Today's observation story, topic that we keep our focus on more than the others, is Laveranues Coles' visit with the Bengals. It was reported that the Bengals had invited Coles to Cincinnati even though T.J. Houshmandzadeh was shuffling around three offers on Monday, driving everyone mad because we just wanted to know where he was going. Many had expected Coles to sign with the Bills on Monday, however that plan was disrupted after it was learned the Bengals were interested.
Buffalo Ramblings says that the Bills chances of signing Coles grow slimmer. They projected that the "healthy" deal that the Bills offered Coles was in the $6 million-a-year range. Ed Kilgore, seeing as how the Bengals are now setting a higher priority of acquiring a veteran wide receiver, suggests that the Bills should overpay Coles, which he promotes as $6 million-year. Bob Glauber thinks that Coles overstated his worth by leaving $6 million guaranteed on the table when he secured his release from the Jets.
Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings pointed me to a Pat Moran piece, in which states:
What’s known is the Bills have an offer on the table to Coles. What’s not is how much the offer is for and how many years, although I'm told it's for three years for around $18-million. According to the source, Roosevelt Barnes, the agent for Coles is seeking a deal of $25-million over four years with at least $10-million being guaranteed. Coles left $6-million on the table with the New York Jets last week to become a free agent. He’s to arrive in Cincinnati this morning and a decision between the Bengals and Bills should come by late this afternoon.
With this, Brian thinks that the Bengals will win out.