Buffalo’s fans shouldn’t blame Walker

By Connor Byrne  |   Tuesday, July 31, 2007  |  Comments( 63 )

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After a seemingly endless contract dispute, the battle between the Buffalo Bills and defensive tackle Darwin Walker came to a close this past weekend. Walker was acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles by the Bills back in March for linebacker Takeo Spikes and backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb, but the 30-year-old never reported to Buffalo because he wanted a long-term contract. General Manager Marv Levy & Co., however, didn't cave in to Walker's demands, instead trading him to the Chicago Bears on Sunday for a conditional fifth-round pick.

During his holdout and since his departure, many of the Bills' fans have spewed venom at Walker. Most view the 294-pounder as someone with low character, the type of player whom Buffalo's front office and coaching staff want no part of.

On the contrary, though, Walker, once a third-round pick, has been a productive citizen off the field (he owns a lucrative engineering firm) and is far from having any business being grouped with the Michael Vicks, Pacman Joneses and Chris Henrys of the NFL.

Rather than dislike and sometimes hate Walker, then, Buffalo's fan base should be directing its anger toward the front office, which acquired the defender knowing full well that he wanted a new deal. Frankly, can anyone really blame Walker for wanting more?

Granted, the $1.3 million he was scheduled to make next season is a lot of money -- more than your average American worker rakes in during his or her lifetime. However, when you look at what Walker has achieved, the former University of Tennessee star was not crazy to demand a raise. After all, he's been prolific as a pass rusher from the D-tackle position, having accrued 27½ sacks in the first seven seasons of his career, and was one of the league's lowest-paid DTs with over five years of pro experience.

Buffalo tried to appease Walker at the last second with what it viewed as a fair proposal, but the two sides couldn't come to an accord. The Bills, in all honesty, needed Walker more than he needed them, and they're probably destined to find out the hard way in 2007.

Though the Walterboro, S.C., native wouldn't have cured what ails the Bills' potentially porous run defense, he would have provided, as mentioned earlier, a battle-tested pass rusher and a solid veteran up front. At the very least, the team could have brought in Walker and said goodbye to rotational tackle Tim Anderson, who might be the biggest liability on Buffalo's defense.

Unless X factors like John McCargo and Larry Tripplett, among others, step up from the get-go, '07 is likely to be a season of discontent among Bills fans who are weary of watching below-average tackles who can neither rush the quarterback nor stop the run effectively.

Those same people shouldn't blame Walker for that, though. Instead, point the finger at the organization itself, which had ample cap space to bring the veteran into the fold but didn't.

E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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