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Don't shoot the messenger, but a report out of The Sun-Sentinel (and now BuffaloBills.com) has the Bills claiming former Dolphins DT Manny Wright off waivers. Wright's NFL history is short and well-versed; he suffers from depression, has clashed with coaching staffs and pretty much defines the term "character issue". And, of course, there's the matter of NFL lore in which Nick Saban made Wright cry.
Why, then, is he being brought in? The kid undoubtedly has potential, and with two DTs that are pushing 30, the Bills are obviously looking for guys who might be able to replace them down the road. I'm not going to complain about the signing, and I'm not going to endorse it - I doubt Wright comes close to making the team.
Does anyone get the sense that the front office has thrown their "high character first" motto out the window? It just does not seem to be that high of a priority this season, and I can't figure out why. Overconfidence in the abilities of the coaching staff to get guys to fall in line? A belief that no stone should be left unturned? I can't figure this out; I'd love to hear suggestions that make more sense than the ideas my feeble intellect comes up with.
As a prospect, Wright has what it takes to be a dominant force in the league. He's huge, athletic and strong - pretty much everything you look for in an elite defensive tackle. He was a fifth-round supplemental pick by Miami in 2005 and quickly became the "pet project" of former Dolphins coach Nick Saban. Since I have little respect for Saban (who does these days?), I have to question Wright's abilities to stick in the league. Then again, if Marv Levy thinks he sees something in a guy, I'm going to play along until one of us is proven wrong.
I hope to have more information on Wright and his signing a bit later. For now, I'd love to hear what everyone thinks in the comments section. This should be an interesting story to track... does anyone think that Wright has a shot to crack this roster?