Hoping this is a Leigh Bodden situation where he uses another team to get us to make an offer
I doubt this is the case. There's zero chance of us matching what the Bills are offering.
If he's been in Buffalo this long, he's only making triple certain that everything is on the up-and-up before signing the deal. Because by now, the Texans would have countered.
To me, this is more about Bob being respectful of Mario and not going out and spending up any FA dollars until Mario is 100% "gone." He doesn't want it to look like he gave up on him and never waited for him. Bob is overly generous like that, which irks me sometimes but makes me proud sometimes too.
Actually I'm not that mad about it at all. He's being way overpaid for what he brings to the table and quite frankly didn't really live up to his $54 million rookie contract.
THAT is the way to think about it, Bill. 100%.
The Texans, IMO, would have been short-sighted had they just written him a blank check. In fact, I think the writing was on the wall last off-season when we acquired Joseph and Manning...to me, that represented that we were dedicating ourselves to rounding out the defensive side of the ball rather than making Mario the kingpin and surrounding him with above-average talent.
The shift to a better secondary might have been the clue that Mario was not going to be THE big dawn on campus after 2011.
I'm beginning to wonder if he really even tore his pec muscle now. Or was that a way to sit out the 2011 season so that he wouldn't risk being severely hurt just before he hits free agency??? I know that's a serious charge to level at a player, and I have no proof of it, but it is curious that this happened very early in the season. Can the team staff's doctors know 100% through imaging techniques that a guy has torn a pec muscle?
Owners that give out deals like that are just hurting themselves in the long run. This kind of foolishness is ruining pro sports. They ***** about their costs, yet willingly makes deals like this.
Screw 'em.
Exactly. What's even worse is that the Ralph Wilsons of the NFL world...those teams who are in small markets...are being propped up by the richer teams in larger markets via revenue sharing. Yet here are the Bills paying OUT THE NOSE for Mario Williams! I mean, seriously?
Look, I know the poor teams have to be allowed to get competitive to stay relevant and so forth. But maybe they should have a smaller cap number if they cannot produce more to the revenue pool than teams like Dallas, Houston, New York, etc. Why should you still be allowed to receive monetary help from the other teams AND get to purchase players up to the same cap number as everyone else? I mean, if you take the revenue sharing deal...then your cap number should be reduced. Refuse to receive assistance, then you can have the full cap to utilize. But you can't have the best of both worlds.
Otherwise, this is really teams like Dallas and Houston SUPPLEMENTING the Bills' purchase of Mario Williams. I'm with you, Thorn.