Bills need to re-sign McGee in the off-season

By Connor Byrne  |   Wednesday, October 19, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

Buffalo Bills
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"With the 14th pick in the fourth round, the Buffalo Bills select Terrence McGee, cornerback, Northwestern State." Those were the words spoken by NFL Director of Football Operations, Gene Washington, at the 2003 NFL draft.

At the time, not many Buffalo Bills fans were too excited about the pick as they likely expected McGee to either be a career-backup, or not last very long at all in the NFL. If you would have told those fans that by 2005 they would have a star on their hands, they probably would have laughed. McGee has indeed become a star. He is undoubtedly one of the best kick returners in the entire league and he's a rising talent at the cornerback position. In each of the Bills' last two games, McGee has intercepted key passes that have helped lead to consecutive victories. In his career as a cornerback, McGee has appeared in 36 games and has intercepted 7 passes.

At the beginning of the 2004 season, McGee was a nickel corner who would only see occasional action. After the injury to cornerback Troy Vincent in week four of last year, McGee stepped into the starting lineup. He took his share of beatings from opposing wide receivers but never gave up. Game in and game out, he kept on improving. It's true that McGee is not a shutdown corner, but the reason for that can likely be attributed to his size (5'9", 195 pounds). However, his play impressed the coaches so much that they permanently moved Vincent to free safety in the off-season.

Even though he is a rising star at the cornerback position, McGee's greatest talent is without question his kick-return ability. The talk of the league used to be Dante Hall of the Chiefs, until McGee began to make his presence felt last season. He scored on 3 different kick returns last year and found himself as the starter in the Pro Bowl. This year, McGee is yet to score but he has dazzled the opposition with his great moves and it seems to be only a matter of time before he starts finding the end zone. He didn't score a touchdown until Halloween of last year, so there are still two more games for McGee to better that pace or at least match it. So far this season, McGee has averaged a league-high 34.9 yards per return. The second-place man in this category is averaging 5.2 yards less per return than McGee. His great returning has led to great field position for the Bills' offense and it even led the New York Jets to purposely avoid kicking it to him last week on one occasion. That, of course, is the equivalent to an intentional walk in baseball. McGee is starting to become the Barry Bonds of the NFL.

The bottom line is that Terrence McGee is a tremendous, multi-dimensional football player. He will be a restricted free-agent after this season and will likely have many suitors knocking at his door. Buffalo Bills general manager Tom Donahoe must do everything in his power to re-sign one of the greatest Bills' players to come along in quite some time. He needs to start working with McGee's agent right now on a new contract. Otherwise, the Bills will be kicking themselves for letting such a star transfer elsewhere. Who would have guessed that all this fuss would be made over an undersized upstart from Northwestern State? Not many, except maybe McGee.
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