Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

[OpIv37]

The Good:

We all know the Bills aren't big players in FA. We all know the Bills suck early in the draft. So, they basically depend on finding the diamond in the rough late in the draft or in UDFA. In the rare cases when they do succeed early in the draft or find that diamond in the rough, all too often they let the player walk after the rookie contract.

Well, for once, the strategy worked. They found a very good WR in the 7th round in the draft, and they signed him to a follow-on contract.

On top of that, the contract averages $7.5MM a year, which is less than the franchise tag for top receivers and less than many people speculated Stevie would get. And the contract is front-loaded, which means we can put a big chunk on this year's cap with the "rollover" space.

The Bad

Stevie has his limitations. He has shown very little improvement on the maturity issues. More importantly, while he puts up numbers, those numbers haven't translated to wins. The team STILL needs another WR threat to compliment him, but I still fear the team will use the "well we signed Stevie" excuse to avoid upgrading the WR position.

In addition, this signing does cut into our available cap space for this off-season, and we still have glaring needs at DE, LB and #2 WR, not to mention room for improvement at OT, TE, CB and S.

Conclusion: this is a good signing, as long as they are serious about being "aggressive" in FA and don't use it as an excuse to cheap out.

[BertSquirtgum]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Apparently one of the things in his contract is that Johnson is to curtail his end zone celebrations. In his press conference he says himself that with the new contract he is all done with the celebrations.

[OpIv37]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Apparently one of the things in his contract is that Johnson is to curtail his end zone celebrations. In his press conference he says himself that with the new contract he is all done with the celebrations.

That's good to hear.

I really don't mind celebrations, just as long as they don't draw penalties and hurt the team.

[Mr. Pink]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

That's good to hear.

I really don't mind celebrations, just as long as they don't draw penalties and hurt the team.

Right.

He doesn't need to turn into a choir boy out there, he can still have his fun but do so without making the team kick off from the 20 yard line.

I, like you, think this is a good signing. It's also something that is a turn in a good direction for the franchise. Drafting someone, developing them, then locking them up long term. I thought that strategy was something the franchise was against but it's good to see things are changing at OBD, at least a little.

[Dujek]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Just glad that the deal is done.

My jersey curse is broken, as every other player whose jersey I have bought in the last decade has left the team the instant they became a FA.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

I just need 2 more things to happen...

1) Grab Mario Williams or any of the other proven pass rushers available (Big chunk of cap here). I need this to happen because we're not gonna get that type of impact guy from this draft.
2) Draft 1 each WR and OT rounds 1 and 2. The Bills need somebody other than Donald Jones opposite SJ13 (Blackmon or Floyd round 1... Or Stephen Hill round 2). They'll also need OT help mainly because I don't think they'll give a damaged Bell the kind of money another team will... And rightly so... I think his career is limited due to the need to have micro fracture surgery on his knee a couple years ago.

[psubills62]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Why is "cutting into our available cap space" a bad thing? That's what it's there for - to sign players. Not to mention we're still going to have more than enough to sign big contracts. That's kind of what happens if you want to improve the team - cap space gets used up.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

But we're still under the cash to cap system. SJ13 has $19.5M guaranteed... That will take a huge chunk out of what we have left... It's gonna take that to ink, say, Mario Williams. That's about all that will get squeezed from our cash to cap 2012.

[stuckincincy]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

BUF was 6 and 10 with him. Now he's bestowed with a considerable amount of ready cash. Handed over to a fellow who shows the maturity of a 14 year old.


Re-signing him is just status quo without other changes/improvements.

[Ickybaluky]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Stevie has his limitations.

This is kind of weak criticism. The guy is a good player, I don't think that is deniable. He has proven production over the last 2 years.

What you are saying, really, is he isn't Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson. Yeah, so? A lot of other guys aren't as well. Can you name me 20 guys who are better than him? I can't.

[Oaf]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

But we're still under the cash to cap system. SJ13 has $19.5M guaranteed... That will take a huge chunk out of what we have left... It's gonna take that to ink, say, Mario Williams. That's about all that will get squeezed from our cash to cap 2012.

You're a good poster Yag, but signing Mario is a pipe dream, no pun intented.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

BUF was 6 and 10 with him. Now he's bestowed with a considerable amount of ready cash. For a fellow who shows the maturity of a 14 year old.


Re-signing him is just status quo without other changes/improvements.

You're right... It would be much better if we just curled up into the fetal position and waited for the end to arrive.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

You're a good poster Yag, but signing Mario is a pipe dream, no pun intented.

I understand completely... But as I said... FA is the only place we're gonna get our much needed pass rusher this year. We (fans) may as well look at the top of the heap and work our way down.

[Oaf]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

All my ZBs say these are not the final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation from OpIv37.

[OpIv37]

Re: Final thoughts on the Stevie Johnson situation

Why is "cutting into our available cap space" a bad thing? That's what it's there for - to sign players. Not to mention we're still going to have more than enough to sign big contracts. That's kind of what happens if you want to improve the team - cap space gets used up.

Because
a) it limits our ability to sign other players. Remember, we already had Stevie Johnson on our team. This signing doesn't improve the team- it simply maintains the status quo. We still need to get better and we have less money to do it. The upside is that we avoided a hole, but there is an opportunity cost associated with doing that.

b) the FO can use it as an excuse to not sign other WR's or even to not sign players at all. Stevie's cap number is not going to be pretty. We'll still have cap space, but the FO had ~$20MM of cap space last year that they didn't use.