He might have a tough time beating Bell out for that position. JMO

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Would way rather have a healthy ready to go pears than this guy. his back is shot. dont want him...

[YardRat]

Failing the physical in Oakland is a good size red flag for me. I'd bring him in for a look-over though.

[Buddo]

Failing the physical in Oakland is a good size red flag for me. I'd bring him in for a look-over though.

Probably the sensible thing to do, due diligence and all that.
There was definitely interest there last year early, but as to whether that ship has completely sailed now, who knows.
I think Gaither's best move, would be to concentrate on getting himself fully fit and healthy. Do that, and someone will give him a chance somewhere along the lines, which might then gain him a decent long-term deal. If he isn't prepared to do that, then he's likely not worth bothering with, as commitment has also been a red flag in the past.

[TigerJ]

Anyone know what the specific ailment is with Gaither's back? That would have great bearing on whether or not any team should try to sign the guy. Maybe it's not going to get better. In that case, you leave him alone. He's damaged goods. If it's something treatable and you're confident your medical staff and strength and conditioning coaches can help him restore his health, then maybe you get him under contract ad give it a shot. You can structure the deal to keep this year's cost down and keep the long term financial risks low.

[SabreEleven]

So now we are concentrating our efforts on signing an injured player? Well, we better do this quickly since we can only sign one player at a time.

[X-Era]

Why would we want an injured player?

[Night Train]

Why bother ?

Bell and Pears are probably better than him at Tackle and are healthy.

Find better alternatives.

[wmoz11]

This is one of the guys that commented on Clabo being signed with the Bills. Not a good source.

[better days]

Anyone know what the specific ailment is with Gaither's back? That would have great bearing on whether or not any team should try to sign the guy. Maybe it's not going to get better. In that case, you leave him alone. He's damaged goods. If it's something treatable and you're confident your medical staff and strength and conditioning coaches can help him restore his health, then maybe you get him under contract ad give it a shot. You can structure the deal to keep this year's cost down and keep the long term financial risks low.

If his injury involves the spine, I doubt it ever gets "better." Ask anyone with a back injury. It may get to the point the pain is manageable & he is able to play but that is a slippery slope.

[PromoTheRobot]

nfldraftupdate Dion Caputi
Since the #Raiders have backed off former #Ravens OT Jared Gaither, the #Bills are becoming a real possibility. Ill be monitoring that.
Hold on a sec. Is this"news" or this guy just pulling stuff from his butt? Did the Bills contact Gaither or is Don just assuming Buffalo is where this misfit toy will wind up?

PTR

[ParanoidAndroid]

If his injury involves the spine, I doubt it ever gets "better." Ask anyone with a back injury. It may get to the point the pain is manageable & he is able to play but that is a slippery slope.

You're right. It depends. When I was 27, I had a herniated disc in my lower back that caused sciatic pain that shut me right down. a year later, I was running 70 - 80 miles a week and feeling great. Ten years later, I have occasional pain and stiffness because it will never completely heal.

[BloFan4Life]

This back injury thing is getting blown out of proportion. The reason this whole things started was because they didn't pay the man. If you look at when the injury happened, the coach is saying one thing and Gaither is saying another. You really don't even know what happened to the back. The whole failed physical could mean a lot of things. The guy hasn't played football in a whole year. He is not going to be in the best shape. The dude is 25 years old and Balt really missed him last season. When he is out there he is really good and would be the best lineman on the team. I would def take a chance on him. IMO he has less injury risk than Merriman.

[better days]

You're right. It depends. When I was 27, I had a herniated disc in my lower back that caused sciatic pain that shut me right down. a year later, I was running 70 - 80 miles a week and feeling great. Ten years later, I have occasional pain and stiffness because it will never completely heal.

If there is one position in football that is hard on the back, it is the O-line because of the constant pounding. I thnk a QB or WR would have a much easier time dealing with a bad back.

[ddaryl]

obviously there is an issue because Gaither is still on the market...

If this guy had no baggage he wouldn't still be on the market, or even back on the market

[kingJofNYC]

Well we landed Edwards in the same exact way last season.

Guy went elsewhere but he raised red flags and other teams balked, we swooped in and signed him.

Whatever, as long as it's cheap I don't really care. That way we can cut him and not take a serious hit.

[FlyingDutchman]

didnt we originally offer Baltimore draft picks for him?

[Jeff1220]

This back injury thing is getting blown out of proportion. The reason this whole things started was because they didn't pay the man. If you look at when the injury happened, the coach is saying one thing and Gaither is saying another. You really don't even know what happened to the back. The whole failed physical could mean a lot of things. The guy hasn't played football in a whole year. He is not going to be in the best shape. The dude is 25 years old and Balt really missed him last season. When he is out there he is really good and would be the best lineman on the team. I would def take a chance on him. IMO he has less injury risk than Merriman.

The prevailing belief around here (Baltimore area), including Harbaugh, is that Gaither faked the injury, as well as other because he didn't like the situation he was in - not enough money, position switch, etc.

To me, that raises more red flags than if he was actually injured.

Here's a little blurb on it from the Ravens' site in feb. If you check out Ravens' message boards, the fans are a little more straightforward about it.


When the Ravens moved Gaither from left to right tackle at the start of a minicamp in spring, he injured his foot and missed most of the offseason practices.

The 6-foot-9 Gaither then surprised the organization when he reported to training camp 29 pounds lighter than his playing weight of 340 pounds. He missed a few days of practice, but he returned after he underwent blood tests.

On Aug. 5, he suffered what has been described as a thoracic disk injury. Gaither practiced once (Sept. 29) before getting put on IR. Ravens doctors couldn't find anything wrong with Gaither in early October, according to coach John Harbaugh, but Gaither's back specialist in California wouldn't clear him to play after a re-evaluation.

[alnilla]

why do we keep on bringing in the raiders Oline rejects??? We did this the past few years and not one have even been close to par

[BuffaloBlitz83]

why do we keep on bringing in the raiders Oline rejects??? We did this the past few years and not one have even been close to par

Ummm he is a Raven not a Raider...

[better days]

Ummm he WAS a Raven not a Raider...

Fixed it for you.

[BuffaloBlitz83]

i want Gaither and Randy Moss

[alnilla]

Ummm he is a Raven not a Raider...


raiders still wanted him its close enough

[elltrain22]

Only Blame Canada knows....

[starrymessenger]

didnt we originally offer Baltimore draft picks for him?
Nix was reported to have offered a 3rd. Ozzie said no. Funny situation. Potential pro bowl calibre left tackle experienced (33 games) and only 25 years old. Will have a hard time landing a job and will not get the paycheck he wants. What with injury and attitude problems he is not looking at much in guaranteed money.

[hydro]

i want Gaither and Randy Moss

Moss is out of the equation now. He just retired.