Second Take with @BradleyGelber – Bye Bye Byrdie

By now it’s pretty evident that Jairus Byrd will not be back with the Buffalo Bills next season. It is what most of us Bills fans had feared heading into the offseason. The team would be unable to come to a long-term agreement with our supremely talented safety and we’d once again watch another team gobble up our talent for some ridiculous payday. It seems like we as Bills fans feared this happening because it has become so commonplace. Come to the Bills as an unknown. Develop, grow and become a stud. Then pack your bags and run to the bank when a different team comes calling.

I know the silver lining in all of this is that the Bills were able to sign their other safety, Aaron Williams, to an extension. The kid is very talented and solid in the backfield, but he isn’t on Byrd’s level. It's such a Bills move to attempt to cover-up the extreme disappointment of losing a guy of Byrd’s stature with the signing of a lesser guy like Williams. If you know how magic tricks are done that tactic is as old as it gets. Distract the audience with some flash so that they don’t notice what is actually going on… the art of deception. So far this offseason, the Bills have been awfully good magicians. 

I like Aaron Williams. I’ve had the chance to meet him as a guest on the Fred Jackson Show, which by the way if you need another reason to like him as a person, Fred and him are extremely close and Fred views him as a little brother. If Fred Jackson holds you in high regard as a human being, there isn’t much higher praise than that. However, him signing a new 4-year deal with the Bills doesn’t just make me forget Byrd is likely gone and off to St. Louis (talk about the irony there Sabres fans) or to some other destination not named Buffalo. I’m sick of losing big-ticket free agents.

We finally overcame the hurdle of signing other teams’ prized possessions with guys like Mario Williams, but we can’t seem to keep our own guys in tow. I understand that according to multiple sources the Bills presented Byrd with a long-term deal, or at least made every effort to lock him up, but despite a good effort they failed. More reports stated Byrd wants an annual salary of at least $9 million a year, which would make him the highest paid safety in the game. While I can understand the Bills overpaying similar to what they did with Mario, I cannot see them overpaying THAT much, which is why no deal was reached. I also get that Byrd says he’s still open to resigning here and Doug Whaley said discussions would certainly continue. After getting his new contract even Aaron Williams said Byrd wants to come back and "be apart of something special." Despite all that, I don’t buy it. The guy is gone. He’s gone and he’s not coming back. Because it’s Buffalo.

We haven’t done enough on the field to warrant players taking pay cuts to stay with this team, which unfortunately is a very frustrating two-way street. We haven’t shown enough improvement for guys to stick it out, but how can we do so when the talent is always leaving? If it were all about off the field talk this team would be set. Doug Marrone and Russ Brandon are awfully good at saying what fans and the media want to hear. I remember listening weekly to both of their radio appearances on WGR and thinking no matter the circumstance, this team was in good shape. Even when we had a terrible record and I was distraught thinking “Here we go again. We are ALWAYS going to suck.” I’d flip on Marrone talking about rallying the troops, or Brandon talking about how we have the best fans in the league, etc., etc. and suddenly lollipops would descend down from cotton candy clouds on rays of lemon drops and all would once again be right with the world. That is until the team played again on Sunday.

I don’t blame Byrd for any of this. Some team is going to give him the $9 million a year so why wouldn’t he take advantage of that? The days of dynasties and loyalties to a team are over. Free agency killed that. How can you fault a guy for taking as much as he can get when the lifespan of an NFL player’s career is getting shorter and shorter? Sure we as fans care about him now. We care about him because he’s great on the field and helps give us a shot at winning football games. One severe hit to the head, or to the knee and we don’t care about him anymore. If you’re sitting there saying, “NO! I WOULD CARE!” please punch yourself in the face and wake up. Football players only mean something to the public while they’re still football players.

Do I want the Bills to find a way to bring Byrd back? Hell yes. Seeing Byrd & Williams patrol the secondary for years to come would cause headaches for other teams in our division. It would allow Jim Schwartz to send the house, as he loves to do, without having to worry as often if he’ll get burned in the process. I love the thought, but I also love the thought of the Bills trading for Calvin Johnson & Aaron Rodgers. Being realistic can be such a bummer sometimes…

To sum everything up, I appreciate everything Byrd did during his time in Buffalo. I wish he could stay. I like Aaron Williams. I’m sick of the Bills losing their awesome players. I’m sick of losing in general. I’m sick of winter. I’m sick of Tom Brady and the Patriots always winning. I’m sick of media guys like Jason LaCanfora having the gall to suggest Mark Sanchez could start for the Bills. Ok, ok I got really side tracked, but I believe it’s obvious I’m sick of a lot. Here’s hoping next week I have something I’m not sick of to write about. Happy NFL Free Agency Bills fans!

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