How's Andy Levitre doing in Tennessee?

[swiper]

Titans' Andy Levitre has plenty to prove


Jim Wyatt (http://www.tennessean.com/staff/9383/jim-wyatt/), jwyatt@tennessean.com11:28 a.m. CDT July 10, 2015

Andy Levitre (http://www.tennessean.com/search/Andy%20Levitre/) doesn't make excuses or hide from the facts.

In a bottom-line business, the seventh-year pro knows he hasn't lived up to expectations at left guard in the first two years of his whopping contract with the Titans (http://www.tennessean.com/sports/titans/).
Getting back to top form, he said, is a matter of personal pride.

"Knowing what I am capable of doing, and knowing I have done it in the past, I want to be able to get back to where I need to be to be successful. And to have that personal accomplishment means more to me than anything, and I think that will show to the coaches and the guys upstairs," Levitre said.

"What they saw in me when they brought me in here, I am sure they want to see it now. ... I want to get back to that level just as much as they want to see me do it."
<aside itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" class="wide single-photo" style="margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 25px; margin-left: 60px;">http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3dfcadff39fbfceab2571497761c1c1266648537/c=265-0-4627-3280&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/07/10/Nashville/B9318017687Z.1_20150710012042_000_GEUBAE0A6.1-0.jpg
Titans guard Andy Levitre was healthy during offseason practices. (Photo: Mark Zaleski / AP)
</aside>

The Titans signed Levitre to a $46.8 million contract in March 2013 after four strong seasons with the Buffalo Bills. The deal included a $10.5 million signing bonus and averages $7.8 million per year.

But he struggled in 2013 following offseason knee surgery. He then had a hip injury that required postseason surgery. Before training camp last year, he had an emergency appendectomy (http://www.tennessean.com/story/titansinsider/2014/07/24/andy-levitre-titans-appendix-nfl/13126681/). His technique and his play suffered.

The good news for the Titans: Levitre, 29, was healthy this offseason.

"I think this is the best I have felt since I have been here, health-wise. I feel like I know where I need to be to be successful and I feel like I know what I need to do to get there," he said. "Fighting through the injuries the last few years, I could have worked as hard as I wanted but I felt like my body was trying to run the course of trying to heal up, and now that is in the past."

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2015/07/10/titans-andy-levitre-ken-whisenhunt-bills/29949815/

[Meathead]

ralph was cheap

[Goobylal]

ralph was cheap
Thankfully, in that case.

[better days]

Andy Levitre has a Derrick Dockery like stench.

[Meathead]

well dockery went back to dc for a normal contract, maybe ...

[BLeonard]

The real question is: Do the Bills have any players at the position that are better?

If the answer is no, then the Bills shouldn't have let him go until the answer was yes.

Funny how everyone is so quick to dog players that were here, yet ***** that the Bills need to upgrade the same position that said player plays.

-Bill

[Mace]

There's a lot to be said about the right people being in the right places at the right times with the right coaches.

[Oaf]

How are we looking at guard post-Levitre?

[YardRat]

You can pay top dollar for hamburger and call it filet mignon if you like, but it's still hamburger. The issue hasn't been the lack of hamburger being available at market price, the issue is the team has still been shopping for chicken and fish instead.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

There's a lot to be said about the right people being in the right places at the right times with the right coaches.

And being healthy. One of the reasons I was adamant about signing him was that he had no injury history with the Bills, and then he promptly collapses into a million pieces.

[HHURRICANE]

Jason Peters sucks.

Wait....actually he doesn't.

[better days]

Jason Peters sucks.

Wait....actually he doesn't.

When HEALTHY.

[OpIv37]

ralph was cheap

Who did Ralph add that was equal or better?

Ralph absolutely was cheap.

[better days]

Who did Ralph add that was equal or better?

Ralph absolutely was cheap.

I don't think Ralph was in the scouting department.

I guess you could blame him for having a CRAPPY scouting department though.

Whaley has said he wants his scouting department to make a name for themselves.

He wants the Bills scouting department to be known as one of the very best in the NFL.

And I like the sound of that myself.

[Goobylal]

Just because Levitre was better than who replaced him, it doesn't mean you give him a ridiculous contract. Letting him go was the right decision. Not having a decent replacement was the mistake.

[gr8slayer]

Who cares?

[OpIv37]

Just because Levitre was better than who replaced him, it doesn't mean you give him a ridiculous contract. Letting him go was the right decision. Not having a decent replacement was the mistake.

But see, that's my point. Ralph let a lot of guys walk, and sometimes it was the right decision and sometimes the wrong one. But the cap savings got stuffed in Ralph's mattress and was not re-invested in the team.

This happened consistently throughout Ralph's tenure.

That's why he was cheap.

[Goobylal]

But see, that's my point. Ralph let a lot of guys walk, and sometimes it was the right decision and sometimes the wrong one. But the cap savings got stuffed in Ralph's mattress and was not re-invested in the team.

This happened consistently throughout Ralph's tenure.

That's why he was cheap.
He spent money on players. I don't think they were in the bottom half of payroll from the mid-90's until the 2006 CBA. It was more a matter of bad personnel decisions.

And he had to stuff money in his mattress to keep the team in Buffalo and tix prices low.

[HHURRICANE]

He spent money on players. I don't think they were in the bottom half of payroll from the mid-90's until the 2006 CBA. It was more a matter of bad personnel decisions.

And he had to stuff money in his mattress to keep the team in Buffalo and tix prices low.

This idea that he had to keep ticket prices low to keep the team in Buffalo is an illusion that he created. Buffalo can support the ticket prices if the product on the field is worth the money.

Ralph was cheap...end of story. Pegula buys the team to keep in Buffalo and I haven't heard him whine once about keeping the team in Buffalo or how it can't be financially vaible.

I believe Ralph did more to hurt the Bills staying in Buffalo than keeping him here. The Toronto deal was his idea and was insane.

[better days]

This idea that he had to keep ticket prices low to keep the team in Buffalo is an illusion that he created. Buffalo can support the ticket prices if the product on the field is worth the money.

Ralph was cheap...end of story. Pegula buys the team to keep in Buffalo and I haven't heard him whine once about keeping the team in Buffalo or how it can't be financially vaible.

I believe Ralph did more to hurt the Bills staying in Buffalo than keeping him here. The Toronto deal was his idea and was insane.

The Toronto Idea more likely came from Brandon or Overdorf, not Ralph.

But before he died, Ralph made sure the Bills would not be MOVED to Toronto or anywhere else after he died.

Ralph signed a lease that would keep the Bills in Buffalo no matter who bought the team.

All Buffalo Bills fans should be forever grateful to Ralph for that.

[Meathead]

once again, ticket sales dont drive the big revenue in the nfl, tv rights and luxury services do

[GvilleBills]

The smart move was to not match that Tennessee offer.

The goof was not resigning Rhinehart.

[justasportsfan]

The real question is: Do the Bills have any players at the position that are better?

If the answer is no, then the Bills shouldn't have let him go until the answer was yes.

Funny how everyone is so quick to dog players that were here, yet ***** that the Bills need to upgrade the same position that said player plays.

-Bill
At this moment in time one can argue Incognito. He was a probowler prior to his bullying problem. Levitre is as much as a question mark as Incognito .Difference is ,Incognito is cheap.

[justasportsfan]

But see, that's my point. Ralph let a lot of guys walk, and sometimes it was the right decision and sometimes the wrong one. But the cap savings got stuffed in Ralph's mattress and was not re-invested in the team.

This happened consistently throughout Ralph's tenure.

That's why he was cheap.

If Ralph overpaid for Levitre, you'd be crying that we're over valuing players. :shakeno:

Just accept it, Ralph was right in not overpaying for Levitre and Byrd. End of story.

[better days]

At this moment in time one can argue Incognito. He was a probowler prior to his bullying problem. Levitre is as much as a question mark as Incognito .Difference is ,Incognito is cheap.

Another difference is Levitre has never been a Pro Bowl player.

He was above average in Buffalo, but Eric Wood may have played a large part in how good Levitre looked in Buffalo.

[Goobylal]

This idea that he had to keep ticket prices low to keep the team in Buffalo is an illusion that he created. Buffalo can support the ticket prices if the product on the field is worth the money.

Ralph was cheap...end of story. Pegula buys the team to keep in Buffalo and I haven't heard him whine once about keeping the team in Buffalo or how it can't be financially vaible.

I believe Ralph did more to hurt the Bills staying in Buffalo than keeping him here. The Toronto deal was his idea and was insane.
We'll agree to disagree but you're way off here. He was cheap until the SB era team and for a time after the 2006 CBA. And he was the sole reason the team stayed in Buffalo all these years, when he could have pulled a Modell and left.

- - - Updated - - -


This idea that he had to keep ticket prices low to keep the team in Buffalo is an illusion that he created. Buffalo can support the ticket prices if the product on the field is worth the money.

Ralph was cheap...end of story. Pegula buys the team to keep in Buffalo and I haven't heard him whine once about keeping the team in Buffalo or how it can't be financially vaible.

I believe Ralph did more to hurt the Bills staying in Buffalo than keeping him here. The Toronto deal was his idea and was insane.
Definitely Incognito. And possibly Miller.

At this moment in time one can argue Incognito. He was a probowler prior to his bullying problem. Levitre is as much as a question mark as Incognito .Difference is ,Incognito is cheap.

[YardRat]

But see, that's my point. Ralph let a lot of guys walk, and sometimes it was the right decision and sometimes the wrong one. But the cap savings got stuffed in Ralph's mattress and was not re-invested in the team.

This happened consistently throughout Ralph's tenure.

That's why he was cheap.

Bull****. Plain and simple.

[swiper]

Who cares?

Every Bills fan should, you dolt.

[swiper]

It was more important that the Bills keep Joe D'Alessandres. He made very player along that line better.

[DynaPaul]

Dodged that bullet.

[Crisis]

Meanwhile, Jason Peters is probably the LT for the all-decade team.

What did we get for him again?

[HHURRICANE]

If you want to thank Ralph for bringing the Bills to Buffalo...all for it.

If you want to think he wasn't cheap that's delusional. We have the longest playoff drought in the league for a reason. If we had handled Jason Peters correctly by renegotiating earlier, not later, he'd still be a Bill. I believe ESPN has him rated 40th in the top 100.

[YardRat]

If you want to thank Ralph for bringing the Bills to Buffalo...all for it.

If you want to think he wasn't cheap that's delusional. We have the longest playoff drought in the league for a reason. If we had handled Jason Peters correctly by renegotiating earlier, not later, he'd still be a Bill. I believe ESPN has him rated 40th in the top 100.

So Ralph was the one negotiating contracts?

[Topas]

So Ralph was the one negotiating contracts?

No, but he was the one that cleared the money and gave the FO the cash to cap, or whatever the name of that concept was.

[better days]

Meanwhile, Jason Peters is probably the LT for the all-decade team.

What did we get for him again?

Eric Wood. Better than nothing.

[Ed]

If you want to thank Ralph for bringing the Bills to Buffalo...all for it.

If you want to think he wasn't cheap that's delusional. We have the longest playoff drought in the league for a reason. If we had handled Jason Peters correctly by renegotiating earlier, not later, he'd still be a Bill. I believe ESPN has him rated 40th in the top 100.
They did negotiate early by signing him to a 5 year extension a couple years before he would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency. He was only 2 years into his 5 year deal when he held out and demanded a new deal.

[Pinkerton Security]

The smart move was to not match that Tennessee offer.

The goof was not resigning Rhinehart.

THIS

[trapezeus]

maybe ralph was never cheap. he was just loyal to the wrong people. the fact we still have brandon, overdorf and littman connected is what is maddening. other teams would have parted with that power structure by 2007 and realized, "they've given me a bad coach, bad players, no good FA. my team sucks because of them" but ralph stuck by them.

and was that because he was loyal, or the guys could keep spinning the yarn that the contracts kept running the team cheap and brandon's moves made everyone think in july that just a few things needed to go right? So it all worked out?

Either way, i think after TD, ralph didn't care. He just felt burned for trying as hard as he did from 1990 to 2003 and nothing worked. at that point, i think he just wanted the team to operate with as little headache as humanly possible and leave his team to the highest bidder and have his will followed to provide some benefits to buffalo and leave his family in good hands.

the fact he could fire bill polian but keep promoting brandon makes him seem foolish despite bringing football to buffalo.

[CleveSteve]

17447

You can pay top dollar for hamburger and call it filet mignon if you like, but it's still hamburger. The issue hasn't been the lack of hamburger being available at market price, the issue is the team has still been shopping for chicken and fish instead.

[CleveSteve]

Meanwhile, Jason Peters is probably the LT for the all-decade team.
http://www.dawgpoundnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Joe-Thomas-NFL.jpg

Joe the hut thinks you funny.

[CleveSteve]

I agree with OP. This turned out to be a great move for the Bills to let Levitre walk. That cap space allowed you guys to build and retain one of the top DL in football.