Merriman to be released today

[Skooby]

The experiment is over:


Jay Glazer ‏<del class="bbc">@</del>JayGlazer (https://twitter.com/JayGlazer)
Bills have informed Shawne Merriman that they are releasing him today.

[GingerP]

On Twitter (https://twitter.com/JayGlazer)


Jay Glazer ‏@JayGlazerBills feel he's much better suited for a team that uses a 3-4 than a 4-3. Just texted w Merriman who confirmed they have released him


Jay Glazer ‏@JayGlazer
Bills have informed Shawne Merriman that they are releasing him today.

[The King]

Wow.

[ZAZusmc03]

You guys are quick, just saw that on twitter too and came here to post lol. I really didn't see that happening, but at least he has a shot early to sign on w someone

[The King]

I dont know if he has a shot anywhere else if he cant make this team of crap LBer's than where can he go.

[ZAZusmc03]

Yeah, but being a natural 3-4 olb, I don't see a conversion to 4-3 lb being easy, especially after being injured for 3 years

[The King]

I dont think it's a scheme thing. I think he's just lost too much. The scheme thing is a polite way of saying no thanks.

[Skooby]

Is there a chance he failed a drug test or something ?? I read that his salary was pretty much guaranteed for everything, so this doesn't really make a lot of sense.

[GingerP]

Shows you how useless those flowery OTA reports are. Merriman was a great player at one time, but injuries have robbed him of his ability. His skill as a pass-rusher is not dynamic, so he is just another guy.

I understand why the Bills signed him to that contract at the time, because they were desperate to upgrade their pass rush in a division with Tom Brady. Good pass-rushers are hard to find, so they took a gamble on Merriman.

That said, in hindsight it was a terrible deal. $3M of Merriman's salary this year is guaranteed, and they already gave him a $250K workout bonus and $1M roster bonus. In 2011-2012 the Bills will have paid Merriman $9.5M dollars, and gotten pretty much nothing out of it.

[madness]

Confirmed via Vtext.

[GingerP]

Yeah, but being a natural 3-4 olb, I don't see a conversion to 4-3 lb being easy, especially after being injured for 3 years

If someone gives him a shot, it is hard to believe he earns anything over minimum salary. The guy hasn't been able to stay on the field since 2007, and hasn't been productive when he has managed to be out there.

[John Doe]

One of the problems with him is that if he is not a starter then he would be expected to play special teams.

He probably has not done that in his career.

[justasportsfan]

the jets ,fins or Pats are going to pick him up. BB likes to do that and get info from them.

[mikemac2001]

Kind of a shock

i actually thought he would contribute as a 2nd team rusher

[jimmifli]

That said, in hindsight it was a terrible deal. $3M of Merriman's salary this year is guaranteed, and they already gave him a $250K workout bonus and $1M roster bonus. In 2011-2012 the Bills will have paid Merriman $9.5M dollars, and gotten pretty much nothing out of it.

It was a great deal and still is. For $10 million in over a couple of seasons, that we would not have used anyways, we locked up a 10% (my guess at the odds he recovered) chance of having one of the best passrushers in the NFL. Passrushers of that quality typically go at the top of the draft and rarely reach free agency. Even guys that are a step below where Merriman was, rarely reach free agency and when they do they will get a lot of attention. Like highest paid defensive player in the NFL attention.

How the bet turned out doesn't change the quality of the bet. It cost the Bills nothing (the money spent on Merriman didn't prevent us from doing anything else), and it had a potentially massive reward.

[The King]

I agree it was worth the risk. Dont forget how much of a cheerleader Merriman was for this team.

[justasportsfan]

could we have traded him? :idunno:

[OpIv37]

could we have traded him? :idunno:

Not likely. Other teams know he hasn't done anything in years, and if we put him on the trading block right before preseason cuts, every team would know that we were going to cut him anyway. They'd just wait and sign him without giving up compensation if they want to take a risk on him.

[Skooby]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000052174/article/bills-release-shawn-merriman-after-one-season

It says here that we basically pad him to go away, WOW.


Thus ends one of the worst moves of the Buddy Nix era in Buffalo. <<<<<<--- This seems pretty rough.

[justasportsfan]

Not likely. Other teams know he hasn't done anything in years, and if we put him on the trading block right before preseason cuts, every team would know that we were going to cut him anyway. They'd just wait and sign him without giving up compensation if they want to take a risk on him.

Someone would have risked a 4th or less . Better than nothing. But NIx's MO is just give them a chance to go somewhere sooner rather than later.

[Jan Reimers]

The injuries most probably took a huge toll, and the emergence of Kyle Moore as our 4th DE most likely did him in.

[GingerP]

Someone would have risked a 4th or less . Better than nothing. But NIx's MO is just give them a chance to go somewhere sooner rather than later.

Why would anyone give up a pick to inherit a $4M on a guy who is a shell of himself due to injuries and hasn't been healthy in 5 years? Merriman is wildly over-paid. He is a minimum-salary guy now, someone you bring in on a 1-year deal when you have nothing else available in hopes he might be able to squeeze a few more drops out of his career.

If a team was looking for a pass-rusher and wanted to take a risk on injury they could sign Andre Carter. At least he was productive last year.

[Mindbender]

Completely confused. Gailey has been talking him up for how long now?

[OpIv37]

Completely confused. Gailey has been talking him up for how long now?

More proof that when coaches, GMs, and even other players say things to the media, you have to take it with a grain of salt.

Even if Chan thought Merriman looked like he couldn't play DE in an intramural league at community college, he'd never say that to the media. He has to keep morale up for the player and for the team. The media and fans alike have been avidly interested in Merriman's progress, so Chan probably had to field that question a lot and just said the best things he could about Merriman while leaving out the bad.

[Mr. Pink]

I'd be surprised if we don't hear he's announcing his retirement within the next few days.

Stick a fork in em, he's done.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

OK, fine. Let's all act as if Merriman was the only player with injuries on this team and that half this team wasn't warming the bench by the end of last season. That's mularkey (not Mike) and we all should know it.

Signing Merriman was not the mistake. Putting the entire team at a greater risk of injury year in and year out is the mistake.

[Extremebillsfan247]

I dont know if he has a shot anywhere else if he cant make this team of crap LBer's than where can he go. Watch out for Miami. That's 1 of the teams that may try to make a run at him. JMO

[justasportsfan]

I'd be surprised if we don't hear he's announcing his retirement within the next few days.

Stick a fork in em, he's done.

he didn't completely tear his achilles like Spikes did and Spikes came back to be a decent player. Not as good as he was before the tear though.

[kishoph]

I'm shocked, I thought he could of contributed as a situational pass rusher, but being that may have been the only way he could contribute, could be the reason to let him go. Gailey/Nix would probably rather have a young player more suited for the 4-3, that can also possibly play on the ST's in there. I have no regrets that the Bills picked him up, it was a gamble, plus he seemed good for the locker room and he probably taught some of the young players a thing or two. It was obvious that Merriman has lost a bit since his heyday, add to that, the offensive linemen (specifically LT's) are bigger and faster then they were just 5 short years ago. I think he'll land a spot on a team looking for pass rushing help, I just hope it isn't in our Division.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/08/shawne-merriman-says-buffalo-bills-have-released-him/1#.UDJm-t3N9f0

[Mr. Miyagi]

I guarantee he will be a Patriot before the season starts.

[BuffaloWingEater]

i was really hoping he could be a dark horse, comeback story for the bills this year. good luck merriman, you were a good ambassador for the bills.

[DBrown77]

Last year we paid Lee Evans a $1M roster bonus and traded him and this year we pay Merriman a $1M roster bonus and release him.

Thats $2M that could have been avoided....wow, not very bright.

[Demon]

i was really hoping he could be a dark horse, comeback story for the bills this year. good luck merriman, you were a good ambassador for the bills.

I lost all hope in the guy when almost every other day it seemed like during training camp i was reading on twitter that Merriman was "held out" from practice. I still think it was worth the risk, but backfired, and cost a small market team $9 million for almost zero production.

[kingJofNYC]

Dude is always hurt. Yeah he may have looked alright in a couple of camp practices but he barely laced up during camp. He'd be on the field one day and on the sideline for the rest of week.

I'm surprised McGee hasn't been axed yet. Just speaks to our depth at corner. Rogers hurt, McGee hurt, can't rely on just 4 guys. If Rogers was healthy McGee would've probably been let go as well.

[Meathead]

color me surprised

i figured he would at least be good in the rotation. most of his money was already sunk so it wont really save them anything substantial. i guess they decided it was more important to not have to release moore - im not sure if that says more about how much they think moore can bring or how little theyd get from merriman

[Skooby]

The roster spot was probably needed so they can keep Potter for Kickoffs / Long-range FG's.

[justasportsfan]

:phone:"hello Aaron speaking. Hey BUddy. What's up?"

[ServoBillieves]

I can't say that I'm not surprised. I really thought he'd be an integral part of the defense, but most people need to remember he's been nothing but a name for the past 2 years. You sign a pass rush specialist, and you get 1 sack out of him, that's not a good thing.

I will miss him, I don't understand the move, but I'm on my honeymoon so I'll worry when I get back lol.

[Mahdi]

Im betting he goes to KC.

They just lost Hali for a game due to suspension and KC is well aware of what Merriman was as a OLB. Crennel might be able to get the best out of him in his scheme.

Doubt he goes to Pats because they are more of a 4-3 team now, so wouldn't be best fit.

[GingerP]

It wouldn't surprise me if he is out of work until after the first game. As a veteran he salary for the season would be guaranteed if he was on the roster week 1. By waiting until after the first game, a team can take a chance on him and only pay him week-to-week.

[YardRat]

Best of luck to him, sorry things didn't work out better for him here. Regardless of the minimal contribution on the field in his tenure in Buffalo, he certainly was a good ambassador for the team and we may not have some of the other players we acquired without him. I also am a little surprised, but moves like this are made every season.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Last year we paid Lee Evans a $1M roster bonus and traded him and this year we pay Merriman a $1M roster bonus and release him.

Thats $2M that could have been avoided....wow, not very bright.

Hindsight is always 20/20. I'm actually happy Buddy took a chance. It didn't workout. So you lose something dough. It's better than not even try because of money concerns.

I'm expecting Buddy to come clean on his 1st draft (admittedly may not all of his people doing the scouting then), Troupe, Carrington, Easly none of them looking good and Spiller cannot rise up to top dog @RB in his 3rd year. The encouraging thing, though, is the trend. Looks like his draft is getting better each year. To me, that's where the GM earns his money.

[Lone Stranger]

Not surprising when you consider how "well" he played.

[buffalobillsfan95]

Per pft they say that the 3 mill isn't guaranteed unless he was on the week 1 roster

[Skooby]

Per pft they say that the 3 mill isn't guaranteed unless he was on the week 1 roster

Really ?? Ralph is cheap.

[Fixxxer]

Unless his achilles is detached from his body, I don't like the move.

[Skooby]

Unless his achilles is detached from his body, I don't like the move.

Nix's Official story about SM being cut:

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Nix-on-Merriman-We-were-patient/df4ab9e8-ed0e-41ff-94d3-a01ae3b1bb3a

The real reason to not keep Merriman:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/20/bills-avoided/

[better days]

Nix's Official story about SM being cut:

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Nix-on-Merriman-We-were-patient/df4ab9e8-ed0e-41ff-94d3-a01ae3b1bb3a

The real reason to not keep Merriman:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/20/bills-avoided/

I think both stories & reasons are true myself. No point is spending that kind of money on Merriman, it was better spent on Anderson.

[justasportsfan]

More proof that Ralph is cheap. Oh wait !!!!

[Bill Cody]

Good. Waste of a roster spot.