Butler pact detailed : The Buffalo News

Details on the new contract signed by OG Brad Butler this past Wednesday have been reported by The Buffalo News. The deal includes $8.8 million in new money and extends his contract through the close of the 2012 season.

Base salaries - 2008: $945 K; 2009: $1 M; 2010: $1.55 M; 2011: $1.55 M; 2012: $1.55 M

The News also reports that his new deal does not affect in any way the team's ability to negotiate with the likes of Jason Peters and Lee Evans. I'll say it again - this, folks, was an excellent signing by the club.

2 months ago Brian Galliford Comment 24 comments 0 recs |

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Butler a future Peters?

Let’s hope that Butler doesn’t throw a hissy fit in 2 or 3 years. Right now the Bills are being more than fair to Butler. First, the team isn’t making him wait until his contract is up or even until the year before his contract is up. Second, Butler has an injury history and the team is taking a chance (not a longshot by any means but a chance nevertheless) on Butler. 2 or 3 years down the road it would be easy for Butler to forget that the Bills treated him right, particularly if his injury history is just that—history.

With that said, I’m really high on Butler and hope that he’s a happy man….and that he continues to be a happy man through 2012. While the Butler deal may lead Peters to believe that he’s going to get a new deal early, too, the money is far to low to make any difference in his negotiations.

by Ron From NM on Jun 28, 2008 10:13 AM EDT 0 recs

What are the odds that the Bills

play hard ball with Peters? Look what happened to Chad Johnson. He sure has changed his tune. When it comes to losing big money, players usually decide to play. If Butler comes along this year, could he make the move to LT? What would the Bills get for Peters on the open market? Don’t get me wrong, I hope the Bills can keep him, but if someone is willing to trade an Anquan Boldin type WR for him?

by Joe P. on Jun 28, 2008 10:26 AM EDT up 0 recs

Honestly, I don’t expect the Peters thing to last much longer (though, clearly, I could be wrong). My guess is that he’ll do exactly what Aaron Schobel did last off-season – miss all of spring, report for training camp, get a deal in August. At least, that’s what I’m hoping happens…

by Brian Galliford on Jun 28, 2008 10:40 AM EDT up 0 recs

Trade

You don’t trade a Pro Bowl franchise LT for anything. Especially not for a WR. That position is too valuable and hard to find a stud at. You have to do what it takes to get Peters reupped for the long term.

by Kurupt on Jun 28, 2008 11:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

Plus

Anquan Boldin will want to be paid, if not this year then next, if you are going to pay someone regardless, it might as well be Peters.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on Jun 28, 2008 11:20 AM EDT up 0 recs

You don't trade a ProBowl LT

unless you have another one to replace him, which is why I asked about Butler. The Bills could easily make Peters play out his existing contract. It would piss him off and almost guarantee he would want to leave Buffalo after his contract expires, but if you have someone else to replace him, so be it! We all hope Peters is a perennial ProBowler, but remember most of us were surprised he made it last year. Peters has a lot of potential, but he also has to prove he can consistently play at a ProBowl level.

by Joe P. on Jun 28, 2008 12:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’d liken Butler’s situation more to Terrence McGee’s than Peters’. Butler isn’t going to be a Pro Bowl guard, just like McGee isn’t going to be a Pro Bowl corner. McGee hasn’t complained about his contract. Neither will Butler.

by Brian Galliford on Jun 28, 2008 10:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

thats not fair to Butler

I think it is still way to early to pass judgement on whether or not Butler will be a Pro Bowl guard. He plays mean and is an excellent run blocker. I’m not saying he will, but I also won’t say he won’t, be a Pro Bowl guard at some point in his career.

McKelvin and Hardy - rookies of the year

by poz on Jun 28, 2008 11:50 AM EDT up 0 recs

To me, Pro Bowl offensive linemen need hype. Ruben Brown was never an outstanding guard in my mind, but because people who talked about him on weekends said he was, he made eight straight Pro Bowl trips. Peters had hype because he’s a classic rags-to-riches story. I’m not saying it’s the only factor, hype, but I think it’s the driving factor with linemen in terms of Pro Bowl bids.

Butler doesn’t have the hype.

by Brian Galliford on Jun 28, 2008 1:36 PM EDT up 0 recs

hype

well, first, I’m glad to hear your not doubting Butler’s potential, only his potential to be popular. second, how does any O-Lineman get hype unless he plays for a winner, was a rags to riches like Peters, or a nut like Turley? Remember opposing coaches and players are part of the bid process, when they watch film all week and then get owned by a lane opening guard, they’ll start to talk about him, then local reporters will pick up the guards name here and there when its dropped before or after game coverage, and eventually the idiots on ESPN will finally get wind of it and start talking about it after every fan in the nation already knows all about it but they analysts will regardless act as if they are saying the most enlightening and ingenius football information.right? isn’t there truth behind most hype? And I mean the Ruben Brown hype you were talking about, not the Reggie Bush type hype. Speaking of which, isn’t it time ESPN and big media apologized to Charlie Casserly after ripping him to shreds for taking Mario Williams. The guy was a demon last year (and interestingly in support of your point, didnt make the Pro Bowl)

McKelvin and Hardy - rookies of the year

by poz on Jun 28, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

hype

After blocking for a great QB or RB, draft status is the biggest cause for hype.

As WABillsfan pointed out, I probably thought more of D’Brickashaw than I should have. And I only did because he was drafted high.

Alot of Peters’ hype comes from his size/athleticism combo. He probably has the best combination of height, weight and speed of any offensive lineman in the entire league.

by kaisertown on Jun 29, 2008 1:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Two things

One is, we extended Butler for peanuts, just to relieve a headache in the near future, while if he becomes an excellent player, we will still need to renegotiate, but later, and if we can’t pay his possible FA price tag, we could trade to a team that would.

Aaron Schoebel on Sirius yesterday put things in perspective saying about Peters, “If he’s there opening day, its all right with me” And frankly, thats all I care about as well.

My guess is, Peters will play extension or not, but I still think Peters stays a Bill and does get an extension either during the season, or right after, if not now.
Someting great going into camp would be both Peters and Evans signed

This town needs an enema!

by killascript on Jun 28, 2008 11:51 AM EDT 0 recs

Agreed, Peters will be in TC

And will play out the year, and in about Dec. if he is still healthy and on the field, I think we will hear about a nice big fat extension that will be signed as soon as the new cap year comes in. Thats my guess, and since Peter’s isn’t making a huge pile of cash, though we don’t know how much he has saved, I wouldn’t pass up a check paying me close to 6 figures every week, hell, anything in the 5 figure range would get my ass to work no complaints.

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on Jun 28, 2008 7:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Peters vs. Butler

Peters is asking for a new contract because he thinks (or his agent thinks) that he deserves to be paid like one of the top OTs in the league. We can only hope that Butler holds out in 2-3 years too. That would mean that he has developed into one of the better players at his position and at that point he would deserve a new contract. Average starters don’t hold out for big money right in the middle of a contract.

On Peters, I think the Bills will play hardball with him, at least until camp starts. I doubt either the Bills or Peters will bend much in negotiations until they can really start applying pressure on each other. If what the Bills are willing to give Peters isn’t already very close to what Peters is willing to accept, than the holdout will last until the start of camp at the earliest. Once camp starts, the Bills will have to deal with worried fans, and overreacting media. Peters will have to study at home and get fined for it. This is when both sides start to back down a bit.

I think that the Bills have to cave eventually, but they should wait as long as they can and get Peters’ asking price down as far as possible. I hope they don’t treat him like Chad Johnson and never give him a new contract. I just think it is stupid to give him a huge contract because you are worried about the ramifications of him missing some training camp reps. I think the Bills are smart enough to know that they have way more leverage than Peters does and that they can get him to sign a favorable deal.

People have been talking about the value of a stud LT and while I won’t disagree with them, there are more great LTs in the league than people realize. I think the big difference between tackles and other positions is that they take some time to develop and are pretty high risk draft picks. Only WRs and QBs bust more often than offensive tackles do.

Here is a list of the leagues best LTs.

ELITE
Joe Thomas
Walter Jones
Chris Samuels
Chad Clifton

2nd Tier – vets
Matt Light
Orlando Pace
Tra Thomas
Flozell Adams

Improving – cold become 1st or 2nd tier
Jamaal Brown
Marcus McNeil

3rd tier
Bryant McKinnie
Jordan Gross
Micahel Roos – still improving
David Diehl
Levi Jones

Improving could become 3rd, 2nd or even 1st tier
D’Brickashaw Ferguson
Joe Staley

4th tier
Tony Ugoh – still improving
Khalif Barnes
Marvel Smith

5th tier
Jeff Backus
Luke Petigout

sucks:
Mike Gandy
Kwame Brown
Jared Gaither – still very young

Rookies who will start at some point:
Jake Long
Branden Albert
Ryan Clady
Chris Williams
Duane Brown
Sam Baker

That is my list of the 31 players (I left Peters off) who I think will be the starting tackles at season’s end (barring injury).

There aren’t many teams currently hurting at the LT spot.

by kaisertown on Jun 28, 2008 4:33 PM EDT 0 recs

I can see the Bills point of view,

keep the labor costs ``down’’ as much as you can (if making O-Linemen millionaires counts as keeping costs down). But I would much rather see them work on the Giants model, locking up their current O-line for years to come by rewarding Snee with a big contract. The Bills have a stud left tackle who went to his first Pro-Bowl. He should be rewarded and the Bills should do whatever it takes to keep the entire line together.
That is, with the exception of Fowler. Keep Peters, Dockery, Butler and Walker working together. Hey, they only gave up 26 sacks last season and blocked well enough for Lynch to gain 1,100 yards in 13 games. They didn’t put the team in the playoffs, but it’s got to count for something.
Draft a replacement next year or gamble on a free agent to compete for the starting center position.

by Defensewinsgames on Jun 28, 2008 7:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

excellent comment

I think you just expressed how I felt about the situation without knowing it, because as soon as I read your post I said hell yes. I agree with everything you said. It does count for something, only giving up 26 sacks, pushing a rookie runner with no passing game over 1,000 yards in 13 games and making Fred Jackson effective are all accomplishments they should be proud of and I would love to see the line stick together as an era-type unit. And you are also right about rewarding Peters, though I would really prefer it if the Bills would just guarantee him that if he makes it to December, as WABillsFan said, without injury and playing well, that they will extend him nicely under the new cap year.

McKelvin and Hardy - rookies of the year

by poz on Jun 28, 2008 8:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

well

I want the Bills to lock up Peters too.

It’s easy to say we should be like the Giants who just gave Snee some money, but Peters is probably asking for 3 or 4 mil a year more than the Giants just gave to Snee. The Bills really overpaid for Dockery. A year later and Snee gets the same salary just proves it. Snee is a better guard than Dock. Steinbach barely got more than Dockery did and he is much better.

I just think that they should be applying as much pressure as they can on Peters to sign for a lower salary number than his agent will be looking for. Let him hold out, start fining him and remind him that 3 years of fines will add up pretty quick. They need to use their leverage and tell his agent that there are plenty of great tackles in the league and he is replaceable (he really isn’t but they can use it in negotiations), constantly remind him that he has 3 years left on his contract, point out that the team ran better off the right side last season. The Bills have leverage and should just tell Peters, hey you have a choice, you could be a camp holdout who gets fined everyday, or you could sign this shiny new 7 year 55 million dollar contract. I just don’t want to give him Jake Long, 11 mil a season type of money, because he simply isn’t worth it. Nobody is.

by kaisertown on Jun 29, 2008 1:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

This is what I think I think, Kaiser. I think it's tricky.

I mean, very few NFL athletes are going to get a 7 year contract, I don’t care if a guy is the living embodiment of Red Grange. I’m not sure $7.8 million a year gets Peters back in the locker room either (that’s what your estimate averages out to).
Sure your figure is good money, but by the standards of today’s best linemen, especially left tackles, it’s on the low side. Uunbelieveable, but true. You’ve got to pay this guy more than Dock. That ship sailed last year when they gave Schobel a better deal, after they gave Kelsay a better deal, knowing that Kelsay was no where near the talent that Schoble is. Oh, and by the way, with the Toronto money to come, and a 10% increase in season ticket prices, AND over 53,000 of `em sold (and still counting), I think Ralph can afford it.
There is one thing that I think I think: there is no way a talent like Jason Peters is sitting the bench in the 2008 season for more than two games. He’s just too good. Either the Bills pony up, or he backs down (a little). Or, and I don’t even want to write this next line: someone else realizes just how good he is, is desperate for better line play, and makes the Bills an offer they absolutely cannot refuse. Something like two first round picks, two seconds and a boatload of cash.
Can you spell Chambers?

by Defensewinsgames on Jun 29, 2008 5:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

we are on the same page

3 offensive lineman have gotten 6 year deals, so maybe 6 for 50 mil would be a better starting point. That averages out to a little over 8 mil. And the Bills could apply some pressure on Peters using those numbers for awhile and eventually cave when Peters’ price comes down to to around 6 for 54.

Do those number look better?

I just think the Bills have to play hardball until he backs down a little bit.

by kaisertown on Jun 30, 2008 8:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

This kind of money makes my head spin.

Kaiser, I really don’t know what a guy like Peters would be worth as a free agent, and I think you have to make that determination to judge whether $9 million a year is in the ball park. Sure seems like it would be for a lineman. Criminy.
I do think he and his agent are going to look at Dock’s deal and judge what the Bills offer against that. He has to outearn Dock – he’s a better, younger player.
I just hope they don’t decide he’s too expensive to keep. The team has done that in the past, and it’s my opinion that they’ve made some mistakes in not keeping elite players. Guys like this don’t come around that often. You have to pay them what the market says they’re worth. I don’t care how loudly Ralph cries poverty. You want to compete, you got to have the players.
Man am I ready for some football. I’m pretty tired of talking about car accidents, suspensions, and money.

by Defensewinsgames on Jun 30, 2008 10:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

I might be crazy..

But I’d think about taking two firsts, two seconds, and said cash. Might set back the development of the team for a year or so, but would almost ensure a chance at a possible dynasty in three years, somwhere right around where Edwards prime would be if he is the real thing….

by krytime on Jul 1, 2008 1:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

D'Brick probably won't get past the 4th Tier at all

He is not nasty enough and willing enough to pound guys every snap. I just don’t see him getting up there with Gross and McKinnie at all. He has talen, good feet and good wingspan and extension, but he just isn’t mentally and emotionally locked in enough to do his job right every down.

Now Jason did take some plays off, but he did consistently play with leverage, angles, and was willing to maul guys when needed. D’Brick has not shown that level of willingness nor knowledge for me to be willing to move him up a level. Then again, he may make it up to Tier 3, but not 2 or 1. Staley could though, I like the look of that kid. But hey, since our ends need to pound someone, glad to play D’Brick twice a year.

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on Jun 28, 2008 7:49 PM EDT up 0 recs