He's their starter by week 5 - maybe even earlier. But you are right he'll quit on them when he struggles. This has disaster all over it.
If he comes, its as a backup. Nix already said so. If VY doesn't want to be a backup then he won't sign. There really is no risk, its all reward. We're not depending on him for anything, so if he acts up, he's out.
Fitz has never struggled in Buffalo when he and the offense was healthy. In fact, he was statistically the best QB in the league last year when that happened (and that's not an exaggeration).
Unfortunately for football fans everywhere, everyone being healthy is rarely the case. Just curious, when was Fitz hurt during the year?
Keep him? Smart. Re-sign him mid-season? Not smart. He was in the final year of a three-year contract going into the season so, unless he somehow miraculously changed the Front Office's perception of him over just a few games, it's their fault for putting themselves in a position to possibly lose him to free agency at the end of the year instead of extending him after the Lockout ended. I agree with you that it's smart to keep any good QB around. However, before the 2011 season began, Fitzpatrick had already proven to the team that he was good, so it's their fault for improperly handling the situation.
I agree. The problem with the Bills was that the starters are good players, but when they went down the Bills didnt have depth and it killed us. Good teams overcome injuries because they have depth. The Bills weren't good enough to do that, but I think for the first time in a very long time, the Bills' roster is deep. Fitz broke 3 ribs in week 8 on a brutal hit against the Redskins (the week right before the Jets). I think he also did something to his shoulder, too. It was the same injury that forced Romo to sit out with, but Fitz tried to play through it, and he really struggled. He could not throw the ball the same. For the 8 games prior to his injury, he had 14 tds and 6 ints, and the last 8 games 10 tds and 17 ints. The coincidence is, he signed his new deal the week prior to breaking his ribs. All the national media thought that his poor performance after that was because he laid down (no one knew he was injured).
If you cannot see the utter difference between the two situations then I'm not sure what to say to you.
Ordinarily, you might be right, but the Bills were in a unique situation last season. At the end of the year, we were set to have our starting QB, WR, LT, RG, TE, DT, and SS all set to hit free agency. The Bills had to start getting deals done early if they wanted to keep them all. They started with the most important piece first, the QB. Also, I don't think you ever risk losing a guy, who at that point in the season was playing like a top QB in the NFL, to free agency.
Doesn't matter what Nix says, he's not running the team - Gailey loves QBs like VY. Fitzpatrick always struggles against the Jets and week 1 will probably be the same. I could see a vastly improved KC team and defense giving him fits in week 2. You'll probably beat CLE but then you will drop the NE and SF games with Fitzpatrick really struggling in the SF game. Week 6 : Buffalo 1-4 @ Arizona, where Young gets his 1st start. (if he signs) Not completely a bad thing for you guys because Young is better than Fitzpatrick. He could win some games for a stretch and make no mistake Buffalo fans will worship the guy instantly, but when the going gets tough Young will quit on you guys. Thats why its a disaster.
You act is if head coaches and GM's have different jobs where they dont communicate with one another. Nix and Gailey communicate about their roster personnel every day. They decided they need a better back up QB, so Nix went looking for one. In the last game the two teams played against one another, Fitz was 26 for 39, with 264 yards passing, 3 tds and 0 ints, 66.7% completions, with 3 broken ribs.
They talk but they have completely different jobs, Nix doesn't decide who start or doesn't start. Just like Tannenbaum doesn't do it for the Jets. I would think you would know this. The last game they played Fitzpatrick had his best game against the Jets. I'll give you that, I think Steve Johnson had a lot to do with that though, he was great that day especially in the 1st half - The second half though Fitzpatrick really struggled, the only TD he got was on a fluke play that Cromartie broke up (should've intercepted) and ended up in Brad Smith hands for a TD - your stats don't show that. He was outplayed severely in the 2nd half by Mark Sanchez (who played with 3 stubbed toes). Also Don't act like he doesn't struggle against the Jets. 1 game in his whole career? and a loss..? I'm not going to bring in his shitty stats from the other games but I'm sure they were bad - he has traditionally been LOST against Rex's D..
I agree with the last statement. I don't criticize them for not having hindsight in late October, but I do criticize them given that all of this is in hindsight now. I don't want to look it up so I'll just ask: What was the salary cap situation going into the 2011 season? And how many players due to hit FA in 2012 were resigned before or early during the 2011 season? I'm asking this because I want to know if they had any legitimate reasons to delay extending Fitz. For example, the Jets had Mangold, Ferguson, and Harris hitting FA at the same time. It would be inappropriate for someone to say "the Jets waited too long to re-sign Harris" when they were put in a position that they had to negotiate these high-money deals one at a time.
Sounds like a similar situation. There were a few weeks in a row I think last year where the Bills had re-signed a player. They ended up getting deals with all of them except the LT, Demetrius Bell (which was our choice). By default, they had to start with somebody first. Why not make that your QB? They went one at a time, which is why Fred Jackson (up at the end of this year) has had to wait until now to start negotiations.
As a bills fan always drives me nuts when we thump our chest in the offseason - we have not made the playoffs in over TEN YEARS Now.....do I think we are going to be improved this year....absolutely.....our defense has failed us for years now and we stocked up talent....but....lets actually get back to the playoffs before we do this?
Love the Vince Young signing. High reward, low risk similiar to the Tebow pickup. I think at this point he knows he's not a starter in this league and he doesn't have the mental capacity or leadership ability to be one. But he's definitely a servicable backup if Fitz goes down for a few games, he can make the throws, read defenses and has the experience to win games. None of which Tyler Pigpen has. Barring any injury Fitz will start all 16 games (plus the 3 playoff games ) The only QB controversy will be between the message board fans and the drunks in the stands. The lockeroom will be with Fitz 100%.
