Couple of interesting stories coming out of Bills Country this afternoon:
As first reported by Chris Brown at the official site, the Buffalo Bills have handed a fat contract extension to arguably the team's best player, punter Brian Moorman. This is a deal that turns Moorman into one of the highest-paid punters in the NFL, an honor he deserves.
The Associated Press reports that the extension is a 3-year deal that adds $10 million to Moorman's contract and keeps him with the Bills through 2012. In effect, this is a lifetime contract for Moorman, who will likely finish out his career as a Bill. The $3.3 million per year is huge money for a punter - but seeing as Moorman nearly became the first player in NFL history to break 40 yards in net punting average in blustery Buffalo, it's obvious that he deserves to be paid accordingly.
Hmm... 3 years, $10 million to the punter. How does that make you feel, Darwin Walker?
Anthony Bialy at RealFootball365.com is a little more geeked about Lee Evans than I am:
Easy there, Mr. Bialy. "Elite"? I love Napoleon Dynamite, I really love Office Space and I'm even a huge fan of Lee Evans. But "elite"? That, in my humble opinion, is a bit of a stretch.
Evans has worlds of talent and he proved to be the only consistent threat on Buffalo's offense last season. But he's not "elite" consistent - he still has some flaws in his game. First of all, he's not a guy who has proven he can be a possession-type guy. And don't give me that "he's a deep threat" argument, because I've seen Marvin Harrison make so many short catches for first downs it's disturbing. He isn't consistent enough on shorter routes yet.
He hasn't been a "clutch" guy yet, either. Peerless Price was Buffalo's clutch receiver last year, with winning grabs against Minnesota and Houston. When has Evans caught a game-winning touchdown in his time in Buffalo? He hasn't - he needs to prove he's a big-game receiver as well.
I love Lee Evans. I love the Losman-to-Evans connection. I love the potential Lee Evans has in this offense. But he is not an elite receiver. Not yet, anyways.