Tuesday, May 29, 2001

Buchsbaum on the NFL in Los Angeles

Although the NFL keeps talking about putting a team in Los Angeles, how badly they would like one there and the TV ratings involved, I really don’t think they’re losing any sleep over not having a team in L.A. In the last few years, both the Rams and Raiders were there, and when the Rams were there independently, the TV ratings were always well below those in the other major cities regarding the home team. Even when they were winning and coming close to championships, the Rams never came close to drawing the type of ratings the Giants got in New York or the Bears got in Chicago when they had winning teams.

On the other hand, by having L.A. free, the NFL is giving every team that wants a new stadium, a refurbished stadium or something from the municipality they are in leverage and a place to run to in order to use for leverage.

Buchsbaum on offseason maneuvering

The best of the offseason moves may not have involved players, but front offices instead. San Diego made a brilliant move bringing in John Butler and giving him the power he needed to rebuild the team, and he’s done a remarkable job so far. After losing and ace like Butler, the Bills did a very nice job of recouping by hiring Ton Donahoe to run their front office. What should be noted is that at any team like the Redskins can spend millions and millions of dollars on free agents, but if you spend the money on the wrong free agents, you may be sabotaging your team for years. On the other hand, if you put the right people in charge and they spend the money on the right free agents, you’re probably going to enjoy a great deal of success. One of the sad things about the offseason is some very good football people such as Joe Mendes (Redskins), Billy Devaney (Chargers) and Bob Ackles (Dolphins) are now without jobs in the NFL. All did good work in their previous jobs but were put in very awkward positions in the end, which led to their leaving.

Buchsbaum on possible June 1 cuts

June 1 will not produce the bonanza a lot of teams expected. There will be some good players out there, but these are going to be the good players who are making way too much money and don’t realize it and will not renegotiate down with their teams. The overpriced stiffs and the guys who have never come close to living up to the terms of their contracts are going to be most of the casualties, and in a few instances there will be older players who teams just can no longer afford.

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2000 - 2001 Season