That Aud Smell

"JBOT was hired as GM and constrained to extend Eichel. Hauled up before Pegula, he was asked by Russ Brandon: "Is there any reason at all why we shouldn't fire your ass right now?" To which JBOT replied: "Oh, Terry, live forever! Know that I, the savvy Jason, am the greatest salary cap tactician in the league, and it would surely be a waste to fire such a great manager. So skilled am I that I could even sign your favorite player for less than ten million AAV, given a year to work on it." Pegula was amused, and said: "Very well then, you move into Scott Street immediately, and if Eichel isn't signing a year from now, we'll think of something interesting to do with you." As he was returning to his office to pick up dry cleaning, Randy Sexton remonstrated with him: "Now that was really stupid. You know you can't get Eichel to sign for that amount, no matter how long you try." JBOT's response: "Not at all. I have a year now that I didn't have before. And a lot of things can happen in a year. Pegula might die. I might die. "And, who knows? Maybe Eichel will sign.""

I always like a good parable, but in the story above, I'm left feeling like Eichel signing an 8-year deal is analogous to the horse singing.

It may be my mood, but I'm hand-wringing now. What's the offer-sheet exposure if Eichel isn't signed before this season is done?

I don't think that's the angle I'd take. I'd pay somewhere between where he is now, and where he thinks he'll be, and pay that as a premium on the deal now. We effing tanked for this guy. Get him signed.

I'm not sure where you get that feeling. I'm also not sure why, on earth, the Sabres would want to give the guy a chance to earn himself a bigger deal. Far better to pay a premium now to avoid the need to pay even more in 2018.

Faaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkk.

Fwiw, WIVB sports anchor just quoted his source as saying no ongoing talks, and inferred it's likely Eichel will play without an extension.

OTOH, now seeing the Eichel quotes about how each side knows where the other stands and that he has no problem playing out the season without a new deal. I'm not stoked about that.

An inference on my part, I will admit. Wawrow posted 3 or 4 Tweets within a few minutes of each other. The first 2 or 3 were quotes attributed to or paraphrased from Eichel himself. Then he posted the one upthread where he mentioned how he had a source with direct knowledge of negotiations. Seems like a fair inference to me. word. i'm not sure. good question.

Wawrow posted that after talking to Eichel this morning at Harborcenter. Easy, you. It's newsworthy because the source is pretty clearly Eichel himself and he otherwise expressed no concern over the contract and said he was looking forward to taking a larger leadership role and staying in Buffalo.

John Wawrow @john_wawrow 1m Last thing before I start writing: Person with direct knowledge of contract talks tells AP Eichel negotiations remain ongoing.

That sort of stuff is, frankly, not up to snuff with the level of analysis you can otherwise bring and often do. It's evident that Tolbert and Williams were apples and oranges. Or maybe pumpkins and acorn squashes, if you will. Banyard and Jones beat out Williams. I understand that a lot of people thought Williams looked good. The subtext here is that he's not the sort of player/guy that McDermott wants around. What does that mean, exactly? I'm not sure, and I have some concerns. The "right guy"/high character stuff isn't something with which I am enamored in today's NFL. But maybe it has more to do with being a serious-minded professional. I certainly hope so. As for Swolbert being a McDermott guy - what of it? What does it actually mean? Is it pure non-merit-based cronyism? I very much doubt that. My sense is that Swolbert "goes about his business," as we so often hear, in a way that McDermott thinks is exemplary. And he can play ST. Maybe Williams was a bit of a laze-about knuckle head who always showed up just on time, had a vacant look on his face in meetings, and was always ghost the moment he was allowed to leave. Maybe Swolbert does things quite a bit differently. There is an infinity of possibilities here, and so much we don't and can't know. The fact that your take is something like "he's (butt) buddies with Sean the Wrestler" is an anemic take. Here's my tinfoil hat take: Something Beane said, or how he said it, in the latter part of August made me think that he'd approached Pegula about moving McCoy and had been shot down. So isn't it then sort of a sneaky tank move to leave McCoy standing alone as the only real viable tailback? In the event McCoy goes down, the tank can go ahead full(er) steam.

The idea of a Cat 5 -- that started out over toward Africa -- making its way to any inhabited area in the Caribbean or U.S. is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

If PA were here, I'd rely on him to chirp my complete and total admiration for those clips. Un-frickin-real. It calls to mind the remark that one of Scorcese or Coppola said about a young Leonardo DiCaprio: "Please. Don't let anything happen to him,"

Are Jones and Banyard not viable backups to McCoy? I saw two beat reporters Tweet this weekend that, in truth, there just wasn't that much difference between Williams and those players, in terms of performances at camp and in preseason. And the fact that Williams was not claimed does, in fact, speak volumes to the fact that he probably just isn't/wasn't that good. Not worth getting agitated over, anyway. Also, your campaign against Mr. Swolbert is a little weird. He's clearly there to be a leader and a 'teamer. I have no idea what he does and has done to merit the coach's trust in being either of those things, but apparently he's done enough. In addition, if Williams were to have made the team, it would've been Jones or Banyard who were cut -- not Swolbert. p.s. I love the nickname Swolbert.

Bahhh hahahaha. I'll take what comfort I can get.

To hear the coach tell it, special teams played a significant role. As for buying into SM's BS, how do you reckon a player manifests that buy-in? With pious words within coach's earshot, or by doing things in connection with practice and preparation? I'm betting it's the latter. I'm ambivalent about the "right people" approach SM just articulated in his presser, but I'm also taking a wait and see approach.

Quintessential post for you. Detailed recollection of what's happened, with some actual analytical insight added, and with some hogwash tossed in. Maybe the plan is to fairly bottom out this season. In that event, the plan is in progress. As for Swolbert, I'm fairly sure the backup tailback is now Banyard. Contending otherwise is the sort of stuff that undermines one's overall point.

Good post. I am discouraged with the current state of our roster. The idea of squandering Pulisic with a lackluster squad is infuriating. Big picture: I keep hearing USA Soccer needs to change the development structure (pay to play). Is that feasible?

Rank incompetence would mean that the FO isn't putting work in, doesn't have a plan. I think they're working their off, and have a plan. It remains to be seen whether they're just tilting at windmills with their work, and have a sh1tty plan.

It is a credentialed crew.

So maybe J-Will just wasn't a character guy? (I cringed a little typing that.)

I haven't been following enough, listening enough, maybe, to get this sense. But - something about this is effing weird. Just, off.

Honestly. Cutting a good looking backup RB - with McCoy ahead of him (*ahhh-HAMSTRING-choo!) - feels like a sneaky tank move.

Pretty much.