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Some of this has been said by me and others in other threads, but it's all related so I'm putting it all here.
First, there is plenty of blame to go around in this situation. From the team's perspective, there were articles on here that their original offer was $7 million. They lowballed him. Insulting a guy is not the best way to start off negotiations. Thayt being said, Byrd is a great safety and he deserves to get paid, but he's not the best S in the league and he doesn't deserve to be paid like that. His agent is a douche for putting that in his head and he may cost himself money by believing it. Initially, it looked like the Bills were just being cheap, but it's now clear that Byrd and Parker have blood on their hands too.
Second, we need to find a way to keep Byrd. There are a lot of reasons why this team has struggled, but IMO the biggest one is piss-poor drafting. Byrd and Levitre were two of our better draft picks despite the overall horrid drafting. Well, Levitre is gone and Byrd has one foot out the door. The team will NEVER win if we keep being the minor league team to develop players for the rest of the league.
Third, someone started a thread about why people think we don't have money to sign Byrd. I think the answer is simple: the team isn't ACTING like they have money. Yeah, Levitre got a lot of money- arguably too much. But the Bills haven't locked up Byrd and our free agency haul consists of:
Lawson- improvement but won't fix our LB problems on his own
Branch- decent player but not at a position of need
Kolb- stopgap and IMO not very good
This is a team with tons of holes not retaining talent and not adding FA's. It's fine ot say Levitre got too much money, but this isn't your money or my money- it's Ralph's and he's got more of it than any of us will ever have by a long shot. Saving money in and of itself isn't a good thing. The money saved has to somehow be reinvested into the team, and that isn't happening. Last I saw, the team has over $18 million in cap space, and that includes over $6 million for Byrd's tender. If he doesn't sign, the team has almost $25 million in cap space. With so many holes not addressed in FA and the inability to keep Levitre or lock up Byrd with that much cap space, there is simply no way to say this team is doing everything possible to win.
Finally, and I will admit this is speculation on my part, I have to wonder if the Byrd thing is all about saving money. Think about this: the team isn't going to compete for 2-3 years with or without Byrd. So, if we're not going to win anyway, why would management give Byrd the extra $2 million a year he wants? It's all going for naught. I think they may be trying to get out of paying him, even if it means signing a FA safety or giving a big contract to one of the guys we drafted this year, should they develop. It saves them 2-3 years of paying a top flight safety. I really hope this isn't their thought process, but it's a distinct possibility.
First, there is plenty of blame to go around in this situation. From the team's perspective, there were articles on here that their original offer was $7 million. They lowballed him. Insulting a guy is not the best way to start off negotiations. Thayt being said, Byrd is a great safety and he deserves to get paid, but he's not the best S in the league and he doesn't deserve to be paid like that. His agent is a douche for putting that in his head and he may cost himself money by believing it. Initially, it looked like the Bills were just being cheap, but it's now clear that Byrd and Parker have blood on their hands too.
Second, we need to find a way to keep Byrd. There are a lot of reasons why this team has struggled, but IMO the biggest one is piss-poor drafting. Byrd and Levitre were two of our better draft picks despite the overall horrid drafting. Well, Levitre is gone and Byrd has one foot out the door. The team will NEVER win if we keep being the minor league team to develop players for the rest of the league.
Third, someone started a thread about why people think we don't have money to sign Byrd. I think the answer is simple: the team isn't ACTING like they have money. Yeah, Levitre got a lot of money- arguably too much. But the Bills haven't locked up Byrd and our free agency haul consists of:
Lawson- improvement but won't fix our LB problems on his own
Branch- decent player but not at a position of need
Kolb- stopgap and IMO not very good
This is a team with tons of holes not retaining talent and not adding FA's. It's fine ot say Levitre got too much money, but this isn't your money or my money- it's Ralph's and he's got more of it than any of us will ever have by a long shot. Saving money in and of itself isn't a good thing. The money saved has to somehow be reinvested into the team, and that isn't happening. Last I saw, the team has over $18 million in cap space, and that includes over $6 million for Byrd's tender. If he doesn't sign, the team has almost $25 million in cap space. With so many holes not addressed in FA and the inability to keep Levitre or lock up Byrd with that much cap space, there is simply no way to say this team is doing everything possible to win.
Finally, and I will admit this is speculation on my part, I have to wonder if the Byrd thing is all about saving money. Think about this: the team isn't going to compete for 2-3 years with or without Byrd. So, if we're not going to win anyway, why would management give Byrd the extra $2 million a year he wants? It's all going for naught. I think they may be trying to get out of paying him, even if it means signing a FA safety or giving a big contract to one of the guys we drafted this year, should they develop. It saves them 2-3 years of paying a top flight safety. I really hope this isn't their thought process, but it's a distinct possibility.
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