Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

[Bills Juggernaut]

Read this from Peter King this morning:

8. I think ProFootballTalk made a great point Saturday about one aspect of the free-agent market: the tackle conundrum. There are so many good ones who will be free -- Jake Long, Brandon Albert, Andre Smith, Jermon Bushrod, Ryan Clady (likely to be franchised), Sebastian Vollmer and Sam Baker -- that the value will go down. Teams can likely to get a good tackle for $7 million or $8 million a year if they're patient.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl...#ixzz2KbDdONXK


Levitre might get top OG money, around 9-10 million a year. What if we let him walk, signed one of the above as our new LT (when there is a big discount as Peter thinks above), and kick Glenn to OG where many people think he can be an all-star every year.....

Just another offseason option to think about.

[Albany,n.y.]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

The Bills drafted Glenn to play tackle. They have no intentions of moving him to guard.
The "many people" aren't employed by the Bills.
Here's a better solution: Just re-sign Levitre and not screw with the O line.

[Skooby]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

The Bills drafted Glenn to play tackle. They have no intentions of moving him to guard.
The "many people" aren't employed by the Bills.
Here's a better solution: Just re-sign Levitre and not screw with the O line.

This is the right way to handle it, just give him more money upfront & less total money.

[ThunderGun]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

I agree. Unfortunately, the Bills don't hold all of the cards in this situation.

I think Levitre has made it clear that he intends to hit free agency, see what his value is, and get a huge payday. So we won't be able to extend him before his contract runs out. Hopefully, we will match (or come close to matching) whatever offer he gets, and he will stay. I'm starting to doubt that will happen though.

[better days]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

I agree. Unfortunately, the Bills don't hold all of the cards in this situation.

I think Levitre has made it clear that he intends to hit free agency, see what his value is, and get a huge payday. So we won't be able to extend him before his contract runs out. Hopefully, we will match (or come close to matching) whatever offer he gets, and he will stay. I'm starting to doubt that will happen though.

I thought Levitre said he would like to stay in Buffalo. I have faith Nix will get it done.

[jimmifli]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

I wouldn't move Glenn to guard, but I'd have no problem with moving him to RT. So sure, sign a really good LT and then draft a guard early to replace Levitre would be fine.

I'd still rather keep Andy and add a real RT, but I won't complain if the Oline improves by following a different path. It's just critical that the line doesn't get worse.

[Goobylal]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

If top LT's are getting just $8M/year, Levitre won't see more than $6M/year.

[coastal]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

I wouldn't move Glenn to guard, but I'd have no problem with moving him to RT. So sure, sign a really good LT and then draft a guard early to replace Levitre would be fine.

I'd still rather keep Andy and add a real RT, but I won't complain if the Oline improves by following a different path. It's just critical that the line doesn't get worse.

Couldnt agree more.

Scenario... Levitre signs elsewhere for $9 mil per.

We draft Warmack ($4 mil/year rookie deal) and sign Loadholt to play RT for $6 mil per.

In doing so... Communicate to whole world that we are running the ball with CJ and Freddy.

I'd be okay with this.

[jimmifli]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

Couldnt agree more.

Scenario... Levitre signs elsewhere for $9 mil per.

We draft Warmack ($4 mil/year rookie deal) and sign Loadholt to play RT for $6 mil per.

In doing so... Communicate to whole world that we are running the ball with CJ and Freddy.

I'd be okay with this.

I'd even be fine with a second round pick on the second or third best G in the draft.

5 Olineman 4 defenders. You only get one double team. Wood, Levitre and Glenn all go straight up. RG and RT get the double, although teams will try to disguise their rush and get a single matchup against our weakest OL. Best case we get two more good OL so that everyone can play straight up, but even adding a real RT would be a huge benefit since it then allows the double to team to move around.

The line isn't bad, but it's very close to being very good.

[coastal]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

The line isn't bad, but it's very close to being very good.

Agreed. A little more focus here is an investment in our best asset... CJ.

[clumping platelets]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

Levitre will get $8 million/year from some team.....we would need to give him $9-10 million/season to avoid FA

[Mahdi]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

The best way to deal with Levitre is to transition tag him. This is exactly what this tag was made for. To tag a player whose value is unknown. By doing that we get to see how much other teams are willing to pay for him. If someone pays him 7-8 mil per and we don't like it we let him walk. If someone offers 5-6 and we do like it, we match and keep him.

I would be extremely surprised if Levitre isn't transition tagged.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

The best way to deal with Levitre is to transition tag him. This is exactly what this tag was made for. To tag a player whose value is unknown. By doing that we get to see how much other teams are willing to pay for him. If someone pays him 7-8 mil per and we don't like it we let him walk. If someone offers 5-6 and we do like it, we match and keep him.

I would be extremely surprised if Levitre isn't transition tagged.

That's a good point, I forgot about the Transition Tag. How often does that get used? I never seem to hear about it, it's always the Franchise Tag.

[Mahdi]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

That's a good point, I forgot about the Transition Tag. How often does that get used? I never seem to hear about it, it's always the Franchise Tag.

It doesn't get used much at all. But this is a situation that makes sense for it simply because you have a player that wants to test FA and we're unsure about his market value.

Spikes came to us through the transition tag.

[mightysimi]

Re: Hmmmm, another Levitre option.....

You do open yourself up to poison pill contracts like Seattle got burned with Hutchinson.