BADOLBILZ

No. I trust the network statisticians that gave us the stat. If you want to claim it's untrue then you are welcome to dispute their information. Blaming the choice to re-tool the team the way they did for why they are up against the cap after just 4 seasons.......and without a QB on a big contract......is what you could call a "reason but not an excuse". That's when one can get into the "well if they just selected Mahomes or Watson they'd have had extra draft capital and wouldn't have needed to sign so many free agents" kinda' square-one hindsight which I don't care to do. Things change fast in the NFL.......after 4 seasons and 5 offseasons........most NFL rosters are nearly completely flipped anyway.......so if they are still harmed by those 2017 and 2018 pro personnel decisions then it's not the justification that you may think it is.

First of all.......easy with the language.........you can get flagged for less than "dumb". And I do know why they are in a tight spot despite having a QB on a rookie deal.........and it's a combination of things. Just some examples.........in addition to the terrible 2018 free agent class.........they've spent liberally over and over on bad backup quality OL........a bunch of special teamers that have blocked developmental spots..........underperforming former Carolina Panthers(they've burned like $30M and counting in cap space on KB and Josh Norman and Mario Addison, for instance). You can look at it like......."well it's handy to have a Spencer Long around"...........but it's also why they don't have Wyatt Teller. At some point you gotta' be able to succeed with less experienced, expensive, low ceiling players and use your depth positions on players who can be developed into good starters over time. Understand.........the basis for comparison isn't the worst teams in the league anymore..........the reason the other playoff teams had more home grown talent is because its hard to sustain the kind of model the Bills have used. AFC playoff teams that remain serious contenders like Tennessee, Indianapolis, Baltimore and KC have had excellent rosters for longer than the Bills........so the Bills really shouldn't have less HGT than them. I'm not assuming the Bills won't.........they have the highest paid personnel department in the league and they have a ton of continuity in those offices.......they should be PRIMED to have a great draft and UDFA and find a bunch of value in the late stages of FA.

I was hoping they would go after some players that they could legitimately sign to longer term deals with small first year cap hits.........like a young player like Curtis Samuel versus a 34 year old Sanders. Not just because the player is better.........but the roster is already one of the oldest in the league........mainly because they have a very small amount of home-grown players..........so if they just try to run rentals thru they further cultivate their own inability to draft and develop better........which they will really need to do to maintain the roster when Josh cap figure jumps in 2023.

You take offense to an exaggeration..........then you follow with that........citing a specific example from an event 4 offseasons ago as evidence? Yeah Beane is not terrible but do you think Thuney gave the SB favorite Chiefs a discount with that contract? Money still talks. Beane nickel and dimed the team into a tighter cap situation than a team with a QB on a rookie deal should be. Done with a terrible 2018 UFA class and then a steady wave of special teams and backup player over-pays and decisions to hold onto players a year or two too long versus a year too soon. Got over reliant on free agency for depth. They had the fewest own-drafted and developed players of all of the playoff teams.

ONLY IF THE PLAYER OPTED OUT. As I've said 3 times now.......if a player opted in(chose to take the risk and play)........ he was basically sharing the risk of the season with ownership.........if the season were cancelled 2 games in(for example) they would not receive all of their pay.......and that season would (of course) count against their contractual obligation. Apparently you do not follow the other sports, but those players have almost entirely guaranteed contracts but only got paid for the portion of their seasons that took place. MLB players only played 60 games.......they got paid a pro-rated portion of their guaranteed salary........and the team's part of the contractual obligation was considered met, and a season accrued. MLB players are playing strictly on 2021 contracts this year.......there is no "roll over". That's the way it would have been for the non-opt outs in the NFL. The whole reason why there was a deadline to opt out.........and there wasn't an option to opt back in...........was so that players understood that they had to either share in the risk with the league or stay home and accept the $350K or $150K that they qualified for.

Yeah as I said........if they opted out then the guaranteed money was promised to be shifted to the following season...........if they opted in they would have inevitably gotten no better treatment than the players in league's that could not play their entire seasons....MLB, NBA and NHL. Those players got their pay pro-rated for the portion of the seasons their league played.........had they played none of the schedule and the league had no revenue then that season of their contract would have been considered accrued......not merely pushed forward. Those MLB, NBA and NHL players can't make that money back from the shortened season. Star actually had an extra reason financially..........the $350K he was alotted as a "pre-existing underlying condition" player was just extra money that didn't deduct from his guaranteed salary. The guys who opted out without one of those excuses got $150K but it comes back out of their 2021 paycheck. I am open to the idea that he was irked about being leveraged into a pay cut by Beane.......and given the chance to take the season off and possibly never have to play another down of a game he is tired of and STILL get the last $5M the team owed him(plus a free $350K).........he just took it. But that's not what I am saying. What the Bills think is another matter. As for his underlying condition........who knows........about 7% of the general public over age 20 have CAD......just one heart condition of many....... so you can bet that quite a lot of players have underlying conditions.........and there were 15 larger categories that players could fall into and qualify for pre-existing underlying conditions. A reasonable guess is that 1/4 of the league or more could have opted out with underlying conditions. Yet only 60 players did.

You are wrong.......his salary was guaranteed........but if he opted in and the season was cancelled that agreement was null and void.

It wasn't in the best interest of any of those recently inked players you mentioned to put off getting paid until 2021.......whether the season was cancelled or not......they had multiple years of earnings ahead of them. Lotuelei's Bills career was going to be over after the 2020 season. Again.......if he opted in and the season was cancelled.......he would lose what is VERY LIKELY his last big paycheck.......otherwise guaranteed money he had negotiated......a decision had to be made. Right after Star opted out, Jon Feliciano literally tweeted this explanation to the fans........who do you suppose he was talking about? Tre White did consider sitting it out.........but try to comprehend that if he opted out and the season took place.......his contract would run a season longer but for the same overall amount of money. In short he would have simply lost a year of earnings potential in his career.........and possibly missed a shot at one more big long term contract. You should be ashamed of yourself for not being able to do the math.

Two different spellings of Peliserro

Lions, I believe.

Ok I thought it was one of those cases where I was three responses into a discussion and the context was missed and you thought I was trying to sell Singletary more than just point out that we tend to see the grass as greener on the other side, when in the case of these UFA and trade bait backs, it really isn't. They are available because they have been underwhelming where they are. The funny thing is Damien Williams did get released. He was on a cheap deal. I wonder if some of these teams held a bit of a grudge against the opt outs. There were so few(except in NE) that it wasn't a great look for those that did.

I joke a lot about Star........I do think he's bad.......but his $ was guaranteed. He didn't opt out because he and Gaines were the only players that cared about their families.........he opted out because he had a guaranteed paycheck dangling in the wind in July. If the season were cancelled he would have lost that guaranteed money........the same as all of his other teammates that didn't have guaranteed base salaries would have. And the writing was on the wall......the Bills weren't bringing him back in 2021. He had contract leverage.......his teammates did not.......he used it.

Better get used to wearing brown pants during the tampering period Bills fans...........that's part of being the front runner.

Regarding the Texans I've been told by many on here that a Jesus-freak with a colorfully painted van is driving and God is his co-pilot...........so I'm not ruling out divine intervention.

First 3 picks for 3 years? I suspect that's about how long BB will coach. The Pats couldn't scratch up enough capital.......not sure anyone could without a real franchise QB coming back........... to get me to trade Watson. But there is a connection there.

I don't think it would hurt Allen's feelings to have a rival...........he's a competitor..........not sure if it will be so good for the "Beane is a wizard" narrative if the Pats totally re-tooled and came away with a top 5 QB and all he was able to accomplish was to double down on what he had......including a bunch of guys that under produced........while his QB was still on his rookie contract. Not that I don't think Beaner is "tryin'" but there hasn't been a whole lotta' pressure to do more than that.....knowing the division was handicapped with Cam, Sam and Tua.

What do the Patriots care if it takes 5 firsts plus more? They don't draft well early and their HC is gonna' 70 years old next year.......it's not like he's going to see all of those guys play out those contracts.

5 first round picks and a couple others would definitely get it done IMO................. and that wouldn't be a high price to pay for an organization that doesn't use first round picks well at all...........but excels at getting production out of the players they do get. Definitely make it a lot more interesting in the AFC East for the next few years.

Some of these agents have been working on the parameters of newly signed free agent deals with officials from teams other than the one their client is contractually obligated to since before the Super Bowl. If the Bills want to negotiate prospective terms with a players agent they just need to make a call..........no team or agent is recording those discussions to be submitted for tampering.

There it is @NewEra and @dave mcbride! SB caliber RB who ran for a 40 yard TD to win a game!

I don't think anything changed wrt 5th year option. The players would like it gone..........like the franchise tag.....but they'd have to give something significant back to get that.

Good thing Star is back or we'd be doomed on the QB sneak against Miami.

Too soon

I don't think it's fully guaranteed until the very beginning of the 5th year option league year. Prior to that it's only gtd for injury. That would seem like a big give from the owners guaranteeing a deal 18 months before that season..........would really render the option even less useful.