This Team is Moving

[more cowbell]

I don't need to sit here and preach my previous ties to the team, and current contacts within the organization as well. For those of you who have been on this board for a while know that pretty much all of my information is legit.

I live out West now, still keep in touch with a bunch of people, and I also have a connection who is good friends with the owner of the Bidwell's (Arizona Cardinals owner)

Long story short, my friend and Bill (Bidwell) speak often and he has reiterated repeatedly that it's a known fact among the other 31 owners that the Bills will no longer be the Bills once Ralph passes. The entire organization is being run by Russ Brandon and Co. and Ralph is at the point (sadly) where he has no idea what is going on.

Bidwell went on to state that once Wilson passes "it will be a sad day yada yada yada...." but in additon to that Mary (Ralph's Wife) has absolutely no interest in keeping the team and wants to "Wash her hands completely of it all"

He went on to state that there are investing groups lined up that want to bring NFL football to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and even San Antonio and the Bills are the most attractive option due to the fact that they will most likely be able to outbid any local group attempting to keep the Bills in WNY. The reason the Bills are so attractive is because the new ownership can FIRE EVERY SINGLE PERSON (aside from Brandon probably) involved with the organization, and inherit a team has a ton of salary cap room, and a ton of players who are worthless and can be replaced effortlessly.

Ask yourself...why are the Bills consistently never spending cap money? And when they do its on their own players (Kelsay, Parrish, Evans, Williams, Fitzpatrick...and I guess you can say Pears) in recent memory.

Chris Kelsay and Lee Evans deals were ALL front loaded. If Kelsay was to be cut tomorrow hypothetically almost all of his contract has been paid up front (to make it look like the Bills are actually spending money every year)

Lee Evans earned about 90 percent of his contract before he was traded this past off season for a 4th round pick. Evans cap number this season and next season is just around 3 million. When he re-signed with the Bills his contract averaged 9 million per year, however almost all of that money was earned in the first 2-3 seasons.


So to recap...

1. We have a team, who has been crying wolf for the past decade they're in a small market, yet have been in the top 15 most profitable NFL franchises.

2. The Wilson family has no interest in running the team after Ralph's passing.

3. Investors from larger cities and more financial backing are interested, and if the Wilson family has no issue to sell to the highest bidder.

4. The front office does not use any significant cap room...especially cap room in the future (back loading contracts)

5. The "person" running the team currently is a "proven businessman" and has no ties to the NFL or the history of the league where he would make a case to keep the team here, when he can keep his job (after all he has marketed the hell out of the turd for the past 12 years) and earn MORE money for himself and the organization.


I know this has ALL been discussed before millions upon millions of times on this board. However, when an NFL owner is stating the same facts...that's a major cause for concern.

So go ahead...bash me...bash this thread...bash me for living in California and wanting the Bills to move there (some morons have said that to me before) which i think is beyond hysterical....

I hope just as much as any die hard Bills fan hopes...that the Bills stay in Buffalo. I was born and raised in WNY and the Bills are a part of my life...we need to let these a-holes in the front office know that we know what's going on and stop sitting here with our blinders on.

With all of the parity in the league...you would seriously have to TRY to be as bad as the Bills have been the past 12 years...which is becoming more and more obvious is the case.

Buffalo fans do not deserve this...we don't deserve this season...we don't deserve the past decade...and we sure as hell don't deserve what these "Slick Willies" in the front office are planning.

Lets do something about it...

[Dannyboy]

Re: This Team is Moving

I'm in.

[SeatownBillsFan21]

Re: This Team is Moving

What could we do?

[ZEUS]

Re: This Team is Moving

Interesting thread, but it's really just here say and speculation. I think the Bills have tried to be a better team recently. They tried to hire Cowher and Shanahan. To me that says something. Now maybe they knew something about moving, but I doubt it. I think they just didn't want to be part of this organization after what happened to Polian, Butler, and Wade Phillips. I'll believe the team is moving when I see it. In the meantime, I'm not going to worry about it. There's just as much rumor that says Kelly and others are going to buy the team. And local hero Chucky Shummer says he'll keep football in Buffalo for the little people.

[Luisito23]

Re: This Team is Moving

Read this post if you want - otherwise don't read it.

What's my 3rd. option?

[Night Train]

Re: This Team is Moving

Doesn't anger me, because it's still pure speculation. Bidwell is Ralph lite and is one of the worst owners in sports history. I question his sanity.

With the supposed revenue sharing gains in the recent collective bargaining agreement, the threat of relocation grows smaller. Retraction(extinction) is more likely.

Jacksonville shouldn't have a team. Minny struggles. The Chargers may move back to LA and other wannabe cities can't afford teams. San Antonio would never happen, while Jerry Jones owns the Cowboys.

Aim dart...throw.

[Historian]

Re: This Team is Moving

Who are the Sabres playing on Tux and Pucks night?

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

Re: This Team is Moving

if it happens maybe Ill actually be able to pick a team that is a winner casue Ill no longer be obligated to cheering for them
I can then abandon the "whereever Bills" cause they abandoned me... so then I can freely choose to begin cheering for a winner
however, Im afraid that the moment I choose a new team, that team will then be cursed. so maybe Ill just be a free agent fan LOL

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Re: This Team is Moving

Not much of this is groundbreaking news. The Wilsons are on record as wanting to sell this team to the highest bidder the moment Ralph dies. We know there are billionaires arranging to buy the team at the first opportunity, and we also know there are billionaires waiting to move a team to L.A. The team is financially stable largely because they haven't been begging for a new stadium like many other NFL teams; the Buffalo News reported this a couple of years ago.

The one thing that makes this suspicious is that they say Las Vegas is in contention here. Fat chance. Las Vegas has had several sports teams throughout its history and has never supported them. That city is an event town, and the NFL knows it. Besides, the NFL wants nothing to do with gambling, and in turn it wants nothing to do with Las Vegas. If an ownership group were to try to move the team there, it would almost certainly be vetoed by the owners (not that it'd matter much, see the L.A. Raiders).

The only remaining question is when the other shoe is going to drop. This does bring parallels to the Jacksonville Jaguars' recent "fire sale." Sure enough, this year Jags owner Wayne Weaver out of nowhere sold the team to Shahid Khan. Depending on if Ralph's still alive at the end of the current lease, he may just give the go-ahead to pull the trigger when that happens.

[YardRat]

Re: This Team is Moving

The deal to stay is already in place.

[Night Train]

Re: This Team is Moving

Who are the Sabres playing on Tux and Pucks night?

The winning team.

[JohnnyGold]

Re: This Team is Moving

said this before, and ill keep saying it:

there is absolutely no way the bills will move.

toronto is the 5th largest city in the western hemisphere, and the bills have made serious inroads into that market.

just this season, we showed that we can sell out the ralph no problem.

and, this is with a team that has been absolutely garbage for TWELVE FREAKING YEARS.

let's just say, the bills move to LA.

instantly, youre looking at a jags team that can't sell out monday night football games, with a new owner...

you don't think he would look at buffalo and think

"hmmm... i could be the only team in New York, have a RABID fan base, have toronto in my backyard and play a game or 2 there every year... oh and if i field a winner, sell 80,000 tickets at whatever price i want, because the city of buffalo revolves around the bills."

if all ralph wilson cared about was money, the bills would have left long, long long ago.

but the fact of the matter is, as bad as we are, this is a HUGE market and there will always be a football team in western new york.

[Skooby]

Re: This Team is Moving

The deal to stay is already in place.

This, the team is sold already to a local group that's waiting for Ralph to pass.

[RedEyE]

Re: This Team is Moving

Wouldn't it make more sense for a team with a "questionable future" to back load contracts and cut/trade players before the large CAP hit?

I think the waiting on the new CBA had much to do with contracts being front loaded. I think front loading contracts are agent and player prefered and this is why we have been seeing a lot of this across the league. The player and agent is sure to get most of the agreed upon money upfront.

And the more I think about it, I think the Players Union would have a certified hissy-fit if the definitive organization moved from Buffalo but negated all player agreements.

I also think with the way everyone is "linked-in" to today's society, there would be serious leaks of a grandioso plan to remove the Bills after Wilson's last dying breath. This front office is relatively new with a few exceptions. We have a revolving door of coaches and players being fired and hired. You would think that on the way out these guys would be more than willing to spill the beans about this sure-fire sale delivering the Bills out of town. Not to mention if there are 3 specific, high-dollar, financing bidders with all of their greed and corruption, they would be chomping at the bit to destroy the credibility of the their competitors. Yet we hear nothing of the sort.

Why the recent push to reel in coaches like Shanahan and Cowher?

Why couldn't the same be said for Jacksonville? They are all of what you indicated and more as they can't even fill seats.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not labeling you a liar. You may very well have the connections that you claim to have. But, I think someone in the FO of Arizona is too far removed and too busy dealing with their own issues to know exactly what's going on in Buffalo.

In the end, money is money and the driving force to move or stay will begin and end with the new owner.

[jamze132]

Re: This Team is Moving

Believe my post, or don't believe it. The Bills will be purchased by a Danish midget clan and moved to Albany.