Jon Bon Jovi’s Toronto-based group came up short in its attempt to buy the Bills franchise, and one key reason was its refusal to pledge to keep the team in Buffalo, reports John Kryk of the Toronto Sun. The clan’s bid was also uncompetitive, as the Pegula family ultimately won the team with a bid of $1.4 billion. But the Toronto group always stopped short of guaranteeing to keep the franchise in Western New York. Instead, per Kryk, it used coy phrases, writing in a statement that it “remain[ed] committed to working collaboratively” to keep the club in Buffalo. The team’s trust apparently read between the lines and deduced that Bon Jovi & Co. eventually planned to relocate the team to Canada. Here’s more from the AFC:
- Save for Tommy Kelly, no player released by the Patriots as trimmed their roster to 53 made it on to another squad, writes Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, who asserts that perhaps New England wasn’t as deep team as some thought.
- Reiss also notes that Armond Armstead, who retired in July, received $54K from the Patriots as part of an injury settlement.
- J.J. Watt‘s extension with the Texans, which pays the defensive end $16.5MM annually, and Richard Quinn‘s $14.25MM/year deal with the Rams sets the market for edge rusher extensions, tweets former NFL executive Ari Nissim, who notes that the next wave of deal for 2011 first-rounders will likely be in the $12-13MM range.
- With Jordan Cameron inactive and Josh Gordon suspended, the Browns could roll a few packages centered on Johnny Manziel in Week 2, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).