Today's News on Spikes

[Romes]

http://www.bengals.com/press/notebook.asp?iCurPage=0&notes_id=495#cont1

Some interesting news. It says that Spikes and Bengals are nowhere close to negotiating a long term contract. They also state that if the Bengals were to use a tag it would most likely be a transition tag. That would cost $4.8 million. The Bills would be able to make an offer and if the Bengals did not match then the Bills would not owe the Bengals anything.

[BillC]

Well slap my @$$ and call me sally- Let's cross our fingers!

[WG]

Poor Lewis. He has the "Cincy Premium" that they have to pay. The additional cost of getting players to want to play there.

I see this rift remaining. Cincy has screwed too many players in the past.

Spikes is the one guy that I can see spending more than $4M on this season. Likely he'd cost somewhat more than that, even for us.

[clumping platelets]

Originally posted by BillC
Well slap my @$$ and call me sally- Let's cross our fingers!


SALLY!!


clump:spanku:BillC

[clumping platelets]

Spikes will get $6-7 million/season on the open market

[Bulldog]

That seems like an awful lot of money!! I feel there are better alternatives considering Buffalo still has to sign some d-lineman. Would people be OK with the Bills spending that kind of money on Spikes?

[BillC]

Structured right, yes we could do both.

[clumping platelets]

YES!


I ask, how much did the Bills give to an unproven rookie OT last year?

Spikes is only 25 y/o and has 4 or 5 yrs under his belt and he obviously has a true desire to win after spending that time in Cincy.

He also plays LB, one of our biggest needs :D

[venis2k1]

If spikes were to be on a winning team(ala buffalo) he would be a true star and a pro bowler every year.

[don137]

I would be shocked if the Bengals transition tag him that no one signs him such as a team like Buffalo...IMO he is a top 5 linebacker in the league so he should be paid as such. If Buffalo grabs him that fills one big piece of the puzzle defensively...

[clumping platelets]

If he's transitioned, a team would need to structure a contract that Cincy wouldn't want to match

[venis2k1]

If we sign him, i think keeping Newman might be a good idea. Aslong as we can get a decent DT. Two good DT's would keep the blockers off of Newman(that is his problem, he sucks at disengaging from his blocks) I think that newman could have a great year.

[Bulldog]

Let me pose this question. Who would have a larger impact on the Bills D, Spikes or Douglas?

[clumping platelets]

Spikes: He would be with the Bills for years, Hugh only a couple.

[Romes]

If we tag Price and signed Takeo would we have money to still improve our DL and maybe add another LB?

I realize there are many factors involved. I just want to know if it really comes down to a choice between Takeo or Price or if we could have both and still maybe sign a DT like Thornton and maybe resign Newman.

[clumping platelets]

Yes.............however to see how you will need to wait a couple more days :D

[Romes]

good. I can't wait. :D

[Ed]

For Clump or anyone who's familiar with the tags. What would happen if the Bills made an offer, the Bengals matched it, but Spikes still refused the sign with Cincy? What are Spikes options if he gets tagged, but flat out refuses to be a Bengal no matter what?

Also, Spikes has never brought up money as an issue, he's always said he just wants a chance to win which makes me believe that he's not looking to break the bank. Obviously he and his agent will want to be paid well, but I could see him being pretty affordable if we have the opportunity to sign him. There's no reason we can't get Spikes, resign Price and still make some more key defensive aquisitions. Look how much we did last year and we we're working with a lot less money.

[Dozerdog]

i'm guessing it would then be considered a hold out. No team can sign him if he's tagged.

Jeremiah Trotter did this last season- stupid move on his part. He was eventually cut outright be the Eagles- signed for less with the skins, and wound up out of the playoffs.

[clumping platelets]

Originally posted by Ed
For Clump or anyone who's familiar with the tags. What would happen if the Bills made an offer, the Bengals matched it, but Spikes still refused the sign with Cincy? What are Spikes options if he gets tagged, but flat out refuses to be a Bengal no matter what?

Also, Spikes has never brought up money as an issue, he's always said he just wants a chance to win which makes me believe that he's not looking to break the bank. Obviously he and his agent will want to be paid well, but I could see him being pretty affordable if we have the opportunity to sign him. There's no reason we can't get Spikes, resign Price and still make some more key defensive aquisitions. Look how much we did last year and we we're working with a lot less money.


Answer: Transition: If Spikes is transitioned and signed to an offer sheet by any team, Cincy has 1 week to match the offer. No further negotiation, just match the provisions of the offer sheet or not. If they match, Spikes in a Bengal for the length of the deal, if they don't, he becomes a member of the team extending the offer sheet. Franchise tag: 2 types (exclusionary: cannot talk to any teams and non-exclusionary: can talk to other teams and compensation is 2 #1's). If Franchised, for the most part, count the Bills out because we do not have a #1 this year, but Bills FO could talk to the Bengals about a trade.

I agree with you, Spikes may not be looking at breaking the bank. However, if he's allowed to become a UFA, he's likely to sign one of the largest FA deals because many teams would be VERY interested

[EDS]

If the Bills have the money to resign Price, sign Takeo, resign Newman and sign Thornton at DT as someone mentioned above I would take it in a heartbeat and be satisfied with filling our remaining needs through the draft. That would be an incredible offseason.

[Bulldog]

If indeed that were to take place, where would the improvement in the pass rush come from? I feel the pass rush should be Buffalo's biggest concern this off-season. Without a hefty pass rush, your secondary is pretty much SOL.

[Romes]

The pass rush could come from Marcus Jones and possibly a draft pick. Schoebel is consitently improving from 6.5 sacks to 8.5. We could send Newman more. :scratch:

[Dozerdog]

I think in your scenario Romes, that we would be better letting Price go and adding a DT/DL like Noble.


It would be much easier replacing Price with Reed than significantly improviong the pass rush with the 46th pick in the draft

[Romes]

Noble would be good stopping the run but would he really add much pressure on the QB over a guy like Thornton.

I agree it would be difficult with pick #46. The idea I proposed was more of me just thinking out loud.

The way it looks to me is that Jones and Schoebel are going to be our starting DEs therefore if we want to sign someone to add pressure to the QB it would most likely be an OLB. Spikes would help in that area and Newman or maybe a draft pick like LaMarcus McDonald or Boss Baily could help from the other side. I'm just trying to figure out what TD might do to help the D if he really is considering tagging Price.

[colin]

In a 46 Spikes could terrorize the QB.

[ublinkwescore]

Sounds good to me, but what about using spikes and Fletcher as your run stoppers, and sending Newman in to sack the QB while Pat Williams and some other good DT keep the Oline in check.

I hope we keep Chidi too - he wants to win a championship too, and probably could care less about the money from what I heard - we need him to keep Jones or Schobel rested for key downs.