I agree with you final sentence. I personally think Peters is over-rated. How he was a pro-bowler this year baffles me. He was pushed around and man handled nearly every game. His commitment to the team showed me everything with his hold out. Go earn your money, don’t hold a team hostage. He could have been dominate if he would have been to training camp and played in the pre season.

I was in the Sign Peters camp, but now I’m wavering a bit. Not that I want him traded, nor do I think it’s a good idea, but I would at least be more accepting of it. We could obviously get a pretty good return on him, I would hope, and if not, there’s no point in trading him. If there was any potential replacement in place, I would be more in favor of a trade. I don’t consider Chambers a viable LT option for 16 games. I just don’t like the idea of trading Peters and then taking a rookie LT in the draft and hoping he works out.

Just seeing that dang 11.5 sacks allowed in 13 games stat again, I guess it finally hit me square in the jaw. At least when the other guys are shown as well. That’s just awful. I might chalk up about half of those sacks allowed to coming in late and being out of football shape, but even then, he’s still in the bottom half of the league. And I just can’t blame Losman for all those sacks, ha!

Joyner also wrote a book, Blindsided, trying to debunk the theory. Haven’t read that yet, but I did enjoy The Blind Side, so I’m going to have to check it out of the library soon.

One thing about Peters though. He may not be an elite LT, at least not yet, due to the pass blocking woes of this past year, BUT I firmly believe he’s an ELITE run blocker. One of the best run blocking LT’s in the league. I know the sack issue is huge and I’m sure we could find a competent pass blocking LT somewhere, but we can’t forget about the need for a good run blocker as well.

yeah to me it is pretty simple. He is a dominant run blocker, and in the last 6 games of the season I saw him finishing blocks, down field, being aggressive, and that was awesome to see. He gives up sacks as a pass-blocker, but part of that I think is Dockery kind of sucks next to him. Peters is, and I truly believe, IS, an elite LT. He is really damn good. But the queestion I keep raising is can he be worth a mega-deal? With Schobel, Stroud, McKelvin, Lynch, Evans, Dockery, Walker, all these big contracts, and with possibly Edwards coming up in 2-3 years, and we all want Free Agents, is it really worth it to invest all of this into Peters?

I’m fine either way. But I think if you can trade him, and use that pick to make this team better, than I have no hard feelings. We have A LOT OF MONEY invested in teh OL already with Dockery, Butler and Walker. I think that’s where teh FO is struggling. Our portfolio needs to be diversified. Let’s spend some money elsewhere may be the line of thinking for Buffalo. If we could get one more season out of him before we traded him though, I would love to see that. Im a big proponent of getting a full season out of him, OTA’s and all, play 2009, then trade him, and get a king’s ransom in return

That is a very well balanced look at the situation. Best article you have ever written. Rec’ed!!!

We could very well trade Peters to Arizona for Boldin and a 3rd rounder (I think Peters is worth more because of position) and spend Peters resigning money on Boldin

If we could get one more season out of him before we traded him though, I would love to see that. Im a big proponent of getting a full season out of him, OTA’s and all, play 2009, then trade him, and get a king’s ransom in return

If we do that then OBD would seriously have to look at who they have to replace him and potentially make a move to find his replacement this year, either through the draft (LT’s are in abundance this year), through FA or hope that Bell has progressed to the point that he could start on the line.

He did a good job when he was forced to fill in for JP. He is a veteran that I believe used to play LT and could definetly do it for a whole season.
The main theme with these comparisons is the good teams have good QB’s, where the QB has a quick release like Warner or is ellusive in the pocket like Big Ben. Kerry Collins was aksed not to lose games in Ten. because of their outstanding D so thats why his ranking is so low. The other corellation that would be interesting would be where the Centers importance is in this equation. We have all been told that things start up front, especially against 3-4 teams the C is just as important as the LT. I know its more work but would be interesting to see.
I maintian to trade JP for an established DE or OLB. The draft is always the ideal way to build a team but there is always a risk that a college player is a bust at the NFL level (we have seen our fair share) and so far OBD has done a decent job brining in FA’s that have all, for the most part, contributed. This way also, they could then trade down (maybe in the JP deal) and solidify the offensive line by drafting Mack without reaching for him.
For the people that say you don’t trade away your best player… If your best player is your LT then you are not a very good team, and if you can get more / better players for him then for the good of the team you should do it.

- When you state that Walter Jones hardly gave up any sacks, he didn’t have Tom Brady or Randy Moss on his team. You are only as good as the players around you. If you have a statue back there instead of Michael Vick, excuse me, or a Vince Young, Donovan McNabb, obviously the offensive line will give up fewer sacks. Or if you have a JP “the popcorn vendors open in row-B” Losman, who holds onto the ball forever, that also results in more sacks. Believe you have to look at how these lineman do against top pass-rushers like Freeney or Peppers!

JP "the popcorn vendors open in row-B" Losman

nice.

If the money comes anywhere near Jake Long territory I would trade him immediatley. Peters has such an over inflated view of his own self worth it is terrible. No way would I pay him a penny more after the way he played this year. He is under contract and I would trade him. Most importantly trade him while the rest of the NFL thinks he is a stud for some reason. Great post but I wanted to trade him before this. He has no leverage to even be the highest pid player on the Bills offensive line but I think he would like to be one of the top paid linemen in the league. Giving him more than his contract dictates after the abortion of a season he had makes my stomache churn.

This is a tough one. To me, part of the problem is Eugene Parker. He seems to make the contract process more difficult than it needs to be. The other part is Jason himself. His holdout last year was very selfish and showed absolutely NO team loyalty. He tried to create leverage when none was there. That kind of stubborn intransigence does not sit well. If we give Jason, say, a five year deal will he live with it or become a jerk after two years and hold out again? I’d tell him up front that if he pulls that kind of stunt again after a short time we’ll trade him to the Lions.
If we resign him I would most certainly backload his salary to help insure that another asinine holdout will not occur. Give him a good upfront guarantee and let his salary increase over time. What else can OBD do? Jake Long is getting 10Mil per year. Jason is not as good as Long. So I’d offer an escalating salary that averages 9Mil per with a good upfront guarantee. After what happened last year the team needs to spell it out to Jason that the contract is the way it is partly because of the holdout. If Eugene and Jason refuse, trade him to a team that likes malcontents. I’d also say to Parker that the team needs to see that Jason has returned to his preinjury form. He has in run blocking but not in pass blocking. Another reason for a backloaded contract. If we trade him I hope we get a tackle who has a decent agent. I know, wishful thinking there.

A lot of good points here- especially regarding the acknowledgement that trying to encompass all winning formulas into one or two cliches (something I tend to in my obsessive compulsive nature) is fruitless. To use another cliche, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Again, I think Peters is pretty overrated, so I toitally advocate shopping him IF Buffalo is truly shopping him to add better players rather than just trying to avoid paying someone they truly think is elite. Getting two #1’s and using one on a new LT (Ryan Clady did just fine last year) and another impact player would certainly be worth the risk in my opinion…I’m also intrigued by the points above that possibly Dockery has been a major part of Peters’ somewhat underwhelming play the last two seasons (Following a really good 2006 season). I think that’s possible. In any case, despite the money that’s been put into the OL the last few years, it’s not very good as a whole. Buffalo needs to do more here than just add a center. They need to figure out if Peters is truly a difference maker that they need to lock up at the expense of other positions or if they feel they can get more assets by trading him. If Buffalo goes with keeping Peters, I think they need to do so by also coming to grips with the fact that they swung and missed with Dockery and Walker in ‘07. Like our WRs, TEs, and DEs heading into 2008, it’s obvious to me that the status quo isn’t working despite the money invested into these positions. Last year, Buffalo failed to EFFECTIVELY address any of these positions and thus, they’re still positions of need heading into 2009. Our marketing guru GM needs to figure out what’s wrong about the hype and price tag of our current OL and EFFECTIVELY fix it ASAP. I think they need to look at Peters objectively and determine what he’s worth in terms of wins and losses.

The Bills should never stop listening to offers. Many teams are willing to overpay for a LT and if we could strike a huge deal, there are many ways that it could make this team better. He is going to require a huge financial commitment which is even more amplified in a small market like Buffalo. I just feel that last season he showed some things that would make you question making that commitment. The line will certainly not be better in his absence, but if sacrificing him meant getting much better at 2 or 3 positions in the future, I would have to certainly contemplate making the move.

There are articles on the web that say the left tackle is the second highest paid position on a team now behind quarterback. Recent drafts bear that out and this years draft only adds to that thinking. In all probability there will be four OT’s selected in the first 15 picks. Lawrence Taylor redefined the LB position and Jonathan Ogden redefined the left tackle position and its importance.

But the examples you gave really don’t say or prove anything. Football IS the ultimate team sport. It requires all 11 players executing at the same time. A team of 11 mediocre athletes that execute well as a team would do better than a few super stars mixed in with a few really bad players, that really drag down the team.

There is no doubt that Jason Peters is on his way to becoming an elite LT and we would be idiots to let him go. LT’s are so difficult to come by, teams that have them – never let them get away. The fact that the line around Peters was not great is not a reason to accept mediocrity. For the most part our O-Line has the potential of being great, Peters, Butler & Walker are keepers for sure. The Center was so weak that it might have affected the play of the guards so it’s tough to tell but I suspect that upgrading the Center position will yield great results. We might also need to replace/upgrade Dockery because his production is far inferior to his pay level.

We are a Center & FB away of having a great running team and a TE & Receiver away from having a very decent Passing offense, why would we want to risk that? We are in a position to address at least 3 of those needs in this year’s draft – I’d hate to be discussing how badly we need a LT next year should we let our guy get away.

We have the 5th most cap space in the league and yet we are actually debating signing Peters? Ralph is rubbing off on many buffalo fans! The way Peters went about his business last season was not very nice but then again he was following his agent’s advice. Also consider how short their career can be, I’m thinking of Tony Boselli whose career was cut short to 7 years – you never know. It’s a business and Peters is absolutely right to want to get a new deal that brings him closer to a top LT.

Jason Peters is the best player in our football team. Hands down in my opinion. His run blockomg is un-frickin- believable, and his pass blocking is very very good. Not all the sacks he gave up were his fault, something that numbers can’t always show. He pancakes guys left and right I love it.

So what if he didn’t show up to training camp. He is one of the best left tackles in the NFL and the Bills are not paying him. He played anyway… Idk why everyone is so bitter. It was in HIS best interest to holdout. I would expect him to hold out again unless he gets a deal.

Oh my, could you imagine if the did what all the complaining bills fans want to do? Sign Cowher to a huge deal, get rid of peters, draft a center, get rid of terrence mcgee, get rid of donte whitner, get rid of perry and turk and get some guys that cost more money, fire Tom Modrak, get rid of Kelsay, draft Eric Wood.

If the Bills draft Brown, Maybin, Orakpo, Jerry, Raji, or Kruger (new to my list) in the first round I will be happy with the entire Bills team.

There I said it!

Everyone just needs to realize that we are young at key positions. QB and WR.

It would help if we had a competent center who could make the right calls AND actually handle a DT one on one. There isn’t really a leader on the offensive line and the C is the leader of every offensive line.

Simply put, Peters is one of the best “up and coming” talents at LT. Peters is a freak of nature as an athlete at his position and he has very quick feet with great size. This all being said, he had a TERRIBLE year this past year. He missed training camp, all of the OTA’s and like 2 games. Not too mention he was lazy and didn’t flat out show up on some plays.

SIGN HIM and GET A BETTER CENTER

I have also reluctantly come to the “trade him” position. The events of the 2008 season could not have gone worse for the Bills when it comes to Peters: lengthy holdout (equals poor prep and bad attitude), very bad execution of the critical LT task of “protect the QB (any QB,) another losing record and, worst, Peters somehow gets selected for the pro bowl. Couldn’t someone demand a recount? I believe to be an "elite” player you have to elevate the play of all those around you. No one can claim Peters elevated the play of Dockery.