BADOLBILZ

Skipping 2020. Ghosting the team the next offseason and not showing up until MANDATORY OTA's when he hadn't played in almost 18 months at that point. Refusing the vax after all of that and then predictably getting quite ill and missing time with Covid after already missing time with multiple injuries that may or may not have been related to almost two years without football activity. I should add that there is also $3.5M in real money the franchise can save if they dump him in the next month............and they may deem that important with signings and re-structures necessary........which is another non-football matter.

I think Khalil Mack played on a $2M base salary last season. If you are willing to backload a deal you can easily get a Von Miller in with $7M in cap room..........that is how valuable that much cap room is. I know there are runnin' back truthers on TSW but once again the lead RB's in the SB are bit players...........if they have a big game it will be because of their OL or their passing game opening up the LOS or their defense controlling the game. RB's are bit players HEAVILY reliant on a number of other players excelling at their job. Pass rushers on the other hand........those are individual difference makers in the NFL. The one-on-one battles are your best chance to make game changing plays in the NFL and with rare exception(like Aaron Donald) those big play opportunities come from edge and island positions so that's the difference between giving an arrow down trajectory Saquon Barkley the same cap space as Mario Addison who was coming off a 10 sack season with Carolina.

Star has played 314 snaps since he was last the true starting DT1T for the Bills in 2019...........and will be 33 years old next season. If the Bills cut him though it will be very clear that it is for the off-field issues..................because as noted his savings is barely above veteran minimum.

Schwartz is even more of a 1 trick pony scheme-wise than McD and Frazier............and that has been the Bills issue in the playoffs the past 3 seasons.........despite a TON of experience playing together they aren't a defense that can make broad changes to specifically address the better opposing offenses they face.

He's got the elusiveness of Hill at the catch point but not the elite jets. He's closer to Peter Warrick 2.0 than Tyreek Hill........which is a big difference, IMO. If there isn't a character issue I think Toney probably has early 3rd round trade value in what is yet another very good WR 2022 draft. Epenesa is probably more like a late 5th or 6th round value in a good edge draft at this point. He's not produced as a pass rusher and has been pretty bad against the run and only has 2 years of team control left. Worth more to the Bills than anyone at this point, IMO. But if someone might over-value him it could be a former Bills personnel man with insight on him maybe being close to a breakout season or something.

"some posters here said I was crazy"?? No they SAY you are crazy or senseless for thinking that the Bills can trade for him and just simply re-work his contract to lower his cap hit. It makes absolutely zero sense for the player to do so unless the contract extension is close to what he could expect if he repeated his 2018 stats in 2022.........plus, of course, the $7.2M he is otherwise guaranteed in full for 2022. The only way Barkley gets traded is an NBA style salary cap dump........the Giants are so up against the salary cap they aren't even in position to just do a bad contract swap.

Bengals will have $60M in cap room going into this offseason so they would be set up to give him another 1 year $10M deal like he got in Tampa.............the Bills would not find that as easy. Not that Mike Brown can be counted on to spend to the cap...........Mike Brown has the built in excuse that he has to give Joe Burrow one of those $50M aav deals after next season.

You really need to learn how to use the edit feature if you are going to post something like this while your current post is still up. You painted a picture using race(Tongan), citizenship status(son of immigrant) and religion(Mormon) to explain why you knew that Star Lotulelei had wisely handled his money. None of those 3 aspects of he or his family's identity assures any kind of inherent financial acuity.

You should have just stopped at his dad is a CPA so you'd hope his money is well taken care of instead of adding all the racist stereotyping weirdness.

Why don't YOU go back and DETAIL how it was that they needed to overpay Star Lotulelei? The answer is you don't f*cking remember........if you ever even knew. For what reason were they at a point in their re-tool that it was necessary to grossly overpay a 1 tech only who produced like a bad 0 tech? Beane had so badly botched the OL and WR situations that there was no way that team was going to repeat their modest success of 2017 with Nate Peterman or a rookie Josh Allen...........regardless of whether they were middling or poor against the run. They were a bad football team and a middling run defender getting paid $50M over 5 wasn't going to change that. The Bills picked Harrison Phillips in that 2018 draft. He was instantly much better than Lotulelei and a more natural 1 tech(a position that invites actual tackling). It was a draft that was deep in big bodied run stuffers. Tim Settle and Folorunso Fatukasi both went late if you were afraid to roll the dice with cheap free agents again.....as they had in 2017 when they dumped Dareus in the middle of a playoff race with no backup plan whatsoever. Truth is they should have addressed the DT depth better in the 2017 offseason because their plan all along was to cut bait from Dareus regardless of how well he was playing. While Lotulelei was a fairly easy "connect the dots" economy pairing because of his experience with McDermott........the contract was astonishingly bad. He was an afterthought on the market. The only interior run D specialist on a contract like that was Damon Harrison..........who was by far the best NT in football and not only much larger and incredibly more impactful at the LOS but also regularly put up 70+ tackle seasons. This contract was the equivalent of giving Chis Kelsey a $100M deal. Utter stupidity.

It was the worst and most unjustifiable free agent signing in Bills history, IMO. Some point to Derrick Dockery but he played every snap and every game and was actually a solid, overpaid guard........his crime was getting paid more than Jason Peters, which ultimately lead to Peters being disgruntled and the Bills losing a HOF LT. Star was a sub 50% of snaps early down DT who some thought might be stuck with a 1 year $4M deal............and Beane gave him $50M with $25M guaranteed over 5. A flabbergasting over pay.

Why is it "likely" that Star Lotulelei has handled his money well? That is an extremely random, unsubstantiated take. You go on rants against far more "likely" opinions than that. And just because you have made millions of dollars in your career doesn't mean that adding another 9%-10% more to your career earnings wouldn't be a huge incentive to you when you are about to retire in your mid-30's and aren't likely to find even remotely that kind of employment anywhere else. For as much time as you dedicate to this hobby..........you really should be smarter than to think that a guy like Snacks Harrison can be forced to be on practice squads in 2020 and a guy with Star Lotulelei's recent track record is going to find someone to give him $3.5M-$4M per season in 2022. And yes, the minimum salary of a vet like Star is over $1M. But what are you forgetting? That said vet has to be on the active roster in week 1 to guarantee that pay check. I'm saying Star will not be on someone's active roster week 1 if it's not in Buffalo. At this point he's a spare part that would be tying up a roster spot, which is valuable when teams are poaching young talent around final cut-down day. His guarantees remaining in Buffalo have no bearing on that........he gets that whether he plays or not in 2022 so long as he doesn't voluntarily retire.......that was money he mentally banked 2 years ago. Could he be picked up on a week to week pay basis or be on a practice squad? Sure. But we both know that will likely not suit him when he's accustomed to so much more money and security. At this point the only real question about Star Lotulelei is 'terrible free agent signing" or "worst Bills free agent signing ever".

Braxton Berrios would give them a much better returner and a guy with a younger Beasley's ceiling, IMO. But he reportedly thinks he is getting $9M per year and I'm not sure the Bills would/could go there for a slot guy. Nor do I know if he and his beach-friendly girlfriend would want to come to Buffalo.

First of all.......again, I'm all for moving on. But I would have cut bait after the 2019 season rather than guarantee his 2020 salary in exchange for saving a couple million on the cap. Obviously my way would have been the right way.........re-structuring his contract in the manner they chose was a predictable failure. But with about $4.2M in earnable but unguaranteed money in his 2022 contract...........there is CERTAINLY a way to change his contract or make new conditions........that's called a "re-structure". And he ain't making anything with an "$" on the front and "M" on the back in 2022 if it ain't with the Buffalo Bills. And this time, the team has all the leverage........as opposed to back in February of 2020 before he had opted out on his team, suffered multiple injuries, refused vax and then got ill with covid etc.. As for not being able to incentivize people with money............you obviously haven't done much employing or hiring of contract work. Money contingent on performance makes people WANT to do things they wouldn't otherwise want to do. It is human nature. Thinking otherwise is very naive/ignorant.

God only knows where he'd be without the Bills

What it showed was how little you understand the basics of the salary cap. You can't seriously suggest a trade for a high cap figure veteran without accounting for that cap figure realistically. You refused to even take a stab at how the Bills were going to structure a deal to convince a RB that has earned on-average $7.5M per year in his career to accept a new-team-favorable re-structure to significantly lower his $7.2M cap hit............when that $7.2M 2022 salary is fully guaranteed and he has the promise of unrestricted free agency after the season. And I've seen it projected that he will get another 1 year $10M deal.........which seems outrageous to me. He's a legit HR threat.........when he's actually available...........but I'd think anything more than $2M with a whole lot of incentives would be hard to justify after he basically took last season off.

That would be shocking to me. He was a nice but very raw baseball prospect.........he was a .260 hitter in college and I think only hit over .300 in HS once..........all tools and little production. It's a VERY rare baseball player that skips all 5 levels of minor league baseball and plays immediately in MLB. Murray would probably start out in low A ball if he tried to play baseball now. Also doubt the A's would be interested in re-visiting their offer to him.........and if they did he would have to get to the majors, which realistically could take 2-3 seasons, and then wait 6 years after that to hit major league free agency. There is A LOT more money to be made in a much shorter time being a QB in the NFL............and the NFL really doesn't have a legitimate PED program so while Murray might be toast as a MLB player by 32-33.........he might play another 5 years as a QB in the NFL.

I think that's more what people expect from this move than just one man's theory. You don't hire Lovie Smith if you are thinking "turnaround" right now. He's washed.

Reportedly they leave all of that decision making to Beane and McDermott. As Paul Hamilton has said on WGR...........they agreed to turn over all decision making wrt the Bills to them and they now regret it............but I don't suppose they are in any position to re-negotiate that arrangement now considering how well it's going on the football side and how tragic/disastrous it is on the hockey side.

As I am sure you are aware despite your protesting.......he has a $250K workout bonus. He is paid to be at voluntary OTA's. He might have been able to excuse his way out of that last offseason..........but it's reasonable to assume that covid isn't going to serve as an excuse to skip offseason workouts this year. That said, I'd be heavily leaning toward cutting him John Brown-style. No call, no re-structure offer.............ghost him just like Star ghosted them last offseason. There needs to be an understanding if he stays though. No more half-stepping. I suspect he would have a hard time catching on another opening day roster than Buffalo for even the veteran minimum given his recent track record of low production, questionable decision making and his age.......so if he is planning to continue his career he probably needs to buy-in to it or hope that the NFL practice squad rules allow for vets to be kept around and do that.

Also they've spent 4 years trying to protect Tremaine Edmunds from mean ol' runnin' backs...........go to a wide nine.......funnel the run to the middle..........and yikes.

I'd like to see them get more talent at CB.........but my rationale is more about them being more flexible/multiple on defense and making more plays on the football. Which I have no reason to believe are priorities to Beane/McDermott. If you are going to play mostly zone either way then elite traits at CB can be overkill/overdraft. In this system one of Nick McCloud, Cam Lewis or Olaijah Griffin might be able to step in and fill the role that Jackson did last year..........and Jackson replace Levi. I also believe White will be back on opening day and play well next season. Not likely as well as he was THIS season but better than Levi or Dane. I guess my take is they aren't any worse at this point than they seemed to be at this time last year when it was also assumed that Levi Wallace would sign elsewhere........and Dane was the next in line to start then. I could see them adding a cheap vet like Richard Sherman to the mix and a late round traits guy like Josh Williams and calling it a day.

The atrocious contract Beane gave him was much like the one the Pegula's gave Rex Ryan...........so unexpectedly/undeservedly large that it only served to disincentivize the employee. I know there isn't much cap difference between cutting him or keeping him but expecting him to repeat even what little he did this year is foolish. If he is going to be kept I'd insist that he be there for the offseason and OTA's to prove that he cares about being the best player he can be again. If not, let him go so he can retire.

I don't remember the "had the advantage of a 2nd year in the system" part. At this time last year Beane was really talking up Dane Jackson quite a bit. They like Dane Jackson a lot.........I think for the most part he played as well as could be expected in White's absence...........and they see him as maybe more than just a system guy..........which is how I think they (rightly) view Levi.

I'd value Wallace around $4M per..........he's very sound but his lack of athleticism limits what they can do on defense. Donte Jackson with Carolina is a zone scheme fit and may be viewed as an ascending talent like Wallace........but Jackson has 4.3 speed. Also has a connection with Tre White as both were at LSU and White lobbied Buffalo to draft him in 2018. Below is some info from PFF who ranked him 48th best potential UFA for 2022 (Levi was not in their top 100)..........with just a projected 2 year contract the short term numbers could be a bit too big of a hit..........but he might enable them to upgrade the corps with speed. 48. CB DONTE JACKSON, CAROLINA PANTHERS The Carolina Panthers used the No. 8 overall pick on South Carolina standout Jaycee Hornand then traded for two cornerbacks in Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 No. 9 overall pick C.J. Henderson and Stephon Gilmore this season, but they remain steadfast that this doesn’t say anything about their plans for Donte Jackson. It would appear he will at least have a chance to test the open market as Carolina prioritizes signing Gilmore to an extension to mentor their young collection of cornerbacks. Strengths: -Speed and recovery speed -Explosive vertical leap -Zone coverage Weaknesses: -Man coverage -Missed tackles -In-breaking routes Scheme Fit/Role: NO 2 CB IN A ZONE SCHEME: Donte Jackson has the speed to burn, but is at his best in zone coverage where he can keep his eye on the quarterback and use his athleticism to break on the ball. His best plays come using that speed to attack out-breaking routes. The Steelers or Seahawks run perfect schemes for Jackson. Recent Injury History: Jackson battled a toe injury for much of 2020, but he has been healthy so far in 2021(actually finished 2021 on IR). He has yet to clear 1,000 snaps in a season. Contract Projection: Two years, $20 million ($10M per year, $11.5 million total guaranteed) Bottom Line: Donte Jackson has exceptional speed and athleticism but doesn't have the man-cover skills to match them. He can be a playmaker in the right zone scheme, where he can key the quarterback and break on the football, but is limited to a No. 2 role.