Michael82
01-24-2003, 03:48 PM
Here are highlights from Bills GM Tom Donahoe's appearance on the Howard Simon Show Friday afternoon on WNSA:
Simon: There was a story in Pittsburgh this week about the Steelers contacting Dick LeBeau. Is he still someone you're having conversations with that you'd like to add to this staff?
TD: We are going to sit down with Dick LeBeau probably within the next week to ten days and talk about exactly what his role would be if we come here. I think that's the next phase that has to be done and it has to be done by the coaches. It's not something that I want to be involved in. There has to be a fit and it has to be something that's desireable to Dick LeBeau and something that would work with our coaches. We like to think that we're still in the mix with Coach LeBeau and he's interested. I have talked to him and he's expressed that to me, so we'll see in the next couple of weeks where it ends up.
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Simon: Would you anticipate going after a big name free agent?
TD: Our philosophy is to make our team better and we have to look at all the ways to do it. We'll look at free agency. We'll look at people that might be able to be acquired in trades. We'll look at the draft. The one thing that fans have to remember is that free agency is a long period of time, it's not just the first week. Sometimes you're better off going out quickly and trying to sign somebody and sometimes you're better off waiting to see what the landscape looks like. I think the biggest key is that you have to be flexible. I don't think you can box yourself into saying "we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that." Things change a lot of times once it begins. A lot of guys will become available that are not available at the beginning of free agency because of the cap, because of their salaries, because of contracts. You just have to be patient and work your way through the process.
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Simon: What do you think of a guy like Spikes or Colvin if you were able to make a play for them?
TD: I'm not allowed to talk about them. Once the free agency period begins I can discuss them but before that time it's a tampering issue with the league. A lot of these players that the fans think are going to be out there may be re-signed or tagged by their team, so until free agency starts we're not sure what the list is going to look like.
FOR MORE...
CLICK HERE (http://www.empiresports.com/billsreport.shtml)
Simon: There was a story in Pittsburgh this week about the Steelers contacting Dick LeBeau. Is he still someone you're having conversations with that you'd like to add to this staff?
TD: We are going to sit down with Dick LeBeau probably within the next week to ten days and talk about exactly what his role would be if we come here. I think that's the next phase that has to be done and it has to be done by the coaches. It's not something that I want to be involved in. There has to be a fit and it has to be something that's desireable to Dick LeBeau and something that would work with our coaches. We like to think that we're still in the mix with Coach LeBeau and he's interested. I have talked to him and he's expressed that to me, so we'll see in the next couple of weeks where it ends up.
-----------------------------------------
Simon: Would you anticipate going after a big name free agent?
TD: Our philosophy is to make our team better and we have to look at all the ways to do it. We'll look at free agency. We'll look at people that might be able to be acquired in trades. We'll look at the draft. The one thing that fans have to remember is that free agency is a long period of time, it's not just the first week. Sometimes you're better off going out quickly and trying to sign somebody and sometimes you're better off waiting to see what the landscape looks like. I think the biggest key is that you have to be flexible. I don't think you can box yourself into saying "we're gonna do this and we're gonna do that." Things change a lot of times once it begins. A lot of guys will become available that are not available at the beginning of free agency because of the cap, because of their salaries, because of contracts. You just have to be patient and work your way through the process.
-----------------------------------------
Simon: What do you think of a guy like Spikes or Colvin if you were able to make a play for them?
TD: I'm not allowed to talk about them. Once the free agency period begins I can discuss them but before that time it's a tampering issue with the league. A lot of these players that the fans think are going to be out there may be re-signed or tagged by their team, so until free agency starts we're not sure what the list is going to look like.
FOR MORE...
CLICK HERE (http://www.empiresports.com/billsreport.shtml)