SBN Small Market Roundtable - Free Agents and Big Cities

by Brian Galliford on Jun 7, 2007 8:49 PM EDT in SB Nation Comment 1 comment

Gone to "greener" pastures

The Small Market Roundtable (brought to you by some of the finer football writers here at SportsBlogs Nation) continues this week with an admirable pinch-hit from BigBlueShoe over at Stampede Blue. BBS' topic this week was Free Agent Attraction to Big Market Cities; this is obviously something that us Bills fans have seen a lot of recently. BBS used some of the examples I'll highlight below:

Let's name a few names here: Drew Bledsoe. Travis Henry. Willis McGahee. Eric Moulds. Pat Williams. Sam Adams. London Fletcher. Takeo Spikes. Nate Clements. Antoine Winfield. Lawyer Milloy. Need I go on? Take a gander at how many big-name veterans have come and gone with the Bills these past few years. Now granted, not every name on this list left on their own accord, nor were they brought to Buffalo by force. But the defections we've seen do highlight a growing trend in the NFL: as the salary cap grows, big-market cities such as Dallas, New England, et al are going to become more attractive to unrestricted free agents. Why? Simple - as the salary cap increases exponentially, only big-market teams will have the revenue to afford guaranteed money and signing bonuses in free agent deals.

Only one thing can prevent a huge gap developing between NFL clubs, and that's a revenue sharing plan. In the coming weeks, Buffalo Rumblings will be hosting an installment of this Roundtable on that exact topic - so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, click that link above and check out this installment of the Roundtable, Bills fans - BBS is an incredibly funny and talented writer, and this article certainly lives up to that billing. I'll leave you with a snippet of his thoughts on Willis McGahee; if nothing else, you all need to hear this part:

Remember folks, this is the same Willis McGahee that thought Buffalo, NY was actually New York, NY when the Bills drafted him. This should have sent off an immediate red light for Bills management when they drafted him. A player should be focused on one thing and one thing only: Football. He's paid money, lots of money, to perform on the field, not party at the local Applebees. And contrary to popular belief, you do need at least a fourth grade education to play pro football, which explains why Willis McGahee was a bust in Buffalo, and why he will likely stink it up Baltimore in 2007.

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Defections and McGahee

Well, my comment kind of puts the two together...

I find it comical that I've been reading numerous offseason grades talking about what a great pickup the Ravens made in McGahee and how he's got a great chance to have a Pro Bowl season. I've read about how he's a great receiver, a big play back and many other descriptions that are obviously about another RB not named McGahee. I've also seen the numerous write ups about what a great deal Philly made acquiring a "Pro Bowl" LB in Spikes, the top FA pickup of Clements and his $80M deal, and my favorite, the Cardinals picking up a "very solid tackle" in Mike Gandy. Fletcher-Baker hasn't gotten the same reactions for some reason, but he should be the next biggest loss after Clements. In fact, those two (Fletcher to a much lesser extent) will be the only two we miss of the defections.

I don't understand how these players are all of a sudden some of the top players changing teams this offseason when they were barely average here. Clements, I'll give these guys him, but Spikes, Gandy and McGahee were all average, overpaid, replaceable parts. It just ticks me off that these guys are receiving such positive accolades now that they are "out of Buffalo". At least when they suck again this year, we can all laugh as the media does a bunch of 180's.

Sorry for getting off topic....

by Kurupt on Jun 7, 2007 11:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs