Rumor: Bills will tag Byrd if they can't get him signed

[X-Era]

From Ian Rapoport.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/437296003214233601

Smart move IMO. Trade him if you want after tagging him but screw letting him walk for nothing.

[Bangarang]

Yeah why wouldn't we?

[better days]

Rumor? Hasn't everyone on this board said the same thing since forever?

Of course the Bills will tag Byrd if they can't get him signed.

[kishoph]

Wow Ian Rapoport is really going out on a limb with that prediction.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Whaley - "JB, before we get started negotiating here, you need to understand that we intend to tag you if we don't come to a long term solution"
Byrd - "Duh!!"

[X-Era]

Rumor? Hasn't everyone on this board said the same thing since forever?

Of course the Bills will tag Byrd if they can't get him signed.Yes rumor. This is the first comment from a source that I've seen.

Yes, it seems like an obvious move. But the Bills will be committing 8+ mill to him if they do it. They can't bank on trading him so they have to be willing to pay him the 8+ next year.

[X-Era]

Whaley - "JB, before we get started negotiating here, you need to understand that we intend to tag you if we don't come to a long term solution"
Byrd - "Duh!!"
Exactly... So we're willing to pay him 8+ mill next year but not long term? Only reason Byrd doesn't take 8+ mill per with us is if he doesn't want to be a Bill.

[BuffaloRedleg]

I feel like ive never heard of a guy getting franchised two years in a row before

[Mindbender]

I feel like ive never heard of a guy getting franchised two years in a row before

Pretty sure it happens. Didn't the Chiefs do it to Dwayne Bowe?

[YardRat]

Of course, but this is good news regardless. If he stays we basically get him playing in a contract year again, which is always a plus.

Yeah, that really worked well this year with him bailing on training camp, missing the first five games with his tender feet, and bailing again against New England to end the season. Lemme look real quick and see how many rookie QB's we face this season...that will be the number of picks he gets.

Won't be long and the 'Byrd's agent Parker has been given permission to talk to other teams about a trade/contract' reports start getting booted about.

[X-Era]

Yeah, that really worked well this year with him bailing on training camp, missing the first five games with his tender feet, and bailing again against New England to end the season. Lemme look real quick and see how many rookie QB's we face this season...that will be the number of picks he gets.

Won't be long and the 'Byrd's agent Parker has been given permission to talk to other teams about a trade/contract' reports start getting booted about.
I'm fine with moving him.

The only hesitation I'd have is opening a hole and needing to fill it. I want to use our picks and cash on upgrading not replacing. But it's just one guy.

[Mace]

Geez, here we go again, sign and trade agreement or you just blew multiple games on gimpy feet and bad will and need get a safety anyway because the guy doesn't want to be here.

You get a crap pick and a scrub for a 6 games of haha-goodbye, nothing for you jerks. But you get a crap pick and a scrub instead of 6 games of wow, and we didn't make the playoffs again.

Get him out of here.

[better days]

Yes rumor. This is the first comment from a source that I've seen.

Yes, it seems like an obvious move. But the Bills will be committing 8+ mill to him if they do it. They can't bank on trading him so they have to be willing to pay him the 8+ next year.

Rapoport is not a source. And if the Bills do tag him but can't trade him & they do not want to pay the 8+, they could always remove the tag.

[Mace]

You know, I hate to bring this up again but I will because it annoys me. Ballhawk wondersafetyman Byrd's stats from last year compare to journeyman get-him-outta-here Jim Leonhard.

Get him out of here.

[Skooby]

Retaining a return is our only goal, Byrd is a scorned player who will not return at any reasonable cost to Buffalo.

[Mace]

Retaining a return is our only goal, Byrd is a scorned player who will not return at any reasonable cost to Buffalo.

Whoa, scorned you say ?

[Skooby]

Whoa, scorned you say ?

A talented man who could make a huge difference on our team ongoing but convinced by his agent we've disrespected his ability to be paid & we must be punished. Does this even reasonably sound like a guy we want to have around the team? Could Byrd of been prepared for the last regular season without a need for missing those all important first 5 games ? What did he do to be prepared or did he want to make a point of his scorn ?

[Meathead]

byrd has been flat out stupid about this whole thing. coulda been a rich man with a long term deal paying him as the third highest safety in football. but that wasnt good enough. just had to be the highest paid safety ever. willing to risk every single cent of his long term pay to get it too. stupid

[Night Train]

I feel like ive never heard of a guy getting franchised two years in a row before

HOF OT Walter Jones of Seattle was franchised 3 straight years 2002-2004 before signing a long term deal. Rules have changed since then.

[X-Era]

Rapoport is not a source. And if the Bills do tag him but can't trade him & they do not want to pay the 8+, they could always remove the tag.
Rapoport said a source told him this. That makes it as legit as most of the stuff you find on the net. I labeled it rumor for a reason. Guys like Shefter have been labeled as a source before. If anything I was conservative.

Even if it's obvious information it's news worthy.

[THRILLHO]

If we tag him, what is the date that we can no longer sign him to a long term deal?

[BuffaloBlakely14]

If we tag him, what is the date that we can no longer sign him to a long term deal?

I think last year it was something like July 15th.

[Ed]

I remember reading an article last year that claimed trade interest in Byrd was "lukewarm". If that's true, I don't see how they're going to trade him this year if they couldn't last year.

Is there a team out there willing to give Byrd the huge contract he wants and give up a draft pick or picks to do so?

[stuckincincy]

I remember reading an article last year that claimed trade interest in Byrd was "lukewarm". If that's true, I don't see how they're going to trade him this year if they couldn't last year.

Is there a team out there willing to give Byrd the huge contract he wants and give up a draft pick or picks to do so?

Good post. Byrd held out then disclosed an injury, also.

[Buffalogic]

Please sign this guy. We are so close to having a dominant defense, I don't understand why we would want to mess with that. Just pay him fair market value, like a Goldson contract in Tampa. He's a better safety as well. This is not a player we should let slip through our fingers.

[YardRat]

Please sign this guy. We are so close to having a dominant defense, I don't understand why we would want to mess with that. Just pay him fair market value, like a Goldson contract in Tampa. He's a better safety as well. This is not a player we should let slip through our fingers.

He's too slow to play cover 1.

He bailed on the combine, but his pro day 40 of 4.68 would've ranked him 20th out of 24 safeties.

[swiper]

He's too slow to play cover 1.

He bailed on the combine, but his pro day 40 of 4.68 would've ranked him 20th out of 24 safeties.

And Jadeveon Clowney would've run circles around him.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/24/jadeveon-clowney-makes-a-mockery-of-the-40/

[Turf]

I feel a case of plantier fasilitize coming on.....

[BillsFever21]

I would hope they would tag him WHEN they can't sign him. It would be a monumental failure for the Bills to tag him a second season instead of just paying him last year. They would have 15 million tied up in him when they could've signed him for about 22 million guaranteed to begin with. That's the Bills front office for you though.

My guess is they will tag and trade him to another team. They will be lucky to get a 2nd/early 3rd for him though. Not because he isn't a good player but because they have already screwed up the negotiations so bad that every team knows that something needs to be done with him.

[JoeMama]

Jairus Byrd is universally regarded as somewhere between the #2 FS and #5 FS in the league.

So let's run him out of town and/or tag him in order to immediately trade him away.

Makes sense...

[X-Era]

Jairus Byrd is universally regarded as somewhere between the #2 FS and #5 FS in the league.

So let's run him out of town and/or tag him in order to immediately trade him away.

Makes sense...Please don't speak for the Martians or Vulcans. It's a violation of the galactic terms of service.

[gr8slayer]

I'm 100% behind this. Best case scenario, we either re-sign him or trade him to another team for a high pick. Worst case scenario, we get one more year of one of the premier FS's in the league.

[GingerP]

He's too slow to play cover 1.

He bailed on the combine, but his pro day 40 of 4.68 would've ranked him 20th out of 24 safeties.

Right... and Jerry Rice ran a 4.7 on his Pro Day. Then he went out and averaged 19 yards-a-catch as a rookie.

There is a lot more to football than raw speed. There is reading the play, reacting quickly and playing smart... anticipation is a big part of safety play. Some guys run fast but play slow, while others don't run as well but play fast.

[Skooby]

Worst case scenario, we get one more year of one of the premier FS's in the league.

Whenever he decides to show up & if healthy enough to play, he came in immediately unable to play last season.

[CoolBreeze]

If the guy doesn't want to be here, as several have reported, why would you want him? It certainly seems like he doesn't want to be in Buffalo at any price. If this is the case, then they must get something in return.
Jairus Byrd is universally regarded as somewhere between the #2 FS and #5 FS in the league.

So let's run him out of town and/or tag him in order to immediately trade him away.

Makes sense...

[Bill Cody]

Jairus Byrd is universally regarded as somewhere between the #2 FS and #5 FS in the league.

So let's run him out of town and/or tag him in order to immediately trade him away.

Makes sense...

How are we running him out of town? We offered to make him a very rich man last year and we did not criticize him when he faked injury and sat out. Now according to this article he wants out of Buffalo. You make no sense.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

How are we running him out of town? We offered to make him a very rich man last year and we did not criticize him when he faked injury and sat out. Now according to this article he wants out of Buffalo. You make no sense.

I love that this fan speculation is now undisputed fact.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Yeah, that really worked well this year with him bailing on training camp, missing the first five games with his tender feet, and bailing again against New England to end the season. Lemme look real quick and see how many rookie QB's we face this season...that will be the number of picks he gets.

Won't be long and the 'Byrd's agent Parker has been given permission to talk to other teams about a trade/contract' reports start getting booted about.

Huh?

[Buffalogic]

He doesn't need to be blazing fast. Polumalu was never a speedster. It's not like these guys are corners. They need brains more than anything and Byrd knows what to do out there. It's that simple

[Bill Cody]

I love that this fan speculation is now undisputed fact.


Not fact but yes that's what I believe. And let's be honest here: we could have a video confession from Byrd and you Byrd fan boys would still give him a pass.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Not fact but yes that's what I believe.

And JoeMama doesn't believe it, which is why his post makes sense.


And let's be honest here: we could have a video confession from Byrd and you Byrd fan boys would still give him a pass.

Byrd's haters have said his INTs don't count because they were supposedly thrown right at him by bad QBs, his Pro Bowl bid doesn't count because it's a popularity contest, his All-Pro nod doesn't count because too many safeties were selected, and so on.

[Bill Cody]

And JoeMama doesn't believe it, which is why his post makes sense.

sure ok. Well we do know he wasn't happy with the Bills offer to make him a top 5 paid safety and refused to sign. We also know he wasn't happy about being franchised because he refused to sign the tender. And we also know he played through the same foot "injury" the prior year. We also know that he could sit out of games and still get another year of service time as long as he played at least 6 games. And we know that he sat out of 5 games and we never heard a thing about the foot being a problem after his return. Feel free to draw your own conclusions from those facts. I have.

[YardRat]

Please don't speak for the Martians or Vulcans. It's a violation of the galactic terms of service.

Live long, and prosper.

[YardRat]

He doesn't need to be blazing fast. Polumalu was never a speedster. It's not like these guys are corners. They need brains more than anything and Byrd knows what to do out there. It's that simple

Oh, hell no.

A cover 1 free safety most certainly needs straight line speed to go along with brains.

Polamalu ran a 4.33 at the USC pro day, after posting an official 4.5 at the combine. Both blow Byrd out of the water.

[Buffalogic]

Oh, hell no.

A cover 1 free safety most certainly needs straight line speed to go along with brains.

Polamalu ran a 4.33 at the USC pro day, after posting an official 4.5 at the combine. Both blow Byrd out of the water.I'm not going to let a 40 time poison me against real NFL numbers.

I don't get you on this Yardrat. We usually have similar views, but I can't understand why you are so against Byrd extension. The salary cap is over 132 million now. He's a top player at his position. It's a no brainer

[BillsFever21]

Nothing like still bringing up 40 times from 5 years ago at the combine as a reason not to keep a player. Forget about all the plays and turnovers he has created since then. His 40 time wasn't blazing fast so he obviously sucks.

Maybe it's a reincarnation of Al Davis or something. He drafted all kinds of players with fast 40 times and we see how that worked out. His 40 time didn't deter him from being a high 2nd round pick either.

[SpikedLemonade]

I assume the Bills will delay slapping the tag on until the last possible second next week in the hopes they sign him first. So the announcement of the tag will be the sign of failure to sign. Of course, they can still negotiate after the tag but the longer this goes, the worse it gets.

[YardRat]

I'm not going to let a 40 time poison me against real NFL numbers.

I don't get you on this Yardrat. We usually have similar views, but I can't understand why you are so against Byrd extension. The salary cap is over 132 million now. He's a top player at his position. It's a no brainer

I am against extending Byrd because...

1--First and foremost, he is too slow to play cover1 FS (which he only did on his majority of snaps last season, all of his others were in a predominantly based cover2). I have said Byrd is more valuable to a C2 defense than C1. I also question his ability to read and react to the offense out of a C1 shell, but have admitted I don't know if that comes from a true lack in ability or if he was putting himself out of position because he was mostly looking to make the big plays and attempt to let stats drive up his value.

2--What the team has to spend is irrelevant. You shouldn't spend 20 bucks on a decent steak just because that's what you have in your pocket, when with a little bit of shopping you get steak, potatoes, a veggie and a beer for the same amount.

3--He's not an elite, Top 2 or 3 safety and hasn't earned that paycheck. Top 5, probably, for a cover2 team...his mis-fit in a cover1 delutes his value to this defense.

4--His statistics are skewed by a great rookie season, considering over 40% of his INT's and 33% of his PD's came in that one year.

5--Very simply, he's a ****head that I don't want on the team. He obviously has a 'me-first' mindset, he (supposedly) passed up a very good offer to hold out for #1 money, pouted when tagged and didn't show for TC, bailed on his team for the first few games of the season, and bailed on them early against NE in the year's finale. Screw that, give me an inexperienced newbie that wants to play and has something to prove over a self-inflated egotist that is going to lay down on the team.

Forty times aside, just from watching the film it's pretty easy to tell Polamalu and Byrd don't belong in the same sentence.

[better days]

Well, it is no longer a rumor.

Whaley has come out & said the Bills have to leave every option on the table open.

In other words, if they can't get Byrd signed, they will tag him again.

[BillsFever21]

I am against extending Byrd because...


Forty times aside, just from watching the film it's pretty easy to tell Polamalu and Byrd don't belong in the same sentence.

That and almost every other safety to ever play in the NFL. If that's the bar you're setting then you will be waiting a while. Even as good as Earl Thomas has been he still isn't a Troy Polamalu.

Everyone in the NFL circles and all the scouts and analysts all think of Byrd as a great player that needs to be gameplanned against. Basically almost everyone outside of a few guys on a message board because god forbid Byrd wanted paid. But then again nobody can ever get Polamalu money because he was the best in his prime in this era. That means the cutoff point is 8 million for any safety for at least the next decade.

[jdaltroy5]

Byrd is ranked as the #4 best available FA under the category of "difference makers".

They said he rivals Earl Thomas as the best cover safety in the game.

Not bad for a slow, lazy guy with poor recognition skills who gets lucky interceptions against rookies.

[BillsFever21]

Byrd is ranked as the #4 best available FA under the category of "difference makers".

They said he rivals Earl Thomas as the best cover safety in the game.

Not bad for a slow, lazy guy with poor recognition skills who gets lucky interceptions against rookies.

If a lot of his interceptions came against rookies it's because veteran players know better then to throw his way. There is a reason why QB's don't test him that often.

[YardRat]

That and almost every other safety to ever play in the NFL. If that's the bar you're setting then you will be waiting a while. Even as good as Earl Thomas has been he still isn't a Troy Polamalu.

Everyone in the NFL circles and all the scouts and analysts all think of Byrd as a great player that needs to be gameplanned against. Basically almost everyone outside of a few guys on a message board because god forbid Byrd wanted paid. But then again nobody can ever get Polamalu money because he was the best in his prime in this era. That means the cutoff point is 8 million for any safety for at least the next decade.

First of all, Wagon Circler brought up Byrd vs Polamalu and I responded.

Second, yes Polamalu and a few others are the bar for 'elite' status...certainly not in terms of contract numbers only, because of course those are going to inflate over time. Compensation relative to performance, and even potential? Absolutely.

Just as an aside, Polamalu has spent most of his career at SS anyway.

[YardRat]

Byrd is ranked as the #4 best available FA under the category of "difference makers".

They said he rivals Earl Thomas as the best cover safety in the game.

Not bad for a slow, lazy guy with poor recognition skills who gets lucky interceptions against rookies.

Who said?

I'm not disagreeing that conventional wisdom ranks Byrd as one of the best, btw...that just makes it a generally accepted opinion, not the truth. Also, it isn't anybody's fault that the vast majority of his picks have come against rookies and scrubs, but it is a fact.

[YardRat]

If a lot of his interceptions came against rookies it's because veteran players know better then to throw his way. There is a reason why QB's don't test him that often.

You speak like he is a CB, which he is not. The only reason QB's 'don't throw his way' is because, very simply, they read the coverage and of course they are not going to throw to an area of the field that is occupied by more defenders. That in itself doesn't make Byrd elite, it just means he's taking up space. An average FS does that. Especially in cover1, if the FS makes the wrong read, makes the wrong break at the wrong time, it opens up the other side of the field for the QB and puts the FS out of position to make a play, especially a slow one.