Bills Claim DT Wright Off Waivers

by Brian Galliford on May 2, 2007 6:04 PM EDT in Buffalo Bills News

DT Manuel Wright

Don't shoot the messenger, but a report out of The Sun-Sentinel (and now BuffaloBills.com) has the Bills claiming former Dolphins DT Manny Wright off waivers. Wright's NFL history is short and well-versed; he suffers from depression, has clashed with coaching staffs and pretty much defines the term "character issue". And, of course, there's the matter of NFL lore in which Nick Saban made Wright cry.

Why, then, is he being brought in? The kid undoubtedly has potential, and with two DTs that are pushing 30, the Bills are obviously looking for guys who might be able to replace them down the road. I'm not going to complain about the signing, and I'm not going to endorse it - I doubt Wright comes close to making the team.

Does anyone get the sense that the front office has thrown their "high character first" motto out the window? It just does not seem to be that high of a priority this season, and I can't figure out why. Overconfidence in the abilities of the coaching staff to get guys to fall in line? A belief that no stone should be left unturned? I can't figure this out; I'd love to hear suggestions that make more sense than the ideas my feeble intellect comes up with.

As a prospect, Wright has what it takes to be a dominant force in the league. He's huge, athletic and strong - pretty much everything you look for in an elite defensive tackle. He was a fifth-round supplemental pick by Miami in 2005 and quickly became the "pet project" of former Dolphins coach Nick Saban. Since I have little respect for Saban (who does these days?), I have to question Wright's abilities to stick in the league. Then again, if Marv Levy thinks he sees something in a guy, I'm going to play along until one of us is proven wrong.

I hope to have more information on Wright and his signing a bit later. For now, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks in the comments section. This should be an interesting story to track... does anyone think that Wright has a shot to crack this roster?

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character

I had the same concerns regarnding character players, which is why I never even thought Lynch was a possibility at #12 with his sexual assault charge, albeit he was proven innocent. I think, they are simply saying look at, C.J. ah yo or whatever his name is, and Wright are guys that have talent... let's bring em in and add some competition to training camp. It can't hurt. We don't know em that well, and once we get to know their real character, we can always cut em. Viewing lynch's interviews, its clear to see he is a good hearted, fun kid to be around so I have no question marks on him. Plus, while he is from sunny california, he was never a national star in college like Willis, so when I hear the Lynch & Willis comparisons it irks me cuz there is no comparison. Plus Lynch is moving his family to Buffalo, and he plans to live there year round. I'm so pumped to see what he and Wright can do behind Peters and Dockery!

But let's be honest every team would like all character guys, but its just not possible to find character & talent for all 53 spots. You can have a knucklehead or two, just not enough for them to have a party.

MARVelous

by MARVelous on May 2, 2007 10:37 PM EDT reply actions

Wright and the character situation....

I actually really like this signing. Wright has all the potential in the world to be great and he'll add a bigger body to our DT group. Whether he makes the team or not is another story. If we plan to keep 5 DT's this year, I think I'd have to give him the edge over Tim Anderson, who is just God awful. This is a very low risk, high reward situation. If he's got medication for his disorder and is able to rise above it on the field, he could be a huge surprise for us. If not, we can cut him and not really lose anything. I don't think I'd consider him a character risk though. He has clinical depression, so it's not like he's doing anything criminal or disgracing his franchise.

As for the character question marks we seem to be overlooking this year, I don't think it's much of an issue. Lynch wasn't charged with anything and it seems more fabricated than anything. Seeing him in the interviews and reading all the stories about him and his mother, I can't help but be thrilled with having him in Buffalo. As MARVelous mentioned, it's great that he'll be moving his mother and brother with him to Buffalo. I love hearing that and hope he grows to love the city. He seems like a genuine guy.

Ah You is another low risk, high reward type guy. He has some potential, but as a 7th round pick can be cut at any time without really hurting the team. His character issues stem from punching a teammate 4 years ago and being at a party with some alcohol problems. I'm not sure those are the worst transgressions I've ever heard. I think he'll be a practice squad player and may be able to help the team in a year or two.

The only other character question that comes to mind is Duane Coleman, one of the UDFA. Now this guy has had some true issues. He was arrested for marijuana possession and missed his team's bowl game. He also did this, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for quality character. Could be isolated events and he may not be that bad of a guy, but we'll have to wait and see. Again, he was an UDFA, so it's another low risk, high reward guy.

It's not like we're drafting guys in the 1st round with MAJOR character issues or signing big money free agents with problems. We have a 7th rounder and UDFA with some previous mistakes and Lynch is not what some in the media made him out to be. The faces of the franchise, Losman, Evans, Schobel, Peters, etc are all pretty high character guys, so I don't really see how any of this is a big issue. If we start seeing some arrests, then I will agree with some character problems....

by Kurupt on May 2, 2007 11:46 PM EDT reply actions

Good find on Coleman

Interesting video. That's worse, IMO, than what Pats safety Brandon Meriweather pulled in the Miami brawl.

My point is not necessarily that the guys we're bringing in are "low character"; it's just that regardless of if they're true or not, the questions are there. These seem like guys that Marv wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole last off-season.

I think you may be onto something with the high-character core of this team, K - now that Marv has built up a nucleus of "his" guys, he's rolling the dice that they can lead some of the new guys to be the types of citizens that they are. Good thought!

Buffalo Rumblings: we are awesome.

by Brian Galliford on May 2, 2007 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not worried

these are fringe guys we are talking about, so we aren't exactly on the verge of becoming the Bengals.

And we can't bring in all choir boys. A few minor transgressions here and there happens. Marijuana and few punchs, so it's not like it's dealing coke and turning into Pacman.

Marv knows what he's doing and that's all that matters. If he sees something bad in a kid, he likely won't be bringing him in. I don't think he sees these kids' issues as that bad...

by Kurupt on May 3, 2007 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions

Character out the window?

You wrote: Does anyone get the sense that the front office has thrown their "high character first" motto out the window? It just does not seem to be that high of a priority this season, and I can't figure out why.

Now is this true? Let's look at our draft picks and see if it holds.

Lynch: Accused of sexual assault but charges were thrown out. Victim of drive-by shooting but likely was not the intended target

Posluszny: As high character as they come. Two year captain at Penn State

Edwards: No problems that I've heard about

Wright: Married with children, which one would guess indicates stability and responsibility.

Wendling: Extremely smart. High character

Schoumann: No problems that I can find.

Ah You: Punched his QB and got in trouble for partying at BYU (probably the strictest school there is). No problems since transfer to Oklahoma.

Looking at our draft picks, the only ones that are questionable are Lynch and Ah You, but I feel pretty comfortable with Lynch as most of his issues seem to have him as a victim of circumstance. For goodness sakes, the man is bringing his mother to Buffalo with him. Does that seem like something a thug would do? Ah You has a history, but I think that the stuff he got in trouble for at BYU would have went completely under the radar at any other school. All the rest of our picks seem to be high character people, especially Poz and Wendling.

As for Wright, he's more of a head case than a thug. He may have some issues with his work ethic and his weight, but those can probably be corrected. Otherwise, the major concern is his depression, which as I understand it is a mental illness. With proper treatment, he should be able to overcome it.

Bottom line, Wright has the size to make an intriguing Nose Tackle prospect and I think he's worth a look. If he works out, then it's a huge gain at no cost to us. If he has problems, like he did in Miami, we can cut him. Also note, that he didn't get along with Saban in Miami, but he may well get along with our coaching staff better as Jauron and co. seem to have a calmer style than that of "the Nicktator."

To me, we've taken flyers on a few late round guys with some question marks, which I don't feel is a problem. If these guys go off the straight and narrow we can get rid of them immediately. If they prove that what has happened in the past is behind them for good, then we may have a talented player at low cost.

by billsorangutan on May 3, 2007 2:20 AM EDT reply actions