WhitewalkerInPhilly

I mean that's the best explanation I have heard so far. It mystified me that Beane hadn't made an offer, and having an offer out there and not fully pressing the void year options on that extension would make far more sense if there was something Douglas was mulling on.

bad initial numbers for the release. X is chaos atm

never mind, thought we were getting more cap sapce on top of it but it was a false lead

Awww man he got us!!! I'm too happy to be mad about it. some of the takes on the "Buffalo Exodus" are now hilarious

Wait wuuuuut Look, this better be an amazing trade because cutting him makes zero, zero, zero sense. It would be an $11 M hit for less then $5 savings. Unless the Bills are getting a massive haul for him this would be an uncharacteristically bad deal from Beane after some really sharp moves.

At this point I am more surprised that we seen Von and Knox cuts rather than extensions on Dawkins and TJ.

It's not a bad hedge at almost no risk while they take their shot in the draft.

I don't know, as we have not seen the money, is that Beane was able to layer incentives on Von's deal. Due to the way that incentives are structured, "not likely to be earned" can mean a modest improvement over that happened the previous year and do not count until next years cap. So "play 15 games", "500 receiving yards", "6 TD" (all numbers he hit in 2022) would apply and could mean he gets even more take home money if he bets on himself. Of course, if he is just a dud and gets outstripped by Kincaid he gets injured he gets none of it. If that's Beane's strategy to get out of bad contact years for underperforming players, it's kind of genius

I hadn't seen the money. If I'm the Steelers, desperately in need of a QB and picking in the high 20s, why wouldn't you take a flier on Rus for that money? If he bounces back, great! If he doesn't you are no worse off than when you began.

If it was, we would be hearing "restructure" If we are taking the Miller model, I would suspect that it's a base salary reduction with a potential to be even more money if he returns to 2021 form. Which...if he's getting 550 yards and 8 TD, I am ok with.

The nice guys at Cover 1 dug into his stats, and his drop rate has been lower than people made it out to be and while I thought he was a slot guy from his build he has played mostly outside. $7-10M on a one year rental (depending on whether Pitt pays the roster bonus) for a productive outside receiver is a steal compared to the money the current market for a productive outside WR. If Pitt goes for a 5th (or two) I'd pull the trigger

Pitt would eat the signing bonus, could possibly eat the roster bonus. $7 M for a vet is a bargain, but I'm kind of meh on him.

So a shorter and lighter Shakir? I'd rather see if Shakir can play outside. Surprisingly, he isn't a slot guy I'm ehhh on it. I don't like going into the draft with such a MUST FILL mentality, but I am not sure if he is worth the compensation. If the Bills pull the trigger for a 4th or 5th I won't hate it, but I'd still want to draft a WR high.

I mean, I don't want to keep banging the "national media is trash" drum while I eat it up but... Man, I don't think they did an in depth dive. Or even more than a cursory skim. I get that there are 31 other teams but the day after our Wednesday purge Florio and Simms seemed shocked at how much the Bills had been over and were wondering how the Bills were going to field a team...while we all knew that shaking $30-40 M more cap space free can be done with two extensions and two restructures.

Do you think he'll take the vet minimum? Because if not, hard pass. Seriously, James Cook just had a year where he was sixth in the league in yards from scrimmage. Not, "for a RB", for the entire league. SIXTH. I am not denying a need for a power running back, but you can get a fresh set of legs to pound the ball easily in the later rounds of the draft or dirt cheap in free agency.

Are you freaking kidding me?

I will not be shocked if Beane signs two more. From what I am seeing, this is an incentive laden, low guaranteed money deal. There are worse things that a cheap vet set to fight for a roster spot while bringing in other journeymen and a mid round pick or two

Agreed. Chin is a definite one I have been keeping an eye on. Rapp's return piques interest, but considering that I have not seen the contract details yet I do not think Beane put large amounts of guaranteed money. For me, safety is the kind of position where it gets dropped out of perceived importance. Boundary (and increasingly slot) CBs draw the lion's share of cap space, and it seems like around the league the safety group is what gets devalued right up until the moment that you have a subpar group and suddenly fans are wondering how those pricey cornerbacks aren't stopping big plays down the field anymore. It works to the Bills advantage, and with the glut it's a perfect year to pick up a few journeymen while grooming mid round picks for the future.

If we have a NT who can take on 2-3 blockers and leave Oliver 1-1 vs a guard, then Oliver CAN be a world beater

Completely agree. I'd want him, but he's going to command top end money. However, if he draws the market away it's an asset to the Bills

Completely agree. I should have phrased it better: with 11 picks, I fully expect to have at least 5 in the first four rounds or to dramatically move up from the back to the top of a few of them. Rookies will have a far better chance of cracking the roster than in previous years.

To be fair, he's had some luck at getting above average play out of journeymen, but the team has been juggling that for a while trying to keep a Super Bowl window open. I'll never rule out the Bills having a shot so long as they have Josh Allen but this is the most picks we've had going into a draft in...a while. 11, at the moment I think. I expect Beane to trade up a bit, but that should give us more then we've been used to.

Exactly. As if we did not learn our lesson from Von. If there has been one takeaway I've gotten from the offseason is that the Bills aren't in position for a teardown, but we can take our medicine. Yesterday...yesterday was rough. Poyer and Tre were big parts of the culture change at the start of McDermott's tenure and Morse was a big part of the push into Allen's growth into what he is now. I'm not saying the Bills are going to give up all hope of a championship, but now is the time to rebuild a young core and you don't do that chasing top tier free agents. I think the Bills can still scrounge up extensions, cuts and an Allen restructure to get over the cap and make a few day 2-3 pickups to round out weaknesses before the draft, but that's where we are going to build for long term success.

Any update on our current salary cap numbers

It's a brutal pruning. I can't say I think the choices are illogical but it was all of "break glass in case of emergency" options all at once. And then Beane got Miller to take a pay cut, void yeared Douglas (I think)