billsfan89

There is a lot more cap space to be gained from converting base salary to bonuses. Spo Trac said that Dawkins/White/Diggs and Poyer's deals could be readjusted to free up 25 million in space. But the question comes in do you want bigger dead cap numbers down the road in exchange for cap relief now? I also think Lee Smith will be cut or retire and there might be some more restructuring with Hughes and a cut to Addision or restructure to his deal. So overall I think McBeane still has some more work cut out for him but he can get even more space to play with. Overall however the question remains how much are you willing to "go for it now"? Josh is on the last year of his rookie deal and he has a very talented team in front of him that needs to retain 3 key starters (Mongo, Williams and Milano) and several key role players (Roberts, Mac, Ty, Barkley, T.Jones.) I think one of the three starters (most likely Milano) leaves and a few key roles players leaves. But then this team has to add 2-3 key pieces to get them over the top. A prime edge rusher and one more significant pass catcher (preferably at TE). How can this team get those pieces in place and retain at least most of their core talent? That's the big question. Right now the only shot they have at that is to find more cap space and the best way to do that is to risk more dead money later on for Diggs/White/Dawkins/Poyer. If they are able to free up that 25 million it unlocks the possibility of keeping 2 out of the 3 (D.Williams, Mongo and Milano) while also keeping some role players and maybe adding a piece before the draft. But sustained winning is hard to do with a lot of dead cap risk for players 2-3 years from now who could be under performing. My mentality is to go for it now. The window to win with Josh is now and you have to take a risk. I am not saying you trade draft picks for big names or anything like that. But if you can get 25 million in space in addition to the space you have freed up and it allows you to retain more talent and fill a hole then do it.

I told my dad that if he watched a basketball game in the 1970's and it wasn't a playoff game then there is a 95% chance that game is no longer on tape. And if watched a late 60's game 99.5% chance it was gone to time. I wonder how well football in the AFL and NFL is preserved? I would imagine that not many games survive from the 60's and before. And the games that survived in the 70's and early 80's is limited. That's not limited to sports either. Tapes were super expensive and media companies just didn't have the money for preservation so a lot of stuff would just get taped over. It wasn't until the late 70's that tape costs started to really come down and we saw a much improved line of preservation.

Wouldn't hate it. Hope they got late rounds to find a speed back. Honestly it isn't a major priority for me if I am McBeane, more interested in keep the O-line strong.

It is very broken always has been. The stupid in and out formula is very backwards and accomplishes nothing.

I think drafting two rookie O-line even high up to start is foolish in this day in age. You have a stud young QB in a win now window. Why rely on two rookies to play heavy snaps on an O-line? Rookie play on the O-line isn't plug and play as it used to be. 15 years ago you could draft a RT and a Guard in the first two rounds and reasonably expect production. Now first round talents are lucky to be impact contributors. You draft one fine, that's the cap and there is a certain level of risk you can take but don't let D.Williams walk and think a rookie is plug and play. That would be very foolish on McBeane's part.

I wonder how they determine this. Not bad for the Bills who should have between 25-45 million in space depending on who they cut/restructure next and if they are willing to reorient White/Dawkins/Diggs/Poyer's deals.

I wonder if sustained success is the model or if the Bills should go for it the next 2 seasons and make more "win now" moves? Given that Josh's contract is going to heavily impact things in 2022-2023 (depending on the timing of his contract) and beyond is the window to win smaller than projected? It will be very telling to see how they approach this off-season. So far the choices have been to be more balanced and pick their spots for larger deals.

I know Spotrac broke it down as to how they would be able to do the Diggs and Poyer deals, I think the team could free up as much as 25 million by reworking those deals and the Dawkins/White contracts. As for Hughes I imagine him taking a pay cut to lower his cap number, not sure how that works with his contract. But looking at the Bills roster the fat that needs to be cut is still in the Hughes and Addison deals.

More of a pass blocker than a run blocker. Wouldn't hate the move if Mongo wants too much. But probably will get a bigger contract offer than McBenae will like.

I actually thought Butler played better the last few games of the regular season and in the playoffs. He was asked to play NT a lot and he isn't an NT despite his size. He was horrid at it for most of the season but I thought his improved play helped a lot with improving the run defense to close the season. I think if he shaves his salary down to 4-5 million he can justify it as being a high end pass rushing reserve DT.

No, this isn't it. Lee Smith is an easy cut or he might retire, either way that's 2.25 million saved. I also think Jerry Hughes will rework his deal to save some money I could see the Bills getting an additional 2-3 million from Hughes deal. I also think they have to ask about Addision either reworking his deal or getting cut. I also think they will be retooling the Dawkins, Diggs, White and Poyer contracts to save money. None of those guys are taking a pay cut but this team can convert base salary into signing bonuses and free up a lot of cap space.

Pretty much my train of thought. Assuming you get Josh signed to an extension you can just franchise Edumonds. Might as well work on an extension for Edumonds rather than pick up his option if you really like him.

I would have preferred to keep Jefferson as a rotational pass rusher if he was willing to take a pay cut but Butler as a rotational player as a pass rusher at a reduced salary is fine.

Given his connection with Josh I suspect the Bills offered him a chance to restructure and either he didn't want to or he didn't want to take enough of a pay cut to where it made sense from the Bills perspective. It is unfortunate as I would have loved to have kept him but only at a cap number that made sense. I like Ford to compete with Ike for the LG spot. Hoping Ford taps into his potential as he has flashed good play at times. O-line play sometimes takes guys a year or two or even three before they get going in the NFL. But they can't be considering Ford for RT. They have to make a good play to keep D.Williams here. Let Milano walk and even let Mongo walk but don't let Williams go unless it is for stupid money.

Not shocking but disappointed Brown didn't stay for one more season at a reduced rate. Guess the Bills either like Gabe Davis a lot more or Brown didn't want to come off his pay that much to make it work. Not shocking they released Q.Jefferson either and got Butler to restructure. One of those two was leaving and the other was also leaving or taking a pay cut. With Ed and Phillips there and Star coming back there just was only so much room on the roster. Between Butler and Jefferson I would have rather taken Jefferson at a reduced rate but once again who knows what they were willing to take pay cut wise. 14.1 million freed up in addition to the 2 million from Mitch leaves them with 16 million in additional space. I suspect Butler will add 2-3 million in that and they will likely release Lee Smith to free up another 2.25 million. Hoping that they do something to lower Hughes and Addisions cap numbers too. I know they can also do some cap magic with Diggs, White, Dawkins and Poyer's salaries too.

I wonder how well the NFL/AFL archives are kept? I worked on a sports documentary and our team had worked with the NBA's archive and a lot of games from the 50's through the 70's and even a bit into the 80's are just outright missing. I know football has a lot less games so I wonder if they were more willing to have those games taped.

I hope so, McD is going to be here the next 3 seasons at a minimum. Hopefully Josh can get those last levels of polish needed and McBeane can get the rest of the pieces needed.

AJ is a key player, if he can develop into a quality edge rusher the future of the D-line is a lot brighter. I still think a pick in the first two rounds gets put into the D-line but AJ developing sets things up for the D-line nicely.

I wouldn't say he is an average center. He is one of the best pass blocking centers in the league. He also does all the leadership and communication things you need a center to do. Mitch's run blocking is average to below average but he isn't tragic there. I think Mitch at the time of signing was a top 5 center in the league and in his time in Buffalo he has certainly been at worst in the top 10 at his position. However when you pay a guy the top at his position simply being good isn't going to cut it and his pay cut makes him more in line with his actual level of production. Glad not to have another hole to fill, I feel Mitch is a bit underrated around here.

To be fair as much as I loved the signing and as much as many loved adding Mitch there were a lot of people concerned about the fact that the team overpaid for him and that he had concussion issues. But I thought this team would have at least had a high quality solution at center for the next 4-5 years. Hopefully he can hold up a few more years.

Wasn’t he drafted in 2018? Wouldn’t that put him on the last year of his deal? Not sure if Teller would have gotten the playing time needed here to make it work and the Browns have excellent Oline coaching. Sometimes a player just isn’t the right fit at that time.

More interested in seeing if the Browns extend Teller. He has been really good for them.

I think they keep Roberts, I can't see him being super expensive in a cap crunch and one botched return can easily cost you a game. Roberts also was a really good punt returner last season. Each game he would have one or two returns that while not game breaking would get you 10-15 yards extra in a smart safe way that add up in the field position game. As a kick returner he wasn't great but he was far from bad. If he is willing to come back on the cheap I could easily see him being back. Brown I think they will ask to stay if he is willing to take a pay cut. If not then I think they make the hard choice and take the space to use elsewhere. So it will come down to can he be willing to take a reduction in pay? Mac is another one where I think they simply name their price and he sees if that is better than what he can get on the open market. I think at the very least one of them is gone so there will be a spot for Hodgins. If I had to guess it would be Brown and Roberts stay and Mac is gone. As I think they can duplicate Mac's production with Hodgins more easily.

If they keep John Brown, I feel they are comfortable with Hodgins taking over the WR5 gadget role Mac did. You then can bring back Roberts one more year to anchor the return game and draft a WR in round 6 or 7 to wait in the wings on the PS and add some depth. Or they let Roberts walk and resign Mac to take the return duties and have Hodgins take the WR6 spot .

Mitch is one of the best pass blocking centers in the league, he also is great at doing the leadership things and communication you need a center to do and he isn’t a tragic run blocker either. Overall he is a good player and at a reduced rate and cap number he makes even more sense to keep. Hoping to see John Brown, Hughes and a few others take this route. Isn’t Jefferson coming with 1.5 million in dead cap? I would see if he wants to restructure and take a lower number before cutting him as I like him as a good rotational pass rusher. But if he is unwilling to come down to a more reasonable cap number I cut him and spend that space elsewhere.