Don't Count out Merriman

by mike$bills on Nov 3, 2011 3:17 AM EDT

The long and the short of it. My opinion on the situation. Don't cut Merriman. We saw flashes of how he can be dominating in the preseaon against the bears. Obviously it was just pre-season but still he has the talent. He has the passion and the makings of a great team-mate.

He has helped out the offensive line and the defensive line and linebackers with his teaching and coaching of the knowledge of the game.

Merriman came here with such a bad rep. Him being flashy and all about hollywood and the being famous and he was nothing but professional.

His underrated value was in his recruiting as well. He was mentioned more than once for being a key reason why we could get talent like a Nick Barrnett or Kirk Morrison to even come around and consider Buffalo.

The injury he has suffered from is recoverable too. Takeo Spikes had it and so did Julian Peterson and around the same age and were able to bounce back and have great production afterwards.

I"m sure most of us would love to have Spikes around. We should learn from our mistakes and it would be a mistake to let Merriman go if the surgery went well as reported and he can come back.

I'm not saying not to draft an OLB or just hand over all the responsibility to Shawne but at least let him have a shot to come back and see how he is next season. You can never have a shortage of pass rushers even if we have to limit Merriman to just passing downs or what have you.

Because in this league pass rushers are a soo hard to find. He has the talent and ability he just needs that Achilles to recover. He was under-rated in our run defense.

We also did not blitz in the beginning of the season against teams we played conservative against due to our fears of the run game getting out of hand.

As for the $3 million I say it is worth the investment to just ride it out. Even from a recruiting and coaching standpoint. the guy has knowledge and has been great with his team-mates you see it time and time again. He has a swagger and I'd rather have that knowledge and talent on our team then waiting to this point and having a team like the Patriots or anyone else snatch him up after our investment and end up like Takeo Spikes and re-sparking his career.

I love moats and our other linebackers but let's face it you have to switch it up. If Merriman can wear you down with power and speed for 2 downs a series and have moats a completely diff type and size and speed of linebacker then so be it or vice versa if you need Merriman to slowly get back into things.

What do you think? What would you do with a great teaching, recruiting player that needs time to recover from an injury other linebackers his age have successful recovered from and been a force?

Poll

What to do with Merriman

Cut him before the draft

22 votes

Keep him till pre-season of next year

77 votes

Ride out his current contract

237 votes

336 votes | Poll has closed

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.

Tweet Comment 14 comments | 3 recs |

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Comments

Fortunately, we don’t have to make this decision now… we have plenty of time to evaluate everyone else on the roster, the upcoming draft candidates, and free agency – as it stands right now, I say keep him, but ya never know how the season will play out and who will develop.

by JustAskTheAxis on Nov 3, 2011 7:55 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Of course bring him back for a look, at least in the offseason. If he doesn’t make the final 53, so be it, but you have to see how he comes back from the surgery.

"Slowly all the roles we act out become our identity. And in the end we are what we pretend to be." - Jerry Cantrell.

by stetzwebs on Nov 3, 2011 9:56 AM EDT reply actions

At least keep him until preseason.

Then decide if he’s worth keeping or if he’s taking up someone else’s spot who is better.

by NordicBillsfan on Nov 3, 2011 10:39 AM EDT reply actions

The other difference

Spikes actually ruptured his Achilles and they had to fix it. Where-as Merriman’s was just in danger of rupturing and was repaired before the injury could occur. I feel this is a much better scenario and he’s more likely to recover faster

by buffalo_bills on Nov 3, 2011 11:15 AM EDT reply actions

i dont even have to read this, im taking choice 3. keep him into next season, if he is on his way to IR again, then cut him loose

by boomsauce on Nov 3, 2011 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

Spikes and Peterson aren’t comparable situations. They were healthy players who ruptured their achilles, had them repaired and returned to playing football with a limited loss of athletic ability. Merriman has never ruptured his achilles, but needed a surgery because doctors think that the tendon is such a mess that he couldn’t practice on it without it tearing it. Merriman has now missed 41 games in four seasons (counting the remaining games from this season) and has 5 sacks in the 23 games he managed to play in. Over that time span he has struggled with soreness in both knees and a foot problem in addition to all the achilles problems that he’s had (and again, he’s never actually had a considerable tear to the tendon, it just constantly bothers him).

Comparing Merriman to Spikes would be like saying that we shouldn’t count out a pitcher who has missed 100 games per year over the past four seasons and now throws an 84 mile per hour fastball because other players have had Tommy John surgery or some other serious injury. It’s just not the same thing.

Shawne Merriman is shot. His lower body is a disaster. The best case scenario you get with Merriman is that he hobbles his way through 16 games, missing practices, constantly on the injury report and playing 50% of defensive downs at a below average level.

He was under-rated in our run defense.

Our run defense that is giving up more ypc than last year and has vastly improved over the last few games without Merriman?

Nick Barnett was cut in late July and only scheduled visits with Buffalo and Detroit. He was a player without many options. Buffalo is also a 5-2 team on the rise that shouldn’t need a recruiter like Merriman to sign anybody, especially given that Merriman has ended three seasons in a row on the IR and players have to know that Merriman isn’t any good.

Forget the three mil in salary for next season, Merriman isn’t even worth the workout and roster bonuses that Buffalo will have to pay him this offseason if they don’t cut him ASAP.

I’m shocked that only 5% of the voters agree with me. Merriman should just retire and use that passion to help kids or coach high school football or something. There is no potential reward for keeping Merriman on the roster. It’s unbelievable that people still can’t see that.

"You mean @TWHITNER. It’s how he prefers to be referenced." - Jon Harrington

by kaisertown on Nov 3, 2011 4:23 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

You know, I voted "Keep him until preseason"...... and see if he is healed.

But you changed my mind Ktown. He’s done.
My brain already told me that, but my heart was forcing a different feeling.

Hopefully, Buddy’s brain is bigger than his heart.
Cut bait.
Just do it now.

"There is not a loser in this room." Marv Levy.

by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Nov 3, 2011 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

See my comment below

maybe I can switch your point of view back.

"I promise you, ... When I come back, I'm going to be like a mad dog in a meat house." -Takeo Spikes

by panekattack on Nov 3, 2011 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I completely agree with you kaisertown.

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." - Vince Lombardi

by thrills&bills on Nov 3, 2011 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions

But where is the downside?

As the author and most people have already stated NOBODY is saying ignore the OLB position completely again, we can still draft a guy or 2 (especially with Fitz locked up longterm now) and sign a rotational guy or 2 in free agency. If he recovers then keep him on the roster and have him fight for a starting spot, if he gets injured cut him. It’s not your money to spend or lose so I’m not sure what you’re worried about. Also our team is so far below the salary cap it’s not like his $3 mil. salary is pushing us even remotely close to salary cap trouble.

I think you really are blowing off what he did accomplish during the preseason and regular season when he was healthy though. During the few preseason and all regular season games I had seen he was doing an excellent job as a pass rusher and was held or doubled a lot. He may not have been getting the sacks but he was a guy defenses had to account for and part of the reason why our defense has so many turnovers (Note: I’m not saying he is the only reason or even a large portion…but simply part of it). There is very little downside to bringing the guy back and still a large upside if he can stay healthy.

"I promise you, ... When I come back, I'm going to be like a mad dog in a meat house." -Takeo Spikes

by panekattack on Nov 3, 2011 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions

You tugged at me a little........

……… but K-town was still a lot more convincing.

I gotta go with common sence on the rebuild and let our young guys develop and grow for our Super Bowl run.

Maybe, if Merriman is healthy next year, he can catch on with a playoff team that needs a final piece due to injury.

"There is not a loser in this room." Marv Levy.

by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Nov 3, 2011 9:09 PM EDT up reply actions

But aren't we a potential playoff team that only needs a piece or two?

Pass rush certainly a piece, #2 WR perhaps, OL beefing up perhaps, CB depth but I would say pass rush is our biggest piece we need.

Also it’s not like we have a good young potential star at OLB (like a Marcell Dareus) that Merriman is holding back. The only guy behind him is Danny Batten a late round pick with minimal upside and perhaps Arthur Moats, however Moats was taking over Kelsay’s spot until the Merriman injury occurred.

I just don’t see much downside because we don’t have much upside or potential stars that he is holding back. But to each his own I respect your opinion and will leave it at that. Go Bills!

"I promise you, ... When I come back, I'm going to be like a mad dog in a meat house." -Takeo Spikes

by panekattack on Nov 3, 2011 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Give Merriman another shot.

Giving Merriman another year after his Achilles tendon surgery would not hurt the Bills financially. As a player, Merriman proved he can be a reliable asset to this team, the only issue he will have to endure is durability. His preseason and four regular season game performance gave the fans something to look forward to. Merriman helped bring in Nick Barnett and Kirk Morrison to this organization. I would not be to haste to get rid of him, But I would like to see how he handles his own personal adversity.

by Anthony7 on Nov 5, 2011 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

We can whine all we want but the fact remains, a healthy Merriman is worth way more than Merriman getting injured hurts this team.

So we’ve come to the conclusion he will surely get injured again. So let him get injured again, if he thinks he can come back and be healthy let him try, he’s good enough. 3 million is not a big investment in the NFL.

Also our run game was improved even with Merriman on the field. Not sure everybody’s fascination with YPC but there also other factors to consider (were they reverses, 3rd down rbs with big games, lots of small runs and a few big ones, etc.). I personally believe we beat the Patriots because we stopped their run game (outside of Ridley, who again raised the YPC), and made them rely on Brady more than they should have.

Give him another shot. Let’s not try to be too smart.

by MusicHunch on Nov 5, 2011 2:33 PM EDT reply actions