Bryant Johnson signs.. With SF

[Michael82]

I will say this though....Bryant Johnson is a ****ing moron! Good luck with that mess in San Fransisco!

[Dr. Lecter]

i wonder why the bills have zero interest in hackett. it might be his injury history but unless their doctors know something concrete that eliminates him i wouldnt just ignore him. hes produced very well when healthy and since injury problems are usually just bad luck i would think theyd take a look idk

I agree, unless there is another issue with him we don't know about.

[gr8slayer]

I will say this though....Bryant Johnson is a ****ing moron! Good luck with that mess in San Fransisco!

And he's a very average player.

[X-Era]

Anyone else upset that the team has done NOTHING to upgrade their offense and are counting on a draft pick to shine and be a good receiver this year...?

Heres why Im not:

1) We have stud #1 WR
2) We have a young #1 QB that we are starting regardless
3) We finally have a decent o-line
4) We have a young stud RB

Is it unreasonable to think we could find an upgrade to Peerless or Josh from the draft? To me the answer to that is an easy NO!

At TE, its still not over as far as FA goes. Bubba Franks is out there and maybe we works a trade. Moreover, we can land a solid TE from the 2nd or deeper who will help day one from the draft. Thats all we are looking for at this point anyways.

I think what happened is that teams like the Raiders blew the market wide open with dumb contracts and it became a sellers market for WR's. At TE, there was never a stud top 10 TE type in FA anyways.

If we land just 2 great young prospects at TE and #2 WR from this draft Im very happy. just my 2 pecos

[gr8slayer]

Heres why Im not:

1) We have stud #1 WR I disagree. Evans is the kind of WR that needs a good #2 to really flourish, we'll see.
2) We have a young #1 QB that we are starting regardless Hopefully he shuts a lot of people (like me) up this year.
3) We finally have a decent o-line Yeah, the FO did a great job putting the pieces together last off-season.
4) We have a young stud RB No doubt about that.

Is it unreasonable to think we could find an upgrade to Peerless or Josh from the draft? To me the answer to that is an easy NO!

At TE, its still not over as far as FA goes. Bubba Franks is out there and maybe we works a trade. Moreover, we can land a solid TE from the 2nd or deeper who will help day one from the draft. Thats all we are looking for at this point anyways.

I think what happened is that teams like the Raiders blew the market wide open with dumb contracts and it became a sellers market for WR's. At TE, there was never a stud top 10 TE type in FA anyways.

If we land just 2 great young prospects at TE and #2 WR from this draft Im very happy. just my 2 pecos

[X-Era]

For league minimum I'd take a lot of people, even players as bad as Hackett. Quit trying to start a pissing match with me, I'm not interested. I've posted my reasons why I feel the way I do about Hackett. So far all you've brought to the conversation is "well he had a couple of good games." If you don't posses the brain power to understand that people won't always agree with you then I can't help you.

Why are your posts always so "matter of fact". Why do they have that air of arrogance?

I personally dont get how anyone can think they much more than what we are... fans who will never even be as close as ball boys to the real NFL.

Thats like 3rd graders arguing over the right way to fix the o-rings on the sapce shuttle.

Its a board, we all have opinions, and since none of us works for the Bills, they are all equally use-full or use-less depending on how you choose to look at it.

Love, peace, serenity, beer, and the Bills!

[gr8slayer]

Why are your posts always so "matter of fact". Why do they have that air of arrogance?

I personally dont get how anyone can think they much more than what we are... fans who will never even be as close as ball boys to the real NFL.

Thats like 3rd graders arguing over the right way to fix the o-rings on the sapce shuttle.

Its a board, we all have opinions, and since none of us works for the Bills, they are all equally use-full or use-less depending on how you choose to look at it.

Love, peace, serenity, beer, and the Bills!

Everything I post is a matter of opinion. If you can't handle my opinion there's a great option that the staff has given you as a poster called the "ignore button." Use it

[X-Era]

I appreciate the response.

I actually agree on the Evans take. His game is deep speed and great hands, in a shorter game in traffic, the bump and run, or with physical play, hes average if that.

On Trent, who the hell knows. I agree that we just dont know squat on him yet. I only meant that he is almost 100% gonna be the starter at the opening of the season. I hope he becomes all we need, but his lack of TD's and few quality deep throws, raise question marks. I guess Im hoping for the best.

[X-Era]

Everything I post is a matter of opinion. If you can't handle my opinion there's a great option that the staff has given you as a poster called the "ignore button." Use it

You wont catch me using ignore. Unlike some, I want to hear any and all opinions.

That said, I think we all could use a shot in the backside of "play nice" from time to time.

If we have the answers, why bother "discussing" on a discussion board? If its the thrill of having other see that we were right, thats a bit to much self satisfaction, bordering on manipulating your own ego for me.

I think the "tone" of our posts or attitudes is important to attract responses.

[gr8slayer]

I appreciate the response.

I actually agree on the Evans take. His game is deep speed and great hands, in a shorter game in traffic, the bump and run, or with physical play, hes average if that.
Thankfully with the recent rule changes (can't touch a WR after five yards) players like Evans have an opportunity. Without that he would get destroyed by bigger, more physical CB's. No one can discount his amazing speed and deep play ability, but I don't trust him over the middle on the five yard in's or the slant patterns.

On Trent, who the hell knows. I agree that we just dont know squat on him yet. I only meant that he is almost 100% gonna be the starter at the opening of the season. I hope he becomes all we need, but his lack of TD's and few quality deep throws, raise question marks. I guess Im hoping for the best. I'm all for Edwards getting a fair chance, not the kind of chance Losman got either. If we pull Edwards because he has a couple of bad games I'm going to break something. Keep him in all year from start to finish and let's see what he's made of. He gets two more years in my book. I'll proudly be wear his jersey every week this year.

[Meathead]

Anyone else upset that the team has done NOTHING to upgrade their offense and are counting on a draft pick to shine and be a good receiver this year...?

theres still time but i will be pretty disappointed if they dont land either a decent wr2 or pass catching te. since it appears all the tes are already gone its gonna have to be a wr2 and the only one of those that appears an upgrade over the parreedish meld is hackett and they havent even blinked at him

considering the only signings on offense have been whittle anderson murphy and teyo i couldnt possibly give them better than a d- so far on that side of the ball

so even though id probably give them an a- for the defense (including the stroud trade which is huge) thats still only around a c overall. considering all the cap space they have yeah id have to consider that a disappointment

still time russ still time

[X-Era]

In response to your comments on my comments Gr8:

[Dr. Lecter]

There was only one (significant) upgrade at TE available and 2 or 3 at WR.

Offense was pretty thin in the FA market this year.

[gr8slayer]

You wont catch me using ignore. Unlike some, I want to hear any and all opinions.

That said, I think we all could use a shot in the backside of "play nice" from time to time.

If we have the answers, why bother "discussing" on a discussion board? If its the thrill of having other see that we were right, thats a bit to much self satisfaction, bordering on manipulating your own ego for me.

I think the "tone" of our posts or attitudes is important to attract responses.

Without seeing one's facial expressions or body movements it's impossible to get a feeling of what kind of attitude someone's portraying.

I'm personally not in the business of impressing anyone or making anyone feel better about their life. I do my research, watch every game multiple times and break down every single player play by play and then make my assessment based on the way I was taught to play and coach football. I'm not a fan of mediocrity and it takes a lot to impress me as a football player.

Some people like to look at the world as peaches and cream, I generally do too, but football is where I make my money so it's never peaches and cream, it's business. I will honestly hold nothing against you or anyone else if you don't agree with me, but at least offer up a decent reason why.

[X-Era]

Without seeing one's facial expressions or body movements it's impossible to get a feeling of what kind of attitude someone's portraying.

I'm personally not in the business of impressing anyone or making anyone feel better about their life. I do my research, watch every game multiple times and break down every single player play by play and then make my assessment based on the way I was taught to play and coach football. I'm not a fan of mediocrity and it takes a lot to impress me as a football player.

Some people like to look at the world as peaches and cream, I generally do too, but football is where I make my money so it's never peaches and cream, it's business. I will honestly hold nothing against you or anyone else if you don't agree with me, but at least offer up a decent reason why.

amen to that.

[Hopper15]

So he decides he wants to prove himself with a team that has a garbage QB, and a garbage OL??.........Good luck with that.

Yeah because the Bills have an awesome QB situation that BJ needed to sign here. Some of you guys are just bitter, move on.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

i wonder why the bills have zero interest in hackett. it might be his injury history but unless their doctors know something concrete that eliminates him i wouldnt just ignore him. hes produced very well when healthy and since injury problems are usually just bad luck i would think theyd take a look idk

If you read Chris Brown's blog further--where he talked about Hackett a couple of days ago--the main reason that the Bills and others appear to have had little interest in DJ Hackett appears to be that, in addition to his injury history, he wants to take whatever offer he receives back to Seattle to see if they will match it--which they appear to be interested in doing.

This is confirmed by the following from NFL.com regarding Hackett:

March 13: Hackett left a visit at Redskin Park today with Tampa Bay and Carolina on his itinerary with a return to Seattle also seriously possible, according to The Washington Times. "This will all be up to him," head coach Jim Zorn said of Hackett, who declined comment. "We're not going to risk it all to try to pay him. The financial package has to work. But if we have a chance to get him, we'd like to have him. He's got two other teams plus Seattle that wants to match [his contract offers]."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=090...o&confirm=true

I can see why the Bills would not want to get involved with Hackett if his intention is merely to jack up the price that he is going to take back to Seattle for them to match. That has to tell any team that is dealing with him that he really wants to go back to Seattle, it is just a matter of establishing for them what his market price will be with other teams.

And, I say that having been on the record as wanting Hackett more than B.Johnson at the start of the FA signing period.

i guess we need to know what specifically what the escalator money was

if the contract was for three per but would go to four or five if he produced like a number two then he was crazy to turn that down

if it was only a modest bump for production then i could see bjs position. but that doesnt even make sense that the bills would offer that in the first place

i suppose maybe he thinks hes gonna be the man in sf and end up their number one. but a) they already have two starting caliber wrs there and c) sfs offense sucked last year. i guess he might be banking that martz will resurrect the offense

thats a lot of ifs. but oh well he decided to roll the dice thats his call

I think you hit the nail on the head in saying that B.Johnson thinks that he is going to end up being the # 1 in SF.

You have to remember that this guy was a 1st Round draft pick who thought he was going to be the "man" in Arizona before being overshadowed first by Boldin and then by Fitzgerald. I'm sure that he thinks that, in the right offensive system, he can produce like a # 1 WR. Mike Martz's offenses always put up big passing numbers and Johnson has to think that he can put up decent numbers under him.

I.Bruce is aging and no more than a # 2 WR right now, A.Battle is better suited to be a slot WR, so all Johnson has to to is beat out the highly inconsistent A.Lelie to be the # 1 guy for SF. And, while Smith and Hill haven't shown much, T.Green wasn't exactly and All-Pro, K.Warner was bagging groceries, and nobody thought J.Kitna was more than a good back-up before Martz got ahold of them. Regardless of who is throwing the ball for SF, the ball will be in the air enough that B.Johnson probably figures that he will catch enough passes this season to make him look more attractive to some team by the time next offseason rolls around.

With the Bills, B.Johnson was never going to have a shot at being the # 1 WR, especially if the Bills are able to extend Lee Evans' contract, as they say they really want to do. And, if the Bills were to draft a WR who develops into a solid # 2 or even a # 1 b, Johnson could have found himself back being a # 3 WR in a year or two if he had signed with the Bills.

While I'm not sure that I agree with the Bills' policy of not giving out one year deals to 26-28 year old players, I suppose I can see some sense in it from the perspective of that making it much harder for them to re-sign their own players of that age--and I do see that being more important for the team to do in the long run.

But, I definitely agree with the Bills not being willing to give B.Johnson a 5-7 year deal at $ 5 million per, especially with the kind of "up-front" bonus money that would have had to go with it. Johnson hasn't proven that he is worth that kind of money and it would only serve to make it more difficult for the team to negotiate a contract extension with Lee Evans--which is going to be expensive enough with the kind of deal that L.Fitzgerald got from Arizona.

To my way of thinking, B.Johnson still has to prove that he is a legit # 2 WR. Lee Evans is at least that and, with a good QB and OC, has what it takes to be a legit # 1 WR, if not a star # 1 WR. If I have to choose between them, I take Evans every time.

While a L.Sweed, M.Kelly or K.Hardy may not be ready to be a # 1 WR or a # 2 WR this season, IMHO all three have greater long-term potential than B.Johnson. I'd rather the Bills keep Evans and take their chances with one of these three (or even M.Monk) than see them give Johnson the kind of money and years he was looking for.

If you are looking to the first half of this up-coming season, it looks like the Bills are pretty much going to have to "make do" with what they had last season on offense, personnel-wise, and hope that their new offensive scheme and the defense can keep them in the playoff hunt. But, I expect them to "force-feed" the TE and WR that they take in the first 3 rounds of the draft during that period so that, by the time the second half of the season rolls around, they are able to start to be the factors that the Bills need them to be.

While rookies make mistakes, take time to develop and are not going to be able to produce as well as a veteran, particularly going into their first season in the NFL, I'm not as pessimistic about what a rookie TE and WR can do for the Bills this season as some here.

I've seen Lee Evans (and others around the league) begin to be a factor mid-way through his rookie season at WR. I think that there are some WRs in this draft who will be able to give the Bills as much as J.Reed or B.Johnson by mid-season--Reed and Johnson aren't exactly Pro Bowl receivers after all.

And, at TE, it's not like the Bills are looking for a rookie to suddenly become an All-Pro overnight either: they are looking for a guy who can give them more than M.Gaines, a guy who was an out of a job street free agent mid-way through last season before the Bills picked him up. While I don't see C.Anderson being as good as Gaines, I don't think it will be hard for the rookie TE that the Bills draft to show better than either of them--at least as a receiver--by midseason.

Now, maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I really don't think that the guys that the Bills could have brought in at WR or TE--B.Johnson, Hackett, Utecht, Crumpler--as giving the team as much "bang for its buck" as it will get out of re-signing L.Evans and drafting a top-flight prospect at WR and TE in this year's draft where both of those positions are quite deep.

[YardRat]

I personally dont get how anyone can think they much more than what we are... fans who will never even be as close as ball boys to the real NFL.

Thats like 3rd graders arguing over the right way to fix the o-rings on the sapce shuttle.

Its a board, we all have opinions, and since none of us works for the Bills, they are all equally use-full or use-less depending on how you choose to look at it.

At the risk of sounding immodest, my posts are more useful than most.

It was my idea to fix the offensive line, draft Marshawn, and elevate TE to starter last year.

It was also my idea to address DT and LB before the draft this year.

I still think if the FO would have listened to me regarding WR and tight end we'd be in a much better position going into the draft, but that's their loss.

[YardRat]

LtBF does pretty good, too.

[Tatonka]

He had good games against horrible defenses.

The 49ers thought so highly of him that they didn't even put Clements on him.

The Skins had their 4th string WR covering him the whole game.

The only time he had to play a real team, the Packers, he didn't do crap.

You should really go back and watch some of his games, he's not that impressive. I've got everyone he played this year on DVD if you'd like me to mail them to you.

Saying that he's better than any WR on the market isn't saying much this year. I'd much rather take my chances on a draft pick if I have to choose between that and him. IF he's willing to be paid what he's worth (just about league minimum) then hell yeah bring him in. But there's no need to overpay for a mediocre player.

i would like you to mail them to me then. pm me, since you have them all at your fingertips.