PFT: Bills Shopping Roscoe Parrish

[WoodysGirl]

Posted by Mike Florio on April 9, 2009, 6:33 p.m.

With a glut of wide receivers and a 2008 first-round defensive back (Leodis McKelvin) who can return kicks on the roster, the Buffalo Bills are testing the waters for interest in Roscoe Parrish.

According to a league source, the Bills are shopping Parrish, primarily as an exploratory measure.

Parrish was a second-round pick in the 2005 draft, and he has appeared in 55 of a possible 64 career games. He has served primarily as a kick returner, with only 1,097 total receiving yards in four NFL seasons. He also has more fumbles (seven) than receiving touchdowns (five).

Signed for three more seasons, Parrish is due to earn base salaries of $1 million in 2009, $1.025 million in 2010, and $1.025 million in 2011.

The Bills currently have nine receivers on the roster: Parrish, Terrell Owens, Lee Evans, Josh Reed, James Hardy, Felton Huggins, Justin Jenkins, Steve Johnson, and C.J. Hawthorne.

 

[hutch1254]

Well, I guess I'll start this. I get to see Parrish first hand. The guy can flat out fly. He'd definitely boost the return game, probably punt returns but also kick returns. I only say that because if Felix gets more time in the RB position we may not want to risk him on the kick offs. Parrish can hit home runs on the returns and has that "strike fear in you" factor to make special teams coaches get antsy on coverage. He's definitely smaller than Austin. It wouldn't bother me if he wound up on the team some how.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

I forgot they had Hardy.

I have nothing else to add.

 

[DasTex]

How about a 5th?

 

[NeonNinja]

Great special teams player and would provide really good depth to our receiving corps. What would get it done is the main question here.

 

[big dog cowboy]

They collect WR's like Denver collects RB's.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

JERRY MAKE AN OFFER!!!!! I was going to post a thread about possibly trading for this guy because the Bills nabbed TO! This guy can be perfect for returning punts and being a shifty slot guy. I believe he's only 25? and played with sub-par QB's in 30 MPH winds..

I want to know what they would take for him? Because he's better than Johnny Knox or any of those other "speedy" prospects. Perfect slot guy, and stretch the field capability. Plus our special teams goes from whack to stacked!

 

[xpistofer]

I forgot they had Hardy.

I have nothing else to add.

which makes me curious: Hardy is #81. I assume TO will be 81 right? Or will the original #81 humiliate himself with another number?

Sorry...not trying to hijack the thread, just curious....

 

[Bleu Star]

This would save having to draft that shifty return man/WR. Sounds good to me.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

which makes me curious: Hardy is #81. I assume TO will be 81 right? Or will the original #81 humiliate himself with another number?

Sorry...not trying to hijack the thread, just curious....

No TO took #81 without ever asking Hardy..lol he did it the first day he arrived.

 

[Bleu Star]

Who the **** is Hardy?

 

[RS12]

JERRY MAKE AN OFFER!!!!! I was going to post a thread about possibly trading for this guy because the Bills nabbed TO! This guy can be perfect for returning punts and being a shifty slot guy. I believe he's only 25? and played with sub-par QB's in 30 MPH winds..

I want to know what they would take for him? Because he's better than Johnny Knox or any of those other "speedy" prospects. Perfect slot guy, and stretch the field capability. Plus our special teams goes from whack to stacked!

:clap2:

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Who the **** is Hardy?

6"6 rookie that went to Indiana..didn't do much last year, but I guess the Cowboys liked him last year but he was swooped up.

 

[Bleu Star]

6"6 rookie that went to Indiana..didn't do much last year, but I guess the Cowboys liked him last year but he was swooped up.

Oh, so IOW he doesn't own any numbers up in that piece. Gotcha.

A HOF WR comes in and takes his number (especially from a nobody). It's as simple as that.

 

[Joe Realist]

Just saw this on PFT. If you get him, it means Austin goes, or they hope Austin goes. But it would be nice to keep Austin and aquire Parrish.

Williams
Crayton
Hurd
Parrish or Austin

oh where oh where has Amendola gone!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

 

[Bleu Star]

oh where oh where has Amendola gone!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

I thought the iggles snatched him off of our PS last year. No?

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Just saw this on PFT. If you get him, it means Austin goes, or they hope Austin goes. But it would be nice to keep Austin and aquire Parrish.

Williams
Crayton
Hurd
Parrish or Austin

oh where oh where has Amendola gone!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

? Why do you say that?? If someone is leaving it's going to be Crayton. Parrish is an upgrade over Crayton in the slot.

 

[NeonNinja]

I do believe you're correct on the Eagles getting him.

 

[WoodysGirl]

No TO took #81 without ever asking Hardy..lol he did it the first day he arrived.

It didn't go down quite like that..

OWENS STAKES CLAIMS TO NUMBER 81
Posted by Mike Florio on March 11, 2009, 11:29 p.m. EDT
The first skirmish involving receiver Terrell Owens might not involve Trent Edwards or any other quarterback on the team.

Instead, T.O.’s initial victim in Buffalo could be receiver James Hardy, the person to whom number 81 was issued last year.

In his first Buffalo radio interview, with our pals Shredd and Ragan of 103.3 WEDG, Owens made it clear that 81 belongs to him.

Asked whether he’ll be wearing the only number he’s worn throughout his NFL career, Owens said, “Yes I am. . . . That’s my number.”

Owens then was asked whether he has worked out a deal with Hardy, which is typically the custom when a new player wants to finagle a jersey number that already has been issued to another player on the roster — and which typically entails a sizable cash payment to the player currently in possession of the number.

It was a simple “yes” or “no” question. But Owens opted not to answer it directly.

“When I walked into the building for the first time and they showed me around and I walked into the locker room,” he said, “first thing I saw was a locker and it had the number 81 with Owens . . . on the back and I had some other Buffalo swag hung up in the locker room. As far as working deals out, I don’t know. That’s not my department. I think Russ [Brandon] the General Manager, he’ll have to deal with that.”

Translation? “I ain’t payin’ Hardy ****.”

Owens’ name continues to be absent from the team’s official roster — and Hardy’s name on the roster continues to reflect that his assigned number is 81.

Meanwhile, the team is now selling jerseys with Owens’ name appearing over the number 81.

Some might think it’s a small matter. But football players can be very territorial about their numbers. Just ask Clinton Portis, who was sued by Ifeanyi Ohalete after Portis promised to pay $40,000 for number 26 with the Commanders and stiffed Ohalete out of half of it after Ohalete was cut.

That said, Hardy doesn’t have a long history with 81; he wore 82 at Indiana, which Josh Reed wears with the Bills.

Still, it’s the principle that could take on a life of its own. If the team is willing to automatically take Hardy’s number and give it to another player without so much as a head’s up, the message to the rest of the players is that the front office and the coaching staff will cater to T.O.’s every wish and whim.

So if the team doesn’t handle this specific situation properly, it could make it even harder for a guy with a history of locker-room issues to be properly accepted by his newest set of teammates.

BILLS ANNOUNCE THAT OWENS GETS 81, HARDY GETS 84
Posted by Mike Florio on March 12, 2009, 7:41 p.m. EDT
With new Bills receiver Terrell Owens recently proclaiming that he’ll be wearing jersey number 81 in Buffalo and the team selling jerseys based on that presumption, the franchise has formalized the move, announcing that Owens will indeed wear 81 — and that second-year receiver James Hardy will switch to 84.

On Wednesday, Owens said that it would be an issue for the Bills and Hardy to resolve, which is contrary to the standard practice of having the new player and the old player work something out among themselves.

It’s unknown whether and to what extent the Bills obtained advance clearance from Hardy before reassigning number 81. Owens said that, when he arrived in Buffalo on Saturday, a jersey bearing his name and number 81 was hanging in a locker.

 

[CATCH17]

Get this guy out of the cold and into the sunshine in Dallas and he will fly.

He would be nasty in the slot. Super quick guy with a lot of heart.