Bills To Place Price On Practice Squad Until Contract Year

ORCHARD PARK, NY--The Buffalo Bills signed wide receiver Peerless Price to a four-year contract worth more than $10 million yesterday, three years after he forced a trade from Buffalo to the Atlanta Falcons. The team then announced they would place him on the practice squad for the first three years of his deal and promote him to a starter during his contract year.

Price’s 2002 season with the Bills, by far the best he’s had as a pro, was also a contract year.

“We’re thrilled to have Peerless back in the fold,” said general manager Marv Levy “As we saw in 2002, he can be a very, very productive receiver in this league. But as we saw in the following years, he tends to do poorly directly after signing a big contract. Hey, it’s understandable. If I just signed a big, lucrative contract, I wouldn’t give a flying fuck what happened the next few years either.”

Price was signed after disgruntled receiver Eric Moulds orchestrated a trade to the Texans. In three years, Price will be made the number two receiver, or possibly even number one.

“We knew when Eric left we would need someone else,” said Levy. “And Peerless is going to be that someone else in a few years. We’ll start him off as the second option, but who knows? He could end up forcing his way into the number one spot. He’s got that kind of tenacity, that kind of do-or-die mentality that every player has when he’s in the last year of his contract. That’s exactly what we’re looking for here: desperately greedy people who will sacrifice their bodies for money.”

After Price joined Atlanta in 2003, his career went steadily downhill. During two years with the Falcons, he netted only 1,413 receiving yards as quarterback Michael Vick was unable to get him the ball. In his one year with the Cowboys, Price caught 6 passes for a grand total of 96 yards.

Still, that didn’t dissuade the Bills from giving him $10 million plus bonus incentives.

“Peerless was a great receiver when I was here and I’m sure he can be great again,” said offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild. “ In Atlanta he was in an offense that wasn’t tailored to his skills. Same thing with Dallas. Here in Buffalo, however, we’ve got all the ingredients: a shaky offensive line, a decent but not great running game, and a quarterback who looks like Rob Johnson, throws like Rob Johnson, and basically is Rob Johnson – only not as good. So he should be pretty excited to be back.”

In Dallas, however, many of Price’s old teammates disputed the notion that he was in “the wrong offense” or that he just needed a change of scenery. According to quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who openly campaigned for the Price signing, he just wasn’t good enough.

“I really wanted Peerless to be here, because I remembered what a good receiver he was in Buffalo,” said Bledsoe. “But something happened to him. He couldn’t catch the ball, he was slow, and he couldn’t get open. He had 96 receiving yards all season. There are cornerbacks in our division that I threw to for more than 96 yards last year.”

For his part, Price is thrilled to be back with the team that gave him his start. His best years were in Buffalo and now he’s hoping to recapture the form that made him incredibly wealthy.

“It’s funny sometimes the way life comes full circle,” said Price. “When I had my big year in 2002, I did the honorable thing and forced a trade to a team that was willing to overpay me. But now I’m back. It’s been a tough few years. I guess what they say is true: the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. But it doesn’t really matter because the money is really good over there.”

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