Tinoisamoa would spell improvement for Bills

By Anthony Bialy  |   Tuesday, May 12, 2009  |  Comments( 58 )

Buffalo Bills
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Pisa Tinoisamoa would be another Buffalo Bills linebacker despised by copy editors. Along with the names Paul Posluszny and Kawika Mitchell, the mixture of unusual pronunciations and letter pairings will confound journalists confronted with a sea of wavy red lines splashed across Microsoft Word documents.

Even better, the players would be collectively loathed by opponents who would dread facing the spectacularly dynamic trio. The St. Louis Rams recently thanked Tinoisamoa for six years of service by releasing him; while his now-former franchise has been vague about why he was cut, the Bills should be clear about wanting to sign him immediately. Tinoisamoa is reportedly visiting the Bills on Wednesday, which would make their interest in him clear.

Tinoisamoa makes sense for the Bills because he has been productive both over time and as recently as last season. The Hawaii product averaged about 5.3 tackles per game over his time as a Ram, which includes 104 in 2008 to lead the miserable team. He’s also managed 10 sacks over his six years.

More relevantly, the San Diego native is a good player who’s also a good match for his potential new team. At 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, he corresponds with Buffalo’s linebacking vision of players whose size is irrelevant because they’re too quick for blockers to catch.

The biggest concern is how frequently he can play: Tinoisamoa suited up for only 20 of the 32 games over 2006 and ’07 thanks to a litany of injuries. But Buffalo owns competent backups when healthy in John DiGiorgio and Keith Ellison; each has at least treaded water when pressed into action, and together offer partial security if Tinoisamoa fell to injury after the Bills signed him.

While both current linebackers are mildly fair options as starters, that shouldn’t prevent the team from pursuing Tinoisamoa, who’s an enhancement over either. It’s a chance they’ve passed upon previously this offseason; in fact, the Bills have stuttered in terms of upgrading at weakside linebacker. But they’ve stumbled upon a consistently productive veteran who nonetheless only turns 28 on Sept. 7, one week before their opener.

The Bills should consider a talented linebacker’s sudden free agency as a sign. Tinoisamoa just fell from the sky into their reach, perhaps because his first and previous team went 2-14 and could be looking to start over everywhere. It could also just be about money -- the Rams acquired $2.25 million in cap space by jettisoning the 2003 second-rounder. Now, would Buffalo pony up as necessary to land a quality third linebacker?

The biggest obstacle to the Bills signing him may be if Ralph Wilson has a coupon for him. If it’s an enticement, the owner should consider how much the player would improve his business: Tinoisamoa would ensure that Buffalo would be feared for more than two-thirds of its linebackers.
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CommentsComments: 58  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
07:08 AM
05/12/2009
I don't think ANY of the Bills LBing core put a fear into any of the other teams in the league. However, if we could sign him it...
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No.2
Amir FaSaad		08:51 AM
05/12/2009
Why is this guy an improvement ? Because he led a shitty team in tackles ! Who's to say Ellison or DiGeorgio wouldn't have done...
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No.3
Alex Guzman		09:24 AM
05/12/2009
Amir, "Samoans are to the NFL what Dominicans are to MLB" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usBUEtHQrbg&feature=related If you...
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