So patriots are pushing up his price significantly if Bills match.
Well they signed a RB to a one year contract for more money than they've paid a running back for years. Then they made an offer to Gillislee for even more money. They had phased Lewis out of the passing down role last year in favor of James White last year and it seems unlikely White isnt going to be a party of the '17 offense. Pats took a more run heavy approach, but not sure there are "plenty of carries and receptions" to go around for four backs or gameday active roles for four backs. Amendola probably has a return game role and just restructured.
I kind of feel like they look at Lewis as a hybrid player -- kind of our version of Tyreek HIll, though obviously not as explosive. Get him some RB touches, get him some WR touches, get him some Kickoff touches -- who cares what position you label him, design specific plays for him and see how he can impact the game. . . . . All the while limiting his hits so he can actually stay on the field.
It had a lot to do with Lewis' setback with his knee more than anything. He was never 100% next year.
Yeah I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how stacked this offense is if the Bills don't match.
White makes less than $800k this contract year. He will be paid by someone in 2018, a la Vereen, but he is a great value for the Pats in 2017.
The 2007 offseason will always stand out because of the magnitude of Moss and because they really hadn't done anything like that before. But this is incredible. They basically took the Jimmy Johnson draft philosophy -- target your guys and get them, don't let the draft fall to you -- and used the draft chips in trades and FA instead, picking their guys off other rosters. George Allen is smiling somewhere.
While this is all true, I could see Pegula deciding enough is enough and signing Gillislee purely out of pride and not wanting to have another of his players scooped up by the Pats, cap implications be damned.
Rodak's report on the story. Of note, see how the hed editorializes something that Rodak doesn't say in his story
I just took a quick look at the CBA. RFA offer sheets are pretty rare and clubs matching them also rare so there's not too much precedent, but if I'm reading the CBA correctly, it goes like this: Once player signs an offer sheet, the player and the club need to put together the principal terms of the deal and include it as a certificate to the prior club (in this case the prior club is the bills). The Bills then have 5 days to accept the certificate, which then becomes a binding contract if they do so. That contract is a bit different from regular player contracts in that it's not yet fully documented since it's just an agreement to match the terms in a formal contract. Nevertheless, the CBA calls that thing -- let's call it a thing -- a "Player Contract," which is a defined term in the CBA and I think means that the thing that comes out of the exercise of right of first refusal to match an RFA offer sheet is, indeed, treated no differently from any other "Player Contract" under the CBA.
I posted it at some point but I'd love have the Pats go get Gilmore, Gillislee and Robert Woods in the offseason (prior to Cooks / Amendola deals) and stomp the Bills with their own players.
I wonder if they accounted for the fact that it's impossible to get a first down when you're running on 1st (or 2nd or 3rd or 4th) and Goal. Take those carries out of his stats (and everyone else, too) and then calculate his first down rate.
I doubt he'll be out of the league, but he's not going to get paid very much money and I wont be surprised if what the Pats offered (and I would guess it wasnt very much) is the highest offer he sees. His skill set is fairly fungible, he's not going to get much guaranteed money or a multi-year deal (unless its a dirt cheap second year that is more valuable to the acquiring team than to Blount)
They're sort of stuck with an aging McCoy that they can't trade (thanks Rex!), but I wouldn't be surprised if Gilislee is better right now (for the cap hit). Big contracts for RBs are not smart.
