DICK JAURON: “I thought Jason would be at our mandatory minicamp, but that’s a decision he’s made and he’ll be fined.”
Bills faced with raising the ceiling
Peters may become highest-paid Bill
The Buffalo Bills will be in the unusual position of setting the market value at a position during their contract negotiations with Jason Peters.
Peters skipped the Bills’ mandatory minicamp practice Wednesday because he wants a new contract, and it’s obvious the Bills will have to make the left tackle the highest-paid player in team history to satisfy his demands.
Left guard Derrick Dockery and defensive end Aaron Schobel top the Bills’ salary list with contracts that average $7 million a year.
The cost for Peters figures to be higher. A lot higher. Peters is better than Dockery and plays a more important position on the offensive line, protecting the quarterback’s blind side.
A big challenge in the Peters talks will be the fact that the top two veteran left tackles in the NFL have outdated contracts, so it’s a little more difficult to precisely peg Peters’ market value.
St. Louis’ Orlando Pace makes an average of $7.55 million. Seattle’s Walter Jones is at $7.5 million a year. Both of those deals, however, were signed in 2005.
The NFL salary cap was just $85.5 million in 2005. It has gone up 36 percent, or $31 million, since then to its current level of $116.7 million.
Peters’ Indiana-based representative, Eugene Parker, is one of the most influential agents in the game. He declined to comment on Peters’ situation when contacted by The News.
However, Parker is going to want Peters’ deal to reflect the current market. Pace’s deal, increased by 36 percent, would be worth $10.2 million a year.
The highest paid free-agent contract given to an offensive lineman was the $8 million-a-year deal the New York Jets gave to Alan Faneca in March.
Faneca, 31, is a left guard. Peters is only 26. He made the Pro Bowl as a starter last year, his first full season as a starter at left tackle. He also was a second-team All-Pro pick by the Associated Press and a first-team All-Pro pick by Sports Illustrated.
The Miami Dolphins just signed the top pick in the draft, Michigan left tackle Jake Long, to a five-year deal worth $57.5 million. The contract included $30 million in guaranteed money and made Long the highest-paid lineman in the NFL.
Peters is likely to target that deal as a benchmark for his negotiations.
The Bills’ front office did not comment on Peters’ negotiations, either, on Wednesday. It’s likely they will argue that Long’s deal doesn’t directly apply to Peters because the top pick in the draft annually receives an inflated deal compared with veteran players.
Nevertheless, somewhere at or between Faneca’s $8 million-a-year and Long’s $11.5 million-a-year could be an intense negotiating-table battle.
Peters still has three years remaining on a deal that has a maximum value of $4 million a year, less by $1 million a year than that of right tackle Langston Walker. Peters’ salary this year is $3.3 million. Schobel’s contract also had three years remaining when it was renegotiated by the Bills last summer.
Peters is subject to a fine of $8,638 for missing this week’s minicamp. That’s a lump-sum fine, not a fine for each of the three days of practices. Peters would face fines of $15,116 a day if he stayed away from training camp.
Bills coach Dick Jauron said he was surprised by Peters’ absence.
“I thought Jason would be at our mandatory minicamp, but that’s a decision he’s made and he’ll be fined,” Jauron said. “I wish he was here, obviously. But also on the flip side of it, for me, I have lots of other things going on. The guys that are here are working really hard, so we’ll work with those guys.”
Numerous Bills veterans generally expressed support for their teammate while avoiding any specifics about his pay rate.
“I really don’t know what his situation is, but I’m sure he’s doing whatever he thinks is best for his family and himself,” said Schobel. “He’s doing what he needs to do, I guess. Hopefully whatever the situation is, they can get it resolved because he’s a great player, and we need him.”
“We’d love him to be here, but he has to take care of his business,” said receiver Lee Evans.
“It’s beneficial to have him here, but we’re not playing with pads on, and that’s the way the interior linemen need to play; with pads on,” said quarterback Trent Edwards.
Parker’s clients have included Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith and Rod Woodson. Parker had success setting the top market value at receiver in March when another of his clients, Larry Fitzgerald, got a $10 million- a-year contract from Arizona.
When the Bills gave Dockery his big deal last year, a precedent already had been set at guard. Minnesota had given Steve Hutchinson a $7 million-a- year deal the offseason before.
Tennessee last month signed its top, young left tackle, Michael Roos, to a six-year, $43 million deal, averaging $7.1 million a year. Roos is not considered Peters’ equal.
