Are the Buffalo Bills and Aaron Schobel Parting Ways for Good?

Buffalo Bills General Manager Buddy Nix announced today that the team has decided that it is moving forward without Aaron Schobel. The situation became a little more optimistic last week when Schobel made a surprising announcement that he was leaning towards coming back for another year, and was talking about renting a house in Buffalo.

Those pipe dreams came to a quick halt this morning, when Buddy Nix put an abrupt halt to the process with this statement, which appeared on www.buffalobills.com :

“Aaron has been contemplating retirement for the past seven months, but we are at the point where we are moving forward and have informed his agent of our plans,” Nix said. “Aaron has been a very good player for the Bills and we wish him and his family the best, but there comes a point where we have to move forward and that point is today. We are focusing on the team’s best interests.”

Bills GM Buddy Nix made it clear that Aaron Schobel’s career with the Bills is over.

“He will remain on our Reserve/Did Not Report list until he makes a decision about what he wants to do, whether it’s retire or if he might want to play somewhere else,” said Nix. "If Schobel does want to play elsewhere, the Bills will then begin to explore trade options. It’s clear the Bills will not outright release him."

So ends the saga of Aaron Schobel's career with the Bills. Schobel leaves the team as the second leading all-time QB sacker in Buffalo Bills history, trailing only Bruce Smith. He still has multiple years left on his contract, but that becomes a moot point, as the Bills have officially placed him on the Reserve/Did Not Report list.

So What Happens Next?

It appears that the Bills' patience has officially run out. Dating back to the end of the 2009 season, Schobel thought his career could end, and asked the Bills for a two month window to mull over his future. The two months would allow the Bills to know if they needed to find a replacement in the draft. The Bills more or less thought that Schobel would not be back, as they addressed the defense and the pass rush with players like Alex Carrington, Danny Batten, and Arthur Moats.

When the OTAs began, and still no word came from Schobel on his decision, Buddy Nix took another step in preparing for life after Schobel by signing free agent Reggie Torbor to play outside linebacker. That move now looks like it was a great insurance policy as the team closes the door on Schobel's options.

When training camp opened and still no firm decision from Schobel, you can imagine that even though the Bills were publicly saying we like him, we want him here, the door is still open, they were probably privately saying that it was time to get off the pot and decide.

There was a potential disconnect when Schobel said through various media outlets that he and his agent had been in touch with the Bills. Just last week, Nix denied that he had heard from either Aaron or from his agent. That to me was the first red flag that this situation was heading south. Today confirmed it was really headed south for good.

Is there any scenario that Schobel could ever play again in Buffalo? If Nix can't find a reasonable trade offer, what is to say that Schobel comes back for the 2011 season after resting up this year? After all, he would still be under contract, and would have been able to evaluate what direction the Bills team was headed in.

So, if Schobel now has some fire in his belly, and the itch to play this year, the Bills should consider the option of trading Schobel to one of the Texas teams so he can continue to be around his family. If Nix can come out of this sticky situation with a draft pick or two, it will mark his first trade as the Bills' General Manager.

If Schobel played for the Texans or the Cowboys, he would stand a good chance of making the playoffs for the first time in his long career. He deserves to experience what that is like. As a longtime Schobel fan, I wish Aaron the best and thank him for his many years of enduring losing but performing to the high standards that he did.

With respect to today's announcement, I think Nix did the right thing. Schobel was going to be missing the first preseason game or maybe the first two, he didn't have access to the playbook, and he was going to be making the transition from defensive end to linebacker. If you add all of that up, this was probably a decision for the best.

Thanks for the memories Aaron Schobel and God speed.