I was hoping this wasn’t the reason. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to exceed that deal Dockery got.

If the numbers you listed here Brian don’t prove the point, then I don’t know what does, but those rookie salaries are abso-friggin-lutely ridiculous. There is no reason for Jake Long to be getting the same guaranteed money that Pace and Jones have gotten COMBINED. How it’s going to suck to be a Fin fan when that guy turns into a bust.

There’s also no reason that Peters shouldn’t be aiming to get a contract that those guys have “earned”. I’d be surprised if he isn’t seeking at least $10M per season (on average) with $25+M guaranteed.

Will we be seeing the ramifications of those insanely stupid contracts we handed out last offseason (Schobel, Dockery, Kelsay)?? Are we going to be able to afford giving Peters and Evans somewhere in the ballpark of $100M combined, with about $50M guaranteed?? Peters is certainly worth it and it can be debated ad nauseum whether Evans is, but to me, those deals from last year are going to handcuff us with all future deals. Not only will money begin to be limited, but deals like Dockery’s and Schobel’s are going to be where the agents will want to start for Evans and Peters.

I think Peters will hold out and probably rightfully so. Yes, he signed that deal 2 years ago and it was fair at the time, but coming off a Pro Bowl season and due to the position he plays, the deal is outdated unfortunately. I was skeptical of that before, but I’m convinced that Peters will no doubt get a new contract this offseason or will hold out. There’s no reason a slightly above average player like Dockery should be making so much more than a franchise cornerstone. I have a feeling this could get messy if the FO doesn’t work swiftly to appease Peters (also without offending Evans).

Toronto, we need ya. Keep pumping money into this franchise if it means we can definitely sign the Peters and Evans of the team…..

I think the Bills will make a deal with Jason and his agent to resign him to a nice big fat contract this upcoming spring. I think Jason held out these three (non-finable) days to prove his point that being the third best paid when your the best player is kinda dumb. But the flip side is that he signed that extension KNOWING what he was getting into at a time when he was NOT a pro-bowl player.

I think the Bills will ask him to wait to the spring so they can use what money they have left NOW to pay off Lee Evans and Crowell and make sure those contracts impact THIS seasons salary cap. They will then look at what players to cut next spring, and what the new cap will be and will then renegotiate Peter’s contract then when they will have more money on hand than right now when they have two guys to resign on the team who will be free next year, and not a guy still under contract for another 3 seasons.

As for what he gets? If he plays like Orlando or Walter in their primes, award him a deal like that. If he regresses slightly, pay him market rate for it. But I still feel the Bills will wait on this till next spring.

I think the Bills sign both Peters and Evans. But this is a business and that means somebody ISN’T going to get paid and that someone is Crowell. I think he might be the odd man out.

The Giants just tore up David Deihls contract even though there was 3 years left on it, so this doesn’t shock me at all.

I just wanted to say you got a great site here man and I have always enjoyed reading your site and never really commented on anything but now is as good a time as any to join up…keep up the good fight…I live in the south and it’s hard to get any Buf news down here so it’s nice to see a well written updated blog every once in a while

Based on the discussion above it seems that many consider Angelo Crowell the most dispensable of the three starters with contract issues this year and next. While I can’t really argue with that point and I do agree with it, for the sake of fairness, there has to be a defense of Crowell, this is America after all.

First, With our defense finally coming together now we should do everything we can to keep Crowell, who may be less replaceable through the draft than some would like to think. As it now stands, let us not forget that Crowell is the ONLY member of our linebacking core who has ever proven anything as a Buffalo Bill. Posluszny is essentially a rookie and Kawika Mitchell probably wouldn’t have been as hyped of a free agent if he hadn’t played on the Super Bowl champs. While I believe both are excellent players, as evidenced by the name I use on this site, Crowell is consistent and stays on the field, and has gotten better every year. I remember waiting for Crowell to get the recognition he deserved and to get on the field more when we had our nasty linebackers a few years back. We developed this guy and he’s making our investment worth it, do we really want to see him go? Bowen, we know nothing about yet, so he can’t even enter the discussion and there are plenty of rookie linebackers who aren’t ready to play until a few seasons or who are busts. We got a good guy with Poz, not ALL linebackers in the first two rounds are not busts as some seem to believe.

Second, what leaders do we really have on defense? I hate that Chris Kelsay is a locker room leader, i’m sorry but I want my locker room leader to also be a leader on the field. Except for Schobel there is no other player on the defense who performs like a leader and has been a long time member of the team other than Crowell. McGee is not good enough to be that kind of leader and everybody else is too young, too inexperienced or a free agent (I’m leaving Kelsay and Denney out of this discussion). Crowell is an example on and off the field and I don’t feel comfortable with the kind of message letting him walk would send to young up and comers and like Donte, Poz, and McCargo if they see that happen. Who knows, maybe they’ll start thinking about walking when they hit their primes as well as to them it will appear that the team doesn’t value hard work and production.

There is no doubt that Jason Peters is irreplaceable, there is no doubt that Lee Evans is our best offensive weapon, but there can be no denying Crowell’s value to this team. There are some developing prospects at WR, Johnson, Hardy come to mind, we don’t have anyone ready in the next two years to fill in for Angelo. If it means cutting some players or pushing back Peters until next year, we have to resign Crowell, let’s not all start talking about how it won’t be that bad if he leaves next year. It would be very detrimental and a big step backwards. Just because he’s number 3 on the list of re-signings doesn’t mean he’s disposable. We have three pressing contracts disputes, three not two.

Billszone reports Peters salary as 3.25 mil this season with a Cap value of 4.45 mil. His amoritized bonus of $1mil should be his prorated bonus money when he signed the deal.

USA today’s salary database projects Peters salary as:
Base Salary Sign Bonus Other Bonus Total Salary Cap Value
$ 1,500,000 $ 1,500,000 $ 150,000 $ 4,550,000 $ 2,600,000