Vontae Davis, we hardly knew ya!
Have you ever taken a new job and felt like quitting at lunchtime? Maybe the company's prospects look bleak; perhaps the management appears to be less than competent; could be that you're just not feeling that great and you'd rather be somewhere else. Then take inspiration from Davis and just walk out. You can show them that you think nothing of bolting if things aren't going your way. One thing's for sure: you will be remembered for quitting - and for the way you quit - even if you had a decent 10 year career beforehand.
The Buffalo Bills signed the cornerback, entering his 10th NFL season, in February to a one-year contract worth $5 million, with $3.5 million of that guaranteed. He was a healthy scratch from the Bills line-up in week one but was activated for yesterday's home opener in Orchard Park. He played the first half and apparently felt that he was physically unable to perform to the level he wanted. So, he quit. Quit the team, quit the NFL, quit the sport of football. At halftime. Not only did he pull himself from the game but he showered, changed into street clothes and, rather than joining his teammates on the sidelines for the second half, he left the stadium and then issued a self-serving statement to the media. There is no precedent for this as far as I know. So, readers, take inspiration; if things don't go well this morning, when noon rolls around, just walk out.
Back to the $3.5 million in guaranteed money. If I were Bills GM Brandon Beane, I might try to avoid Terry Pegula today at least until I can think of a reasonable explanation for giving away $3.5 million of his oil-fracking money to one player in exchange for one crappy half of football. If his deal had been $5 million for the season with nothing guaranteed, then Davis would have earned one game cheque of about $312,500 - and it seems to me that the Bills would have a solid argument to cut that amount in half. He will earn that single game cheque anyway but he also walks away with the $3.5 million. Move over Jian Ghomeshi, Vontae Davis is this week's hashtag. I have a feeling that Davis won't feel as sorry for himself as Ghomeshi apparently does.
Driving home from the cottage, WGR post-game hosts Mike Schop and the Bulldog were looking for any suggestion of a silver lining from the home opener and they latched on to the performance of quarterback Josh Allen. Despite some notable throwing inaccuracies, they said that Allen looked poised under centre and overall played decently enough to encourage the fan base and give them some optimism for the future. Hardly glowing praise but I am inclined to agree with their assessment in that he certainly does not seem to have the Nathan Peterman "deer in the headlights" look about him and his big arm, when properly harnessed, will serve him well as long as he can improve on locating his passes. He seems to have a good instinct for pocket presence and is deceptively fast when flushed. Maybe his big arm will serve him well when the weather turns cold and windy.
Schop and the Bulldog also made the point that last year's unlikely trip to the playoffs provided Bills ownership and management with the necessary relief for the fan base to justify stripping everything down, having an epically bad season in 2018 and rebuilding most of the roster from the bottom up starting next year. This follows 16 years of posting between 6 and 9 wins - not bad enough to be the worst but not good enough to be a playoff team except for last season when a fortuitous 4th down play on New Year's Eve in Baltimore squeaked them into the tournament as the 6th seed in the AFC.
That analysis makes sense to me. But I still have 7 home games this season to deal with. The appeal will be watching the continuing development of Josh Allen while hoping that the Bills league-worst offensive line doesn't get him killed in the process. With December games against the Jets, Lions and Dolphins on the schedule, if Allen is injured, I for one won't be too interested in watching Nathan Peterman deal with his gremlins.
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