Personally I think Peters should fire his agent. He has completely bungled the handling of the situation. Peters is coming off a pro bowl season and certainly has a strong argument for a new contract. He was signed as a prospect right tackle when he signed his current contract. switching to left tackle justifies a bigger pay check especially when you go to the pro bowl in your first season as a starter at the position!
The problem is that Peters didn’t talk to the Bills about a new contract. He made a media stink and has been sitting out of all team activities. This doesn’t exactly build his case for the Bills management who could arguably say that Peters 2007 could have been a fluke. I think he is the player we saw last year though and the bills know it. The problem is that they cant sign him as long as he is sitting out because it sends a message out to other players that this is actually an effective way to negotiate.
If Peters gets tired of being fined and shows up at camp, he will find the team quite willing to renegotiate. But as long as he acts like a fool, he won’t see any change in his contract, just a lot of fines eating away at it. You hold out when you try to negotiate and the team says no way. Peters never negotiated, or his agent didn’t. its just stupid misguidance on his agent’s part. He is apparently bungling in the same way with another client in minnesota. Peters needs to show up to camp and he will get a new contract. In the mean time it gives the Bills an opportunity to explore their depth at left tackle. Uh oh, what depth? Peters needs to be on the field.