"He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

[Guest]

Isn't the better question -- why do so many professional athletes want out of Buffalo?

Many of you who grew up in Buffalo are connected to it by family left Buffalo for greener pastures.

Perhaps it is the same for these athletes who have no connection to Buffalo other then the fact they were drafted and had no choice to be here to begin their careers.

Don't be offended.

Toronto is a world class city and the Raptors have had trouble keeping African-Americans who prefer to play in the US. They can attract European and South American talent. Crap, Bosh said the air smells different in Toronto.

Perhaps the talent drain is just Buffalo's reality.

I am still hoping a new energized owner will change the culture by cleaning shop and hiring only the best management and coaching staff.

[Albany,n.y.]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

It's a pretty easy answer. Players want a shot at a championship. When the Bills were perennial Super Bowl contenders players wanted to come here. When they are losing nobody wants to be here.

[gr8slayer]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

A winning culture cures all.

[BillsFever21]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Winning solves most of the problems. When you have been the toilet team of the league for the past 14 seasons players aren't lining up to play with your organization. Especially when most of the same bums who have been running the team during that time are still in charge.

Green Bay and other cities aren't the best places either but they can keep the players they want because they are a proven winning organization. If everything was just about the weather and/or city then everyone would begging to play for the Jags, Dolphins, Raiders, Chargers, Jets, etc. That isn't the case though with every player. Some just want a fair market contract and a chance to win. Especially when they have been stuck on a losing team since they entered the league and finally have a chance to go somewhere else.

[Guest]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

That is a major chicken and egg dilemma then.

[BillsFever21]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

There is something fundamentally wrong with a franchise when they continually can't keep most of their good players. That's how good teams are built by drafting well and keeping their own guys. Once the players see your team is heading in the right direction it makes it even easier to keep your own players or get free agents to sign with you with even a discounted price most of the time.

[OpIv37]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Uh, anyone read the Tim Graham article from last week? There's already a thread about it, but for simplicity's sake:

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/bills-coaches-want-to-change-training-staff-20140223

Complete and utter organizational dysfunction. Buffalo is a small city that has ****ty weather, rabid fans and lacks the glitz of cities like LA, NY, even Dallas or Philly.

Those things aren't deal-breakers on their own, but combine them with the worst run organization in pro sports, and then you have your answer as to why players don't want to be here.

[YardRat]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

I don't know why some people have the perception that Buffalo is the only, or at least one of a very few, teams that loses drafted players to free agency after their rookie contract. It happens to everybody, all the time.

I was looking over one web sites Top 50 free agents for 2014, and of those fifty 34 were between the ages of 25 and 28 (Byrd is 26). 20 of the 32 teams were represented. Stretch out to the Top 100 and the numbers were 57 players and 26 teams. Not counting any players that are tagged and play under that tag, I would expect at least half to change teams this season. And that's just from the highly ranked players.

This is a system the players wanted. They fought for it for many years. They didn't want it to foster loyalty to the team or fan base that drafted them, they wanted it to maximize their earning potential, regardless of who is signing their paycheck. Compounding the affect of free agency, of course, is the owner's counter to keep salaries from spiraling out of control too quickly with the salary cap. That's the part of the system they wanted, and they fought for. They didn't want it to keep all of their drafted players under one roof for the life of their careers, rather to keep costs in check relative to revenue. When a player's perceived self-worth doesn't mesh with the team's perceived value, players are going to move on.

Every team in the league loses good players to free agency. That's the way the system is set up to work. It isn't exclusive to Buffalo, even though whenever one of our own bolts or is set free it seems that way.

[BillsFever21]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Of course every team loses players that they drafted. There isn't a chance to keep all of your better players. The issue with Buffalo is they have rarely drafted many good players the past decade and when they did the majority of them were either traded or not re-signed.

Your better teams keep their top core of players and build around them through the draft and free agency. The Bills are just in a continuous rebuilding mode every year and that's why we're always a 5-7 win team give or take a game. For every good player or two that we draft we let another one or two walk. The good players we just got are always wiped out by the ones we lost. We're never building but only staying the same.

[YardRat]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Of course every team loses players that they drafted. There isn't a chance to keep all of your better players. The issue with Buffalo is they have rarely drafted many good players the past decade and when they did the majority of them were either traded or not re-signed.

Your better teams keep their top core of players and build around them through the draft and free agency. The Bills are just in a continuous rebuilding mode every year and that's why we're always a 5-7 win team give or take a game. For every good player or two that we draft we let another one or two walk. The good players we just got are always wiped out by the ones we lost. We're never building but only staying the same.

That's the biggest issue right there. Piss-poor drafting, and a few ill-advised trades that cost draft picks in search for that elusive franchise QB has hampered this franchise more than anything over the last fourteen seasons. Hell, the number of players that Buffalo did draft that were worth keeping at the contract they thought they deserved could be counted on one hand, and unfortunately for us that list actually includes a couple of UDFA's. People are so desperate to keep one of their own, because there have been so few instances to accomplish that, that they are even willing to pay elite money to a couple of players that aren't elite, and don't play elite positions.

[OpIv37]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

I don't know why some people have the perception that Buffalo is the only, or at least one of a very few, teams that loses drafted players to free agency after their rookie contract. It happens to everybody, all the time.

I was looking over one web sites Top 50 free agents for 2014, and of those fifty 34 were between the ages of 25 and 28 (Byrd is 26). 20 of the 32 teams were represented. Stretch out to the Top 100 and the numbers were 57 players and 26 teams. Not counting any players that are tagged and play under that tag, I would expect at least half to change teams this season. And that's just from the highly ranked players.

This is a system the players wanted. They fought for it for many years. They didn't want it to foster loyalty to the team or fan base that drafted them, they wanted it to maximize their earning potential, regardless of who is signing their paycheck. Compounding the affect of free agency, of course, is the owner's counter to keep salaries from spiraling out of control too quickly with the salary cap. That's the part of the system they wanted, and they fought for. They didn't want it to keep all of their drafted players under one roof for the life of their careers, rather to keep costs in check relative to revenue. When a player's perceived self-worth doesn't mesh with the team's perceived value, players are going to move on.

Every team in the league loses good players to free agency. That's the way the system is set up to work. It isn't exclusive to Buffalo, even though whenever one of our own bolts or is set free it seems that way.

Oh please.

First, that's a snapshot in time. It doesn't show trends. And it's subjective because it's one site's opinion of the top 50.

Second, how many of those players are leaving their team because of a lack of cap room? That's not the case in Buffalo, and hasn't been since the early 2000's.


You can't honestly believe that every team in the NFL loses players they want to keep when they have the money to keep them at the same rate Buffalo does. If you do, you better have some better evidence than this year's FA list.

[BillsFever21]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Oh please.

First, that's a snapshot in time. It doesn't show trends. And it's subjective because it's one site's opinion of the top 50.

Second, how many of those players are leaving their team because of a lack of cap room? That's not the case in Buffalo, and hasn't been since the early 2000's.


You can't honestly believe that every team in the NFL loses players they want to keep when they have the money to keep them at the same rate Buffalo does. If you do, you better have some better evidence than this year's FA list.

Either that or make a good PR person for the Bills when trying to explain to the defenders of Ralph's wallet why every Top 5-10 player we let leave wasn't elite or "wanted to much money" because he wanted more money then some all time great before him. At the same time being 20 million under the salary cap once again.

[YardRat]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Oh please.

First, that's a snapshot in time. It doesn't show trends. And it's subjective because it's one site's opinion of the top 50.

Second, how many of those players are leaving their team because of a lack of cap room? That's not the case in Buffalo, and hasn't been since the early 2000's.


You can't honestly believe that every team in the NFL loses players they want to keep when they have the money to keep them at the same rate Buffalo does. If you do, you better have some better evidence than this year's FA list.

Yes, it's a snapshot in time. Yes it's subjective, that's why I was specific about 'one web site'. Why don't you tell me how many teams don't have the cap room to re-sign their own?

If you think Buffalo has drafted so well since 2000 that they have let 'keepers' go at a rate higher than the rest of the league, well, then, I just can't help you there.

[YardRat]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Seriously...if you want to be picky about the subject, name five players that the Bills drafted in the last 10-14 years that they let walk in free agency that should have been paid. Hell, even though I won't agree I won't even argue against Levitre.

[OpIv37]

Re: "He Just Wanted to Get Out of Buffalo. Screw HimIf He Does Not Want to be Here."

Yes, it's a snapshot in time. Yes it's subjective, that's why I was specific about 'one web site'. Why don't you tell me how many teams don't have the cap room to re-sign their own?

If you think Buffalo has drafted so well since 2000 that they have let 'keepers' go at a rate higher than the rest of the league, well, then, I just can't help you there.

Um, I never said that Buffalo drafted well. In fact, my criticism of this team's drafting is well documented on this website.

That has nothing to do with keeping the few good draft picks that they did have.