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I could not believe my eyes. At first, I thought it was misinformation. It makes little sense. This Jets’ rival has the potential to be a disaster if they aren’t careful . . .
I had to read it over a few times.
According to Pro Football Talk, the Buffalo Bills gave guard Richie Incognito a signing bonus.
Let me repeat that for those in a state of shock – the Buffalo Bills gave Richie Incognito a signing bonus.
Now you can understand one of the reasons Doug Marrone took his $4 million, with no off-set, and bolted out of Buffalo.
He could not stand working with Bills GM Doug Whaley.
Are you kidding me?
You can’t give a player with this track record a signing bonus.
Let me remind you of the track record.
Incognito’s myriad issues go back to his college days. During his time at the University of Nebraska, after a slew of fights in practice and games, then-coach Frank Solich (now at Ohio University), sent him to a clinic to deal with his anger-management problem.
It didn’t seem to help. A party fight, and then a locker room tussle, got him suspended from the team, and he withdrew from Nebraska. He transferred to Oregon, but lasted just one week, before being sent packing, after failing to adhere to the guidelines set by then-coach Mike Belotti.
In 2009, while with the St. Louis Rams, he drew a pair of penalties in a loss to Tennessee for head-butting Titans players. He was benched after the second penalty, and got into a heated argument with then-coach Steve Spagnuolo after being pulled. He also had two personal fouls in a game against Seattle.
The Rams reached their wit’s end, and waived him in mid-December.
In 2012, he was accused of harassment by a female worker, at a charity golf tournament in South Florida. A drunk Incognito was accused of rubbing her private parts with a golf club and dumping water in her face. The worker filed a police report. The matter was settled out of court.
And then in 2013, he made national headlines for bullying former Dolphins offensive tackle Jonathan Martin (now with the 49ers). This led to a suspension and eventual release from the club.
A signing bonus?
He’s lucky he’s getting another chance.
His entire contract should be a “make-good” deal. No guaranteed money. In other words, behave and get your money.
And the owner checked off on this signing bonus.
Just like the owner made a “cult of personality” hire after meeting with Rex Ryan. We all know Rex has quite the personality, but there is so much more to the job than that.
What is going on in Buffalo is probably good news for Jets fans.
With a somewhat naïve new owner, an over-his-head GM (he traded away this year’s first round pick for Sammy Watkins to help E.J. Manuel, who ended up getting benched. Quarterbacks make receivers, receivers don’t make quarterbacks) and a coach who has clearly learned little from getting fired after four non-playoff years (he brought almost his entire staff from a 4-12 team), the Bills could be in for the dark ages.
A signing bonus for Incognito?
What are you nuts?
December 10, 2014
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