“How likely is it that any self-respecting player will give his all to a franchise that has shafted him on two attempts at a new contract?”

The Bills signed him to a FA contract (after no one wanted to draft him) then gave him a raise to 3 MIL/yr before he had done ANYTHING in the league……….(pro-bowls’ etc) so he didnt get shafted as you say…….yeah now he might be worth more than 3 mil a year (read: he is) but he was paid well beyond his worth before………doesnt mean the Bills owe him anything again……

Now after this offseason I could see your argument for him getting shafted……..but not after the last one….

I know that there are some who feel opposite, but I really feel like if the choices are sign Peters or trade him, I choose to sign him. In my book signing Peters and keeping him in Buffalo long term is one of if not THE most important things to accomplish this offseason for the Bills.

I think the Bills will get something done regarding Peters. his talent for the position makes him very tough to give up even considering his holding out. we need to keep the special guys here in place as our “core” and he is definately on our list of young “core” players.

sign him and get this thing done OBD – we dont need any distractions or holdouts from the guy

I can’t see how trading him is a viable option. Yeah, it may come to that, and yeah that’s what Peters might end up forcing the Bills to do. But do I think it’s smart? Do I find any reason to support that? NO!

As you mentioned, the blueprint is in place for the terms of the deal, and I have no reason to believe that Peters doesn’t want to play here anymore. If they can’t hammer out a deal, I’d have to place much of the blame on the team. If Peters is asking for $14M a year or something ridiculous, then it’s obviously on him, but I just can’t see that happening. Nobody is worth that, except a top 3 QB…

Now if the Bills did end up trading him, what exactly does that say to the fan base and the future of the franchise??? We’ve struggled for YEARS to find a capable LT, and now we have a very, very, very good one, potentially great. If we can’t get that deal done and end up trading him for some draft picks, that’s a slap in the face to the fans and the desire to build a winner, in a way. You’ve got a franchise player, pay him! Getting draft picks and having to use one on a new LT, that may or may not pan out, is so counterproductive.

Of course, I am, again, basing this on Peters not trying to become the highest paid player in the league. He may very well want that, which I can’t support the team doing. But if he is looking for $8-10M per season, you’ve got to pay that! They just gave Lee Evans $9M a year to be a deep threat and not a whole lot else.

That Roos deal is very approachable IMO. If I were the Bills I’d start out with a 6 year $48M deal with $20M guaranteed. Very fair contract, and also very appealing if I’m Peters/Parker. Let’s see how they’d feel though….

Peters is one of the BEST LT in football, i say you ask him what he wants and try to get him to settle for 10 to 15% less, unless he gives you a reasonable offer, then you take it!.

The thing with Petters is that in resigning him BIG LONG TERM CONTRACT doesn’t just let you keep one of the best LT’s in the game, it also sends a very strong message to other elite FA’s that your willing to spend good money to make your team better.

If the Bills fail to resign Peters then you can just about forget about signing any top tier talent, aka suggs, hill, etc. because they’ll tell themselves “hey if they wont even give an extention to the best player on their team, why should i go there?”

Signing Peters is a must, I don’t even consider trading him as an option.

is that this decision is up to Ralph. He doled out huge money to Schobel, Dockery, Evans. Has had draft picks in the #8-#13 range, and has elite contracts in dollars out there. Bottom line is does Ralph want to pay this guy. There is no other issue. He is very good. Pro-Bowl good. we molded him, trained him, and developed him. He may be a cancer in the locker room, he may hate Buffalo, he may be a money hungry fool. We don’t know. He may be a guy that has a dream of getting that mega deal as all NFL players do. Who the hell can blame him?

It’s simple. Ralph, he is worth a contract. You can try and be stiff and make him play out his deal, but at 26 Peters’ desperately wants financial security. The Bills’ will tell us a lot about where this franchise is headed based on what happens or doesn’t happen with Peters.

The Bills are in a tough spot. Its not as easy as we make it out to be. You sign Peters’, how much money do we really have to sign any FA’s? What happens with Peter’s will undoubtedly decide where this off-season is going. Like so many small market teams, I’m afraid we’ll see Peters gone in another uniform this off-season.

Is that if the Bills do give him the money, they have a bookend tackle hear for years to come. On the other hand, if they don’t sign him or trade him I myself might start rooting for another team. Peters is BY FAR one of the best TALENTS on the Bills roster and in the league at his position. Thus, by not resigning him, you are telling your team and the rest of the league that you are not going to shell out the money, no matter who the player is.

The Bills don’t resign Peters, I will no longer be a fan, let alone a contributor here. I promise youi that.

It would be wise to re-sign him but I am not as in love with him as all of you are. He is a man who disappeared for large parts of the season allowed numerous sacks this year including the losman fumble in the Meadowlands he just stood ther as the guy ran by him. On top of all this he gets named to the pro bowl which has to be a sham because he was terrible at times this season. I realize he is a better player than he showed this season but no way am I throwing Jake Long money at this guy. Imagine trading him to Arizona for Boldin does that interest anybody?

If Buffalo could get two #1 picks for Peters (Philly has two #1’s and are in the market for a tackle), I’d trade him. Before you rip my opinion, I have to disclose the fact that I think Jason Peters is a very good player who has garnered a reputation as an elite player. If you truly believe he’s an elite player, trading him makes no sense. Personally, I don’t think he’s elite and I’d gamble that you could draft a more cost effective player who is just as good as Peters (and potentially better) and fill another hole on the team with the additional first rounder. In my opinion Peters’ best year was 2006, followed by 2007, followed by a very average 2008. That’s not a great trend at his current contract, let alone a contract that would make him the highest paid player in franchise history. I’d try to trade Peters to Philly and potentially draft Eugene Monroe at #11, Everette Brown or Tyson Jackson at #21, and Alex Mack at #29. I’d use the money saved on not extending Peters on a top free agent LB like Suggs or Hill. Again, if you believe Peters is elite, by all means, it makes sense to lock him up. Frankly, I think he’s wildly overrated based on the potential he showed in 2005-06 and the fact that no one nationally pays attention to Buffalo.

LOL.

I think Peters is a very good player with the elite talent to become an elite player at a critical position.

I am hoping this deal will get done before the start of free agency. If we do trade Peters, it would be best to get another vet at a position of need along with some draft picks.

On one hand, if Peters is in fact “elite,” it makes almost no sense to trade him. I think the market over the next two and a half months will determine what will happen.

My gut says he will want somewhere in the range of a twelve million dollar a year deal. But before you tell me how stupid I am and how that’s too high of a figure, let me do some ’splaining…

I think he’ll want tons of upfront money (as will his agent, that flippin’ Parker) and like a lot of big contracts, will have a “fake” year or two at the end of it to make the thing look good. Something like six for 72, with a signing your name bonus of twenty five to thirty. In reality, there might be clauses where it actually plays out to be a 4/40ish or 5/50ish kind of deal, with a voidable year or two at the back end of it.

Now if the Bills come to a trade scenario, I think Peters is worth more than two 1st rounders. Maybe that and a second or third, especially if the 1st rounders aren’t that high.

I wish I had the feeling there has been at least some contact between the two sides this off-season, but the gut says no.

Peters is continually injured, and let’s face it – if that team was going to the playoffs the past 2 years (yeah, feels dirty to say it, I know), Peters isn’t playing. How do you feel paying out the nose for a guy that is injured when you’d need him most?

Am I the only one who thinks his history of injuries is a bit of a concern, especially considering they’ve caused him to miss the end of the season?

We are talking about the LT position right? How the hell could this even be a question? The LT position is second only to the QB position. If we had a QB that went twice to the probowl would we even be having this discussion?

Pay the man his money and be done with it please! no more distractions!!

I think the Bills and Peters will start talking once the combine is over. Simple reason being that is the start of the FA meat market, and Parker will have a bettter idea what Tackles are going for right now, and the Bills will be able to gauge interest on the downlow while there.

After that happens, I think we start seeing some numbers exchanged between the two sides. I want to resign Peters, but if his contract demands are insance (12mil+ a year type) which Parker is known for trying to get since he won’t get paid otherwise (don’t forget now, he has worked for Peters for a year free of charge at this point) I think we trade him. Philly would probably do it, as they have the fodder this year for it in 1st rounds picks, Detroit could, heck alot of teams would kick the tires of a trade.

Should we do it, I don’t know, it all comes down to the money, I personally think Peters is a very good player, not elite, he is NOT the second coming of Walter Jones or Orlando Pace (pre injury bug). So I don’t feel he should be paid in that same ball park % wise.

Even though his hold out was “unjust” look at how he went about it. I dont agree with his tactics. But at least he didnt throw the bills under the bus. He didnt say anything which in my opinion is the wrong way to position yourself for a new contract. I think alot of players lost faith in him, because they knew it hurt there chances to be a good Oline. Paying him is a double edge sword. We get our elite tackle, but how long before he feels he is not paid enough again? Then players like greer who were good troopers and played beyond their contract get let go because he wants too much money. I think we pay peters, but then we can’t keep greer.

I think greer, for 7 mil over 5 years is a good deal. Mcgee is solid, but ageing, Youboty is what he always has been………potential, Mckelvin will improve. In this league you need to keep 3 good corners and sign the talent you develop. I would prefer a subpar FA signing period to keep players that have showed the character and the talent to get better.

I say it’s cheaper to keep ’em.

Why oh why do we do this Bills fans? Haven’t we seen enough good to borderline great talent pack their bags pack their bags and leave because they didn’t get paid? OBD cannot become a revolving door if we are ever to become a competitive team. We gotta stop running our talent out of town. Are we ever going to be happy with what we have?

So say we we trade him and get 2 #1’s. What do we get: unproven talent AND 1st round salaries. I just don’t get it. Why take 3 steps back to take 1 step forward? Should the Colts trade Peyton because they could get 2 1st round draft picks? Who does that? (possibly a bad comparison, but you get my drift)

Look, I didn’t agree w/ Peters’ hold out, but I did get it. We love to say how ridiculous his salary could be, and how we would go play for wayyyyyyyy less, but lets be real. We are on the couch on Sundays for a reason. That’s the reality. His career could be over in one snap (see K. Everette). Can you really blame these guys for trying to get that big $$$ deal?

Get your money Jason and hopefully its from Ralph and the “crew”.